Tuesday - the last day :-(
Today was a busy and eventful conclusion to our 2 week experience; firstly we had the last of our Spanish lessons with Oana (a recap and assessment) before we started work on our presentations about Moncada. The presentations were 5 slides long and featured information on excursions, our daily routine, useful Spanish phrases that we had learnt, our coaching experiences and, finally, stories about our overall experiences.
When these were complete we FINALLY got to go to the beach, although it took forever to get there as we had to take 3 different Metro's! It was nice and warm and, as we were typical English tourists, we announced our arrival on to the beach with a game of football...although the girlies went straight to the sunbathing part! We relaxed with a dip in the sea, a bit of sunbathing and the second half of the football match, before soaking up the final few rays of sun and then heading back to the accomodation.
Before dinner we had to deliver our Moncada presentations to the rest of our group and Maje & Wendy from Schola. We were all in a good mood from the beach however the snacks that were provided made us even happier and we all did really well. After the presentations we were awarded our certificates for completing our Spanish classes and then headed for dinner.
The 'last supper' consisted of a rice dish with meat and was really tasty...the ice cream for desert was a great farewell gift from the restaurant. We all said our goodbye's to Diana (the lady in the restaurant) before heading back to the accomodation. Here Greg, Matt and Rob played out a slideshow of a selection of photo's from the holiday, before revealling to us the 'secret tasks' which they had got some of the group to perform having sat at their 'Table of Temptation': Lauren H had to get a picture of two boys kissing (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!); Lauren C had to take 9 photo's with her putting "bunny ears" on someone; and Joel had to deliver Gareth's beads (that he wore everyday and loved) to Greg and Matt.
All secret tasks were passed and the people involved were awarded with a prize before we finished off with a group hug and a sing song - a great ending to a great two weeks.
Thanks for reading, hope you have enjoyed it...
James Donners!
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Day 11
Today was Saturday which meant it was an excursion day :-)
However...before we could go out for the day we had to visit Schola to catch up on some important course work - we had to fill in our log books and complete our Euro CV & Euro Passport :-( To add more salt to the wound today was meant to be our beach day but the sky was a sheet of cloud and it was absolutely freeeeeeeezing!!!
Instead of the beach we ended up going into Valencia city centre. Here we went shopping and prepared for our main event which was happening at 6pm - the Valencia Vs Real Zaragoza football match. To get in the mood for the game a few of us bought Valencia FC scarves whilst others even splashed out on a Valencia FC shirt!
The Metro was busier than usual and there was a real buzz in the air. After getting off at our stop we had a short walk toward the Mestalla Stadium (Valenica's ground). The streets were busier however, despite the scarves and shirts we had bought, we still stuck out like a sore thumb and everyone knew we were English tourists (the group photo's and tanless bodies gave it away haha)! The game ended 1-1 and we got to see a red card - this was really exciting and a great experience....P.S. Spanish footballers love to dive!
When we got back from the football we had a pizza and DVD night - the film was Zombie Land which was VERY funny. Bed time followed as we were all tired bunnies!
Jamie
However...before we could go out for the day we had to visit Schola to catch up on some important course work - we had to fill in our log books and complete our Euro CV & Euro Passport :-( To add more salt to the wound today was meant to be our beach day but the sky was a sheet of cloud and it was absolutely freeeeeeeezing!!!
Instead of the beach we ended up going into Valencia city centre. Here we went shopping and prepared for our main event which was happening at 6pm - the Valencia Vs Real Zaragoza football match. To get in the mood for the game a few of us bought Valencia FC scarves whilst others even splashed out on a Valencia FC shirt!
The Metro was busier than usual and there was a real buzz in the air. After getting off at our stop we had a short walk toward the Mestalla Stadium (Valenica's ground). The streets were busier however, despite the scarves and shirts we had bought, we still stuck out like a sore thumb and everyone knew we were English tourists (the group photo's and tanless bodies gave it away haha)! The game ended 1-1 and we got to see a red card - this was really exciting and a great experience....P.S. Spanish footballers love to dive!
