16 June 2010

Hola again!

A quiet few days largely focussed on work have had a bit of a break today, courtesy of Chile's first game of the word cup, which was played against Honduras. I had been given a bit of warning about how excited the Chilenos are about their team "la Rojas" (the Reds), both verbally and from what I had seen in the local media.

Verbally, there was the suggestion that when the game is on;

1. don't expect to see anyone in the office with me
2. don't expect anyone to answer any phone calls

Further;

1. if they win, don't expect people to arrive in the office shortly after the game finishes
2. if they lose, don't expect people to arrive in the office shortly after the game finishes

In the media, there was a special liftout in the local newspaper (comprising about 50% of the whole paper) about what the team was up to nearly two weeks ago, and the World Cup component of the television news bulletins comprises approximately half of the bulletin. That isn't to mention the World Cup special programs and so on. The radio is less focussed on it, or perhaps that is just the radio station that Lizette has running in the background of the office, and perhaps she has it on that channel for exactly that reason!

And then there are the local shops and stalls etc. in the streets, many of which seems to have items for supporters to wear or otherwise decorate themselves with, advertising billboards of the team sponsors and so on.

Hmmm, it seems this soccer/futbol thing is pretty serious here.

It is some 12 years (I think) since the team was last in the World Cup and 48 years since they won a game. There are big things hoped for from this team, which is considered by the supporter (singular) that I polled, the best TEAM that Chile has ever had.

So, yesterday when I was told not to expect to see anyone in the office before about 10:30AM, I thought I'd take the opportunity to watch the game with the (Mariana) team at the "guest house".

The game started at 7.30AM, which must have been hell for a population commited to (mostly) not being out and about before about 8.30AM, except of course those in the service industries such as street cleaners, rubbish clearers etc. Unfortunately myself and Patricio, who had just arrived back from his break via bus, were still awaiting our lift to the guest house which did not arrive until 7.35AM. We raced (at the speed limit) to the guest house, listening intently to the radio, oohing, aahing and sucking in air between pursed lips as the commentators described the action. On arrival, we dashed madly for the lounge room and settled in to watch the action. Surprisingly, no-one had cracked a beer for the occasion, and my description the previous day of "chicken and champagne breakfasts" for big events (specifically the Melbourne Cup) had been greeted with complete bewilderment. i.e. "Why would you have THAT for breakfast?".

It is fair to say that I'm not a huge soccer fan. Sure, I can sit and watch a game with others if they are particularly keen on it, or if it is a special game, such as this one was. I can see things happening at a fairly broad level, but the subtlety's of the game miss me completely. My cries of "hand-ball" at one stage were politely, but firmly ignored, as replays showed it was nothing of the sort. It was fairly easy to get involved with the excitement of what was going on, particularly when Chile scored the only goal of the game. This even prompted one of the guys to grab a beer to celebrate with.

Half time arrived with the usual race for the bathroom that accompanies these sorts of gatherings. I'd already headed for the kitchen in the last few minutes of the half in order to get breakfast going, as I hadn't had anything apart from a banana at 6.15AM and was feeling a bit peckish. I'd brought along some eggs and tomatoes and was going make an omelette. It was all going well right up to the point where I tried to fold it in half, as you do, when it became apparent that the majority of it had stuck to the base and sides of the frypan, so there was no way it was going to be a thing of beauty. Further efforts began to destroy it, hence it became scrambled eggs with tomato and pepper. No tragedy in the taste stakes, but not exactly what I was looking for in terms of the aesthetics. Oh well, I have plenty of time to practice.

I'd also brought along my slowly diminishing stash of vegemite and was going to thrill the Chilenos with it, however by the time the omelette experience was finished, I was feeling a little full to be hooking into toast. I was also conscious of leaving a little bit of room for the "typical"? Chilean fare that is eaten in celebration of a win in the soccer which, I was advised, is cake. Therefore last night had required a trip to the supermarket to purchase a cake. I had no real idea what I was buying, other than this enormous cake, covered in cream, featuring a decoration of part of the Chilean flag and/or soccer jumper. It turned out well, with the cake being a multi-layered vanilla sponge, layered with cream, vanilla custard and a very thin layer of some kind of chocolate substance. The most important thing was that it tasted OK and there was enough left over to take back to the office for morning tea / lunch etc. Come to think of it, there is probably still some left for dessert tonight...

The second half of the game featured all of the same excitement of the first half (ooohing, aahing and sucking in of breath), minus the thrill of another goal. There was much joy at the end, minus hugging and kissing, which might have been a bit much local culture for me to deal with for the moment!

On the way back to the office, the excitement continued. There were cars everywhere tooting, flags being waved from the cars, pedestrians decked out in red clothes, hats, painted faces and the like (the photo's only hint at what it was like, as my camera was in the back of the car when we passed the main crowds). I'm pretty confident that Alexis, out fieldy, spent at least 25% of the time back the the office with the horn being sounded. Everyone seemed very happy and excited, which is fantastic to see. It is hard to imagine the excitement if they make it to the second round and win a game there.

Back at the office, we were prevented from entering by (apparently) a gas leak. By some magic, it seemed to clear up and we were allowed to enter. Not sure how real it was, given there was no-one attending other than the usual "guard" at the front door, no gas detectors or anything of that sort.

The rest of today has been fairly anti-climactic after that, and I'm looking forward to an early night after having to get up early. Not too sure if I've mentioned that I'm quickly falling into the local timeframes...

A