World Cup
The final was horrible. When Zidane did the infamous headbut, or coup de boule, France gasped. When we lost, it felt like the whole country deflated. Eventually, life returned to normal. A song was written about the catastophe. And eventually, we laughed again.
Four years later, we watched the Cup in between visits to friends and family in the U.S. Justin got a Spain cap for his birthday, and wore it all summer (until we lost it on a plane).
Here he is eating at Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, Texas, with our friends, the Grants...
Selfie with mom...
Disney with Grandpa and Dad...
In 2010, we did follow the Euro Cup, and were in Cologne, Germany, traveling back from our debriefing conference on Justin's birthday. It was also the night that Germany beat Greece.
We watched with German friends. Here's Stefan. And Justin had the most amazing birthday dessert ever.
Cologne was joyful that night, people shouting and dancing in the streets.
So it's funny to be watching it here, in Indiana. We're pleased that team U.S.A. has done well so far, but we don't pin our hopes on the team winning. Italy and Spain are out, which is disappointing. We're squeezing game-watching in the spaces around our schedules. I think I was the only one on my facebook feed excitedly commenting on Croatia's win yesterday.
I was relieved Thursday when there were no games I had to watch--the only one I was committed to was played when I was working. It felt like a mini-World Cup vacation.