Good-bye South Africa

(Originally published June 24 on freep.com)

It was tough to find sleep last night, just as it’s tough to find words now.

How do you summarize Wednesday? How do you summarize this trip?

In many ways, they were the same. Moments of angst and frustration. Moments of wonder and joy.

Let’s start with Wednesday's big game.

In the four years since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we have been the craziest of soccer fans. We’ve traveled to nearly every game played on U.S. soil, logging thousands of frequent-flier miles. Between the two of us, we’ve now watched this team in seven countries.

It would be an understatement to say we love this team. We’ve celebrated every goal and suffered mightily after every loss. The World Cup is our Super Bowl.

In Germany, we suffered through two losses and a feisty draw with Italy.

At this World Cup, we had a team that had shown tremendous heart, battling back against England and Slovenia and against some horrible officiating. We hadn’t lost yet, but we needed a win.

In Pretoria for the USA’s last group game versus Algeria, it was the hottest day of our trip. The sun was beating down. We’d learned to dress in layers in Africa. It can go from warm to cold in a matter of hours as the sun sets.

We stripped off our coats and sipped beer in the courtyard next to the stadium. Three hours before kickoff, the area was packed with Americans and Algerians. Both groups mingled pleasantly, often taking pictures with each other. A loud band made up of Algerians with horns and drums marched by.

The Americans chatted nervously. We all expected a win, but there’s the nagging doubt. The memories of 2006 linger.

When they played the "Star Spangled Banner" before the game, we couldn’t help but get a little misty-eyed. The camera panned to Clint Dempsey, one of our favorites, who was tearing up and looking toward the sky.

The game itself was grueling, stressful, intense.

The U.S. squandered chance after chance. “Oh, Jozy, how did you miss that?”

Sixty minutes, 70 minutes, 80 minutes … the time was slipping away.
90 minutes. The fourth official lifted his board. Just four minutes left.

We needed someone to “be the hero,“ a mantra Amy mumbles mostly to herself whenever a sub comes on or someone takes a shot on goal. And this day, we had our hero. Landon Donovan, in the 91st minute, jumped on a rebound and hit a shot that will be remembered forever. The stadium erupted. And we got misty-eyed again. OK, we cried.

And we will be celebrating that goal for the next four years. We wish we could stay for the next game vs. Ghana in the round of 16 on Saturday, but will be back in the States, watching anxiously.

We will miss much of South Africa.

South Africa has been wonderful to us. The people have been so kind and generous, and they have an amazing pride in their country hosting the World Cup.

We will miss Cape Town, which has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The mountain that hovers above is breathtaking. The scenic drives around the city rival anything we have seen in Hawaii. Our time there was a true honeymoon.

We will miss the smiles. Everywhere we went, we were greeted by friendly faces and warm wishes. Everyone asked us where we were from and whether we were enjoying our stay.

We will miss the animals. We spent Wednesday at Pilanesburg National Reserve. Just outside our van, we saw giraffes, elephants, deer, rhinos and warthogs. In Cape Town, we saw lots of penguins, baboons, ostriches and seals. Away from the cities, the country has so much natural beauty.

There also is much we won’t miss.

There is so such deep poverty here, right alongside so much wealth. The shanty towns are everywhere. And until you see them in person, you can only imagine the circumstances in which people are living. No running water. No modern toilets. And there usually is one utility pole linked up to at least 10 shacks. Power outages are a problem, as we experienced many times during our stay. We were amazed, though, to see so many satellite dishes.

It does seem that a middle class is emerging. The mall near our final hotel in Midrand was much like Eastland Mall near our home in Detroit, but it was bustling with shoppers and activity from the locals and tourists. We can only hope the time and money we spend here will help this country build its future.

We won’t miss the Joburg traffic. It’s like Los Angeles. It’s at least an hour drive anywhere. Traffic goes at a frenetic pace. And accidents, which we passed by nightly, often have deadly consequences and snarl traffic for hours.

