World Cup Fever

I think I would be remiss not to mention the world cup at some point. During my time in Guatemala I have missed only one of the eight games that have been played since I arrived, (Italy v. Ukraine) partly because it's the only thing people talk about. If you didn't watch the game yesterday, and have an opinion about who should win, you're cutting your options for chit-chat way down. Everyone watches the games, it's impressive. And the reactions I've seen have been no less impressive. When England lost, one of the British guys staying in my room (at the hostel in Antigua) went and sulked in the dark for an hour and a half. Eventually a friend brought beer to cheer him up. The German students here at the spanish school, who showed up to watch the game in German soccer jerseys, looked absolutely crushed when their team lost. The Guatemalans seemed almost universally to be rooting for all the Latin American teams with the notable exception of Mexico. They all seem to hate Mexico. However, even when Argentina and Brazil lost and every team in the semi-finals was European, everyone still had a favorite team in each game. I could hear screaming from down the street (while inside my house watching the game) when Italy made it's last penalty kick to win. And then there were fireworks.....intermittently for an hour or two. If the commercials were as good as the Super Bowl's I'd never go back.