June 13th - A day of rest

After a long 72 hours, we all crashed until late in the day on Sunday. The place we are staying at in Johannesburg is best described by Lars when he says "it's like breaking into Fort Knox" to get in. There are two large metal gates that separate the place from the street. There is barbed wire all along the perimeter wall to the house. The place itself has an intricate alarm system. Graham, the guy who owns the place, assures us that the area is safe (for my morning runs, for instance), but for a safe area, there sure is a lot of security on this apartment.

For me, it seems apparent that the great need for security stems from the enormous gulf in wealth here in South Africa between the haves and have-nots. It seems equally apparent that the haves are mostly white and the have-nots are mostly not white. I know that in the USA we have tremendous racism and class inequality, and I'm just a visitor here so I cannot know the whole story, but this place has a very twisted feeling to it regarding race and class differences.

I guess it's unnerving to have such a large amount of security at our place. It makes me feel like I'm going to get robbed all the time. However, everyone here has been friendly and kind so far, so I really hope this World Cup is an experience that South Africa can build upon to uplift the entire country. Tomorrow we go to our first game at the new Soccer City Stadium - Holland v. Denmark, so times should continue to be exciting.