This afternoon, I was invited to a soccer game with my host brother, Elio, and his 3 year old son, Diego. They are both avid fans of the local team, the Ciencianos, as they should be. The past couple of years, the Ciencianos have been national champions, despite overwhelming odds, and despite having not won much of anything the 100 years before that (Boston Red Sox??).

I suited in up in a borrowed jersey, and we cruised down to the stadium, I was expecting something of an exciting show of feirce competition and athleticism. They were playing a Chillean team, known and much despised rivals in everything from sports to looking at eachother. I was even kind of looking forward to some violent displays of team pride. This, inasmuch, was not the case.

I guess I had a really sort of stereotypical latin american soccer experience. That is, getting really ramped up to see some quality competition, becoming more and more discouraged as the game wears on with very few actual goals being scored, becoming another one of the noiseless crowd as the game wears on, and finally being tapped on the shoulder and alerted that the game was oven and it was time to go. They tied. No raukus unholy violence broke out, despite the presence of a small battalion of polics in full riot gear.

So it was a pretty good soccer experience for the most part, I bought a hat in the stadium for about $1.50. These Cusqueañan sports facilities really don´t know how to take advantage of their patrons. The US has it down solid. Thanks, 8 dollars for a hot dog, thats what I like in a sporting event.