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You are here: Home / Archives for Headline

Cricket Part II, ties suck.

December 28, 2009 By Danny

Missed Cricket Part I?  Click Here.

And that is the information we knew upon entering the final day of a five day test match against England. On day 4 South Africa ran up a large lead in runs which they assumed (correctly in this case) that England would not be able to catch up to the rather large lead with only a single day of play remaining. Toward the end of day four, with more wickets (outs) remaining in their 2nd inning, South Africa “declared” they were finished and started the Brits on their second inning of batting. Remember each team has to COMPLETE two innings, and the sooner SA started England on their second inning, the sooner South Africa could call themselves champions. Therefore we started day 5 with South Africa looking to get a quick 9 wickets (they got the first wicket at the end of the day 4 when England started their second inning) to win the game. England was only looking to hold out for the day in order to force the draw.

The brother of our CS host was only too happy to oblige us with a visit to the cricket test. As he pointed out, he’d just be watching it at home anyhow so might as well come to the stadium instead. There was a relatively small seating area and the rest of the fans, us included, in general admission sprawled out on the grass with blankets, lawn chairs, and enjoyed the day barefoot in the grass. There was a Braai pit for those who brought their own meat to Braai but as we’d not gone in that fancy I settled for an almost as as good Boerewors instead. Most amazing of all, the ticket to enter cost us about $4 each.

Before they set foot in the stadium that day, England had almost no chance of winning. They could have tried to score enough runs to get into the lead but with only one day it was unlikely at best. For us Americans watching I felt as if I was watching the Yankees play a game 7 in their 2003 World Series against the Florida Marlins, when the Yankees had already lost the series in game 6. OK, that’s not a perfect analogy but who doesn’t enjoy knocking the Yankees from time to time? We decided that this, with the slow slow speed of the game, is why cricket (at least the 5 day test-match) probably won’t ever make it in the states.

The game started and before long South Africa scored their 2nd and then their 3rd wicket. Only 7 more to go until they could call themselves winners, but thats when the wickets stopped. The pair of batsmen that were up (called a partnership) scored well over 100 runs between them and remember, they weren’t trying to score runs, they were just trying to stay there all day long. Finally their star batsman made a critical mistake (he ran for a run after hitting a short ball when he should have stayed put) and the South African who had bowled that ball picked it up and ran it into the wickets to get the out.

After that the wickets just kept falling. South Africa with about 4 overs remaining (I can’t remember exactly, it was a long day in the sun…over 80 had already been pitched) scored the 9th of their 10 wickets. This would be the equivalent of being down all game and suddenly scoring your tieing run and having the winning run on third base in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately for England, they didn’t exactly have their best batsmen out on the pitch (those guys had gotten out long ago) but unfortunately for South Africa, those two fellas did the job and protected the wickets for the final overs. After 5 days in blistering heat, England had one mere wicket remaining on its 2nd inning, and that was enough to keep us and all the South Africans around us, from celebrating a victory. Ties suck.

Filed Under: Africa, Headline, South Africa, Weekend Warrior Tagged With: cricket

Foodie Friday: Braai & Boerewors

December 25, 2009 By Danny

One of the things we missed out on while we were in Argentina was taking part in an asado. This is the Argentine version of our Bar-B-Q and although we’d had enough meat we would have liked to enjoy one first-hand during our 6 weeks in the country. Imagine our surprise then when on day number 3 in South Africa we found ourselves enjoying the South African version of the BBQ.

The word braai comes from the Afrikaans word for grill, and grill they did. Of the group that we were invited to join everyone took a turn grilling except for the host. We probably spent about two hours cooking because there was just so much for the 10 of us and there wasn’t a morsel of hamburger to be found. As for last week’s Foodie Friday there were no exotic meats to try although there were a few suggestions. Instead, we had chicken breast, chicken wings, steak, and probably 6 different varieties of sausage.

Most, if not all, of that sausage was boerewors, which is is basically South African sausage. Generally strongly seasoned with about a million of varieties from spicy, cheese, and even garlic. The most amazing part was that for all the varieties, it was all beef.

Missing from the braai though, which our hosts soon remedied was our first taste of biltong. Pronounced with their accents such that I thought they were talking about “bull tongue” it is basically sun-dried beef, something akin to jerky, but spiced and a good bit more flavorful as well. This specialty though can actually be found, or so I’m told, in ostrich, kudu, and impala varieties as well.

There are braai pits nearly every where we go, including inside the cricket stadium. Its one thing for the grocery store to have a specialty braai foods section but the gas station does as well. As the weather here is always wonderful it really isn’t much a surprise that a weekend here wouldn’t be complete without a braai.

Filed Under: Africa, Food, Headline, South Africa Tagged With: foodiefriday, meat

Cricket, for Americans Part I

December 24, 2009 By Danny

Yes, that’s the game that reminds those of us from the States of Baseball, only it takes longer and they have a break for tea-time. Well we manage to go to the 5th day of a “test match” this past Sunday, South Africa vs. England, and learned a bit so here is the official Tobias crash course to Cricket. I do warn you, this explanation is a bit “elementary” but it has been reviewed by a Cricket lover and has passed although some of words I’ve used are a little more baseball oriented than cricket oriented.

The game begins with one team in the field and one at bat, just like baseball. The pitch, where the batting takes place, is in the center of the field with the fielders scattered all around. At one end of the pitch is the bowler, who runs up and throws the ball at the batter on the other side of the pitch. Simple enough, right? Well now it gets complicated.

When the bowler/pitcher bowls the ball he’s trying to hit the “wickets” (think bowling pins, although there are only three) which the batter is trying to protect. If the one of the wickets is hit, then that batter is out and a new batter takes his place. Ten outs to an inning, you always bat through the order…no more and no less. A batter could literally be out there all day long…that’s why they take the lunch and tea breaks.

