AYOBAAAA!!!!

It’s a hustle and bustle like never before! We board the train, Vuvuzelas owning the ears of all, tight fit, everyone- Black. White, Coloured, Foreign assemble. The train is so packed that I haven’t felt this squished since my mother gave birth to me. The carriage rocks with “Scrumba” and every surface is being stomped for beat. Smiles invade all the faces. Colours, paint, wigs and flags, a yellow sea of T-shirts, one just as excited as the next. 30 minutes go by and not a single soul has lost enthusiasm. We arrive- Cape Town City Centre, it is a dancing stampede, filled with song, screams and whistle- lets not forget the “BAAA” of the VUVU’s. Fan Fest here we come! The sea moves along swimmingly as strangers join and create an orchestra of cheers. For the first time in South Africa we have controlled chaos- the laughing police officers says it all.



The tar of Long Street has disappeared. Instead people, hundreds and thousands of people cover it. From the balcony it all just seems like a smudge of yellow, back. green and red- with a few miss matched speckles in between. Traffic-light hawkers have probably never sold so much useless merchandise before, but it sure is fucking awesome! It seems a mass of ecstasy, as though everyone is drunk, perhaps they are, but for the most they are drunk on happiness at 12pm Friday 11 June 2010. This is what we have waited for, this is where we are, the World Cup is all around us, this is South Africa. The expectations could not have been better met as every shop in Town houses hordes of fans, selling out more stock in one day than would have in a month. SABC 1 flashes everywhere as we dance along the pavement.


PAUSE** a guy wearing an Irish cloak and lepricon hat- Ireland isn’t even in the World Cup. Oh well- he’s got the spirit, or had too many spirits…


Alcohol is flowing faster than the sea of people, I spin, stop. Focus, and continue sharing a spliff with a dude from Congo. Can this be what it’s actually all about? The unity amazes me, amazes us, amazes the tourists, the essence of 2010, so much more than just soccer, but a showcase of our heritage. The Vuvuleza outlives all voices and echoes through the streets, people might fade but the “Horn of Unity” stands strong.


Quote:


“It’s so fucking awesome guys, I can sit in traffic and just blow my VUVU and some other car will blow back!... It’s like having a conversation without words, they know exactly what we are saying when we blow!”


“It’s like having sex with random people from other cars!”


It’s now, we loving it, part of it completely, so involved, so proud, so happy. All I can say is, HELLO AFRICA!