U. Catolica vs. Espanola, Evil Flu, Class

On Monday we went to the Universidad Catolica vs. Union Espanola futbol (soccer) game. It had rained the day before, so the air was clear and the view on the way was beautiful. The soccer game itself was quite an experience for me, since I had never been to one. This was a pretty big game - there's a tournament going on right now among Chilean soccer teams, and this particular game was one of the semifinals. U. de Chile had already won their previous game, getting them a spot in the finals. Catolica and Espanola were competing on Monday to see who will play then in the finals. Actually, before Sunday night I had no idea what was even going on, but then I watched a tiny bit of the U. de Chile vs. Everton game and then read part of the sports section on Monday before we left. There was a lot in the paper that I didn't understand, but it is a fun challenge to try and read it anyway.

I have to confess, when I walked into the stadium, I felt a little like Harry Potter going to that Quidditch world cup in the 4th book/movie. Coming up the stairs next to the field and hearing the cheering and seeing the soccer players right in front of us was pretty memorable. At the ends of the stadium were the crazy fans for each of the 2 teams. In those sections, everyone was wearing team colors and waving flags and flares and the Catolica side even had a giant bass drum or 3. These sections kept singing and cheering literally the entire game. I wish that I had looked up the cheers for U. de Catolica so I could yell along with everyone, but I caught on to some of the little songs by the end. Javier (one of our program assistants) is a big U. de Catolica fan, so we decided to root for that team too. We didn't sit in the crazy fan section, but instead on the long side of the stadium. I think that gave us a better view of the whole field anyway. I'd never really watched professional soccer before, but it is really fun in person. Unfortunately, I never got to yell "Gooooooooooooooooollllllll" like they do on TV because no points were scored in regular play or overtime. Eventually it went to penalties and the first U. de Catolica shooter flat-out missed his shot. Espanola's goalie had 2 good blocks after that, and that was the game. It was really sad for Javier and everyone else...I was sad we didn't win, and I have no real attachment to this team. I can see how the fans get so involved in the game though.

So I had a lot of fun in the morning, but the rest of the day was not so hot, as I started feeling kind of sick. We ended up going to the mall on Sunday afternoon since it was raining and there was nothing else to do, but I think going out in the cold rain even just to take the bus was not a good idea. About 80% of us have some kind of cold or flu right now, which is unfortunate since today (Tuesday) was our first day of class.

The Microbiology class looks like it will be good. I'm not totally sure, but I think I heard some people saying that Dr. Mora is quite a renowned Chilean scientist, so we are lucky to be taking classes with him. After micro bio, we had our first Spanish class. The Spanish classes are optional but I wanted to go and see what it would be like anyway. I'm not sure how much I will go since I have a feeling I already know a lot of what will be presented. The teacher split us into 2 groups based on a writing sample, but there were only 3 of us at the most advanced level so she just lumped us in with the intermediate group. The 2 groups have class on different days, and the intermediate group is only going to have 3 or 4 classes altogether, so I'm wondering if it is even worth it to go. Then again, it's not like I would have anything pressing to do instead for a couple hours a week. I guess we'll see.

We were supposed to go to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum today after school, but then our program director found out that most people had fevers and coughs. She freaked out and cancelled the outing, and had the program assistants and healthy students go around writing down everyone's temperature and other symptoms. Everyone in this group is really nice, and we are good about looking out for each other I think. The healthy people went down to the hotel restaurant and brought back trays of tea for all us sick people. Cristhian (other program assistant) even ended up calling a doctor friend of his to come to the hotel and take a look at some girls who had extremely high fevers. So really, Mom and Dad and concerned relatives, even though I may be posting about flus and epic bus fights at 4 in the morning, we are actually in really good hands here.

Anyway, lab starts tomorrow and I think my fever is back for the night, so that means it's time for Advil and bed. Hopefully I will have more happy things to report once we all are better.