With only 15 days to go, World Cup is taking over this city....literally. It is the biggest sporting event the country has ever seen and while most people are ecstatic, the cynical ones are waiting to watch the city get crushed. Almost $500 million has been invested in Cape Town infrastructure alone, with the building of Green Point Stadium, restaurants and hotels and extensive improvements to roads, sidewalks and transportation. In fact, there are restaurants popping up in my neighbourhood overnight (no joke!!). On my way to work yesterday, my taxi driver looked me and said...”was that there yesterday?” and I said “nope”. Turns out they built the thing with wood and plastic overnight (not really sure if this is a temporary establishment or if it’s safe, I guess the tourists will never know...). Construction is not even close to being finished and some logistical issues remain...hope they can work wonders in 15 days. To that end, its strike season which could turn into a disaster. Last week, the trains weren't running at all. Now, power utility workers are threatening blackouts during the World Cup if they don't get a pay raise.

Further, FIFA has been widely criticized with its management of ticket distribution in Africa. The majority of South Africans don't have access to the internet or own credit cards and therefore effectively didn't have an opportunity to purchase tickets until a few weeks ago (as opposed to the rest of the world who have had over a year to do so). There also seems to be confusion around why worldwide ticket sales are low. Not too hard to figure out. First, airfare to Africa and even between African countries has doubled, hotel costs are at a premium, and there are numerous challenges with obtaining a visa, not to mention economic instability. Additionally, there were major faults with the website. It’s actually crashed numerous times since tickets became available, didn’t process credit cards correctly and had misrepresented ticket availability. After attempting myself for months, last weekend a friend of mine was able to get me tickets to the opening game in Cape Town, between France and Uruguay. Through other connections, I may also be going to Netherlands and Cameroon and even the Semi Finals. If not...I’ll be attending the braais (South African for barbeque) and after parties.

My life is about to turn upside down for the next month. First, my apartment is less than a mile away from the stadium and on the main road, so yes I anticipate fans and partiers alike to be parading right in front of my apartment all day every day. Second, my gym is next door to the stadium and the nicest one in Cape Town so I expect visitors, players and/or family members to be taking over. Third, the ‘fan zone’ has been set up directly across the street from my work with HUGE TV screens, tents and kiosks everywhere. Expectations are that either we won’t be able to get to work with traffic/people or if we do happen to get here, it will be so loud we won’t be able to hear each other talk (walls/windows are so thin you, the noise outside echoes throughout the office). Despite potential issues on the horizon, I am very excited!!

As part of the anticipatory World Cup buzz, South Africa has a little tradition of wearing soccer jerseys on Friday. Not everyone does this, of course, but on Fridays you can see at least a few people walking around wearing the yellow Bafana Bafana jersey with pride and enthusiasm. Bafana Bafana is the South African soccer team, which means “the boys, the boys”. People here are excited even if their allegiances are with other teams, and it’s undeniable that the event is fostering a sense of national unity.