Are you ready for the grand finale of my Mexico City trip?! Ready or not, here we go…
Scoping out Fan Fest
I started Sunday morning by grabbing coffee at Quiasmo Coffee Bar and strolling Avenida Amsterdam with Eric, as it was his last few hours in CDMX. Avenida Amsterdam is a lovely, paved path with lots of canopy cover. Even though it’s in the middle of the city, it feels like walking through a park! There are always a lot of runners and people out walking their dogs.
After we finished our coffees, we hopped in an Uber in attempts to go to Chapultapec Castle. We wouldn’t have time to go inside, but it is cool to see it from the park. However, the traffic was SO BAD due to the World Cup game being held later that night. A lot of streets were blocked off, making it impossible to go anywhere by car. Our poor Uber driver drove in circles for like 30 minutes before we decided to get out of the car and do something else.
We ended up walking to the Angel of Independence, which is where one of the main ‘fan fest’ zones was located. I was happy to be able to scope out the situation. There were a bunch of huge screens lining the street leading up to the monument. We could access that street (Reforma) by entering through one of the side streets. There were a TON of police/national guard/surveillance workers in the area, checking people’s bags and watching the crowds.
It had not even been 11am and there were already people blowing horns, waving flags, and dancing. The game was set to start at 6pm.
After scoping out the area, I decided that I would return later in the afternoon. I was hoping to find a spot on the side of the street so that I could avoid being in the large crowds. Sadly, there had been deadly accidents at the fan fest for the previous World Cup game where Mexico played Ecuador. My goal was to have fun without jeopardizing my safety.
Lunch at El Hidalguense
After a long walk around the city, Eric and I went to lunch at El Hidalguense. He had already been there the other day and said it was really good, so I was excited to try it myself. It’s also kind of hard to find restaurants with chicken/vegetable options, but this one had quite a few.
I ordered the chicken quesadillas, as I had grown a bit tired of tacos after having 6 within 24 hrs 😆
What I really enjoyed about this place was that they give you three different sauces to add to your food. I couldn’t tell you what they were called, but I know that I really liked the green one.
It was nice catching up with Eric one last time before he left. We talked about work & travel and then spent some time recapping the weekend. We both agreed that the concert was absolutely incredible and definitely worth coming to Mexico City for.
Back to Fan Fest I go!!!
Fueled from a hearty lunch, I made my way back to the Angel of Independence for fan fest. By then, it was about 3pm. It was starting to get more crowded, but there was still a lot of open space. Since I had 3+ hours to kill before the game started, I stopped by 7-11 and grabbed snacks and a water. I knew it would be impossible to go once more people started showing up.
I was standing at the curb eating a bag of potato chips when an older man in a yellow jacket (one of the surveillance workers) started talking to me. It took me a while to figure out what he was asking, but eventually I realized that he was asking if I was rooting for England or Mexico. I said, “Obviously Mexico! I’m from the United States”. I think he just assumed that since I’m white I must be an England fan 😅.
He replied, “LOS ESTADOS UNIDOSSSSSS?!?!?!?!”
He had a huge grin on his face.
“Can we take a selfie?!”
We took a photo and continued talking a bit in Spanish. He asked what I think about CDMX and offered to show me his farm when I return someday.
Sadly, we couldn’t talk for very long since he was technically working. He showed me his government badge, saying that he needed to keep an eye on the crowds.
Before I left, we exchanged numbers, and he gave me 5 hugs.
I walked down the street closer to the Angel, smiling to myself and thinking, “wow, people are just so nice!”
Moments later, I stood taking in the chaos around me. There was a group of guys tossing people in the air and chanting, “quiere volar! quiere volar! quiere volar!”. People were waving enormous Mexican flags, dancing, and singing. Kids were spraying foam in each other’s faces.
All of a sudden, a man my age approached me and asked if I was here to watch the game. We talked for a while (once again, in Spanish… I got sooooooo much practice!) about the game, why I was in Mexico, what we like to do for fun, etc. After a while, Leo asked if I wanted to join him and his friends. I introduced myself to Mer, Raul, and Fabiola. We spent the next 5ish hours together watching the game and talking a bit! I would have loved to talk to them much more than I did, but it was really difficult to carry a conversation in Spanish with all of the chaos going on around us, in addition to the fact that I haven’t spoken the language in almost 4 years.
I have to say, this trip really confirmed my aspiration to live in a Spanish-speaking country for a couple of years someday. I just know that if I used my skills daily for an extended period of time, I could be fluent!!!
The game still hadn’t started yet, but the party was picking up the pace. I had told Leo that I was nervous about there being so many people, and he reassured me that it is much safer to stand in the section we were in compared to the one right next to the monument. He was right! I ended up staying in that section with them, and I always had enough space to move.
At one point, I was watching a woman get tossed in the air when I accidentally made eye contact with one of the guys doing the tossing. I quickly shuffled behind Leo and Mer, saying, “no quiero volar”.
Just when I thought that I was in the clear, a man appeared directly in front of me. He made direct eye contact with me, smiled ear to ear, and started shouting, “quiere volar! quiere volar! quiere volar!”. Before I knew it, I was being lifted by a group of strangers.
They counted:
“UNO”
“DOS”
“TRES”
and tossed me several feet into the air. I surrendered, letting my arms and legs fly out in front of me. A soft scream escaped my lips as spray foam flew directly onto my face.
I flew a total of 3 times (I think… it’s all a blur).
When I planted my feet on the ground once again, I felt the most intense surge of adrenaline of my life. I danced around as the people around me chanted. When I returned to my new friends, they were laughing so hard. Lucky for me, they caught it all on camera!
Once the game started, I was dialed in. The time flew by because the match was so intense! England scored two goals within minutes of each other, which was disappointing to everyone in the crowd. Mexico started to come back, though, and MAN were those goals a fun time! Everybody was jumping up and down, screaming, hugging each other, spraying foam, blowing horns, waving flags, and more.
One of my favorite cheers that we did was “sí se puede”, which means “yes, we can!”. We would chant this any time it looked like Mexico was trying to score.
The endind of the match was super intense, with 11 minutes added to the clock. It looked like we had a chance, but sadly, the game ended in a loss for Mexico. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little worried about what might happen if Mexico lost the game. Would people be angry and riot, like what happens after American football games?!
In reality, the fans were sad but proud of their team. Some people cried, and others partied in the streets, grateful that their team had made it this far in the World Cup.
I said goodbye to my new friends and began my solo journey back to my hotel. As soon as I got stable wifi, I called Nate and told him about my night. It was so fun to hear him laugh! He couldn’t believe that I had flown. He was like, “how do you get yourself into these situations?!”
I went to sleep that night, grateful for the opportunity to experience Mexican culture and pride in its truest form. Being a fan in a crowd of over a million, watching Mexico play a round-16 World Cup game in Mexico City was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It feels like there’s been a lot of those lately… and I’m here for it 😉
Until next time,
Clara