People like Soccer here

Futbol=A big deal

After leaving my friend's apartment Saturday, we walked through the large Plaza Mayor on our way home to find it was filled with crazed soccer fans. It usually takes no time at all to pass through the plaza, but that was definitely not the case then. It took nearly five minutes to pass through the mass of people dressed in green and white--I believe their team was from Sevilla. They were all getting ready for their team to play soccer, and they were obviously very enthused. They were all singing and chanting and having a grand ol' time despite the cold weather and pouring rain. We walked through the crowd and they clapped in our faces to spread their cheer. It was obvious they had been drinking, only adding to their spirit. The scary thing is, this wasn't even for the World Cup, this was just a couple of Spanish teams playing eachother. I can only imagine what it will be like with Spain plays (the 16th is their first game). I have seen some pretty rowdy people at football and basketball games at K-State, but they hardly seem to compare.

After eating dinner, we met back up in the Plaza to find a place to watch part of the USA vs. England (Inglaterra) match. We passed through more masses of chanting men to watch our game at a bar. It was a fun atmosphere, though not nearly as rowdy as the streets. A man all decked out in green and white for Sevilla came up and talked to us for a little bit (I was with three other girls). He wanted to know if we were for England or the U.S. etc. Then he told us that if we thought the streets were crazy then, then we should just wait till Sunday. He said there were probably 1,000 out there in the Plaza and on surrounding streets, but Sunday there would be around 6,000. Yikes.

Saturday night, there was also a big fireworks show in celebration of one of the saints. Luckily, the rain held off and the temperature was just right to watch the show. The fireworks were absolutely fabulous and they were shot off across the river. It was probably the best show I have ever seen--the finale was spectacular and there were new fireworks that I had never seen before.