Leap frog and other sports...

Spain 3 - Russia 0 This is the kind of cultural experience that you could never plan in a lifetime! On a continent that is crazy for futbol, we are in a country gone mad with joy for their national team! It has been 24 years since Spain was in a Eurocup semi-final and now they play Germany for the championship on Sunday evening at 20:45h. Everyone is caught up in the futbol frenzy! Face paint (red and yellow) futbol shirts, Spanish flags are all part of the attire.

There is a hugh police presence when events of this magnitude take place here. I spoke to the boys and warned them of what to expect in terms of police in riot gear and the huge crowds of people. I think, however, that they were completely overwhelmed by all of it. The boys are all very tired today and so far I haven´t heard too much - I´m not sure if it is because they don´t want to tell me too much (I´ll eventually find out anyway!)or they haven´t processed it all yet! Some relish the spectacle and the crowds and others find it too much... they are all finding their own way of enjoying the craziness!

During the ¨tarde¨ yesterday, we all went to the Templo de Debod. This is a monument in the Parque del Oeste that was a gift to Spain from the Egyptian government. It is a 2200 year old temple built in honor of the goddess Isis that was disassembled in Egypt and reassembled block by block here in Madrid. Also in the park are some of the most beautiful vistas of the city of Madrid. They boys got to explore the entire temple and seemed to find it fascinating.

It was nearly 40ºC yesterday - the heat was oppressive. When I came out of the cool of the temple (it was a good place to hang around for a while!) I came upon a game of leapfrog going on in the courtyard! They were running and leaping over each other - of course all trying to see who could leap over the tallest boy! This is the same group who, as we walk complains about the heat!!!! Go figure. I got some great photos....you´ll see them soon.

The group has now increased in size to 17 - the french girls have become a permanent fixture. It is fine - they are two lovely girls, I´ve spoken to them. They are also here for a month. They speak French (of course), English (too bad!) understand German and are learning Spanish! I´m just afraid that their English may be improving more than their Spanish!!

Today is Friday and there is mad studying going on during the break in class as there is an exam every Friday. The boys also write for me every week about what they have seen and done during the week. I gave each of them a list of places to see, things to do in Madrid during their free time. So while they are having all this fun, they are not getting off scott free! iPods continue to be a problem - I want them out of their ears so that the boys are listening to the sounds of the language spoken around them and not tuned into their own little (English speaking) worlds. I don´t mind them sharing music occasionally, but this constant shutting out of the outside world is not conducive to language learning!

I had planned to take the boys to the bullfights this weekend, but bullfights are only on Sunday and usually begin at 19:00h. They usually last about 3 and 1/2 hours. Since the futbol final is also on Sunday and begins at 20:45h, there is no way we can do both. And there is no bullfight in Madrid the following Sunday (July 5) because the Fiesta de San Fermin - more commonly known as the running of the bulls - in Pamplona begins on July 6. As much as I try, we simply cannot do everything. But this weekend is going to be an exciting one!