One of my big goals to accomplish in Argentina was going to a fútbol (soccer) game. For a long time I kept putting it off, thinking that I would go to one when I had more free time. However, I recently realized that all the local tournaments were rapidly finishing up and soon only the huge Copa America would be left, tickets of which are almost impossible to obtain. I was desperate to accomplish this goal because fútbol is such an essential part of Argentine culture, and I felt that missing out on a game would make me miss out on a big part of who these people who I interact with daily really are. I was asking everyone I could think of for help on how to get tickets and when the games are (I find their websites very difficult to navigate); I asked students in my program, the organizer of the fútbol games with Argentines in which I previously participated, and my host sister's boyfriend. No one was being helpful and I was getting anxious. Finally, Dario (a friend of a friend of Federico from the Mendoza bus, one of the boys that played cards with Sarah and I before we all went to a boliche about a month ago) messaged me late last Friday night and told me that he was going to the River Plate vs. Lanús game the next day, and if I wanted a ticket, I should call him 3 hours before the game. I was confused and excited but didn't want to get too hopeful in case this didn't work out. I wasn't really sure what was going on or how he could get tickets so late but I figured I should trust a porteño over my own instinct when it came to fútbol.
The next afternoon I called him and while I'm not the greatest at understanding Spanish on the phone, I managed to comprehend something about 150 pesos (about $37.50) and trying to get tickets at the stadium. As I was leaving my building, Roberto the doorman told me that my plan to get tickets sounded shifty. He said his son tried to buy tickets from someone outside the stadium and ended up getting ripped off by paying too much for a fake ticket that didn't gain him entry. This worried me, but I thought I might as well go in case a minor miracle happened. I took a bus for about half an hour and then walked down the road to the stadium. There were herds of people walking down the long stretch to the entrance clad in red and white, River's colors. Some were holding gigantic flags while others were wearing them. I heard gunshots, yelling, and cheering, the sounds of fútbol excitement. I stood by a sign for a few minutes and then saw Dario; he told me that the ticket office had started re-selling tickets within the last few hours and he had gotten me one. I couldn't believe this was happening. I was going to an Argentine fútbol game!
We stood in the stands and waited; I felt the familiar anticipation of being at a Madison football game, but intensified since I had no idea what this was going to be like. As the minutes ticked away, the whole 50,000 person stadium filled up. We were sitting in the "platea" seats, which is where the general audience sits. There is also the option of "popular", but Ana's boyfriend Suky told me not to sit there, since this is where the violent superfans sit and cause a ruckus. They are called the "barra brava" and they were playing enormous drums and had flags covering their section of the stands, one which said what they call themselves, "Los Borrachos del Tablón" (the drunks in the stands). Everyone in the stadium was throwing pieces of cut up newspaper and red and white balloons in the air. They were singing and chanting. I smelled gunpowder and growing excitement. I really felt like I was sharing something important with everyone in the stands next to me. The fans from the visiting team (Lanús) arrived shortly before the game began; Dario told me this is always what happens. They had their own section, which was definitely a good thing since some of the River fans sitting next to me made it clear that they wanted to rip their heads off.
The game began. It was so fast faced and thrilling; it was a nice change from the constant pauses and time outs during American football. I jumped up and down and clapped and tried to learn some of the songs. There was constant action for 45 minutes, then a 15 minute break, and then 45 minutes more of running, jumping, and headbutting. I have never seen a professional soccer game before and it was incredible how fast they moved and got open for their teammates; while I was still watching the ball, it was passed to someone I didn't have time to realize was there. The goalies and defense on both teams were very skilled, so it was a low scoring game. Lanús scored first and everyone got really depressed. We reached the second half without scoring a goal and people's spirits significantly dropped. However, 5 minutes into the second half, River scored! It was the best feeling ever. The whole crowd exploded with cheers and blasphemous phrases which they yelled at the other team. I was so happy, I wanted to hug the whole stadium! The fans were much more encouraged after this but within the last 5 minutes, Lanús scored their second goal and we lost. It was a sad ending but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. Can't win 'em all, I guess.
It was crazy hearing Dario's stories about how people have died in the past in the barra brava section. The games cost more now and there's more security, so violence isn't as common. We had to wait 20 minutes after the game for the Lanús fans to clear out; this seemed highly logical to me since the man next to me who had inadvertently taught me a lot of Argentine swears looked like he was about to commit murder. Best to avoid street fights. I can get pretty enthusiastic about sports games but when I get home, there are more important things in the world to me. I don't still have rage boiling in my heart when I return from a game that my team lost. However, it seems like a lot of fútbol fans take the games a lot more seriously than I do. When I returned home, Juan the doorman turned his back on me and wouldn't speak after I told him I went to a River game. He was a Boca fan, the other Buenos Aires team. Maybe this sports thing is just something I will never fully understand.
