Allora, piu calcio

Sean has been playing in various soccer matches lately and tonight he invited me to come along to watch. I decided to go because it was a beautiful day to be outdoors and I wanted to check him out on the field and support the team. The public transportation was way out of sorts today due to the Roma Marathon (which we watched earlier in the day and was very inspiring), so we rushed over to the nearest metro by foot, since there were no buses, and took the longest route possible to an area of Rome totally new to both of us. With the help of 3 friendly old ladies, about 5 other random locals on the street, several metro workers, and a handful of homeless Romanians lighting fires in trash cans, we found our way to the field. I was sweaty and tired before we even arrived.

Sean met the other players in the locker room and then we all headed out to the field. I sat in this little “dug out” among all the player’s bags and jackets, and was asked to help out by shouting “cambio!” every 5 minutes. I was a little nervous about my role, and didn’t really understand why I was doing this, until half way through the game I realized I was telling them to change goalies. Sean is a beautiful soccer player, and I was so proud when he scored a goal, I clapped and said, “bravo!” The other players ranged in skill, but Sean seemed to be the most graceful. I noticed how dramatic Italians can be, shouting swear words, and “Mamma Mia!” and I was slightly afraid some might start crying at some points in the game. One guy, who seemed to have had his fair share of pasta in his life, actually kept getting hit in the face by the ball, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. As the sun started going down, the chill in the air grew almost unbearable. I huddled in my little cave on the sideline and bundled up and enjoyed the game very much.