¡Hola amigos! This particular entry is somewhat tardy, but I was waiting on some photos from a friend. It's worth the wait though. I hear that with the current rate of inflation by the year 2010 a picture could be worth almost 2000 words! Whole world's going to hell in a handbasket I tell you, hell in a handbasket.
So Wednesday night was an "optional" excursion to a soccer game at the national stadium in Santiago to watch Chile play Colombia. In reality of course, all of our excursions are "optional" in the sense that you're not required to go; the "optional" moniker simply means that you haven't already paid for it. Therefore it is only optional in the sense that you can "opt out" if you're running low on funds. Regardless I wasn't about to leave South America without going to a soccer game, so I decided to go.
We left from the Casa Central (the main building of the university) at about 5, which meant I had to miss grammar class. Side note: my grammar prof looks like he's got about 2 years on me, and his attitude says "I'm the type of prof you wouldn't mind having a beer with." However, you'd better mind your P's and Q's, because he is a STICKLER for grammatical errors. (You probably could have told me that without ever meeting him, huh?) Side side note: The phrase "mind your P's and Q's" actually comes from "mind your pints and quarts" and therefore is particularly suited to the situation described above. End side note. Either way I got to miss grammar and I was none too sad about it. We piled onto this awesome bus/van/I have no idea what it was that had five rows of seating. One side had a bench for two, the other a seat for one with an aisle down the middle. Attached to the seat for two was a fold down seat so that if the van was completely full there would be 5 rows filled with people and no aisle. In case you're wondering how people are supposed to evacuate in an emergency, the designers of this vehicle are a step ahead of you. If the bus were to crash, all 5 of the people sitting in the aisle would be cleanly ejected straight through the windshield and the rest could proceed in an orderly fashion out of the van through the exit nearest them.
We arrived at the stadium about one hour before the start of the game and parked a block away. Our commotion of gringos (you know, gaggle of geese, herd of deer, murder of ravens...commotion of gringos) passed a vendor selling full-sized Chilean flags for mil pesos (two dollars) and he looked like a kid on Christmas morning when we walked by and bought an even dozen or so. We walked up to the gates of the staduim, they tore our stubs, and we went in. At first estimate I'd say that about 25 percent of the Chilean armed forces were present at this game. We're talking riot gear, armored cars, armored buses, swat teams, carabineros on horses with riot gear (the carabineros, not the horses), and probably more that we didn't see. Also let me mention that this game was the rough equivalent of seeing the Rockies play pre-season and the stadium wasn't nearly full. Chile hasn't beaten Colombia since 1996, although no one told us that till after the game. I can't imagine what security was like pre-World Cup last semester. Anyhow, we took our seats and watched the warm up.
Oh, I forgot. Three or so of the kids in my program got really excited about this whole thing and painted their faces Chilean colors, among other things (see photo). As we were walking up to the stadium, a news crew saw all these gringos freaking decked out and again, looked like kids on Christmas morning. Long story short the three got interviewed on the way in, while sitting, and when leaving. I was in the background a couple times, but I don't know that the footage ever aired.
The game was fun to watch even though it was none too intense. Colombia scored the first goal, and Chile answered back with a penalty kick about 15 minutes later. Tied one-one, the crowd got going a bit, but Colombia scored another goal with about five minutes left in the second. The time was not posted anywhere, so nobody can be sure what time things happened exactly. During the game, the aforementioned (I've always wanted to use that word) painted gringos were screaming wildly and trying to lead the chants...incorrectly. Finally, a kindly gentleman turned around and instructed them as to the correct method. "Look, the leader spells out 'C-H-I', but you've got to do it fast so it sounds like 'chai' and then the crowd repeats. Then the leader yells 'LE' and the crowd repeats. Then everyone yells CHI-LEI ¡Viva Chile!" Finally they got it right, and continued with their antics. Unfortunately we were seated in the "rich old fogey" section and it never really caught on. The only Chilena in our group, our guide Andrea, took to covering her face whenever they started chanting.
All in all it was a fun experience but it certainly lacked the intensity that we were hoping for. The only real excitement came at one point when a fight almost broke out on the field. Nothing came of it except that one fan in the rowdy section lit a road flare that he smuggled in, although nobody seemed to mind. Oh I almost forgot, alcohol is not sold in the stadium. Hope all is well at home.
