London and South Africa - World Cup 2010!

Ouch. Literally my entire body is completely sore. My shin, knees, and thigh are all bruised, my knees, hands and face are cut, and my ribs hurt. I’m only 26 – I’m fairly certain I’m still supposed to recover quickly from injuries, right? Ugh.

Today was history day for us. We began with an early-morning trip to the District 6 museum. District 6 is an area near downtown Cape Town that used to be a vibrant neighborhood for blacks and coloured people before the apartheid government decided to forcibly resettle people outside of Cape Town. It wasn’t a quick process – it took years of racist laws that were passed (Arizona, I’m looking at you) which lead up to the ability of the government to carry out such a process, and in 1966, it was declared an area where only whites could live. By 1982, over 60000 people had been moved out, and all of the buildings were torn down. The residents were moved to an area called Cape Flats, which to this day is still a slum. If you’ve seen the movie District 9, the basic story behind it is essentially the same. The land that used to be District 6 is still undeveloped, even 16 years after the fall of apartheid. Developers don’t want to build on it, as the people who used to live there have been trying to make land claims for what was unjustly taken from them. The museum featured many photographs, audio clips, and interviews from people who used to live there, and the fact that it is relatively recent makes it much more powerful. It really is amazing how history repeats itself over and over again, when there are so many examples showing how subjugating one race to an inferior status is a horrible and evil thing to do.

Following our time at the museum, we hopped a cab down to the waterfront where we needed to catch the ferry to Robben Island. This is where all of the political prisoners including Nelson Mandela and the current President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, were held during the apartheid years. Mandela was held there for 28 years until his release on February 11, 1990. The ferry ride was…interesting. The ocean was pretty choppy, and the boat moved up and down significantly. We were sitting on the inside, so it wasn’t as bad as if we had been up on top, but any time I looked out the window, my stomach churned ever so slightly to see water, than no water, than water again as we bounced around. Upon arriving on the island, we boarded a tour bus with a guide who explained certain features of the island as we drove around it. It allowed us to see much more of the island, which went beyond just a prison. One such area that we passed was a limestone quarry. All of the prisoners, including Mandela, worked in the quarry at one point. There was a large pile of stones at the entrance to the quarry from when the Mandela-led government came back to hold a ceremony there after the prison had been shut down. The island itself actually has a history dating back to the 1600s, and has been used for everything from a leper colony, to a military outpost, to the aforementioned prison, depending on who was in control at the time.

After motoring around on the bus, we were brought to the maximum security prison where the political prisoners were kept. Here, we were turned over to an ex-prisoner; now conducting tours so that everyone can learn about what the conditions were like, why people were kept here, and how it can never be allowed to happen again. South Africans are extremely proud of their country, and this emotion gets expressed in many different ways depending on who you are talking to. In this instance, at least for our tour guide, it was of the utmost importance that everyone – foreign or native – learn the history so that they can see how the past has shaped and will continue to shape the present and the future of the country.

We began in one of the communal cells, where the standard political prisoners were kept in big rooms. Our particular tour guide was kept in one of these cells during the five years he was held there. He was sent there in 1985 after he and some others set fire to a rent control building since his family was in arrears on their intentionally-high rent. Not everyone was kept in communal cells though. The people who were determined by the government to be the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement were kept in single cells. There, it was believed, they would be less dangerous than if they were able to influence the many prisoners in the communal cells. Even amongst the prisoners there, racism further subdivided them into two groups. Asians and coloured people – those of mixed-race or Indian descent – were given more and better nutrition than the black Africans, derogatorily referred to as Bantus, received.

Following the communal cell, we went outside to the area where the single-cell prisoners would get their exercise, as well as do menial tasks such as breaking rocks. There was a photograph that was taken for propaganda purposes that depicted the regular prisoners doing the manual labor of breaking rocks, while the political prisoner leaders were doing more constructive tasks. We were told that this would happen on occasion during media visits, and immediately after the visit ended, things went back to normal and the political prisoners were subjected to the same treatment. It was at this time that our guided tour ended, and our tour guide impressed upon us how important it was for everyone to learn the story of Robben Island. Following that, we walked through the single-cell area and saw Nelson Mandela’s cell that he had been in. There were only a few items left behind now, but in a video we saw on the ferry ride, many of the prisoners were allowed to keep lots of books, as well as complete their studies. Much of the South African constitution that is in place today was written on Robben Island by the prisoners who would form the new government following the end of apartheid.

With the tour over, we took the ferry back to the waterfront where we grabbed some food and did some souvenir shopping while the Italy-Slovakia game was occurring. As much of the food area was outside and all of the places had TVs tuned to the match, there was quite a roar when Slovakia scored their first goal to go up on the Italians. Much like when we were at the casino in Jo’burg, no one likes the Italians. We wound up in a bookstore which had a café with a TV showing the match as well, and that’s where we ended up watching the crazy finish which included many late goals, along with the trademark overacting of the Italians and some obnoxious time-wasting by the Slovaks as well. In the end, the result was Slovakia 3, Italy 2, and, as the announcer stated, the Italians exited in disgrace from the tournament. Apparently this is the first time in history that both finalists from the previous World Cup were eliminated after the Group Stage. Considering that France never even deserved to be in the World Cup and my now well-known disdain for the Italians, I couldn’t be more thrilled.

