Life and Soccer in Spain

This is a picture of the Real Madrid stadium in Spain. My "host dad" loves Real Madrid. I went to a game last Saturday night and the atmosphere was unbelievable! (It is incredible to see on every street a soccer field instead of a basketball court. ) The only thing when it came to the Real Madrid game that I didn't enjoy was the smoking! There was only one person around me smoking but it was blowing right in my face. At home smoking is definetly not allowed in stadiums and in many public places. However, it was definetly worth the cold weather and smoke because our seats were ridiculous!





Another interesting thing I noticed at the match was that most of the people watching purchased a "bocadillo" during half time. This is basically, as I understand, a flatbread sandwich. I was much more used to seeing hot dogs and hamburgers back home.

This is just a picture to give an idea of how close our seats were. The guys were gorgeous! :)











































Staying with the topic of soccer...I am currently playing for a team here. They are located in Madrid. The game is much different in Europe than it is in the United States. I noticed as much during my first trip to England when I was traveling with my college team at the time, the University of Louisville. I believe we played the women's team from the club Arsenal. The technical skills the European girls possess, in my opinion, on average exceed that of the players from the United States. Europeans from the lowest to the highest levels of the game appear to be more centered around playing the game...not using pure athleticism to win it. This is much more evident in the women's leagues.

Another interesting fact is that most of the females involved in athletics here tend to be bisexual or homosexual. From discussions with my coach I have discovered that this phenomena is actually rooted in the dictatorship of Franco. Under Franco women were expected to fulfill the more traditional role of staying in the house, cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking. Most of the women who did not fulfill that expectation tended to venture into other avenues which happened to be athletics.


In the United States being a female soccer player does not generally carry a negative connotation. However, in Spain there is often a negative sterotype attached with female athletes because most are different and wear baggier clothes and tend to behave more like males which due to the remnants of Franco's dictatorship is still seen as improper. In the United States homosexuality tends to be more prevalent and expected in sports such as softball or basketball. This is my experience anyhow. I was shocked to hear how prevalent it was among female athletes in general here.