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From: |
Keith & Lori |
Date: |
June 14, 2004 |
Title: |
Super Sports Sunday |
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Last Sunday turned out to be an action packed day of sports for us here in Ethiopia. Our first
activity was to watch an early morning broadcast of the hockey playoffs. Later that morning,
Lori went to the lake to watch a national swimming competition. And that afternoon, I
watched Awassa win the Ethiopian football championship. These last two events are described in
the attached photos while the first is described below.That Saturday night, armed with Mr Potato (Pringles rip-off), we hustled over to the hotel and took early naps. At the crack of 4 am, our alarms rang out and we turned on the TV. Alas, the game was already in progress! It would appear that, despite living here for two years, I still can’t convert between time zones. But with play just under way in the second period and the score tied at zero, we hunkered down to watch the rest of the game. Five minutes into the period and our TV flickered and changed channels before our eyes. Our hockey turned into boxing - Jerome Iginla and Brad Richards turned into two sweaty Latino guys in shorts pounding the crap out of each other. You see, the hotel has a single satellite dish to be shared amongst all of the guests. But that prior afternoon, I had received firm promises from the hotel staff that I could have dedicated use of the dish between 4 and 6 am. That night, with boxing jabs issuing from the TV, I raced down to the reception desk and reminded the staff of their earlier commitment. Another hotel guest was standing in the lobby (the boxing fan I assumed), wrapped only in a sheet (couldn’t sleep I guessed) suggesting that we could make a compromise. I explained that I had shelled out a large proportion of my monthly salary to watch this game - that there was no other reason for me to be staying in this hotel. He seemed to understand and grudgingly, the channel was changed back to the hockey. Back in the room and for the next blissful fifteen minutes, we watched Tampa Bay and Calgary exchange goals. I was amazed to discover that, after two years here, I was out of practice in watching the game. Everything seemed very fast and I struggled to keep track of the puck. I hate to admit this but I needed that blue swoosh that I once made fun of. Perhaps it was simply the Subway advertising on the side boards that kept distracting me...ummmm, steak and cheese sub... Just as we were getting into the rhythm of the game, the TV flickered back to boxing. "ARGH!!!", I cried and stormed back down to the reception desk. Our boxing fan was nowhere to be found but the hotel guy was standing there, looking very unhappy to see me. "Where is the manager?" I asked not very calmly. I was shown to a small darkened office where I found the manager sleeping. Keeping my tone to a low panic, I explained the situation to him and pleaded for a return of the hockey. He agreed and I hustled back to my room to watch the last minutes of the second period. With the score tied and only the third period to go, we entertained thoughts of seeing the Stanley Cup hoisted in Canada. And then the power went off. And stayed off. Was this the revenge of the toga-wearing boxing chumpy? A look out the window revealed that all of Awassa was shut down. Perhaps he knew somebody at the electrical office? More likely, this was just Ethiopia. Regardless, we were defeated. And as we learned later, Calgary was also defeated...but in double overtime! |
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All text, images and sounds by Keith Holmes and Lori Prodan © 2004 |
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