We headed back to the hotel to drop our bags off, and got caught up in the pre-match traffic in our cab. We quickly realized that there was no way we’d be able to take a cab to the match tonight, so once we got back, it was time to head out on foot to the stadium. Armed with vuvuzela in hand and American flag draped over my back, we set out to find the crowds of Dutch fans that we had seen all day long down by the waterfront. The Dutch fans are probably unlike any other country’s fanbase, as we were amazed at how many different articles of clothing were being worn in that bright, obnoxious, yet beautiful orange color. I’m talking about suits, suspenders, overalls, shirts, pants, glasses, helmets, ponchos, wigs, arm-warmers, socks, shoes, everything! It’s truly something that needs to be seen in person.

We finally found everybody as we approached the Fan Walk. This was the first time out of our 4 matches that something such as this was put in place. While we walked to the stadium in Polokwane, we were basically the only ones on our street walking and the crowd at the match itself was half the size of the one tonight. Jo’burg’s 2 stadiums weren’t set up to do anything like a Fan Walk either, with Ellis Park being in a crappy part of town and Soccer City being in the middle of nowhere. Cape Town, however, provided us with the atmosphere that was most reminiscent of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Throughout the 3-4km walk, there were DJs, bands, and dancers all scattered up and down the road, not to mention all of the fans chanting songs and blowing vuvuzelas, plus there was a marching band to top it all off. Pure joy and fun.

At the stadium, we had to walk three quarters of the way around it before we found a gate that wasn’t packed full of people. Once we got inside, we lucked out in that our seats were directly in front of where we entered, plus we were in the lower level for the first time. We were seated near the main Dutch fan section, which in reality was difficult to truly define, as roughly 85% of the stadium was decked out in orange. I always find it fascinating to see which countries are represented at matches. As I said earlier, I was sporting my typical American flag cape, as I wore something US-related at every match we attended regardless if the US was playing or not. The flags that I saw at the stadium for a Netherlands-Cameroon match were: Finland, Austria, Wales, England, Canada, Ghana, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Scotland, and even North Korea. I’m sure there were others that I didn’t see, but the point is that it’s terrific to see just how truly international a World Cup is.

As far as the match itself, it played out like a typical match from this World Cup involving a European power against an African team. The European power starts off slowly before picking up steam and scoring, while the African team doesn’t look horrible, but is completely and utterly unable to finish and score. Out of the 6 African teams that made the tournament, Algeria scored 0 goals, Cameroon scored 2 goals (1 on a penalty shot), Nigeria scored 2 goals, Ghana scored 2 goals (both on penalty shots), the Ivory Coast scored 1 goal (not counting North Korea), and South Africa did the best with 3 goals. Ghana managed to advance, but though these African teams have some individual talents, the teams themselves are just not good enough to play a complete match consistently. The Dutch took a 1-0 lead into the half, though it was rather mundane, and the Wave that swept around the stadium was arguably a bigger highlight than anything that actually happened on the pitch.

Keep in mind that this match didn’t really mean a whole lot. The Dutch had already qualified for the next round and were only in danger of falling to 2nd place if they lost this match, combined with Japan scoring a lot of goals to make up the goal differential. Japan was up 2-0 on Denmark at the half, but with the Dutch in full control of the match, it was nothing to worry about. Things got interesting in the 2nd half when Cameroon were awarded a penalty shot after a free kick was handled in the box by a Dutch player. Eto’o calmly converted to level the match, but again, a draw for the Dutch still secured 1st place. Later in the match, Arjen Robben, one of the best players who had been injured at the start of the tournament but was kept on the squad anyway, began to warm up. As he prepared to enter, the cheer from the Dutch fans was arguably as loud as when they had scored their goal earlier. The cheers were well-deserved, as a short time after Robben came on the field, he made a wicked move on a Cameroon defender and uncorked a fierce, curling shot that the keeper did extremely well to parry, except that it bounced right to their other striker, who shot it into the back of the net to provide the winning margin for the Oranje.

With our final match in the books, and this being our final night in South Africa, we headed out to a bar on the way back home. Many drinks later, it was time to head home amidst the vuvuzela chorus ringing throughout the night. Sadly, our trip has come to an end, as we leave tomorrow for the travel day of hell. We have approximately 32 hours ahead of us in a row from the time we leave the hotel until we return home to Chicago. 3 times to check our bags, 3 flights, 3 times through immigration, 3 times to pick up our checked luggage, hopefully sleep somewhere in the middle, along with remembering to eat. Ugh.