Rugby and Church, and a Naked Man on a Horse...

So, it was a really sweet weekend.  Yesterday we saw the Vodacom WP Stormers take on the British-Irish Lions in a rugby match.  The B-I Lions are what we would consider and all-star or all-pro team, made up of the best players from the UK and Ireland.  They are here in South Africa doing a tour of the country, playing all of the local teams.  The Vodacom WP (Western Province) Stormers are the Cape Town team.  As someone who has never really watched rugby, I loved it!  So much hitting and diving into groups of people head first!  I think we might try and go to another game later on in June, or attend a match during the Currie Cup in July.  I do need to wear my South Africa Springboks (the national team) jersey again.

Anyway, the match was really fun, and really exciting.  It came down to the wire.  As I said, the B-I Lions are an all-star team and are undefeated in their tour thus far.  With four minutes to go, however, the game was all tied up at 23-23, when the B-I Lions kicked a 3pointer (maybe they also call it a field goal, it’s the same idea as a field goal in American football) to put the Lions ahead, 26-23.  The Stomers almost came back, but were unable to pull ahead or tie.

After the match, we went to a pub that is attached to Newlands Stadium (the rugby stadium) and had a blast.  Apparently, I’m quite popular with South Africans and British alike.  At one point, this guy started talking to me in Afrikaans (one of the official languages, mixes Dutch and Cosa, I think), and I had no idea what he was saying to me.  I just kept nodding my head and shaking my head when I felt like it was appropriate.  After a 10 minute spiel to me during which I didn’t know a flippin’ thing he said, he ran off and I just stood there watching him.  The next thing I know, he was being escorted out.  It suddenly dawned on me what he was talking about.  I just started laughing hysterically when I realize what had almost happened.

The older British-Irish fans were really welcoming to me, haha.  They kept asking me to be in pictures with them and to wear their hats.  I even saying a round of some pro-Wales song, standing locked arm and arm with two old women.  Once again, I had no idea what was going on, but they seemed to enjoy my presence.  Later, an older British couple started speaking with me.  When they left, the woman did the whole kiss-cheeks goodbye, except that on the second go-round, she headbutted me instead of getting my left cheek.  I think she was too drunk to realize what happened, but I was left a bit dazed from the shot, haha.

Later, we made our way back to the apartments to have dinner.  Mike really likes to cook apparently.  He made eggs.  How many you ask?  Well, to quote him, he cooked “12 + 9 + 3 eggs and 32 pieces of toast”.  I must admit, they might be the best eggs I’ve ever eaten.  Unfortunately, Mike convinced me to go to Percy’s to get fish and chips an hour afterwards.  I ordered two huge lamb shanks, and as soon as they were placed in front of me, I regretted this.  We ate as much as we could of our meals and walked back trying not to think about how much food we had in us.

This morning, we woke up and went to a township mass in Guguletu.  I was supposed to go to this mass last week, but didn’t wake up in time, as those of you who follow my blog know.  Well, today I did make it.  It was actually a pretty special mass, as it was the first communion that a group of the children were allowed to have.  I loved hearing the traditional African music and hymns being played.  I will say this, it is really disorienting to be at a church service that is so similar to one that you are used to attending, but spoken in a language you have no chance of understanding.  It was a lot of fun, though.

Later today, we all went up to the Rhodes Memorial, a local memorial built onto the mountainside of Table Mountain.  It is a really odd looking place, resembling a Greek monument with its tall columns and Greek-looking statues.  It was a lot of fun, though, and was nice that we could see it on such a rainy day.  It is a very famous memorial because there is a statue of a naked man riding a horse.  We never really could find a reason why this man was riding a horse while in the buff, but hey, who are we to judge?  

We’re really hoping to get to Robben Island soon, as we are afraid that the weather is going to get worse and worse, and they don’t run the ferry to the island if the waters are rough.  We might have to take a day off of our work to make it there.  Well, that’s it for now I think.  Time to get back to some reading.  Bye for now, everyone!