Futbol Mania

I promised a good story, and a good story I shall write. Last Sunday was the final of Copa América. Copa America is the oldest international continental football competition and is held every 4 years. So its kind of a big deal and everybody was watching it. It just so happens that the stadium this event was taking place in is just a 10 minute walk away from my place. So after watching the first half of the game at a bar my roomates and I headed toward the stadium to see any after game festivities. As we walked to the stadium the streets began to look more and more like a tornado had gone through. The streets were trashed and the game wasn't even finished yet. We knew this would be a good night. In front of the stadium a crowd was gathering in anticipation of an Uruguay win. There was a news van parked on the side with a 10 inch T.V. screen in the back, that was surrounded by 30 people looking through every nook and cranny trying to catch a glimpse of the game. Meanwhile the stadium, a mere 50 yards away felt like it had a life of its own. You could feel the anticipation of another Uruguay goal and the tension was so thick that I swear the stadium just might implode. Then it happend. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!! The stadium erupted with a roar that would make any ordinary man insta-poop his pants. It was awesome. Two minutes later the game ended with Uruguay beating Paraguay 3-0. People poured out the stadium and it soon became very crowded. At one point there was almost a fight but then it got broken up. Dang it. So we are walking along taking it all in when we are suddenly at the front steps of River Stadium. My roomates and I look at each other for a second and then took a step up. We just walked in, no police and no dodgy looks we just waltzed in. It was suprising because 3/4 of the stadium was still full of screaming Uruguayan fans. Beside ourselves, we walked up and down the aisles looking for a good place to take videos. There were chants, tons of fans, and confetti. So cool. And there were like 10 different chants that people just kept saying over and over. Kind of like an I pod shuffle, but louder. The coolest thing for me was that you could feel the passion. It was more than a game, it is a way of life. The people from Uruguay as in most South American Countries eat, drink, and bleed futbol. As a past player of the game I can identify somewhat with the passion for the game but not at the level that they have. So instead I just soaked in the moment and celebrated alongside Uruguay. I can't wait to actually see a game.

Living in Buenos Aires

Hello All!! I have been busy this week settling into my homestay in Buenos Aires. The neighborhood I live in is called Barrio Nunez, and is in the northern part of the city. It is a really nice area and pretty ritzy except for all the poop on the ground. I am staying with 2 doctors named Alicia and Jose. They are awesome people and house students from all over the world all of the time. At this moment there are 6 students living with them including me. Needless to say there is never a dull moment in the house and at dinner. I get fed 2 meals a day and even though all of us students can speak english the primary language at the dinner table is spanish. Primarily because Alicia and Jose don't speak much english, but it's also good practice. Its a pretty sweet setup they've got. I am living in their pool house in the back with two guys from Boston.

It's pretty awesome and their meals are amazing. I am definitely blessed to have found the place, so praise God! So now I have got the housing down I just need to find a church and a gym. I went to a church on Saturday for collage aged kids near my house. It was pretty cool, except I only understood every 3rd word but I understood the overall main point of the message so that was good. So that's pretty much it, I start orientation for school tomorrow and classes begin on the 1st of August. Spanish is still hard but I am getting a little better everyday. My biggest obstacle is the understanding part. My mind still thinks in english and is still a little slow in translating things. Its just one of those things where I need to learn to think in spanish. Plus Argentine spanish is a little different than the rest of the world. For instance, any word with a "y" or "ll", in Argentina it is pronounced with a "juh" sound instead of a "yuh" sound that I am used too. And instead of referring to you as "tu" they use "vos" which is a little different but not too bad. All in all things are great I have yet to see the new Harry Potter movie but that is okay. Sorry this is more of an informative post without cool stories but I promise next post I will have great stories, one which includes me sneaking into the COPA Cup Final. Ciao!

More Dangerous Less Fun!

