July 4, 2006
Day 279
The big event of the day was the World Cup semifinal between Germany and Italy. Ax was especially interested in seeing the game. In fact, the only reason he stuck around Santa Ana today was to watch it. We found a restaurant near the hotel with a TV set and watched from there. The game was 0-0 in regulation, so there was a thirty minute overtime period. There was lots of action with both teams trying to score the winning goal. With about ten minutes left, there was still no score and it looked like the game might go to a shootout. Then, suddenly the TV turned off! We soon learned that the power had gone out all over town. Power outages are fairly common in the third world, but this one happened at the worst possible moment. Ax just about went insane running around, cursing his bad luck, and trying to find somebody who might still have power. By the time the power came back on, the game was over and we didn't even know who won. We didn't find out until later that night that Italy beat Germany 2-0 in a stunning finish.
After the game finished, we managed to sell both canoes. We got a lot less than we paid for them, but at least we got rid of them. Now I can head out tomorrow.
For our last night together, Ax, Veronica, and I went to a karaoke bar. We sang a bunch of stupid songs and had a great time, but I couldn't believe what the locals were singing. Every song was some sappy love song that was so far off-key it sounded horrible. Toward the end of the night, the only people in the bar besides us were a group of five guys. One by one, they each took turns professing their love to the women who had already gone home in fingernails-on-chalkboard fashion. I don't think they understood that the point of karaoke is to slaughter whatever you sing and not take it seriously at all.
