FIFA, Another Four Letter Word?
Yes, I know FIFA is not a word it’s an acronym. But the joke doesn’t really work otherwise.
John Oliver, like the crew at The Mudflats is extremely excited about the World Cup starting this week. The only problem is that FIFA, the guys that run the World Cup is a nightmare organization. I mean like Tea Party in Wasilla nightmare.
I’ll have Oliver explain.
OMG. They’ve really built a stadium in Manaus? Unlike most denizens of The Mudflats, I have visited Manaus. During the rubber boom, it was the richest city in the world. If you’ve seen the movie Fitzcarraldo, you’ve seen the opera house (a relic of the boom years, it was badly renovated, and in the 1980s when I was there, I saw a very mediocre comedian perform).
I can’t say what it’s like thirty years later, but I doubt it’s improved much. It was one of the few places in the country where, when I left my hotel room, I saw no unaccompanied women on the street, so I returned to my hotel. When I was leaving town the next day, my wristwatch was cut off my wrist while I was on the bus to the airport; I couldn’t pursue the thief, who looked about 14 years old, and jumped off the bus as soon as he’d stolen my watch.
I went there so I could take a boat to see the Meeting of the Waters (o Encontro das Aguas), where the Solomon River and the Black River flow side by side without mixing. They’re two different speeds, two different chemical compositions, and two different temperatures. It’s one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. If anyplace does not need a multi-million dollar futbol stadium, that’s it. To get there, I flew on the Airbus, a big jet that took off and landed all night, flying through thunderstorms and turbulence. I imagine there will be direct flights from Rio and Sao Paulo during the World Cup “festivities.” Yikes.