Chile V Espana

So, as I may have mentioned before, basically all of Chile shuts down when there is a Chile is playing in the World Cup that day. Everyone leaves work or school early to watch the game. We had to be in IES by 10am (which was really hard after only getting 5 hours of sleep) for a Downtown Santiago tour we were going to go on that morning. A few people I was out with the night before showed up a bit late. Our tour was beautiful. We got to see "La Moneda" which is basically where all of the political stuff happens (except for one branch, which happens in Valparaiso, where I'm going tomorrow). The building and plazas were beautiful, but the best part was watching all of downtown Santiago get ready for the big game. There were flags hanging everywhere,

big screens being set up with crowds starting to gather,

even dogs were excited!

Our teacher explained that Chileans are usually very conservative people, but this is such a big deal, they all break out of their shells and unite as a country to support their futbol team.

After our tour, we went back to IES, learned some cheers,

had a quick lunch, a quick culture lesson, and then we were free to watch the game. We were advised not to go to big plazas because it is rowdy, crowded, and generally unsafe, but it seemed like that was the only way to actually experience the game the way Chileans do, so we didn't take the advice and headed back to the plazas we were at before.

We hopped on the Metro and by the time we got there, the game had started, everywhere was PACKED, and Chile was already losing.

We were sad but decided we'd stay there to see how it played out (a lot of people left at halftime, when we were down 2-0). Luckily we did because right after half time, we scored a goal!!!

It was great. I bought a hat and painted my face (but I don't have pictures of that, check out my Facebook for pics sometime soonish. I basically looked like KC and Alcina (below) with the red-white, and blue hat the guy is wearing in the background). It was definitely worth it not to follow their advice. We ended up losing 2-1 but we moved on to the next round, so there is still a lot of partying going on in the streets (more than my first day here!).

Check out my Facebook for more pics of the tour and the soccer fiesta!

[Edit] I decided to take a picture of myself before I showered: