Day 40
Day 40:
2/8/09, Sunday
Pueblos Ingles is great! Free hotel room which is fabulous. Free Spanish food which is amazing. Free life experience talking to Spanish men and women as well as Anglos from all over, which is fantastic.
Breakfast starts at 9 and as it usual with every meal, four people sit together. Two Anglos and two Spaniards. We talk and chat about stuff. Then there are four hours of morning activities. Most common is one-on-one sessions where obviously, I talk to a non-native speaker by myself. We talk and chat about traveling, food, life, the universe, and everything. Today, I only had two of these. We also had a three-on-three sessions where obviously, I talked to three non-native speakers with two other native speakers. And there was an hour of sitting in an audience of five, listening to presentations given by non-native speakers about their jobs (or yobs, as they like to say).
Lunch was great but late at 2pm however, we are given a siesta time until five. Then there are more activities. At 5, there is a group activity where, such as the first day, we were given the assignment to come up with a commercial for this strange brewing metal thing. A lot of people did what we did and claimed it was a love machine, or perfume dispenser. But today (only the second day! Hard to believe!) we were given a budget of $10 and a list of medical operations which all totaled up to $13. We, the medicinal ethics committee, had to decide who to operate on, and who did not get operated on. A little controversial but interesting.
Two more one-on-one's after that. I walked with Maria to La Alberca and back and then I walked with Alejandro to La Alberca and back. Its a nice stroll along the road where cars, buses, and trucks come flying past us. Alejandro bought some gum at The bar in the village and we went back and talked about phrasal verbs.
Every one-on-one, there is a phrasal verb to discuss as well as a idiom. A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition, sometimes it makes sense sometimes not. “Go out” makes sense. “ “Drop off” makes some sense as does “Face up to.” Who comes up with this stuff? And then there are some idioms. “Bite the bullet,” “Burn the candle at both ends,” “Once in a blue moon,” etc. Which can be even more confusing. But I think I can explain burning yourself out rather easily. Which brings in another phrasal verb: burn out. Cause if you burn the candle twice as fast for twice as much light, you lose the candle twice as fast. It burns out. Puhph. Its gone, out.
Next is Meeting Room. Everyone meets... in the meeting room. Skits are performed and Anglos are asked to present something which I have mentioned before. The skits are amazing. Where else in the world can you see Spaniards performing Monty Python's “I'd like to have an argument” but Pueblos Ingles?
Dinner is finally served at 9pm. Which is normal. For Spanish culture. And it is always good. Possibly because I am always hungry. Today, I had swordfish. Tomorrow, who knows? I sat with John S from England who I thought was just a good old fashioned gentleman, the epitome of a sweet old man. Turns out he was a spy in the fifties, listening to Russian radio signals from missile silos and SAM sites. Cool!
David told me where I should go I while I am in Spain. I explained I have five weeks until the France camp job and he said go to Toledo, Salamanca, Sevilla, and many other places that are easily accessible from Madrid. I told him I'm on a budget and that I want to see all of Europe. He waved his hand and pointed at my plate (which was Spain with peas designating all of places to go. The bread on the left is Portugal) “See Spain!”
Inma, which is short for something else, agreed that I should plan ahead and I nodded. I should be responsible but how can I when I don't know where I am going next? I will most likely go back to Prague and continue applying until March when I go to Paris. But it must be the wrong time of year, I have only had rejections, no interviews, no acceptance. Well, there's always South Korea or Taiwan.
After this late meal, tonight was something special. We drank Kmarda. A concoction to ward off evil spirits and to allow fluency in English. After three cups, one of the runners of the site, Pablo, said, you can speak perfect English. They warned after three cups, an Anglo stops speaking English. It is a drink of alcohol, sugar, coffee, lemon, and apple... and fire. The fire burnt most of the alcohol away leaving a sweet yet potent beverage. Some people had three or more when I was done sipping my first and only.
Many people stay up late at night but with a full stomach and the clock striking midnight already, I wave and retire.
