Chile day #2

Today, I headed to one of Santiago's many soccer stadiums. The guy I started seeing a few weeks ago had bought us tickets to see the finals of the Women's U-20 World Cup. We got there half way through the game for third place between France and Germany. We got to see a few goals and Germany walked away with the win. We were not, however, sitting in our seats. You see, your ticket comes with a row and seat number, but you can really just sit wherever. Fortunately, most people still hadn't arrived, so we were able to sit close to the seats my guy had thoughtfully selected. The sun was beating down on us and everyone was sweaty and burning. Fortunately, I'd brought my sun gear and sunscreen, so I was just sweaty. jejeje (J in Spanish is pronounced like H in English.) Especially during the time between games when there was nothing to distract me from feeling the sensation of being roasted.

The championship match was between the U.S. and North Korea. As the teams came out to warm up, it was a case study in culture. On the U.S. side, everyone was more or less doing her own thing. Some were playing a scrimmage game, some were doing headers, others were doing sprints. The other side of the field looked like a military training camp. Dressed in red from head to toe and with identical short, utilitarian haircuts, the North Koreans were warming up in unison. They even jogged in step. It was impressive ... and kind of scary.

During the game, they showed no emotion. When the U.S. scored its first goal, the whole team, including the benchwarmers, engaged in a big, ol' group hug. When the North Korean side scored its first goal, nothing. Not a smile or a high five. Nothing. When they lost 2-1, I wondered what would happen to them for losing. I felt bad for thinking that, but couldn't shake the feeling that a "You worked really hard and we got second place; we should be proud" was not in store.

Ahh, I almost forgot. During the championship match, more and more spectators kept arriving. All the seats filled up, then people started sitting on the stairs/aisles. At first, the ushers tried to keep people off the stairs, but they finally resigned themselves to maintaining some semblance of a path. The stadium was obviously way oversold, which was curious. It later became rather spectacular. Looking at other sections, I couldn't even see where the stairs were. It was solid spectators.

They did the wave. No joke. They also shouted "Chi-chi-chi le-le-le VIVA CHILE!" even though Chile wasn't playing. Can you imagine if the U.S. hosted a big international sports event and chanted "USA" while two other teams played for the championship? What a scandal that would be!