Fútbol

I've officially experienced my first South American soccer game and all the craziness that goes with it! Last sunday evening I went with a group of about 20 other students from my program to a local game -- the team that is the current Argentine cup champion, in fact.

Before the game we got a tour of the stadium which included sitting in the press conference room, the president's office, and holding their trophy from the Argentine cup. Then we headed down to our seats for the game. Unfortunately, we weren't in the home team's section, just along the sidelines, although that might have been for the best because we weren't sporting jerseys and are clearly Americans.

Almost all of the stereotypes you've heard about South Americans and their soccer seemed to hold true throughout the night. There was much screaming, booing, and singing. When the visiting team scored a goal everyone in the stands were holding their heads and many fans started pacing the aisles. Small children were even crying!!

Then, just to complete the soccer game experience, a fight broke out 4 rows behind us! A (probably drunk) man was trying to get at another man behind him, but his daughter was holding him back and squealing at the top of her lungs. Then the drunk man shoved an elderly man off of his chair for no apparent reason and the security police arrived. I assumed that the police would escort the man out of the stadium (isn't that how it works at home?), but instead the drunk man punched the security guard and didn't have to leave! The other man he was trying to fight with moved to a different part of the stadium and the other man sat down right behind us for the rest of the game! The security even left...

Now we just have to move up to a Boca Juniors game!

As always, the rest of the photos are in my photo albums on Facebook.