We headed to Uruguaiana market, near metro station Uruguaiana, the day before the first game. We hadn't been in Centro for a while and were in need of jerseys to show our support for the Brazilian team. If Canada was in the World Cup, (Which would be the SHIT!!!) we would be sporting some red and white, but since they aren't, we needed some yellow and green gear. The market was hustling and bustling with people, streamers above you, colors of yellow and green abound, and the deafening sounds of horns everywhere! World Cup baby!! Our attempt to get tickets in Rio and Sao Paulo was a complete fail. Being on the road this year, especially at different hostels with poor internet did not really help, but I think either way, it would have been really hard to get tickets for games in Rio or Sao Paulo. Tickets to other games were available but it would mean flying to those cities. So we spent a few hours at Uruguaiana, window shopping, getting jerseys, eating salgados and getting excited about World Cup!
You couldn't help noticing the smirk on people's faces when the entire house of gringos from Connection Rio got on the bus wearing our yellow and green gear. One lady even commented saying it was a gringo football team! The house was heading to FIFA Fan Fest on Copacabana Beach to watch the game and live concert. We arrived pretty early, probably around 1:30 pm and already the line-up was insanely long. Also, they were making people pour out any water or beverages they had with them before letting them in. This meant we had to drink the entire bottle of Bacardi I had in my purse before we got through the front. So you know what that means ... shots, shots, shots ... the bottle being passed around to just about anyone who wanted some.
There was a lot of English, and Spanish being spoken everywhere at Copacabana, and a lot of South American fans wearing their team jerseys, especially Colombians, and Argentinians. I can't say I was all that impressed with the concert before the game, especially since the dude was not even trying to pretend to lip sync. They did a little highlight video of the opening ceremony, the game began, and Ramanan got hungry! All of you who know how often Ramanan has to eat, will understand my sentiments. So thanks to FIFA, he and Mike spent forever standing in line buying concession tickets for food and drinks. The Fan Fest was enclosed to outside vendors, and so your only food choices were what was sold inside. This whole set-up did not impress me but I wasn't really there for the food! It was pretty awesome watching the crowd erupt when Neymar scored the first goal, and the excitement throughout the game, and afterwards along the beach. And this is just the first game! Imagine what it will be like in the semi or finals, if Brazil makes it that far or even worse, if it doesn't!
The guys in the house have been watching old and new World Cup commercials, celebrating the greats of the past and present and revelling in the awesomeness of football, the passion that brings the world together. But being in Brazil, even if far removed in upscale Barra, it's impossible to escape the reality that even though football is a religion in Brazil, Brazilians do not want the World Cup here, not on these terms. In the four months we have been here, there have been strikes and job action by city workers, federal police, and transit workers demanding better wages to keep up with the rising inflation of the Brazilian Real and improvements in work conditions, all perfectly timed before Carnival and World Cup. There have been many days when buses were running at 10% and guys at the house decided not to go train or left hours ahead just to get there on time. There have been countless protests in favelas over the way the government has met FIFA's requirements for hosting the Cup, spending insanely ridiculous amounts on luxury stadiums in cities such as Brasilia and Manaus that will never be used after the Cup. No matter how much short term financial gain can result from the influx of tourists during the Cup, the money spent by the government preparing for this event in the long haul will make very little difference to the betterment of people's lives here. The realities of what hosting the Cup means for Brazilians makes me sad and how FIFA operates makes me angry. But having said all this, even though I am no die-hard football fan, this is the World Cup, it's in Brazil, I'm in Brazil and I can't help feeling pretty damn excited about it!
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