Fútbol, McDonalds, y más

Note: Semana Santa blog will come; it's a bit larger, so it's still under construction. In the meantime, enjoy the summary of my other shinnanigans I've been getting myself into.

Fútbol. Spain is crazy about it. Heck, most of Europe and the world is crazy about it. Us Americans just haven't really caught the bug yet (who needs soccer when you have big men hitting each other on a heavily commercialized and over-priced American football match?). Spain has more than two dozen teams, sorted into various divisions, but the two important ones are the first division and the second division. Granada is in the first division...barely. This year, and more importantly this game, they were fighting to retain their first division rights, which allows them to play with the big dogs, such as Barcelona and Madrid. The game we went to was against Raya (Real/Royal) Vallecano from southeast Madrid (Madrid is like the New York in terms of sports; they have a lot of them to varying levels of success, and also receive varying amounts of money ranging from absurd (Real Madrid) to a funding equivalent to a high school soccer team.

Alright, so it wasn't quite like this. Still, it gets pretty intense.
Source: Alberto Di Lolli / AP 

We arrived a little late due to bus mix-ups and the simple fact there was a larping convention next door. No, seriously; an anime/larping convention. Who said Spaniards can't nerd it out either?! Once we arrived and were oh-so-politely informed that tickets were 10 euro higher than expected, we got our tickets and rushed in. Inside, after being harassed by some drunk Spaniards trying to hit on our female friends (I was told I had "mucho suerte" (very good luck) by drunkard numero uno for having all of these attractive females by me.) and asking the staff to find our seats, we were told that our seats were already occupied by some others and that the police couldn't/wouldn't go down and forcibly remove them. You know Spaniards take soccer seriously when they have police dedicated to ejecting people sitting in the wrong seats.

After mumbling and grumbling, we ran into some fellow Americans from New York who had the same problem. We managed to snag some upper balcony seats, which admittedly weren't that bad given the stadium's size, and began watching the show that is a Spanish soccer game.

I mean, it ain't no Lambeau, but it'll do.

To put it lightly, Granada sucked. I was shocked, because not even two weeks ago, this small town team had shocked Spain and beat Barcelona, one of the biggest, most popular, and most well-funded teams there is in professional soccer. Here, they couldn't beat a pretty equal team from Madrid. They lost 3-0, and now they'll be in division two next year. *sighs* It's like Packer football; heartbreak when it should be easy, champions when there's usually no hope.

We left and went to the neighboring McDonalds and let me tell you, American McDonalds have some catching up to do. I could order and pay for my entire order at a kiosk right when I entered, and the food arrived relatively fast. It actually looked like a classy restaurant! We took the bus back after a meal of greasy indulgence, and that was the day.

Or so I thought. The day never ends here in Spain.

In Valencia there is a world famous festival called Las Fallas in which the locals construct massive sculptures of politicians, documents, and other important figures that they believe are the cause of problems in Spanish society. Then, after days of partying, they burn them.

Because you know what's more terrifying than clowns? Ones on fire apparently chasing you. Good job, Valencia. Nightmares for weeks.

I know, every pyromaniacs dream; legally burning a really big object in the middle of a city filled with millions of drunk partiers. What could possibly go wrong? Anyways, turns out they brought a mini version of it here in Granada, and it looks like they are going to burn it tonight (the 27th of April)! I'll have to go and satisfy my secret pyro desires.
In Spain, I've learned that even though they are a modern, first world developed country with a progressive outlook on life (Spain was recently voted the most gay-friendly country in the world), they have some ancient traditions that just make you question their sanity (bull fighting and bull runs, buddy horse racing, and tomato fights). The best thing you can do is simply participate and enjoy, because they are some of the most fun times you'll ever have, and can't be replicated anywhere, no matter how hard American might try. That's a part of experiencing the culture, and it should be relished and affect how you see these other cultures, no matter how different/similar they may appear.

Semana Santa blog is in progress, I swear. Stay tuned!

Jacob