My cousin Manolo works for Banesto, a Spanish bank, doing programming and statistical analysis of the success rate of their credit card promotional offers. One such offer has something to do with Real Madrid, a popular futbol team. I'm not really sure how it worked out, but he got free tickets to one of their games. So he invited one of his friends, Alejandro (my cousin and his brother), Alex's girlfriend Ana, and myself. We found out late in the day (of course) so Alex and I made sandwiches, picked up Ana and drove to Madrid.

I didn't think I would enjoy it, but the game is a lot more interesting in real life than it is on the television. My grandfather told me that Real Madrid is worshipped around the world. Even though Alex had experiences in Germany that back that up, I didn't quite believe it. Afterall, if it weren't for my cousins being big fans, I never would have heard of the Real Madrid. But when we got the stadium I found this to be true. The people in front of us were speaking Chinese, the people behind us in French, and a whole section of seats were occupied by Japanese students waving Real Madrid flags.

So the world's favorite played against an American team and decimated them. It was really brutal, 5 to 0. But that didn't dampen the intensity of celebration caused by each goal (ahem, I mean "GOOOOOOOL!"). It was surprisingly easy to get caught up in the excitement. Also, at halftime employees of Banesto and their guests got free snack time that included an open bar. We were the only ones that didn't know this, though and a few minutes before halftime our section of seats cleared out. By the time we got to the break room most of the good food was gone; there were only traces of fried squid sandwiches and chorizo. But there was still plenty of crackers, nuts and beer. Next time we'll be there faster, and according to Manolo, there will be plenty of "next times" to eat on Banesto's budget.