Game On"e"

The first three days have been a blast. Seeing everyone, driving on the left side of the road, and for some of us going to our first World Cup game!

June 20th, 2010  
I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday night realizing that I needed to find out how to get to Fourways, which is about 30 minutes to an hour drive when the taxi driver doesn't know where to go. I got to the the restaurant that the group was at and I met Stan (the van). It was a relief to see everyone. We watched the game and then went to bed. 

June 21st, 2010
This is the day I learned how to drive on the left hand side of the road.  Jen, Willy and I had a several tasks to do so that we could drive the van and go to the games.  First we had to go get tickets for the US vs Algeria.  It should have taken us about 30 minutes but after two wrong turns and an hour later we found the hotel that the tickets were at.  Next we had to go and get the tires balanced and wheels aligned.  After two hours and about 300 Rand ($40) we were on our way to the garage to get the brake lights fixed.  That only cost about $22.  On our way back I finally stopped trying to turn into the right hand side of the road. Then we went back and got the rest of the group from the apartment and went to Sandton to get the rest of the tickets from FIFA and to check out the Nelson Mandela Square.  At the square, there was a 3D theater where Sony showed clips from the game and the best of all the Music Video called "Waka Waka" by Shakira. It is the official theme song for the World Cup 2010. (If you haven't heard it make sure to watch the video.  If we don't hear it at least 10 times a day something is wrong.) The next day is our first game. 

June 23rd, 2010
Game Day! We took off around 8 am to go pick up Jason Koch, who is living in Tel Aviv and went to Gonzaga, to go to Rustenburg for our first game, Mexico vs Uruguay. After about 2 hours we arrived in the city and found a shopping center and a sign shop. KZ and Aly had a sign made and hopefully you see it on TV!  Look for "We swam from Hawaii!" and two girls in snorkel masks and fins.  After that we started our trek to the stadium.  Aly, KZ, Jason, and I walked into the stadium and found some Budweiser and Hot Dogs. Tried some Vuvuzela which I couldn't do. We met some really nice people from the city that we are staying in and they invited us to a party on Saturday night.  Then Robin and her friend Jamie were going to take us to Jen, Willy, and Stan (the van) who were at Fan Fest, but traffic was too much and so we told them to go ahead. After 4 hours crammed in back of a Corolla, Aly, Jason, KZ and I got back to the apartment. Jen and Willy went to Johannesburg and got back an hour and a half after us. Then the best part of the night was Seeing Andrew Engel who is staying with us until Saturday. He lived with most of us in Gonzaga-In-Florence and is living in Tanzania. It was a great day and I couldn't be happier to be here with all my friends in South Africa. 

Blake