Progreso and First Futbol Game!

The pouring down rain at the stadium as we were all taking cover

A few of us as the game started. My smile shows that I wasn't so sure about the storm clouds!

The soccer field and stadium, as well as the storm clouds rolling in...

Fans rallying before the game started

All of us girls on the beach in Progreso

Hello everyone! It is yet another warm day today. I checked weather.com and it said that the temperature in Merida was 100 but felt like 120. I would totally agree! I am sweating just wearing a sports bra in the house!

Yesterday (Saturday) all of us girls in the Merida program went to Progreso which is 30mi. north of Merida and went to the beach for a few hours. But, in order to get there, we had to take the bus which had standing room only, so a 30min. bus ride without sitting down and abrupt stops and starts made my arm muscles sore from having to hang on! But once we got to the beach, we found out that the water was cool so it helped fight the heat and it did not help that the sun was very strong. We ended up leaving early because we were starting to feel like celebrities in the fact that people would not stop coming up to us and wanting us to buy things even though we said, "No gracias" or no thanks and random guys were wanting to take pictures with us which is what scared us the most. Then, a reporter came up and interviewed us (and gave us his business card) and put his article on the Progreso blog which can be found on http://progresohoy.tk/. In order to find it, you will need to scroll down a little in which you will find a picture of me and 3 other girls in the water. However, the article is in Spanish, so good luck reading it! Once we got back from the beach, we all took little siestas and got ready to go to our first professional soccer game.

After we took a bus for a while to get to the soccer stadium, we walked up to the stadium and were greeted by fans rallying with drums and yelling. It was a bit uncomfortable but was great to experience what a true professional soccer game is like for the players and the fans. So, once we bought our tickets and sat down in the stadium, we looked up to the sky and saw the thunder clouds rolling in which are in a couple pictures above. We only got to watch the game for about 10-15min. until it started down-pouring and we all got soaked. We were running for cover underneath the stadium like everyone else, which meant that we couldn't take cover fast. Once we found our spot, we were crammed in around many other people like sardines. That was not my most fun experience because most of the people that were around us were drunk guys who were making jokes and adding to my uncomfortableness that I was already acquiring. We ended up making a run for it once the storm calmed down. And by storm I mean, rain pouring down harder than I've ever seen before, 50mph winds, thunder, and lightning close to the stadium. I love watching storms, but I hate being in storms!

Anyway, once the storm calmed down to a gentle rain, no wind, and the thunder and lightning in the distance, we got on a bus to head back to the Central house which took 45 min. But we didn't even get to the house. We got to a mall close to the house and had to take a taxi from there. But, before we took a taxi, we had to get an American food fix which meant eating at Burger King. :) But, we got back to the house safely and I calmed down by talking to Neal after being stressed out most of the night. Even though this soccer experience was the greatest for my first time, we are planning on going back because I bought a soccer jersey! Finally, we can feel like we are cheering for someone since most of us now own a Merida soccer jersey!