Honestly, the reason why soccer is so popular around the world because anyone can play it. it's cheap and easy to learn and play. players don't need expensive equipment like in Hockey or Football. They don't need anything other than a ball and some rocks to mark the goal posts. (even the ball can be replaced by rags tied into a ball). I truly believe that's the reason why it's so popular.
It wasn't meant as a criticism of religion, more as a comment on the culture that is partly created by those religious beliefs. I am not a Protestant, but I am a product of a Protestant culture.
Interesting fact: England gave football to Mexico. The first team ever in Mexico was a team of English miners working in Real del Monte, Pachuca. The miners were from Cornwall and in that town even today it is famous for selling Cornish pasties, just like the miners ate all those years ago. So without England, Mexico wouldn't have had football when it did. (we also brought tennis to this country).
If Protestants had to get everything right the first time, I'd be screwed. I think the idea of forgiveness is the same in both churches, but in the Catholic Church you get forgiveness from a priest. It's much more intimidating as a Protestant to go directly to the Big Guy Himself... especially because He knows when it's pure bullsh*t. Maybe that's the difference? Sorry to talk about religion. Woo-hoo! Football!
Soccer in Mexico History of Mexican Soccer | eHow.com Mexico national football team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia And a zillion other Google hits seem to indicate that matkirk is right, at least about it being brought over by Cornish settlers, coal miners or not. Pachuca gets mentioned often enough to lend credence as well. The next search finds Pasties Pasties Pasties (but not what you think) - Pachuca, Mexico Travel Blog where they find Cornish Pasties, but it's a silver mining town. Close enough for me. Matkirk wins.
Didn't mean to imply that Matkirk was incorrect. Just would like to see what happens if he said it to a bunch of locals Good info! Thanks to both.
Tolerance One thing I've really appreciated here, in Cancun, is the local people's tolerance for bad Spanish. They go straight to trying to communicate with you- trying to understand what you mean- and not fixating on how you're saying what you're saying. This is unlike anywhere I've been in the world. In some places, you get the cold shoulder if you try to speak the local language (won't name any names, here, but they're famous for a large metal structure that has become the symbol of their capital); in others, like China, people will, many times, simply flee if you try to say something to them in Chinese. I couldn't have achieved what I have, here, if the people had not had this characteristic, because I've had to struggle through- with my bad Spanish- on almost every occasion of importance, and still do.
I have a theory about the acceptance of "bad" Spanish here. There are so many people here from all educational levels and from all over Mexico (where words mean different things sometimes) and all over Latin America (where words mean different things sometimes) and people who grow up speaking Spanish as a second language (Mayan-speakers, people from Chiapas, expats, etc.) that most people aren't sure what is right anymore so they just don't sweat the small stuff and go after the meaning and the rest is gravy. Just an theory.
That's so true!! My thought is that it has to do with the famous Mexican hospitality. They love showing the world their culture and their country. Ask them anything and they'll be happy to tell you whatever you want to know. When I was in university here, my classmates were great about answering all my language questions. Thanks to them, I went from formal classroom Spanish to speaking like a true yucateca.
