My Experiance in Africa

My journey to South Africa was a once in a lifetime trip.

I met and talked to over a hundred people from a handful of countries ranging from Sweden, Norway, Germany, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canada, and America. We discussed more soccer than I think I have in my whole life and about the political and every day differences between our countries. One South African supported Ghana after her home country was knocked out of the World Cup. She said Africa was united and that the whole continent’s hopes were behind the Black Stars.

I went on a couple game drives or safaris in the wild life where my peers and I saw elephants, zebras, hippopotamuses, rhinos and lions to name a few. I was an eyewitness of African farm life. Many of the typical things like butchering a Bontebok or castrating sheep was not as gruesome as I expected. I was skeptical in the beginning but by the end I was keen to take it all in.

I picked up a lot of information about South African culture and life style. In a way it was very similar to my experiences in visiting other countries. There is less importance placed on time, and often they take the approach that things will get done when they get done. For instance servers here will not give you your bill until you ask for it no matter how long you have been finished with your meal. I also encountered internet cafes and retail stores closing for 15 minutes during a lunch break.

My South African history course gave me insight on the overhaul the country went through to get to where it is today. The role of Rugby and sport during the aftermath of apartheid was critical to holding the rainbow nation together. One former Springbok came into our class and taught us the fundamentals of a scrum.

I went to the intensely graphic Red Location Museum. There I got an overview of the apartheid struggle and some of the leaders of transformation movement. I have never in my life seen more gruesome pictures of people being executed during that time.

I joined South Africans at FIFA Fan Parks for the Bafana Bafana matches. They took great pride in their country hosting the most viewed tournament in the world but also in seeing their team play on the biggest stage.

I was one of 3.18 million people according to FIFA,to attend the World Cup.

My peer students and I visited an impoverished township. There we saw hundreds of diminutive houses with tin roofs lined up in close proximity to each other. Stray dogs could be found on every street corner. The heart of the township had a large number of barefoot children, some without shirts playing soccer with a poor quality ball. They were very friendly and posed for pictures with huge smiles that showed they still had hope. I gave one of them my Ronaldinho, Barcelona shirt. They all knew who he was, when I first walked past them they kept saying his name. The girl thanked me for the gift.

The highlight of my trip as an aspiring sports journalist was interviewing one of the best soccer players in the world, Steven Gerrard. It began when I received the word that the English National team would be practicing at the University where I was studying. I thought that would be the perfect chance to see them practice and then interview a player. However that never panned out because there was high security including a helicopter around the training facility. Also the A.D. didn't receive word of when they were training until 30 minutes before the session. I improvised.

I called the local newspaper and found out when and where the press conference would be held for England. The media availability was at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium that night, the sit of the match the next day. I took a cab full of FIFA volunteers to the stadium. On the way I asked all of them how much money they wanted for their FIFA jackets hoping that would be enough to get me into the stadium. They all said no and that it wouldn't work anyway and that I was wasting my time trying to attend the press conference. I knew better.

As I approached the stadium I found the gate opening where security was letting cars in. I walked right past them and didn't utter a word as I acted like I knew what I was doing. Once I was in the venue, I asked a police officer where the media room was and he led me there. From there the rest was history. I asked Steven Gerrard my question and wrote my preview for the England game. There was around 200 English journalist there covering the event and nearly 50 cameramen televising and shooting the media session. I was the lone person from the U.S. and subsequently the only one with an American accent. I managed to sneak into a worldwide televised event with no credential. I must say, not bad for an amateur-freelancing journalist.