When we got back from the football we had a pizza and DVD night - the film was Zombie Land which was VERY funny. Bed time followed as we were all tired bunnies!
Jamie
Day 13
Today was Monday or 'Lunes' if you're Spanish. We had to be awake for around 8.30am and downstairs in the meeting room for 9.15am ready to go to school in order to write up our Foreign Language Leaders booklets. These booklets explain our experiences during the coaching sessions. Doing this took a very long time so we were in school for the majority of the morning. We all worked very hard and as quickly as possible to ensure we had a lot of time after lunch to get ready to go bowling in the main town of Valencia.
For lunch, which we had pre-ordered the day before, we had savory pancakes filled with whatever we had chosen from the menu. Being English, the majority of us chose good old cheese and ham or ham and cheese!!
During the second week of the trip Greg, Matt and Rob decided to take one of us to each lunch and dinner with them on 'The Table of Tempation' and today it was my turn! During my time on the table I balanced a spoon on my nose for three seconds and tried an olive for the very first time, which I did not like at all.
After lunch we went back to school to finish the last of the important paperwork needed; when this was done we had some free time to get ready to go bowling. On arrival back at the residence James Davies and Matt Cardus discovered they had lost their key for the THIRD time (even though secretly it was Matt who took the key as revenge for having water poured on him while he was sleeping 1-0)
Getting over the saga of the key, we then had another disaster; we had to run to the Metro Station as we were late and behind schedual. This was normal as getting ready in less than twenty-five minutes is hard for some people (mainly the boys)!
When we got to the bowling alley we had to wait for a while to get a set of three lanes next to eachother. We were split into three teams of five or six. My team consisted of myself, Joel, James Davies, Stars Matt and Maje (whos our tour guide). During the first game I had difficulty bowling normally so I decided to change my method to throwing the ball with two hands down the lane, which worked well for me! The first game was a success as we came 2nd and in the second game we actually won!!
Every single one of us got a strike apart from Matt Cardus and Jamie Gibbs, who will be wearing the pratt hat tomorrow (HAHAHAHA).
The Metro journey home was long and we were all very tired and hungry. When we got to the restaurant we had sausage and mash potato and then pork skewers with chips - all typical Spanish dishes of course!
When we got back to the residence; being typical teenagers we jumped straight into our beds and fell straight to sleep!
Had a brilliant day!
Adios
Lauren Hughes
xxx
For lunch, which we had pre-ordered the day before, we had savory pancakes filled with whatever we had chosen from the menu. Being English, the majority of us chose good old cheese and ham or ham and cheese!!
During the second week of the trip Greg, Matt and Rob decided to take one of us to each lunch and dinner with them on 'The Table of Tempation' and today it was my turn! During my time on the table I balanced a spoon on my nose for three seconds and tried an olive for the very first time, which I did not like at all.
After lunch we went back to school to finish the last of the important paperwork needed; when this was done we had some free time to get ready to go bowling. On arrival back at the residence James Davies and Matt Cardus discovered they had lost their key for the THIRD time (even though secretly it was Matt who took the key as revenge for having water poured on him while he was sleeping 1-0)
Getting over the saga of the key, we then had another disaster; we had to run to the Metro Station as we were late and behind schedual. This was normal as getting ready in less than twenty-five minutes is hard for some people (mainly the boys)!
When we got to the bowling alley we had to wait for a while to get a set of three lanes next to eachother. We were split into three teams of five or six. My team consisted of myself, Joel, James Davies, Stars Matt and Maje (whos our tour guide). During the first game I had difficulty bowling normally so I decided to change my method to throwing the ball with two hands down the lane, which worked well for me! The first game was a success as we came 2nd and in the second game we actually won!!
Every single one of us got a strike apart from Matt Cardus and Jamie Gibbs, who will be wearing the pratt hat tomorrow (HAHAHAHA).
The Metro journey home was long and we were all very tired and hungry. When we got to the restaurant we had sausage and mash potato and then pork skewers with chips - all typical Spanish dishes of course!
When we got back to the residence; being typical teenagers we jumped straight into our beds and fell straight to sleep!
Had a brilliant day!
