Futbol game or near-death experience?

Last week someone emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to a futbol game. I wanted to go to one while I was in Chile so I said, "definitely!" Then, when I talked to someone else from my class about it, he didn't think it was such a good idea to go to this particular match. In addition, for one of our assignments we had just read how futbol games are dangerous and how women, children, and families stopped attending during the last 10 years or so. Oh great! So needless to say  I was worried about the fans and the atmosphere. I mean, really nervous.  I still wanted to go but thought it would be best to contact some chilean guys from the ward and ask them what they thought about me going. Here is the direct quote from one of them:

1. Be careful with the Colo Colo fans, they are not good people in general.

2. If you going in the metro, outside people will say, "give me money for a ticket!!" my idea is to have money (100 pesos) and give one person money....to  the other people later you need to say, "I did so before so I don't have any more money"...Do you understand the idea?

3. Walk close to the police at all time and just for the main street.

4. If you have the possibility, go outside the stadium 10 minutes before the game is gone.

5. Don't go with packets or bolsos.

6. Only go with ID and money for your ticket

7. If you have a possibility to go to the stadium with a chilean person, this person can probably give you more information. (Ivan, the guy who was giving me this advice, ended up coming with us).

8. My friend, Fabian, lives close there if you want to call him if you have any problem (his number is 555 7491).

9. If you pay gallery tickets don't go in the NORTH GALLERY (is a Colo Colo fans is very similar to the Steelers, ha ha...not is safe. 

Okay, so I get this info and am even more freaked out. There were 2 guys and 2 girls going (all of us were Gringos). I thought about it all day, read a scripture, said a prayer, and took a nap. When I woke up I felt good about it so I decided to go. I wore no jewelry and  took nothing with me. I even wore my running shoes just in case I had to make a break for it or get out of some sort of mob. I had really only seen pictures of soccer games in South America. Okay, so as I said, Ivan came with us, so I felt better about it all. He got us to where we needed to go, and gave us lots of helpful info along the way. He is a very hysterical tour guide. 

When we got to the gate, we discovered that it was like a "ladies night." All the women got in free, which was probably to encourage more civilized sportsmanship. When we went in, there were 2 waves of police barricades that we had to go through. We got frisked. No bottles or heavy objects were allowed inside. We went to our seats and had a pretty good view. On one end of the goal post (who knows if that's the right term in futbol) there were all the crazy Colo Colo fans jumping and chanting and beating at least one drum. They did this for the duration of the game which was good for us since it made everything exciting. I learned a couple of chants such as, "Chi...Le, Chi Chi Chi...le le le...Colo Colo de Chile!" It was amazing. Also, before the players came out, out comes another group of police dressed in battle gear with their shields and masks, etc. My friends and I were like, "Where are we??!!" Anyway, the game was amazing. I normally hate watching sports, but when you are at a game it is so much better!  I got pretty into it. 

Here are a couple of other things I noticed to let you know what futbol games are like in South America: You know how there are different sections in a stadium? Well, in this stadium, the section at the end of the goal post for the diehard fans was fenced off with 2 different walls of fencing and had barbed wire at the top! Also, at the end, Ivan interpreted an announcement that said the fans of other team had to stay in their barbed wire section (for their safety) for 20 more minutes while the stadium cleared out. The funny thing was that at no time did I ever feel in danger. There were many women and kids there, though I did notice many of them were leaving 5 minutes before the game was over and one policeman specifically told us to hurry out of there. All alcohol was prohibited so that helped. The dangerous thing was that it was a perfect place to get pick-pocketed, but that is nothing new. Overall, it was a great night. I can't wait to go to another on April 8th! Go Universidad de Catolica! Everyone tells me that this will be a "safer" game with better fans. I love this country!