World Cup madness

A few days ago Teka, the Principal of KGSA, and I took the girls to the local movie theater where they were showing the World Cup games. It was the last afternoon game in group play so we couldn't miss this opportunity as the night games are too late for the girls. I told Teka that all of the schools in South Africa had taken off the entire month, as well as schools in Argentina, so I thought it was at least fair to lobby for a half day. After all, it is the 1st World Cup in Africa. Teka agreed, and we were off! One hundred and eight girls and staff marched through Kibera toward Nakumatt's theater excited to see the Portugal Korea match. On our approach, I realized I forgot one small detail... how the hell we're we going to organize and control 100+ girls with 3 staff, including myself?

Luckily I had told the theater about our group the day before and they had the popcorn prepared and were setting them out before the game. What a site! This poor guy had to scoop over fifty bags of popcorn and try to somehow organize them for our arrival. It all worked out though. We got into the movie theater without any problems but as soon as the cameraman panned over Ronaldo before the game, the girls went wild! Okay, I get it... he's a good looking guy, but they went crazy! It was funny though, because I at times forget that these girls are just like any other teenage girl around the world. They are boy crazy! They face so many more challenges in life than normal, but they still have the same emotions, nerves, desires inside them as any girl.

THEN, Portugal scored their first goal. I digress for a minute. Now I had just come back from South Africa to watch some of the World Cup games. They have these things called Fan Parks set up all over the cities - basically a big park with beer gardens, food stands, and jersey stores all over. You're surrounded by people and it can get pretty wild in them if the right fans are there.

Now, returning to Portugal's first goal. You would think that there was actually a fire in the theater based on the decibel level that their screams reached. It was louder than any Fan Park in South Africa while only having 100 girls. They began jumping all over, screaming, running up and down the stairs (luckily no one else was in there thankfully) but we actually had the manager come in and tell us that the theater next to us could hear our screams and we needed to keep it down. It didn't really do anything unfortunately because Portugal went on to score another 6 goals and the madness followed just the same.

Needless to say, the girls had a blast and both Teka and I were extremely glad that we did this. Unfortunately I only have roughly two more weeks here with the school and girls. I have truly enjoyed these last 10 months and the opportunities that I've had to be here for this long. I know I'll be back, I'll continue the KGSA work in the states, but it's not the same. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to walk down to the school and see these girls whenever I want to. Convenience factor aside, Abdul, Teka, and these girls have become a second family to me and it will be hard being away from them. 'Til next time.