La Copa del Mundo: Parte Una

I was invited to an authentic Spanish bar to watch the semi-final match against Germany. When I got there I found that the bar was one of those hole-in-the wall neighborhood European bars where if you walk in the ancient, beer-bellied bartender and all of the regulars stare at you like you come from Mars. This is a place where everyone has a tab and when you smoke a cigarette (which EVERYONE in Spain does) you ash on the ground and when you are done, you throw it on the floor.

Here are all of the locals. Did I mention their was a cranky, yet endearing old woman a la Carla on cheers who took your order?

Carles Pujol = GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

My friend Hieu and I in a totally foreign bar having an amazing time.

Drunk and happy that Espana es victorioso.

After this dramatic win, I was informed by half of the people that they really don't support Spain because they are Catalan.  The only reason they root for Spain is that there are five Catalans on the team.  One of them happened to be the one who scored the winning goal in this game -- that is why there was so much celebration.  Es interesante, no?

Plus, the people are so friendly and easy going.  Me gusta.