Satellite TV in a Mud Hut

This past Saturday, the US lost to Ghana in the round of 16. When we drew Ghana, I was a bit concerned as Ghana is the only African team to make it out of the Group stages and thus, I assumed that even FIFA was keen to see an African team go through to the Quarterfinals...

But I figured, drawing Ghana would be better than Germany. Either way, the US and England were f-cked.

Before the match - I was quite excited (evidenced my smile and the wearing of blue sunglasses with the US flag on the sides). I fancied the US chances and believed that we would pull something good out. I mean even Pres Clinton decided to stay a few extra days in South Africa so he could watch the US team play again.

I was down at a beach this past Saturday called Mama Beach, at a new 'hotel' called Eden Park. Eden Park did not yet have a TV, so I grabbed a member of the staff who was from the local village and we headed out of the complex on a little dirt path to the village of Mama Beach. After about a 20 minute walk with eyes fixed on me (as the only white man to go through these parts in a while - I surmised) we got to the 'Cinema' as Wilmot (the man from the hotel) described it.

The 'Cinema' was simply a mud-brick built hut, with no windows and aluminum siding for a roof. It was an easy building to spot as it had three large satellite dishes attached to the roof. Inside were long wooden benches facing a little 15 inch TV on one side and a 23 inch TV on another side (also with wooden benches in front of it). After paying 1000 leones (or about 25 cents US), Wilmot and I popped inside. We missed kick-off, and Ghana had already scored their first goal. About 60+ men were sat tightly in this blisteringly hot hut - with all eyes fixed on the 15 inch TV - yes, the football match was relegated to the smaller TV. Managed to get a decent seat and quickly caught up with a few of the locals about the game so far.

As the only America and white guy in there, they all assumed I was cheering for the USA.

They were right.

Every time the US did something good or bad, I ofcourse reacted. This pissed off a few guys and made others laugh. At one point some guy yelled at me "We only cheer for African teams in this hut". To which I responded "Thats great! I only cheer for American teams in this hut."

All in all - in was a great viewing experience and nice to watch with real Sierra Leoneans and not members of the expat community. The most comical thing however, was that during the second half, another group of people (men, women and children) popped into the hut to watch the other 23 inch TV. When they first turned it on, it was about 10 minutes into the second half. I assumed they would also put on the match and therefore accommodate another 50/60 people willing to pay 1ooo leones.

But - as usual in Sierra Leone - I was completely wrong. Instead, they played an old Jackie Chan movie from the 80s. The film was in Chinese with English subtitles and featured a scene where a sort of soccer-like sport was played. For about 20 minutes of the second half, more eyes were on the Jackie Chan film than the USA-Ghana match. In fact, whenever someone scored a goal in the movie, the cheers were louder than when anything good happened in the Ghana-USA match.

The USA - Ghana match ended with Ghana victorious and the locals apologetic to me. They all believed that the USA was a good team and that we would do better in the future. But ofcourse, many of these guys got a little cheeky and made sure to emphasize their delight in seeing an African team beat a 'Western' team. Although the USA never colonized Sierra Leone, I found this comment to be interesting:

"Its nice to see an African team do well in the Cup. We used to be your slaves. Maybe if we win a few more games, you will become our slaves."

We agreed that if Ghana won the Final, that I would return to the village and work for this man for a week.

Wilmot told me later that he hoped that Ghana would not win the Final for my sake. When I asked him why, he explained that the man I made this deal with was responsible for take care of the outhouses in the village.