Sunday, September 12, 2010

Fight Songs and Social Gaffes


Last Sunday I was given the chance to attend the local soccer team's game. Los Cármenes are ranked fourth in the Second Division. Translation: they're not that great, but they're also not the worst. I had heard that they did not have many fans, but there were about 15,000 people at the stadium and about 12,000 of them knew some pretty awesome fight songs. I wound up telling my host sister and her boyfriend that sometimes the fans were more exciting than the game itself. I could even spot the "student" cheering section thanks to the flags and rude chants.
I'm going to start this next section by saying that in Spain it is customary to greet someone with two air kisses to the cheek, starting on the left. Now I'm going to tell you that it is not typically my first reaction to air kiss my sister's boyfriend. Having said this, I met him today and was on the way to extend my hand when he leaned forward slightly to his left and after a long-enough pause for the two of them to realize that I had forgotten social niceties we exchanged greetings. Then we all had a good laugh at my expense... luckily, I thought it was kind of funny, too.

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