it's afternoon in south africa, right?

Of all the places I've imbibed for free in DC, I don't think there's been any place more raucous than the South African Embassy. Even more impressive, it was all done in the early-to-mid hours of the morning, while South Africa celebrated the opening of the World Cup on its home turf yesterday.

And according to the facts in my mind, there's nothing that indicates the presence of good will in the world more than unscrewing a bottle of rum and watching a group of people from all around the world finish it off in mere minutes. At 9 a.m.

There's also nothing like watching a bartender unscrew a bottle of scotch, mix it with Coke and hand it to someone after she ordered a rum and Coke. Another fact in my mind says, you know it's an event to [not] remember when even the bartenders are too crunk to mix a rail drink right. At 10 a.m.

Damn, that party was a good time!

And I learned something to boot: I entered this event yesterday a soccer novice and, I can proudly say that now I know what offsides means, what a yellow card is, and that eight out of 10 dudes who play soccer are ridiculously good-looking. Indeed, soccer is a fine sport.

This woman, one of the Mexicans who attended the party to congratulate South Africa on this historic occasion and cheer on (albeit very quietly) their team in the opening game, agreed:

But then again, judging from her footwork skills, which she showed off after the match while playing with what I assume were her grandsons just moments before this picture was taken, she's known that for a long time. Wow.

And because I hate to leave you with something as impressive as an octogenarian's age-defying foot-eye coordination skills, allow me to present to you this short, poorly edited video log of yesterday morning's events. It's accompanied by horrendous audio. Enjoy!



Happy World Cup Fun Time! Remember to check back Monday for a round-up of the events in Dupont this weekend because I have my vuvuzela ready to go and my pipes warmed up -- USA! USA! USA!