We are the Champions.....

The boys arrived at school yesterday singing, ¨Yo soy español, español, español...¨ the theme song of every expatriot Spaniard these days! It is truly phenomenal! By 15:00h on Monday, the streets surrounding Plaza Colón were blocked off by police for about a km. No vehicular traffic was allowed as crowds began to pour into the area to welcome home the victorious Spanish national team. On the news there were great photos of the plane landing at Barrajas. ¨Campeonatos¨ (Champions) was written in massive red letters across the front of the plane lest there be any question as to exactly who the passengers were! As they taxied from the runway, the pilot´s window opened and a hand appeared holding the Spanish flag blowing in the wind! It was great!

The team ¨processed¨in an open bus - think London Tour bus - into the city through streets lined with adoring fans! When they finally arrived at Colón, there was singing, dancing, celebration; they were waving the trophy around as if it were a drinking glass! And that doesn´t even begin to cover what they did to their coach!


Our school is located just one block from the Plaza Colón. One of the (many) things on which the students have commented is how there can be thousands of people in the street late into the night and yet when they arrive at the school in the morning, the entire place is cleaned up as if nothing had happened! Obviously, celebration is not the only thing that continues late into the night!

Today we will be doing a little more ¨flamenco dancing¨. The boys seemed to get into it and I will take them to see flamenco when we go to Sevilla...so they can have a better appreciation of the complexity of the music and steps by having learned a little bit beforehand!

I think I would like to have a little ¨reunion¨ in September when we return to school. I need to get some feedback regarding what works and what doesn´t. Although I think they pretty much enjoy everything! Old habits die hard. I can ¨recargar¨ my cell phone, and it lasts me pretty much about 10 days. That includes the occasional call to the States, contacting the boys, making whatever necessary calls I need to make within Spain. However, they seem to use up their 20€ in a matter of days (like, 2). They don´t seem to be able to grasp the concept of not using the phone to call from one floor of the school to another instead of walking up the stairs. Nor do they seem to be able to organize a meeting place and be there without calling 3 or 4 times to find out, ¨What time?¨, ¨Where?¨, and if someone does not arrive at the exact minute, they are calling to find out where he is! It´s all about economy and waste.

The other huge expense is food and drinks. Even though they are provided with three meals per day, many times (especially the first week) the boys are opting to skip a meal (particularly breakfast) and then come to school and order a cafe con leche. Although I must say this is much better than the first week when instead of getting a cafe con leche for 1.20€ they were going to Starbuck´s and paying +4€ for a latte! Then at the 11:30 break they eat again. Lunch is at 1:30 and some of them are skipping this to go and get ¨cheap¨ bocadillos. Now the bocadillos really are cheap at 1€, but why skip the included meal when they are going to want more food at 16:00h anyway and could get the cheap bocadillos then???? I have great difficulty understanding this rationale.

Water is purchased and then the bottle thrown away. Tap water here is very good and there is no reason not to refill the bottle in the evening and have nice cold water in the morning. We do it in our house all the time. Saves 1€ on every bottle
purchased.

It is not unusual that they spend more the first week. I drag them all over the city on the metro, teaching them how to use it, where things are, how to get around most efficiently. After that, I begin to walk. I walk everywhere...the archetecture here is beautiful and there is always something interesting to look at. It is the best way to actually learn the city, and power ä pie¨is actually quite economical as well.

Weeks 2, 3, and 4 should show a significant decrease in the amount of money spent. It will pick up again at the end when we go to Andalucia and they need to purchase food during the day (breakfasts are included in the hotels). However, once again, there are great bargains to be had in Spanish food - buying American anything is going to cost a bomb! That includes, Coke, Haagen Daas, MickeyD´s, BK, Starbucks, Dunkin Coffee, etc.

In case you do not know, I have given the students a list of places to visit and see on their own during their free time. Each Monday, I expect them to write something (short) for me in Spanish about their experiences, what they´ve seen, where they´ve been and what their impressions are. Most are doing it, some are not. there has to be some sort of accountability that they are spending their free time usefully... not just sitting on park benches...dreaming the day away... although in the heat of the day, that is not such a bad plan. A great invention, siesta!