Futbol!!!!!

Futbol is a sport unlike any other. The fans are more intense than in any other sport, to the degree that they have separate seating for the different fans, and different antrance and exit times for them, so as not to start trouble. This game was definitely the most intense sporting event I have ever been to, though I haven't been to that many. The stadium was huge; it's maximum capacity is 65,000, and it was pretty much filled. We got there a good hour and a half early, and the stadium was already mostly full, with people watching the River-Boca little league game as a sort of pre-show, and the fans were pretty rowdy for the little league. I couldn't wait to see what the real game would be like.
When River Plate came out, not only was there an immense amount of cheering and singing, but red and white smoke came pouring out of smoke bombs that people had, as well out of pipes bordering the field. Boca, of course, elicited no such cheering and smoking. The cheering, really the singing, is what impressed me the most about the game. The River fans don't just have a few generic cheers, they sang at least 6 different unique and elaborate songs, and all 55,000 thousand fans sang and jumped simultaneously. It wasn't choreographed or directed, but it was amazingly impressive. During half time we saw the fans tearing up thousands of sheets of paper, newspapers, anything they could get their hands on, and when the second half of the game started, it poured homemade confetti and streamers. You couldn't see through the thickness of the blizzard; it was a true Nor'easter of paper.
The game itself was nothing amazing, in fact, it moved a bit slow, and most of the time, while the ball was in the middle of the field, it was quite boring. It was only when the ball moved close to one of the goals that there was any real excitement (though those moments were really exciting). The game of futbol seems, to me, an unexperienced eye, to be a large number of people kicking a ball back and forth across a field, but unable to actually ever get anywhere due to the number of people (9) on the field. They just run back and forth, waiting for someone to act violently, thereby giving the other side a free kick, and an actual chance at a goal. This was, by the way, how the first goal was scored. The atmosphere was the best part, and it got so intense that, even after the Boca fans left the stadium, they held us for a good half an hour as the Boca fans were trying to force themselves back to the entrance to start trouble. We were literally under siege in the stadium! All this, too, with the safest possible score; the game was a tie, 1:1, so no one had any real reason to get too riled up. The fans were definitely the best part; I have never seen anything like that,and probably never will. I went with a group from Hillel, two of whom were Brits, and they said that, though English players are much better, and that the games themselves are a lot more fun, they had never seen fans and atmosphere like this. It was quite an experience.
Tomorrow I move out of the hostel! Finally!
Buenas Noches, I am off to eat at my first meat restaurant in BsAs!