2010 South Africa World Cup

[img_assist|nid=200|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]On May 31, I arrive back on the continent of Africa, after being away for over two years. My first week I’ll spend visiting old friends in Lesotho. I miss their hospitality, I miss the open valleys and the rugged mountains of the little kingdom, and I miss the taste of Sesotho on my tongue. Two years has been too long. But come June 11 the World Cup begins, and for the opening match -- South Africa vs. Mexico -- I'll be one of the lucky ones in the stands at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg. I also have tickets for two USA matches: against Slovenia, and the big one against grandmother England. From Johannesburg I head south to attend another South Africa match, this time in Bloemfontein, where I’ll be in the company of a couple former students from Lesotho. They coached me in soccer each day after school for three years, and it will be a pleasure to watch a world-class match alongside them. We will see South Africa’s Bafana Bafana play France. The final match ticket I have is for a Round-of-16 game in Port Elizabeth on June 26. We don’t know yet who will play in that game, but I do know that the “we” who is going is me and Garth, a friend who lives in Jeffrey’s Bay, not too far from the Port Elizabeth stadium. It won't be until the whole event is over, however, that I return to America, flying back out of Johannesburg on July 13. That’s six weeks of observation, exploration and documentation. I’ll try to post words, photos and video here frequently throughout the six-week sojourn.