At night, fires are lit along the freeway to burn off the tall grass. It’s a crazy spectacle to witness. It is like the city is on fire. And the strange smell of burning grass and dry soil is something we will never forget.

But despite all this, we have had so much fun here. It’s a trip we won’t ever forget.

Is it too soon to start planning for Brazil?

Even grandma loves it

(Originally published June 23 on freep.com. Written by Amy Huschka)

JOHANNESBURG -- Here in South Africa, we hear a lot about how excited everyone is back home about the World Cup.

That must be case, because no one seems into this tournament more than my 81-year-old grandmother, Lima.

Right before we left, she pleasantly informed me that the U.S. is in Group C and is playing England, Algeria and Slovenia, who are also in Group C. Really? So cute. Like we didn’t know. She also told us that England was going to be the big game. Again. Cute.

She told me the dates of the U.S. games and that she cut the schedule out of the Cincinnati Enquirer so she could follow along.

She also told me about a family in Cincinnati bringing soccer balls to South Africa to hand out to local children. Also clipped out and saved.

After the U.S.-England game two weekends ago, I called to check on her and tell her about our trip. MeMa, as we call her, told us she got up early and watched the games before U.S.-England.

In her thoughtful analysis of the game, she thought England outplayed the U.S. Cute.

“They fall down more than the 8-year-olds on Ethan’s team,” she said, referring to her great-grandson, my nephew, who plays select soccer in Cincinnati.

“We call it diving, MeMa,” I explained. “They are faking it.”

“Really,” she said clearly trying to make sense of why they would do that.

MeMa watched the Slovenia game and was happy when the U.S. rallied to tie. “That was a good game.”

I bet she’ll be watching the Algeria game later today.

We know she is watching because she knows her granddaughter and grandson-in-law love the game, but, at 81, she is learning to love the game as well. She even calls her older sister in Orlando to talk soccer.

If MeMa can enjoy soccer, this sport must really be on the verge of something special in our country.

A day of emotions

(Originally published June 19 on freep.com)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- In just one day at the World Cup, your emotions can swing like a pendulum.

On Thursday night, we arrived back in Johannesburg. We didn’t want to leave Cape Town. It was an oasis; a beautiful, friendly city that’s so compact and easy to get around. Great restaurants on every corner, unique shops, a stunning waterfront -- it felt like we were in Europe or San Francisco.

Johannesburg is huge, a bit scary and tough to get around. It seems like we are on the bus forever whenever we head anywhere. So, we were already disappointed to be heading back across the country.

On Friday, we headed off to Ellis Park, the famous rugby stadium where South Africa won the 1995 World Cup. (It’s featured in the movie “Invictus.”)

The area around the stadium was as depressed an urban environment as you will ever see. Imagine the worst areas of Detroit, but crowded with people. Skinny, hungry day laborers waiting along the side of the road looking for any sort of the work.

The closer we got the stadium, people were selling anything -- anything. Used gloves, old fruit, counterfeit soccer merchandise. Our local bus drivers couldn’t find us an official lot. So, we parked along a street and marched six blocks through the poverty toward the stadium. Still, we were greeted mostly with smiles and an occasional U-S-A chant. A few members of our group from Columbus, Ohio, stopped to get a picture with a local boy wearing a beat up Ohio State sweatshirt. But the degree of poverty was overwhelming and depressing. We were so close to the stadium, but the World Cup seemed so far away.

We turned toward Ellis Park, walking under a bridge where a few unfortunate souls were living, and ran straight into a shiny new McDonald’s. Surrounded by a high security fence, it was sparkling. We stopped there to grab a quick bite, figuring it was slightly better than stadium food.

At the McDonald’s, a South African TV crew was interviewing Americans. We were wearing our jerseys with HONEYMOON on the back, so they grabbed us for a few quick sound bites.

Once inside Ellis Park, we met up with a few friends from Virginia for beers. The sun was out. In fact, when we left our hotel, it was only 35 degrees. Now, it must have been 60. All seemed right with the world. Again, there were Americans everywhere --- and a few folks here and there from Slovenia.

