a travel guide to Durban :-)

Finally, it is July 1st and new internet cap has arrived and i can tell you all about the past week :-) I have not written in a while, so this is a long one...but totally worthwhile :-)

So, what has been happening in the last week? Well, it has been a busy past few day; well busy by Durban's "just chill and enjoy the sun" standards. The weekend started with a trip to Florida road, Durban's version of Long Street, which was filled with foreigners getting ready for the Brazil Chile Game. It was packed! We eventually found a table at Bangkok Wok...right next to some Portuguese men :-) We had great thai food there- curry and stir-fry...i definitely need to go to Thailand now! The game itself was not very exciting but the company was fun. Got a little awkward when Meg P had to save me from this very determined Portuguese man! But that's what friends are for :-) The party continued...but in the aid of avoiding unnecessary groping and because i had to be up EARLY the next day, i left.

On Saturday morning, we left, bright and early, to the farmers market in Shongweni. It starts at 5am and they recommend you get there no later than 7am so the good stuff is still there. Well, we got there at 7:30, and there was plenty of wonderful things to buy. Mainly fruit, vegetables, cheese, baked goods and meat. But some other random food items, as well as art and random bits and bobs. After spending far too much money, we sat down to have breakfast. Now this is what the market is really known for- its great breakfasts! Croissants, bacon, eggs, omelettes, vetkoek, breakfast in pita, fruit salad, avo samies...anything and everything! As well as some good coffee :-) I definitely recommend taking a trip, if you are in Durban. It is open every saturday till about 10am. Very Very cool! :-)

From the market, we went on to Nottingham Road. My parents have just finished building their 'retirement home', which has only two bedrooms- the main room and guest room/study...ie, no space for the kids! Nottingham Road is about an hour and a half from Durban, in Natal Midlands, and is where my dad grew up. It is surrounded by some of South Africa's top private schools- Kersney, Michael House and Hilton. It is a strange little dorpie- literally a one shop town, but it is known for its brewery, The Nottingham Road Brewery, which makes beers called the 'Pickled Pig', 'Whistling Weasel' and the 'Tidily Toed'. It is super good local beer. If you ever see it in a shop...give it a try :-)

The house is in a wonderfully quiet area with cows and buck running everywhere. We were lucky because it was a beautiful day; not cold at all! I spent most of it reading in the hammock on the veranda! I could i have stayed there all weekend...Sadly, there is no furniture, so it may have gotten a bit rough in the night :-)

Anyway, we had to get home by 8pm because it was USA vs Ghana and we had to watch it! And what a game. I know i should have supported USA but Ghana all the way friends! They are Africa's hope and i hope they make it far! The Ghanian government had said it will sponsor Ghana fans, because they have fun out of money, to stay on as long as Ghana is in the game. If that goes not get them all the way...nothing will. I think we must all by Ghana Flags :-)

Sunday was dominated by the anticipation of the England Germany game...which was an amazing game. All i can say is, yes yes Germany deserved to win...but soccer...get with the program and use technology and replays! For goodness sakes!

Yesterday was super awesome! I went to Goudans, which makes the best and spiciest bunny chows in the world! It blows your brain but it is so good. The bunny chow is so funny because it was originally used because the indentured indians did not have enough time to eat their lunch, so they would put it in some bread to keep it and then eat it later. Well, that is one of the stories...there are loads! Goudans in the arch rival or Govender's which is just 100 meters up the road. I think Goudans is better :-) It is a great place, which really represents the new South Africa with people of all races! And you know if Indian people eat there, the food must be good! it is cheap and spicy...Definitely worth a visit (corner of Umbilo and Eatton Road in Glenwood)!

Tuesday was a very exciting day for me. I have lived in Durban pretty much my whole life and today I had a day of new places I have never been. First off, we went to lunch at this place called 'little Gujart'; a little vegetarian restaurant. Yes, it was a curry overload, but it is the official food of Durban. This place, though, was not spicy which was a good change and had no meat, which was a nice change too. And it was so cheap! R140 for lunch for 5 people plus drinks! I don't know what street it is on, except it is in town and very little but packed full all the time! Good food!

