Deportes

Sports are pretty big here. Not bigger than politics, but they're still pretty big. And of course it's not just any sport that crowds the streets and restaurants- it's futbol (soccer). Like in most Latin American countries, Nicaragua is in love with futbol.

Today was the Barcelona-Madrid game and cars lined the streets and the restaurants were packed. They had whole restaurants dedicated to a specific team. We walked into one of the Barcelona supporters and sat down to order something. Surprisingly the restaurant we chose wasn't that packed. One of the other restaurants we saw didn't have an empty seat left. About a half hour into the game, a man came over and told us that there was a ten dollar cover charge for being there. Hence why the other one with no cover charge was packed and this one wasn't. So we walked home having learned our lesson.

It's entrancing because futbol here brings the city alive in the public places  that show the game. The whole city seems to flock to the TVs when the games come on and leaving the rest of the city eerily vacant. It's exciting. I hope to be able to see more games while I'm here... if I get a seat early!

Nos vemos!