Soccer Cops Again

Last night my friend Sebastian and I walked to Santiago's "bohemian" neighborhood, Bella Vista, to watch Chile play Uruguay in soccer. Chile was down a player 20 minutes into it, but Uruguay still couldn't score on them. It ended in a tie: 0-0.

We were bummed. We had come armed with our cameras this time with hopes to shoot some shots if they won. No more than five minutes had passed after the game, though, before we heard some comotion in the sreets outside. I thought maybe people were breaking stuff. But no. Pure celebration. A crowd of maybe 300 people was marching towards Santiago's center, chanting the national soccer anthem, smashing bottles in the street, jumping on the backs of cars.

We joined the cavalcade. Some drunk dudes from the bar we were at picked us up and demanded that we march with them. They were psyched to hang with the Gringos (the term Gringo, for anyone who doesn't know, is used by Chileans to describe anyone who isn't from Chile. In other countries the term describes a person from the United States. In Chile it's used more generally). People would come up to me and Sebastian asking to have their pictures taken with us, as if we were celebrities or something. The bottom line is that, despite all the Americans that pass through Chile, the majority of Chilenos don't see many in person. Their culture is littered with ours; our news invades their news; our music plays on their radio; our movies and television series air on their cable. The Chileans i've met--not including the friends i've made--will try and speak to me with what little Englsih they know: "whass up man?" or, as one man greeted me last night "What happen muth fucka?" (What's happenin.....) One woman kept trying to say "How do you do?" a greeting she had learned from a movie, but kept saying "How you do?" I hear some kids in my program talk about how the Chileans hate people from the US. I haven't found that to be the case at all. I've found them to be an incredibly curious bunch, always asking questions about how my stay has been, where I've visited, what I like most about the country, etc.

I took a lot of pictures of the celebration and a few videos, too. I think I can also post videos on this blog, so I'll try when I get home from class today. Stay posted!

Oh! Just found out that Holly is in to College of Charleston, her first choice for school. She's so fortunate. I'm sure everyone at home is just as radiant as I am here in Chile.