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Published: June 22nd 2014
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The flight from Toronto to Sao Paulo went really well, and we landed right on time. After clearing customs and grabbing my bags, I went and retrieved my World Cup tickets. It felt good having them in my hand, so now I’m ready for the first match. I was not expecting to get the tickets for the 2 matches I missed, Nigeria vs Iran and Nigeria vs Bosnia (which we watched on TV tonight...more on that later), but they printed them for me anyway. Nice little souvenirs.
A few months ago, my initial plan was to fly from Sao Paulo straight to Cuiaba to watch Nigeria vs Bosnia, and I even booked a flight. Because I was struggling to find a place to stay, and because I realized I was not going to spend as much time in the area I'm from, I decided to skip this match. It was going to be a close call getting there on time anyway and I figured I'd be tired after long flights from Calgary and Sao Paulo. I saw a bunch of Nigerians at the airport probably looking to get on the flight I originally had a ticket for, and thought about giving them my ticket to tonight's game, but figured they had tickets already and instead waited to get on my flight to Navegantes.
Navegantes is a small town on the coast which is where the closest airport to my hometown is located. After a super quick 47 minute flight, my uncle Djalma picked me up and drove us to his house in Itapema, a small town right on the coast. His house is pretty neat, right on the water, meaning his front yard literally lies against the sea. I'll take some photos tomorrow to show you all. The map for today's blog entry has a marker right on his house. We watched the Germany vs Ghana game and then game I was most interested in (the one I was skipping): Nigeria vs Bosnia.
I have been planning this World Cup based on the assumption that the team I am following, Nigeria, would be eliminated in the first round thus allowing me to follow Argentina in the second round of the tournament. So in tonight's game, Nigeria was up against the team I thought would take them out, so here I was cheering for Bosnia. The first half was exciting, with both teams having some clear chances to score. Bosnia scored a legit goal that was called back, and shortly after, Nigeria took the lead they never relinquished. Final score: Nigeria 1 – 0 Bosnia. With this score, Bosnia's going home and Nigeria's likely to advance in 2
nd place. This means I have to redo all the planning I had done up to this point because it means I'll be watching Nigeria in the second round and not Argentina, and instead of going to Sao Paulo – Brasilia – Sao Paulo – Rio de Janeiro I'll probably have to go to Brasilia – Rio de Janeiro – Belo Horizonte – Rio de Janeiro. The downside is I might only see Messi play once and have to book new flights and hotels; the upside is I probably get to see matches with some big teams (France – Germany and Germany – Brazil) and have a chance to see Brazil play in the semi-final if we get that far.
I guess we'll see what happens over the next little while and where I ultimately have to get myself to.
Tomorrow and Monday are days for relaxing and hanging out with my dad's side of the family. The weather was 19 when I got here today but I've heard a few comments on how cold it is, and my aunt Coca even got the fireplace going tonight. By that time it was probably 8 degrees or so (not 19), and I told them how 8 is pretty decent on some days in Calgary.
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