So my last European adventure was to Spain again. I packed up my life again and mailed boxes home in preparation to return to the good ole US of A. I left Garmisch with the others I arrived with and as they went home I went to Madrid via Mallorca. When I arrived in Madrid I took the Metro to Hostal Lido near Sol only to find that everyone was asleep. You're probably wondering who "everyone" is! Well... My father(this would be our second time in Madrid together), one of his students Brittany, and two family friends Anne and Shawn. Due to the time change and the long flight they were all tired. I woke them up so we could walk around a little and then go to the English Speaking Group that meets every Friday night to practice their conversational English. We got some drinks and participated in the group activities and then moved to the bar area to continue to chat before walking back to our hostal with a pit stop for some pizza and beer.
The next morning we walked around some before heading to Mercado San Miguel for some tapas and drinks with some Spaniards my dad has met on previous trips to Spain. We then had to go across town for the reception for the English immersion program that we would be attending for the next 6 days. We met several of the other Anglos who we would be participating in the program with, had a drink and a snack before heading back to Lido to pack up and get some rest.
Sunday morning we were up early and in a taxi to the bus pick up point to begin our Vaughan Town English immersion experience. We made our way by coach bus to a small town about 3 hours west of Madrid. Once we were there we had lunch and did introductions. Through out the 6 days we spoke with Spaniards that were usually sponsored by their company to improve their English. The range of careers was interesting and all had atleast a bachelors degree, many with masters and more.
During our Vaughan week we did a range of activities and skits for entertainment(see video clips!) as well as one to one conversations and telephone sessions. At each meal we were also sitting at tables of 2 Anglos and 2 Spaniards, so the English never stopped!
It was a fun, interesting, and entertaining week, but it was also exhausting! I had several people ask me if I would do the program again and I said yes under two conditions… first I would like it a day shorter and second in a different country to experience another culture. I met some amazing people that I want to keep in touch with and also met some that I would be fine with never seeing again.
Once we returned to Madrid we went to the Friday night English group again and had dinner near Sol. Saturday Anne, Shawn and I took the high speed train to Toledo for the day to tour around and do some shopping. That night we went to Casa Patas for dinner and flamenco show. This is the same place we went to on my last trip but each week is a different dance group so it was a different experience. Sunday we went to an outdoor flea market with some of the other Anglos from Vaughan Town then had some paella in some LARGE pans before visiting the Thyssen Museum.
Monday we flew back to the USA which was a strange feeling after being gone for more than a year.
To view some pictures click...
No comments:
Post a Comment