If you are reading this blog, we’re going to assume you watch the game or at least know what happened.

Our emotions went something like this:

NERVOUS OPTIMISM: At kickoff, we knew a win would put us in great position.

DÉJÀ VU: Another early goal, puts us behind.

HORROR! Two goals down!

DESPAIR: At halftime, our vacation still had six days to go, but it seemed like our World Cup was over.

HOPE: Landon Donovan’s early goal put us back into the game.

TENSION: Will we get the second goal? We keep carving out chances, but time is ticketing away.

GOOOOOOAAAAL! Michael Bradley ties the game!

NO GOAL!!! After a moment of pure joy, we learn that Maurice Edu’s would-be winning goal is disallowed.

RELIEF: The game is over, but our World Cup is not. Our team is still alive.

After the game, it was dark, but we had to trek back through the streets around Ellis. The faces greeting us seemed less friendly. But our group stuck together and safely made our way back to our buses.

Later that night, we watched England-Algeria at an Irish pub near our hotel. A group of eight of us ate (and drank) for under $100. The game finished 0-0, putting the USA into second place in our group.

All we need to do now is beat Algeria. It’s going to be a long wait until Wednesday.

Ups and downs in South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- It would be tough to describe how fantastic a time we’ve had in Cape Town. Our bed and breakfast is beyond incredible. It might be the best service we’ve ever had at any hotel. And we have traveled a lot.

The last two days, we’ve had a private guide drive us on tours area around Cape Town. First, we journeyed through the wine lands, sampling different local vintages. Today, we drove down to Cape Point, stopping to see penguins, ostriches and baboons.

Thursday, we return to Johannesburg. We'd much rather stay here. We’ve fallen in love with Cape Town, a city that reminds us of San Francisco.

But our team plays Friday in Ellis Park, the historic rugby stadium featured in the movie “Invictus.” We are playing little Slovenia, the team that currently leads our group. A win puts us in a fantastic position to advance. A loss … well, let’s not think about that.

In both Cape Town and Johannesburg, it’s sometimes tough to remember you are in Africa. Both cities differ so little from metro areas in the U.S. Everyone speaks English. McDonald’s is everywhere. The roads are better than in Michigan. No joke.

At the edge of your vision, you sometimes catch glimpses of the another Africa: the intense poverty in the shanty villages, the strikes by security workers at stadiums, the veiled racism that still lingers.

Again, we know we've been a bit lax in writing. Time has been a big factor. The thing about the World Cup is you're constantly moving. Whether it's going to games or finding somewhere to watch games, soccer is always on the brain. And being American soccer fans traveling through South Africa, we are a bit of a novelty, and people stop to talk to us. Plus, with U.S.-England one day in Rustenberg (two hours outside of Joburg) and Serbia-Ghana the next day in Pretoria (two hours from where we were staying), it leaves precious time to sleep.

We also had an unexpected change of lodging plans. We have been reticent to mention because we didn’t want to worry everyone back home, but our tour didn’t turn out as planned. And we knew this immediately after landing.

We are still sorting out what happened, but it seems our little tour group of 20 people was caught in one of the many scams by people and companies promising goods and services and not delivering.

While we were in the air, our tour provider had to scramble to find us lodging after what we were promised never materialized.

The bottom line is we are safe and being taken care of. But it was not entirely what we signed up for. We were moved an hour outside of Joburg to lodges on a quaint game farm. We are told there are giraffes nearby, but we only saw a few springboks and rabbits.

We were in a two-bedroom chalet on the property, sharing it with a friend who came with us. We use the term "chalet" loosely. It’s a quaint, freestanding house but it doesn’t have a TV or heat, just a space heater. And it gets cool at night.

Granted, our breakfasts were amazing; fresh milk, homemade jelly, ostrich eggs and some yummy type of pork make for a filling breakfast. But lunch had been whatever we can buy at Shell stations along the routes to soccer matches. Dinner usually was a hot dog or lamb dog at the stadium. (We've since eaten so much better in Cape Town.)

