Soccer Game

Last night I went to a soccer game: La U (Perú) vs. Bolivia. I took a taxi with 5 other people and it took us 2 hours to get to the stadium. Had I given it much thought beforehand, I probably would have been a little bit more prepared and expected a similar atmosphere, but I didn't so was caught off guard when we arrived.

We ended up getting out of the taxi and going by foot from several blocks away because it was quicker than riding through the heavy traffic. We had to pass through an insane number of people trying to sell us things. When we got to the gates, our tickets were examined to determine whether or not they were "counterfit". Then we went through the rotating doors/gates and were frisked by police officers. They then proceeded to examine the books that we had with us from the university because you can't take anything that can be thrown in with you...meaning no waterbottles (even if empty) and no hair clips. They even took most people's belts, I was fortunate enough to keep mine.

Inside the stadium the crowd was crazy! There were police officer with shields and their other armor stationed every 5 feet in all the walkways/aisles! The fans were screaming, chanting, and jumping. People were lighting off fireworks from in the stands while others were waving enoromous flags. During the game people threw rolls of reciept paper over the fences onto the field. It was definitely an experience.

The game ended in a 0:0 tie. It took us an hour and a half to get home, which was way nearer that the university, because of the traffic. My understanding now is that since this was a game for the Latin American Cup or some such championship tournament, neither team will probably advance to the next round, because they did not score anything.