Today was originally reserved for a trip to a small German Village in the mountains called Colonia Tovar. The Tigres de Aragua, the local Venezuelan League baseball team had a do or die playoff game to play that night and most of teh group was pretty tired from the constant movement so baseball won out.

Before heading to the game I needed to get a bit of food in me so decided to sample the local McDonalds. Aside from the play place it looks just like the average modern McDonalds you’d see in the US. It actually sticks out a bit due to how new and clean it looks. Like many establishments they have private security working the door, although they don’t appear to be armed. The menu itself is more limited, I didn’t see a dollar/value menu for example. At home normally I order a McDouble and McChicken but I was trying to eat something different. First I tried to order a McFiesta which I was informed is a Happy Meal and it didn’t look like I wanted a toy. I’m not a McFlurry person but we ordered one for Genesis with Pirulin. I ended up getting a normal cheeseburger, and the total bill came out to around $10. Ouch. I expected at least a quarter pounder for that price but the cheeseburger is the 2oz one you used to get for like 60 cents (although now it’s more like $1-1.50). They also didn’t put any toppings on it which suprised me, so it was basically a really small and salty burger for $5. McDonalds turned out ot be easily the worst value food I’ve eaten so far and they didn’t even have their Yuca fries for me to try.

I met up with the guys at their house and got a ride over to the baseball stadium. The stadium is on the NW side of town, less than 10 minutes from their house. Since it was a big important game we were unsure of what the parking situation would be like so grabbed a spot in a small privately owned lot a few blocks from the stadium. The lot was manned by a family who gave the gringos their normal funny looks as we paid the $2 to park and walked to the game.

The stadium itself reminds me of a minor league baseball stadium. No stands in the outfield but box seats extending to the foul poles on each side. Capacity wise I can’t imagine it’s much different from the Kane County Cougars stadium, just with larger grandstands and more room for tv crews. Immediately inside the gate we got a quick pat down and I took in my surroundings. The concourse is on ground level with the brick building housing the stands rising above you. To the left was the apparel store where I picked up my required Tigres hat. Their hat sizes don’t go up to extra fat so it was a little tight on my head but loosened up as I sweat into it. Outside the store was a hot dog stand and another stand selling various meats on sticks. We went straight up to our seats since the game was starting.

I climbed up 10 rows of stairs and scooted past the other memebers of our group to settle into the metal box seat. Apparently one of the locals is a regular at games so the beer vendor was quick to get us started. They poured beer out of bottles into plastic cups, which we held onto all game to get a final tally. The beers are less than 10oz, and at about $1 each you plan on going through quite a few of them. The vendor kept a tab for us so we count our cups and settle up at the end of the game. Beer in Venezuela is mostly sold in bottles. You actually buy an official beer crate to hold 30 bottles, which you exchange for new bottles at the store. The beer vendor works the same way, carrying a case of beer in the official blue plastic crate. They (hopefully) clean and refill the bottles at the brewery so there’s less waste, although one of the bottles I drank from earlier had a chip out of it on the bottom.

There were a few vendors working the seats selling a variety your typical stadium food like cotton candy and popcorn. I opted for a small carton of Tequenos for $5, which came with a cup of nacho cheese to dip them in. Soft tangy white cheese dipped in creamy golden liquid cheese. Heavenly. Since there were about 20 people in our group the beer vendor sat on the stairs next to us while we waited for additional rounds and headed down to refill his crate as necessary. I drank about 13 beers, which sounds like a lot until you realize they’re about half the size and very low ABV, at best it was like drinking a 6 pack of MGD.

The game itself was a lot of fun, the crowd has a variety of chants which I picked up throughout the game. “Un Hit” took me a while to figure out, I couldn’t understand the point of yelling OOOOO HEEE over and over but, its sports so why not? Poooooooonche, which roughly translates to like punch out I guess, is the 2 strike chant while your team is pitching. They also chanted something that meant loser at a guy who was talking trash and got ejected. The game was fun, with the Tigres scoring early but then needing to rally later in the game after pulling ahead for victory. My favorite part was that we realized former White Sox spring hero and MLB record holder Yermin Mercedez was playing first base for the Tigres. Yermin was in prime baseball shape and even stole a base. He was definitely out there having a good time and I spotted him celebrating on the field double fisting Polars after the win.