World Cup

Last night marked the second World Cup game Ive watched in the town square. I think I must be good luck because Italy has won both times!!
The first game was Sunday and we played the Ukraine (we won 3 to 0). When the game ended, people went absolutely crazy...like, the Drag after the Rose Bowl crazy...like rock concert crazy. It was safe but extremely hilarious to watch. I was there with two of my friends, Bryan and Lindsey, and we observed as motorinos (motor scooters) circled the piazze and waved their flags. People set off sparklers and small fireworks in the center of the square and were chanting "I-tal-i-a" over and over again. It was so exciting! Then, we exited the walls of the town to the surrounding roads and found that they were completely at a standstill. The movement was really slow and people were running all through the streets yelling and hugging each other and getting everyone to chant together. It was like a city-wide pep rally. haha! A water mane was actually broken and people were getting empty trash cans, filling them with water, and dumping them in and on cars! Insane! I even saw two men in their boxer shorts swimming in the fountain.
The second game was last night (Tuesday) against Germany, which Italy was not supposed to win, but did! The game was 0 to 0 and went into overtime, at which point Italy scored! It was madness. We had to drive to the coast afterwards to give a friend a key he needed (something from a previous day trip) and all the way there (45 minutes one way) there were people waving flags and honking and hanging out of their windows like dogs in August. I couldnt believe the widespread joy and energy...all the way past 1 AM when we returned to the Villa. One of my favorite parts of last night was walking down a road that was mostly deserted (no bars or t.v.s around) and this one guy in his bakery seeing the shot and running out wanting to celebrate with someone but not having anyone around. He came out shaking his fists and yelling in his apron, he saw us and then yelled with us! haha. It was great. There is such camraderie here and its so easy to be excited. If you arent following the games, Italy is now in the finals and will play against Portugal for either first or second place. Brazil and Germany will play for 3rd. The Italy game is on July 9th, so dont forget to turn it on and watch with me!