Day 44

Dana had some family stuff she had to take care of, and Hugo didn’t go to school, so I stayed with him this morning while he was more or less a good boy. I didn’t have much time in Madrid, but I saw about 15 policeman on motorcycles escorting a car…not sure who was in it. I was close to the Royal Palace so I walked there wondering if something was going on, I did get to see a little marching procession/ceremony thing, it was fun. I wish I knew what it was.

I walked through the Daliadiera de San Fernando el Grande. What makes flowers so charming? I think those are some of the neatest little creations. It overlooks part of the city, and in the distance I saw a pillar of thick, black smoke marring my beautiful view of Madrid. I sat there for several minutes as the smoke slowly curled away and the view was clear again as if the fire never happened. I thought about when we get burned, so to speak, and are enveloped in ugly, thick, black smoke. It takes time, but the smoke evaporates with the help of unseen, stronger, surrounding elements and the view becomes clear. We’re then left to either mourn over the rubble, or take advantage of the cleansing process of fire and construct something beautiful and new. Annnd cheesy analogy is done. Plenty more where that came from.

I don’t even want to write about Hugo tonight. It is fun to watch some of the other kids in the urba. There’s a definite love triangle going on among the younger teenagers, Isabella, Jaime and Jaime. One of my favorites is Chema. I think he’s the skinniest kid I’ve ever seen, kinda funny-looking in an adorable way and he’s just a bucket of energy. He never just walks into the urba, he always comes in running with a war-cry, beating his chest, kicking a soccer ball, tucking and rolling, it makes my day every time. Chema definitely has some violent tendencies, and I’ve had to take away toys and large rocks that turn into weapons, but whenever I do talk to him, the same as when he asks my permission for something, the war-crying, soccer whiz becomes nothing but respect and gentleness, and he listens. It’s the cutest thing.