So the stories are true, people really do love futbol (soccer) here. And I'm going out on limb, but I would say, in general, the people are much more passionate about futbol than any American is about their respective sport. Last week, some friends invited me to a game between their favorite team and a local team in concepcion. There are two teams in Chile which are far more popular than the rest. The Universidad de Chile and Colo-Colo. My friends (and I by default) are fans of U de Chile. The U de Chile was in town to play the U de Concepcion. I must note now, that these teams are all professional and really have to tie to the U, only the name. From what I understand, in the past they were connected, and now they are not. However, I am a bit confused on this issue still.
At any rate, the fans were intense. They were singing from the moment we got there. When I say singing, I mean singing the whole game. Thats 90 minutes of jumping, dancing, throwing confetti, throwing toilet paper, lighting flares, clapping. Furthermore, there was a huge flag that came down and engulfed the whole set of stands, then retracted after a few minutes. The stadium was certainly alive. However, there was no violence, and I was never scared. But, the police were there and ready. Lining the field were what looked like astronauts. They had huge helmets with masks, body armour as if playing catcher in baseball and a few had riot shields.
I regret not having pictures of this, but my friends told me not to take valuables. However, the U will return to Conce, and I too, will return to the stadium, with my camera.
School has begun, but things get going very slow here. I have attended almost all of my classes one time so far, but have yet to really do anything yet. I'm not really sad about this.
I have now been in Chile for just over a month. At this point, I'm fairly settled and accustomed to daily life. My pension is great. I live with really great people, several which are certainly my best friends here so far. There is one guy I don't care too much for, but he is OK.
Cultural quirks: First, everything is scheduled around lunch. It is the main meal of the day. Breakfast only consists of some bread and coffee or tea. Most people don't eat dinner, they eat "once" (own - say). This consists of more or less a sandwich and coffee or tea. Lunch or "almuerzo" consists of a salad or soup or some type of starter food followed by the main course. This could be anything really. Chicken with rice, pasta, stew ect.. followed with a desert, usually fruit at the pension. Because of the importance of this meal, the town, the U, everything kinda shuts down between 12 and 3. You literally cannot run errands at public offices or the U during this time. A bit strange, but OK. I like the idea of cutting the day into two pieces, it alleviates some stress. (note. I suppose it relieves stress, I haven't really encountered any yet. ha) Anyway, this transition from eating my main meal in the evening to mid day has been fine, but at times I crave more than a sandwich for once. The next quirk is that punctuality is like so last year. People are habitually late. This is ok with me. I usually am late anyway, so I've already got this one down. All I need to do is lose my guilty conscience and I will fit right in.
Its not uncommon to party until 5,6 7 am. At the university, each department throws a party for the incoming freshman. I attended two of these. The party for the law school was quite fun. We arrived at about 12:30 am, and there was no one there. My friend assured me all would be OK. At around 1:15, the place was hoppin. Lots of people, dancing drinking ect. It was quite unusual to have a U function begin so late, end so late (5am) and serve booze. Trust me on this one, there is no reason for objection.
A note on words: The process of learning a new language is quite fascinating. I understand the grammar and constructions fairly well, but there are a lot of words I don't know. However, when I learn a new word, sometimes its hard to remember because it seems so arbitrary. English words are our words, like the blood in our bodies. Spanish words, no. So, when I learn a word, I have no context for it. Its just a sound. For instance vulgarities. The vulgar words don't seem any different to me then the non-vulgar. I don't get any tingly sensation when I say "tirate" as I would if I said "fuck you." Its the same for the spanish speakers. On the public radio, or TV, when the songs or movies are in english, they are not censored. For instance last night I was watching Training Day. It was in english with spanish subtitles and on FOX. They censored nothing. I heard "fuck," "shit," "nigga" countless times, on FOX. However the subtitles used less vulgar words such as "shucks" or "friend." Furthurmore, at times I feel like I'm caught up in a giant game of catch phrase. When I don't know the word I want to say, I try describing it in anyway possible, hoping that the other person will "get it right" without me actually saying it. Anyway, this process has been extremely interesting, exciting, frustrating, and rewarding.
This week being Easter, we have a few days off of school. I plan to head south to meet a friend of mine from U of Montana. We are then going to hop on over to Argentina for the weekend. This is the plan... we shall see what happens....
I hope all is well in gringolandia. Happy St Pats, Cheers!
D
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