(Later) 1.30.10 Take Me Out to the Partido de Beísbol

Short update on my before I cram for my Spanish placement test! It was a relief this morning to not know what our plans would be. We all slept in, a welcome break from orientation and much needed business after last night’s experimentation with the Cuban schedule of nocturnal festivities. Once awake, we took a cab to the ball game. The Cuban baseball teams have games 6 days a week. Hundreds of Cubans go to each game for about five cents each- especially if the home team is playing, los industriales. Now, I’m no baseball aficionado but what beats going to the game and getting riled up for five cents. We sat in the crowds, answered the ‘where are you from?’ question for some of our neighboring Industrials fans and watched the game, for four hours. The Cienfuegos team pulled ahead in the beginning with some lousy pitches from our side. Our stand mates would get up and yell and argue and couldn’t believe some of the umpire’s calls. By the middle it was tied up again, with a few home runs, and more than a few walks. But alas, cienfuegos came out the victors in the end with a couple great doubles and some really nice runs. Were all of those correct baseball terminology? I hope so. It reminded me a lot of the Sea Dogs, Portland’s home team (and a feeder to the RedSox), but that may just be because the stadium was pretty small, not any poor judgment of the players themselves. It was very strange seeing such an American game played in the Caribbean where there is such a strong Latin American culture, and fewer strong influences from the United States because of the embargo. The differences I noticed between Cuban baseball and the baseball back home was all in the bleachers. There was less chanting and more whistling and clapping. Also, and this made me a bit uneasy, not only were there police officers for stadium security, but there were loads of army men dispersed throughout the stadium as well. It is a bit unnerving to have the government militia present constantly- but they did not carry guns, which helped me to quickly grow accustomed to their presence. And lastly, a big difference, not once did they play “take me out to the ball game”.

After el partido de béisbol we took the bus back to the hotel and made ourselves a lovely vegetarian meal including patacones and vegetable–lime medley.