This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

South America loves fútbol, or as we say in North America, soccer. The premier exhibition for teams in South America, and the oldest international soccer championship, is the Copa America, or the “America Cup.” This year the 2015 Copa America is being hosted in Chile with two of the matches being held here in Rancagua. Rancagua, a city of 200,000 just 55 miles south of the capital of Santiago, is expressing its enthusiasm for the sport and its pleasure in hosting part of the tournament in an innovative way – through the city’s infrastructure. How? Well, it has transformed its bus stops into soccer goals, complete with goal posts and artificial turf. Passengers waiting for buses will now sit on benches inside the goals, or perhaps we should call them “Copa” cabanas?

With thanks to Danika Swanson for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.