06/02/11

After we fed the remaining REDES girls and sent them on their way this morning Ann, Erin, and I headed about 150k north to the town of Massinga where there is a gas station that has dstv—thus we would be able to watch the Superbowl. We met up with 17 other PCVs there and spent the day and night hanging out (they had gone to the beach in the morning but we didn’t make it in time), catching up, taking naps, and getting to know some of the new volunteers from around the province. Eventually we headed to the gas station for the 1:30am kick off, piling all of our bags in various corners and finding places on the floor, on empty beer crates, and in chairs we had brought to sit for the game. One volunteer remarked that it felt like a “lock-in” that one has in grade or middle school in the states. Although some people were asleep face-down on the floor after a while, a core of us made it through the whole game. Unfortunately the commercials weren’t broadcasted here, but we got to see all of the game and things like the halftime show. It was only the second time in 16 months that I have heard the American National Anthem, so I was disappointed that one of the verses was forgotten. But it was fun to share the experience with so many other people and to watch American football after so long, though many of us agreed that it made us miss America badly. The game ended at 5am which is right when it became light enough for us to travel, so everyone headed out in their respective directions to return to work.