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Diary - South Africa - ABC - week 3
We were told about a football tournament in grassy park that we could play the next day, with the oasis guys. We went down to that early in the morning, the state of the pitch was terrible. I got a few pictures but they didn't do justice for how uneven and rough it was. The tournament didn't go so well and the team I was in did what us Brits do... Complain at the referee, to be fair, he was awful, after our game the guys in our team were complaining and after listening to what he said, I asked him to alter a few rules to make it better, he didn't agree, after a few words, I ended up reffing the next game. There were no issues, it made me laugh that they kept addressing me as mr. Ref. After the tournament, we went back to marsh as we were watching the local team, Ajax cape town, playing against Orlando pirates. It was in the world cup stadium, the one that the semi final between holland and uruguay played in. We went in the evening and the stadium was amazing and the atmosphere was electric! I got a lot of pictures and videos of it, the supporters were crazy. There was a fight literally just behind us, I got a nice recording of the fight! The game was pretty poor, but saw a few familiar faces, Benni McCarthy was playing, somehow he got lazier then before! Even Sander Westerveld was playing, that's going back some! The atmosphere at the stadium was electric and it was only 40 rand a ticket! Imagine trying to get a ticket for 4 pound, I don't even think Gosport Borough is that cheap! After the game we went back to marsh, waiting for a lift, I fell asleep and woke up at 2! We got back and went to bed. The next day we had to wait for a lift back to marsh, we waited until 3! We played football for a bit that got competitive, I've never heard people whine so much! We went down to this complex that had all sorts in it, casino, food, cinema, ice rink, the lot! Ice skating drunk was an experience. Guys were complaining about my skating saying they were surprised I didn't fall over. Haters gunna hate. We went to a club, me and James were dancing awfully, it was great! We got back to Marsh late, we got back, the guys who didn't stay at marsh permanently had to pay 150 rand, ludicrous! Sunday was another lost day, I got out of bed around 1:30, hangover free of course! There wasn't much to report for this day, got some time on the internet and whilst in the Internet room, the heavens opened, the rain was bouncing off the floor! And not being South African, we thought, why not? And played out in the rain, for a few hours we played, it was awesome, the kind of football we're used to. Strangely though, it wasn't cold at all! In the evening, I played cards with the guys and also, we all had pasta together, it seems weird actually being full at the end of a meal, something that doesn't happen for 3 guys on a budget in Hout Bay! Not much else happened that night, we watched Taxi Driver, which had Robert Di Nero in it, he looked like the tennis player Novak Djokavic. The film was pretty savage at the end, which was pretty cool. We ended up staying at Marsh this night as we couldn't get a lift back, it ended up costing another 150, not happy! When we got our money for the week, I got 315, not cool! For Monday, we played some more football, it was a lot less competitive then the day before, so it wasn't as fun as I didn't really try because I didn't want to look stupid and be the only one trying! After this, there was some more time spent chilling about. There was a lot of time wasted which made me just want to get back to Hout Bay and carry on the project as we spent a lot of time doing nothing and I felt my motivation and drive dropping. I wasn't happy because it felt like what we had done was disappearing. We couldn't help that they had the huge holiday period, it's as if the country wrote off a week because of a day, may as well call it freedom week. In the evening, we went to a place we visited previously called Trench town to watch the Manchester derby. They were selling a litre of Carling black label (2nd biggest beer in South Africa, second to castle) for 30 rand, loads of people got this, even I got one! A lot of us guys did a group bet, 10 rand each and picked names of players out of the hat on either team to who would score first, I got Rooney so I was confident, not that I wanted him to score, I wanted Manchester City to win. Ideally, I wanted Rooney to score and then City to win. I would continue this story but the rest would be wasted as by the time I publish this, you'll know the rest. Patrick got Kompany the jammy git! We stayed there till the game ended and went back to Marsh, I ended up sleeping on two beanbags, my choice of bedding the night before! The next morning we were up early as we had a group trip to a cheetah farm. It was meant to be a 20 minute trip, we were in the car for an hour, crossing some amazing views, the pictures will be available when I get some decent time on some decent wi-fi... So probably when I get home! We pulled over near some herb nursery (please try and quote a pansier place) to discover we were lost, after 5 minutes of confusion, we found out that we had long gone by it and it was actually about 25 minutes away from where we set off from originally, in Rondebosch, one plus was the fact we got to see the amazing views again! We got to the cheetah farm and the price was 5 rand for admission, as it was a public holiday, 110 rand to go in the cage (you'll tell by the pictures that the cage was pretty big) and something extortionate to walk with them. We all paid the 5 rand to go in, for 50p's worth, you can't say it was a waste of money but I felt robbed. The cheetahs were just chilling, half asleep at the back of the cages so you couldn't get decent photos, we did see some owls though, and a few dogs. We stayed there for about an hour. In the car I was in, with Daniel, Craig, Patrick and Thomas, we had to find our own way back as two groups went wine tasting and the other group when on too far ahead. Daniel wasn't happy. Craig reminded us that we had the last laugh as he had the key to the main bedroom. we got our bearings many miles down the road and ended up in Grassy park, we went to a KFC, I got a streetwise meal - 2 chicken and chips, with the portion I got, you can see why people are starving here, one of the pieces of chicken was probably a quarter the size of the normal piece, I could physically count the chips in my pack and the small drink, was half filled. For 26 rand, it doesn't sound bad but again, I felt robbed. The slight bit of conciliation from the trip was that we went to a bakery just outside and I got a