There are some aspects of living outside the U.S. that I'm happy to tolerate. No McDonald's for a year? No problem. I have a feeling that McGriddles will be there when I get back--quite possibly the same exact ones. No Target for a year? A little tougher, but I can handle going to two different stores for face wash and fruit. No movie theaters? Painful, but then I just remind myself of the sunrises and sunsets I get daily for free.
But no Super Bowl? The Island Girl does not abide.
That's why once Ben (a fellow Sconnie) and I found out via text that the Pack defeated da Bears,* we immediately filled out leave forms and declared Super Bowl Monday our one annual personal holiday.
I should explain. Two aspects of Palau living make watching a football game in real time almost a miracle. First, because of the time change, the game has to be in the late afternoon or early evening. Otherwise, to watch it in real time we need to wake up at three or five in the morning. Regardless, to watch an NFL Sunday game, you have to be willing to sacrifice part of your work day for the game. And vacation days don't grow on trees. Second, there is only one communications company here, the Palau National Communications Corporation. For reasons that are beyond me, PNCC doesn't show Fox sports. I don't know why--maybe Mr. Murdoch prefers the diving in Australia. I don't know. But instead of getting Fox football, we get cricket. Besides these two issues, sometimes the channels here simply don't show the games for no apparent reason.
Thankfully, ESPN got the Super Bowl, so all we had to do was use a vacation day and get there early! Ben and I weren't the only people excited for Super Bowl XLV. Ryan and Holly are Cal fans, so they were game for cheering for Aaron Rodgers. Scott, one of the peace corps guys here, was pumped to don green and cheer on the Pack as well. And a fellow attorney and long-time Palauan resident, Ron, was dead set on being front and center and the first to the bar on Monday morning. We decided to head to Kramers, the popular ex-pat bar with a reputation for throwing a great Super Bowl party.
Kramers was set to open at 7 am, but because we heard rumors that a bunch of coast guard guys were vying for all the good seats at Kramers, a few of us headed over at 6:30 in the morning and camped out to watch over two hours of pre-game bliss. I say "bliss" because Monday was the first time this year I've watched an NFL game in its entirety in real time. And I loved every minute of it. The bar had two projector screens, a huge flat screen, and a few other smaller flat screens. Kramers is located right on the ocean, so half of its walls are windows, and it looks like this--
Quite picturesque, right? Not on Super Bowl Monday! All that sun means too much heat and glare for a sports bar. So they blocked it out with garbage bags to maximize viewing--a display of both commitment and pure genius. I wouldn't normally publicly announce that I was happily sitting in a dark corner of a dark bar watching four to five TV screens with tears in my eyes on a Monday morning. But I did, and I was.
(Island Girl extremely happy)
The game was the game: Fantastic. I don't need to elaborate. I will say that I don't think anyone in Palau had ever heard the "GO PACK GO" cheer that fills Lambeau Field every 30 seconds during games. And after all our cheering, I'm sure they don't want to hear it every again. But the crowd was a lot of fun, they humored our cheering, and the "breakfast buffet" provided all the Super Bowl unhealthy goodness you could want. Overall, I'm incredibly proud to be a Cheesehead right now, and thrilled that we got to watch the win.
But now that it's over, I do have a few questions:
1. Have I been without cable, MTV, and/or new music for too long, or was the halftime show pretty good? That is, of course, setting aside Fergie's inability pull off Axl Rose's Snake.
2. How were the commercials? Because the game was showing the island version of ESPN, we had commercials for rugby games and cricket. There was some sort of sock puppet in one commercial, but we couldn't figure out if there was even a punch line. It was quite sad. Anything really good in the U.S.? Was Bud or Miller better? Did a Google commercial make you cry? I'm so curious and my internet takes too long to uphold youtube videos. Please share!
3. How was the Puppy Bowl? And the Kitty Halftime Show? Don't pretend every one of you didn't turn it on at least once...
Well, that's my report on the Super Bowl Palauan-style. It felt great to partake in one of the most American traditions, with a twist. I suppose now it's back to reality for me...
(Yawn)
*As an aside, a piece of advice. I'm a Badger, a Packer, and a Brewer. Since I left Chicago, the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl, and the Packers defeated the Bears and won the Super Bowl. Take advantage while I'm gone and start placing bets on the Brewers.
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