Al is a big sports fan and rather loud about it. And even though I’m often bored by sports I have to admit that watching a game in a local hangout and cheering for a local team is a great way to interact with locals.

This sketch was done in San Cristobal in Mexico, near to the Guatemalan border, where we had stopped at a taqueria for beer and tacos pastor.

On the TV there was a soccer game going on – US versus Guatemala. The place was packed – the only table available was directly in front of the TV. I ended up sitting under the TV, facing the crowd that was all looking at the TV.

My view of the crowd watching the game.

A rough translation of my bad handwriting…

• Even though the game is boring to me, everyone else is captivated. The cooks abandon their food hissing on the grill, keep their eyes peeled on the TV.
• People are peering in the door.
• The waiter has stopped waiting on tables.
• A family is out for lunch together – the daughter is rooting for the Americans.
• The only other person in the room who is not watching the game is a woman who examines two little packages, one containing an amber cross and the other a small amber pendant.
• Her husband looks like Papa Hemingway but drinks orange squash watered down with mineral water – definitely not Hemingway’s choice of drink.
• Al is equally entranced by the game and cheers loudly for Guatemala to all the local’s approval.

Another sketch – this of our dinner and all the accoutrements that hang out with quesadillas.

On the same trip, another bar, another game. This one was in Mexico City and the soccer tournament was still going on, this time it was Mexico versus Guatemala. Naturally Al cheered for Mexico, along with the rest of the bar. One of the patrons came up and gave us this little drawing of Al at the end of the game!
More of the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Local