Adios
Lauren Hughes
xxx
Day 12
Sunday
Today we had to be up for 10:15, which is classed as a lie in belive it or not. We were all excited about having an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back, but when we woke up it didn't feel any different. We all came down at the correct time and we were ready for the trip to the Oceanografic. We set off to catch the Metro to our destination and discovered this was becoming a high point of our daily routine, as we always enjoyed ourselves when we were on it.
We got off the Metro and we were lead to the Oceanografic by our tour guide, Maje. On the journey up to the Oceanografic we walked across the dried up river bed of the river Turia. This was an unusual experience as we had never walked across a River bed before (obviously). Along the way we walked past the Valencia Opera house which was extremely eye catching; it looks quite similar to the Sydney Opera house.
A short while later we were at the Science museum where we discovered a huge arc; we could communicate to each other at each end, even though we had nothing to project our voices and we were at least 100 feet away from each other - our words were crystal clear. Five minutes later we were at the Oceanografic where we had lunch, everybody was excited as instead of the usual 'buttie' consisting of olives and who knows what else we had cheese and ham or ham and cheese ( it depends on which ingredient is put down first... apparently).
After lunch we went into the Oceanografic where we split into groups and went to see our favourite sea animals. Later we got the chance to watch a dolphin show or go to the 3D cinema. The decision was split, most of the lads went to watch the 3D cinema show whilst the girls opted for the dolphin show. Everybody enjoyed the Oceanografic and 3D cinema experience, even though it was very strange lying on your back watching a film.
Later on...
We got the Metro back and enjoyed the usual banter that takes place whilst riding it. Everyone seemed tired but excited as we were dressing up for Haloween. We got back to the residence and got given a lot of free time which everyone took advantage of, we then started to get dressed up for Haloween.
James Davies, Joel Howard-Davies and Gareth Jones suprised the group when they came down as they weren't in Haloween costumes at all, they were dressed as girls! This was pretty scary. The rest of the group came down all dressed superbly in their outfits and finally we set of for dinner dressed as wierdos.
On the way down to the resteraunt we got a few looks as there wasn't only three transvestites in the group, there was a banana and a chilli pepper too. We had dinner which was sausages, ommelette and chips. For our pudding we had a nice cake. We finished dinner and we walked to the residence, everybody stayed in the common room as we were having a party!!! One of our party games was the box game, which tested our flexibility because we had to pick the box up with our mouth and every time the group was successful another strip was ripped off. Joel Howard-Davies won and was able to bite the box even when it was literally 3cm from the floor.
Another game was the muffin eating championship, contestants had to eat their cake as fast as they could without using their hands. Lee griffiths won, the video is below. The final game was musical statues, where we discovered it was more competitive than we thought when Gaz threw his gloves off when he was disqaulified. The winner was Lauren Caldwell. After this we all went to bed and got a well deserved rest.
Buenos Noches, Matt :)
Today we had to be up for 10:15, which is classed as a lie in belive it or not. We were all excited about having an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back, but when we woke up it didn't feel any different. We all came down at the correct time and we were ready for the trip to the Oceanografic. We set off to catch the Metro to our destination and discovered this was becoming a high point of our daily routine, as we always enjoyed ourselves when we were on it.
We got off the Metro and we were lead to the Oceanografic by our tour guide, Maje. On the journey up to the Oceanografic we walked across the dried up river bed of the river Turia. This was an unusual experience as we had never walked across a River bed before (obviously). Along the way we walked past the Valencia Opera house which was extremely eye catching; it looks quite similar to the Sydney Opera house.
A short while later we were at the Science museum where we discovered a huge arc; we could communicate to each other at each end, even though we had nothing to project our voices and we were at least 100 feet away from each other - our words were crystal clear. Five minutes later we were at the Oceanografic where we had lunch, everybody was excited as instead of the usual 'buttie' consisting of olives and who knows what else we had cheese and ham or ham and cheese ( it depends on which ingredient is put down first... apparently).
