América- Águilas

So after we had basically run back to the hotel, we hailed the first taxi around 3:40.  I figured Ashley was stressing, but she covered it well.  Actually, about as well as I covered my stressing for arriving late to the ballet...

After almost 30 minutes in the taxi (which at one point included and absolute downpour), I asked the driver how much farther we had to go.  "Poquito."  Awesome.  I figured that meant another 20, but to my pleasant surprise, we saw this sign within 5.  We also saw a mob of cops with their body shields walking in the same direction as the fans.  That was comforting.  I wish we'd gotten a picture.  It was actually very unnerving.

As I paid the taxi driver, Ashley noticed the crowds and asked me why so many people were still outside at 4:15.  C'mon people!  The game started at 4.  

Or did it?

Was this another "Mexican time" thing (be careful saying that- apparently it offends) or had we misunderstood?

This was the line of people to get tickets.  Again, I say, "C'mon people!"  I stopped at a tent to ask where we should go for will call.  The answer was the same place as all these guys, only on the far side.  I'm terrible with visual estimates of numbers, but I'm guessing there were thousands (at least a single thousand) of people waiting in line.  I was mostly proud that there was an actual line formed in Mexico.  (Also might offend.  Maybe not.  Haven't said it to my Mexican friends yet.  Have just noticed.)  I asked a cop at the last turn before there were actual poles to make a line (think amusement park) where the will call was and he pointed to the gates where all these people would end up.  I asked him what next, just jump in line here?  (That was very brave and non-me of me.)  He looked at the guys in the line and said, "Come on, guys, they're cute."  So we had our new place in line.  And we didn't even have to bribe the cop- or the guys!

So the line only took about 10 minutes or less, and then we got to go to the window where there was no line.  Will call is not really popular in Mexico for soccer games it seems.

We grabbed our tickets, but then noticed that the game started at 5:00.  Apparently 4:00 is when the ticket booths opened or the doors or who knows what.  Regardless, we were there before kickoff.  Or whatever the first thing is for soccer.

We decided to kill a few minutes by browsing the stands.  Ashley wanted a Club América tshirt.  I assumed I would want a hat, but was in no hurry to buy anything at the time.  So I thought.  I ended up buying a ginormous flag "for my classroom."  I always have a cop out with cultural stuff.  That's the beauty of being a teacher.

Ashley ended up with a short sleeved and a long sleeved shirt.  We decided at that point not to dilly dally anymore and to find our seats.  

As we spun through at the ticket gates, they confiscated my flag pole.  I suppose it could hurt someone (put that on the back burner).  I was a little frustrated, but I suppose it wouldn't have made it back in my suitcase anyway...

Our seats were on the exact opposite side of the stadium from where we were.  This would be a great time to say that it was either the 2nd, 3rd, or 5th largest stadium in the world.  That trek around to the other side was awesome.

My Culichi friends (and all US warnings) had advised trying to fit in, not to draw attention to yourself in Mexico.  Here we were in our shorts and tennis shoes.  And now Ashley was sporting a Club América shirt while fans from the opposing team cross our paths.  Awesome.  

No harm no foul.  Thank goodness.

We get to the other side and actually have to go down into this dark tunnel and kind of underground to get to our seats.  Awesome!  We made it to the bottom and then were ushered there by some girls (who of course needed a tip).  We were about fifteen rows from the field and we seemed to be in a family section.  There were cute kids all around us with their parents.  I think we were in a great section.  Everyone seemed to be on good behavior.  There was even a couple in front of us that started smoking, and there were people all around whispering, "They shouldn't be smoking here."  That made us feel better (even if we still couldn't breathe).

Club América's mascot is the eagle.  Their fight song says, "A-mé-ri-ca!" and then there is a chant of "Á-gui-las" or if you have a horn (much like the Tecate one I sent Turner), you toot your horn three times to the rhythm of the crowd shouting águilas.  As you can see above, they had a real eagle.  
After the game (sorry to be out of order here but picture on blogger are quite the pain), we waited patiently for a clear shot with the stadium name.  Ashley is sporting one of her two new shirts.
This is us shortly after arrival.  I think the game had not started yet.  The clouds were looming and we were guessing the rain from the taxi ride would be there any minute.  The weird thing is, I never prepare for rain, but on the way back to the hotel, I thought to myself, "I'm going to get my hooded sweatshirt in case of rain."  Of course, I forgot it so it didn't matter!  At any rate, this is the pre-rain picture.

This picture is also out of order.  Into the first half, this section above, which I would call the student section if we were at a University event, got a little rowdy.  This section and another one almost directly across from where we were, somehow had flags on poles.  I wondered how they had gotten past the security but let it be.

The student section was fun to watch since the band was there and there was lots of movement.  However, at the time of this picture, it was a scary area, and I was very thankful to be around families.

We took this picture because there was a fight going on.  At one point, I could see one person basically impaling another person with the flag pole.  Why, besides alcohol, you would do that to someone supporting your own team, who knows.  It was scary though.  Kind of nauseating for me.  

I hope this picture helps you see how close we were to the field.  I was afraid without the benefit of an aerial view that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the ball.  But I did!

Always Coca Cola.  
After the rain, we took another shot.  Oddly enough, though soccer games are not my favorite event in any occasion, I have really enjoyed my three games in Mexico.  Also, Ashley and I seem to get really good pictures at soccer games.  Don't you agree?

The game ended 3-3.  We missed two of our own goals.  It was Ashley's fault.  Somehow she got distracted by one thing or another.  I'll take the blame, though.

Regardless of the outcome, fun was had by all.  Or at least by the two of us!
This was the crowd on the way out of the stadium.  We stayed in our seats a good 15 minutes after the game to let the crowd dissipate a bit.  I do not love a moving mob!  This should tell you how many people were there if we waited that long.  Actually, a security guard came over and told us we had to leave.  We obliged.
The clouds came back at the end of the game, so we had to shop quickly.  Sitting through the whole game thinking about my hat, I exited knowing which one I wanted.  That made it easy.  It was 100 pesos.  What a deal!  I love this country!

Ashley got suckered into some pens.  And then I bought a long sleeved tshirt.  I've been on the search for a long sleeved shirt from Mexico since November, so I was glad to have finally found one.

We also each bought a glass for our collection.

As it started to thunder, we grabbed a taxi and rode back the 45 minutes to an hour to our hotel.