Day 36-39: Construction Site, Hockey & Soccer

Thursday and Friday were very uneventful. Jakob and I helped out with various tasks at the construction site on both days. It got more interesting on the weekend though.

Besides the first match of the national team at the World Cup, Jens' hockey club's big tournament was supposed to take place. Since the whole tournament is organized mainly by dedicated parents, we were also roped in to help out. So we spent the whole Saturday and half of Sunday in Otjiwarongo. This is where Jens goes to boarding school and also plays inline hockey for the Scorpoions Otjiwarongo. Due to the long distances here in Namibia, it is impossible to establish a functioning league operation during the week. Therefore, each of the 5 clubs organizes a 3-day tournament over a weekend. Every team and youth team of each club compete against each other. With an average of 10-12 teams per club, this tournament takes place on a very large scale with a lot of organizational effort. In addition, all players, family members, and spectators also need to be fed. This is where we came into play: while Sylvia helped out with multiple shifts in the kitchen, we were behind the bar for a total of 5 shifts.

The first one was on Saturday from 10 - 12 o'clock. Since Sylvia also had to start in the kitchen at 9 o'clock, we already left at 8 o'clock. The first shift went very relaxed, a first beer helped with that ...

After our relief took over the bar operation at 12 o'clock, we made ourselves comfortable on the grandstand with a delicious lunch. Unfortunately, Jens lost his first game. At around 4 o'clock, we had the second shift behind the counter. By now, there was a lot more going on and since most parents would spend the night in a hotel on site, the thirst for beer was accordingly present. Unfortunately, the relief at 6 o'clock did not come, so we had to extend our shift involuntarily for two more hours. And even in the third shift until 10 o'clock, we continued to tend the bar. This time, however, we were paid 200 dollars by one of the fathers who was originally assigned for the shift. Since we had to wait for Jens' last game at 11:10 anyway, it was a classic win-win situation. We then made the tired journey back of almost 100km around midnight. I was in bed by 1 o'clock.

The next morning, the alarm clock rang at 9 o'clock. Jens' first and last game was supposed to start at 1 o'clock, and our fifth shift at the bar was already at 12 o'clock. So we headed back to Otjiwarongo around 10:30. However, the shift was very relaxed and we were able to make our way back around 2 o'clock. We all sat in front of the TV at 5 o'clock and watched the German defeat against Mexico.

After dinner and the significantly better game between Brazil and Switzerland, I was in bed by 10 o'clock.