What do you think of South Africa?

Let's pose this to the group first? Thoughts? Impressions? I'll give you a topic: Vuvuzelas and hearing, can they coexist? Discuss amongst yourselves.

South Africa was an amazing host for the World Cup. There were a few security issues (guards striking because they weren't getting paid) and yes, vuvuzelas are not the most endearing instrument, and yes, maybe all the money they spent on facilities and paying off FIFA officials would have been better spent on helping the downtrodden.

But what you couldn't see on tv, even if you watched every game in 3D on the most expensive television while dining on the finest fare with the best friends or fans you knew, was that the World Cup brought people in South Africa together and people throughout the continent were proud of it. I'm sure ESPN ran countless pieces trying to illustrate this, and maybe you saw 'Invictus' so you get it, but to actually see it in the streets, to listen to people talk about it was truly awe-inspiring.

Anecdote #1: We're at our first winery of the trip having some lunch. The couple next to us strikes up a conversation and asks the standard questions about how we're finding things (figuratively, not literally) and if we're having a good time. We eventually get to the topic of what they think about the whole event and they said:

- We're not normally soccer fans (usually rugby) but we've watched every game and we're really enjoying it.

- The World Cup has really pulled people of all classes and backgrounds together.

- We're behind Bafana all the way (Bafana means "the boys" and is the nickname of the team)

- The tournament seems to be going really well from an operations and traffic standpoint

So nothing surprising there, except that you would hear the same thing everywhere you went. White, black, it didn't matter. People were excited and proud and just happy you came from half-way around the world for a little holiday and soccer (everyone there calls it soccer, not football).

Probably the nicest part was that everyone wanted to make sure you were being treated well and wanted to know if they could help. Going to Cape Town, they have a cousin who can meet you and they know the best winery! Going on safari...you should stay at X and make sure you roll the windows up.

So there will be more commentary about what I thought about the sights of South Africa. But most importantly it was totally welcoming.

Reset the Recap

The original intent was to keep a blog as Tara and I traveled to South Africa for a couple weeks to see the 2010 World Cup. For a variety of reasons that didn't happen.

- Jobs: The last time we took a big trip we didn't have jobs. Before and after the trip we had plenty of time to play on the Internets. Not so this time.

- The Internets: South Africa has better Internet access than any of our other trips, especially mobile. We even got a Blackberry Storm 2 from Verizon which we thought would make staying in touch easier. It didn't, partially because of the silly glass screen that doesn't type nearly as well as an iPhone and partially because we didn't take the time to go use the Internet because...

- Time: We went all the way to South Africa, saw a ton of the country, and came home in 16 days. It flew by and we didn't feel like we were gone for long. We kept the families informed via email and it just seems like if you have a chance to see an elephant or a World Cup game instead of typing on the Internet, you should not be on the Internet.

So we're going to make an effort to create some belated entries. Then we can just post a link on Facebook and nobody will ever have to ask us how South Africa was, though I'll always say it was awesome and one of the best places I've ever been.