Today is a travel day. I am moving from the northern suburb of Sandton (my hosts at my B+B were fantastic — they even gave me a bottle of wine last night and we watched Germany’s blistering of Australia in their living room) to glorious Cape Town, where I will be staying with my good friend, Doug, a Zimbabwean who was one of my Oakdene housemates back when we were at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
I am clearly not the only one using this Monday as something of a getaway day. Packs of Algerians pass by wearing their national flag. The English are bound for Cape Town, Mexicans for Polokwane. The fan shops are doing a bustling business in jerseys and hats, commemorative soccer balls and keychains. The restaurants are full of passengers, many of them bleary-eyed from their Gauteng adventure and are ready for what awaits them in Durban and Port Elizabeth. There are great matchups across South Africa, with the Dutch taking on the Danes at Soccer City, the Japanese facing off against inevitable local favorite Cameroon in Bloemfontein, and Italy making their 2010 Cup debut against Paraguay in Cape Town, a game Doug will be attending and that will kick off just an hour or so after I arrive.
The world truly is here in South Africa. And so far, with a few hiccups, South Africa has been ready for the world.
