Omg! Shoba n I drive in with our charming guide/driver/now friend Tomislav into Dubrovnik just in time to shower n change and race down to a huge multilevel terraced bar right in the Adriatic where clutches of people are amassed in front of huge TV screens to watch the semi final between Croatia and UK–first time since 1998 Croatia made it to the semis and are now in the finals! The celebrations after a fantastically close and evenly matched game were wild and such fun to be part of! Red flares, blue, red, white fireworks, thousands of cheering shouting Croats and sympatico tourists like us… flag-waving shirtless guys and woman in bikini climbing a flagpole (!) chanting and singing and jumping up and down….. then as we walked up long steep stairs to our place we got lost… wandered into an open living room where 3 guys were watching tv and drinking beer and invited us to drink with them (which ofcourse we did!)– then they gave us directions and passing yet more cheering fans heading back to their respective homes we too staggered back in at around 1 am….We felt safe and surrounded by a tide of joy and pride which in a sports saturated cultural moment, felt more than ok to be a part of…I’ll take competition/winning/losing playing soccer anytime over its uglier alternatives!This morning Tomislav came wildly happy and took us to his friends restaurant on the sea and after a delicious breakfast of cappuccino and wine soaked creamy crepes we are off on a good start to yet another exciting day in paradise…. More later on our incredible train ride from Belgrade to Podgorica and the meandering day down the Adriatic yesterday…..
The Soccer Semi Final
Published by pakistaniamericanfeministtravels
I’m a Professor of English with teaching and research interests in Women’s and Gender Studies, and Postcolonial Performance and Cultural Studies. I have been traveling the world beyond my native Pakistan since I was 8 years old and my family became the first in my parents’ circle to go to live in Africa. I left Lahore at 21 to come to the USA for my PhD and have lived a peripatetic professor and performer’s existence ever since. In my in between sedentary moments i am a wife and mother to two beautiful grown children. View all posts by pakistaniamericanfeministtravels
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Yes indeed, similar celebrations of that semi final were echoed all round the world! I know how I celebrated, since I supported the underdogs through and through! 😉
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Oh wow! And I was sending these live via FB and ma y people in Pakistan joined to watch as well as my friends from US n UK… was very cool! Was sorry they didn’t win the final but happy to see the French team composed largely of men of color…. so that was good!
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