My most abiding knowledge of summer seasons in the United States is shaped by those beautiful bikini pictures on the beaches of Florida and California that used to flood my IG timeline; so why am I exposed to serious cold on Day 2 of my FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage?
I typically make findings about climatic conditions in the countries I visit so as to make adequate preparations but this is the lightest I have ever travelled for a major competition – this being my eight international football competition coverage.
Since I was coming to the United States where I knew that eating would not be a problem, I travelled with just a handful of wears and my usual stop-gap beverages. I made no provisions for cold because I thought I was actually coming to see women in bikinis.
It was bright in my first morning in the US of A (Monday morning) and I went sightseeing at a popular mall in company of my good friend Chibuzor Amos whom we were together at the last two World Cup competitions (in Qatar and Russia) and our New Jersey host, Profitboss Taiwo Olawuyi.
Rain, rain and more rain
The first game I lined up for my coverage this time was Norway vs Senegal at East Rutherford, barely 24 hours after my arrival from Bola Tinubu’s country. I got to the stadium in good time but no sooner had I completed my accreditation procedure than the heavens opened.
By the way, I suddenly felt a heavy vibration inside my pocket and a scary sound. I was scared for a moment that I had to first reach for “my balls” to be sure everything was in order, thank goodness, they were.
Alas! It was a Public Safety Alert, to tell me that rains and thunderstorms are coming. Another was sent (posted up) when danger was cleared. Ha! Is that one possible too? For the government to tell me to hide from rains? So they care like this in the “saner clime”? I asked a lady Volunteer in pidgin English “na so una dey do for here”??? She laughed so hard that I didn’t know if it was caused by my amazement at the PSA or the pidgin I spoke to her, or maybe she considered me pleasant-to-look enough to talk to her. I didn’t ask for her number, btw.
The rain subsided for the 90 minutes of play and it started again immediately after the game. I managed to get some Senegalese thoughts after the game because the NYSC watchword of “under the sun and in the rain” went with me to New Jersey.
I barely had some sleep and had to wake early the following day, Tuesday for a trip to Boston to cover England vs Ghana. It was a trip alleged to be within four hours but it took close to six hours before our Greyhounding ferry got to Massachusetts from Newark, New Jersey.
Most expensive taxi ride
I alighted from the coach in Boston at about 30 minutes to kickoff and considering that Foxborough was still about an hour away, we (myself and a Ghanaian fan I met at the Newark Penn Station), hopped on a limousine-styled cab and the price is not what I want to remember.
$110 man! Shared equally by both of us and I had just paid the most expensive land transportation fare in my life. N75,000 for a 50-minute trip. The comfort was there though and the driver navigated us away from the traffic logjam routes as he promised but mahn! I ain’t doing that typa shii no more!
P.S – after reading this piece to the end, kindly ask for my Opay or GT Bank USD account numbers. I’m in sifia pains.
Not to forget, the cold dealt with me further on the trip to Boston. The Air Conditioner in the coach was “mortuary standard” as said in local parlance and I arrived the stadium inside the receding rainfall so it ended in more cold.
Found my way to pitch side at half time and I enjoyed the few minutes I spent earlier in the midst of the fans. It was a very expensive and unhealthy trip for me but it was a good experience in the end.
Watch out for the next piece tomorrow.