After lunch we went into the Oceanografic where we split into groups and went to see our favourite sea animals. Later we got the chance to watch a dolphin show or go to the 3D cinema. The decision was split, most of the lads went to watch the 3D cinema show whilst the girls opted for the dolphin show. Everybody enjoyed the Oceanografic and 3D cinema experience, even though it was very strange lying on your back watching a film.
Later on...
We got the Metro back and enjoyed the usual banter that takes place whilst riding it. Everyone seemed tired but excited as we were dressing up for Haloween. We got back to the residence and got given a lot of free time which everyone took advantage of, we then started to get dressed up for Haloween.
James Davies, Joel Howard-Davies and Gareth Jones suprised the group when they came down as they weren't in Haloween costumes at all, they were dressed as girls! This was pretty scary. The rest of the group came down all dressed superbly in their outfits and finally we set of for dinner dressed as wierdos.
On the way down to the resteraunt we got a few looks as there wasn't only three transvestites in the group, there was a banana and a chilli pepper too. We had dinner which was sausages, ommelette and chips. For our pudding we had a nice cake. We finished dinner and we walked to the residence, everybody stayed in the common room as we were having a party!!! One of our party games was the box game, which tested our flexibility because we had to pick the box up with our mouth and every time the group was successful another strip was ripped off. Joel Howard-Davies won and was able to bite the box even when it was literally 3cm from the floor.
Another game was the muffin eating championship, contestants had to eat their cake as fast as they could without using their hands. Lee griffiths won, the video is below. The final game was musical statues, where we discovered it was more competitive than we thought when Gaz threw his gloves off when he was disqaulified. The winner was Lauren Caldwell. After this we all went to bed and got a well deserved rest.
Buenos Noches, Matt :)
Day 10
Today was Friday and the day started off as normal, we all got up had breakfast and as always we had the the famous cake and toast. We then set off to school, today was a little colder than normal so we had a chilly walk to school, (when I say cold its nothing to our cold at home its more like a warm day in England)
We had our lessons as normal, first with Oana where we topped up on some Spanish knowledge learning some new Spanish vocabulary and also having a recap on the words we already knew. Then we had our lesson with Ariel where we all went out in to the park and had run around whilst learning the Spanish words for our muscles which are very similar to the English words.Then we had a very sad goodbye to Ariel because today was our last lesson with him (After this we went off to lunch).
Hope all is well at home in England !!
See you soon !!
Alex :)
We had our lessons as normal, first with Oana where we topped up on some Spanish knowledge learning some new Spanish vocabulary and also having a recap on the words we already knew. Then we had our lesson with Ariel where we all went out in to the park and had run around whilst learning the Spanish words for our muscles which are very similar to the English words.Then we had a very sad goodbye to Ariel because today was our last lesson with him (After this we went off to lunch).
We then made our way back to Schola so that we could plan for the usual sessions we are going to take that evening. Then we went off to catch the Metro to Betera to carry out our sports coaching as normal. However the basketball wasn't on because the Valencia basketball team were training. So while the rest of the group were carrying out their sessions Oli, Lauren C and I were lucky enough to get to watch the Valencia basketball team train!! After the others were finnished they came to join us and we all got to see the amazing standard of basketball in action!!
Then at eight o'clock we then made our way to meet the swimmers and get on the Metro and return back to Moncada for dinner. After dinner we walked back to the residence to watch the rest of Super Bad downstairs in the meeting room where again people were falling asleep then we all went off to bed for a good night sleep.
Hope all is well at home in England !!
See you soon !!
Alex :)
Day 9
Today was Thursday – over half way there! It has been hard these past few days with Spanish lessons, coaching and exploring Spain on the metro but we’re all having a great time. It was a shame to see the boys (Ryan and Andy) go yesterday but the show must go on – bring on the fun times :-)
Another morning of Spanish classes then: part 1 (09.30 – 11.00) featured basic vocabulary with Oana (Spanish teacher) before a well deserved 30 minute break which featured the supermarket and chilling in the sunshine. Part 2 (11.30-13.00) required a bit more energy as the lesson was taught by Ariel - a Spanish teacher who teaches PE – which meant that we were out on the local park learning sport related terminology through a practical session. These classes are really useful as the information that we learn is used in our coaching sessions that we have later in the day.
