Estadio Olimpico

This morning I was woken up by my little sister at my door saying "Bea....Bea?" She just turned one this summer and so she is learning how to talk. She only knows 5 or 10 words, but one of them is my name!!

I decided to do my internship in Quisapincha, the cooperative I wrote about earlier. I am really excited and nervous too. These next couple weeks I will be doing some research and working with my microfinance professor to prepare myself for the internship. I move there in 3 weeks. My host mom here is really sad that I'm leaving. All the students come back to Quito to celebrate Thanksgiving together so she is looking forward to that and also insists that we celebrate my birthday in Quito too.

Friday night a bunch of my friends came over to my house to have an American potluck. We were all missing American food so much, so everyone made a dish and brought it over to eat. We had burritos, chicken caesar wraps, Snickers, pita and hummus, pizza, Scotcheroos and lots of other good stuff. It was a really fun night.

Saturday morning we went to the Estadio Olimpico to buy tickets for the Ecuador vs. Uruguay soccer game. Whoever won this game advances to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. We ended up finding some tickets for $30. The game started at 5:00 but we were in the stadium by 1:00 in order to get good seats. We had a good time waiting for the game to start, even though it was hot! We played cards and made some new friends.

The first goal that Ecuador scored was SO exciting, the whole stadium went crazy. Right before the goal, a drunk man jumped onto the fence that separates the field from the stands. When we scored, he started yelling and shaking the fence and he ended up falling. The fence caught him by the pant leg and so he was hanging upside down. But within seconds, he fell again and this time he fell all the way to the cement floor, face down. Between the fans' seats and the fence is a space about 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep. This is supposed to prevent fans from jumping onto the fence. But this man did it anyway. So after he fell about 25 or 30 feet, of course he didn't move. Two other Ecuadorian fans jumped down in order to help him and began giving him CPR.

I was worried that coming to Ecuador would make me have a more negative attitude toward the United States, but here is an example of why that hasn't happened. The Ecuadorian Red Cross took at least 10 minutes to get down there and begin helping the man. They did not have a plan put in place for situations like this and they were not prepared. Thanks to God, I saw the man move his arm so I know he didn't die on the scene. But it took entirely too long for him to get help. Also, the 2 fans that went down to help him flipped the man from his stomach to his back in order to give him CPR. This may have done damage, and if the Red Cross responded in time they could have taken care of him as they were trained.

A similar situation happened about a month ago. For some reason, a young European girl was shot here in Ecuador. She was taken to the hospital but did not receive treatment in time because they couldn't find her insurance or cash. So they delayed her treatment and she ended up dying--only because of money. I can't say for sure, but I just don't think things like this happen often in the U.S. These things made me appreciate all the regulations and trainings that are required back home.

While we were watching the fallen man get CPR, Uruguay scored! It was tied 1 to 1 and with a few minutes left, Ecuador got a penalty and Uruguay got to kick...and of course scored. So they advance to the World Cup. Ecuador has to win and also have really good luck in order to make it.

Another thing that bothered me--after the game a lot of the fans were REALLY mad. And when the team left the field the fans started yelling and cussing at them, flipping them off as if the players didn't do the best they could. I realize that soccer here is a HUGE deal, but the way that some of the fans reacted was really overboard and disrespectful. They threw plastic and glass bottles down on the press and at the players and also at other fans. It was too extreme for me and also dangerous! I thought it was going to be a really good night, but unfortunately with everything that happened it was kind of disappointing.

Ecuador definitely is still developing and sometimes it's hard to see and understand some of the stuff that happens here. But my spirits are still high and of course I'm still really happy to be in Ecuador!