festivus for the rest of us.

last night the italian futbol team was in some sort of huge game... i don't really know the specifics. during the day there were a vendors on the streets selling team paraphernalia. futbol is a big deal here. on the way to pick up the girls last night we stopped at a supermarket to get a few things because pretty much everything is closed on sunday here. there were quite a few people buzzing around trying to pick up odds and ends, and renato told me that this was because soon EVERYONE would be home in front of the television to watch the game.
luckily for me renato and nathalie don't really care about futbol, because sports certainly aren't anywhere near the top of my list of saturday fun-time things. i was much more excited that we went to a gallery event for some of their friends at an antiques shop while the girls were at their party.
as it turns out our team won. i know this because of the massive celebrations of which i was an unwilling participant. as nathalie, renato, and i sat at the small table in the kitchen having a little dinner and some conversation about my life back home we could hear the shouts of joy from people all around the city. victorious horn honking. LOUD music pouring from cars driving by.
it was late and when we were done eating i thought i would fall straight asleep. HAH! i thought wrong. FIREWORKS! BANG! POP! not exactly a lullaby. more honking. a little more yelling. going through my mind were a combination of hyperbole and a half scenes and "oh, brother!"'s (like that lady on SNL's weekend update).
it was so different. the only thing i can really compare it to is the superbowl... but times about ten thousand. at least with the superbowl there is no loud celebration... if you don't care about the superbowl, then superbowl sunday can be just another sunday for you. with futbol? not a chance.