Live from Brazil – what’s it really like at the World Cup?

Guest post from our on the spot reporter, live from Brazil.

I made it to my last stop in Brazil, Fortaleza. A 5am flight from Natal on one hour of sleep was easily the worst leg of my trip, but so far Fortaleza has been a nice surprise. Meireles, the area of town we’re staying in, is modern and has a lively beach lined with bars and restaurants. Kind of like a mini Rio wannabe.

Fortaleza Beach, Brazil

We were hoping to go to the Ghana-Germany game, but the lack of sleep and not having tickets kind of killed that dream. Turned out to be a great game, and it was nice to see a happy bunch of Ghana fans here in Fortaleza after the game.

The World Cup experience has been better than expected. The best part besides actually being at the games is meeting fans from all over the world, seeing all the colorful flags and jerseys out on the streets, and the respect shown by these fans to each other. I’m so used to going to huge games and seeing rival fans trash talking to each other (I’m talking to YOU, Philly) and hooligans smashing up bus stops and cars (in Turkey), that it ruins the experience of actually going to the games.

The most difficult part about being at the World Cup is the wait between games. The anticipation is agonizing. Five days between attending games is an eternity, especially when you have an emotional investment in one of the teams. There are three or sometimes four games to watch in a day, but you want to be at all of them! Even being in one of the most beautiful countries in the world isn’t enough to distract you from World Cup Fever. I’m someone who loves to explore his surroundings and see a city to the fullest, but I’ve put all that on hold for the World Cup.

fanfest fortaleza

The worst thing about World Cup in Brazil is the organization. The stadiums have been nothing short of amazing, but everything else is a joke. Roads are not finished, transportation is completely unreliable, and there hasn’t even been food in the stadiums! Everything seems to be a construction zone.

Getting dropped off 3km from a stadium by an official shuttle and made to walk is unacceptable. I can imagine some of the elderly or physically challenged fans are having a very difficult time with this, especially in the heat. And getting OUT of the stadiums is worse! Thankfully, private shuttle companies have been picking up the slack, but they aren’t much better than the public shuttles. You still have to walk a long time to find them.

At the Greece-Japan game, no less than 30 minutes BEFORE the game, I went to a concession stand to get some dinner. I figured the traffic and walk to the stadium would be long, so I would save some time and just eat at the stadium. I ordered a hot dog. “No hot dog.” No problem. I ordered a cheeseburger. “No cheeseburger. No food.” So how does an entire stadium run out of food BEFORE a game begins? I don’t even think they had any to begin with! My friend Mike had the same problem with beer at the USA-Ghana game. They stopped serving beer because they ran out of cups and refused to give bottles to the fans.

The Fan Shops have been just as bad. They promised jerseys and souvenirs for most of the teams playing at the World Cup. I guess Brazil is the only team playing.

The amount of money that could have been made but has been left on the table is staggering. Brazil did a great job with the theatrics and the atmosphere, but they really blew it with everything else.

Thanks to Nick for this report. Read more at nomadicniko

 

Tornado

A couple of miles from apartment – which sadly I was not in.
Malteser sized hailstones HURT!

75F and chucking it down

I have seen the light

As I sat down to business, the first thought that struck me was that anybody could just wander by and watch me sitting on the toilet. Now, whilst the toilet was a standard European model (a la Franca I have heard them called), its setting was somewhat unusual.

The View from the Loo

Right in the middle of the African bush. You’re thinking c‘mon, you don’t get sit down ceramic toilets in the middle of the bush, right? Wrong! You do. I took this photo whilst sitting on one. Honestly!  OK, it wasn’t plumbed into anything, but an ingenious large bag acting as an overhead tank ensured that it was designed to flush. (It didn’t, but that’s another story.) Anyway, the second thought that crossed my tiny brain as I sat there pondering life, was that we hadn’t actually seen a single living soul for over 24 hours now. The chances of me being discovered doing what comes naturally were pretty slim.

With that comfort in mind I sat back, relaxed and admired the view. And what a view! Sadly my camera doesn’t do it justice, but even allowing for these limitations you have to admit it’s more interesting than your day to day loo view.  

Fame on a minibus. Credit left in the Bank of Warhol.

A pretty awesome achievement.  I managed to get a seat on a minibus: well played that man! Especially as it was after football and I needed a rest after running about for an hour, 50 minutes of which were with a badly bruised foot. Kick the ball, not the opposition. Must remember. I put on my headphones and listened in to Jason’s Zero to Travel Podcast. Now, I’d recommend this superb podcast anyway – that’s why I was listening to it after all – but what happened next means I have to absolutely insist that you give his podcast a spin. You’ll thank me for it. It’s excellent.

Can you see MY seat?

The episode in question is an interview with Dave Sperling, founder of Dave’s ESL cafe, the  #1 resource in the world for ESL jobs. We are about 1 min 48 seconds into the podcast (not that I’ve timed it or anything) and the superstar guest hasn’t even had a chance to talk yet when our esteemed host starts talking about……….me! There I am, on a minibus, with a highly prized seat, being thanked and quoted on air! I did the only reasonable thing, as I am sure we all would, and raced to the front of the minibus, gesticulating wildly for the driver to plug my iPod into his sound system. People need to know about this. They wanted it. I could feel the collective vibe. The driver politely suggested I return to my seat (artistic paraphrasing licence invoked here) – a request so pleasantly proffered I felt obliged to comply; only to find it was impossible to do so……because someone had taken my seat. Now it’s just possible, improbable but I’ll grant possible, that the collective vibe was generated by the merest suggestion of a seat freeing up rather than the podcast content, but I assure you that was due to the naivety in my fellow passengers being as yet unaware of the wonder of each and every broadcast. So, as a public service, I ‘m here to help you, wherever you are in the world, avoid the humiliation of not having listened to this show. Check it out now and be happy 🙂