A very Mexican weekend

This past weekend was very exciting! On Saturday, I went with some friends to a soccer game: Leon vs. Merida (a city in the Yucatan). Leon plays in the second highest professional soccer league in Mexico. They have a nice stadium that seats about 50,000 I would guess. Leon won 2-0 and it was a great atmosphere. Soccer fans are quite intense - there was one section where the people remained standing and chanting the entire game! They never shut their mouths or stopped waving their hands.

Then there are the other type of fans I saw on Sunday at a bullfight...! I was not sure how I would hold up while watching a bull die, but I was fine. There were 3 bullfighters, and each performed twice, so I ended up watching 6 bulls die. The first time I felt a little sad but fortunately/unfortunately, after each successive death I became increasingly numb to any of the bulls' suffering. The most entertaining part of attending a bullfight is actually watching the crowd. Everyone is wearing cowboy hats because the sun is shining down; and shouting obscenities at each other, the bull, the bullfighter, and the band (which plays different music depending on the stage of the fight). It is all in good fun though - it seems like the objective of all the shouting is just to make those sitting around you laugh.

Earlier last week was the 200th birthday of Leon. To celebrate, the city wheels in carros alegoricos (floats) that each celebrate a different aspect of the area's history. For example: in the picture, I am standing in front of one that celebrates sombreros and tequila.

The new street food that I tried this week was jicama and cucumber doused in chili sauce and topped with cheese. It is aptly referred to as a bomba (bomb) because of the way it makes your insides feel after eating it. It was a great snack! The dairy in the cheese counteracts some of the spiciness, but it does leave your insides a little uncomfortable. Bombas are street food that not even all Mexicans eat because of the spiciness, so I was proud that I handled mine without a sweat ;-)