Then we headed to Warwick Junction. Warwick Junction is one of those places with a reputation of 'don't go down there because you will be mugged/stabbed/killed'. Well, let me tell you, that is definitely not the truth. It is a market which is divided into different areas- you have fruit and veg, clothes, beads, spices, herbs and animals. It is a traditional market mainly, so by herbs I mean traditional medicines and there are some sangomas there, and my animals, I mean live chickens which can be de-headed at your request and a wide range of traditional foods available such as tripe. Warwick Junction was created by the city as a place to house all the informal traders. Basically, a long time ago, all these traders set up all over the city, and the city of Durban didn't really know what to do- they did not want to get rid of them but did not want to have them spread everywhere. So they created one area where the sellers could rent a area to sell, and over time, Warwick Junction expanded and grew to what it is today. The evil city manager, Mike Sutclife, wants to destroy the market and make, yet another, shopping mall. Never fear though, because the people of Warwick have united together in a form of union organisation and have put up such a fight that it does not look like it will happen...we hope! If you come to Durban, it is a definite place to visit...and lots of presents you can buy for your foreign friends :-)

Finally the day ended with a visit to Ike's Bookshop. Now this is not a new place for me but rather a regular spot. It is an old bookshop that focuses on academic books and has everything you can think of. It is found right at the bottom of Florida road, near bean bag bohemia (a big spot for durbanites), and had been there for ages! You walk upstairs and see the walls signed by all the past authors who have had book launches there and will be amazed at the books you can find- for SA politics, to Marx, to sporting books, to anything! It is a great place to go, with great prices and a good vibe! If you haven't been there...GO! Also look out for launches they have- I am going to one tonight in fact :-)

Well...that has been what i have been doing for the past week. A fun-filled week and i hope this has enticed you to visit durban and try these new places :-)

the ups and downs

Bafana Bafana did us proud! They have not made it through and the critics will say they have let us down but it is not true. They beat france; a team ranked approximately 70 places ahead of them; a team which is a former world cup winner. They won without their first string goalie! They are an amazing team which has made us proud. It has been full of ups and downs in every match. First, Bafana tied with mexico is an amazing display of their skill and spirt. They we lost, very sadly, to Uruguay and our goalie was sent off. But now we have come back with an amazing win against France. It was an intense game. The first goal sent us all on a high! Fantastic! Then the red card! Excellent news! Funny how when it happens to the other side everyone cheers but for us it was a huge betrayal. Then we had a couple shots at goal that missed, and then that wonderful and rather awkward second goal! Things were looking up. But then one of our players had to be taken off on a stretcher...very sad! But Bafana and their supporters did not let that hamper our spirit. We kept fighting. Some say we lost the plot a bit in the second half, and I agree, the team did seem to stop attacking as much. But we still tried and had some great shots at goal! The real down point though was the France goal. Not a great goal on their part, and not all our fault, but a blow to our confidence. We tried to rise up and attack but the spirit seemed a bit down. Nevertheless, we defended our hearts out and still beat the odds and won the game. The critics said Bafana was doomed to lose 5-0; they said we had no chance and were not in the same league as the rest. Well they were wrong and we show'd them all. Bafana Bafana may have not made it through, but our boys ended on a high note...on the top of the game. They won our game, they played like stars and did you did the country proud! Bafana Bafana, I will support you always!

Life seems to be one of those things that has ups and downs; good things and bad things and it seems to parallel a soccer game quite a lot. You play your heart out and sometimes it is not enough; sometimes you are lucky and they other team messes up; sometimes you get injured and have to bow out; and sometimes you succeed and score a magnificent "Tshabalala" goal. There are highs and lows, good times and bad but all in all...it is supposed to be fun. When you stop having fun, you should take a half time break and rethink your strategy because, after all, you are there to enjoy it and try your best. At the end of the day, it is only a game (though many will disagree :-) ).

I seem to find myself stuck in a match where i am losing quite badly and am sitting in the change room trying to regroup so i can come back and dominate in the second half. It has been a rough first semester- very rough and with marks coming out in 10 days, the cloudy seem very dark. To be honest, I am scared to go back out there. i would rather stay in the change room; actually i would like to sneak out the back and drive far away. Avoidance...the best way to deal with everything :) Sadly though, we all have to face reality, even when we try really hard to run from it. People have said to me that the reason last semester was so rough was because I took on too much and didn't have enough time for fun. That is definitely true. So they say don't do that again; work out what was bad and don't do it again. However, that is easier said than done. Some things you just can't change. I kind of think my degree is lame and the prospect of having to take another semester worth of courses does not make me excited in the least. The prospect of doing reading after reading and writing and writing- no excitement there! Part of me wants to get this stupid masters over and done with, but that requires writing, on top of the courses, a 25 000 thesis by February next year; a thesis which has no topic at the moment. And a topic, as i am sure many of you know, is no easy feat.

Wouldn't it be easier to just sit in my purple room on my blue bed forever and ever? Why can't i just take that route? Why can't life be fun and games all the time? I know we harp on about the bad and we hardly think of the good, and we forget the good things we have in life, but sometimes the bad seems really bad.

