The glory vuvuzela

Cape Town's streets are awash with vuvuzelas, the long-stemmed South African horn that has revolutionized World Cup fandom. You can buy the vuvuzelas for anywhere between R35 to R150 depending on the adornments and quality. The best vuvuzelas come wrapped in wire and beads in patterns that support your favorite team. While Brazil, England, and South Africa are all well-represented at the street stalls, but vuvus carrying the stars and stripes are all but invisible on the streets.

After Fran's rant, Nathaniel and I were in the market for a vuvuzela to torture him with but we couldn't find an American one. We eventually settled on a Brazilian vuvuzela which we bought right before the N. Korea v. Portugal game. The vuvuzela was a source of great enjoyment and pleasure, and it was used as a crucial weapon in the battle between Fran and Bear Bear.
However we needed an American vuvuzela to support our Yankee team and there was none to be bought.

So with a little change in our pockets we went to the grocery store and bought some red, white, and blue supplies. The store didn't have many art supplies but all we really needed was glue. We found hair scrunchies, ribbon, bottle caps, cotton balls, and all kinds of little things that could be applied to the vuvuzela.

Before the USA v Algeria game, I decked out the vuvuzela in the finest of stars, stripes, and red, white and blue. It was a one of a kind vuvuzela, one that the security guards at the Fan Park stopped me for just to admire. There was some debate as to whether or not the decorations limited the volume of the instrument, but it was soon concluded that I just wasn't good at blowing it.














After the game, the vuvuzela was in need of some repair. Many of the 1 rand coins we had glued on had fallen off, and the cotton balls had unravelled to give the horn a dreadlocked beard. So, for the USA v Ghana game we added some blue bottle caps with aluminum stars glued on the tops, a poofy blue ball, some more white stripes, and a troll blowing a mini vuvuzela (as well as some general repairs).

It was quite a piece to behold but it didn't last for long. After the US's loss that night. The vuvuzela was dismantled in frustration, and returned to it's Brazilian form.