south africa 2010, here we go!
germany 2006 was undoubtedly a huge success. it’s been a while since a world cup was held in a country with such a big crowd of football fans (italia 90? cuz i wouldn’t put the french in the same fan-league as the italians, the english, the spanish, etc.). that, together with the excellent infrastructure, reliable and efficient means of transportation (within the cities, within the country, and in and out of the country), having so many neighboring nations with big names in football and a great deal of supporters... all of that has contributed to the success of this world cup.
it’s not even over yet, but it is kinda over for my friends and me. mexico lost in the eighths against germany in a great display of good football. unfortunately, winning requires more than good football. it requires goals, and maxi rodríguez’s sublime goal in the overtime was definitely most welcome by the argentines. we never stopped cheering, though. the chants went on and on and we didn’t shut up even in the half-time. the italians, the swedes, the germans... they all sided with us and even learned some of our chants. it seems like the one they like the best was the one we sang when maradona came on the screen, ¡olé, olé, olé... diegooo... coca! cuz they did learn that one very well and chanted along every time they showed him on the big screen. i even lost my voice by the half-time and was really sore for the next three days. right after the game ended i wondered whether it had been worth it. only the gute spiels the people on the street said to us and the thought of having lost not with a stupid error or in penalties but with an unbelievable goal by argentina provided some consolation.
so, mexico lost and we all left germany yesterday. and even though the tournament is still on for another 10 days, it sort of feels like it’s over. (plus, there’s of course wimbledon to watch! :-) however, we have already begun planning our trip to south africa in 2010. that will be a perfect excuse to visit julita and joel! and so that we remember, or in case you ever go to a world cup, don’t forget to bring as much paraphernalia as you can fit in your luggage! the crazier the better! the most popular items were undoubtedly our sombreros and the wrestler masks. the flags are a classic and it was fun to wave them while running around the old city in hannover before the mexico-angola match. they were also very useful at night when we were still outside and it got a bit chilly (and it was definitely useful to héctor, who exchanged it for a swedish flag with a gorgeous swede!). and the green, white, and red paint were great! they got chicho a free beer after he painted some random guy’s face and they made me famous! (i now know that i became tv azteca’s sex symbol and was on all of their tv ads in which they announced the times of the games and persuaded the audience to support el tri. of course, showing me crazily cheering and yelling after one of mexico’s goals in their match against iran was definitely a good method of persuasion—i should get some money for that, no? jaja...)
i’m in salzburg now. just got here yesterday and i love this place already. for being the second touristic city in austria, it’s rather small (about 150,000 people). yet, the amount of cultural events it hosts is unparalleled. every day there’s some concert or opera or play or something. and although i didn’t see that many americans in germany, here it’s full of them. must be the world cup craze in germany, which probably most americans decided to avoid. i must say, though, i’m surprised that here in austria, it’s pretty big too. in the old city, just by the residenz and the dom, there’s a wm-arena—kind of like the fanfests they have in the world cup host cities in germany—with a huge screen and several stands selling beer, pretzels, sausages, and also world cup souvenirs (and i bought a half-liter glass of white wine for only 2.40!). i went there last night to watch the france-spain game and i met two mexicans there, ángel and carlos (lópez? he said he was jennifer’s brother...!), both from df. after the game, we walked around the old town and looked for a kebab place. we found a place, which looked open but was in fact closed. the owner was having some sort of party inside, with 4 or 5 friends and some turkish music. he apologized and gave us directions to go to another place that might be open. then carlos said, oh, but they told us kebab places are always open for mexicans! and the owner said, oh really? ok, come in! so we went inside and he fixed us something. the kebabs weren’t great but i still appreciated his nice gesture. we met a guy from texas, will, who is studying here in salzburg for about six months, and he recommended that i go to a town nearby called halstatt (or something like that). will try to go there on my way to vienna. the owner was super friendly and when we were inside he blasted some shakira and that song they always play in european bars and i don’t remember who sings it; the chorus goes ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, amor, ay, mi morena de mi corazón. who sings it?! the funniest thing, though, is that when we left, everybody said good-bye to us, super friendly. the owner was outside with his wife or girlfriend, and as we left, i shook his hand and said adiós. then i reached for the girlfriend’s hand but she wouldn’t shake hands with me and the situation got immediately super tense. the owner just shook my hand again, looked at me very seriously, and said again, adiós. and we left.
