El Clásico

At least twice a year in the soccer world, FC Barcelona plays Real Madrid FC in what is called "El Clásico". The two storied teams have one of the longest running and intense rivalries in all of sports, dating back to 1902 and being contested 240 times (with three more matches against eachother in the next month alone).

One thing you learn about living in a soccer crazy country like Guatemala is that you are either a Barca fan or a Real fan. Example: Here's an interaction I had recently:

Guatemalan friend - "Who's your favorite Spanish team?"

Me - "Oh, I like Valencia."

Guatemalan friend - "No, no who's your favorite Spanish team."

Me - "Uh...Valencia...?"

Guatemalan friend - "What? No. I mean, Spanish team. Barca or Real?"

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of either club but gun to my head, I'd go Barcelona any day. So with my brain not always thinking about soccer, I was unaware that El Clásico was on Saturday and I decided to take a walk with a few friends up to the local market and mall for lunch and to run a few errands. On the hike up there, nearly every other person I passed was wearing either a Barca or Real jersey (I'm not exaggerating. Literally, every other person). It dawns on me what is happening and I realize that I should try to find a TV to check the score when I could. This was not an issue...

The mall was in shut-down mode. Shoppers, workers, cooks, animals in the pet store... all watching Ronaldo vs. Messi. The scene was unreal. The food court was completely full of people taking breaks from work (I mean, some of these workers had closed their stores to watch the game).

We snagged a standing spot and checked out the action just in time to see a foul in the box and Ronaldo drive home a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1.

As the game ended, wild applause from both sides of fans (it was pretty evenly split, maybe a few more Barca fans) and within 3 minutes the food court was desserted. The whole scene was insane and I learned a valuable lesson: never forget what day El Clásico is when living in Central America. Today, they play again in La Copa del Rey. This time I'll be ready, rooting for Barca and arriving early enough to get a seat.