Tunis vs. Seychelles

We were prepared for riots and crazy fans. One of the directors of the program told us that we needed to wear ugly clothes so we wouldn't attract any attention from men. We were told not to bring purses, not to wear anything that hung off of us, to wear closed toed shoes, etc. I was very, very excited. Apparently the year before when students in our program had went to a soccer game three boys had gotten into a fistfight with Tunisians when they tried to steal a girl's purse.

Well... the game we went to on Saturday was quite anticlimactic.


As you can see, very few people were at the game. This is because Seychelles is horrible. Yes, it was a world cup qualifier, but not a very exciting one. Tunisia won quite decisively, 5-0. In addition, the stadium looks extra empty because it is so huge. It is the largest in Africa (until the new one is built in South Africa for the World Cup). I can imagine that if it were filled to the brim it would be quite a crazy place, but for us, in the place of rowdy crowds there were families with small children. I feel as though I could have worn a dress and carried my laptop with me and wouldn't have been hassled.


The coolest thing I saw there were the vendors who sell everything from Turkish coffee to fish to nuts. I think that they are all just people who simply buy tickets to the game and then come in and sell things...it didn't really seem like they were affiliated with the stadium at all.


Tomorrow Tunisia is playing a friendly game against France in Paris, I'm sure it will be way more exciting than the one I went to!

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