Futbol Mania

I remember the hype about the World Cup in 2010. South Africa was put on the map for many and the games flew by quickly. Ask me which team won in 2010 and I couldn’t even tell you who was playing well that year.

Four years later, my perspective on the World Cup has changed dramatically. I now have paid attention to the protests, the negativity surrounding the money spent on one month of games, and how real people’s lives are affected. At the same time, I am in Nicaragua and nearly every house has the television turned to the soccer games all day long. I give my students updates on the important games and ask who they are cheering for. I have incorporated soccer review games including making the teams compete based upon who’s playing that day. To say that Nicaraguans are into the World Cup would be an understatement.

And like so many issues today, I know that in order for people all over the world to enjoy this month a government wastes millions of dollars when it should be investing in its own people. But being in Nicaragua, I cannot help but feel the adrenaline and be excited about the games alongside my friends and host family. Three to four games a day leaves everyone waiting to see who will be eliminated. The upsets have been incredible and even non-soccer fans here have been watching at least one game a day. It is soccer mania!

In my opinion, soccer is the one sport that can unite people from all over the world. What else has the ability to connect South Korea to Iran to the Ivory Coast to Mexico? Sure, there are government agencies, there is the U.N. and NGO’s and different ties that help countries exchange many aspects of life. But this is really connecting citizens, connecting the average person of Nicaragua with a person of Italy. They have something in common when Nicaraguans are cheering for Italy only to ensure that their rival Costa Rica doesn’t win.

I think back to my time in South Africa and the story of Invictus for those of you who have seen the movie. Nelson Mandela was an incredibly wise man to use rugby to unite his country in a strategic way. Of course it did not solve all of South Africa’s problems, but served to patch up at least a few wounds. To me it seems that soccer has an even greater capacity to create change, to unite, to convert differences into commonalities. But that cannot happen with Brazilians shut out of opportunities to watch the games within their own country. How can we use this sport played on the streets of nearly every country to foster equality instead of serving only the wealthy?

There is no immediate fix that I can see, but hopefully in the future we can avoid getting caught up in the hype without critically considering the advantages and disadvantages of such events.

Standing Room Only

If you know me really well you know that I am as far from a morning person as you can get. I spend mornings groaning, still half asleep, and wishing I could crawl back into bed instead of conversing with the world. With this same attitude I dragged myself to the bus stop at 6:30am to wait for a packed bus to the city.

Just my luck, I was not able to grab a seat on the bus today at the various stops where people got off. As I realized that my ride was about to be hot, packed, and I would not be able to nap, I tried to remain positive. Packed bus rides are simply a part of Nica culture. There is the man taking the money who is trying to squeeze between people to make his way through the bus, constantly telling people to move toward the middle of the bus no matter how many sardines are packed into that space already. There is the woman sitting in the seat that you are leaning over, as you stand silently apologizing that you are taking up any free space she had and bumping your leg against hers. There’s the man next to you who is just too close and sometimes looks over at you for way too long. Not to mention that it’s hot and stuffy with two and half hours to go on your feet. That gives you a vision, but the experience is unlike any other.

And yet I stood waiting for my feet to get tired, feeling as though I might faint because of the heat, thinking that for so many Nicaraguans this is just a reality. Cars are a luxury and rarely used for long journeys. Taxis are never used for long trips either. Buses, just normal school buses packed with people, are the most frequented form of transportation. My family members have expressed that they have even been on 10 hour rides standing the entire time. This is a reflection of how we come here to experience Nica life, but we really only get a small taste of what life is like.

I have often thought that the life we try to lead living like our Nica families as Peace Corps volunteers is in vain. There is no doubt that we learn about another culture, about ourselves, and about how much we can handle. It is a test. But eventually the test is over and we get to go home. This is the reality of an entire country as big as the state I live in. This is the second poorest country in Central America after Haiti. To say I enjoy and appreciate the rich culture and my Nica family and friends is an understatement. I can live two years eating Nica food, brushing my teeth on the patio with the chickens, and sweeping the dirt on the patio. But then I go home.

What I have learned is that you can take the girl out of Minnesota, out of U.S. culture, and out of the influence of consumerist culture. But you can’t take those influences away from me. I know that there are other opportunities out there. I know that there is another way of life. That makes this lifestyle even more difficult.

But through the ups and downs of this journey, we keep learning, changing, and missing home. Even if our experience is only a snapshot of life in Nicaragua, that snapshot will help me to understand my place in this world. My feet will be sore, I will feel uncomfortable for a while, and I will keep riding the bus when there’s standing room only.