Octubre 10, 2004
In La Paz
With only four hours of sleep, I arrived in La Paz straight to my uncle´s house in Los Pinos. This part of the city is one of the more newer parts of La Paz located in the Zona Sud. After taking a brief one hour nap, I then met my cousin to watch my 4 year-old triplet nieces dance at their upscale school in Achumani.
All that was in anticipation of that afternoon´s crucial World Cup qualifier Bolivia vs. Peru. In the morning, the day had the appearance of a crisp, warm day. However, I decided to take my heavier coat just in case. Later it began to sprinkle, then sun, then pour. I had to buy some cheap plastic to protect myself from the rain. We took refuge in a local restaurant and ate some chicharron (fried pork).
Seemingly minutes later, the sun peeked out and again raised the temperature. At various parts throughout the day, I had seven layers of clothes and at gametime (4 p.m.), I was wearing only my short sleeve jersey of la seleccion.
Back to the game, the stadium was not at capacity as we took our seats on the side General. These have superior views of the pitch, but stared smack dab at the sun. It was very crowded in my section, but I couldn´t believe the passivity of many of my fellow spectators. It seemed as if I was alone, clapping whenever a good play had been made.
Zero-zero at halftime brought sighs of "here we go again," in reference to the countless times that we were disillusioned by the national team. In early the second half, Joaquin Botero, from the homeside scored the only goal. The game ended with a 1-0 victory for Bolivia. This result guarantees that Tuesday´s homematch against Uruguay will not be deserted.
I am off to Copacabana and Lake Titicaca for about 24 hours.
Posted by eduardo at Octubre 10, 2004 10:15 AM