by
Paul on Saturday, 17 July, 2010
Laduma!
This first time that you may have heard the word “
Laduma” (pronounced laa-doo-mah) may have been after South African left-wing,
Siphiwe Tshabalala, scored the first goal in the 2010 World Cup.
Translated from Zulu the word means “it thunders” and is usually used as a long, loud, and drawn out exclamation of excitement and happiness when a player scores a goal – laaaaaaaaa-doooooooo-maaaaaaaaah! 
by
Paul on Friday, 16 July, 2010
A spaza shop
This was one of the informal shops located along the Fan Walk during the World Cup. Spaza shops are informal shops that often operate in peoples homes, caravans, or similar structures. According to
Spazanews there are about 100,000 such shops located across the country, bringing in a combined turnover of 7 billion Rand each year!
Combined, imagine what buying power they would have!
by
Paul on Thursday, 15 July, 2010
Chalk drawings
I remember drawing pictures with chalk many years ago in primary school. Not on the floor of course – our teachers would have had a problem with that – but rather on large pieces of cardboard.
When I saw these guys I wondered if their time wouldn’t be more well spent doing the same with some kind of super-hardy paint. The chalk will wash away with the first, or perhaps second, rains but having these kinds of paintings in appropriate places could be quite a feature. Don’t you think?
by
Paul on Wednesday, 14 July, 2010
Blowing his own trumpet
Over the World Cup period we focused so much on vuvuzelas, but on this day along the fan walk we saw several mistral troops walking the fan walk all kitted up, beating drums, clanging symbols, and blowing not vuvuzelas, but real trumpets.
As a result of the absolutely awesome time that everyone had at the Fan Walk people have been voicing their wish to make this an annual event – a celebration of sorts. Yes, it disrupts traffic for a little while, and may inconvenience you if you’re not taking part, but for the sake of the atmosphere it creates don’t you think that it’s just a grand idea?
