I was just chilling on Facebook when Andres Facebook chatted me and asked if Wesley and I wanted to go to the Liga game tonight. Andres volunteers with the little soccer kids like Wesley and I. He's like the 2nd in command after Galo. So there's some background. I hadn't been to a Liga game yet, and I didn't have any homework due the next day, so I was like "Why not?" We invited Ashley to come along as well because she had been to a couple of the little kids' games with us and she didn't have anything else to do on a Thursday night either. I caught a cab to Ashley's place and then we headed to Wesley's. From there we took the bus to the stadium which is in the north of the city. The plan was to meet Andres at the South General Admissions entrance, but of course, us being gringas and him being Colombian, we arrived before he did. The atmosphere was crazy and we were only outside the stadium. I couldn't imagine what the inside was going to be like. There were policemen and police horses everywhere! There was a line of like 30 policemen keeping the line of entering people organized. And amongst the policemen were scalpers. Just mingling. No big deal. Toto, we're not in Kansas...wait...we're not in AMERICA anymore. Andres finally found us and had already bought us tickets thankfully. The place was getting crowded, people were already drunk, and the sweet sounds of Liga cheers were ringing from every corner and crevice outside the stadium. Andres also brought his girlfriend and three guys from Belgium who are working/on vacation here in Ecuador. We all got really acquainted with each other really fast. We hopped in the line and had to fight off line-cutters. Then we were swept into the flow of the line and were jostled this way and that, all while being squished against each other like sardines. Quite an experience. Got in and headed to the General Admission section on the bottom level. Stationed ourselves, standing of course, behind the goal and towards the left. America hadn't prepared me for the savage dedication these people have for Liga. There were shirtless men climbing the fence behind the goal and swinging their shirts around. The ENTIRE stadium was screaming Liga chants. Toilet paper was being strewn everywhere. A true soccer environment.
The opposing team, Peñarol from Argentina or something like that, entered the field and the stadium erupted in whistling (apparently that's like booing here). Then Liga came out and mass chaos ensued. Yelling, fireworks, toilet paper, cheering, jumping, more shirtless men. Excitement and energy was spilling from every pore on my body. Why can't America have this sort of passion for soccer? Anyway. Kickoff. Liga was dominating. Apparently we (yes, my allegiance is toward Liga de Quito and I am now authorized to refer to them and me as one entity, "we") lost to this team 1-0 last time we played them. Not this time. Don't know how long it took, but Liga scored first. Locura (madness). People threw beer. No joke. Beer. By the time the game was over and Liga had finished them off with a 5-0 win, we were mojados (soaking). But man, what an atmosphere. What a game. It's more than a past time for these people. It's a way of life.
After goal number 1 I believe:
From left to right: Wesley, me, Ashley, Andres (ignore the strange man who snuck in the back of the picture)
Saturday, March 19
Met up with Hannah, Wesley, Julie, and Alex at the Rio Coca station and then we headed down to the centro historico (the old part of Quito). We ate lunch at a restaurant just outside of the Iglesia San Francisco. I had locro (potato soup). Then we walked our way over to the Basilica. Took a look around inside. Gorgeous architecture. Incredible stained glass windows. Breathtaking. We were getting ready to climb to the top when it started to rain. We didn't really have an interest in getting soaking wet in the climb, so we chilled at a nearby cafe/restaurant until it stopped raining. We headed back to the Basilica, found the entrance that would allow us to climb to the top of the church, and were told by the guard that we were too late. The gates close at 4:30. I kid you not, Wesley's watch read 4:30 and 20 seconds. Really, Ecuador? Really? You're not gonna run on Latin American time? LATE!?!?! Needless to say, we were a little upset, but we had fun hanging out. We'll have to come back another time.
Sunday, March 20
Today we were having a surprise birthday party for my host grandma. Her birthday isn't until April, but she'll be in the states visiting family, so they decided to celebrate now. It was also kind of a birthday party for other people who had birthdays in March or April. The party was held at the house of some aunt or uncle of my host mom's (I can't keep them all straight; tio (uncle) this, tia (aunt) that, primo, prima (cousin), blah blah blah). We were there earlier than most of the family members, so Sebas (my brother) and I spent like 45 minutes playing fetch with the dogs. Took a tour of the house. Then my cousins showed up. I'm lucky to have the coolest cousins in the world back in the states, but how lucky is a person when they have cool cousins in Ecuador, too? Once Nicolas (7) and Ignacio (6) had finished exploring the roof of the house and all the greeting each other was over with, Nico, Nacio, Gabriel (13), and I proceeded to play soccer for approximately 2 hours straight. Like I said...I have cool cousins. Around 3:00 the parents started nagging us about eating lunch, so we paused the game and got some grub. There were like 5 different types of meat and when I only took 3 of them, people were like "Don't you want this meat? You're meal isn't complete!" Actually, in case you're blind, my plate is already piling and I don't believe there is any room for more food. Thanks, though. Haha. The best part of the meal? Fried platanos. Popped those like popcorn. After lunch it was back to the cancha (soccer field, which in our case was just a small square of grass next to the driveway), where the four of us played for another hour until the mariachi band arrived. That's right...mariachi band. Provided us with a solid 15 minutes of entertainment. The lead singer took his sombrero off and we all had to take turns passing it around and trying it on and then of course everyone had to take pictures. The band left, and the cake came out. Ignacio (birthday March 23) and I were the lucky ducks who got to blow out the candles. Then it was cake eating and story swapping until we left around 6:00. Gotta say, I've got a pretty awesome Ecuadorian extended family.
Three of my four cousins; from left to right: me, Nicolas, Gabriel, Ignacio
Me and Ignacio blowing out the candles
From left to right: Erik from Sweden and his wife, Angy (my mom's cousin), Sebas, me, my mom, my grandma
Up next: A Birthday to Remember
No comments:
Post a Comment