Well sports fans, it's that special time that only comes once every four years: the World Cup. While I am not a soccer enthusiast in the least (or any other sport, for that matter), I have to admit the spirit is pretty contagious...especially when you are married to a very psyched South African. So for the opening game last Friday we sojourned to the Big Apple to meet some friends and take it all in.
Bars were streaming South African flags along with those of all the other nations playing.
Here I am blowing my make believe vuvuzela, which is certainly much better for my long term hearing capacity than the real thing.
Joining us was our friend Diego from Mexico. You see, many moons ago Brendan had the intention of only staying in the good ol' USA for a year to complete a term in Yale's Fox Fellowship. Then he met a lovely, witty, and very talented woman in a tango class. She derailed his plans completely and they lived happily ever after. The End.
Diego was also a member of the Fox Fellowship. He is now working for an NGO in New York, and so we simply had to watch the big Mexico vs South Africa battle together. SA's scoring of the first goal of the World Cup made for a happy Brendan. The 1-1 draw was icing on the cake.
After the game we dashed off to lunch with two old friends.
Chatal-line and Brendan became friends during his time at Yale. She was in a different fellowship (but similar in that it was all international folks), and now also finds herself back in NYC for work at the UN.
Owen is one of my three oldest college friends (all met on the first day of Orientation). He is a New Yorker through and through, and a bucket of laughs. I call him Omar. He calls me Icebox.
After a bit of a meander up 5th Avenue & through FAO Schwartz, and a brief stop into a cafe to mainline some caffeine and watch a bit of the afternoon soccer game, we were off to Central Park for a picnic. You see, we had one other Fox Fellow to see.
Rafi (center) was visiting from Israel. We joined Rafi, his girlfriend Susan (Rafi too learned that American women make excellent partners), and their friends for a sunset snack.
Diego and Brendan staged a Mexico/South Africa soccer truce.
And then we were on our way back to Grand Central.
It is so lovely and iconic. I'll miss gazing up at the constellations on the ceiling each time I pass through.
On a final closing note, let's talk shoes shall we?
After finding these in a store, falling deeply in love, and then being unimpressed by the shop's ability to give me a great deal, I turned to a good friend for help: the internet. One week later, I gave myself a lovely early birthday present. I spent the whole day tooling around the City breaking these puppies in, and nary a blister was to be had. And they are Clarks (model: Posy Flower), which means they are crazy comfortable. Consider these highly recommended.
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