Day 9 - Campeones del Mundo, Fuentes, y el Tiempo de mi Vida

Woke up late (i.e. 9:50) and messed around in my room for a little bit. It was getting hella outta whack, so I hung up a lot of clothes, organized my stuff, etc.

I decided I really needed to catch up on some of the poetry stuff we’re doing in class, but that didn’t last for long. I knew Claudia was home, and I figured it was about time I finally spent some time with her!

She was in the salón (living room) watching TV, and I asked if I could join her. She really is the cutest thing in the whole world. She had her mom paint Spanish flags on her cheeks, and she was so proud of it!

We watched some shows in Spainish, of course, and she was describing to me what happens in the show because she’d seen it before. She told me all about the characters and everything. Too cute. They were all shows on Disney Channel and the equivalent Spanish channels, too. So I could follow what was going on at least, cause they’re geared toward a younger crowd J

I asked if I could take her picture, and she said I could. Then she got out a point-and-shoot that her family just bought and showed me all the pictures that they took at a wedding they went to last Saturday. She told me all about her family and the wedding and how she got to ride a burro at the reception!

She asked to take a picture of me so that she could remember the day, and later when I took a picture of a drawing I made for her, she wanted a picture of it, too. It was absolutely adorable because she was telling me how “Super Hero Squad” was her favorite show, and she wanted to take a picture of it so that she could remember it when she’s older. So freakin’ cute.

She drew a picture like I did, but she drew pictures of us. I was wearing a yellow and red dress (colors of the Spanish flag, of course!), and she was wearing a red shirt and yellow pants.

She hung the picture I made her on her door J

She got a Power Rangers pencil case today from their equivalent of the Tooth Fairy. Except here, their Tooth Fairy is a mouse!

We had something akin to deviled eggs for lunch, but there was tuna with it, too. It was delicious! Then noodles with white sauce and ham. Yum!

I think I need a nap before all the festivities of the evening. MUNDIAL. It’s gonna be nuts.

CONTINUED

So, what can I even say? ¡¡¡CAMPEONES DEL MUNDO!!!

Easily one of the most ridiculous, crazy, fucking awesome experiences I’ve had in my entire life.

Alee went out to the country with her host mom during the day, so Stephanie and I decided to wander around our side of town more. Unfortunately, we hardly saw anyone or anything because the area was all residential. That and all the shops are closed on Sunday.

Stephanie was hella craving an ice cream cone, so when we met up with Alee, that was our goal. We found a little ice cream stand that was open in the centro, and I got chocolate chip (made me think of Sean J).

We were going to meet up with the group at 7:30, but no one showed. Luckily, we had Liz’s number and she helped us out SO much. Gave us great directions, and we found what we were looking for.

More than two blocks away you could hear people singing and music playing. Then we turned the corner, and Ooof (as they say here), there were easily THOUSANDS of people standing in the street in front of this stage set up at the end of the street with a huge screen set up to televise the game.

We met up with people from our group, and lo and behold, there were borrachos (drunk guys) right next to us. For whatever reason this HUGE guy decided that I was his friend. I think it may have been because of my camera. Anywho, he was basically John Goodman’s twin, only with long, curly hair. Not attractive in the slightest, but he was nice.

I was speaking in English most of the time, but I guess I made the mistake of saying, “No puedo ver nada” (I can’t see anything), and all of a sudden, I’m being hoisted in the air. I literally almost pissed my pants. I had no idea what was happening. The first time was alright because he only lifted me around the waist, so I wasn’t really that high up.

Then all my friends told him to do it again because they wanted pictures.

MIS-TAKE.

He literally threw me in the air and up on his shoulder, and I thought I was going to die, or at the very least fall and crack my head open on the pavement. There are pictures, and you can see from my expression that I was in fear for my life.

It was a really good view, though. J I could see over everyone that was in front of me (easily 2,000 people) and got some awesome pictures. Thanks, Roberto! Haha. He tried to give me a beer, but I decided against taking it, for reasons, which I’m sure, are clear to you.

I’m pretty sure he was harmless, but I went ahead and walked WAY up toward the front so as to be left alone.

Being the towering 5’ 2” that I am, I couldn’t see jack. And everyone in front of me was moving their heads back and forth so they could try and see, too.

So I basically saw the game in ½ second increments. But I could gauge from seeing the crowd what was going on.

If you watched the game at all, you probably know how many shots on goal Spain had. And corner kicks. And penalty kicks. And every time something big could’ve happened, everyone got crazy. Then “ooof.”

The first half was ridiculously long, and I figured Spain would have scored at least two goals by then. No such luck. Second half, same.

At this point, our knees and backs were KILLING us, and everyone was just so restless and frustrated.

I honestly thought it would go into penalty kicks and was SO worried that we were going to lose in penalty kicks. Sure enough, the first fifteen minutes go by and still no goal.

Then, finally, that one glorious, beautiful, celebrated, lone goal came.

I have a video of the celebration, and I still tear up when I see it.

There’s NOTHING like it in the world.

Bitches can say what they want about baseball or American football, but neither can even hold a candle to the World Cup. That’s just the way it is.

I understand that people are fanatics no matter what the sport, but MUNDIAL IS A BIG FUCKIN DEAL.

Bigger than big. Huge. Gigantic. Ginormous. Epic. Humongous.

It’s not just Boston or New Orleans or Chicago celebrating.

It’s Spain. It’s a WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY. And EVERYONE was celebrating.

We stuck around to watch the presentation of the trophy, then decided to try and find a kickin bar.

We started walking, and we noticed a ton of people just standing on the sidewalk. We wanted to see what they were looking at, and it turned out to be the fountain.

There are roundabouts all over Spain, and in some of the well-trafficked areas, there are huge fountains in the middle of the roundabout.

I saw everyone in the fountain and knew I had to join the party.

We walked up to the fountain just to watch, and then everyone started splashing us. At this point, I was soaked anyway, so I decided to go for it. I didn’t think I was going to be able to talk Stephanie or Alee into it, but then at least three guys saw Stephanie and started motioning toward her to get in. She wasn’t going to, so they came out of the fountain, picked her up, and put her in.

Then they realized I was behind her and did the same to me.

I can’t even begin to describe it. Just think the craziest thing you possibly can, and then multiply that by 100. I can’t tell you how excited I was to be there in that moment, and I can’t tell you how absolutely awesome it was to see what I saw. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I hope it’s one that I never forget.

I don’t think I will.

We found a kickin area of town after that, but Steph and I were so wet and cold by that point, that we decided to head for home after hanging out in the plaza for a bit.

I have to say, though, there has never been a bar in America as busy as the bar we went in that night.

I’d say there were at least a hundred people going in and out about every two minutes. And there was no easy way to get in or out, mind you. You had to get all up in everyone else’s business, and everyone else was all up in yours. I have pictures. It was psycho.

It was crazier than anything you can imagine, and crazier than anything you saw on the news.

What absolute perfect timing and luck to be IN SPAIN when they won the World Cup for the FIRST TIME IN HISTORY.

The winningest team in World Cup history without having the title now has a Cup of their own.

¡VIVA ESPAÑA!