To a certain extent, we’ve lucky, we guess. The proprietor said the day we arrived, she got a call from a group of 50 Americans who also were scammed and needed quick lodging.

We left for Cape Town on Monday morning, not knowing whether we would return to the ranch, return to the company at a another location or pursue other lodging options on our own.

Since arriving to Cape Town, our luck has turned a corner. We scheduled our time here independent of our original tour group, and it has proved a wise decision. Our guest house is magnificent: an old house built in 1905 that sits at the base of Table Mountain. Our room is spacious and romantic. And when we called and explained that our friend Jon would be joining us (we couldn’t bear to leave him behind in uncertain circumstances), they quickly readied a cottage on the property for him. It was a far better than the rustic “chalet” offered back at the farm.

We’re sorry that we haven’t posted as often as we hoped. Connectivity has been a real challenge in South Africa. Even in our Cape Town hotel, the Wi-Fi signal comes and goes like the rain. “Typical South Africa,” we are often told.

This guest home was a wise choice. They are making life stress-free. They had champagne chilled in our room upon arrival to celebrate our honeymoon. People can surprise you.

Monday was spent walking around the city and getting acquainted with the area. Dinner was at lovely local restaurant, our first meal at an actual restaurant. Then Robert went with our friend Jon to the 1-1 tie between Italy and Paraguay at Green Point Stadium while Amy returned to the guest house for some much-needed R&R.

Now our tour provider has secured us an actual hotel for our return Thursday to Johannesburg. We are told by others on our tour that it’s nice. And an important game awaits for the Americans. Still, we have fallen in love with Cape Town. It will be so difficult to leave.

A win everywhere but on the scoreboard

(Originally published June 12 on freep.com)

Somewhere near RUSTENBERG, South Africa -- A tie is always a win for someone.

This may the hardest thing for Americans to get about soccer -- that a draw (as ties are often called) can matter so much.

As we rode in a bus crawling through traffic back to Johannesburg, we found ourselves wondering if Americans back home are as excited as the thousands of USA fans like us who watched the game live in Rustenberg.

There aren't many wins in my history as a sports fan that have excited us as much as today's draw in the USA vs. England match.

It's been a long day. Rustenberg is in the middle of nowhere. The ride is along a pleasant road through rolling hills that was never meant to handle the traffic load of a World Cup match.

So, our bus left at 11 a.m. for a city that should be about 2.5 hours away. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m.

It's slow going, but Amy was strangely excited when we stopped for gas to find that Tab, the soft drink, was on sale here.

We arrived around 4:30. The stadium itself is surrounded by a village. The parking shuttles dropped us off just at the edge of the town and we had to wander through its neighborhoods to get to the stadium entrance. Many of the locals sat in their yards, observing the parade of American and English fans marching by. Many smiled or wished us luck.

The stadium didn't open its doors for another hour, but hundreds of fans gathered in the nearby streets, flooding two local bars. One of the establishments had an outdoor urinal trough, where men could relieve themselves with their backs clearly visible from the street.

We looked at souvenir stands and picked up some ear plugs. One of our guides had warned us that the omnipresent South African horns, the vuvuzela, could overpower our ears.

There was some polite jawing between U.S. and English fans, but nothing serious.

Fans had already formed a huge line as the doors opened. We squeezed into the stadium. It was already noisy with the barking horns. Fans of England sang "God Save the Queen." Chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" sprang up here and there, but we weren't too outnumbered by the English. U.S. flags were everywhere. The sun was setting quickly and the temperature dropped.

For refreshments we endured another crushing line -- this one clogged up by English fans who had somehow built themselves a giant beer bong -- Amy came away with lamb dogs for us to chow on as we waited for the game.

As the game started, the Americans were almost as loud as the English (although I think they had more of those horns on their side). Nearly everyone in the stadium stood for the entire match.

U.S. fans deflated when, for the second straight World Cup, they gave up an early goal right away.

