ISRAEL VS GREECE TONIGHT!

WOOOOOORD!



9.03-- Just saw the empty reserved seat for Gilad Shalit and my heart just broke a little bit.

9.04-- We're both blue and white...who the hell is who??

9.06-- still have no idea which color we are and am too embarrassed to ask the Russians I'm surrounded by. Tried looking at players' appearances for clues, but apparently everyone looks Mediterranean.

9.07-- WE'RE BLUE.

9.09-- I just got really depressed because I realized that even if Israel does make it to the World Cup 2010 (this game is a qualifier), I won't be able to go to South Africa as I had planned (college graduation trip) because I'll be in the army.

9.13-- Apparently one of the player's name is something like "Dudu" followed by some last name that sounded like "Wawa" or some crazy shit like that. I started laughing, and this guy says to me in Hebrew, "What's funny?" And I said that the name "Dudu" is funny, and he said, "No it's not."

Oh yes it is!!!

(Also, I'm five years old.)

9.27-- Dear Residents of this building: I hope you're comfortable standing outside the gates in the cold, because the guard is sitting in this room watching TV and is ignoring your buzzing to be let in.

9.58-- Halftime. There's a commercial with people just singing the letter "Y." How do I know it's "Y" and not "Why?" ? Because there are subtitles.
Also, the best part about the goal that Greece scored? Every single immigrant in the room (that's everyone in the room!) screamed the equivalent of "Ah hell no!" or "Shit!" or "Noooo!" in their native tongue.

10.16-- GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!
the guy who scored put his hand up gesturing "One!" Does that mean that's his first goal? Or that Israel is number one? Or that G-d is one?
(The other day I was wearing a shirt that said "ONE" on the front, and the N looked a bit like an alef. And some American religious tourist asked me if it was a reference to the Shema, and I didn't have the heart to tell them that it was actually just a promotional t-shirt for my university's football program.)

10.22-- Just dawned on me that I can read newspapers in Hebrew and know some pretty high and mighty words and grammar...but I have no fucking clue what the people in the stands are chanting in Hebrew. "Israel...SOMETHING!" but the something is one syllable. is that it?

10.37-- Someone's down. I believe it's Yossi Benayoun. Oh fuck, they're bringing out the stretcher? Where is that magic spray that you always see at sporting games? You know, where there's a guy writhing in agny on the field and then the medical team runs out, sprays the guy (usually in the groin area), and then the guy magically recovers? Ahhhh fuck, he's now off the field in a stretcher.

10.47-- Sometimes I really don't understand this country. I don't understand how we can win a goddamn war in 6 days, yet we have trouble winning soccer game.

10.54-- Have you ever noticed how soccer resembles ping pong? Not as much as basketball, but....yeah....

10.55-- Annnnnd....it's over. That's it. 1-1. Real fucking exciting.