tomorrow i will take it easy. i will probably just go downtown and walk around, maybe go to mozart’s house, and then in the evening i am going to see the opera die hochzeit des figaro. i had to see a mozart opera here in salzburg... although my favorite is the magic flute and the papagena, papageno aria... but they are only showing that in july, after i’m gone...
it’s not even over yet, but it is kinda over for my friends and me. mexico lost in the eighths against germany in a great display of good football. unfortunately, winning requires more than good football. it requires goals, and maxi rodríguez’s sublime goal in the overtime was definitely most welcome by the argentines. we never stopped cheering, though. the chants went on and on and we didn’t shut up even in the half-time. the italians, the swedes, the germans... they all sided with us and even learned some of our chants. it seems like the one they like the best was the one we sang when maradona came on the screen, ¡olé, olé, olé... diegooo... coca! cuz they did learn that one very well and chanted along every time they showed him on the big screen. i even lost my voice by the half-time and was really sore for the next three days. right after the game ended i wondered whether it had been worth it. only the gute spiels the people on the street said to us and the thought of having lost not with a stupid error or in penalties but with an unbelievable goal by argentina provided some consolation.
so, mexico lost and we all left germany yesterday. and even though the tournament is still on for another 10 days, it sort of feels like it’s over. (plus, there’s of course wimbledon to watch! :-) however, we have already begun planning our trip to south africa in 2010. that will be a perfect excuse to visit julita and joel! and so that we remember, or in case you ever go to a world cup, don’t forget to bring as much paraphernalia as you can fit in your luggage! the crazier the better! the most popular items were undoubtedly our sombreros and the wrestler masks. the flags are a classic and it was fun to wave them while running around the old city in hannover before the mexico-angola match. they were also very useful at night when we were still outside and it got a bit chilly (and it was definitely useful to héctor, who exchanged it for a swedish flag with a gorgeous swede!). and the green, white, and red paint were great! they got chicho a free beer after he painted some random guy’s face and they made me famous! (i now know that i became tv azteca’s sex symbol and was on all of their tv ads in which they announced the times of the games and persuaded the audience to support el tri. of course, showing me crazily cheering and yelling after one of mexico’s goals in their match against iran was definitely a good method of persuasion—i should get some money for that, no? jaja...)
i’m in salzburg now. just got here yesterday and i love this place already. for being the second touristic city in austria, it’s rather small (about 150,000 people). yet, the amount of cultural events it hosts is unparalleled. every day there’s some concert or opera or play or something. and although i didn’t see that many americans in germany, here it’s full of them. must be the world cup craze in germany, which probably most americans decided to avoid. i must say, though, i’m surprised that here in austria, it’s pretty big too. in the old city, just by the residenz and the dom, there’s a wm-arena—kind of like the fanfests they have in the world cup host cities in germany—with a huge screen and several stands selling beer, pretzels, sausages, and also world cup souvenirs (and i bought a half-liter glass of white wine for only 2.40!). i went there last night to watch the france-spain game and i met two mexicans there, ángel and carlos (lópez? he said he was jennifer’s brother...!), both from df. after the game, we walked around the old town and looked for a kebab place. we found a place, which looked open but was in fact closed. the owner was having some sort of party inside, with 4 or 5 friends and some turkish music. he apologized and gave us directions to go to another place that might be open. then carlos said, oh, but they told us kebab places are always open for mexicans! and the owner said, oh really? ok, come in! so we went inside and he fixed us something. the kebabs weren’t great but i still appreciated his nice gesture. we met a guy from texas, will, who is studying here in salzburg for about six months, and he recommended that i go to a town nearby called halstatt (or something like that). will try to go there on my way to vienna. the owner was super friendly and when we were inside he blasted some shakira and that song they always play in european bars and i don’t remember who sings it; the chorus goes ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, amor, ay, mi morena de mi corazón. who sings it?! the funniest thing, though, is that when we left, everybody said good-bye to us, super friendly. the owner was outside with his wife or girlfriend, and as we left, i shook his hand and said adiós. then i reached for the girlfriend’s hand but she wouldn’t shake hands with me and the situation got immediately super tense. the owner just shook my hand again, looked at me very seriously, and said again, adiós. and we left.
tomorrow i will take it easy. i will probably just go downtown and walk around, maybe go to mozart’s house, and then in the evening i am going to see the opera die hochzeit des figaro. i had to see a mozart opera here in salzburg... although my favorite is the magic flute and the papagena, papageno aria... but they are only showing that in july, after i’m gone...
posted by adrián at 15:41
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