This morning, as I walked out of the house, one of our guards stopped me to tell me in broken but intensely earnest French that I had to meditate today: “Il faut méditer, madame, il faut beaucoup méditer pour la France. Moi je vais méditer aujourd’hui. Vous aussi vous devez méditer. Il faut que la France gagne.” I suspect the word he was looking for was “pray”. You see, after Brazil beat Ghana, most Congolese rallied behind France – on the basis that France features the African Dream Team anyway.
Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, where F. and I spent 3 days over the week-end for an early birthday treat, people supported France against Brazil because “we’re Ethiopian, you see, we don’t like domination”. On the other hand, many will now switch their allegiance to Portugal, in a show of support for Ana Gomez, the European Union’s Chief Election Monitor for Ethiopia, who publicly criticised Ethiopia’s elections in May. Apparently, when Portugal plays in a game, the Ethiopian onlookers watching the huge screen set up in the main square chant, “Ana Gooomez, Ana Gooomez!”
In the meantime my father, a pioneer of fair play, has asked me to seek out the Congolese sorcerers who helped swing the game in favour of Mbuji Mayi (see this post) and make them a donation of little dolls dressed in red and green and a few sharp needles.
Whichever method you choose, it’s time to cross your fingers for France.
St Tekle Haimanot Church, Ethiopia
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