Pachanga & Jaguares Game

On Friday night, a group of us from school headed to Pachanga to celebrate Rafa's 32nd birthday (September 12). It's similar to many bar/restaurants in Tuxtla in that with each round of drinks ordered, you receive a plate of appetizers and tortilla chips.

There was entertainment on stage - either a woman singing or a male comedian - and a man came around with a shocking device that you could hold on to and he would continue upping the voltage until you told him to stop. As a group, we held hands and were shocked together - an unusual, but fun bonding experience.

On Saturday, I headed to my very first Jaguares soccer game! I met Heather, Carrie, Sarah and Jen down there and ran into Lilian, one of my students, with her mom and dad. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but we had a good time.

Tickets are only 80 pesos (less than $8 US) to sit in the sun (and because we weren't wearing orange, we couldn't sit in the all orange Jaguares section).

We made quite a commotion when we entered due to the fact that not many gringas (or gueras = whiteys) attend games. Guys were obnoxiously yelling at us to come and sit by them. It was a bit embarrasing, but also quite comical.

Vendors walked around selling fresh mango, peanuts, soda, beer and water out of large paint buckets and the fans yelled groserias (bad words) to the refs if they made a call they didn't agree with. There were some interesting characters in the crowd - many fans dressed up and one created a visor of sorts out of his used paper beer cup...

We roasted in the heat, but had an entertaining time.