2/8/09, Sunday
Pueblos Ingles is great! Free hotel room which is fabulous. Free Spanish food which is amazing. Free life experience talking to Spanish men and women as well as Anglos from all over, which is fantastic.
Breakfast starts at 9 and as it usual with every meal, four people sit together. Two Anglos and two Spaniards. We talk and chat about stuff. Then there are four hours of morning activities. Most common is one-on-one sessions where obviously, I talk to a non-native speaker by myself. We talk and chat about traveling, food, life, the universe, and everything. Today, I only had two of these. We also had a three-on-three sessions where obviously, I talked to three non-native speakers with two other native speakers. And there was an hour of sitting in an audience of five, listening to presentations given by non-native speakers about their jobs (or yobs, as they like to say).
Lunch was great but late at 2pm however, we are given a siesta time until five. Then there are more activities. At 5, there is a group activity where, such as the first day, we were given the assignment to come up with a commercial for this strange brewing metal thing. A lot of people did what we did and claimed it was a love machine, or perfume dispenser. But today (only the second day! Hard to believe!) we were given a budget of $10 and a list of medical operations which all totaled up to $13. We, the medicinal ethics committee, had to decide who to operate on, and who did not get operated on. A little controversial but interesting.
Two more one-on-one's after that. I walked with Maria to La Alberca and back and then I walked with Alejandro to La Alberca and back. Its a nice stroll along the road where cars, buses, and trucks come flying past us. Alejandro bought some gum at The bar in the village and we went back and talked about phrasal verbs.
Every one-on-one, there is a phrasal verb to discuss as well as a idiom. A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition, sometimes it makes sense sometimes not. “Go out” makes sense. “ “Drop off” makes some sense as does “Face up to.” Who comes up with this stuff? And then there are some idioms. “Bite the bullet,” “Burn the candle at both ends,” “Once in a blue moon,” etc. Which can be even more confusing. But I think I can explain burning yourself out rather easily. Which brings in another phrasal verb: burn out. Cause if you burn the candle twice as fast for twice as much light, you lose the candle twice as fast. It burns out. Puhph. Its gone, out.
Next is Meeting Room. Everyone meets... in the meeting room. Skits are performed and Anglos are asked to present something which I have mentioned before. The skits are amazing. Where else in the world can you see Spaniards performing Monty Python's “I'd like to have an argument” but Pueblos Ingles?
Dinner is finally served at 9pm. Which is normal. For Spanish culture. And it is always good. Possibly because I am always hungry. Today, I had swordfish. Tomorrow, who knows? I sat with John S from England who I thought was just a good old fashioned gentleman, the epitome of a sweet old man. Turns out he was a spy in the fifties, listening to Russian radio signals from missile silos and SAM sites. Cool!
David told me where I should go I while I am in Spain. I explained I have five weeks until the France camp job and he said go to Toledo, Salamanca, Sevilla, and many other places that are easily accessible from Madrid. I told him I'm on a budget and that I want to see all of Europe. He waved his hand and pointed at my plate (which was Spain with peas designating all of places to go. The bread on the left is Portugal) “See Spain!”
Inma, which is short for something else, agreed that I should plan ahead and I nodded. I should be responsible but how can I when I don't know where I am going next? I will most likely go back to Prague and continue applying until March when I go to Paris. But it must be the wrong time of year, I have only had rejections, no interviews, no acceptance. Well, there's always South Korea or Taiwan.
After this late meal, tonight was something special. We drank Kmarda. A concoction to ward off evil spirits and to allow fluency in English. After three cups, one of the runners of the site, Pablo, said, you can speak perfect English. They warned after three cups, an Anglo stops speaking English. It is a drink of alcohol, sugar, coffee, lemon, and apple... and fire. The fire burnt most of the alcohol away leaving a sweet yet potent beverage. Some people had three or more when I was done sipping my first and only.
Many people stay up late at night but with a full stomach and the clock striking midnight already, I wave and retire.
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