This past Saturday, Jim, our roommate Patrick and I all bought standing-room tickets to the national rugby team, The Springboks, home game against the Australian team (the Wallabies, appropriately!). We enjoyed the energy in the stadium (although Jim and I agreed that Michigan football gives it a run for the money) and the beer garden before the game.
Jim and Patrick got to see the national anthem played, which was apparently really beautiful and emotional for the stadium. I was in the bathroom! We'll have to go again.
The Springboks won the game handily. The final score was something like 28 to 7. We're starting to learn the rules of rugby, although we had a lot of questions for the South African college students standing in front of us. One of them had studied abroad at the University of Kansas! Jim was excited to say "As they say in Lawrenceville, Rock Chalk Jayhawks" to him.
Speaking of languages, Jim is learning some Xhosa from Ntombe, the woman who cleans his classroom. He can greet people, ask if they speak Xhosa, and ask how they are doing. He is getting better at the back-of-the-throat "clicking" noise that is (I think) unique to this language and comes up in a lot of words, including the word "Xhosa." Pronounce it by making a click in the back of your throat while trying to say "kho-sa." Ntombe is proud of his progress; he's trying to teach me as he goes, but I haven't improved much.
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| Enjoying a brew with Table Mountain behind us. The stadium sits at the foot of the back side of Table Mountain, so the views are beautiful. |
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| Jim and Patrick both proudly wear their "Boks" gear |
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| The stadium! We think it seats around 40,000. |
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| Action shot! I think the Springboks have just scored a "try," worth 5 points. |
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