Boliviar vs. Wilstermann

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Futbol…a religion for most South Americans, and there is no exception to Bolivians. It was cute the way my family’s face lit up when I said I liked soccer and even played. I definitiely had to specify my skills were limited to secondary school. Nonetheless, it has been fun talking about which teams are in the world cup, who we like, etc. So it was pretty much a given I needed to see a soccer game while here. My host Dad is a die-hard Wilstermann fan which is a small club team from where he grew up. He was so excited to tell us about the big game on Sunday-his team vs. the La Paz club team. “Much like suicide for other teams” he explained, all games played in La Paz are extremely difficult for the other team, but he was convinced Wilstermann would represent. I had not heard of either of these teams, but was definitely up for an afternoon of soccer!
The group met at the plaza and was planning to take “trufis” to the stadium which is on the north end of town. WELL, this is quite a cultural difference. These lil trufis are like minivans CRAMMED with people and work much like a taxi. There is one person who literally hangs out the window and yells the stops that particular trufi makes (I learned that this same person collects your money) To any foreigner this concept would be quite intimidating. They stop for a millisecond, swing the sliding door open, and a crowd of people try to board and exit the one door at the same time. It was kind of funny as each of us gave it a shot. Unsuccessful, but given we are newbies, hopefully we will gain some confidence and conquer the minibus someday.
What we did next…was unthinkable. You guessed it, we split up and took no-brand taxis across town. Each of us were warned to NEVER take a no-company taxi (which is a car, with a piece of paper in the windshield that says “taxi”) I have even seen them spelled wrong…. If that indicates how sketchy they are.
It was our only option. Remembering a hint in my travel book (or common sense to any avid traveler haha) I first made sure we had a price ironed out with the driver before we even got in. Looking back, I think this man got us to the stadium in about 1/2 the time a minibus would have….with only 16 near-accidents!
Outside the stadium, the chaos was expected. We all bought the legit Puma jerseys for about 25 Bs. Which is about $3 or $4 USD. BOO YA.
Got our tickets for about the same price and entered the Estadium Hernando Siles. I am guessing for South America, it was a pretty nice stadium and as with any sports team-the extreme fans were SOO fun to watch. We were LUCKY enough to sit next to what appeared to be the student section complete with a pep band! (Yes that included a base drum!!!) I am NOT exagerating when I say-the band and the cheers did not stop for even a second! I thought they would have ran out of breath…but that was just me.
Well host Dad was right-Wilstermann put up one within the first 10 min from 40 yards out and the rest of the game, Boliviar through their lack of accuracy or inability to successfully pass was never able to tie it up. Impressive match-up nonetheless.
A definite highlight would be a stray dog running throughout the field (DURING the game) like it was his backyard. As the ref approached the dog and waved the flag at it, el perro just ran more into the play of the game. I think he thought the players were playing with him.
Quite the sight.

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Photos

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Estadio Hernando Siles

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stray dog!

Group 1 picturas 106
yes, I HAVE made friends! :)

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We joked the mascot was a stray dog...

Group 1 picturas 128
SOOOOOOO dramatic.

Comments

[deleted_119551]

Trip a success!
I don't know what more you'll really have to look forward to after already experiencing the best part of any country! Futbol!