I went to a Korean restaurant with some friends on Saturday night and it was scrumptious. I ordered Bibimbap without meat; it had bean sprouts, tofu, fried egg, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, and even a spicy red sauce which topped it all off perfectly. It was raining so much that night that I basically had to swim across the street to get to the subway. It actually rained for a few days this week, which I wasn't used to here. As I mentioned before, there is currently a hole in our bathroom ceiling, which is connected to the roof on the floor above us. One night when it was storming, I entered the bathroom and realized that it was storming in there, too! The hole in the ceiling was letting in colossal amounts of water and the floor was drenched. I had never experienced a raining bathroom before.
My host mom finally came back from Greece! She had a magnificent time but was also very tired from all of the exercise, waking up early, adventures, and then her 20 hour trip home. It was so nice to see her again. On Wednesday I had to turn in a paper about a 19th century Spanish novel called Lo Prohibido. It might not have been problematic, but I did not have time to read the 400 page book, and this paper was worth my ENTIRE GRADE. I had read up to page 137 and was skimming the rest two days before, starting to freak out a bit. I couldn't find the quotes I was looking for and was getting very frustrated. With some sort of miracle, I managed to finish the night before it was due, with the help of ideas from my host mom and friend from the class, Maggie. However, a half an hour of sleep is never a good thing, and I spent the whole next day as a zombie. I was freezing in the warm classrooms and sweating in the cold wind outside, my cheeks were bright red and I had a nasty taste in my throat that wouldn't go away. Things were not making a lot of sense and I believe I burst into hysterical laughter at a few mediocre occurrences, and responded in a shrieky tone when asked simple questions. Needless to say, I needed some sleep. But did I do that? Not so much. I had my State and Religion final the next morning and hadn't had time to study for that yet because of my ominous paper. This was already my hardest class not because of the workload but because it was based on history and government, two things that I am not the best at. I took the test and we talked about the answers afterward. I either got a 7 or an 8, depending on if the professor liked one of my justifications for one of the questions. I don't like the fact that my grade for this class depends on two 10 question multiple choice tests when there was an epically huge amount of material to study. I don't feel like that kind of evaluation accurately represents my effort in the class.
Thank goodness those two things are over; now I just have to write a paper for my Urban Music class and prepare a presentation for it, and then prepare for my oral final for Psychology of the Personality. I had my last psychology class on Wednesday and couldn't help it.. I cried again. This is the class where I made my first Argentine friends. The class that I thought was too much to handle, the class that turned out to be just what I needed to change my mind about my future ambitions. I love all three of the professors and I have learned so much from them. Last night my study abroad adviser from Madison took all of the Madison students in IFSA out to dinner since she was visiting Buenos Aires. It was really great to see all of them; sometimes I forget who in the program goes to Madison since I didn't know any of them beforehand. It was nice to finally talk to people who understood my great craving for spicy cheese bread from the Farmer's market, and the joy of getting football season tickets while on a different continent. It was also refreshing to realize that I had friends who will be with me and who will really understand my experience when I return to the real world. My friend Ally from home is having a lot of trouble with her study abroad experience in Spain right now since she just broke her foot and can no longer do the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage that she wanted to do, and also can't do normal everyday things that involve walking. Since her study abroad program is just a few weeks long, there's not as much room to bounce back after struggling like I was able to do. You are in my thoughts, Ally! Stay strong.
I have two weeks left until I am finished with exams and then two weeks in Argentina before returning home. I think it's going to be difficult to make myself focus on schoolwork in the next two weeks because a lot of my friends from the program will be leaving before me, and I will want to see them all with great frequency. Also, there are still so many things that I want to do while I'm here, and I want to take advantage of every second. I can't believe this is all coming to an end, so for now I just won't believe it. A healthy dose of denial is fine once in a while, right? I am also getting more and more anxious to see my family and friends, so maybe I am getting ready to go back. Who knows? My thoughts don't flow in a linear fashion and I really don't know what I want or where I want to be. At least that decision is now out of my hands and everything will happen the way it will happen. Here is a picture of Toto and Tango hanging out with me on a Thursday afternoon and then photos from the game:
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