Midterm week ends at blogger’s first fútbol game

Valencia, Spain – Midterms finally ended Thursday and I don’t think I’ve been more drained from an exam week. Maybe it’s the steep decline in caffeine. I have a cup of coffee each morning and the occasional café con leche in the afternoon, but that’s nowhere near the daily four-cup pot I became accustomed to last semester.

It could be the lack of caffeine, but I’m going to blame it on the Spanish. It’s still draining to speak second language all the time, but I can tell I’m improving. I can understand everything in class and most conversations, but not the sports announcer at Valencia’s fútbol stadium. Though I don’t think anyone can understand them over the cheering, or sighing, or the pockets of fans with various marching band instruments that only heightened excitement at my first professional soccer game.

I should mention I’ve never really been a sports fan. Freshman year I had MSU football season tickets, but four hours in the sun/rain/snow/sleet isn’t exactly my cup of tea. And I rowed in high school — that doesn’t exactly count as a spectator sport. However, after a long day of three back-to-back Spanish classes, I thought cheering for my temporary home’s team sounded like thperfect way to wind down.

The length was the first thing I realized about fútbol — the games are 90 minutes long and aside from a brief intermission, they generally run by the clock. So arriving a half-hour late was my first mistake. My friend and I scrambled up around the stadium and eventually found our seats by half time. Not many people attended the game, but if you could only hear the crowd and not see it, you would’ve expected many more fans.

This particular game marked Valencia’s last chance at moving up in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup and let’s just say the 2-2 finish didn’t end well for diehard Valencia fans. Valencia won’t be moving on and I won’t be discussing this with my two host brothers.

Despite my lack of knowledge or somewhat indifference to sports, I got into it. I stood up, cheered and yelled “goooooooool” when Valencia scored. I sighed when other team scored and I even yelled at some undeserving yellow cards.

So who knows, maybe I’ll make it to another game before my semester’s up. But now, it’s off to fast-paced Madrid and the Roman aqueducts of Segovia for the weekend and I’m not even sure if we have a hostel booked yet. But hey, it’s Spain, tranquila.