Amagluglug v.s. Nigeria

One of the things that I most appreciate about being in Rustenburg, is that every once in a while, Olympia Park Stadium hosts soccer matches...for FREE! Free is definitely in my Peace Corps entertainment budget. So, after work on Wednesday, I headed to the stadium and got there before it completely filled to capacity, because the first few thousand attendees were promised a free vuzella (horn, sp?). Instead, the crowd received South African flags, but not as exciting as the vuzella (a soccer match requisite). Actually, this was nice for me as I've yet to get one (which will end up being one luck person's "gift" when I return home).



Since I'm not a soccer fan, I can't really say much for the game, with the exception that the score was tied when I left. One of the funniest aspects of my experience was during the pre-game entertainment, when a group of about 10 cheerleaders came out in their yellow crop tops and green spandex shorts. Prior to them coming out, everyone in the mostly male audience was jumping around, waving their flags in support of their team. Once the girls came out on the field with their hot pants on and started dancing to "The Thong Song" by Sisco, it was as if I'd suddenly gone from a crazy sports event to church. I couldn't believe (well, actually I could) how different the atmosphere was. Not a person was standing. All eyes were bobbing up and down, from side to side in tune with exposed hips and thighs. I couldn't help from laughing and discussing my observation with Saziso. He said that if anyone were to stand up and start waving their flag, blocking someone's view, they would get yelled at. Fans were just as serious about watching this spectacle as they were about their team winning.

Another thing that I noticed was a relatively attractive man with a beard. For some reason, I kept staring at this man, because something about him seemed to stand out from every other guy I see on a daily basis, and it wasn't because he was cute. After a few seconds, I realized that it was, in fact, the beard that made him stand out. I have not really noticed men around these parts, or in other parts of South Africa with beards, other than older Afrikaner men. I asked Saziso (South Africa according to Saziso) about how Black people might perceive the man, because he had chosen to do something that made him stand out from the crowd. (I phrase it that way, because, to a certain extent, it seems to not be viewed upon highly if you do anything to make yourself too different than the norm or makes you stand out in any way). I was told that people might/would judge him, because he would be perceived as "wanting too much attention".

Well, I can't think of anything else particularly exciting about the event, but I did have lots of fun hanging out with my friends and it was a nice way to celebrate Hump Day!

If you're actually curious about the game, click on this link: Amagluglug show Bafana how it's done