Saturday, June 19, 2010

6/20/10 - Home in Fish Hoek

5/20/10

                I am uncertain if jet lag is still corrupting my internal clock or if the overall excitement is keeping me awake, but nonetheless it is about 5:00 in the morning here in Fish Hoek and I have been wide awake and restless since probably 2:00. Yesterday was my first full day here at our beautiful home in Fish Hoek, a suburb of Cape Town. My travels went as smoothly as anyone could have hoped for and a very nice gentleman gave me a taxi ride to the house on the evening of the 18th when I arrived at Cape Town airport for. When I arrived at the house Dave (Mehr), Jamaica, Jesse, Ashley, and David (Eber) were all watching the end of the England verse Algeria game, which to our satisfaction ended in a 0 to 0 draw (the ideal score line for the USA!). The USA tied their match while I was on the plane 2 to 2 coming back from 2 goals down, but they were robbed a goal late in the game that would have garunteed them a spot in the 2nd round. So that SUCKED!

                My first full day in Fish Hoek was absolutely perfect and restful. When everyone was up in the morning we took a nice walk down to some stores near our home and bought a soccer ball. From there we walked down to the beach, which is no more than a five minute walk from our home. We juggled on the beach for quite some time. It was great fun despite the fact that I chased one of Jesse's misplayed passes in to the Atlantic soaking my shoes, socks, and jeans. After juggling, that gang walked and I sloshed over to the market where we did some shopping for breakfast and dinner that day.

                We watched the matches at home during the afternoon and evening. The results of all the matches were not ideal, but we had a great time anyway. Cameroon's loss was quite a disappointment because now they are unable to reach the 2nd round, and will likely be less motivated to play well when we got to the match between Netherlands and Cameroon next week. I am having a difficult time knowing who to cheer for in the two first round matches we will be seeing. The North Korea verse Portugal game is especially tricky. Is it un-American for me to root for North Korea?! I would really like to see them win so that both Ivory Coast and Brazil make it out of that group, in which case I would likely see Ivory Coast in the second round game, and Brazil in the quarterfinal game that Dave and I are going to in Port Elizabeth. I only have a couple days to figure that out, I suppose I might have to hope for a tie.

                Yesterday was awesome, but I am excited for my first real activity today. We are planning on hopping on the train to Simon, which is probably about 30 km or so from Fish Hoek. At Simon's beach there are apparently lots of jackass penguins! I'm so excited to see some animals! The rest of the gang have been here longer than me and all had great experiences already, especially Dave and Jamaica who spent two weeks in Port Elizabeth volunteering to take care of baby lions and tigers on a reservation that also housed lots of other great wildlife. After hanging out with the Penguins we plan to come back home and rest up while we watch the games. Climbing Table Mountain is our next excursion within a couple days, so I can't wait for that!

                Hopefully my next update will be soon. Our internet availability is not as good as I had hoped for, so I will likely not be able to post many videos or pictures, but I will still try to post blogs regularly. Cheers!

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