Fútbol

¡Hola Amigos!
So, let me begin by saying what happened last Friday (2/16) really scared me and it took me a while to post because I needed time to make sense of what happened. You may read this and think what happened doesn’t sound that bad, but trust me, if you had experienced what I did first hand in the context of current events in El Salvador you would be a little shaken up too.

Last Friday night I didn’t have much work and was looking for something fun to do. The bacarios told us that El Salvador had a good fútbol team this year and were playing Coasta Rica in the semi-finals of the Latin American version of the World Cup. Fútbol is really big here and we all thought it would be fun to go to the game. We did our research on tickets and transportation and decided to leave at 5:30 after class. So I walk to the bus stop all decked out in blue (El Salvador’s color) with pretty much all the Casa students. We were advised to split into smaller groups so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Figuring the game would be rowdy, I left my backpack in my room and brought only a small money belt bag (the kind they sell specifically for travelers to keep their money safe). When the bus stopped, I got on with Jennifer, Chris, and Ryan C. We were supposed to also meet up with a guy from San Ramon (Chris’ praxis site) at the game. We got on a fairly empty bus and sat down together. As we got closer to the stadium the bus started to get really crowded. We saw our stop coming up so we all stood up and gathered by the back door. As I stood up a lady pushed forward and bumped into me. I thought she wanted my seat so I pushed out of the way and did a bag check at the same time. That’s when I noticed it. I had been robbed! My side zipper was undone and $20 was gone. As I’m realizing what just happened, Chris yells that we just passed our stop. The bus wasn’t stopping at the stops and people were jumping out so we did the same thing. We held on to each other and jumped out of the moving bus. On the ground, a little shaken up by the jump, we step back on the sidewalk and I announce that I’ve been robbed and I discover that my camera was stolen too. Everyone checks themselves and Ryan finds that he’s been robbed too and he just happened to be holding onto Chris’ money. Everything happened so fast. In shock, we stay close together and enter the stadium parking lot. It was like a circus. It was dark and people were yelling, pushing, shoving, and trying to sell things to us. Scared out of our minds we huddle together behind some cars and Chris calls his friend to let him know where we are. When Chris’ friend shows up he tells us we should try for the $9 tickets, but only Jen has money left meaning we have $13 between the four of us. We buy $3 tickets and push our way to the gate. The way the gates work are people just run through and sit wherever. Once the section is full, the door is shut and another gate opens. Riot police were everywhere because things were so out of control. Once we finally got inside the stadium I was relieved to be inside, but then we were bombarded with water and beer and people kept hitting us as we walked to our seats. I was soaking wet and had no idea why and people were yelling curse words at us. I thought it was because we were white, but turns out it was because we didn’t have a Salvador jersey on. That fact that we were white didn’t help either. Luckily we were wearing blue. Some guy walked in with a red shirt and it was ripped off his body and thrown on the field. I was so glad I was with three guys because the stadium was 98% male and with all the machismo Jen and I would have had some serious problems. Once we finally sat down a riot broke out and we were forced into another section of the stadium. When the game started people kept throwing stuff on the field and the Coasta Rican goalie was hit twice with water bottles. The riot police were just there to scare people from acting out, but really they had no authority. The whole atmosphere was so violent. By the end of the game we were getting pee thrown on us and decided to leave. El Salvador lost 2-0 and we were afraid of what might happen after the game. Later I heard that bombs are often set off in the stadium. I had no idea how dangerous fútbol games were. We took a cab back to the casa and we had to run inside to find money to pay the driver since we didn’t have anything left.

The whole experience was so traumatizing for me. I’ve never had so much violence directed towards me before. I talked to the directors about it and yes games are usually rowdy, but I just had an unusual experience. I guess if we had bought the $9 tickets we would have been in a calmer section. After talking to people and reflecting on what happened, I think I got a first hand look at machismo and the violence that exists in El Salvador. I’m now in a better position to understand the reality of the Salvadorians because I’ve experienced what they go through on a daily basis. Yes I was very scared and it was a horrible experience, but I also feel like it was a learning experience. So I guess it goes without saying that any pictures from here on out are not my own since I no longer have a camera.

Paz,
Stephanie