My good buddy Craig from Kidder Creek told me of this story where him and a bunch of his friends from home were rafting on the Klamath river. Craig explained to them that they could 1 of 2 routes. Either Rattlesnake or Dragons Tooth. When asked what the difference was between the two he said that Rattlesnake was a fun run with little risk and Dragon's Tooth was more dangerous and less fun. They decided to do go with Dragon's Tooth. They had fun with Craig's play on words and "More Dangerous Less Fun" became their motto for that entire trip and was chanted frequently. Its a bit of an oxymoron I think because sometimes more dangerous=more fun, or at least more dangerous usually means a good story. South America is "More Dangerous Less Fun." Allow me to explain. My very 1st night in Santiago Chile won there soccer game for the COPA cup. Feeling very celebratory some guys from the hostel and I went into the main square to celebrate with the Chileans. We were chanting and jumping and having a great time when all of a sudden the crowd turned on us. Wallets were stolen, cameras were taken, and even beanies were being yanked off guys heads. Luckily we had Paul. Paul was probably responsible for most of the attention anyways. Seeing as how he is a 6'6 265lb monster of a man from New Zeland, he gains a lot of attention. But his size was useful this time as he battled through the crowd and created a hole for us to escape through. We escaped with no casualties and a guy who had lost his passport actually ended up recovering it. Some people had wallets stolen and luckily I didn't have anything on me for someone to steal. There are actually quite a bit of protests turned to riots lately in Santiago over a number of reasons. These usually end with tear gas and water cannons used on the protestors by the police. Oh ya fun fact, I guess Chilean tear gas is so bad that it is illegal in some countries. I hear its nasty stuff, but I also heard that eating a lemon will help with countering its effects. I hope I never have a chance to test that. Chile is one of the more modernized countries of South America so I only imagine that the stories will get better and better. I leave for Argentina tomorrow and don't start orientation until the 25th of July. I am getting a little better at speaking Spanish but it is still hard to understand. Chilean spanish is a little different because they talk in slang and drop the "s" on a lot of words. But as with most things I know it will just take time.

Oh Chile so chily.

Arrived into Santiago,Chile after 13hrs of flying. No matter what I do I can never sleep on planes because I can never get comfortable. There just never seems to be enough room. Now I know I have an advantage over larger people because I can sit cross legged on a plane, but there is still never enough room. The flights were uneventful until deep into the 9th hour of flying,when the captain goes over the radio and asks if there is a doctor or nurse/paramedic on board to see if they could go check on a passenger. So I raise my hand and the stewardess comes to get me, and when she sees me she has this look on her face that basically says "ya sure your a doctor, dream on gringo," but then I explained that I was an EMT...but I could tell she still wasn't buying it. So I am led to the front of the plane where the seats are 10x bigger and where it smells like cucumber melon lotion and I am led to this kid that was complaining of stomach pain. So I do my assessment and check to see what was wrong. My diagnosis...constipation. But I don't blame the kid for freaking out, it was probably his first time being constipated. So I pretty much hung out with him for awhile made sure he was alright and went back to my uncomfortable seat. Upon landing and going through customs and paying a $140 reciprocity fee(thank you U.S for that) I hitched a ride with this chilean guy named Ivan. I guess he got a kick out of me because he let me ride in a cab that his company was paying for and dropped me off pretty much right in front of my hostel. Oh and did I mention it was 35 degrees outside? Ya everywhere I go I feel like im in an igloo. I couldn't check into the hostel until 1:30pm so I spent most of my day walking around trying to exchange my currency and ended up falling asleep on a park bench. All in all I am jovial and tired. The people in Chile are just great, probably some of the most genuine people I have ever met. And Santiago is pretty cool too. It's kind of like L.A. but more colorful. And there are asian people here who speak spanish. That was weird. Ok its past my nap, pictures to come. Arrived into Santiago,Chile after 13hrs of flying. No matter what I do I can never sleep on planes because I can never get comfortable. There just never seems to be enough room. Now I know I have an advantage over larger people because I can sit cross legged on a plane, but there is still never enough room. The flights were uneventful until deep into the 9th hour of flying,when the captain goes over the radio and asks if there is a doctor or nurse/paramedic on board to see if they could go check on a passenger. So I raise my hand and the stewardess comes to get me, and when she sees me she has this look on her face that basically says "ya sure your a doctor, dream on gringo," but then I explained that I was an EMT...but I could tell she still wasn't buying it. So I am led to the front of the plane where the seats are 10x bigger and where it smells like cucumber melon lotion and I am led to this kid that was complaining of stomach pain. So I do my assessment and check to see what was wrong. My diagnosis...constipation. But I don't blame the kid for freaking out, it was probably his first time being constipated. So I pretty much hung out with him for awhile made sure he was alright and went back to my uncomfortable seat. Upon landing and going through customs and paying a $140 reciprocity fee(thank you U.S for that) I hitched a ride with this chilean guy named Ivan. I guess he got a kick out of me because he let me ride in a cab that his company was paying for and dropped me off pretty much right in front of my hostel. Oh and did I mention it was 35 degrees outside? Ya everywhere I go I feel like im in an igloo. I couldn't check into the hostel until 1:30pm so I spent most of my day walking around trying to exchange my currency and ended up falling asleep on a park bench. All in all I am jovial and tired. The people in Chile are just great, probably some of the most genuine people I have ever met. And Santiago is pretty cool too. It's kind of like L.A. but more colorful. And there are asian people here who speak spanish. That was weird. Ok its past my nap, pictures to come.