World Cup Fever

It's Saturday around 2 pm. The game is just starting into the second half, and England leads Paraguay 1-0. The restaurant is full of English fans, and there are loud cheers going up as Beckham touches the ball. World Cup fever has hit Liberia as it has other places around the world. I've been sucked into the scene and feel like I need to choose a team soon. There are posters all around town, entertainment centers have opened up especially for the event, and the line up at the satellite server the other day was long as many pleaded for a connection to be established before the start of the event. As Canadians, we're trying desperately to stay in touch with Stanley Cup playoff results, but we're lucky if we can get a 20 second clip on ESPN here. I've come to realize that my knowledge of football and cricket will be far greater than b-ball, or hockey come the end of this year.

Apart from getting deeply involved in world cup watching, I've been busy of course with work, and trying to get back into running. Finding an ideal time to run is a difficult thing for me. For those of your who don't know me well, I must state that running to me is torture. There is no way that I would in sound mind ever climb out of bed before work, and so I'm resolved to finding time after work. It sounds simple, but the key is finding the ideal time where the humidity and heat has dropped to a point where it doesn't feel like I'm running inside of a sauna, and yet giving myself enough daylight to complete my journey. I've committed to getting back into running, but I know that this will be never be a "fun" thing.

I've also tried surfing this past week. When I travelled to Australia years ago I made my first attempt at it, but basically sucked. This time, I gave myself plenty of weeks to warm up to the idea of subjecting myself to such humiliation once again. There is a beach about 10 minute drive away from our house that provides the opportunity to try it without having to be worried about getting smashed into rocks. Let's say that I'm still at the beginning stages. I've tried two different days, and can happily say that I've caught a wave and gotten on my feet, but it is not looking pretty. I've also taken a few good beatings, and been tossed around quite seriously by some ferocious waves.

Anyways, I am surviving, healthy and enjoying my sports. I won't write any updates on work, as I'll save that for another day. Here's me signing off from Liberia.