No more World Cup. Alas. Although truth be told it ended right on time; school started today and I think my teaching would start to suffer if I continued spending most of my nights in dingy bars watching T.V. Signs that I've been frequenting places of ill-repute too often-- a few days ago a man tried to BUY ME from my friend Dan (and not in a cool, kinda funny, animal house impersonation way- "how much for your women...") You don't have to ask, the offer was insultingly low, although he did offer to throw in a Gospel tape for good measure (he considered it briefly, but lacks the neccessary tape deck.) Despite such hazards, I think I need to try to continue my streak of only watching World Cup in foreign countries where soccer is actually followed. It started in 2002 with Ireland's surprise win over the Netherlands, (Guinness ran in the streets, stores shut, people wept, England was ridiculed) and while Tanzania wasn't actually in this World Cup, we enthusiastically supported Ghana's short bid. To be fair, I should probably warn countries that I'm coming; I think I'm the cooler when it comes to sports (or games of chance, or supermarket lines, etc., etc.) Virtually every team I pulled for during this WC managed to lose, sometimes despite spectacular odds. I have a feeling it's linked to being a lifelong Cubs fan; the taint of failure and loss surrounds me and somehow, via osmosis or telepathic waves or something, manages to negatively influence the team I'm rooting for. Or maybe I just can't pick 'em. Who knows.
In other news, it's cold here! Really! We get down to the 40's at night with 20 kph winds, and while I feel ridiculous putting on a coat given that I live 5 degrees south of the Equator, it's come to that recently. It makes the process of showering particularly fun as the water that comes out of that pipe in the wall is downright icy (Dan yelped loud enough to wake the neighbors when he turned it on last Saturday.) The irony of coming down with hypothermia in Tanzania would almost be worth the hassle and, i tell you, it's entirely a possibility.
I have to run as Dan and Courtney are visiting and we're making Tacos tonight! (Thank you Uncle Al and Steph for the seasoning packets!!!) Some thoughts to think on in the meantime:
1.) Should Bruce Arena continue as coach of the U.S. Soccer team. Yes or no, and please explain your reasoning. (I'm appealing to the soccer followers out there- Philip, Ian, J.D....)
2.) My old apartment building in New York is famous! It was #1 on the most emailed list for the NYTimes online today ("Out of College, but Now Living in Urban Dorms," www.nytimes.com) , and if you look behind the african-american girl in the picture, you can see the door to my apartment! It was a surreal experience, reading the paper over here and then seeing a picture of my old hallway.
Okay, more soon! love,
kt
In other news, it's cold here! Really! We get down to the 40's at night with 20 kph winds, and while I feel ridiculous putting on a coat given that I live 5 degrees south of the Equator, it's come to that recently. It makes the process of showering particularly fun as the water that comes out of that pipe in the wall is downright icy (Dan yelped loud enough to wake the neighbors when he turned it on last Saturday.) The irony of coming down with hypothermia in Tanzania would almost be worth the hassle and, i tell you, it's entirely a possibility.
I have to run as Dan and Courtney are visiting and we're making Tacos tonight! (Thank you Uncle Al and Steph for the seasoning packets!!!) Some thoughts to think on in the meantime:
1.) Should Bruce Arena continue as coach of the U.S. Soccer team. Yes or no, and please explain your reasoning. (I'm appealing to the soccer followers out there- Philip, Ian, J.D....)
2.) My old apartment building in New York is famous! It was #1 on the most emailed list for the NYTimes online today ("Out of College, but Now Living in Urban Dorms," www.nytimes.com) , and if you look behind the african-american girl in the picture, you can see the door to my apartment! It was a surreal experience, reading the paper over here and then seeing a picture of my old hallway.
Okay, more soon! love,
kt
posted by Katie at 2:46 PM
3 Comments:
the thing i noticed right away was the tile. it was like "hey, i know that place!"
let's hope your bad karma does not affect the irish or the bears this autumn. cubs are beyond hope.
as for soccer... what we need is a coach who can teach our players to fall down and roll in agony to draw a penalty from the opposition. it seemed that was the pivotal moment in most games i watched.
Katie, Katie, Katie...
Gone to the dark side of round football. Oh well when in Rome as they say. I think that you are right about the Cub's curse. By the way can you start rooting for the Packers?
Also, "How much for the little girl..." was from the Blues Brothers. I am really glad that Dan did not decide to sell you, those Gospel tapes are not all they are cracked up to be.
Take care.
uncle owl,
damn. you're right, it is from the blues brothers. belushi movies tend to run together in my mind.
and about suddenly watching football...yeah, i know. i can't help myself. it is a bit of a "when in rome thing," even as it also has to do with the fact that here it's the sport of the people (as opposed to the sport of the yuppie 'burbs like in the u.s.) so the reverse snobbery i harbored towards it at home doesn't hold so much water. no worries though, i'm not abandoning america's pastime, i'm just devoting all (as opposed to most) of my freetime to following sports now.
kt
Post a Comment
<< Home