A Futebol Game!!

After being here for less than a week, I have already had the opportunity to go to a "futebol" game! We watched Remo (pronounced hay-moe.... r's are pronounced like an "h") score two goals for a victory. One of the high school teachers asked me if I was interested in going (don't worry, D- he's married). He said he had to check to see if it was safe enough to take me, but to plan on it. (I asked my parents before I left the U.S. if I should dye my hair, but we decided against it...) We ended up going with a group, which is much safer anyway. As I said before, I feel like it is the law to wear soccer jerseys - and this was no exception. I felt a little out of the loop, since I do not own one... yet. :) When I find a cute one for a good deal, I will get it! (Okay, I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a "cute" soccer jersey, but I'm determined to find it! :) (Yes, D, I know... but at least I didn't add a "y" to the end of any word in that sentence....)

(Sorry this was ended abruptly... a storm was coming and I had to run for cover....)

A piece of advice: Don't step in the puddles around the arena. They are not places where people have spilled pop....

While at the game, I also learned that it is rude to eat and walk at the same time. That's just like Westerville, where you can't eat a bagel while walking on the sidewalk...

There were armed guards, complete with shields and heavy-duty helmets, who escorted the referees to and from the field. It was intense!

When we were walking into the stadium, there were many men yelling "hah-dee-oh, hah-dee-oh, hah-dee-oh" over and over and over super fast.... I asked someone what they were saying and was informed that they were selling radios. In Brazil, the letter "r" is pronounced with an /h/ sound. In Spanish, radio is spelled the same but pronounced with a rolled "r". It is interesting to see how lanuguages are related!

People would buy these hand-held radios to listen to the comentary of the game. There is no sound system in the stadium, and I realized it was not necessary. Each "gang" (aka, serious "fan clubs") brings their own drums and followers who sing and chant during the entire game. Everyone knows all the words or sounds and exactly when to say/sing them. It was quite entertaining! They really get into "futebol"!

I realized how serious they are about soccer during recess duty last week. The second and third graders were playing during lunch recess. One of my second graders came up crying. It seemed very serious. Through the tears and sobs, I made out, "They gave me a yellow and then a red!" I could not believe it - second graders giving each other red cards and making their friends sit out of the game!! I wasn't trained for dealing with these kinds of situations.... I haven't learned enough about soccer yet!! :)