We sat Anglo-Spaniard on the bus. I was sat next to a lovely Spanish man. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him but I found it hard understanding English with a Spanish accent!
We arrived at the hotel and we were allocated our rooms. I was pleasantly suprised with the hotel, It was absolutely beautiful! It had a pool, lots of grass and amazing mountains that looked super-imposed in the backdrop. It reminded me of the sound of music
I had an amazing week at Candeleda. Every day was filled with 'one to ones', 'two to twos' and group activities. The Anglos talked with the Spaniards all day and corrected their grammar/vocabulary if needed and helped them with their presentations. At the end of the first day I had a headache but it got easier as the week went on. At the end of the week I actually started to think in a Spanish accent!
The stand out moments of the week were the quemada, number one party and the number 2 party ;) Jez kept talking about the quemada for the first few days. It turned out to be a pagan ceremony to ward away bad spirits where copious amounts of alcohol, fruit and sugar are burned in a big bowl. It was very strong drink and one Anglo managed to drink about 6 cups!
At the first party night we had a BBQ outside and everyone dressed up. The sunset was beautiful and the sky was a vivid shade of crimson. After the BBQ we all went inside to have a disco. What I sound amazing was the way the Spanish men moved! As soon as a Spanish/Latin song came on the Spanish men came to life! They were amazing dancers and danced with such passion. I was lucky enough to dance with a few Spanish men and I tried to shake off my British reserve and shake my hips!
Number 2 party was a mini disco the night of the Real Madrid vs Barcelona match. It was amazing being able to watch the match with the Spaniards. After the younger Spaniards/Anglos had a dance for a few hours. After a bottle of red wine at Dinner I was on good form! I think us Anglos freaked the Spaniards out when we started moshing and headbanging to Nirvana though ;P
We also went on a little excursion to a bee Museum and Candeleda town. At the bee museum there were three massive beehives and the curator gave a presentation about bees (in Spanish) whilst various Spaniards translated. The videos included one where the curator let a bee sting him to help show how the sting contracts after the bee has stung someone (He was either very hard or crazy!).
I had an amazing week at Pueblo Ingles, I met some amazing people and I went outside my comfort zone everyday, and loved it! I was able to be myself and my confidence increased tenfold throughout the week. I enjoyed helping the Spaniards learn English and I realised that I would like to persue this at some point in my life! The siesta times were spent sunbathing, swimming and playing basketball in the pool. Most evenings were spent drinking beer outside with friends and chatting about everything! It was amazing seeing the Spaniards level of confidence and English increase through the week.
On the last evening I even starred in the main Theatre session of the week. I played an actress who was playing the part of a mistress and I was in some pretty racy scenes where I was even looking to Cuenca...
On the last morning there were many emotional goodbyes after the graduation ceremony. Many people were even crying. I did not want to leave.
After Candeleda I was prepared to head back to Madrid and spend the remaining week in Madrid.
During the number 2 party Giselle asked me if I would like to go to Linares (a city in the south of Spain) with her and Bev to go the feria and to visit our Spanish friends in their home town!
So the story continues.....
Look how romantic this flower vending machine is!
