Time with the Family

Back in Orlando after a great visit with my family in England. Spent a week plus between their various houses. Unfortunately I was sick with a cold, so I really didn't do much, and don't recall too much of what I did do, except a visit to Laura's school to watch football (soccer) practice.

The flight home was hard on my ears, and I didn't get much rest. Fortunately Ian was feeling magnanimous and actually picked me up at the airport. He told me he never does pickups! For whatever reason, I'm glad he changed his policy this time. I'm snuggled up in my futon mattress on the floor of his sitting room. I'll be staying here for the foresseable future until we get back out hiking. Orlando is close enough to the remainder of the Eastern Corridor of the FL Trail that we still need to hike that we can stay here at Ian's and do some day hikes to get us up thru the sububurbs to the southern Ocala National Forest. We plan to start hiking early next week, so I need to work on getting rid of this cold. I'm going to have a tough time hiking with this stuffy, runny nose.

San Zoilo

WOW! How can you put a couple of the most intensely emotional and unexpectedly fun weeks of your life into words?

This past week was spent at the competitor English language program run by VaughanTown at San Zoilo monastery in Conde de los Carrion. I was correct in my assumptio that both programs were essentially the same. Both were staffed by an Anglo Master of Ceremonies and a Spanish Program Director, who traveled with the group, and whose primary function was to encourage the group bonding experience and keep the program flowing, as well as dealing with minor issues that arose during the week (Dr visits, heating issues, etc.) The host locations, while being very different were very attractive and comfortable, both situated on the outskirts of a small historic village, and both had their own charms and attraction. The food was good, the wine flowed freely at mealtimes, but the absolute make or break enjoyment factor came from the participants, who were about as diverse as one could possibly imagine in a group of around 40 adults. One to one conversations, which I had expected would remain on a fairly superficial level, actually ranged from the simplest subjects to intriguing, socio-political, religious, and personal matters. From mature to juvenile, borderline psychotherapy, serious, humorous, and everything in between. If that were not enough, mealtime sessions were even more animated and hilarious. It is amazing how a simple explanation of any topic can go totally off on a tangent at the simple miscommunication, or explanation of a word or idiom! No topic was sacred!

This week I knew alittle better what to expect. I was pretty exhausted already from the over participation in the previous week's activities, and my voice was somewhat strained. Undaunted, I engaged Pedro in a four hour long conversation on the ride to northern Spain. The bus got a little lost, but it was a pleasant detour following the Camino de Santiago. Our accomodation for the week was at the restored Monastery of San Zoilo. The rooms were lovely (wouldn't it have been nice to get a picture?), and the weather continued sunny and warm, though still a little chilly in the mornings for me. The Monastery was very close to town, a nice easy stroll for the one to one sessions. The Camino passes through the center of town and the hiker and biker pilgrims were out in force. The Monastery itself is beautiful, with the cloisters and church also available for walking one to ones. The hotel was open to other guests as well as our group, so the after dinner drinking tended to be a little more subdued and earlier to finish.

It didn't dampen the experience though, I had great fun again, and met more wonderful new friends from all over the world and all over Spain. I think I am particularly most likely to stay in contact with Nigel and Stephanie, who live not to far from my parents in England, and Javier from Madrid. I'm sure I will be back in Madrid sometime in the next year or so, and Javi is intending to be in Orlando early next year.

I will definitely be back for more.

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La Alberca

I'm sitting in a laundromat in Madrid waiting for my clothes to dry. I'm exhausted, my voice is almost completely gone, and I just had an exhilerating week of conversation and fun with complete strangers!

The purpose of this visit to Spain was to participate in two English immersion programs for Spanish speakers who wish to increase their conversation, comprehension, and presentation skills. The philosophy of the programs is to take an equal number of Spanish and Anglo participants to a fairly remote location, where all everyday activities are conducted entirely in English. There are two companies running the programs: Pueblo Ingles and Vaughan Town. They are essentially competitors, and I couldn't decide between the two, so decided to give both programs a try. Their programs appear to be essentially the same from what I have read. I had a basic idea of what would be involved: breakfast at 9am, two Spanish and two Anglos (english speakers) per table, followed by four hours of one to one conversation sessions, 2pm it's time for lunch (2 and 2), siesta. At 5pm an evening group activity, two more hours of one to one sessions, an entertainment hour, then more two to two over dinner at 9pm, with the day officially ending at around 10:30pm, when the bar would be open and those still willing to chat could do so over a few quiet drinks.

That was the theory anyway. Despite the various explanations on the websites, I could never have anticipated the actual experience. From the initial bus meeting point, where we Anglos had been instructed to “grab yourself a Spanish, and talk his/her ears off on the bus”, I realized that this week was going to be far more complex than I could have imagined. My bus trip was shared with Estrella and Frederico, probably the first terrified Spanish people I have ever spoken to for two hours each. We started off on the basics of family and work, interspersed occasionally with the bonus (for me) of having a tour guide to explain the features of the area, the kinds of wine produced there, the agricultural processes, the history, culture, etc.. Conversation flowed naturally into so many different subjects that wouldn’t usually occur with a casual acquaintance or even possibly with a long time friend.

Our destination was the outskirts of La Alberca, a small historic village in the northwest of Spain. Accomodation was in large apartments shared by an Anglo downstairs, with the Spanish taking the more luxurious upstairs (that's OK, they paid to come here, and they're working!). The complex itself was laid out round a main building which housed the dining hall, bar, and meeting room. My apartment was right next to the main building, and had a nice sunny lawn area where we tended to hang out in the afternoons enjoying the sun. The weather was wonderful the entire week at La Alberca, though felt a little cold to me coming straight from the Florida heat.

The staff was Brian, the Anglo Master of Ceremonies, Mayte, the Spanish Program Director. There primary function was to encourage the group bonding experience and keep the program flowing, and dealing with minor issues that arose during the week (Dr visits, heating issues, etc.) They did an awesome job: the week went smoothly, and the group cohesion was an incredible thing to experience. I would never imagined, without seeing it, that such a diverse group of people could share such an intense experience in such a short time. The conversations were far beyond what I had expected, and more fun than I could imagine. Scattered among the one to one conversation sessions were other activities such as phone and conference calls, group activities and impromptu skits. Though these were a source of fear, they were a great source of amusement for all, even the terrified participants.
Top the whole thing off with some very intense dinner conversations, late night parties, disco dancing, ancient ceremonies, and the very occasional lapse into Spanish (only once or twice), and it made for a very enjoyable, intense week.

I have committed to a similar session with the competitor company starting early tomorrow morning. Foolishly, I did not anticipate how exhausting this would be, nor how many clothes I would wear! Hence the laundromat. When I'm done here I'm going to eat and go back to my room to siesta!

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