Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Tonight’s match didn’t start until 10:00 p.m. local time, which meant we were at the stadium until about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. This is not a vacation, for sure.

Wandered about in the morning, then made some photos on the shuttle route to the stadium. A few frames are technically from Sunday, but I’ll include them in this post.

The penultimate frame here is of the three Associated Press staffers we’ve been working with. They absorbed my kids into their team and have been wonderful to work with – many thanks to Matias Delacroix, Dolores Ochoa and Moises Castillo.

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

FIFA has a language all its own, including MD and MD-1 – match day and math day minus one, when the teams will do a news conference and maybe a familiarization on the pitch. We were out at Estadio Monterrey for much of the day and I was able to head out with my photojournalism students to cover them covering Japan.

So many folks have said this must be a cool trip, getting to go to the World Cup. The truth is … I don’t get to watch the matches. I take in images during the match from the kids on the pitch or in the tribune (press box), sometimes thousands of them during a match, so I need fast connection feeds. I tested the tribune before the first match and it wasn’t going to work, so for the Monterrey matches I’m buried in the stadium in the media center.

I can hear what’s happening and there are feeds from the broadcasts, but that’s about it.

But seeing the joy of the kids working, that makes it worth it. And after yesterday’s 110 degree weather, the torrential rains and flooding made for an interesting ride home on roads not built for that much water.

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Headed up to the rooftop to work for a bit this morning, was nearing 100 well before noon and crispily dry. Desiccating, even.

Mexico was playing in the evening so I wandered over to a fan zone after finishing up some editing and caught the last six minutes of the victory.

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Today’s match was in the evening and away from here, so I did a lunch-time wander and stopped at a restaurant that had been recommended. I tried to go twice before but, while open, there appeared to be no one working. I did find someone today and that each table had a book or two on it. Some of the selections were interesting choices.

The workflow is more busy than complicated, but the weather warning for tomorrow was alarming.

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

The students worked the phones and emails and confirmed a news conference back at Tunisia’s training camp. We headed south again, up into the mountains and they covered Hevré Renard’s introduction as head coach. After the news conference, we hustled them out to the training field to cover that where I stayed up high to let them work … and made a few frames, including Renard being presented with a set of pink boots that matched the team’s.

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

After Sunday night’s loss, word came that Tunisia had fired their coach. They had an open session listed on the FIFA calendar, so we took a small team down to Santiago, hoping for an introduction.

We did spot a former coach, Mondher Kebaier, who was rumored to be coming back, watching from a box, but no official word. It was a tough shot, the glass was not very clear and I ended up making a better photo that my kid did, so we sent mine along with some of her training photos. My first photo on the AP wire in nearly 30 years. And, yeah, the buzz was still there.

No news in hand, we headed home. In between a little weather, I did another walkabout.

Santiago, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

From the rooftop terrace, I spotted the stadium we’ll be working out of. First match, the kids did fantastic – the joy of doing the thing was evident at day’s end.

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico

Guadalupe, Nuevo Leone, Mexico