¡Bienvenidos!

Another weekend has been successfully completed. Saturday was Matt’s first ever Partido de Futból en vivo. A real live football game (soccer for you Yankees!) It was XelaJú “Los Super Chivos” vs. Guatemala Municipal “Los Rojos”. It took me awhile to figure out what a Chivo was but between the chant and the mascot I guessed that it must be a billy goat. “Careful, or we’ll gnaw your fingers off!”

Sunday I went to church. I had to go to the Catholic church due to the activities of Friday night. No drinking or dancing allowed at the Evangelical church. Besides mass only lasts 1 hour!

To give you a better idea of how my weekend went, here’s a small sample of my itinerary.

Friday Night

9:00pm Drinking and Dancing at Coco Loco. A bar/Discothèque/game room. Here you’ll often hear the 8 mile soundtrack being played while some Hispanic metal band is playing on the big screen TV. Contrast that with the Ping Pong table in the back room. This is Coco Loco.

Saturday Morning

1:00am Stumble back from Coco Loco half drunk, thus fully negating my ability to attend the Evangelical church.

9:00am Eggs for Breakfast.

11:00am Buy Jersey for upcoming football Game. $10US to become a Super Chivo in hopes that the Guatemalans can’t spot a bandwagon fan.

12:00pm Buy Ticket for Football Game for $6 plus $3 extra to stay dry (Most of the stadium is completely open. For extra, you can sit under an awning) Ask Ticket woman when to arrive for the game. “A las tres” she replied. 5 Hours before the start of the game.

2:30pm Debate with myself on whether to arrive at 3:00pm like the woman said, or 4:30pm like my teacher suggested. I opted for a compromise.

5:00pm Arrive at the stadium. Stumble around the trying to find the correct entrance.

5:15pm Finally find the correct entrance. As I walk toward my section I notice that only 1/8 of the seats are full.

6:00pm First game begins (The Farm League consisting mostly of teenagers). My section is only 1/3 full.

6:01pm The skies open. The field floods. Thank God for that extra $3.

7:45pm First game ends. 0-1 Municipal. Ugly ugly game. Section is still only 3/4 full. Must’ve been “Dupe the gringo into seeing the first game” day.

7:46pm The rain finally stops.

7:55pm In anticipation of the “real game” the crowd starts the tomahawk chop. Now, I’m not a huge sports fanatic, but I thought the tomahawk chop was only for sports team with quasi-racist names such as the redskins and the braves. Think I should mention it to the team manager?

8:00pm The game begins and already I can tell a difference in skill level. This is going to be fun.

8:01pm It starts to rain yet again.

8:10pm I start to catch on to some of the chants such as ¡Híjole Puta! And ¡Híjole Puta Los Bomberos! But my favorite is a special chant reserved only for the opposing goalie. Whenever he would go to kick the ball the fans would shout “¡AHHHHHH HUECO!” This literally translates as “AHHHHH YOU´RE GAY!”
“Did you hear what they called me coach?

8:20pm Los Super Chivos score the first goal on a free kick. The crowd goes wild.

8:45pm Half time begins. The entertainment is a bike giveaway. The announcer would call out a ticket number and if you had the corresponding stub… you almost won. If you didn’t arrive on the field before he called the next number you lose.

9:00pm Someone finally claims the prize. And the players arrive back on the field.

9:45pm The game ends. Final Score 1-0. Chivos win ending the undefeated season of the Reds. The crowd is going nuts. I wonder if the San Jose Earthquakes ever had this sort of reception. (The sad thing is that all the Guatemalans know who the San Jose Earthquakes are. How many of you know who they are?)

10:15pm Finally exit the stadium to find my entire zone has lost power. Great. Now I have to walk home alone in utter darkness.

10:20pm While following someone home I realize that I´m going in the wrong direction.

10:30pm Backtrack to the stadium. Find my street. Walk slowly home trying to avoid the potholes and the mean looking stray dogs.

10:45pm Finally arrive home, 45 minutes later than it should have taken me.

11:00pm Sleep.

Sunday

6:45am Upon hearing a knock on my door I awake to realize that church starts in 15 minutes. Change clothes. Brush teeth. Skip shower. Double deodorant. Walk out the door.

6:55am My family already left. Not knowing where their church is I rush to the big church in the center of town.

7:05am Mass has already started. I enter during the Homily. Not seeing my family I find an empty row near the back. It’s difficult to understand what is being said because the sanctuary is so echo-y. The only thing I understand is Jorge Bush. Hmm…What could he be talking about.

7: 15am Whenever the priest goes to make the sign of the cross the church shouts “¡AHHHH HUECO!” Man, these fans sure are rabid.

7:40am I stand when everyone stands. I kneel when everyone kneels. I say a few prayers. Thank God for my safe travels, my family, and all of my collective experiences. It really is quite incredible praying in a church with so much history and beauty. But I can’t help but wonder how much it cost to build and maintain such a grand structure. When people can live on a few dollars a day, grandiosity is such a waste.

8:00am Mass ends. I walk over to the bread store and buy some bread for my family.

8:30am Breakfast. More Eggs. I also find out that no one knocked on my door this morning. Weird. How did I wake up?

The rest of the day consists of pedestrian activities such as talking, playing games, eating, watching movies etc… It was a good weekend overall.

A final observation… One of my favorite things about traveling in a foreign country is you are always making new friends. And friends seem to come rather quickly and easily. Often times you share a number of interests in common, not to mention that you are alone in a strange country. I’ve enjoyed all the new friends I have made. I miss all the old friends I have.