For the last three weeks I have been in Poblet, a segregated little hamlet near an equally remote town called Espluga de Francoli, the two are about a 30 minute walk apart and the walk is peppered with an abudance of hazelnut and almond tress, along with fruiting brambles. It´s a tasty walk. There are less teachers at this camp; half as many as Prades, but there is not a single dickhead! which is rather refreshing (I feel in such a small vicinity it would have only amplified their annoyance).
My class have been my ultimate favouite class over the two years in this job and teaching teenagers is definiately more interesting. They have an overall higher level of English so they can understand jokes better and they are surpisingly well behaved. Also the theatre they performed, Super Sweet 16th (chosen by me) was full of inuendos which they had written themselves and therefore highly entertaining, causing us to win out of the whole school.
The food here has been marginally better too, just small touches such as adding dried oregano at breakfast for us to put on our parma ham and tomato before we microwave it. I am going mad for ham here this term!!! serious MEAT eater. MEATER. Also there are platters on each table, for example spring rolls or curly fries (still shit food but the difference does wonders for your mental stimulation!)
Sam and I watched "Chopper" the other night, and were talking about how rubbish it would be to end up in prison and have to serve a 3 year sentence or so, when Sam said "yeah and we´ve only been here NINE weeks!" haha the comparison to incarceration was too good.
My lessons have been much more self-indulgent here but it is encouraged. For example I have taught lessons on graffiti culture, extreme sports, surf culture and chav stereotypes, body language, revolting recipes, eating disorders and Amy Winehouse. There is a larger workload here though, as we are teaching for five hours a day, which requires a significant amount of additional work to plan lessons, photocopying etc.
Last weekend we went to Tarragona and met up with LIAM and LUKE from Prades and had a big bitch about the whole thing in the sea, which was amazing. Then on return, Sam and I went out to eat some, what we thought was squid, as they dont provide food for us on Saturday. The Spanish called it "Sepia" and it was so tasty, with a little garlic, parsley and olive oil, anyway I looked it up and it´s cuttlefish, they serve it a lot here at camp too, it´s pretty tasty and really high in protein. MEATT MEAT MEAT.
Other than transfering invaluable knowledge on niche subjects in a creative manner, I have mostly been applying for jobs in Brighton, where Sam and I have a flat confirmed with his friend from the frisbee team on the seafront. I am currently aspiring to be a secretary/receptionist and have been applying nearly everyday but so far it has proved fruitless.
Some grammar topics are so hard sometimes, as my class are first certificate level, so I have to learn the grammar myself before I can teach it, obviously as a native speaker we never need to learn rules etc!!!
Joke of the term. What did the cheese say to himself in the mirror? HALLUMI!
I am currently having a UK hip hop phase. BRAINTAAAAX
The Parties are amazing here, the monitors invite the teachers to get involved, unlike Prades, and in the first week they transformed the entire building (which is an old hotel) into a haunted house, and I was genuinely really scared when going through it. Dark corridors with mysterious banging noises, a flash of light and then a dead girl with a black mouth (not a black person´s mouth haha) and black backcombed hair. Or a dead hand tied to a door. I dressed up as a dead doctor.
Today the boredom was a real test. We have exhausted all there is to do around here now (which features the pool and the bar) and my book is nearly finished (amazing book about hunting the most wanted drug kingpin in Mexico, El Chapo) and so we just went to bed!!!
It´s another teacher´s birthday today so we are going out to a nearby hotel for a meal.
We have been going for early morning runs at 7.15am to get back for breakfast at 8.30. Breakfast is my favourite meal, as it´s safe, always the same, you cant go wrong. A banana, some special K, coffee, pineapple juice, parma ham, oregano and some tomatoes. FIT
