Fútbol

This past Friday night, Peruvians young and old clustered around their TVs to watch the big game: Peru vs. Uruguay in a World Cup-qualifier match. I was told by multiple people that "this was it:" if Peru didn't win tonight, we were pretty much out of the running for the 2014 Copa Mundial. Peruvians have been telling me this since I arrived here 15 months ago, and despite the fact that we've lost at least 50% of those "must-win" games, they're still keeping the hope alive, clinging to the 0-point-something percent chance that Peru could still make it.

Soccer is a big deal here, as in every other country in Latin America (and most of the world) - far and away the #1 national sport. If you walk around my town (or any other town for that matter) during a national team game, the streets are empty and strangely quiet - that is, until something of consequence happens in the game. Then you'll hear shouts, whistles, swearing, cheers, and/or "gooooooool" coming from every window. More so than any sports fans I've seen in the States, Peruvians act like they're in the actual stadium even when they're watching on a 10-inch blurry-screened TV from miles away: they get seriously into it.

I recently acquired my very own Peru soccer jersey, and was pumped to finally get to wear it when we went to watch Friday's game at a local bar. Although the shirt didn't seem to bring Peru any luck (we lost 1-2), it did have its benefits: about halfway through the game, the bartender came over and gave me a free pitcher of pisco sour! He said, "this is for wearing our team's jersey - thank you!" Sometimes it pays to be a gringa :)