Hup Holland Hup

The World Cup is winding down. The final starts in less than 4 hours. I’ve now got to figure out something else to give time and attention to and take interest in. There are not so many things that stand out as obvious choices in a place like Somaliland. However, a recent discovery has proved to add a little bit to the repetitive routine here. The shop nearby where we go and pick up sodas and such received a new delivery that consisted of many new items. Imagine my delight to walk in and find Nutella, Heinz ketchup, Kelloggs Coco Pops, Twix, Snickers, and Kit Kats. I thought it was Christmas until I remembered they don’t celebrate that here, and then I realized it is July. And even though it isn’t Christmas, I decided to celebrate anyway and bought one or more of almost all the new toys on the shelves.

Coming back to the important stuff, though, is the fact that tonight is the World Cup Championship Game. Spain and Holland will compete to win the most watched sporting event in the world. If the game is anything like last night’s Runner’s up match between Germany and Uruguay, it will live up to the hype. I didn’t really expect it after Germany took the 1-0 lead in the middle of the first half, but after Uruguay managed to tie it, they came out after the break and even took the lead 2-1. After tying the score at 2-all, a goal in the final ten minutes looked like it was going to be enough for Germany to eke out a win. But, just at the end of the game, a free kick by Uruguay almost gave them the storybook ending they were looking for to cap off their unexpected run to the semifinals. The crossbar had other ideas, and the shot deflected off it and away from any Uruguayans who would’ve liked to knock it back into the goal to send the game to Extra Time. Uruguay also played in the second most exciting match of the Cup that I saw when they defeated Ghana on penalties after a deliberate handball kept Ghana from an outright win at the end of Extra Time. The 4-1 German defeat of England that included a goal taken away by the referees and the U.S. win over Algeria to win their group were probably the next two most exciting games. I just hope the final isn’t a boring let-down after the excitement that has been building over the last month.

One other thing about this final that makes it interesting regardless of the outcome, is that I’ll be watching with a Dutch. The Deputy Country Director who’s here in the field now is from the Netherlands, so will be watching with great anticipation as his team vies against Spain to be World Cup Champions for the first time ever. Of course he’d rather be in Amsterdam watching amongst millions of other rowdy Dutchies. Or he’d prefer to be with those 15 or so women who were arrested for trying to take away from Budweiser’s thunder as ‘official beer of the World Cup’ by wearing some small oranje (that’s not normal orange, but Dutch oranje) dresses to the Netherlands first game against Denmark with some other beer company’s name on the label. But, alas, he’s left having to watch the biggest football match of the last 4 years, and biggest of his life with someone who calls the game soccer, and others from a country whose team has never even qualified for a World Cup (Kenya and Somaliland). Oh well, we’ll have a good time. And, if they win, we’ll celebrate with one of the other new goodies that arrived in the latest shipment at the nearby shop. Non-alcoholic grape drink that’s got a foil wrapping over the cap and is made to look like champagne. Yep, that and some non-alcoholic malt beverages are the closest thing we can get around here to what 95% of other Dutch are going to be drinking while watching the game and celebrating with after. It’s ok, though, because everyone knows Heineken is not good anyway.