#bolugoestobrazil: Football Edition

The Pillow and I love football (soccer for you 'Muricas).

I grew up in Indonesia watching Manchester United rule the world (for a jiff). The Pillow pretty much loves it since diaper land (he eat, breathe, live soccer). 

So of course one of the main reason of us going to Brazil was to watch the World Cup.

And the World Cup is a big deal, yo... Considered this bucket list: CHECKED.

So we arrived in Sao Paolo on 4th of July. Due to several hours long layover, we decided to hop on the train & bus and head on to the FIFA Fan Fest in downtown. Of course, we wore something American to celebrate Independence Day. We stayed to watch the France vs Germany, with Germany advancing to the next level. 

Then our first match happened in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Rob brought his fathead of Messi & Di Maria which made us in to Fox News & Univision. Hahaha... The Argentinian fans went crazy. They kept on wanting to do selfies with us or the fatheads. Being surrounded by hardcore fans of Argentina was surreal. I got chills when they sang the national anthem. It was a good game, despite not seeing a great Messi goal. But we didn't care, Argentina advanced to the next round beating Belgium. We met up with Rob's friend, Lauren & Kevin, who are also Argentina fans.

Our next match was the Semi Finals between Argentina and Netherlands, and mind you, that was a heart attack waiting to happen. The game ended in penalty kicks and Lauren & I was holding our pee for the whole 120 minutes. The nerves were wracking up like crazy. Rob was literally waiting to explode, either with happiness or sadness. Good thing Argentina won and the vibe there was incredible. To see these hardcore fans cry happy tears while waving their sky blue & white flag, hugging strangers, singing their game songs was an amazing experience for me. Sports really brings out the best in people (when winning, haha). But seriously, sport unites.

For the other Semi Final game, Brazil vs Germany, we were in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. We decided to watch it in the Fifa Fan Fest... but then Brazil got killed by Germany. Hard. Fans were crying. From kids to old men were bawling. The Brazilians took it hard, we were afraid we were going to get caught in a riot. We had to fly out that night to Sao Paulo, so we left even before the game ended. Good thing we did because there was a riot post game in the area we were in! Woo!

As for the final, in Rio de Janeiro, unfortunately we didn't get tickets. Actually Rob purchased one from a website similar to StubHub but they actually cancelled it LAST MINUTE. He was soooo bummed. We spent all morning on the day online emailing people and on fifa.com, hoping to score some last minute tickets. People were selling tickets like they're gold (well, pretty much they were gold), especially knowing that it's Argentina, Brazil old rival, playing the Finals in their rival land. People were selling tickets for $6000 a piece. We even went to Maracana (the stadium) hoping to scout, but we didn't because cops were everywhere (you may get arrested because it was illegal). So we ended up heading back to Copacabana, went to our "old" hotel and good thing we kept our hotel key, and headed up to the rooftop bar to watch the game. And it was actually a brilliant idea. We were able to watch the game in peace and actually mourned in peace because Argentina lost. Copacabana was PACKED. It was ridiculous. But since we were on top of the roof, we were able to see everything from above. Kinda cool. But we were sad. Well Rob was in particular. As we left Copacabana, we were surrounded by sad yet happy Argentineans. Sad because they lost the final, but glad because they advanced way more than the host, Brazil, in the World Cup... especially being major rivals in football.

Overall the experience is amazing. To experience true fans excitement was very thrilling. Every time I replay videos of my time there, it brings a huge smile to my face. 

This is something that may not happen again in our lifetime. Or maybe it's just the beginning. 

Til the next #bolugoestobrazil :)

- Rima