No Habla Español

Working for Pueblo Inglés is such an amazing experience.  There are seventeen Spaniards and one Italian who are innudated with English 24/7.  It´s hard to constantly work on their English skills and not attempt to learn some Español in return but we´ve been asked to keep the education focused on their benefit.  After one day, I had some great one-to-one conversations with Alberto M., Ricardo, and Giuseppe, as well as great conversations with everyone over meals and at the bar.  Javier H., a professor who will be moving to Pittsburgh in July, is a science fiction and Star Wars fan.  Elena is a mother of a twenty-month-old son.  Rafael is the soft-spoken man who shares our villa.  Allyson is a Cubs fan from Wichita.  Cemile is half British, half Turkish who lives in Paris.  Ricardo and Eduardo taught Susan and me a complicated Spanish card game called ¨Mus¨ (pronounced moose!).  Jason is the program director from Vancouver who is still mourning the loss of his team in the Stanley Cup...

The comparisons between my experiences at Pueblo Inglés and my memories of Camp Webb are limitless.  I look forward to sitting with a new collection of friends in the dining hall at each meal.  The activities are clearly scheduled throughout the morning and afternoon, and they´re signaled by the ringing of the bells in the main hall.  All around, we´re surrounded by magnificent scenes of nature, rambling pathways punctuated by trees, lampposts, open spaces, and well-placed benches.  Little birds chirp from nearby foliage and the occasional hawk circles overhead.  Everyone is friendly and outgoing but rarely awake until later in in the day.  The kitchen staff is astounding and creative and sometimes we´re not really sure what´s in a particular dish.  Skits, songs, conversations, presentations, and small talk is all filled with personality and laughter.

I have to do double takes every once in a while.  I´m in Spain.  But you wouldn´t know it because everyone and everything at our part of the resort is in English!