fútbol es la vida

It has been a very busy week, mostly because fall break starts tomorrow so I have had a ton of work in all of my classes that professors always try to squeeze in before vacations.  Today I gave my presentation about fútbol as a political ideology and as something more than just a game- and it went very well.  I definitely picked a good topic because it was really interesting to research as well.  

I didn't realize there were so many articles about globalization and soccer and how soccer has preserved nationalism despite the fact that the world is "shrinking" each day because of all the different types of media and connections.  I also learned about the history of some of the teams in Spain, such as Real Madrid and their connection to Franco and how those fans are much more conservative than FC Barcelona fans, who represent the Catalan region of Spain, which is more liberal and "rebellious" at times.  When trying to find pictures for my presentation it was funny seeing all of the crazy things that the fans wore during the World Cup (interesting fact- the World Cup final had 700 million viewers, compared to the 2008 Olympics which had 600 million.) and how differently and creatively each country was portrayed.  I can't wait to go to a fútbol game in Valencia- my friends and I are planning on going in November when we have more down time, but I can't remember the team Valencia will be playing. Valencia is currently #1 in the Spanish league, which makes it even more exciting! 

I leave for Italy on Monday, which is hard to believe.  Two friends and I are taking a bus to Barcelona (which takes about 4 hours) on Monday, followed by another bus to the Girona airport which is outside the city of Barcelona.  From there we will fly to Pisa and hopefully not be too wiped out.  Since there is pretty much just the Leaning Tower in Pisa, we are hoping to take a train to Florence for a day, it's only an hour away.  The logistics of this trip have been crazy, but now I feel like I can plan anything and it will be a piece of cake :) 

I'll probably write more after this weekend because there are a bunch of festivals happening in Valencia, and I might be going to la feria de tapas (tapas fair), which has delicious written all over it.