So Wednesday night was an "optional" excursion to a soccer game at the national stadium in Santiago to watch Chile play Colombia. In reality of course, all of our excursions are "optional" in the sense that you're not required to go; the "optional" moniker simply means that you haven't already paid for it. Therefore it is only optional in the sense that you can "opt out" if you're running low on funds. Regardless I wasn't about to leave South America without going to a soccer game, so I decided to go.
We left from the Casa Central (the main building of the university) at about 5, which meant I had to miss grammar class. Side note: my grammar prof looks like he's got about 2 years on me, and his attitude says "I'm the type of prof you wouldn't mind having a beer with." However, you'd better mind your P's and Q's, because he is a STICKLER for grammatical errors. (You probably could have told me that without ever meeting him, huh?) Side side note: The phrase "mind your P's and Q's" actually comes from "mind your pints and quarts" and therefore is particularly suited to the situation described above. End side note. Either way I got to miss grammar and I was none too sad about it. We piled onto this awesome bus/van/I have no idea what it was that had five rows of seating. One side had a bench for two, the other a seat for one with an aisle down the middle. Attached to the seat for two was a fold down seat so that if the van was completely full there would be 5 rows filled with people and no aisle. In case you're wondering how people are supposed to evacuate in an emergency, the designers of this vehicle are a step ahead of you. If the bus were to crash, all 5 of the people sitting in the aisle would be cleanly ejected straight through the windshield and the rest could proceed in an orderly fashion out of the van through the exit nearest them.
We arrived at the stadium about one hour before the start of the game and parked a block away. Our commotion of gringos (you know, gaggle of geese, herd of deer, murder of ravens...commotion of gringos) passed a vendor selling full-sized Chilean flags for mil pesos (two dollars) and he looked like a kid on Christmas morning when we walked by and bought an even dozen or so. We walked up to the gates of the staduim, they tore our stubs, and we went in. At first estimate I'd say that about 25 percent of the Chilean armed forces were present at this game. We're talking riot gear, armored cars, armored buses, swat teams, carabineros on horses with riot gear (the carabineros, not the horses), and probably more that we didn't see. Also let me mention that this game was the rough equivalent of seeing the Rockies play pre-season and the stadium wasn't nearly full. Chile hasn't beaten Colombia since 1996, although no one told us that till after the game. I can't imagine what security was like pre-World Cup last semester. Anyhow, we took our seats and watched the warm up.
Oh, I forgot. Three or so of the kids in my program got really excited about this whole thing and painted their faces Chilean colors, among other things (see photo). As we were walking up to the stadium, a news crew saw all these gringos freaking decked out and again, looked like kids on Christmas morning. Long story short the three got interviewed on the way in, while sitting, and when leaving. I was in the background a couple times, but I don't know that the footage ever aired.
The game was fun to watch even though it was none too intense. Colombia scored the first goal, and Chile answered back with a penalty kick about 15 minutes later. Tied one-one, the crowd got going a bit, but Colombia scored another goal with about five minutes left in the second. The time was not posted anywhere, so nobody can be sure what time things happened exactly. During the game, the aforementioned (I've always wanted to use that word) painted gringos were screaming wildly and trying to lead the chants...incorrectly. Finally, a kindly gentleman turned around and instructed them as to the correct method. "Look, the leader spells out 'C-H-I', but you've got to do it fast so it sounds like 'chai' and then the crowd repeats. Then the leader yells 'LE' and the crowd repeats. Then everyone yells CHI-LEI ¡Viva Chile!" Finally they got it right, and continued with their antics. Unfortunately we were seated in the "rich old fogey" section and it never really caught on. The only Chilena in our group, our guide Andrea, took to covering her face whenever they started chanting.
All in all it was a fun experience but it certainly lacked the intensity that we were hoping for. The only real excitement came at one point when a fight almost broke out on the field. Nothing came of it except that one fan in the rowdy section lit a road flare that he smuggled in, although nobody seemed to mind. Oh I almost forgot, alcohol is not sold in the stadium. Hope all is well at home.
¡VIVA CHILE!
It's a bird! It's a plane! Its..SuperGringo!
ya me voy
Andrius
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