The Eurocup

When we arrived in Spain, the European Cup was already underway. Last Thursday, Spain beat Russia to advance to the Finals against Germany. The streets were full of people celebrating and honking horns, etc. But that was nothing. Sunday evening was the final game. We stayed in Malaga Sunday and went to a local ward - the mission president happened to be there - at 10:30. In the late afternoon, we drove down to a small town on the coast where the mom of one of the BYU professors grew up. We got to see what a small Spanish town was like while she took pictures of the neighborhood, etc. The streets were empty because everyone was in the bars or restaurants watching the game on the big screens. (Usually the streets are full of people all evening until about 1 am.) We drove back to Malaga and arrived right about the time the game ended. Spain won 1-0 and people started pouring into the streets chanting "Ole, ole, ole!" or ¨"España!" Then cars and mopeds full of teenagers started cruising the streets, hanging out of the windows, waving Spanish flags, shouting, singing, etc. Some girls had the flag wrapped around them superhero style while they clung onto their boyfriends´ backs as they cruised around on mopeds. Groups of kids stood out in the plaza with their parents waving flags, singing, chanting, jumping up and down. It was pure pandemonium. I took way too many pictures of the cars that drove by because I wasn´t sure which ones would turn out. I´ll have to figure out how to attach pictures later because I´m not sure how to do it and I only have two minutes left on my internet usage. Anyways, it was the first time Spain won the Euro Cup in 44 years. Needless to say, they were excited. The noise lasted until after one in the morning when I finally fell asleep. Things are going great here. I´ll post more about my adventures the next time I´m able to get ahold of a computer. Hasta luego!