CRIT 2009

So, I am finally recovered from my weekend at the CRIT in Lyon. The CRIT is a large sports tournament between all the IEPs in France. There are 9 of them, and each has their own colours, and cheers and stereotypes. Sciences-Po Paris is Yellow and Black, their cheer is a vulgar song about Bulgaria, and their stereotype is being very stuckup and elitist.

This elitism all comes down to: them being from the rich Capital, but mostly from the "Arceuil". The Arceuil is the entrance exam to Sciences-Po which is very difficult. The Paris school is the best one, and most people's first choice, so when Paris cheers "Souviens toi d'Arceuil?" (Remember the Arceuil?) They rub it into the faces of the other teams that they got into Paris while the others are more dumb and did not. In reaction to this, the other 8 schools gang up on Paris and cheer "Provence unis, tous contre Paris!" (Provence unit against Paris!). Things this weekend got a bit violent at times, and there were some Flag burnings. It was slightly anarchical with no administration there and really no rules or code of conduct.

On the Friday Night, we all went to the Old Lyon, 2750 people and stormed the streets, it was VERY crazy. People stood on monuments and lit fire works and climbed up lamp posts to wave flags. There was also constant cheering present. It never stopped... the ENTIRE weekend. Most teams had a drum team, or a small marching band that came with them to play their cheers or increase the energy level during games.

I still haven't mentioned this, but our volleyball team won ALL our games. We had no competition. The atmosphere was crazy though with 400+ watching our final all cheering and beating drums. We could not hear each other at all. When we won, all the supporters from our side rushed onto the court and even lifted some of us up. It was the coolest atmosphere I have ever played in.

Sunday night was our last night there, and we had a closing ceremony at a stadium they rented out. PARIS WON! It was great. Then at 2am we got bused back to Paris, arriving there at 8 am... just in time for people to go to class. (I was lucky as I don't have courses til 5pm on Mondays... so I got some sleep).

Some pictures of the weekend.