After lunch and a little free time we were back on the road (well metro!) to Betera so that we could coach our sessions. Upon arrival at our destination, swimmers went off to the swimming pool whilst the football, basketball, tennis and triathlete coaches went off to the Poly Deportiva (the multi-sports complex).
Following a successful evening of sports coaching we returned home (guess how we got there?!) to have some dinner and then headed back to the residence for a ‘DVD and duvet’ night. The choice of film was ‘Superbad’ which was really funny although, with people falling asleep (no names mentioned.....ABBI!!!), we only watched half and saved the second remainder for tomorrow night. It´s amazing how much Gaz reminds us of McLovin!
Hope you´re well in England,
Greg and Matt (the Kings of Spain).
Another morning of Spanish classes then: part 1 (09.30 – 11.00) featured basic vocabulary with Oana (Spanish teacher) before a well deserved 30 minute break which featured the supermarket and chilling in the sunshine. Part 2 (11.30-13.00) required a bit more energy as the lesson was taught by Ariel - a Spanish teacher who teaches PE – which meant that we were out on the local park learning sport related terminology through a practical session. These classes are really useful as the information that we learn is used in our coaching sessions that we have later in the day.
After lunch and a little free time we were back on the road (well metro!) to Betera so that we could coach our sessions. Upon arrival at our destination, swimmers went off to the swimming pool whilst the football, basketball, tennis and triathlete coaches went off to the Poly Deportiva (the multi-sports complex).
Hope you´re well in England,
Greg and Matt (the Kings of Spain).
Monday, 1 November 2010
Day 8
Hola! Wednesday. Now we had got into a routine, we arose for breakfast around 8.30am, got showered, dressed and went for breakfast. After breakfast we took our daily walk down to Schola, for our first Spanish lesson of the day with Oana, the lady who has been teaching us Spanish since we arrived here on the 20th October. In todays lesson we re-capped times and body parts and also moved on to foods and what we may want to ask for in the local supermarket, which all of us visit on a daily basis.
After Oanas lesson which lasts about an hour and a half, we had a quick 15-20 minute break, before our other Spanish lesson with Ariel. Ariels lessons are more practical rather than theory, so it´s nice to go out on to the local park and do practical work but still learn Spanish at the same time. Ariel speaks mainly Spanish, so it´s good for us to use the Spanish we have learnt with Oana in the morning in the sessions with Ariel.After Ariels session we went for lunch at 'our' restaurant. Todays menu... PAELLA! The famous Spanish dish. It was chicken Paella, with a nice chocolate mousse to finish it off. Lunch is a nice time of day, because it allows everyone to mingle and have a laugh outside of the classroom and the coaching environment. The table still wasn`t the same with two empty seats after Andy (Jones-Thompson) and Ryan (Stant) had vacated :(...
After lunch we headed back to Schola for our eagerly anticipated feedback from Tiny Tim (Greg) and The Man For All Occasions (Matt)... Everyone likes to hear what they have done well, which is good, but the points for improvement are also very useful not only to help us but to keep us on our toes aswell. After everyone had recieved their feedback we headed back to our residence, quick change, coaching stuff sorted and back out again to catch the Metro in to Betera. When we arrived in Betera the swimming group splits from the rest as we are at different facilities. I can't speak for everyone, but our swimming group felt it went really well and we took alot of confidence from the session and were really happy.
We got back on the Metro around 8.30pm back to Moncada, ready for our tea. Tonights menu... Beef Stew, which was different considering we're 4,000 miles away from England, yet we had a traditional English meal. It was rather decent though. Today was Mr. James Davies' 17th birthday, yet his mental age is still 7. Happy birthday matey! Therefore for dessert it was birthday cake! High 5! After everyone had finished we headed back to our residence and chilled out in the meeting room where everyone had a good chat and a laugh. Then off to bed we went, smiles on our faces, knowing they would soon be gone when we had to be up for 8.00 am the next morning.Gracias Por Leer! (Thanks for reading)
Gareth Jones :)
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