Football scores!

So yesterday was England's first match in the World Cup, against the United States.
I have to admit that I'm not much of a football fan - but occasionally make an exception -- and defending our honour against a country that can't even call football by it's real name was one of those exceptions!

I wasn't really sure how this would all go down in Guatemala as here they have a funny love-hate sort of relationship with the States. For many the American dream is still alive and well, and thousands migrate north in the hope of making their fortune (both legally and illegally). Mostly this leaves broken and divided families and communities all over Guatemala. Many love the opportunities which exist due to the proximity to the states, and the remittances (money) that relatives who have made it in the states can send home - as well as all the films, music and American 'culture' in general that invades Guatemala as much as anywhere else. But on the other hand, they detest the influence the States has politically, most evidently in their involvement in the 36 years of civil war that devastated the country and particularly the indigenous population. They're also not that keen on the States these either for their treatment of all the illegal Guatemalan workers there.

On the other hand, their relationship with the English is also a bit confused. It was only about 5 years ago that Guatemala officially recognised Belize (the neighbouring country which was previously a British colony) as a country in it's own right. Previously they had still claimed sovereignty there - even though they speak English (well kind of) and you can buy Baked Beans and Cadbury's chocolate there - clearly demonstrating it's English (not Spanish or indigenous) heritage! And then there is the Castillo de San Felipe (St Phillips Castle) situated on a river near the Caribbean coast which was built specifically to keep out the English Pirates (who were stealing the gold and precious stones that the Spanish were sailing back to Spain after stealing them from the indigenous groups in Central America). On the other hand, the majority of Guatemala don't actually know where England is and many assume it is a state in the United States.

So with all that complexity going round in my head, I met up with a few English friends and we went to a shopping centre where they were showing the game on a big screen in the food hall.
I was surprised and happy to realise that the huge crowd of Guatemalans filling the hall were all cheering for England, and they were even happier to see some real English people. Of course this is Latin America and the response to any football game is always passionate and loud. It was great fun (even if the game itself was a bit of a disappointment). But what made me laugh the most though was that whenever we saw a shot of David Beckham on the sidelines, the whole hall was filled with girly squeals, rather than manly football cheers!