World Cup 2006
Somewhere along the way, I've become a soccer fan. I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure why, but I've been rabidly devouring the games and cheering on Germany for the last couple weeks. (And was rather devistated by their Tuesday loss, by the way, although it was clear from the beginning that Italy was the better team.) My Germany allegiance comes from the fact that my roommates are German, combined with the fact that I've been watching the games at the Goethe Institute, a cultural center affiliated with the German embassy. I think I might go for Italy next time, though ... the guys are MUCH more attractive.
Anyhow, Egyptians are HUGE fans of the sport, so the enthusiasm seems to be a bit contagious. There are a bunch of local football clubs around here, and I think a team from Cairo won the Africa Cup (although I get the impression there isn't a whole lot of competition.) However, there was some weirdness with satellite TV, so even though we have like a dozen satellites, none of them received the games up until the semi-finals. Thus, sports enthusiasts were required to go to ahwas (cafes) or other places to get their fix. We chose the Goethe Institute, in large part because Mona's friend Corrina works at the German embassy and could get us tickets to all the games. Even though it's a German center, and probably all the Germans in Cairo have been coming to the games, the place is always packed mainly with Egyptians. The institute has a huge garden, with pillows and rugs and tables all over the place, and the game shows on two screens - a huge screen with an Arabic commentator, and then a smaller one off of a German satellite. (For the Germany-Poland game, the German satellite was about 5 seconds ahead of the Arabic one, so we'd cheer or boo, and then in a few seconds, the other side of the garden would echo.)
The institute did a really good job of creating a sports-event atmosphere, too, especially with the overpriced concessions (of course, 15 LE for a beer may be absurd when I could go to Drinkie's and get one for 4 LE, but it's still only about $2.50). Plus, since it's a GERMAN center and all, they have four different kinds of sausages! (Craziness, I know ... you'll just have to trust me on this one.) It's an excellent way to spend an evening, and being outside at night is almost tolerable (just almost, though - still get sweaty and sticky at midnight around here) ... I don't know what I'll do after the game on Sunday! I guess I'll just have to find something else to be obsessive about!
Anyhow, that's how I've been spending many of my evenings lately - trying to decipher the rules of this enigmatic game of soccer. If anyone can tell me what the deal with the extra time is, I'd really appreciate it! We're going to try to get tickets for the Saturday third/fourth place game, to root for Germany one last time, and there'll be a huge blow-out on Sunday for the final (and the overpriced food and drinks will actually be free - if HLS taught me anything last year, it was to never turn down a free meal ... unless it's pizza)! Anyone have a guess on the Italy-France match-up? I haven't gotten so obsessive as to build actual loyalties, so as long as it's a good game, I'll be happy.
One other thing - I've learned that there are really only five words needed to fit in at a soccer match in Egypt:
Yalla! (Go!)
La'! (No!)
Ey?! (What?!)
Magnoon! (Crazy!)
El Hamdullaleh! (Thank God!)
Blurt these out at the appropriate intervals, and you'll be an instant hit!
Anyhow, Egyptians are HUGE fans of the sport, so the enthusiasm seems to be a bit contagious. There are a bunch of local football clubs around here, and I think a team from Cairo won the Africa Cup (although I get the impression there isn't a whole lot of competition.) However, there was some weirdness with satellite TV, so even though we have like a dozen satellites, none of them received the games up until the semi-finals. Thus, sports enthusiasts were required to go to ahwas (cafes) or other places to get their fix. We chose the Goethe Institute, in large part because Mona's friend Corrina works at the German embassy and could get us tickets to all the games. Even though it's a German center, and probably all the Germans in Cairo have been coming to the games, the place is always packed mainly with Egyptians. The institute has a huge garden, with pillows and rugs and tables all over the place, and the game shows on two screens - a huge screen with an Arabic commentator, and then a smaller one off of a German satellite. (For the Germany-Poland game, the German satellite was about 5 seconds ahead of the Arabic one, so we'd cheer or boo, and then in a few seconds, the other side of the garden would echo.)
The institute did a really good job of creating a sports-event atmosphere, too, especially with the overpriced concessions (of course, 15 LE for a beer may be absurd when I could go to Drinkie's and get one for 4 LE, but it's still only about $2.50). Plus, since it's a GERMAN center and all, they have four different kinds of sausages! (Craziness, I know ... you'll just have to trust me on this one.) It's an excellent way to spend an evening, and being outside at night is almost tolerable (just almost, though - still get sweaty and sticky at midnight around here) ... I don't know what I'll do after the game on Sunday! I guess I'll just have to find something else to be obsessive about!
Anyhow, that's how I've been spending many of my evenings lately - trying to decipher the rules of this enigmatic game of soccer. If anyone can tell me what the deal with the extra time is, I'd really appreciate it! We're going to try to get tickets for the Saturday third/fourth place game, to root for Germany one last time, and there'll be a huge blow-out on Sunday for the final (and the overpriced food and drinks will actually be free - if HLS taught me anything last year, it was to never turn down a free meal ... unless it's pizza)! Anyone have a guess on the Italy-France match-up? I haven't gotten so obsessive as to build actual loyalties, so as long as it's a good game, I'll be happy.
One other thing - I've learned that there are really only five words needed to fit in at a soccer match in Egypt:
Yalla! (Go!)
La'! (No!)
Ey?! (What?!)
Magnoon! (Crazy!)
El Hamdullaleh! (Thank God!)
Blurt these out at the appropriate intervals, and you'll be an instant hit!
posted by Teale at 10:07 PM
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