Rugby World Cup fever cont'd

Well since my last post Samoa played against England and lost 22-44. They played well but they just didn't sustain themselves to the end. Wilkinson proved that he's back with his successful kicking. Our team Samoa saved themselves from being at the bottom of the pool by beating USA in their last game though it was by a small margin 24-21. England against Tonga was also interesting. Tonga played so well and looked as if they were going to beat England but I think England had the referee on their pay roll because there were a lot of questionable calls against Tonga and dodgy English moves that the ref turned a blind eye to. Believe me Tonga is the last team I'd support but yep the poor under-dog small country team were squashed by the big team and their deep pockets once more. Last night Fiji beat Wales 34-38 and it was a good game. It was sad though to see the Fijian goal kicker's knee twist into an unimaginable state which sent him off on a stretcher. That may be the end to his rugby career! Apparently Wales have always gotten beaten at this particular game to miss the quarter finals in the last four world cups. What's ironic though it was a game like last night but with Samoa beating Wales that put Samoa on the Rugby World map in 1991. And again last night Fiji beat Wales for the first time and made it into the quarter-finals. Poor Wales will always be remembered as the team that was beaten by the islanders to gain recognition! The legendary win over Wales by Samoa in 1991 sent one die-hard fan back home to name their son Samoa 39-Wales 19. That boy should be about ready to join the team soon if he's any good at rugby.

Well that's been our exciting Ramadan routine. We can't go out for coffee or lunch with friends so we stay indoors to watch the rugby and sometimes have dinner with friends at home. Two more weeks to Eid. Alex parents are arriving next week so we're looking forward to their visit. A friend of ours from NZ who worked with Alex back in Samoa just got a job here so they'll be moving up soon too. Exciting for them indeed. The traffic here is getting worse by the day. I drive to work everyday which is to the other side of town. There is one highway all the way there but it takes me about 25 minutes to get there due to congestion. I try to think positive and remember other people that take hours to get to work so this is nothing. There have been a lot of articles in the local papers of people appealing to the Police to put in more measures to control neglectful driving. Some people drive here like they are on a rally race. They weave in and out of traffic at 120-140 kph. It's scary to say the least. Other than that all is good in the Sultanate. City Centre has extended to include more shops which means there's no hurry to go shopping in Dubai anymore!