Tag: Sport

Birthday and Everton de Viña vs Antofagasta

On the 28th of October 2018, I celebrated my 20th birthday, my first celebrated outside Scotland. However, it was certainly one that I will remember for a long time.

For my birthday, I went with Holly and Charlotte to the Everton de Viña del Mar match vs Antofagasta, a team from the north of Chile. Everton de Viña are at risk or relegation this season whilst Antofagasta our competing for a spot in next year’s Copa Libertadores. (South American version of the Champions League) Therefore, everyone was in no doubt that this was going to be a hard match el Oro y Cielo. After long lines and numerous security checks, we finally got to our seats. Although slightly cloudy, it was 20 degrees Celsius and no rain was in sight- very different from compared to Scotland!

Right from the start, Antofagasta’s prowess showed when Venezuelan star striker Eduard Bello capitalised on a goalkeeping error to put the visitors 1-0 ahead. However, things to a romantic twist as during his goal celebration, he ran up to the stand and proposed to his girlfriend!

Everton de Viña later drew level 1-1 from a superb free-kick leaving the keeper frozen and later went 2-1 in front. However, they failed to hang on until the half-time whistle when Eduard Bello scored a fantastic skillful goal to make the score 2-2 at the half.

Everton de Viña were by far the better team, with more possession, passes and shots on target. However, they wasted quite a few chances and it looked progressively more likely that the match would end a 2-2 draw. Despite this, their relentless pressure soon paid off and Óscar Salinas scored the winner in 83rd minute, causing the Estadio Sausalito to erupt and Los del Cerro (Everton de Viña’s Barra Brava/Ultras) to bring out a massive banner that covered the entire end. The match ended 3-2 and Everton de Viña got an important but well-deserved three points.

After the match, the three of us headed back into the centre of Viña del Mar for the post-match pint before our meal at one of Viña’s Peruvian restaurants. It was a lovely meal and it was washed down with a Pisco Sour and an Inca Kola, one of my favourite soft drinks. What I did not realise however was that Holly and Charlotte had bought me a surprise birthday cake and given it to the restaurant before the match, which was very kind of them!

I had a great birthday and hope to get to the last Everton de Viña home game against Palestino at the end of November.

Palín

This week we had our first practical class for Mapuche Games, which took place on the university pitch in Viña del Mar. There, we were introduced to the game of Palín.

Palín is one of the games played by the Mapuche in order to settle disputes between tribes. It is widely regarded as one of the pillars of Mapuche culture and much of the terminology used in class is in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche. The sport is similar to hockey and shinty and is played with a stick called a ‘weño’ and a ball called a ‘palí’. Teams normally consist of about fifteen players each side and both teams try to take the palí to the other end in order to score a ‘tripay’. The pitch is rectangular and is called a ‘palíwe’.

Unlike most sports such as hockey and shinty, in palín, players begin the match facing each other horizontally in a line across the pitch. A player’s opposite number is called ‘kon’ and they are supposed to be mindful of their opposite number’s family. The game begins when the two captains (always the players in the middle of the line) come out and touch palís four times to the count of ‘kiñe, epu, güla, meli’ (one, two, three, four in Mapudungun) and compete for the palí, much like a bully-off in hockey or a face-off in ice hockey.

Due to the small size of the university pitch, the number of players on each team was seven and we had to take turns to play as the class is quite large. The game could be quite competitive and games frequently turned into a maul of players all swinging their weños trying to get the palí. Due to some of the viciousness, I believe it would be banned in the UK due to health and safety reasons!  I was in a team of seven alongside Holly and Charlotte, my classmates from Heriot-Watt. We played very well as a team and eventually won our game 2-0.

The lesson was a fantastic introduction to the game of Palín and I look forward to our next class next Tuesday with the great excitment. We all said to each other at the end that it was like nothing we have ever done before and that it was great to try something new and learn about a completely new culture.

Mari Mari!

(Photo credits go to Holly)