Tag: Málaga

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Villanueva in July and More – Janine

Hello all!
Things are starting to wind down in preparation for the feria, and the other interns are trickling out of Villanueva. Libby and I are the only interns still in Villanueva hanging out in the Academia today, and it seems more quiet than usual. Tomorrow I head out of Villanueva for the break to do some traveling with my mom in Amsterdam, and then I’ll be back in August for a couple more weeks of classes!
I am shocked at how quickly the last month has gone… Time flies when you’re having fun! At the Academia, classes have continued to be busy and engaging. My students have become more comfortable with their use of English, even if they are sometimes rather reluctant to speak out loud. I understand the nervousness that accompanies using a second language- when I speak Spanish it is very apparent that I am speaking with an American accent, and there are plenty of times when I am not 100% sure what is being said in a conversation. One of my classes finds my co-teacher Maya’s inability to roll her r’s hilarious. I suffer from the same inability to distinguish my pronunciation of pero and perro. Still, it has been great to slowly understand more Spanish as my students are also improving their English skills! I still am sometimes shocked when I realize I am understanding and listening to a conversation in Spanish. We also have added a couple new games to the mix in classes. My favorite game involves choosing three categories (like entertainment, money, and travel, for example) and then choosing one letter. Then everyone has to think of words that fit within the categories that all start with that same letter!
These past couple weekends have been relaxing and also fun. A couple weekends ago, I took a trip to Málaga for a beach day with Libby and my friend Emma. As someone from the Great Lakes, it still seems weird to me to be surrounded by salt water. The beaches in Málaga are super busy, but they are also perfect for a lazy Saturday! The next weekend, I spent some time in Pozoblanco in the morning with Maya and Libby. It is very similar to Villanueva, except a bit bigger! Pozoblanco’s main street is beautiful and full of restaurants, and there are lots of cute shops. That night, I experienced the Spanish summer tradition, el botellón, in Villanueva with Luna, Libby’s host sister, and some other interns. El botellón is not like anything I have ever seen in the States. People park their cars, blast music, and drink on the street. It was super strange to see my students there! I truly do not understand how Spaniards can stay out so late. When I asked my students about el botellón during the feria, they said they stay out until 7:00 am. If I tried to stay out this late, I would probably die. Sleep is important! Hopefully everyone has plenty of opportunities to sleep during the day while the feria is happening!
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Last Weeks in Villanueva – Libby

Hi everyone! The last few weeks and classes went well. It is nice to get to know my students better. In one of my classes we did a questionnaire about what they wanted to work on in English and what kind of activities they like the most. This was very helpful for me, and Giulia and I used their feedback when we made lesson plans. Last week, Janine and I started to work with two new women who want to learn English for their jobs. In my classes that week, we listened to “If I Were a Rich Man”. The students understood it well and thought the song was fun. Janine and I also taught a new B2 for the first time. It was nice to learn about his life and talk about the meaning of songs.

That weekend I went with Janine and my friend, Emma, to the Málaga. We went to the beach. Janine and I were going to take the tour bus with the tourism office, but it was full. It was fun, but the sun was so hot that we got tired and a little sunburnt. There were a lot of people at the beach. I liked swimming in the water, but I didn’t know it would be so salty. We saw some other English speakers there, who were British. Emma really wanted paella, but all of the restaurants were closed because of siesta. We had lunch at the train station mall. We had a good time.


Back at the academia, this week we played twenty questions. My classes really liked it, especially my high school class. They really liked playing in teams because they are very competitive. I taught the young learners class alone on Thursday and the kids really liked playing with play dough again. They also liked a video about broccoli and ice cream. I was happy that they wanted to sing the songs. In the upper level classes, we played “Chained to the Rhythm” and it was interesting to look at its meaning. Through talking about it with the students, I saw how much more complicated and interesting it is than I first thought, which was cool. We also practiced numbers and writing sentences with different tenses. Next week will be busy and we plan on doing a fun last thing in classes. I’m sad that this is my last weekend in Villanueva, but I’m excited to go home.

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Trip to Morocco – Kaelan

Hey everyone!

The last week was a ton of fun! We started teaching classes, and it’s been interesting getting to know the students as well as telling them about where I’m from! Last week I went out with my friends, and figured out why nobody likes Correos.

On Wednesday, I went to Morocco. I didn’t realize how far Morocco was, but it took us around 7 hours to get there! We took a ferry from Algeciras and got to stay in Tánger. Tánger is very different from Spain, and the Arabic was incredibly interesting to listen to! We went to markets, to the Atlantic Coast, as well as to the Malabata beach, which was beautiful!

The second day in Morocco we went to Ceuta. The land border at Ceuta was incredibly intense, and seemed like a prison crossing over. There were so many people! The currency is Euro versus the Moroccan Dirham, so I had to do some currency exchange while I was there.  The culture of Ceuta is very interesting, and the city is beautiful but foggy and warm!

I also went to Málaga for the first time to visit my cousin! She and her boyfriend came from London to Málaga. It was great getting to see them, relaxing on the beach with them, and just enjoying their company. I’ve never really been sunburnt, but in Málaga I definitely burned my shoulders! It’s a lesson for next time!

Stay tuned for more updates!