2010 World Cup - 1 Day to Kick-Off

The 2010 World Cup kicks off in 1 day. I'm so excited and so glad I'm here in South Africa right now!!!

These images are from the Cape Town airport. I went today to drop a friend off. It is crazy there. They have done so many updates it feels like a whole new airport. It is even completely different from how it was when I flew to Europe in April. This picture with the "1" is of a count down point at the airport that I have been watching since I came just to visit in May 2008. It started out with something like 600 days to kick off. I'm back and forth to the airport a lot and so I've watched it count down over the past year and few months since I moved here. Today it was so cool to see it say 1 day left!!

South Africa has the longest national anthem in the world and we are about to get to hear it all the time!!! I love it. Here it is:
Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika – South Afrika.

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.


Translation

The isiXhosa and isiZulu of the first stanza, the Sesotho of the second stanza and the Afrikaans of the third stanza translate into English as follows:

Lord, bless Africa
May her spirit rise high up
Hear thou our prayers
Lord bless us.

Lord, bless Africa
Banish wars and strife
Lord, bless our nation
Of South Africa.

Ringing out from our blue heavens
From our deep seas breaking round
Over everlasting mountains
Where the echoing crags resound ...

You can listen to the anthem at this website:
http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/anthem.htm

The official song for the 2010 Soccer World Cup is "Waka, Waka" an old African song originating in Cameroon. The new version is sung by Shakira and is a blast. Check it out at this website:
http://www.musicloversgroup.com/shakira-waka-waka-lyrics-and-video/
The website also shows the lyrics. There is a South African group called Freshly Ground singing on this song, also. They are a great local group here!

Anyway, as all the comercials say right now....Soccer fever...."Can you feel it? It is here!"