Chagas Project, Week 1

A photo set from my first week working on the Ohio university/PUCE Chagas project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allora/sets/72157605886750811/

Spain wins Euro2008!

Congratulations to the Furia Roja on winning the UEFA European Championship 2008, giving Spain its first international title in forty-four years! Spain played a fantastic tournament, dominating Germany to win 1-0 the final.

Futbol Fever

It hit me when I almost missed the bus Sunday night. I had been standing in the terminal with a crowd of other fans, breathlessly watching the final minutes of the Euro2008 quarterfinal match between Spain-Italy. The game was just about to go into double overtime when the bus honked and I realized I really had to leave. It was official. I’ve caught futbol fever.

Living in Latin America, it’s pretty easy to become obsessed with futbol (soccer). It’s the most popular sport on the planet, it’s egalitarian, easy to play, and just so much fun to watch. If you’ve ever watched even one World Cup match, and witnessed the intensity of the players and passion of fans from around the world, you understand why soccer is truly the world’s sport. American sports teams may tout their “World Champion” status when they win the NBA Finals, World Series or NFL Super Bowl, but how can you be called a world champion if you’re only playing against teams from your own country?

This Wednesday is the final game of the South American Copa Libertadores, which is the most prestigious tournament for the top club teams in South America. This year, Liga de Quito, is in the finals against Fluminense, a Brazilian team. It’s the first team in over ten years that an Ecuadorian team is in the finals, so this is HUGE! Regionalism is forgotten as Ecuadorians from all parts of the country cheer on Liga. My town even put up a pantalla gigante (projection screen) in the central square so everyone could watch the semifinal game against America (Mexico) that led Liga to the finals. My friend would violently clutch my arm and jump up and down at every tense moment; my arm was bruised the next day.

Additionally, the world’s national teams are currently in qualifying matches to compete for spots in World Cup 2010. Ecuador has tied the past two games with Argentina and Colombia, respectively, which does not bode well for the Tricolor’s chances to go to South Africa. But there is always hope.

The European championships, Euro2008 Switzerland-Austria, have also been going on for the last few weeks. The play has been spectacular, with surprise upsets (Russia beating Holland!) and all sorts of great soccer being played. That Spain-Italy game that almost made me miss my bus? It went to penalties, with Spain winning 4-2, dashing the Italians’ (2006 World Cup champions) hopes but finally breaking the curse of not being able to win a major international game.

Next up, Russia v. Spain and Germany v. Turkey! And of course, Liga v. Fluminense on Wednesday night!

Happy One Year Anniversary, Omnibus 98!

Congratulations! Keep on “whipping it out” and “getting some.” See you all at Mid-Service!

Jungle Adventure

A few weeks ago, I went on a jungle adventure with a bunch of PCVs from my cluster. We saw waterfalls, camped in an indigenous village, hiked in knee-high mud to a scary cave with bats and cave-dwelling birds. Tarzan, the guide dog, accompanied us the whole time. We ate a lot of tuna and crackers. We said goodbye to our friend Zach, from Omnibus 96. Good times.

Happiness!

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination

I almost started crying when I read this. Is it really over? Is Barack Obama really the first African-American Presidental candidate from a major political party? HALLELUJAH!

This marathon fight for the Democratic Presidential nominee has gone on for so long that I am exhausted just thinking about it. As ecstatic as I am that Obama has won the Democratic nomination – fair and square thank you Hillary Clinton – it is daunting to think of the fight that we have ahead of us, a summer of Republican Party Swift-Boat tactics and conservative talk radio race-baiting that is sure to come.

I am looking forward, however, to a substantive national debate on the issues by Obama and McCain. Please let us stop talking about pastors (Wright AND Hagee), “elitism,” and “values” voters. Let’s talk about clean energy and conservation, how we are going to extricate ourselves out of Iraq, sustainable measures to revive the US economy, rebuilding America’s image in the world, and what to do about Iran (that doesn’t involve another war). Is that too much to hope for?

As someone who currently lives in a truly machismo society, where women don’t even know what the “glass ceiling” is, since they are too busy in the kitchen, I am inclined to think that Hillary’s incessant claims of sexism are rather spurious. Is there sexism in American society? Yes, of course. But as this primary campaign season has shown us, race clearly remains the larger, and often unspoken, problem in our country. At least, that is how I see it.