I know I have to play my second half; I can't give up. I have to go out there fighting and have to be confident it will all work out, but right now, I don't feel it. I think i need some AYOBA to try and shake me into action. And I hope that AYOBA will come soon!

Stand tall, stand proud

Well well well...what a devastating heartbreaking game I witnessed last night. In so many ways it broke my heart and even after a good night's sleep I am still devastated. I will not pretend to be a soccer expert or even know all the rules. To be perfectly honest, I think the world cup opening match was the first game I had even watched in full. But, I do know that soccer is similar to hockey and i do know the rules of hockey. Nevertheless, there are times when even the completely oblivious do notice that rules are being broken and abused. Yes, I agree with the critics, Bafana did not play very well. It was not our best performance and we really did need to step it up. But on the other hand, I do not think that we deserved to be advantaged to the degree we were. Two of our players are out for the next game; a game that is our only chance of getting through. Were these red cards warranted is the question on everyone's mind...and of course, where does that ref live so we can go and kill him! I feel that the ref, one could say, was almost one sided and completely bias against us. We were the weak links and we were disadvantaged. We are ranked 83rd in the world against a country that is definitely in the top 20. However, the dramatic performance put on by Uruguay was utterly absurd. I hope they know what if soccer doesn't work out, they can all go into drama. Falling all over the place, clutching the faces and chests like something had just taken a swipe at them. How, i ask you, does someone's mouth start bleeding when no ones foot came in contact with his mouth. Was it the grass? Because thats all he touched. The goalie slipped and the guy fell, very over the top! He could have easily stood up. What, is he made out of glass! Honestly! I do not understand why the ref did not penalise him for being RIDICULOUS! If that is the sign of a top team, then obviously skill has nothing to do with it, and we should start practicing falling!

The moment that red card, completely unwarranted for several reasons, came out i nearly started crying. Firstly, two players were off-side and the line's man was right there! Secondly, there was no foul play. The goalie did not intentionally trip him and they player completely exaggerated his pain. Thirdly, why a red card? Why not a yellow card. Have you ever seen such a uneven match! I do not understand why the refs are not standardised because things like that have happened in past games and no red card! There have been two red cards in the tournament, as far as i know, one to Australia and one to us. Is it standardised at all. Some games have 4 or 5 yellow cards and other nothing and, believe me, there is foul play in all of those games! I just do not understand at all! And then to award a penalty. This is the first one of the tournament and again was it warranted? I can honestly say no! That game should have been stopped at the moment the players became offside, a goal kick given to SA and the ball flown to the other side of the field. No red card and no goal! And worst of all, apparently red cards cannot be queried in world cups, so we are stuck with completely unjust situation. All the ref can do is apologise to us, and will that be enough to lift the hopes of the team and people in South Africa? I doubt it. I hope that ref knows what he has single-handedly done! He has destroyed any ounce of hope that this country has for getting through the first round. But more than that, any hope at using this sport as a reconciliation tool is over. Simply by witnessing those scenes of people leaving the game early because we were losing is sign enough that we are not truly united behind our country yet. Yes it was cold, but you would have endured it if we were winning. We have been through a lot as a country and have literally pulled off a miracle, but we needed something new...a form of round two of reconciliation. We have managed to get White people into Soweto to watch soccer, which is traditionally a 'Black-man's sport'. We have united a nation with flags all over peoples' cars. But we needed to get further in this world cup to unite us. Can you honestly see South Africans uniting behind a Spanish Brazil final. I know we all knew that Bafana would probably not make it to the final, but imagine if they had. I know we are all proud to have our country as the focus around the world and anything else was a bonus. But really...every ounce hope that all 49 million South Africans had was destroyed by the bad and unjust decision of that ref! And I can guarantee, that that moment will not be easily forgotten!

I know soccer is unfair at times. The fact that France qualified over Ireland when their goal was scored by a hand ball is evidence that soccer is not fair. The fact that it is one of the only sports that does not use a third umpire means that there are gaps and mistakes are made all the time. How can one ref run all over the field expecting to see everything. Soccer needs to come on board to make it more just. It is not good enough that they get 50% of the decisions right. If there had been some forms of technology used in the game last night, things would have turned out very different!

