allez l'Egypte, allez l'Egypte!

"Allez l'Egypte, allez l'Egypte!" (go Egypt, go Egypt!") a little tow headed boy shouted with delight on the bus this afternoon. His father asked him why he was saying this and in his little five year old French voice he replied he was cheering them on in the Euro cup (which is currently taking place here in Switzerland and Austria). "But Egypt is not in the Euro Cup," his father said. "Oh yes, I saw it on TV," was the stubborn little reply. "Egypt is not in Europe, " the patient father explained. The little boy just shook his curly, golden locks and stubbornly refused to accept that Egypt was not a European country and thus not playing in the 2008 Euro Cup. I found it pretty amusing.

The city of Geneva is besieged with soccer (called football here) fans. this afternoon as I rode the bus across town to work I watched packs of fans roaming the streets in their red jerseys, crazy hats, others had Portuguese flags draped around shoulders, all reveling in the glory of the day and the hopes of a victory. Today's games are Portugal versus the Czech Republic and Switzerland versus Turkey. Portugal and the Czech Republic are playing in the Stade de Geneve (which is, of course, here in Geneva) so that explains the mobs of Portugal fans flooding the streets today. In fact, one parent was late picking up her daughter because traffic was stopped due to a large band of Portugal fans deciding to parade down the middle of the street! No, not an actual organized parade, merely a huge group of fans refusing to get out of the road! Fro the first time today I actually saw police cars parked around Geneva - normally there isn't a police car in sight anywhere. At least, I never see them.

It's all quite exciting. DH and I definitely have to head down to the "FanZone" in Plainpalais some time during the Euro Cup to watch a game on the big outdoor screens and experience the general hubbub and excitement of the tournament.