One week complete...

I´ve been taking an advanced language class these past few days so my time to blog has been severely curtailed! The weather has improved dramatically the past couple of days. We are up to about 24 degrees and sunny! Whew! I didn´t bring clothes for cold! They are now saying that when the heat does actually come to Madrid (usually in July) that it will be record heat! Wonderful! Right now it is beautiful - sunny and pleasant!

On Wednesday, we changed our plans to visit the Sorolla gallery because of the Spain vs. Switzerland World Cup game. We all met at the school to watch Spain get upset...anything less than a win over Switzerland is an upset! Apparently Spain was just a little bit overconfident...There will be more opportunities to wear the red and yellow jerseys and wave the bandera de España - at least we hope so! But they must win their next two games to stay in it.

On Tuesday afternoon we went for a tour of the botanical gardens. Originally a garden of more than 100 hectares, it contains 5000 species of trees and many more species of plants inculding more than 100 different bonsai trees donated to the garden by a former president of Spain. It was a gorgeous afternoon and a relaxing way for the kids to spend a couple of hours. We strolled and chatted, looked at ponds, fish, plants and animals.

So far everyone seems happy with his classes. There have been some changes made - movement up and down levels - but I hear lots of conversation and use of Spanish and-or "Spanglish" - all good! Today we had a choice of watching the USA game or having an "intercambio" - a language exchange with the students at another International House location who are learning English during the summer. I opted for the intercambio and the guys are looking forwards to sharing their language skills with the Spanish students. On Thursday afternoon we went rowing in the small rowboats in the lake at the Parque de Retiro. It is one of the favourite activities for the boys - a beautiful setting in front of the majestic statue of King Alfonso XIII on a gorgeous afternoon. I was minding the backbacks so I didn´t get any good photos, but I imagine they will be appearing on Facebook soon. I did get a nice group shot, though.
The boys are starting to look a bit tired. I keep telling them to go to bed early - somehow I don´t think they are listening. We have a big weekend planned. Tomorrow we go to El Escorial and then the discoteca (finally!!!!)! On Sunday I am looking at Segovia for the day which will be a full day out of the city of Madrid. I won´t have much internet access during the weekend, so look for more here on Monday!