Sorry it has taken me almost a week to write about my first live footy experience. I have had the full-blown flu since Sunday. Today I felt well enough to actually venture out to the grocery store and got real food. I ate fruit- cantalope, strawberries, and cherries (thanks Grace!) and hummus (doctored up with garlic and lemon juice, like my Daddy taught me) and pita bread and limeade for lunch. It was glorious. I had missed volleyball this week, but considering that I can barely breathe when sitting still, it was probably better that I sat it out. I went to dinner last night with Sarah's whole family (minus her Dad, he had to work) and I got to talk to Judy, her sister-in-law, about her visit to America. She went to Texas, so I told her she would have a skewed view of "America," but she said she enjoyed it and everyone was very nice. She wants to go back!
Ok, now for last Saturday. Belinda, Sarah's friend who I have met once in 2010, picked me up and we went to the Paradise Interchange to catch the bus to the arena. Everyone we saw was decked out in either Adelaide Crows colors- blue, red, yellow, or Port Colors- teal and black. Sarah had loaned me her Crows scarf to wear- she says the Showdown is like a Dook UNC game, and she didn't want me to be on the wrong side. We caught the bus (it was free! but packed) with her church group. Once past the interchanges, the bus made no stops until we got to the arena. We unloaded and walked to the entrance. I was with a couple of girls that I talked with on the bus and we had lost Belinda. We looked at our ticket and decided to set out in search of our seat. We ended up walking all the way around the stadium, only to realize the last stretch of the stadium is gated off as "members only." So we turned around and walked all the way back to the gate we started. We then realized (which I had suspected) that if we had walked in the other direction initially, our gate we needed was literally the very next one. I told them not to say what happened, to just say we had gone on a tour of the arena, not walked all the way around looking for our gate, only to have to turn around and walk all the way back. So we finally took our seats. Here is a shot from our seats:
The people sitting around me confused me for an Australian (haha, me!) and I was asked to explain the rules, what was happening, etc. I must say I did pretty well for being a Yank and only having watched about 4 or 5 footy matches in their entirety in my whole life. I got a hotdog at half time and wanted hot chocolate, but it was broken. Here is a pic of the people I was sitting with (I closed my eyes like a dork):
In the last quarter, the group started whispering that we were going to start a "mexican wave." Is that like the wave? I said. "Why do you guys call it a Mexican wave?" They all insisted that was what it is called, even in movies. "No, nuh-uh. We invented the wave, it's called "The Wave." Maybe you guys are just being racist." No one could explain to me, so I was forced to google when I got home. My research: The Wave was first believed to occur during a hockey game in Canada in the late 70's. The wave is known outside of North America as the "Mexican Wave" because it was first introduced to the world in 1986 at the FIFA World Cup in Mexico, hence the name Australians have given it. Who knew?
Anyway, after around 10 failed attempts, we got a wave to go all the way around the whole stadium. We actually got 2 going at once! it was pretty awesome, whether the waves were of Mexican descent or not.
So anyway, the Crows totally dominated, like 118 to 57 or something like that, it wasn't even close. It could have been more exciting, but I definitely enjoyed my first footy experience.
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