Goooooooooooolllllllllllll!!!!

So I went to my first Latin American football (soccer) game last night. In fact it was the first game I've ever been to. It was definitely an experience.

Me, Kyle, Kate and a few other friends made the trek over to the stadium to see a highly anticipated independence week match between the Xela Super-Chivos (Super-Goats) and the Guatemala City Cremas (Creams?). I'll leave it up to you to insert the inappropriate joke of your choice here. It was kind of cold and drizzly out, but always thinking ahead, Kyle brought along a bottle of Quetzaltecca which helped us out in a couple ways: First, after buying a couple plastic baggies of Pepsi, we had some tasty drinks to keep us warm, and second, we were able to barter with some locals for some seats in the packed stadium.

As the start of the game neared, the field cleared and a SWAT team walked out onto the field. Interesting. I figured there must be a VIP coming out for the opening face-off (or whatever they do to start soccer games). But no, it turns out that the SWAT team was escorting the refs onto the field! Apparently, the fans here don't take too kindly to botched calls. I also noticed that the fans for the visiting Cremas had their own fenced off pen-like area in one corner of the stadium. Almost like their lives could be in danger...

With the refs safely in the middle of the field, the Cremas came onto the turf, met by deafening boos, miscellaneous projectiles (explaining why the Pepsi came in bags) and the odd firecracker. Then the Super-Chivos came out (accompanied by their super goat mascot of course). Now beforehand, I had noticed some guys laying out long strips of red paper around the edge of the field, but hadn't really taken much notice of it. As the team came out, these red strips of paper, which were actually tens of thousands of firecrackers, were lit off in a display of excess that would make any 12 year old boy shed a tear of joy. As the entire stadium filled with smoke and gunpowder fumes, I noticed people in the stands next to us pulling out their own personal stashes and shooting off roman candles and bottle rockets out over the stands while they shielded their faces with one arm. The whole thing made a complete mockery of all those firecracker safety talks we had in elementary school. Kyle added a nice perspective by stating (accurately) that to have a show like this in the States, you would need to hire a team of "pyrotechnics engineers", submit detailed plans and safety procedures, and get multiple levels of official approval. Here you just need a few hundred bricks of mighty mights and some brave fool to set them off.

To be honest, the rest of the game was a bit anti-climactic after the opening events. The Super-Chivos got trounced 3-1, there were no streakers, brawls or other disorderly conduct, and the refs (again escorted by SWAT) left the field without incident. We went to a little cantina afterward and drank some Coosha, a homemade liquor that may make you blind after habitual use, but costs only 60 cents for a small bottle. See you soon (hopefully).

Dave