The Mundial Is Coming and Argentina Gets Ready

You can feel the anticipation. Everyone's talking about the Copa Mundial (or just "mundial), which is known to the English-speaking world as the World Cup. Mundial-fever is definitely something new for me. In the United States, I lived 25 years without noticing or caring about the World Cup. Advertisers are giving away tickets and trips as promotions -- it seems like everywhere I go, I've been entered into a contest to win a trip just by buying a soda, making a phone call, etc.

Not only are big businesses getting ready with promotions, but so are small ones. I noticed the corner café that I usually eat my lunch in has just installed a new 42-inch plasma screen. Apparently restaurants that do not show the game will be facing a severe loss of business during June. It wasn't just my local café, either. All over the city, new plasmas are going in.

The fever isn't just restricted to Argentina either. Last week in Brazil, the rioting prisoners of Sao Paulo demanded two things -- conjugal visits from their wives and girlfriends and plasma TVs to watch the World Cup. That just goes to show you how Latin Americans view the World Cup in terms of importance -- its right up there with sex.

In addition, I've been informed by people in my office that I should not expect anyone to be working should Argentina be playing during office hours. Since I'm American, apparently they felt the need to explain this to me explicitly, just so there's no confusion. I don't know how it works in other companies, but I expect that on the days Argentina is playing, there won't be too much work going on either.

So, get ready. Just 18 days until the start of the World Cup. If you're here in Argentina, its going to be the event for June/July.