Italia Vince la Quarta Coppa del Mondo!!!

Congratulazioni Italia!!! First I would like to preface that I don't consider myself athletic. Really, at all. Dabbled in cross country in high school- but by no means was I the star athlete. Now, I haven't been following this whole World Cup shebang, but I caught a glimpse of the France-Portugal game and I was hooked. Thoroughly impressed by the athletic prowress of these men who can run for 90 mins across a ridiculously sized field, kicking this ball (sometimes even with their head, and then just shaking it off!). If I ever went head to head with any one of these men, it really would be a sight to see. They'd walk away with their heads bowed down in shame, no doubt--as I said I'm a quality athlete. But seriously, this game is really quite thrilling to watch when there's so much at stake. To say that I was excited to watch this final game is an understatement I can't even begin to express. Having spent 5 months studying in Rome last year, you can guess who I was rooting for. I went to the game with two of my closest friends, Carrie and Liana, and brought them as much Italian regalia as I could, so when we went to a sports bar this morning we could go fully prepared!

As I threw on my favorite "Ciao, Roma" shirt, I had a good feeling in my veins. Liana was wearing my Jonathan's Angels Roma muscle tank, a complimentary gift from one of those unforgettable nights, which has the words "Dormo con chi mi pare" written on the back. Italian words which read as music to many a men who can understand these I'm sure. We were ready to go. And so was ITALIA! But Yankee Doodles had standing room only...the f*ckers. So we ended up watching the game at sophisticated Broadway Deli. Not the ideal place to watch a game where you want a rowdy crowd, but by the second half the place was packed, and we had found a man to sell us Italian flags, so we were happy as clams. But really that game was wild, it got intense!! What was Zidane thinking with that headbutt?!! Like seriously, has he lost it? And that greaaaaaat save by the Italian goalie!!! But how it got down to those penalty kicks!!! And that Frenchman who just totally missed one! AMAAAZING!!

BUT REALLLLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING that came out of this was the intoxicating celebration afterwards. Oh yes, it is the only way the Italians do it; and though not one of the three (Carrie, Liana, or I) have Italian blood in us, we paraded like we did! We proceeded to drive through most of West Los Angeles (ie through Montana, San Vincente, Wilshire through Beverely Hills) with our flags hanging out the sunroof waving wildly. Honking the horn, and screaming our heads off like a bunch of hooligans --well it was only fitting seeing as the reaction we got from all the good looking Italian men, guys, whatever who also supported the team, could you really blame us? For the 45 minutes that we were driving around the city we had people from every race, gender, and age cheering, honking, giving the peace sign, or a fist in thrilled defiance--it was truly a sight to see, and quite exhilarating. If only every day was World Cup Day...and if only every day our team won. :)