Last night we went to a soccer game. No--it wasn't JUST a game; it was the semifinals. Our whole group bought tickets for $8 each, then trooped over to the stadium in the smallest bus I've ever seen. We had to sit in each other's laps. It was hilarious :)
The game was a ton of fun--it's been a long time since I've watched a sports game willingly, and an even longer time since I've watched someone else play soccer, not just my team from the bench. We got frisked before we walked in because we were forbidden from bringing coins in to the stadium for fear we'd throw them at players. When we got inside, though, vendors were selling chips and drinks for 300 colonnes, so if you paid with the smallest bill you had---1000--you got at least 700 colonnes in change....which was then thrown onto the field. Smart people.
The ticos behind us spent the whole time yelling things like "Puta negra!" (black bitch) and "Come mierda!" (eat shit). Two men were arrested. Four people left on stretchers. It was a great time :)
A couple days ago I bought batteries (I told you guys about them--the void-of-power ones) and yesterday I decided to return them to the store (named El Amigo Merveilloso--the marvelous friend) where I bought them for less than $.50. I didn't know the return policy, so I just walked in with them in hand and said, "These don't work. Money please?" The woman looked at me incredulously, then kept doing what she was doing for a good 5 minutes. Seeing that I wasn't going away, she "humph"ed audibly, then snatched the batteries and handed them to a young guy employee, who stuffed them in this lightbulb contraption they use to test batteries. Nothing happened. I think it's hilarious that they probably had so many batteries not work that they had to get a contraption to test them. She opened the cash register and gave me my 325 colonnes ultra-grudgingly, then I went on my merry way. Had I been able to bring coins into the stadium, I would have bought a drink and thought of that frumpy sourpuss Amiga Merveillosa.
In class my professor asked us to say things we'd never done using the preterito perfecto sense, which basically says, "This has never happened and is not happening now, but there's a possibility that it will happen in the future." I said I'd never given money to a homeless person. It's basically true--I've given them food, and I've given money to the legless ones, but I consider them veterans...but I'd run out of "I've never been an only child" and "I've never lived in Antarctica." Anyway, Professora told me that, when you park on the side of the road, if there is a homeless person there wearing an orange reflective vest, you are required to give him money. Well, you're not required, but it's in your best interest--he's known as the Watchman, and he's in cahoots with the gangs who steal cars, so if you give him money, he'll protect your car. If you don't pay him, he'll smile and say, "Gracias," but when you come back out from work, you will not have a car.
My host mum watches this really interesting recurring documentary thing called "Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso"--Without Breasts, There Is No Paradise. Last night's installment was about a young woman who wanted to go to college, but none of the administrators would give her the time of day because she was--not homely, but not necessarily well-endowed. She had plastic surgery, breast enchancement, and it closed doors all around her because now, everyone in the college administration thinks she's a prostitute. Pretty sad, and, incredibly, true.
Today we have our first exam. It's going to be oral, and basically what B and I are doing is presenting our research for our final project on Argentina. Speaking of which--I need to do that research :l Hasta mañana!
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