Jozi Fan Parks - hit and miss

(Pictured: us at the Montecasino fan park)
The past two nights we have been checking out the official FIFA fan parks- designated big screen locations around town for fans to come together to view matches. The first night we went to this area called Montecasino, set up like a mini casino that one might find in Reno but much nicer. We arrive after dark so it was quite a shock to walk indoors and find ourselves in daytime Tuscany. After walking a ways through shops, a casino and restaurants, we reach the fan park. It is set outdoors in a big piazza-like setting with a performance stage and huge screen on one end and many rows of chairs lined up throughout. As we make our way in there is a musician performing traditional rhythms on various stringed instruments and the crowd is pretty small. But, as game time nears people start to pack the place with a surprisingly large number of Ivorian support. Although most people believe Brasil will win it all, folks are really hoping for more African representation in the knock out round.

As kickoff approaches the DJ, go-go girls and fire dancers get started and we begin dancing to really great bad techno. All the songs you'd expect to hear for such an occasion were thrown in the mix- the type of songs to rev up a diverse crowd.There are isolated dance parties everywhere; dancing warms the soul and the body in near freezing temperatures.

The game starts with the screen counting down then followed by fireworks. That was probably the most exciting time of the game as Brasil dominated Cote d' Ivoire, after every score (even the double hand ball one) fireworks would go off and cameramen and TV crews would crowd the most vividly dressed Brasileiros. Drogba's goal showed some signs of hope but not enough to keep the cold Africans around to watch the end of yet another dismal display by an African team.

The next night we headed to the Sandton area fan park at Innsfree Park to watch the Spain v. Honduras game. This turned out to be quite a bust as no one was there. You'd have to crazy to sit out in a city park in this freezing weather, but there we were! Those of us stranded there packed ourselves into this small tented area, which played out to be our own personal freezing living room with a 12 x 10 foot screen and about forty random, shivering friends. We made the most of our situation by watching Spain finally look a little like Spain. And, we had fun listening to the Mexican girls next to us yell "GUAPO!" every time Navas or David Villa would get a full faced screen shot.

After the game we went back to Sandton City to warm up and eat dinner at Nelson Mandela Square (where you can find a giant bronze statue of Nelson Mandela). Also notable because the library is right across a courtyard from the statue. Anyway, we bring this trip up purely to let you know we almost literally ran into Italian footballer, Zambrotta. We were looking for food and he was dodging reporters, we all have needs that require expediency.

Tomorrow is our Mexico game, we just need to figure out how to get to Rustenburg.