On Thursday I went to the Global Village in Chapultepec Park, a series of booths representing the nations participating in the World Cup.
The "village" extends from the "Altar de la Patria" (Altar of the Fatherland) which honors the six teenaged cadets who died in the Battle of Chapultepec defending their country against the invading U.S. army, to the Gate of the Lions, the park's main entrance at Paseo del la Reforma.
In the background you can see Chapultepec Castle atop the hill.
Beyond the trees, far in the background, you can just make out the column of the Monument to Independence, located on Paseo de la Reforma.
The festival of nations was well attended on that opening day of the games.
Many of the Mexican visitors were wearing their team's jerseys. A few were even waving Mexican flags.
Although the day began cloudy, the sun later came out, and it was a beautiful afternoon.
The expected rain did not arrive later after the opening match had concluded.
I was disappointed with the festival in one respect. As you may recall, I send dolls as gifts to the daughters of one of my friends in the U.S. I was hoping to find dolls from a variety of countries. Although quite a few of the booths sold handicrafts, I only found two countries that had dolls for sale... Algeria and Czechia.
The Czech pavilion
"Argelia" is the Spanish word for Algeria
A couple of Algerian gentlemen in native garb (plus their team's jersey).
Many of the booths were manned largely by Mexican hires. But most of the staff at this pavilion were Algerians. In fact, the lady that sold me the doll spoke French not Spanish.
Quite a few of the booths sold traditional foods, and I sampled a number of items.
The "empanada" (meat-filled turnover) from Paraguay was quite tasty.
The paprika meatballs from Hungary were good, although they would have been even better if they had been heated.
The bratwurst sandwich from Germany (Alemania in Spanish) were very good. A couple of the ladies were from Germany, and I practiced my rudimentary German with them a bit.
Unfortunately, the apple strudel from Austria was not that good.
A fellow from Argentina selling the traditional gourds and cups from which they drink "yerba mate", a type of tea which is their national drink.
A lady at Ecuador's pavilion
A couple from Colombia
The pavilion from the United States was pathetic. There was a lady at a table, a foosball table next to her, and a booth with four corporate sponsors selling jambalaya. That was it.
The Canadian pavilion was also disappointing. It was nothing more than an information desk from Air Canada. However, you could spin a wheel to win a prize. I won an Air Canada cap.
It did not surprise me that the most beautiful pavilion was Mexico's.
The decorations were made from painted corn husks.
Mexico, from the heart
There was a display of handicrafts from the different Mexican states.
South Africa was Mexico's opponent in the opening game.
The TV inside the pavilion was turned on when the game began. When the national anthem was played, the South Africans all sang along. Then the Mexican national anthem was played, and an even larger home team group was singing.
As I wrote in a previous post, shortly after the game had begun I heard an enormous wave of cheering and applause from the far end of the "village". There were two large screens set up there, and the largely Mexican crowd went crazy when the home team scored their first goal.
¡Viva México!
