Words of the Day:
fanschop- Another surprisingly good "Let's mix something weird in beer" combination: beer + fanta
choripan- chorizo (sausage) +pan (bread)= choripan
hinchas-fans
Albos- fans of Colo-Colo, a very popular soccer team (in both senses of the word popular)
asado- barbecue. Which means bread and meat. Vegetables do not exist in Chilean barbecues.
Mete la pata- stick your foot on it! Get in there! Trip her up!
Dále, dále, dále!- Go, go, go!
Sacálo!- Get it out of there!
good sportsmanship- according to word reference, it's buena deportividad. In practice though, there is no definition.
So this weekend may have been the most un-vegetarian thing to ever happen to me. Not that I regret it especially.
On Saturday, we had a game for the soccer team, which was a lot of fun. We lost, but only by 1 and it was a really tight game. Then, afterwords, we had an asado! It was great to get to chill with everyone because they are all really sweet and really cool.
Today, Sunday, a large majority of the gringo pack went to a fútbol game of Colo Colo vs. U. Cátolica. (The third major Chilean team is U. Chile) It was quite the adventure.
We had another asado first with some friends from the School of Engineering, fans of Colo-Colo. It was unbelievably delicious: I could eat choripan every day and never get tired of it. The stadium was actually fairly orderly, although there was a heavy police presence (in riot gear no less) and no alcohol was sold inside. The fans were rowdy though. There's practically a sub-genre of books talking about the links between Soccer and Globalization and one I read recently talked about how soccer fan violence and rivalries are a pretty good example of how important a force tribalism still is to modern societies, a thesis that seems pretty well supported in South American soccer.
There were streamers, balloons, pep bands, probably completely illegal and dangerous fireworks, jumping, dancing, and singing, of the literally dozens of team songs. And plenty of foul language. The opposing teams, their own players and frequently, everyone's mothers, were treated to a heavy barage of insults. More of that than actually "constructive" type cheering like you usually hear at sports events in the US. It was cool to see all the different types of people who were there: wealthy, middle class, not so wealthy, teens, kids (questionable parenting?), the occasional grandma. Mostly men, but far from exclusively. And the U Catolica fans were in their own section, heavily guarded by the police. Although I really had no personal investment in Colo-Colo, it was one of the most fun and intriguing sporting events I've ever been too.
Here's the easiest Colo- Colo chant:
CHI-CHI-CHI- LE-LE-LE...Colo Colo de Chile!
Showing posts with label fútbol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fútbol. Show all posts
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
September 28: Sarna con gusto
Words of the Day:
Sarna con gusto no pica- A very idiomatic expression that is hard to render in English. Literally: "If you like scabies, it won't itch". Figuratively: Something that's hard/bad can be worth it to you, if you choose it freely. i.e. exercise
Learned this one from the host mom today after soccer.
fané- (Argentine- another one from the host mom) totally exhausted, broken, disheveled, done for (I think this was the word, can't find a reference to it anywhere)
agotado/a- exhausted (literally: all dropped out, like drops of water from a bucket)
cansador/a- tiring or exhausting
So after all my whining about lack of homework yesterday, I finally got assigned some readings for law class! Well, more specifically, supplementary readings for a supplementary portion of the class, but still an improvement! Between looking at some other supplementary articles and reading some interesting articles about Lula and heroin trafficking that I found on the Economist website I'm keeping busy. (I'm guessing The Economist is probably not Chilean student approved reading material, o well) I've also discovered that I can watch soap operas online and am currently indulging in "Primera Dama" (First Lady). It's a new series and in my opinion, falls short of the advertising hype. Can't believe I just tried to critique a soap opera. Enough with that, hope that at least the language practice makes up for the lost brain cells.
