Baseball en francais

Well friends, turns out America's pastime is also enjoyed in Canada. I attended the quebecois version of a baseball game as part of a University excursion the other week. Trying my hardest to fit in, I researched baseball terms in French but as it was the last minute (typical), I forgot most of them before making it to the stadium... yay.

Here are a few terms, use them to sound sophisticated at your next baseball outing:
ball: la balle
bat: le bâton
base: le but
player: le joueur

The student leaders painted our faces with the team colors of blue, yellow and gray/black so as to fit in with the locals. Someone offered to paint a fleur de lis on my cheek but I turned it down. Stripes are more my style ya know?

Megan and I with tons of team spirit.

Ok, so we arrived at the stadium a few hours early for a tailgate. Everyone received bracelets that guaranteed you endless hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, popcorn, chips and 3 beverages of your choice. It was a pretty good deal. I am embarrassed to admit that I went into hoarding mode and tried to stow things in my purse for later. Not sure who I was trying to fool with my 'saving for tomorrow' story because by the end of the 2nd inning, my 'saved' food was gone.

I 'saved' this hot dog for lunch the next day.

Coming from the home of the CWS makes me a little stuck up in term's of baseball stadiums so I guess I will describe the Capitales' stadium as cute. It was cozy and small but I guess for a sport that can't be played for the majority of the year, you don't need something too big. The Capitales played the Newark Bears and I happily sang our National Anthem along with maybe 5 other people in the stands before the start of the game. Quebec emerged victorious in the cross-border game despite a slow start in the first inning (as the picture below suggests).

Manual scoreboard- old school style. I dig it.

I was a fun experience and although I didn't understand a lot of what the announcer was saying, the game is essentially the same and I was able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty that is baseball. Another bonus from the night was when the Laval section cheered the loudest earning us a free pizza! As luck would have it, I was in the middle of the section with Megan, so the pizza was handed to us. More food. Yayy!

Free pizza. So much to love.

We left at the top of the 8th to make it back to campus before 11:30 as everyone had exams the next day. We had cheered the Capitales to near victory though and went back feeling quite accomplished. It was worth waking up early the next morning to study for my exams especially since I could justify an extra shot of espresso in my coffee. Wahoo!