Miracle Cure: Meet the Title of Your Last Blog Post

Jose Francisco Torres is an American soccer player who plays for Mexican club team Pachuca. And I believe he may have performed a miracle yesterday. You see, I had spent the last 4 days holed up in my Mexico City hostel room with a terrible case of Montezuma's (if you don't know what that is, just be thankful). I'm telling you, I'd never felt so sick in my life. So it was with great trepidation that I went to the airport on Tuesday to catch a flight to Quito, Ecuador, via Panama. Could I survive the journey? Would my actions force the flight attendants to put yellow caution tape around the airplane bathroom midway through the flight?

Jose Torres - Americano

August 12th was the day of the biggest sporting event of the year for Mexicans: The USA-Mexico World Cup Qualifier. Mexico has historically had a stronger soccer team than the US; however, all that has changed in the past 10 years and now the US holds the edge in recent matches. For Mexicans, this is a bitter reality; soccer is the one thing that Mexicans once could unquestionably claim superiority to their richer northern neighbors. To give you an idea how important this matchup is for Mexicans, consider this: El Estadio Azteca holds 115,000 spectators and is the fifth largest stadium in the world. For the US-Mexico World Cup qualifier, it sold out weeks in advance; for a match played at 3:00pm on a Wednesday afternoon! The pride of an entire nation hung in the balance....and I was one of the 400 or so crazy Americans inside who would inspire the ire of a stadium full of futbol fanaticos.

Antonio El Tigre

 Friendly cereal icon or crazed sugar peddler?

The Anticipation Builds

The Mexico vs. USA world cup qualifying soccer match means a lot to Mexicans. A lot. Ever since I stepped foot in the country, I've been bombarded with media related to the clash: television programs, magazine covers, newspaper articles, and talking heads on the radio. Tomorrow, when 105,000 fans fill the Estadio Azteca, this anticipation will boil over onto the field. And I will be one of 500 or so crazy Americans who voluntarily entered this cauldron. Your prayers are appreciated.