Glorification of Soccer and Italian Cuisine (5/16)

On Sunday, I woke up early to go shopping before the soccer game. In Viña, I realized that not a single shop was open. After walking around, I assumed they were closed because of the game. This implied how important soccer was to the community and Chileans. People who were on the streets were wearing jerseys of the team (including one I had bought when we visited the rock that oversaw the Pacific Ocean). I talked to a few of them, asking where good places to watch the game were. I felt a sense of belonging, because the Chileans were open to communicate with me and willing to share the experience. Again, this broke down the cultural barrier.

For lunch, we went to a Mexican restaurant near our hotel and the waiter said we could not order any Mexican food (Chile was playing against Mexico in the soccer game). The game was exciting and reminded me of watching a game of the World Cup, as I do every four years. However, I do not feel that we obtained the full experience, because we did not watch the game with Chileans. Soccer is an instrumental part of the culture; essentially every game mirrors the Super Bowl in relevance from what I can gather. Better yet, I wish we could have actually gone to the game, but that may have been too much to ask for.

For dinner, we ate at an Italian restaurant as a group. There were not too many choices that had Chilean influence, but the food still met expectations. I had a very Italian-influenced dish (gnocchi), but it tasted like a home-cooked meal would, possibly straight out of Italy (I have not traveled there yet, but I will say it is similar for now). We decided not to go out tonight, because we have an early company visit tomorrow (which I am fine with, because I want to be attentive since it is my company).