Day 35

Day 35.

5 week point, almost half way through.

What a crazy,hectic,surprising,surreal day! So many words to describe it.

After an eventful evening with the arsenal supporters club in Cape Town, we were gifted a late start by Joe and Lourens. We were given the go ahead to have lunch at berghof and leave at about 1:15 from the apartment. We arrived at the bus stop 'lower reservoir' (the same bus stop we go to every morning) and waited for the bus patiently. It took a whole 60 minutes for one bus to come... And when that bus finally decided to turn up, it drove straight past jeff and I! Despite us putting our hands out for a good 5 seconds and making it obvious we wanted to get on the bus. The driver even looked at us and shook his finger to say no! After waiting an hour Jeff and I's temper was wearing very thin and when the bus went past we couldn't believe it! So annoying. We mutually decided to just go and get a taxi and swallow the fair of getting a cab to the station! Luckily for us, we bumped into George and his wife Lesley who insisted we got in their car and let them drop us to the station! Such nice people. Very glad to have people looking out for us at berghof. They saved us money and a lot of time! Hugely grateful for what they did. George has been living here for over 45 years after growing up in Liverpool and he knows all the back routes! He got us to the station in no time. Apparently there's a lot of traffic because of road closures due to President Zuma visiting Cape Town.

We finally arrived in Ruyterwacht at 3:30! It took just under two and a half hours to get there, unbelievable! The main thing is that we got their in one piece and were still able to fulfil to our community duties! Shortly after arriving we made our way to Drommedaris to catch up with some kids from the complex and put on a little sweet hunt for them! We hid 25 sweets and they found them all, like sniffer dogs!

Our next appointment was in Ysterplaat, where we had planned a session for 30 children who attended Ysterplaat primary school. When we turned up, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY kids were there! More and more kids were rocking up, even when the session was already in full swing, the numbers kept expanding.  So eventually in turned out to be 180! Jeff and I were in absolute shock! We couldn't believe it. Our coaching brain slotted into gear and we came up with a solution. We sorted the kids into ages and with the help of a couple other coaches who volunteered, we split each age group up into 2 teams! We set up two pitches and let each age group have 20 minute games. The main thing to take into consideration was to make sure everyone was always doing something! Whether it be a match or a little warm up exercise, preparing for their game! The kids thought I was Jack Wilshere because on my back I have Wilshere printed on my shirt, which was quite funny! After just over an hour of letting each age group play some football we called it a day! We were absolutely mobbed at the end. Boys and girls saying "oh my god, I've touched you!" "I've touched the official arsenal kit and badge!" "Can I touch your hair!" All kinds of stuff like that! Crazy. If only I could post videos on this blog, you'd understand the kind of reception we got! I will post photos later. We took many photos with the kids who asked and then bundled our way into the staff room after telling the kids we had to go! The staff thanked us for coming and explained their vision of creating a soccer environment within their school with someone called Arthur who has a sharp eye for sports development. Ysterplaat school have great facilities, kids who are hugely keen and enthusiastic, but most of all.. passionate teachers! I hope their project works out. Hopefully we go back again before we leave.

We made our way back in the car with Joe. The mountains had beautiful sunset surrounding them and a table cloth of cloud also! So nice to see! I had to take photos, It just looked too beautiful.

A tiring day despite the late start! What an experience though, those moments are priceless!

All the best.

Luke