SUPERBOWL (early morning) MONDAY!!

I’m not the world’s biggest sports fan, but I do enjoy watching games - I’ve definitely missed football and college basketball while I’ve been here in Kenya.  I try to keep up on ESPN.com and baylorbears.com, but it’s just not the same.  So, I knew I just HAD to watch the Superbowl, even though it started at 2:30am on Monday morning.    So, me, Miss “I hate mornings” Hinsey woke up at 2am on Monday and took a cab across town to a Superbowl watching party at one of my pal’s apartments.  It was hosted by a Packers fan, and it was a great time - we had chips (Tostitos!!! from the Embassy store!!!) and salsa/guac, plus spinach and artichoke dip, brownies, popcorn - it was almost as good as watching at home. 

The most hilarious part of the game was that it was broadcast on AFN (armed forces network).  The actual game was the same (they just tap into the Fox broadcast), but the commercials are totally different.  They all seemed to fall into one of four categories:  1) speeches by important military figures, like Robert Gates, who I swear is dead inside - he didn’t blink once during his entire 30 second slot, 2) informative shorts about influential Americans like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jimmy Carter, and Teddy Roosevelt, 3) tutorials about military items (I now know the origins of counting ship speed in knots) or 4) public service announcements for soliders (examples:  “don’t waste your overseas deployment on the base...get out and see the city” and “don’t bottle up your feelings inside...share them with others!!”).  So, in short, not quite the commercials that everyone else was seeing, but funny just the same.  And I loved, loved, loved the halftime show...even if you couldn’t hear it very well.  

I managed to stay up for the entire game - what a match!  It definitely made me want to watch more sport - fair warning that I am going to hog the TV next time I’m in the States!

After the game, it was back home for an hour nap before diving headfirst into work - it’s the final week of this phase of the project so lots to do!  More updates on what’s next for me coming soon...