Orla and Birthe dropped me off at 8 PM in Vejle. I'm off to Aarhus to spend one night and then catch a flight to Madrid tomorrow morning. The hostel was nice enough but I arrived at nearly 10PM so there was not much to see. I am going to be up early tomorrow and taking a bus to Thylstrup to catch my flight at 10AM. (Sept 1)

A flight to Stansted airport with a 7 hour layover before my flight to Madrid. I wanted to check my bags for the 7 hours but it was going to cost £8 (= $16). Needless to say I spent the day with my luggage. I did take the local bus to a village close by the airport and had Chinese food for lunch/dinner. It was cheaper than getting food at the airport and nice to get out of the airport. The flight to Madrid was over an hour late getting to Stansted so we were an hour late leaving. An uneventful flight with Ryan Air. And no you don't need to pay to use the toilet. We didn't arrive until nearly midnight.

After hearing bad things about both the taxi's and the Metro I decided to risk a taxi. Should have taken the Metro! The taxi driver conveniently didn't speak English and ended up charging me €45 for a ride that should only have cost €35 at the most. It was 12:30 and I was exhausted and didn't know what to do. I got the number of his taxi and a hand written receipt but that was not enough to use to argue the fare. In Madrid there is an entire government department that deals with complaints about taxi drivers charging to much for trips. I needed the computer printout of the receipt that has all the numbers on it - driver number, his tax number, the taxi number and the license number of the taxi. Oh well live and learn. (Sept 2)

Today some of the volunteers from the Pueblo Ingles (I will explain more later) group met for lunch at 2:00PM. Straight into the meal schedule here in Spain. Breakfast is a bit of toast or bread and a coffee and maybe a small jerez (sherry) before work (work starts at 8:30 - 9) and then a coffee at 11ish with another bit of bread and ham or cheese. Lunch, the largest meal of the day starts between 2 and 3 and lasts until 5 or 6 and they always have a glass of wine or beer. Then back to work for 3 to 4 hours from 6 PM. Dinner is around 10 PM. Most Spaniards get only 5 to 6 hours sleep each night. Hence one of the reasons for siesta after lunch.

So what is Pueblo Ingles? It is a school for Spaniards where they spend a week in complete English immersion. There are normally 20-25 Spaniards and the same number of Anglo's (English speaking volunteers). I was one of the volunteers for the Sept 4 - 11th week at Valdelavilla. Tomorrow morning we will meet most of the Spaniards at the bus and then we have a 4 hour bus ride to Valdelavilla (north of Madrid near Soria). I met some of the Anglo's for dinner. (Sept 3)

So this is the start of my Spanish adventure. There were about 35 of us at the bus this morning. The Spaniards were looking really nervous and I think a few of us Anglo volunteers were wondering what we had got ourselves into. About half of the "students" had been sent by their employers and the rest had paid for the course themselves. As the course costs around €2,000 they were obviously committed to speaking English.

We arrived at 2 PM and had lunch. After lunch we were checked into our rooms. Most people had a room to themselves. I ended up sharing with Jessica as there was a mix up in the rooms. Two of the guys from England that came together were not a "couple" as the school had assumed. So they needed to find a single room and mine was used after they found out I was OK with sharing a room. Jessica and I had a few late nights with gossip and comparing travel stories.

The resort is very isolated with no towns close by and no cell phone reception unless you walk a kilometer away. As taken from the Pueblo Ingles website: "Valdelavilla is a small town in the highlands of Soria, just south of the wine-producing region of La Rioja. It dates back to the 18th century but it was reconstructed as a rural tourist complex after it was abandoned in the 1960's for demographic reasons. It is considered as one of the best-preserved natural sites in Spain with unique architectural and landscaping characteristics, a rich abundance of flora and fauna, and a quite magical atmosphere.

The village is nestled in a valley and even in its heyday, its population probably never surpassed 30 families. It has rustic feel to it with twelve traditional stone-walled houses, cobblestone streets and plenty of exposed brick and timber. Open countryside and beautiful panoramic views complete the quaint atmosphere and make this venue a favourite for volunteers who want that "authentic Spanish experience", and "to get away from it all". Valdelavilla arguably represents Pueblo Ingles in its rawest form."

Our chef Jose was amazing. The food was sooooo good. All authentic Spanish food. Mainly Andalusian.

So I thought this week would be a great; it wouldn't cost me anything, I would be feed, have somewhere to sleep and might not need to do to much work. WRONG!!!! This is the schedule that we followed for the 7 days and let me tell you speaking English for 16 hours a day is work!

8:15 - Wake up call

9:00 - 10:00 - Breakfast 4 people to a table 2 Anglos and 2 Spaniards

10:00 - 11:00 - One to One's - One Anglo and one Spaniard would spend 50 minutes together talking about anything. It was recommended that the Anglo speak about 60% of the time. The pairings were done by the leaders from Pueblo Ingles

11:00 - 12:00 - One to One's

12:00 - 1:00 - One to One's

1:00 - 2:00 - One to One's

2:00 - 3:30 - Lunch - same set up as breakfast

3:30 - 5:00 - Siesta (a much needed break for everyone)

5:00 - 6:00 - Group event - 5 or 6 people in a group discussion with a short presentation at the end of the event

6:00 - 7:00 - One to One's (Theater group for some)

7:00 - 8:00 - One to One's (Theater group for some)

8:00 - 9:00 - Theater - very fun hour where a group would have put together a production of some sort with no set script only two hours of time to prepare. The one I was involved in was "The Dating Game".

9:00 - 10:30 - Dinner - Same as lunch and breakfast but different people each time

10:30 - 12:00 - Drinks or coffee - we were expected to all meet at the bar for a visit before going to bed. There were some that stayed up til 1 or 2 most nights but I could not do it. I was exhausted by the end of the day.

The last day of the program was my birthday and I had a great day celebrating with all my new friends. The chef had prepared a small cake for me the night before and then everyone sang Happy Birthday to me at breakfast. Once we were back in Madrid nine of us Anglos went out for dinner to celebrate.

I met a great bunch of people. The group has continued to be in contact via email and some of the people have met up in Spain, England, the US and Canada. Some of the Spaniards travel for work and have been able to met with some of the volunteers in the US and Canada. Others that live in a Madrid and Barcelona have met for lunch. I'm not sure if they are still speaking English when they get together but I sure hope so. I will be seeing some of them before I head home.

Our group of the 451st week for Pueblo Ingles They sell a program that works! The change in the Spaniards over the course of the week was amazing. Their confidence in speaking English was 10 times what is was at the beginning of the week. I can only hope that my Spanish will ever be as good as their English. Would I volunteer for another week? Maybe. But at least this time I would know what I was getting into. Would I recommend it to my friends? Definitely. Overall It was an amazing experience. (Sept 4 - 11)