As might be surmised from today's word choices, I am feeling a bit tired. The good kind of tired, thanks to a challenging fútbol practice. Not to mention over 2 hours of walking ( I took a stupidly long route to school this morning) and salsa. I really like our coach, he's very laid back and has the amusing habit of making challenging exercises sound fun and easy. For example, today he told us to do 3 sets of 15 star jumps like it was a great time and not at all difficult. He's also very vague which amuses me because I will understand the words he is using, ie "behind" but he will use them to mean "Do the stretch where you put one leg behind you and reach for your toes on the other." We got to practice shooting a whole lot today which was good because I'm horrible at it and it was just nice to handle the ball a bit. I'm so glad I ended up having time for this: I really really enjoy playing. For all the things I'm missing academically, I do feel like a more holistic person this semester. I"m less overweight, less stressed/underslept and more able to explore what I want freely. And in the long run, those might be the most important things after all.
Sarna con gusto no pica- A very idiomatic expression that is hard to render in English. Literally: "If you like scabies, it won't itch". Figuratively: Something that's hard/bad can be worth it to you, if you choose it freely. i.e. exercise
Learned this one from the host mom today after soccer.
fané- (Argentine- another one from the host mom) totally exhausted, broken, disheveled, done for (I think this was the word, can't find a reference to it anywhere)
agotado/a- exhausted (literally: all dropped out, like drops of water from a bucket)
cansador/a- tiring or exhausting
So after all my whining about lack of homework yesterday, I finally got assigned some readings for law class! Well, more specifically, supplementary readings for a supplementary portion of the class, but still an improvement! Between looking at some other supplementary articles and reading some interesting articles about Lula and heroin trafficking that I found on the Economist website I'm keeping busy. (I'm guessing The Economist is probably not Chilean student approved reading material, o well) I've also discovered that I can watch soap operas online and am currently indulging in "Primera Dama" (First Lady). It's a new series and in my opinion, falls short of the advertising hype. Can't believe I just tried to critique a soap opera. Enough with that, hope that at least the language practice makes up for the lost brain cells.
As might be surmised from today's word choices, I am feeling a bit tired. The good kind of tired, thanks to a challenging fútbol practice. Not to mention over 2 hours of walking ( I took a stupidly long route to school this morning) and salsa. I really like our coach, he's very laid back and has the amusing habit of making challenging exercises sound fun and easy. For example, today he told us to do 3 sets of 15 star jumps like it was a great time and not at all difficult. He's also very vague which amuses me because I will understand the words he is using, ie "behind" but he will use them to mean "Do the stretch where you put one leg behind you and reach for your toes on the other." We got to practice shooting a whole lot today which was good because I'm horrible at it and it was just nice to handle the ball a bit. I'm so glad I ended up having time for this: I really really enjoy playing. For all the things I'm missing academically, I do feel like a more holistic person this semester. I"m less overweight, less stressed/underslept and more able to explore what I want freely. And in the long run, those might be the most important things after all.
Monday, August 30, 2010
August 30: Exercise.
Words of the Day:
arquero= Goalie
volante= defense
delantero= forward (position)
So good news: I've lost at least 5 pounds since I've been in Chile! Not entirely sure how this happened, since I feel like I've consumed more hotdogs, hamburgers and ice cream in the last month and half than in any other time in my life...But as my Food Nutrition and Culture professor loved to point out last year, humans can make a diet of pretty much anything and be fine.
In general though, I credit all the exercise I've been getting, intentionally and unintentionally. All my attempts to lose weight in the past that have relied on eating less have failed because I like food too much, so this is pretty much my only option. I'm not sure that inhaling smog is particularly good, but I'm hoping that the effects of being overweight are worse...
