Amakhosi for life!

What a weekend! Sure, it had a rough start and a rougher ending, but the actual weekend was a blast! This weekend Trevor, Mbumbi and I went to Johannesburg to meet up with nine of our fellow interns at Soccer City (the stadium where the opening and closing World Cup matches were held). But I’m getting ahead of myself – let’s go back to the beginning.

All of the interns at Soccer City in Johannesburg. 

It was 2:45 a.m. when my alarm went off. I dragged myself out of bed, corralled Mbumbi and Trevor and the three of us piled into the Tazz (our car) and headed to the train station in order to catch a 3:30 a.m. train to Johannesburg. When we got to the train station every single one of us was dying to board the train so we could pass out during the nine-hour trip. But that would have been too easy. Instead, we found out that the train was running two hours late. After exchanging bleak glances with each other we plopped down on the floor and sat in a stupor while we waited for the train.

But when the train finally arrived at the station, I was unbelievably pumped! Heck, even though it was 5 am and I had only gotten 5 hours of sleep after a ridiculously long week I was actually in a good mood. I even have picture evidence to prove it:

Mbumbi and I on the train.

The train ride was pretty uneventful; in fact, it felt just like taking the train back home (I know that South Africa completely redid their train system in preparation for the World Cup last year so all the trains are in pretty good condition). In fact I think the only difference about the train here was that throughout the entire nine-hour journey hawkers walked up and down the aisles selling everything from chips and beer to toys and air time (for cell phones). I didn’t sleep a whole lot on the train unfortunately, but I did get to see an amazing sunrise.

A South African sunrise.

When we arrived in Joburg (I love calling the city that) the first thing Trevor and I did was walk up to street vendor (they are everywhere) and purchase ourselves Kaiser Chiefs jerseys. For you see, the Kaiser Chiefs were the entire reason that we were in Joburg. The professional soccer league in South Africa is called the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the biggest rivalry within the league is Kaiser Chiefs – Orlando Pirates. This rivalry is comparable to Manchester United – Chelsea, Red Sox – Yankees and Cowboys – Redskins. The funniest thing about this rivalry however, is that both teams’ “home” field is Soccer City in Johannesburg. So, four times a year these two teams meet in Johannesburg for the Soweto Derby. This match is considered the clash of the titans and everyone in South Africa, from babies to grandparents, will pick a side for this match.

In Kimberley, most of the coaches are Chiefs fans and my favorite player in the PSL, Jimmy Tao (I like him because he does a lot of work with GRS and is a solid defensive player) is a Chief, so I am a Chiefs fan. Trevor is also a Chiefs fan. So we hoped off the train, bought our jerseys for just R60 and minutes later were picked up by Katie, one of the Soweto interns, and driven to Soccer City.

The next four hours can only be summed up by one word: ridiculousness. On the car ride there, every car we passed would hoot their horn at us and the people inside the car would either throw up a peace sign (the Chiefs sign) or cross their arms over their chests (the Pirates sign). Whenever we passed people wearing Cheifs gear Trevor and I would yell “Khosi for life” and throw up our signs and there’d be hooting and hollering. Then whenever we passed someone wearing a Pirates jersey, Mbumbi and Katie (both Pirates fans) did the same thing.

Fans hanging out of cars on the way to the stadium. Sorry for the blurry picture. 

The stadium was unlike any sporting experience I have ever been a part of. First off, when you buy a ticket you are assigned a section instead of a seat. Then within your section you kind of stand or sit wherever you want. And even then, you often end up in a completely different area of the stadium from where you are supposed to be. We ended up in a completely different section that our tickets said, but I’m not going to complain about it - we had sideline seats! 

Trevor, Meghan (the intern from Lesotho) and I at the sidelines!

Durkin (well, Andrew, but his last name is Durkin so that's what we call him, one
of theCape Town interns) and Hasmin (also a Lesotho intern) on the sideline railing.

Now I’ve been to some pretty good sporting matches – Red Sox vs. Yankees being the most paramount – but this match took the cake! At Soccer City, everyone is rooting for a team, but it is so much more than that. Watching the match is a social, dancing, singing extravaganza. Whereas in the states everyone will join in on the wave or some lame clap clap stomp cheer, here everyone joins in on every cheer and I felt like I was right in the middle of a never-ending party on the sidelines. And on the sidelines, if you are supporting the same team and someone else, then you are instantly friends for life. Every intern made a ton of friends in just two hours.

A Kaiser Chiefs fan section.

A Chiefs fan blowing a vuvuzela. This guy was hilarious all match!

As for the game itself, the Chiefs won 2-1! The winning goal was scored by Shabalala, the same guy who scored the first goal in 2010 World Cup, and the goal was scored right in front of us! I was ecstatic! But one of the coolest things about the match was that even after it was over, fans from both teams stuck around the stadium long afterwards singing and dancing and drinking. The whole experience just blew my mind.

Khune, the Kaiser Chiefs goal keeper. Top goal keeper in South Africa.

The ride home was also ridiculous. Partly because we crammed 12 people, 3 backpacks and a gigantic suitcase in a car meant for 7, but mostly because the ride home was just like the ride in. Every car we passed would throw up their team’s sign and shout something to us. Vuvuzelas were blasted left and right. Horns were hooted. Naturally we all shouted and gesticulated back. It was phenomenal. Definitely one of the best experiences of my life and what is even cooler is that I’ll get to experience this three more times!

Trevor, Mbumbi and I after the game.