About a month ago I went to a partido de fútbol of Ecuador-Bolivia which was my first football game in Ecuador!
It took place in the Estadio de Atahualpa in Quito, close to the IES center. I went with my buddy, Alfonso, also on exchange in La Católica from the U.S.
Tricolor
The game itself wasn’t the greatest, but at least we won 1-0 (due to a penalty kick) which resulted in everyone getting splashed by beer, popcorn, and pretty much everything and anything. One kid sitting next to us brought his own confetti which, by the looks of it, he made it home by ripping up old papers lying around!
¡Que viva el Ecuador!
More than anything, the game was full of energy, chanting, and tricolor (yellow, blue, red) everywhere. Since the game took place in Ecuador, nearly the entire stadium was filled with Ecuador fans, although there was a tiny group of Bolivians sitting near us who looked awfully intimidated and nearly got into a fight with hardcore-EC fans. Even Alfonso and I partook in chanting foul things at the Bolivian fans and soccer players, but hey, it’s part of the immersion experience (we also learned a bunch of new words that surely will not help us in La Católica classes).
¡GOOOOOOOOOOL!
But all-in-all, it was such a great experience seeing Ecuadorian pride so up close and personal. This coming Friday is the Ecuador-Chile game–time to break out our new vocabulary words again!
