We go, we go...

"We go, we go. Uganda Cranes, we go!"

This was the song that was played over and over again while I attended my first Uganda Cranes Football (soccer) match. I was invited by a friend from grad school, Shirley, who lives in Jinja (about an hour drive away from me). Shirley has been here since January and we finally got to hang out this past Saturday with her two Ugandan sons at the Uganda versus Zambia match.

The atmosphere was really great. Everyone was wearing their Uganda Cranes jersey (I say about 90 percent of people wore jerseys) in either black, yellow, red, or white. Getting close to the Mandela National Stadium was full of people showing their support of Uganda against Zambia for the qualify match to go to the World Cup. Walking to the stadium was loud. Music was playing, vuvuzelas echoed in my ears as the beat of drummers made everyone dance. Vendors laid their goods on the ground selling flags and anything with the Ugandan colors on it to people walking by. When we finally got the game, I was anxious for the match to commence.

I've been to soccer games before in the States, but nothing compares to going to one in Uganda... and maybe Africa for that fact. There were fans who wore things that made me realize that there are people in Uganda who are not as conservative as I thought. Men wearing tights with mess tops, but still wearing Ugandan colors. Someone dressed in something that looked like an Ewok costume adorned in Ugandan colors. Three guys had their whole body painted and ran along the outside of the field cheering on the crowd. What made this match different from the ones in the States is how long Ugandans celebrated when the scored a goal. 10 minutes of celebration. I'm not lying. Everyone was high-fiving and hugging each other, while others were dancing. In the end, Uganda won the regular time, but because Uganda and Zambia were tied in their points to qualify for the world cup, they had to do a shoot out and Uganda lost. The mood turned very silent once they lost like their was never a game that took place, and people left disappointed. Even though it would have been nice to win, I was happy to be part of the experience.

Here are some pictures below...

Shirley and I before the match

Mandela National Stadium

Shirley's son Nasser after he got his forehead painted with Ugandan colors

Ronny (Shirley's other son), Shirley and Nasser

Walking to the match

Before the match started

The crowd

A fan... a little different eh?

The other side of the stadium

My only instrument of making a loud noise was a whistle... I'm okay with that 

The fight song.