Monday, June 21, 2010

Day 8 – Are we there yet?

I probably shouldn’t admit this, traveling with three other guys and all, but my butt sure is sore. We left for Durban this morning and had found a route that said it would take us a little over eight hours. I’m not sure if that meant Carlos expected me to do it in six or not, either way, I failed him miserably. The route included slaloming massive potholes for extended periods of time and lengths of the freeway that were just dirt road and I think we went through four spots where we had to sit and wait for twenty minutes. I’m not sure if it was the ten hours behind the wheel or the pain in the ass potholes that were the culprit, but what ever they were, I was glad to when we pulled in to our place tonight. We’re on a bluff right over the Indian Ocean, we got in past dark so I can’t see all that well and am looking forward to seeing our view at sun up.

Nothing too exciting to report, other than meeting the proprietor of this place a few minutes ago. We’re staying at a guesthouse, which is basically a B&B and had someone else let us in when we arrived. He didn’t know much about anything, literally. When we checked in to reception he just had us phone the proprietor, who then asked if (insert what ever that kids name was here) to which I didn’t respond, as I had no idea who that person was. So the guy on the phone hastily followed up with, “Is there some black kid there?” Not exactly the way most people in the states would word that, but never the less it was the case. Some Black Kid was watching rap music videos when we showed up before he showed us to our place. Then he didn’t even know how to turn any of the lights on, which proved to be a bit of a challenge for Carlos the Cripple.

We didn’t have much time to find food and get back in time to watch the England game so we ran out to see what we could find. With everything closed our options were limited to Nandos, which we had last night, or pizza. We opted for the pizza. We also had a rather entertaining conversation with a local while waiting for our ‘zza. I love the people here, they’re so friendly and helpful and just want to put a smile on your face and make sure you’re enjoying their country. They remind me of a small mom and pop kind of business, they go out of their way to make sure your satisfied in hopes that you’ll come back again. Any who, we came back for beers and pizza while we watched the England game, which turned out to be a bit of a boring game. I think it was Micah who discovered Janga in one of the cabinets here while looking for plates and he pulled it out jokingly asking who wanted to play. Next thing I knew Carlos was clearing off the coffee table, on to the floor, and stacking up the blocks. We played a couple games and the second game ended around the same time as the England game, so, of course, we just left the pieces scattered about the floor and coffee table and got ready for bed. There’s only three beds in this place we’re staying but one of them was a double twin (not up to date on my bed size terminology, so I’m not sure what that makes it.) So, Carlos yanked one of the twin mattresses off and dragged it in to the living room next to the coffee table. Basically, we’ve been here about two hours and it looks like a bomb had gone off in the living room. This is when the proprietor walked in and introduced himself, but not before taking a quick survey of the living room and asking, “Is everything alright?”

It got better when his daughter (late teens) arrived in our place shortly after him and said, “Oh, there’s my dad.” As if she were looking for him to ask him a question or something, but then never left and never asked him a question. We all flattered ourselves with the notion that she had an ulterior motive of seeing who the four guys were staying in her house.

Holland vs Japan in the morning at the second coolest stadium of the tournament, the Durban Stadium. Game’s at 1:30 and we’re looking to be out of here by 9 so I think it’s time to headbutt the pillow.

No comments:

Post a Comment