"God is bigger than your problem." (as represented by this giant billboard)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
A Little World Cup Madness
To those of you who live in the U.S. and may not know this, Football (a.k.a. Soccer) is quite popular around the world. So much, that in certain places, like Europe or South America, the emotion and overall reaction it stirs in people is on par with that of religion.
So, every four years, when the World Cup comes around, you can imagine how that emotion and excitement reach critical mass and burst into a beautiful display of color, camaraderie and genuine patriotism.
The following pictures chronicle my World Cup experience in a country that actually gives a damn about it's performance in said competition.
These are from the Chile vs. Switzerland game, which we won.
These next pictures are from the Chile vs. Spain game, where we lost, but still managed to qualify for the next round. This was the first time in 50 years Chile made it to the next round, so the celebration was rather epic. (I'm talking entire shut down of the country, closing down of businesses, early beginning to a long weekend and spike in the already high police presence.)
The celebrating was nice, but soon the launching of people started...
... and the moshing followed.
Soon, there was mild rioting and some random fights breaking out here and there. This is when the police decided to begin to take action and when your humble reporter decided it was time to go.
This was truly a one of a kind experience. It was riveting, passionate and quite inclusive. You might note that when talking about Chile in the games I've used 'we'. For once, I felt part of something with the community. Similar to the feeling I got at Gay Pride in Buenos Aires. There was a sense of pride and love; almost patriotism.
Many people asked why I wasn't rooting for (or didn't really care about) the U.S. team and why I was so excited about Chile's fairly positive performance in the competition; why I wasn't supporting my country?
In my mind, though each team stands on it's own merit, they represent their country. And the U.S. has an extremely snooty attitude towards anything soccer related and/or of international involvement, for that matter. Ever notice how people always talk about the U.N and the U.S.? How the World Series has nothing to do with the world? Or how much disdain, incredulity and reluctance the different U.S. news agencies and pundits expressed when having to report on the progress of the Cup?
So, I thought it was nice to experience the World Cup in a country that doesn't look down it's nose at international events (they actually feel quite proud and thankful to be a part of them), and to give my support to a country that chants "Long live our Nation!" rather than "We're number one!". That's the kind of love a passport alone does not buy.
"Chi-Chi-Chi!!! Le-Le-Le!!! Viva Chile!!!"
So, every four years, when the World Cup comes around, you can imagine how that emotion and excitement reach critical mass and burst into a beautiful display of color, camaraderie and genuine patriotism.
The following pictures chronicle my World Cup experience in a country that actually gives a damn about it's performance in said competition.
These are from the Chile vs. Switzerland game, which we won.
These next pictures are from the Chile vs. Spain game, where we lost, but still managed to qualify for the next round. This was the first time in 50 years Chile made it to the next round, so the celebration was rather epic. (I'm talking entire shut down of the country, closing down of businesses, early beginning to a long weekend and spike in the already high police presence.)
The celebrating was nice, but soon the launching of people started...
... and the moshing followed.
Soon, there was mild rioting and some random fights breaking out here and there. This is when the police decided to begin to take action and when your humble reporter decided it was time to go.
This was truly a one of a kind experience. It was riveting, passionate and quite inclusive. You might note that when talking about Chile in the games I've used 'we'. For once, I felt part of something with the community. Similar to the feeling I got at Gay Pride in Buenos Aires. There was a sense of pride and love; almost patriotism.
Many people asked why I wasn't rooting for (or didn't really care about) the U.S. team and why I was so excited about Chile's fairly positive performance in the competition; why I wasn't supporting my country?
In my mind, though each team stands on it's own merit, they represent their country. And the U.S. has an extremely snooty attitude towards anything soccer related and/or of international involvement, for that matter. Ever notice how people always talk about the U.N and the U.S.? How the World Series has nothing to do with the world? Or how much disdain, incredulity and reluctance the different U.S. news agencies and pundits expressed when having to report on the progress of the Cup?
So, I thought it was nice to experience the World Cup in a country that doesn't look down it's nose at international events (they actually feel quite proud and thankful to be a part of them), and to give my support to a country that chants "Long live our Nation!" rather than "We're number one!". That's the kind of love a passport alone does not buy.
"Chi-Chi-Chi!!! Le-Le-Le!!! Viva Chile!!!"
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