The batter, is of course, a batter and is trying to hit the ball when it is hurtled at him. If he hits it out of the park his team receives 6 runs, if it rolls to the back wall, then it is 4 runs. A pop fly that gets caught by a fielder, that’s a “wicket” which is means the batsman is out. If he hits it for a “base hit” its up to him if he wants to run or not. He can run to the other end of the pitch for a single run and keep doing that as long as he’d like. He just needs to make sure he, and the other batsman, are behind the wickets when the ball gets back. If a fielder hits the ball to those wickets, then that batsman is out…which is why he can choose to run if he wants to or not. Wait, did I mention before that there are two batsmen?

Well there are, one at each end of the pitch. The bowler is is at one end of the pitch and bowls to the batter at the other end. If the batsman score a run (base hit) and switches sides with the other batsman, the bowler doesn’t move. Now the bowler will be facing the other batsman but the same rules do apply, the bowler/pitcher is trying hit those wickets or get the batsman to hit the ball in the air to a fielder who can catch for a “pop-fly” wicket. Whoever is batting is in danger of getting a wicket, or getting out, there is a such thing as a double play.

Then there are the bowlers themselves. In baseball, a single pitcher might pitch for an entire game, or at least most of it. When you have a game that is played for up to 5 days straight this really just doesn’t work. Instead a single bowler goes for only 6 pitches at a time (unless they throw the cricket equivalent of a ball in which case a the batter gets a free run AND the bowler has to throw an extra pitch) and then a new bowler is called to pitch from the other side of the pitch. Two bowlers can switch off taking turns all day long if they’d like but any of the 11 fielders (same guys go up to bat when the inning is up) can bowl and only the 11 fielders can bowl. One set of 6 pitches is called an ‘over’ and a day is defined as 90 overs, or 550 pitches.

So how does this game last 5 days? Some matches are limited to 20 or 50 overs, and these matches last for a mere 3 hours or one day respectively. In these shorter versions of the game, batsmen try to hit the ball just as they would try to hit it in baseball…as much as they can. They want to score runs quickly and so they take chances. The test match we attended only requires that each team have two at-bats, or two innings. If both teams don’t complete their 2 innings in the 5 days, then the match is a draw. If they finish early, the match ends early. Since that’s a lot of time, scores tend to run high into the hundreds.

Stay tuned for Cricket Part II- our cricket game experience.

Filed Under: Africa, Headline, South Africa, Weekend Warrior Tagged With: cricket

Welcome to Africa

December 22, 2009 By Jillian

Herds of animals flocked below us as we flew over Africa from Senegal to South Africa.  Actually, not really.  In fact we saw very little from 30,000 feet.  I know, I know.  Everyone thinks that Africa is just roaming with wild animals, but to be truthful we haven’t seen a single lion yet and we’ve been here almost a week.  (We have seen an ostrich and baboons though!)

So what have we done?  Well there’s actually more to do in Johannesburg than you think.  Our plan was to skip right off to Mozambique but we ended up keeping ourselves busy for a few extra days.  First up was the Apartheid museum.   Full of details, photos and fascinating stories, the Apartheid museum was a must on our list of things to do in Johannesburg.  We felt exhausted after going through the museum, but also very moved and interesting in learning more about the post-apartheid South Africa.  Fortunately our couch surfing hosts were more than patient with us asking question after question, so expect a more in-depth post on the subject soon.

Then it was off to the World of Beer, which according to the South African Tourism Board is their number 1 attraction.  The museum was great, almost like being at Disney.  Besides a history of beer around the world and an introduction to the beer making process, we also sampled some traditional African beer, the name of which I have no idea how to spell, and a traditional lager from a typical “bush” bar.  The attraction itself was great, but perhaps it was ranked South Africa’s #1 attraction by the tipsy tour goers- at the end of the tour we were each given two free pint vouchers! Hurray!

Africa so far has been wonderful.  We’re heading to Mozambique for a little while to get in some beach time  and avoid the crowds.  Might be a while between posts from now on, Internet isn’t as easy to come by here as it was in South America.  Have no fear, foodie friday will continue as best we can!

Filed Under: Africa, Beer & Wine, Headline, South Africa Tagged With: arrival, beer, drinks

Foodie Friday – The Other Meats

December 18, 2009 By Danny

As we travel we obviously like to try the different foods an area offers.  Often this goes beyond just the cooking style or cuisine of an area.  In the Andes we were able to try Llama and Alpaca (even on a pizza in Bolivia) and weren’t permitted to leave Peru without trying Cuy (guinea pig).  In Brazil we enjoyed Piranha soup, we went to Oaxaca with the sole purpose of eating a grasshopper, and when we came home the only thing I wanted to eat was buffalo (bison).

IMGP5129
Llama Steak!

The nice thing about all these foods is that they are truly local, providing us with a rich cultural experience while allowing us to directly support the local economy as well.  Many though have an additional benefit, they are better for our bodies than traditional red meat.  By the time we left the states we rarely ever had beef on our freezer, preferring bison meat instead because it was better for us, the economy, and the environment, if maybe not quite as perfect for our pocket book.

But now we are in Africa (yes, we arrived a couple of days ago now) and the idea of eating those “indigenous” meats here has a very different connotation.  Sure, we’re about to head into Mozambique where supposedly the fish just comes right out of the sea, through the grill, and onto your plate in a matter of seconds, but what about the rest of those animals that Africa is famous for?  Is it ethical to have a zebra kabob or an elephant stew?  We do expect to eat Ostrich (heck, you can even get that as fast food in the USA) but what else should we look for and try?

Filed Under: Africa, Food, Headline, South Africa, USA Tagged With: foodiefriday, meat

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