Are you ready for some fútbol?

I never thought I would hear myself say that I am a big soccer fan.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy watching soccer, but I’ve never been very into it.  I guess this is partly due to the fact that professional soccer is obviously not one of most prominent sports in America.

However, soccer is growing on me.  Very quickly.  And I blame it completely on being in a country where soccer is more important than most things to the majority of the people.  Not to mention the fact that España is one of the best teams out there.

Last night I had the opportunity to watch the Spain-Mexico soccer game right here in Cádiz!  It was a friendly exhibition match but the actual teams were here, playing right in front of our eyes (literally; check out our view). 

The stadium is a short bus ride away from our house and is rather modern in my opinion.

Good thing our group got tickets in advance; the 22,000-seat stadium was filled pretty close to capacity.  And may I tell you that the fans were into it.  When I say that the Spaniards are passionate about soccer, I mean that they are extremely passionate.  Despite the fact that this was only a friendly match, the fans were as excited as ever.  We were basically cheering throughout the whole game and even got a wave going that rippled through the stadium for ten minutes straight. 

You might wonder if we were dressed appropriately for the game.  Thanks, to the Moroccans who occupy the streets daily, selling “genuine” designer sunglasses, polos (LaCoste polos for €20?  Macy’s must have missed the memo), and “real” jerseys, we were able to snag some España jerseys for the price of €15.  Might I add that we were able to haggle the price down from €20.  In Spanish.  Must be an indicator that we’re making great strides in our quest to conquer the Spanish language. 

See, don’t these jerseys give off the impression that we’ve obviously been Spanish fútbol fans since we were born?  No one has to know that I asked the Moroccan guy which player is the most popular since I’ve never heard of any of them.

The best part of last night was that Spain beat Mexico 1-0!  Both teams were playing their younger players since the Olympics are so soon and the stars can’t risk getting injured.  It’s hard to believe that the majority of the players that we watched last night are between 18 and 23 years old.  Professional players who are my age; imagine that!  They were extremely talented and played a great game that captivated our interest for both 45-minute halves.

Other than the game last night, this week has basically consisted of classes and the beach; nothing new there.  It sure would be nice if this lifestyle could continue forever, but unfortunately, we will be departing from Cádiz a week from tomorrow. 

Speaking of tomorrow: That would be my birthday!  I will be 20 on the 20^th.  I’m really looking forward to celebrating my birthday here in España.  As of now, we are planning on going to the beach after school then meeting up for paella dinner at a nearby restaurant.  After that, who knows.  We will probably hit some bars and/or clubs.  I need to celebrate in style, after all!

At this point, I would like to give a shout-out to my brother.  Although he is currently unable to view my blog (or anything electronic for that matter), I would like to compare what he has been doing these past few weeks with what I have been doing.  I think that pictures of both of us will suffice in getting my point across. 

  

Quite a contrast!  Drop him a line if you have time because he’s probably gotten bored of my letters by now.

In other news, I have some more observations to add to my list.  The amount of information that I am taking in and processing every day is unfathomable; complete immersion in a foreign country is certainly the best way to learn everything there is to learn about its culture.


1.      Contrary to the belief of Jersey-shore-goers, free beaches do exist in the world, right here in Cádiz!  I feel naked every time I walk onto the beach without wearing one of those stylish beach tags.


2.      Imagine this: Vehicles actually stop for pedestrians at crosswalks here.  I never thought I’d see the day when I wouldn't have to risk my life trying to walk through a crosswalk.


3.      Despite my above point, based upon my 3+ weeks of being here, I have not gathered that the people here are overly friendly.  Maybe it is because I am speaking from a tourist’s perspective (and boy, do we stick out like sore thumbs over here), but I have not been impressed.  Whenever I pass a native, he or she just stares at me.  No smile, no acknowledgement, nothing.  I must have become very accustomed to the deceivingly-friendly bubble that I know to be Villanova, because the degree of friendliness is not nearly the same in the rest of the world.  Even in the United States, when I am running outside, for example, every time I pass someone, he or she either smiles at me or says hello.  I can count on one hand the number of times that this has happened while I've been here.


4.      If anyone would like a cat, let me know and I will scoop one off the street and bring it home to you.  This place has more stray cats than smokers (yes, a lot!).  Maybe they stick around because of those women who are always out feeding them massive amounts of food at the same time every night.  Did I mention the extremely high number of dogs here, too?  That number must equal half the population of Cádiz.  Not exaggerating.


5.      The people here are obviously doing something right in terms of their diets (as evidenced by the extremely healthy food that I eat every day at my host family’s house) because obese people are nowhere to be found.  Seriously, I came to this realization the other day when I passed an overweight man and realized that he is the first one that I have seen since arriving in Spain on June 27^th.  No wonder the streets in this country are so narrow.

The number of page views is currently at 1,057.  I never thought that it would reach 100, let alone 1,000.  Thanks to everyone for following me throughout my travels thus far!  I really appreciate your support and especially your comments on my posts.  It’s so great to have the ability to keep in touch with everyone so easily.  I can’t imagine being abroad 50 years ago (no, Mom and Dad, I am not trying to make you feel old).

I’d also like to thank Spain for making my life interesting enough to blog about for once.  Come August 2^nd, it’s back to my mundane (but very enjoyable) life at home.  But I’ll be sure to enjoy this while it lasts.