My First South African Football Game

Man, I love the weekends here. I’m so blessed to have all the experiences that I do. This weekend in particular is phenomenal.

First of all though, I have to give a little shout out to Matt & Taylor Broggie :) They got married yesterday and even though I was so sad to miss it, I got to see some pictures and it looked amazing!! Taylor was absolutely radiant and the whole day just sounded perfect. Congrats to the Broggie family :)

So, while they were off getting married, here in Africa a group of us went into Durban again. We got to do more shopping in that market, which was great! I keep trying to imagine how all this will fit in my carryon to come home, but oh well. As my lovely roommate told me, “If there’s a will, there’s a way!” Now normally for Durban days, we leave around 4pm, but my Ethembeni group had to leave at 1pm because….drum roll please…we got to go to a soccer game!!! Some of the staff at the Family Center decided to take us to a game, so we met up with them in Durban. It was SO COOL! It was the Martizburg United Football Club vs. the AmaZulu Football Club and we got to watch the game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, which is one of the new ones built for the World Cup. It was absolutely beautiful! It truly was a work of art. And apparently, you can bungee jump from the top of it! We tried SO hard to get to the top (you can go up and there is a platform to look out on Durban) but I guess they close it during the game so we couldn’t. :( We were pretty bummed but oh well. There’s always next time....next time I’m living in South Africa and going to a soccer game right before the World Cup…yup, there’s always next time ;)

But seriously, it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had here so far. Everything you imagine a soccer game in Africa would be, it was. Never in my life have I heard such constant, loud noise. I mean, these people were going strong for the entire 2.5 hours we were there, yelling, singing, banging on chairs, dancing, blowing horns….everything you can imagine that makes noise was happening in that stadium. All of us had a headache by the time we left. It was SO LOUD! And the crazy part is that the stadium was probably only a quarter full; I can’t imagine how loud it will be when the stadium is packed out for the World Cup! All I can say is, if you’re coming out here, bring earplugs! :) It was awesome though to fully experience it. There is nothing like it in the world and I can’t wait to see the stadium on TV back in the States and know that I’ve been there!

After the game, all of us went to McDonalds, which has become a favorite here. It’s funny because we all talk about how back at home, we really don’t like McDonalds. But in South Africa, it’s something we crave. Haha. So we got dinner there and then brought the Ethembeni staff back to AE to show them our home! We got to show them our rooms, and then did star tripping with them! For those of you who don’t know, star tripping is a game you play where you have someone pick a star and focus on it while spinning around for 30 seconds. When 30 seconds is up, you shine a flashlight right in their eyes and they fall EVERY TIME. It’s the funniest thing and we wanted to play with the staff but they were too scared! Only one of them did it and it was absolutely hysterical. Then we started a movie but all got super tired, so we went our separate ways. It was so much fun though to get to spend time with them apart from the kids. There are so many distractions at the Family Center (ie: the kids) so it was neat to get to talk to them away from that setting. I feel like I know them all a lot better now, which will help when we’re there to serve. It was awesome.

And today, I woke up early and just had some time to be alone. I didn’t go to church this morning for the sake of my sanity…I just needed some time by myself. It’s a rarity here in Africa and I try to grab it whenever I can. At noon today, we’re all driving into Durban to see a play about the history of South Africa. I’m honestly not too excited, but I’m sure I’ll love it, as with everything else here.

I also realized today that I will be home in 45 days. I cannot believe it. That is such a short amount of time! It still feels like this whole journey is just beginning. I’m praying that I can really soak up everything in this last month and a half. I don’t want to get home and feel like I could have done something more or differently. I want to be fully open to everything God has planned during this time. I want to grow and laugh and cry and love. I want to see brokenness and justice. I want to lay in the sun and play in the rain, reflect on the past and envision the future. I want to spend time reflecting and meditating and praying, but also make time for fun and laughter and casual conversation. I just want these last 45 days to be everything they can be. So, if you feel like praying for that in the next few weeks, I would be okay with it :) I love you all.

With love from South Africa,

Alex