Day 6: Kudos to Kudus, and mopane worms = yummy

We started off day 6 like most days here, ruffling through one of our three guide books. We ended up deciding on the Rosebank Market, which takes place on the top level of a mall's parking deck and continues into the shopping center. One thing we've noticed while being here is that they love malls and shopping centers. They're about as numerous as Starbucks. It looks like South Africa's favorite stores are Woolworths, a grocery called Pick n Pay, Wimpy--which is kinda like Denny's, and Chicken Licken (Click the link. You won't regret it. Verne. Troyer.), which proudly proclaims that it sells soul food. At the Rosebank Rooftop Market local vendors set up shop every Sunday to sell a range of wares--hand made African crafts, antique records, handbags made from old billboards (Tiffany bought a cool one), Polish sausages. There were magic shops, fortune tellers, performers limbo-ing under fire, people playing tribal sounding music, a lady walking around on stilts. My favorite spot was near a vendor selling herbs and spices in huge bags. Smelled so good there.

The area with food vendors smelled amazing.
No doubt this herb vendor had something to do with it.

The market and attached mall were bustling with locals and tourists. I bought some cool art made by dripping shiny car paint onto a wooden board to create abstracted soccer players.

After we played "Find a person, lose another" for about forty minutes, our group was finally ready to go, and we were hungry. Since we were in Jo'burg--that's what the cool people call it--we wandered to Newtown again for some grub...literally. Our choice--Sophiatown Bar & Grill, just next to the SAB World of Beer. Fighting off the urge to go on the beer tour again, we headed to the grill where we sat to watch the England vs. Germany match just next to the large Jo'burg Fan Fest area.

Drinkin' Some Castle and Windhoek beers at the Sophiatown Bar & Grill

While there were lots of both, I'd say the English fans had the edge in the restaurant, and they filled the room mostly with jeers and grunts because England got OWNED by Germany and lost the match 4 to 1. England did have a clear fair goal disallowed by the referee, which made the fans less happy. Still, England got worked over by Germany. Once that game was over we looked down and realized that we had food in front of us.

Here's where I checked off lots of new stuff on the list of foods I'd never eaten. We started with a Fear Factor challenge. Tiffany ordered a helping of roasted Mopane worms and kindly offered the rest to the table. I grabbed a fat one and chomped down while The Lion King was playing in my head.


It wasn't slimy, and it wasn't very satisfying. Go to time 2:07.
While they've traditionally served as a significant source of protein for many Southern Africans, they were chewy and their crispy shells (think the shells on shrimp) cracked and lingered stuck to my tongue and in between my teeth.

Nidal putting a mopane worm down the hatch. Rena looks so
excited because it's her turn next.

I ordered Kudu, which we had seen only the day before sitting on grass, not a plate. It tasted not much different than venison (big surprise), but was served as a really tasty dish with butternut squash cake (like cornbread) and some awesome rosemary sauce and other deliciousness. The other kids ordered Ostrich, which tasted more like chicken than anything else and was just as tasty. Dad, keeping with his regular form, ordered the weirdest thing on the menu: Crocodile. He said it was kind of tough, but I still took a bite that I spent a little time chewing down. After checking at least 4 new items off of my food bucket list, I was thoroughly satisfied, and we headed to our game at Soccer City.

I was really excited about this one. We saw Argentina play against Mexico in the first knockout game that was sure to be full of some famous Latin American football flair. We split up the tickets and then headed in separately. Mom and Dad had tickets in the raucous Argentina fan section that was responsible for throwing streamers on the field every two minutes and jumping and chanting. Nidal, Tiffany, Alli and I all sat together in the corner of the second level, with Rena and Tariq one section over. They were great seats and we could see the whole field.

So, we sat down just in time for the ending of the Mexican national anthem, christened our new vuvuzelas with the kickoff, and the game was on.

I've said that I hate hearing these on TV, but it's fun in the stadium,
and when you're there the sound is not so bad.

The fans were mostly Argentine and the mood was great after they won 3 to 1. There were spectacular goals, especially from Carlos Tevez, whose second goal was the highlight of my night.

The whole group reconnected outside the stadium after the game.
The last time I got to gaze at one of the coolest stadiums on Earth. Bittersweet.

After the game the parking headaches caused a driver to get out of his car to scream at the attendants and lie down in the middle of the exit road, stopping all traffic. He looked kinda like a turtle stuck on its back trying to flip over. I hope he was the last person to leave the lot.