As you can tell, I am very angry about this and very sad. But I am still behind our boys 150%! I believe that we can pull off a miracle and beat France. If South Africa is known for anything, it is defying the impossible. We won the 1995 Rugby World Cup when no one thought we would even beat Australia; We moved from Apartheid to Democracy without a civil war and we are able to live unified and peacefully, for the most part, in our new democracy. If we can do all that, we can beat France! I am behind you Bafana Bafana all the way and I believe that if every person in this country and in this world can united behind our glorious team, they can pull it off. Yes people are angry, I am angry, but we have not given up. There is grace in losing but there is nothing to be proud of if we give up. We have less than a week to pull it together- players and supporters. Let us stand proud and support our boys even if the match is not going our way! Let this devastating unjust beating united us, not divide us. Let us silence the critics and the negative attitudes and united behind BAFANA BAFANA!

the opening match and soccer fever

Soccer fever has hit! The opening match was fantastic! I have never felt a spirit like that before. I headed down to the fan park with my friend Lon, and met up with my friend Lucy and her family. There were thousands (they say 25 000 people there) and the vuvuzela's were amazing. I am not a pro at it yet...but i am getting there. I had my bafana bafana shirt and SA flag waving high. I have never been so proud to live in South Africa. We all sang the national anthem at the top of our lungs and held out breath hoping Bafana would win. Let me tell you, Lon and I were nervous! We desperately, like every other South African, wanted our boys to win! When that first goal was scored (and what a magnificent goal it was), we went crazy! I have never heard noise like that. It was deafening. The vuvuzela's, the flags, the shouting, the jumping! It was spectacular! And then when Mexico scored, it was deafeningly silent. Not a sound, no flags waved, no vuvuzela's. All 25 000 of us were silent. If there were any Mexicans there, they were smart enough to keep quiet! But a few minutes later, we recovered and the supporting started again...even louder than before! And when that ball hit the pole and didn't go in, we were devastated! What a let-down. Nevertheless, a draw is excellent anyway! Bafana Bafana did us proud! They played amazingly and i have faith that they will make it through!

Next, was the American England game. Considering i was born in England, i should be supporting them. But i am also American, with my mom being American and me inheriting the citizenship from her. So i was split on who to support. In the end, i decided that England gets my vote because, honestly, Americans cannot play soccer! So it was my mom and brother for USA and me and my dad for England. Can't say i was too patriotic after that game...my team did not play very well at all. Nevertheless, it was an exciting game and we wait with baited breath to see who makes it though. I still hope its England!

Tomorrow, I am off to my first match- Spain vs Switzerland! I am so excited! I cannot wait. The Durban Stadium is amazing and, even though i have little aligence to either team, the atmosphere will be great. Plus, Spain is said to be a team which could win the world cup, so thats exciting too! Right now, it is very chilly in Durban (ironic considering its world cup advert is 'the city that has summer all year long'!) so hopefully it will warm up for the game. Boy oh Boy i am excited!

And not to forget, Bafana's second game tomorrow night against Uruguay. Good luck to them! I will be wearing my shirt and waving my flag once against, hoping for a win!

Feel it...it is here! :-)

AYOBA! It is here! World cup fever has finally hit...hard! Yesterday was 'United behind Bafana Bafana' day and at 12 noon we all blew our vuvuzelas and hooted out cars. It was amazing. I wish i had been in Sandton where the real celebrations took place. There were thousands of yellow bafana bafana tshirts everywhere- all races, classes and nationalities. What they say about sport uniting a nation is definitely true for South Africa!

The nation is crazy with world cup fever. I officially have my bafana bafana shirt and vuvuzela and am waiting in anticipation for the world cup to start tomorrow!

AYOBA!!

the first blog

So, this is the first post on my blog. How exciting!

I am sitting in the Cape Town international airport waiting for my flight to Durban where i will be for the next 3 weeks. It is winter break, so most people go back to where they originate from for a little bit. I am quite excited because it is the Soccer World Cup and I am going to two games in Durban. Should be very exciting indeed! The patriotism that has suddenly hit South Africa, with flags on cars and house and the bafana bafana shirts, is really heart-warming (even if my flag was stolen off my car!). It should be an interesting and exciting next month in South Africa! If nothing else, at least we got some nice roads out of it :-)

These holidays are much needed. It has been a long semester, and one that probably did not go so well at the end of the day. I am considering changing to a more human rights focused degree instead of social justice. I feel that this is more inline with my interests and future (whatever that might hold). There have been many dramas- friendships, relationships, housemates, degree...many many stressful things this term. So, a nice home cooked meal, where there is always electricity and someone else to wash my dishes, the clothes and make my bed, will be very much appreciated!

Yet, it is always sad to leave Cape Town. Especially since two of my very best friends are leaving sunny South Africa for Southeast Asia (Japan and Taiwan) at the end of July. So things seem to be changing once again. Many people left at the end of last year, so i feel like my enormous friendship group has shrunk down to two :-(

Nevertheless, this blog will ensure that the next six month of this year are extra exciting and fun-filled! There are things I have not done in my 5 years in Cape Town and now seems like a good time to start.

Well, I best be off. Time to board the plane.
Have a great day!