Futball Mania

I heard a loud cheer come up from the lobby, where a group was watching “the game”. About 10 minutes later “the game” was over and more cheering, only louder, Then horns started blowing all over town and continued for about an hour , here in Changuinola, Panama. They were joined by police and ambulance sirens. Celebrating Panama's 2-1 victory over neighbor and arch-rival Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying play.
I'm told it's a really big deal for 2 reasons : 1) The Costa Rican border is only about 15 miles from here and 2) this will be the first time ever that Panama will be in the World Cup finals.
Personally, I have no interest in this, but I have to say it was exciting to see the ridiculous joy this victory has caused around here that night. And it spilled over to the next day.....

As someone who cares nothing about soccer or the World Cup, it has still been curiously fascinating to watch the local response to the Panamanian futball victory over Costa Rica last night.

The celebration continues today with the news on the TV at the restaurant locked into pure sports, as though nothing else is happening in the world. They replay the final goal over and over and every time they do, a cheer goes up from the patrons. Cars and trucks continue to pass by waving Panamanian flags and honking horns. How much longer can they continue to revel in this ??

More significantly for me, I showed up for a meeting this morning with two officials from Ministry of Health and was told neither was coming in today. As though it was totally understandable and acceptable. I was told to see if they come in tomorrow and try to reschedule then.

On the positive side, there is certainly an elevated mood and lots of smiling faces around town today. “Buenos Dias” greetings have an extra weight to them.

I guess I just don’t understand sports mania in any of its odd forms.