little buggers

I rather question the wisdom of not starting the teenagers' party until midnight - really, if we wanted them to go to bed and stay there it would have been more sensible to have finished earlier than 2am. As, inevitably, several teens hooked up with a member of the opposite sex in the brand new disco at La Alberca, us counselors spent the majority of the night patrolling the grounds with torches and water-pistols trying to ensure the teens stayed in their own bungalows. Thankfully they didn't - I mean it would have been incredibly dull if they had all been good - with at least 7 teens being caught either climbing out of or into windows. Seeing as I busted all seven of them personally, requiring my water pistol to be repeatedly refilled, I wasn't too bothered by this; in fact I was quite enjoying it. Funnily enough the only thing I ever got in trouble for at boarding school was being out of my room at night, so I didn't really feel I was in any position to criticise. However, some of the other counselors took it very seriously, treating it almost as a personal insult, and when I finally caught the last 3 by staking out their bungalow as the other staff ran around searching the grounds, a rather intense Guantanamo Bay style interrogation began! Having been assured that none of the campers had any alcohol (or worse) and having nipped the after-hours party squarely in the bud, we finally made it to bed at 5.30am. The effect of this on my fellow counselors (seen below in white) was rather predictable.

return to La Alberca

Last October Kate and I started our sojourn in Spain with a week long English residential workshop at the beautiful country town of La Alberca, as unpaid volunteers working with adult learners. Now I´ve returned (sadly without Kate, who still has classes in Madrid) as a counselor on a teenage English camp to a world of one-to-one conversations, coloured tags for meals, and hilarious theatre improv.
The hotel is as beautiful as I remember, one-up-one-down chalets laid out in the grounds around a central meeting house and restaurant, with the added bonus of the pool being open; even though it´s a lot cooler here than in Madrid, I´ve still been glad of a daily dip. Us counselors sometimes play the role of English-speaking mentor for the Spanish - taking part in one-to-one conversations for example - and at other times referee, running group activities, workshops and making sure the teens mix it up at meal times. The level of comedy genius is also much lower than that of the adults, but there´s still been some quality moments (Breakfast of the Dead - our Zombie movie set at the camp - was a classic) and I´m sure there will be more as the teenagers start to come out of their shells. Mind you, as about 15 of them are on their second week here ("do their parents not like them?" you wonder) there´s quite a few who aren´t short of confidence.

New people in our lives

These last few weeks have opened up a world of new friends for Theo and me - it's almost overwhelming. Our week with Pueblo Ingles at La Alberca has left us feeling slightly bereft because we became so close to so many people then had to be parted from them almost straight away. Slightly bereft, yes, but also richer in new relationships, many of which I feel sure will last indefinitely.

The experience at La Alberca was special partly because we felt we were doing something helpful, but mainly because the intense programme of conversation - much of it highly intimate in nature - led to a deep appreciation of and affection for the other people involved.

Our weekend in Madrid only added to these feelings as Belen and her boyfriend Cesar made us feel so very welcome in their flat and our other Spanish and Anglo friends organised a joyful reunion in the centre of the city. Extra thanks to Andres, Max and Cesar for their kind chauffeuring too!

It was hard not to feel a little flat as we tackled the seven-hour drive to Barcelona on Sunday then arrived in the middle of downpour. But our new landlady soon helped to lift our dampened spirits. Ilse is a German translator who lives and works in Barcelona and lets out one of her rooms to visiting trainee teachers. As soon as we had arrived and got our stuff inside, we were offered home-made pumpkin soup and told to help ourselves to anything in the kitchen. Not only is Ilse friendly and generous, she is also providing us with a well-furnished double bedroom plus en-suite bathroom. Yay!

For the last three days the weather has been warm and sunny, our tutors, fellow trainees and our students are all likable people and the teacher training course we are doing is challenging but enjoyable.

If we didn't have so much homework, we might even find the time to feel exceedingly smug.

leaving La Alberca

We've had a fantastic and inspiring time on the Pueblo Ingles week at La Alberca, but it's nearly time to say goodbye. Tonight is the last night, so naturally we're having a big party - lots of drinking and dancing to a mix of Spanish and English pop music. It's been a fantastic week, we've met so many wonderful people, both English and Spanish speaking, and have had fantastic weather for the most part allowing us to appreciate the beautiful countryside.


We start our TEFL course in Barcelona on Monday, but first we're going to spend a couple of nights in Madrid with our new friend Belen. However, assuming they let us, we suspect we'll be back at Pueblo Ingles in the not too distant future.

Speaking for our supper

Kate and I are currently staying in a beautiful 4star Hotel just outside the picturesque village of La Alberca, high in the Sierra del Gredo to the west of Madrid. We are sharing a two-bedroomed en suite cottage with a lovely Madrilena called Olga, who is here to improve her English.

We aren't paying for anything (except the odd beer from the bar). Instead we are, quite literally, talking for our supper. Along with a dozen other "Anglos" (in this case Americans, Canadians and English) we are here to talk to another dozen or so Spanish (and one Portuguese) people who want to improve their English. This is Pueblo Ingles.

This morning I've had hour-long one-to-one conversations with Olga, who is a very high powered business executive it seems, Jaime, a Basque speaking advertising executive working in Madrid, and Daniel, who works in telecommunications solutions. The telecommunications industry is well represented here. I'm one of the youngest, but it doesn't seem to matter. Everyone here is charming, friendly and interesting, and naturally Kate - with her welcoming smile and BBC-honed enunciation - is going down a storm.

It's now siesta time - that's actually on the schedule! - so I'm going to take advantage; we've got more activities scheduled tonight!