Liga Campión!

1:00 AM (The wee hours of July 3)
Dios Mio! I just got into bed after a night of...oh, where to start? Well, I suppose I could start by saying that my arrival in a foreign city seems to be accompanied by historical futbol finals. My streak began with Paris and has now continued, as Quito's team, Liga, competed in the Latin American Cup finals tonight for the first time in history.

I watched the game with my host uncle, JuanCarols, on the top floor of a smoky discotec. The game went into double overtime and then proceeded to penalty shots. By this time, gaggles of half-naked boys were clinging to each other with suspense--beer bottles were breaking everywhere--people were standing and screaming on all available furniture--and then...Liga Won! Fountains of beer spewed into my eyes from all directions--people pounded joyously on my back and leapt me into a frenzied sort of victory mosh. As it turned out, this was nothing compared with what was to follow. Streets jammed so tightly we couldn't move, people bathing themselves with bottle after bottle of beer, running their hands through each others' alcohol-drenched hair. We (the mass) made our way to an open cobblestone area where a huge screen had been set up. About fifty people piled on the stage in front of the screen, screaming, dancing, waving their shirts above their heads, climbing lamp posts. Even the police were jumping up and down giddily. Then, the next hour consisted of this sort of car-horn ritual in which every car in the whole city honked out the rhythm: long-long-short-short-long, short-short-short-long-short long. (I can still hear it as I'm writing from my bed in a much removed area). Many of the cars were laden with 20 people on the roofs, chanting in a sort of glory orgy.

favorite chant:
YO TE DARÉ, TE DARÉ UNA COSA, TE DARÉ UNA COSA
UNA COSA QUE EMPIEZA CON L-CON I-CON G-CON A:
LIGA CAMPIÓN!
YO TE DARÉ, TE DARÉ UNA COSA, TE DARÉ UNA COSA
UNA COSA QUE EMPIEZA CON C--CAMPIÓN!