The FIFA world cup has arrived!! More about that in a moment, but first an update on what we’ve been up to since the last post... which has been quite a while!
We had a flying visit to the UK (and France) at the end of May and beginning of June. As strictly speaking this is a blog of our adventures in Lesotho I will keep it brief. We arrived at Heathrow on Monday morning in time to catch the tube at 8 am. As we headed towards central London needless to say it got quite busy. Both Kit and I were struck not by the number of commuters, but by their very successful effort not to communicate with each other! Arriving in Hammersmith we were witness to rush hour at the street level in full flow. people rushing in all directions, cars and buses waiting impatiently at traffic lights and one school boy almost being knocked over by a taxi in a rush. This almost felt like my first time in London. We felt that we have truly been “Africanised” by our 3 months in Lesotho!
The trip in Britain involved one night in London, then Bristol, Cardiff, Usk, Oxford, Northampton, Milton Keynes, and Luton. We had a lovely time catching up with our friends and meeting a new little friend, Robert, in Usk. We then drove down to southern France for our friends’, George and John’s, wedding. It was a truly spectacular affair! We had a few days after the wedding to spend time with family. A long drive back to Bristol followed and then back to Africa and World Cup craze!
It was really odd returning from a warm, sunny UK to a cold, misty and drizzly Lesotho! Although it has yet to be as cold as winter in the UK, the temperature inside is much the same as out! The motivation to get out of bed in the mornings is lacking. Fortunately we returned with a suitcase full of winter clothes, we have taken measures to insulate and have invested in a gas heater for our living room. Living is more tolerable now, but I am bracing myself for what is to come!
Now onto yesterday and the first day of the first World Cup tournament to be held outside of Europe, Asia and the Americas (as one excitable commentator said yesterday)! Although we are officially living in a sovereign nation and not in South Africa, I think you would be excused not to have appreciated that yesterday. The consultant rushed through his ward round yesterday and cancelled our usual educational session on a Friday afternoon so that we could all be free for the opening ceremony at 2pm and the match thereafter. On leaving work I could already feel the fever, the vuvuzelas were filling the misty air with their distinct tones! There were hundreds of people making their way home, or to various venues across town to watch the exciting events. Kit and I went to one of the hotels in town which were projecting the game on a big screen. We were joined by a crowd of our pals and many excited Basotho dressed in the gold and green of the Bafanna Bafanna and brandishing their vuvuzelas. The atmosphere and decibels (at least 90 according to Kit!) in the room were amazing. The intensity of excitement exploded whenever South Africa entered Mexico’s half, or when a Mexican attempt at goal was stopped. In the second half, South Africa scored the first goal of the tournament. I thought the roof of the hotel has going to come off!! For the next 15 minutes, there was singing, dancing, hugging and a lot of vuvuzela noise! There was a roar when a replay was shown, followed by laughter when people realised this was not another Bafanna Bafanna goal! When Mexico scored their equaliser, the party carried on, but perhaps not at the same intensity. Although we weren’t at Soccer City in Johannesburg, I’m not sure it would have felt much different to the bar at the Maseru Sun Hotel!!
I was planning a detox after the fortnight in the UK, but the next month is going to be far from that! I will have to let my liver and ears recover in July and August!! Perhaps Kit can check my hearing out on her new audiometer... I’m sure she will update you about that soon!
I must get ready for the next match at 1:30 today Argentina v Nigeria – potentially a cracker!
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