March 7th 2009 - Football

I woke feeling surprisingly fresh - especially after removing the tashe! The morning passed without much happening - just journal writing and relaxing - before we headed back into Tena after lunch. I really liked Tena in the daylight and enjoyed just wandering around enjoying the airy and light feel to the town. After a couple of ice creams and finding out some details for the Galapagos (eeeeek!) we headed back to the hostel. On the way to town this morning we had seen a football stadium building prepared for something and so me and some of the Danes went to see what was happening.

It turned out to be the opening of the stadium (or to be more precise 'stand') instead so we spent an hour sitting through speeches by different local people we couldn't understand with some local players standing patiently before the stand. We tried to act interested and it was nice to see the children all looking so happy at the development here. The captain of one of the girls teams sent a kid over to ask where I'm from and my name before giving me a lovely smile - although I didn't respond. Why? Well Chloe obviously. And because Mia had already called dibs before we realised she was a girl!

Josefine and Mia stayed with me for a bit after the others had left and just as we were leaving we discovered from some of the rest of the group of a place nearby which did lovely hot cross but and cheese like cakes. On our way back from getting ourselves one (of course we had gone to get one!) we noticed that a game had finally got under way so I stayed to watch the match as Mia and Josefine went back to the hostel.

I took my seat and got ready for what turned out to be two and a half hours of pure footballing joy. First a women's game which lasted about an hour and finished 1-0 to the smiling girls team. The skill was sadly lacking in this game with only 4 or 5 of the girls actually trying to control the ball and the rest randomly booting it down the pitch. But it was just nice to watch some live football.

Afterwards was a veterans game - with a couple of ringers on each team. This was football in its purest form; free from any commercial gains, free from any egos, just for the fun. Why the game was created in the first place. Children and dogs causally strolled onto the pitch and no one battered an eyelid. The game finished 5-2 and for the fourth a defender fell over allowing the winger to cross for a goal. The winger simply turned helped the guy up and they laughed. The only people seemingly taking the game seriously were the officials.

It was an immense afternoon, sitting in the shade as the afternoon wore on but with the heat seeming everlasting. After receiving a thumbs up from some of the players for actually staying for the whole time, I headed back with my football craving satisfied. Tea was delicious, a fish freshly caught from the local river cooked in a leaf which tasted sublime. We then played some werewolf and asshole before heading to bed.