First day of the language program

We had signed up as volunteers at an English language program for Spaniards here in Spain. So, this language program is not about us learning Spanish... it is to help Spaniards learning English.

It's five nights/six days, and Sunday morning at 9:30am the bus picked us up to take us to a resort two and a half hours west of Madrid near the village of El Barco de Avila.

You can read about the program we are doing here... https://volunteers.grupovaughan.com/?

The program begins right away! On the bus, you are seated with English speakers on one side, and Spaniards on the opposite side. The bus was purposely less than half full, with only one person in each seat row, so that you can talk to the person across from you.

And for one hour, you are to have a conversation with that person. The person sat opposite me was Javier, a 51 year old police inspector from Canary Islands. 

It's actually amazing how much you can find to talk about with a complete stranger. The time goes by quite quickly.

Then we stopped for a coffee break near the walled city of Avila. Ruth and I had been to Avila in April 2023 with our motorhome Max.

Our bus.

View of the walled city of Avila.

We had stopped at this same monument with Max!

We carried on after coffee break, and the Spaniards had to switch seats so that they had someone different to talk to. There were more volunteers than Spaniards because some people were arriving directly at the resort. I ended up without a partner, so helped Ruth with a lady in her 50's.

The resort at El Barco de Avila.

View off the back of the hotel.

We were directed into a meeting room where we were to leave our luggage. And then given some free time to use the toilet and quickly explore the resort. Then we were told to be back at the meeting room for 1:00pm.

The old building has been beautifully renovated.

The lobby.

The "library".

Back at the meeting room at 1:00pm, we were introduced to the people who are in charge of things for the week. The entertainment director Fernando, and the program coordinator Lucia.

There were some gifts for us on the seats when we sat down.

A water bottle, a notebook, a pen, and a small backpack.

They went over what the week was going to look like for us. It's a pretty full schedule, although we do have some free time in the afternoon. Lunch is at 2:00pm every day, and then after lunch we have free time until 5:00pm.

Heading to the dining room at 2:00pm.

After lunch yesterday, we were given the keys to our rooms, and we actually had free time until 6:00pm, but only that day. 

The view from our window.

The facilities.

Another view.

We were in the meeting room again at 6:0pm where we were told more in detail about the various interactions that were scheduled between participants. The most common are the fifty minute long "one on one" conversations.

We had another short break, and then the one on one's began. At 7:00pm we were paired up with a Spaniard and you just had to talk for 50 minutes. The two of you could do it on the property, inside or outside, you could get a drink from the bar and sit in the lobby, or you could even go for a walk. It's very informal. And you can talk about absolutely anything. They give you some icebreaker ideas to get the conversation started, but we both found that we had no problem finding things to talk about. There is no Spanish allowed, and you are not to attempt to correct every little mistake they make. Their English abilities vary, but they are good enough to have a conversation. Sometimes, we have to explain what various words mean, or find a way to say something differently if they don't understand.

After 50 minutes, you get a 10 minute break, and then check the schedule to find out who your next partner is. 

Then at 9:00pm is dinner. In Spain, the meal times are a bit different! Breakfast at 9:am, lunch at 2:00pm, and dinner at 9:0pm.

We made an effort to not sit together, and instead get to know as many of the other people as possible. It's actually amazing how many people we have met already in less than 24 hours! Pretty sure we'll have no problem getting to know everybody by the end of the program.

So far, it's fun and interesting and we're enjoying meeting the various people.

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