Anyways, we attended the match and it was a lot of fun. A passionate crowd nothing like anything in the states, and this is just the club league. Offensive songs, fireworks launched from the crowd, flares, the whole nine yards. Thank god La Chile won the match, 4-1 (almost 5-1). Afterward I was able to walk home since my house is less than 2 blocks away.
On Sunday, I went to go buy tickets for the National team futbol matches that will take place later this year. What a steal, Chile vs. Brazil, Colombia, Argentina for $50 US. Can't wait to see how those games play out. The two again Brazil and Colombia are World Cup Qualifiers and they mean a lot since in the Latin American group for the world cup, only the top 4 teams qualify with the 5th place team having to play a wild-card match against the 3 place team from the North American group. Currently Colombia leads the South American group, followed by Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and then BRAZIL. I am sure most of these teams will qualify but there is still a lot on the line.
On Monday night, one of my buddies in the program has a Spanish teacher from UC Davis who has dedicated his life's work to Chile and is an American. Michael Lazzara, PH.D. from Pricneton, is the real deal and recently published his 6th book. "Luz Arce: Después Del Infierno" his most current work is the story of a woman who worked close under Allende during the glory years, and then switched sides and turned on the party. He had a book publishing event last night at the National Library where in the audience was the widow of a former Allende supporter who was killed as a result of the side-switching by this woman.
Following excerpt readings from the book, the event turned into an open forum in which tough questions were posed as well as individuals making tense statements (one 15 minutes long). Chile is such an interesting country considering it was not long ago that the entire state was under a dictatorship and now it is currently seen as a model nation for the rest of Latin America. However, the polarized conditions of the masses cause a lot of angst and emotion when politics are brought up. The rapid transition from out of the horrors under Pinochet to general prosperity is unprecedented and makes discussing the past difficult. Too many people see the situation as black and white, whereas the goal of Mr. Lazzara is to try and change that mindset. A very powerful event, I was very lucky to be able to attend and then have dinner afterward. What an night.
I am going to try and head back to Valparaiso for the next couple days to show some friends around the city who haven't had a chance to visit it. Be back in a few days, cheers.
Chi-Chi-Ch-Le-Le-Le, Universidad de Chile!