I've started running again, which has really been wonderful. I'd kind of fallen off from running much towards the end of last semester and I forgot how much I enjoyed it and how spiritual of an activity it is for me. Mostly though, all the walking I've been doing has been great and I don't mind it because if I vary my routes, I always get to see something different. At a minimum I have to walk for about 30 minutes a day to get to the subway to go to class, but since I hate the metro, I usually walk an extra 10 minutes so that I can ride the bus, where I can usually get a seat and listen to the performers who come on the bus to play guitar or sing, etc. Economic anthropologists would have a blast trying to figure me out: I am very stingy with money, but only when it comes to certain things. While I don't mind shelling out plenty of money to go on trips or sit in a café with a cup of coffee, I prefer to keep my transportation expenses to about $2 a day, or 2 metro/bus rides. This means that I often walk an extra hour to get between the Law School and the Public Affairs school and then 45 minutes to the Economics/Business School. It's a lot of effort to save a dollar or two, but it takes me through the entire center of the Santiago Centro, so I feel like I'm in on all the action. Add in an side of salsa, the occasional trip up San Cristobal or Santa Lucia and 4 hours of dancing on Friday or Saturday and there you go.
Recently too, I joined a soccer team! I forgot how much I liked soccer- I hadn't played since freshman year when I quit to run. It's very relaxed, practice 3 times a week, but make whatever you can. Funnily enough, the first practice I went to, we had a scrimmage. I ended up in goal, which was certainly interesting since I hadn't really tended goal since 8th or 9th grade, with the exception of one pickup game while we were in Santa Anita, Guatemala. Soccer's been a really great way to meet people and practice Spanish, because it's basically forced interaction- I have to be able to communicate in an informal way if I want to contribute anything to the game. Luckily, none of the other girls are particularly good either: many of them only started playing since they've been at University. I think it's going to be a really positive experience.
arquero= Goalie
volante= defense
delantero= forward (position)
So good news: I've lost at least 5 pounds since I've been in Chile! Not entirely sure how this happened, since I feel like I've consumed more hotdogs, hamburgers and ice cream in the last month and half than in any other time in my life...But as my Food Nutrition and Culture professor loved to point out last year, humans can make a diet of pretty much anything and be fine.
In general though, I credit all the exercise I've been getting, intentionally and unintentionally. All my attempts to lose weight in the past that have relied on eating less have failed because I like food too much, so this is pretty much my only option. I'm not sure that inhaling smog is particularly good, but I'm hoping that the effects of being overweight are worse...
I've started running again, which has really been wonderful. I'd kind of fallen off from running much towards the end of last semester and I forgot how much I enjoyed it and how spiritual of an activity it is for me. Mostly though, all the walking I've been doing has been great and I don't mind it because if I vary my routes, I always get to see something different. At a minimum I have to walk for about 30 minutes a day to get to the subway to go to class, but since I hate the metro, I usually walk an extra 10 minutes so that I can ride the bus, where I can usually get a seat and listen to the performers who come on the bus to play guitar or sing, etc. Economic anthropologists would have a blast trying to figure me out: I am very stingy with money, but only when it comes to certain things. While I don't mind shelling out plenty of money to go on trips or sit in a café with a cup of coffee, I prefer to keep my transportation expenses to about $2 a day, or 2 metro/bus rides. This means that I often walk an extra hour to get between the Law School and the Public Affairs school and then 45 minutes to the Economics/Business School. It's a lot of effort to save a dollar or two, but it takes me through the entire center of the Santiago Centro, so I feel like I'm in on all the action. Add in an side of salsa, the occasional trip up San Cristobal or Santa Lucia and 4 hours of dancing on Friday or Saturday and there you go.
Recently too, I joined a soccer team! I forgot how much I liked soccer- I hadn't played since freshman year when I quit to run. It's very relaxed, practice 3 times a week, but make whatever you can. Funnily enough, the first practice I went to, we had a scrimmage. I ended up in goal, which was certainly interesting since I hadn't really tended goal since 8th or 9th grade, with the exception of one pickup game while we were in Santa Anita, Guatemala. Soccer's been a really great way to meet people and practice Spanish, because it's basically forced interaction- I have to be able to communicate in an informal way if I want to contribute anything to the game. Luckily, none of the other girls are particularly good either: many of them only started playing since they've been at University. I think it's going to be a really positive experience.
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