Summer of sports. Save me now.
About a week ago the Euro Cup soccer tournament began. In the Euro Cup, countries send their national teams to play against each other to decide who is the best in Europe and since Spain was the last winner of the World Cup, they are basically defending a title. Being married to a SPANISH soccer fanatic means that for as long as this competition lasts, I will be watching daily games. Spain's first game took place when Jose and I were scheduled to fly home from Bilbao on Sunday. There was only one small TV tuned in to the game in the airport and the amount of guys crammed around it, groaning and shouting in unison was incredible. Needless to say, I had to drag Jose away and run to catch our flight since he found it hard to break away. As most people know, watching soccer is not my idea of a good time. At least tonight we are heading over to a friend's house to watch the Ireland/Spain game and there will be other girls there to share my pain. Honestly the only reason to watch the Spanish team for me is as follows:
Later on this summer, as we all know, are the Olympic games in London. The Euro Cup and then the Olympics make for a summer PACKED with sports. Thankfully, I have always preferred the summer games to the winter and it should be interesting to watch them with Jose in Michigan. Since he always claims that Spain is a country of fine athletes it will be fun to compare competitions and medal outcomes between our countries, especially if the U.S. competes against the Spanish at any point. Though I am residing in Spain for the foreseeable future, I will ALWAYS cheer for the U.S. If and when we have children, I will try my hardest that they feel as American as they do Spanish and that they will also cheer for the U.S. when watching (important) sports, among other things.
This brings me to another thing I have noticed here. Sports, athletes, competitions, etc. really serve to boost the national spirit in Spain (something common around the world I am sure). This is not a country to fly their flag normally, for example. When their team (aka La Seleccion) plays, you start to see flags being hung. As the team begins to win, you can find more and more flags, national colors of red and yellow, people sporting their team gear, etc. The Spanish flag is pretty:
We have one out on our balcony now. It went up when the Euro Cup began and will probably stay there until the Olympics have finished, linked to sporting events rather than as an everyday reminder of national pride and symbolism. Obviously I am partial to the American flag (it really is beautiful, stars and stripes, recognizable) and plan on bringing one back with me this summer to hang side by side with our Spanish flag. I grew up in a house that always had a flag hung out (even before 9-11). It was something I took for granted and viewed as normal. I never realized how unique it is to be American what with our relationship with patriotism and our flag. We pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands.Our Old Glory is sacred and full of meaning all year long and is not dependent on what sporting event is taking place. That being said, I am by no means one of the "boot in your ass, it's the American way" Americans. Nor am I an ex-pat escaping overseas in search of something I couldn't find at home (besides a husband ; ) ). I love and am proud to come from the land of the brave and home of the free. I also recognize the merits, history, culture and beauty of a lot of other nations throughout the world. It is incredibly important for me that my future children feel the same way.
When discussing these differences with Jose the other day, we came to another important difference between Spain and the U.S. Back home we would hear our National Anthem before every sporting event, from Little League to the National League. It was another thing I viewed as normal. It is a very special song. The lyrics tell an awesome story. Here in Spain, they only listen to the national anthem when their national teams play. Believe it or not, it has NO lyrics. The song itself is nice, but what story does it tell? When I found this out I couldn't believe it. People sing along to the melody but there are no words actually said. They lo-lo-lo-lo their way through it. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbuY-epYho
Anyway, Jose is staring at me which means it is almost time to head out to watch yet another soccer game. If this doesn't make me the best wife, I don't know what does. Vamos Espana!
This is my favorite player (I think you can see why) Gerard Pique. He has become soccer's saving grace ever since I saw him play in the World Cup.Later on this summer, as we all know, are the Olympic games in London. The Euro Cup and then the Olympics make for a summer PACKED with sports. Thankfully, I have always preferred the summer games to the winter and it should be interesting to watch them with Jose in Michigan. Since he always claims that Spain is a country of fine athletes it will be fun to compare competitions and medal outcomes between our countries, especially if the U.S. competes against the Spanish at any point. Though I am residing in Spain for the foreseeable future, I will ALWAYS cheer for the U.S. If and when we have children, I will try my hardest that they feel as American as they do Spanish and that they will also cheer for the U.S. when watching (important) sports, among other things.
This brings me to another thing I have noticed here. Sports, athletes, competitions, etc. really serve to boost the national spirit in Spain (something common around the world I am sure). This is not a country to fly their flag normally, for example. When their team (aka La Seleccion) plays, you start to see flags being hung. As the team begins to win, you can find more and more flags, national colors of red and yellow, people sporting their team gear, etc. The Spanish flag is pretty:
We have one out on our balcony now. It went up when the Euro Cup began and will probably stay there until the Olympics have finished, linked to sporting events rather than as an everyday reminder of national pride and symbolism. Obviously I am partial to the American flag (it really is beautiful, stars and stripes, recognizable) and plan on bringing one back with me this summer to hang side by side with our Spanish flag. I grew up in a house that always had a flag hung out (even before 9-11). It was something I took for granted and viewed as normal. I never realized how unique it is to be American what with our relationship with patriotism and our flag. We pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands.Our Old Glory is sacred and full of meaning all year long and is not dependent on what sporting event is taking place. That being said, I am by no means one of the "boot in your ass, it's the American way" Americans. Nor am I an ex-pat escaping overseas in search of something I couldn't find at home (besides a husband ; ) ). I love and am proud to come from the land of the brave and home of the free. I also recognize the merits, history, culture and beauty of a lot of other nations throughout the world. It is incredibly important for me that my future children feel the same way.
When discussing these differences with Jose the other day, we came to another important difference between Spain and the U.S. Back home we would hear our National Anthem before every sporting event, from Little League to the National League. It was another thing I viewed as normal. It is a very special song. The lyrics tell an awesome story. Here in Spain, they only listen to the national anthem when their national teams play. Believe it or not, it has NO lyrics. The song itself is nice, but what story does it tell? When I found this out I couldn't believe it. People sing along to the melody but there are no words actually said. They lo-lo-lo-lo their way through it. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbuY-epYho
Anyway, Jose is staring at me which means it is almost time to head out to watch yet another soccer game. If this doesn't make me the best wife, I don't know what does. Vamos Espana!
There are only three sports that I am willing to concede are unimportant to the US and that is only because I feel that we should give some of the other countries a fighting chance:
ReplyDelete1.) Trampolining: our friendly neighbors to the north, the Canadians, are quite adept at this
2.) Soccer: other than the obvious reasons that this "sport" sucks, we need to give Latin Americans and the Spanish something
3.) Cross-country skiing: Since it is mostly effing freezing in the Scandinavian countries, we might as well give them something to do 10 months out of the year
Other than those exceptions, AMERICA!!!