We made it....!

What a weekend...I am still shaking when I think back to the penalty-shootout!
But let me start with a short review of my weekend.
Friday is my busiest day of the week with 9 hours of sport lessons, practice, and afternoon activities at the high school. So the weekly dinner with Marten and Domi was somehow a reward for the work we did during the week. We went to "Arabian Nights" at Arcades in order to try some different kind of food. The restaurant was furnished in an Arabian style and was recommended to us by some friends. While going through the menu the electricity died and suddenly we sat in the dark trying to pick our dishes with help of some candles. The waiter ensured us that they will still be able to cook for us....After 15 minutes the lights finally went on and we enjoyed the really delicate food. Another highlight was the tandoori chicken pizza I ordered ....not only due to the amazing taste but also because they passed our table with the pizza leaving the restaurant in order to bake it in another restaurant next door. I liked the picture of a waiter walking with a unfinished pizza through the mall....
When Marten and me took the taxi home later that night, the driver suddenly pulled over in the middle of nowhere....it was already late and completely dark outside. My first thought was that we are going to be robbed, but the car turned out to have a puncture. We sat 25 minutes in the car and watched the driver changing the tire in a light-handed way.

Satruday turend out to become a very lond and sunny day. Marten and me decided to check out the Adventure City Water Part that I discovered on the internet. Since we only got the name of a street and a bus driver who dropped us close to that street we had to ask several times for the way. Everybody ensured us that we are walking in the same direction and it would take about 30 minutes to walk there. Eventually we took a bus for 5 minutes and walked 1 hour in incredible heat until we finally got to the signs that indicated the entrance to the park. When we got to there we had to realize that the park is closed for rennovation and would not reopen before June/July. We were really exhausted and decided to call "our" driver to pick us up and take us to a public swimming pool called "Millenium" closer to town. Well it took us 2 hours and 50.000 Kwacha to finally jump into the water and relax in the sun. We met two friends from office and spent some time watching soccer, playing billiard and taking a nap. later that day I started to feel the impact of the sun and felt asleep early.

Sunday would become the most successful day in the history of Zambian history of sports. The whole day I spent waiting for the match, preparing everything for the 90 minutes that would change everything in that night. We decided to watch the game at home since our experiences from last time made us worry about the safety....8 people died on the streets after the semi-final due to car accidents and drunken drivers. When the game finally started (the reports and analyzes started already 5 hours before the match) the weather outside became worse. And only 10 minutes later all lights at home died and electircity was gone.....we were screaming and praying, swearing and hoping and I dont know which was the decisive word to make the electricity come back but for the next 90 minutes we would have no problem watching the match. We could hear the puib across the street, the neighbours watching next door and the kids with the vuvuzelas on the street. When it came to the penalty shootouzt after an amazing 120 minutes, I was down on my knees in front of the screen and closing my eyes and wished nothing more than the Chipolopolo to take home the trophy against the background of the tragedy that happened 19 years ago. When Sunzu scored the final penalty everything went crazy....I never felt so happy and glad after a soccer match like I did that night....we went outside to witness the many people running, screaming dancing and cheering for their team. it was catching and a lot of people were crying since there were so many emotions going on at the same time. It was late when we finally went to bed but I slept well....very well!

Monday became a holliday....when I took the bus in the morning, there was no traffic, people were sleeping outside of the bars, or they were still drunk. The office was closed, and people showed up late after having slept only 2 hours and everybody was so happy and proud to be Zambian. Wearing my Zambian jersey that I bought a couple of days before the final made me feel like being part of it and sharing the joy with others. This week will be a week of celebration and nobody knows hpw long it is going to take for the people top return to every day live..... I will have to....meetings, lessons and studying will mark this week before I head to Livingstone next week to meet up with Natasha and Philip to see the Falls and do a Safari!

Hej sa länge!