Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela

It is Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday today. The United Nations has christened today as Mandela day, a day which I am sure will be a South African public holiday in the near future. For now, it's a day where we celebrate the immeasurable good that this man has done for South Africa, and for African Democracy as a whole. People all around the world are encouraged to take 67 minutes out of their day (to represent the 67 years that Mandela gave in dedication to the struggle for democracy and against the injustices of South Africa's society) and do something for someone that they would not usually have done. For anyone who has not heard of Nelson Mandela, he is up there with the greatest people in the world. His name can be mentioned alongside Mahatma Ghandi; Princess Diana; Winston Churchill; Mother Theresa; Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. These leaders are known for many different reasons, but all have made a difference in the world we know today.

I often wonder how people see South Africa. We have many skeletons in our closet, and the media coming from SA is often about our ridiculously high crime rate, or our terrible zenophobic attacks, but there is so much good here. I am proud to know that Nelson Mandela represents our countries heroes, he shows the world that there is a country here filled with beautiful people just like him. It is days like these, where Nelson Mandela is the number one trending topic on Twitter, and a Google search for news related to his name receives almost 20000 hits, that I am proud to be a South African. This day, and the recent success of Africa's first hosting of the football world cup, put South Africa on the map. I hope that those tourists who visited our country these past few months will go home and tell their friends and family what a beautiful place South Africa is. It really is a great day to be a South African today.

Check out what other blogs have to say about our Great Madiba!

Today is the first World Cup Semi-Final in South Africa, actually right here in my home town of Cape Town. At 8:30pm the Netherlands, who are firm favourites in this very Afrikaans-which-stems-from-Dutch country, will play Uruguay, who happened to beat our beloved Bafana Bafana team in a previous match and we will never forgive them! So, the city is alive with orange and the people will be out in force. One thing us Capetownians do well, is jol. We are a city of party-people, be it a braai, or a weekly night-out at the local club, we don't do half measures! I, for one, will be at the fan park very soon, to ensure the Uraguayans go home today! Enjoy the match! x

Tourist in my own country

So as it turns out, I am a terrible blogger! I guess its just a busy time for me at the moment, because I find myself away from my Mac most of the time, but maybe when I get back to Uni, I will be able to blog more regularly.

Since I am holiday at the moment, I have been enjoying my city and what it has to offer. With the World Cup celebrations, and so many tourists here celebrating out culture, it is easy to see how great Cape Town is. Just today I enjoyed a wonderful morning picnic in our botanical gardens, Kirstenbosch, overlooking the city and under the comfort of the mountain. It was fantastic. The gardens are filled with birds and rivers and rolling lawns, and its quiet, aside from the occasional few tourists chattering and children laughing. It’s quite a treat to feel like a tourist in your own city.

Speaking of that, I rode the train to town for the first time last week. Now some may think this is strange, but in Cape Town, public transport is not as great as it that of the more developed cities of London and D.C. The South African taxis are either rather dodgy or rather expensive; the buses are not very convenient and the trains are impractical as they only run on one line, from one coast to the other. Those who do use the public transport, do so out of necessity for the fact that they have no other choice.

However, the transport infrastructure has been updated for the World Cup and there is more security for the tourists. Consequently my family and I braved the train from our nearest station to the city centre, which felt sort of like being in a different country rather than our own. We had a great day wondering around the city, knowing that we were very safe, sharing a pavement with people of all races and nationalities. It was fantastic to see the excitement that everyone was sharing. It is sort of like our country has transformed into another country completely just for this month.

I have to be honest, I quite like this South Africa, it has all the beauty of the real one but without the imperfections. Maybe, just maybe, we will find a South Africa somewhere in the middle: A beautiful country, free from racial tension and crime, but still full of the little imperfections that give South Africa its culture and charm.

Feel it, it is here!

If you live in South Africa, you will know that there is this insane tournament about to hit us. I say you will know, because, quite frankly, if you don't know about it, then you clearly have not been living in SA for the last two years. I remember coming out of the Cape Town International Airport and seeing a sign saying "756 days to go." It was then that I wondered what on earth could be so important about soccer, or football as some may call it, that we are counting down the days more than 2 years before the World Cup begins. Little did I know how much this World Cup would influence our lives. 

The first signs of change came from the new roads and transport features in Cape Town. We now have our very own public transport bus system running along certain routes in and out of the city - the Bus Rapid Transport system. I have yet to experience the trip but I have heard it is top notch. We also now have updated roads with interchanges and pedestrian bridges where before we were struggling with outdated and under-maintenanced ones. 

Next came the headlines: every newspaper, every day, there was some or other headline about the World Cup. Every story could be related to the tournament, and one sometimes had to wonder how they could make the connections they did. The recent volcanic disaster in Iceland was a shocker for the world cup organisers: Would the people still come to SA? Would they stay away for fear of now being able to go back to their home countries? Then came every act of violence, which is often in SA, and the fear that tourists would not be safe. In actual fact, there was even rumours of an earthquake due to happen in Cape Town, on one of the days that England is playing that was scaring tourists off, even though there has not been an earthquake in Cape Town centre since any one can remember, or ever. Talk about paranoia. 

The SA companies have been trying their best to keep up,... there are competitions, and promotions, and specials, all to do with the up-and-coming tournament. No one wants to miss out on the hype to welcome to the world to our country.

The latest and most significant trend, I think, is the SA flags covering every cars' side mirrors, and the multitude of flags flying from the cars' windows. Some people are brave enough to fly other flags, like Greece, Spain and Portugal. I have to wonder what the tourists will think when they arrive and find such patriotism driving around the country. I, myself, have to feel quite proud when I see our country uniting together and flying the flag.

I haven't been too involved in the competition and although I never thought I would write a post about it, or a status, or a tweet, somehow the hype has sucked me in. So, joining in I have to say... 

Are you ready? Feel it, it is here! Catch me at the "Welcome the World" festival in Cape Town on Thursday, I'll be there supporting the cause.