¡Sî, se puede!

Last Wednesday (August 22) some of us went to a fútbol, or soccer game. Soccer is a way bigger deal here than in the U.S., and the Ecuadorian national team played the Bolivian teams. We bought general admission tickets for $5.50 apiece and bright yellow Ecuadorian soccer jerseys from street vendors for $5.00 each. I thought we would stand out walking around the streets of Quito in neon yellow shirts, but as it got closer to game time, more and more people sported the vibrant jerseys.

The big chant here is “¡Sí se puede!” (a rough translation of “Yes, they can!”), and that chant as well as the wave were used often to cheer the team on. There were police with giant shields and each end of the field. At first we wondered why they were needed, but we found out at the end of the game when a fight broke out between the Ecuadorian and Bolivian soccer players. The game ended then, whether because of the fight or because time ran out; we’re not sure. Either way, Ecuador won, 1-0!

(The first picture is the U of I kids that went as we sat in the stadium, the second picture is us with our $5.50 tickets to the game, the third picture is of the field and police, and the fourth picture is of the stadium. I hope to figure out how to make this more readable soon!)