loaf of banana bread for 10 rand, it wasn't too banana-ery but it definitely filled a hole, the hole that was meant to be filled with the KFC I envisioned having! We went back to Marsh, to find the other guys had already been there for an hour. We played a bit more football, seems like there's a common trend appearing here! After football, we went to go in the pool but only me and craig could get in as Craig lost the key a while back and nobody else could climb in! The Rowner in me definitely came out! We gave up on that idea and went back in, the evening came about, and it was another evening where not a lot of happened. Watched some tv, saw a rhinoplasty happen, it was pretty grim, the tv over here is a lot more liberal! Some people got a takeaway, after spending 300 rand to stay at marsh, I'd have to be getting used to eating the really basic food here, noodles! Us boys at Hout bay agreed that we'd have to get used to them! For 2.29 rand a pack from checkers you can't lose and I like noodles! We eventually left the place to get back to our flat. It was missed, even if it is falling apart! The door is like a rubix cube to close and the power keeps going off. I spent about 15 minutes catching up with Gerry about what had happened, we had a good chat, he reminded me to slow down with my words! We got to bed around 12 to be up relatively early the next morning. Getting up we were in such an unmotivated mood to do much so we spent an hour doing what we have been doing a lot in our down time, playing Pokemon! We eventually got the motivation to carry on the booklet we have been making, I have been the one writing it up and doing the illustrations but to save time, Liam has been writing them up whilst I draw the pictures, years of MS paint coming in handy! We had to cut short the completion of this as we had to meet Cheryl and Marquerithe, the lady we are assisting with the workshop now named 'girls on the run' which is working with girls from near sentinel school, who are hooked on drugs, we got there to find no girls there, they were meant to be there, they were already on the run, excuse the pun. After 10 minutes of kicking a ball around, a lady from the school came down with 4 girls, you would never have had any idea that these girls were addicts. It took a bit of time to get going but these girls weren't bad at football and they were laughing and joking. We did some running across the beach, a few football drills and a final run like the first one. It was a great effort for the first time of doing this and I can imagine this as being a good thing to come from the placement. We were told after the girls had left by the lady from the school that it was the first time she had seen some of the girls laughing, we must be doing something right! Hopefully that will bring more people and make that a success! After being on that sand barefoot for a while, me and Liam could feel sandrash, it feels like glass in the sides of your feet! We left Cheryl and went on to get a few bits in checkers, loadsa noodles and some reduced to clear things, waffles and garlic bread, they weren't bad! We got back, with heavy winds against us, so we could get to the young eagles training quickly. Patrick stayed back to cook dinner so me and Liam went to see Kenny and Patrick, we spoke about our weekends and plans and Cheryl rolled up and brought over some forms for Patrick about getting players registered, we brainstormed ideas for an efficient way to get all the people registered. A few other coaches came over and we asked about getting a meeting together to discuss this and they said there wasn't one. I felt it was time to be a bit more assertive and told them to get a meeting together in an hour. They agreed, and we went back, everyone was wrapped up as if they were about to ascend up a mountain and me and Liam were clad in hoodies and shorts, it was about 12 degrees! Whimps! We headed back for dinner and to rush to make this meeting. As we were leaving, the outside lock had broke so we couldn't leave it unlocked as Gerry wasn't in. Me and Patrick headed to the meeting until he turned back complaining about not liking riding in the dark. I lost patience with waiting about so went on without him. Riding into the township at night, by myself, not filling my pants at all... I got brief directions to the meeting place so I went to the only place I knew in there. The church, popped my head about and saw a computer class happening. I asked if they knew where the football was and they had no clue. I plucked up the courage to ask a gang of youths if they knew and they did instantly. One of them even walked me there, what a nice lad! I got into the meeting office place to find 3 coaches, Patrick and Kenny. With my new hardman approach, I told them what I was there for and what we aimed to do. They listened, discussed in another language (which was a bit off putting) and asked questions, I wrote notes on my phone and got a huge amount covered. One important thing that needed being done was signing the players on. I asked for all the teams, there were 6 teams all with different age divisions, there ended up being 20 teams. Each team was limited to 15 players. I told them to get the players to the main football pitch on Friday to get a everyone down there for registration. I planned to get papers for each team with names and also the school they go to, this is because as part of the proof, they needed birth certificates, and to avoid the chasing about, going to the school would make things a whole lot easier. The coaches liked the idea, they were adamant on getting sponsors but as it isn't what we are here for, I told them we'd look into it. The other thing was coaching the coaches and not sticking to one team, the young eagles. I took it all on board with the notes and we set out days with the different teams. A few other discussions were had, mostly in another language which was pretty awkward, and we all made agreements. I left the meeting satisfied as there was a lot of progress made and more importantly, structure to what we are doing. One thing I learnt was with all the T.I.A. I had to be the one getting things going. I got back to the flat, informed the guys about what had happened and then took to writing up on this diary. I also had a moment of madness. Whilst being on the top bunk, I tried to lean over and put my cup on the floor and ended up flying over the side and crash to the floor, Patrick was crying in laughter... Glad he found it funny. It probably was funny but I couldn't laugh as my knee was in agony. I did wonder if it was covered in the insurance. I continued diary writing until late. Then went to bed.
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