Sports talk

One of the funniest things that always catches my eye here is when I see somebody wearing something of an American sports team. It has most likely been left in the community by past travelers or volunteers like me, and most time it's somebody walking on Main Street Bizana or along R61. Over my time here I've seen somebody wearing... a Chicago Bears jersey, an Atlanta Hawks jacket, a New York Islanders t-shirt, a New York Yankees hat, an Atlanta Braves hat, a Cincinnati Bengals t-shirt, a Anaheim Mighty Ducks hooded sweatshirt, and this morning I saw a Chicago Cubs hat. A random assortment...

And while I am out of it in terms of my sports at home, I've really taken to the sports on TV here. Rugby is decent and I can watch, but I have really gotten into cricket and English Premier League Soccer.

Cricket is so hard to figure out and understand, but I have made some giant strides here over the last few weeks. Right now the ICC Cricket World Cup is being played, and South Africa is the #1 rated team, so there is always cricket on. And if it's not the World Cup, there's the Pro 20 (South Africa's major league). It's taken me awhile to understand balling, wickets, overs, how runs are tracked, etc. but it is definitely a game I'm starting to like. I understand the basics, and now I want to learn the strategies. My teammate Pete (from UK) understands cricket well and has spent some time trying to explain it to me. As does my pal Des (the chef at the Estuary hotel). Some nights I choose to just walk down to the Estuary hotel part of where I live, there is a restaurant and a bar where I will go for dinner. Many nights it's slow, so Des will come and sit at the bar with me and we watch whatever is on - mostly cricket, sometimes rugby. Des is a sports fanatic like me, so we have some good times watching.

But with all this SA sports talk, I am excited that the Sox will be in full gear by the time I return. Just need to solidify that bullpen...