la boca

have you heard of soccer?  it's kind of a big deal here. so we went to the match between boca juniors and independiente with a gaggle of other gringos and a guide, in order to avoid getting killed (since it was an away game) or sitting in the wrong section and getting hit with flying bags of pee or whatever. some observations:

(1) real fans keep cheering even when the other team scores a goal. the drums and chanting and hand-flapping and songs and insulting pelvic thrusts from the boca section never stopped, not even for one millisecond, and boca didn't score once.  boca's songs are hilarious, too.  some of them are generic (e.g., the song that taunts the opponents as "little children" of boca), and some are specific to the opponent.  apparently the municipality of independiente started out as a supermarket collective that seceded from buenos proper, so one of boca's favorite insults to them is "you're just a supermarket."

(2) yerba mate is to be shared cup-by-cup, not sip-by-sip.  also, one cup of mate should last about 15 minutes, or "the length of a good conversation."

(3) chicho serna is a badass.  i am informed that he is a super-famous ex-boca player from columbia; despite this mad fame, he showed up in the regular-people section and sat down (with a small entourage) in front of us, and basically every person who was physically capable of doing so went up to him, kissed him on the cheek, grasped joyfully at his shoulders, and took a picture with him.  not one person was turned away.  and he submitted cheerfully to the kissing and other manhandling.  and he sat through the rain with no jacket or umbrella or even garbage bag to keep him dry.  and he had a very muscular and well-shaped thighs-and-ass region.  (no rear-view picture available, but here he is from the front:)