Proudly South African

I'm not a soccer fan. I know, blasphemy?! Haha. But the whole of South Africa is geared up for today's kick-off. It's such a big day for us! We have Vuvuzela's, Makaraba's, the Diski Dance, our Bafana Bafana supporters gear and even the little flags all over the cars on every road you drive lately. They have flags waving, they have flags stuck to the side, and they even have flags on the side view mirrors of the cars. It's nuts! The team spirit is high and I am quite proud of our country. We are really coming together with it all.

We had our doubts, like the rest of the world I guess, wondering if we would be ready for today. Wondering if the stadiums would be ready, if the team would be ready and if our tourism structure would be ready. And I really think we made it! It seems everyone is making money out of the world cup and everyone is in high spirits and enjoying themselves. A couple of the rugby supporters aren't too happy though, as the famous Loftus stadium in Pretoria is off limits for anything but the soccer. There are parents who now have kids at home, on a month long holiday, not sure what to do with them. The school curriculums had to be revised, to work around the world cup.

I wonder... what do the tourists think of our country? Whackhead Simpson, on 94.7 Highveld Stereo, had a 'Test the Tourist' day yesterday. It was hilarious! He asked people about facts regarding South Africa and asked them what they think of our country. It sounds positive thus far. Let hope it stays that way. The spirits are high in SA and it's inspiring and amazing how well we stand together and make things happen.

Even the roads are mostly done!! We had a lot of road works done on the major highways, it's been going on for ages now and it's been creating tons and tons of problems, traffic wise. But now - it's awesome!! The roads are so great now, that I get to sleep in an extra hour!! How cool is that?! Traffic is almost non-existent. I really hope it stays this way. Although we're hearing rumours that they are going to continue with the road-works once the World Cup is over. Urgh. Really not necessary guys. Not in my valley at least! LOL

I was very, very skeptical about this whole soccer thing and how it was going to work out. I still am. A bit. I am worried about the crime, especially. Generally, as you most likely know, crime is a huge issue in SA, but now.. it's escalated. Tourists probably won't know this though. We have human trafficking happening to satisfy the tourists! WTF?! What do the tourists (or SA) want to do with little kids?! How fcuktup are people?!

Sorry, freaked out a little there. Yes, crime is bad. But there have been a lot of things put into place to try and control it even more. If only for the tourists. Not cool, for us South Africans, 'cause I mean.. we deserve it too, don't we? But hey, whatever is good for the country is good for the people. Maybe South Africa gets put on the map, bold and bright, or something of the sort.

Laduma!