DAY 3: USA vs Slovenia

The second half of the USA game was absolutely thrilling. Throughout the first half, Seth kept saying that all he wanted in life was to witness just one American World Cup goal. When the US finally did score, our screaming and jumping and hugging led to the slight dislocation of my jaw.

Since the game, anyone who hears that we are American says how sorry they are about the third goal that did not count. One South African said, "No one understands what the ref saw or what he did. I don't think that even he understands." We have felt very supported.

For the Argentina game, we were about fifteen rows from the very top of Joburg's brand new Soccer City stadium. For this game at Joburg's old and crumbling Ellis Park, we had box seats. They were the only seats left when we went to buy tickets, and even without the free soda, it was totally worth it; we were directly above the goal.

Sitting right next to us was a Slovenian family. They graciously said that they were happy to have even qualified for the World Cup, and they could already go home proud. We congratulated each other after almost every goal. Given their difficult history and the fact that our population is 100 times the size of their population, I was happy that they did so well against us.

Since we had not brought any American paraphenelia, I bought a flag and a funny hat/scarf thing, and Seth and I both got temporary American flag tatooes on our cheecks. The tattoo artists run a pretty sweet business: they stand with a little water bottle and sponge right where the buses drop us off from the park-and-ride.

Overall, the Americans fan were great - they unfurled this monstrous flag during our national anthem and after both our goals - but we're not quite up to speed with the Argentine fans yet. I think with a few more years and a few more wins, we might get there.