The only consolation: The two big scoreboards in the stadium weren't working, so the score wasn't looming over us. I used the stopwatch on my phone to keep track of how game time elapsed.

The crowd exploded when American Clint Dempsey scored on a lucky goal that bounced off England's keeper, Robert Green. Beer flew in the air, spraying down on us.

As the game wore on and England pressed for a winning goal, both sides quieted, almost holding their breath.

In the end, it was the Americans who exhaled, cheering wildly -- knowing that despite the score, they were the day's winners.

The U.S. players marched over to us and cheered their fans. Both the team and their supporters came a long way today.

Why love (and hate) England

(Originally published June 10 on freep.com)

Like all American soccer fans, we have mixed feelings about that little isle across the water. We know all of their players from following the Premier League, and we’ve traveled across the pond three times to watch matches. Still, they are like our big, annoying brother, always acting superior. “Awww, look at those cute American football fans. It’s funny that they think they know something about OUR sport.”

Sure, we beat them during that crazy World Cup game in 1950, but usually, they just stomp us.

So when the two teams meet Saturday, nothing would make U.S. soccer fans happier than showing big brother that we do know something about their football.

Why we love England!

• ENGLISH BREAKFAST: Who doesn’t love some bangers and mash?!?

• DAVID BECKHAM: Amy loves him so much that she buys Robert cologne so he’ll smell like the English superstar.

• CRAVEN COTTAGE: This quaint soccer stadium that sits on the Thames in southwest London has always welcomed us. Plus, it’s home to our favorite club team: Fulham. (There’s even a cute cottage in one corner!)

• THE PREMIER LEAGUE: Almost every game in the world’s most interesting league is broadcast live to our TV every Saturday morning. (Just in time for our English breakfast.)

• BIG BEN, PARLIAMENT: Ask Chevy Chase.

Why we hate England!

• THE SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT: Just because they invented the sport doesn’t mean they own it. They’ve only won a single World Cup yet are always SHOCKED when they don’t lift the trophy.

• THAT ENGLISH DUDE: On a train to Nuremberg during the 2006 World Cup, this Brit made fun of us because we -- gasp -- called a soccer goalkeeper a GOALIE!

• RAIN: England’s a great place to visit -- if you bring an umbrella and galoshes.

• HOOLIGANISM: In Germany, the only fight we saw was English fans beating on EACH OTHER!

• WAYNE ROONEY: Sure, the English striker’s good, but he’s got the mouth of a sailor and the looks of a small, yapping dog.

Next stop: South Africa

(Originally published June 10 on freep.com)

Newly married Free Press staffers Robert and Amy Huschka are blogging their adventures at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Find all of their posts at freep.com/worldcup.

The wait is over.

Four years ago, we sat in a stadium in Nuremberg, Germany, as the United States' World Cup dreams lurched to a halt. The axiom, “there’s always next year,” doesn’t apply in world football. It’s a long wait from one World Cup to the next -- especially when your team performs so poorly in the competition.

But the disappointment from Germany did nothing to stunt our love for the U.S. National Team. It’s a team we’ve watched live together more than 30 times in five different countries. It’s been a key part of our life and our romance.

Our first kiss was the day the U.S. beat Portugal during the 2002 World Cup. We became engaged in Costa Rica the day before we attended a World Cup qualifier there. When we walked down the aisle, our friends threw inflated soccer balls at us. And now, the World Cup is our honeymoon.

Yeah, we know we’re a little crazy.

Today, we find ourselves leaving for another World Cup, this one seemingly a world away in South Africa. It’s hard to believe that by Saturday, we’ll be sitting in a stadium on another continent watching the United States take on England. (2:30 p.m. on ABC)

We heard so many things about South Africa, so much bad and so much good, that we don’t really know what to expect. Are we scared? A little bit. But we’re not rookies. Going to a soccer game in another country is a little like sky diving. It’s an adrenaline rush, but you figure you’ll be OK in the end.

Next stop: Johannesburg.