So, yes, the World Cup has arrived and I´m in Latin America in a country that indeed is playing in the world cup, which makes for an exhilirating experience. Soccer, for various reasons, has not become so popular in the U.S., but here in Paraguay it is more or less the national religion. To back that statement up I will say that I went to church a few Sundays ago here, and I estimate that about 25 people came. I went to the local soccer game a few hours later and I think about 300 people were there. And now with all of the madness that is the World Cup having started, the excitement in Paraguay is hitting the fan.
Allow me to make an analogy to the U.S. sporting scene. Imagine, for a moment, that Dan Elwood is President of the US of A (I would move to South America). For those of you who aren´t familiar with this living legend, his first order of business is to dissallow all other sports aside from college basketball. In addition, he decides to make the March Madness tournament just once every four years, to pump up the excitement of it. This is a little bit like what Paraguay is like right now...Soccer, or ´football´ as those elitist Englishmen call it, is largely the only sport played all over Paraguay, and it is played by all social classes equally. When Paraguay had their first World cup match this past Monday afternoon, school was effectively canceled because teachers knew that about 2 students would show up, so it wasn´t worth it at all to try and have class. Everyone was huddled around their TV sets watching the game, as was I. And in case you didn´t catch Maier´s prediction come true, they tied the 2006 World Cup winnner Italy in a dynamic performance. Honestly, I´m truely impressed with the talent Paraguay puts up for the Cup. The national population is about 7 million, yet I take them in a game over the US.
I gave my first workshop yesterday in the schools here. We made some primary school alphabets to put up in the classroom and shortly I will be showing the teachers how to use them to improve pedagogy via songs and more participatory activities.
I highly support this post. The Paraguayan jerseys are pretty cool too. I'll predict what the outcome of their match against Slovakia was on Monday.
ReplyDeleteI feel pretty confident in my prediction again today. Paraguay will be in good shape in their group today which means party time for Dools and his buddies. I predict they beat Slovakia 2-0 yesterday. Bet everything you own on this prediction, I'm quite confident.
ReplyDeleteI read this a while ago, but did not comment. And, as a former and eventual blog owner, I love comments. And getting a shoutout in the post warrants a comment.
ReplyDeleteElwood as president: later, NFL. No more ruining my life with heavy tv coverage 10 months out of the year.
Keep pursing that dream, baby; oranges within an arm's reach through your window- that's the high life. Maybe you could cross off one of my life dreams, a sign that I have made it (as I divulged to you on our Eurotrip): fresh-squeezed oj every morning.