Flying to Madrid with Kaka

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands


As I leave Cape Town, I am some-what relieved to leave,
starting to get tired of frequent mistakes with reservations and a general
confusion on all ends on how to ring up an order or get any information
quickly .  I seem to be pretty easy
going with this on most locations that I have visited, but the last few days in
Africa have started to irritate me and I recognize it and realize that I am
ready to move on.  Africa is
definitely a place that I would love to return and this trip gave me an
understanding of how it could be dangerous and what to expect, often not being
able to fall asleep because I was so alert as too what was happening around me
all day.  It got better as time
went on, but definitely took me 4-6 days to start relaxing.

Arriving into Jo-berg, I go straight to the VIP lounge to
wait for my next segment.  As I
work on putting together emails, the girl at check-in informs me that there is
a celebrity on my flight to Madrid and I did not need to rush if I just
followed him. She informs me that it is Kaka (perhaps the most famous current
Soccer player in the World) that is in the lounge and he is around the corner,
but there are security guards keeping people away.  I walk over his direction and act as if I don’t see him,
grabbing a soda from the lounge refrigerator .  I ask the security guards if the seat near them is taken and
they say no problem and let me sit there.   They begin conversation with me about small talk, the
futbol matches, rugby, my mac computer and eventually elude that they are working
(dah, they have huge badges) watching over futbol players.  I look past them and act as if I just
realized it is Kaka that they are escorting and say hello to Kaka.  We continue conversations as several
people try to approach Kaka with a picture or to talk to him.  The guards jump up and down let anyone
near him. Crazy that I was let to come talk without anyone resistance. 

I continue talking to Kaka congratulating him on his recent
Confederations Cup Final against the US and sharing thoughts and details about
the game.  I tell him how excited
friends from the US got over the Confederations Cup and how good it is for US
soccer for us to play in a final match against Brazil.  It created new soccer fans in the
US.   I ask him about how he
go to be such a good futbol player . He says that he started at 8 years old, but
did not start to stand out until he was maybe 15.  He did not think it was a coach or a specific person that
influenced him, but said that he contributes a lot of it to being gifted
athletically in soccer and his growth spurt that happened when he was 15.  We talk about my “around the world
trip.”  Although I am talking to
one of the richest soccer player in the World (I think he just signed a
$90Million dollar contract), his eyes water when I talk about my trip.  He asks questions about places like
Machu Picchu, Fiji and Africa and . 
I realize that despite his incredible wealth, it would be very difficult
for someone of his status to travel 
in the same manner as I did to a very poor country.  So glad that I am not making $90Million
dollar!!! We connect in a great way with common interests of exploring and
learning about different parts of the world.  His schedule is pretty busy as he informs me that he is on
his way to Madrid to accept the trophy and presentation-I think it is the
signing of his new contract with Real Madrid .  A formal presentation of his jersey in front of a full crowd
of crazy soccer fans welcoming him to their city.  He has a 5 day break after that before training starts again

We talk about the US squad and their development.  He tells me that this last game is the
best that he has ever seen them play and they have grown so much from even the
first time that they played. He talks to me about their confidence as a team
and how they start working together better and better.  He said the victory was not something
that was taken for granted and expressed how tough they tried to score without
success for so long.  He gave US
credit for their intensity and solid play.   He showed his passion as he talked about how great he
felt when Brazil scored the final goal to go ahead, again getting watery in his
eyes for the passion in their recent win.   

We continued our conversations with my new security guard
friends warding off any others that approached . They told me that I did not
need to rush to my plane because they plane would not leave without Kaka.  We talk about where I live in the US
and his visits to Boca Raton to visit his friend Filio.  He likes Boca very much and claims that
it is nice because very few people recognize him.  He expects to go there for his next vacation in the summer.

He tells me about his wife and kids and talks to me about
how special it is to have a young kid. 
His son was not able to come to Africa because of concern for mosquito
bites and his wife stayed behind for this tournament.  I talk to him about my girlfriend Kristin and our travels to
New Zealand and Fiji and our recent baby news. He says that it will be the best
thing that will ever happen to me and unlike perhaps other celebrities, Kaka
exhubes a genuine sincerity in so much of his conversation that makes you
appreciate him no only by his gifted soccer ability, but also by the character
that he seems to live by.  
His dad is next to us as we talk and he speaks very little English.  I think only Portugese.

I eventually get the courage up to ask him for a photo
despite the security guards strictly prohibiting it to everyone and
anyone.  He tells the security
guards that it is no problem for me and they take a picture of us.  I finish the conversation and say
goodbyes.  I rush out of the VIP
lounge off to my plane with Paparazzi waiting along all the hallways for Kaka.

Separate from meeting just another celebrity, I appreciated
meeting Kaka for his humble, passionate, sincere nature that he showed to
me.  I think about the qualities of
great people in life and how easy it is for fame or success to be taken for
granted.  I think anyone young
American could look up to someone like Kaka as a great role model on how to
act. 

We arrive to the plane and Kaka is sitting in the Business
Class section a few rows behind me. I look over and realize that the former
Spanish Coach Luis Aragonez that led the Spaniards to the Euro 2008 Cup and
first in 44 years., but recently stepped down.  He coached the Spaniards back in 1964 to 1972 and has also
been coach of Real Madrid for various times during his career.  I start conversation with him, but he
only speaks Spanish.  I try to
shift gears and talk Spanish, but my Spanish is poor and people from Spain have
a different accent that I do not recognize easily.  I ask him about his opinion on the tournament.  He says that they Spaniards appeared
tired maybe, but he was not sure.  
I ask him if he plans on coaching anymore.  He is not sure. 
So, I ask about coaching the US. 
He brushes off the suggestion and asks that we don’t talk about futbol
anymore. 

As I continue being shocked by the celebrities on my flight,
I am told that Miss Spain is in the rear of the plane.  I make a journey through the plane to
find seat 24A and look at her. I think the paparazzi gave me bad
information.  She does not look
like a beauty queen.  Others inform
me that we must be looking at the Channel 5 News girl who is also a very
attractive gal. 

The flight is smooth on Iberia to Madrid.  The food is excellent, service is
excellent and I fall asleep after watching a movie, waking up just in time for
breakfast and our landing.  I think
I slept 5-6 hours and it was pretty solid sleep.   What a fun flight!

 




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arsenal fan
2011-09-01

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2025-02-12

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