Leaders in Language 2020. Placement 1: Always late but worth the wait!! Part 1

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Always late but worth the wait!! Part 1

Well folks, it has been a solid 3 weeks but here I am. Better late than never right?! I can safely say I think I have been doing a pretty damn good job considering one of my walls (the smallest, admittedly) is covered in treasures from paper candy canes to valentines day colouring in with bits of ribbon (I totally did NOT almost sob after being given valentines stuff from the kids, best. Valentines. Ever.)

To think I was scared when I found out I'd be working with 6-year-olds, makes me feel a bit silly if I'm honest. The only thing to be mildly afraid of, that I wish someone had warned me about, was when they cling on to your legs and no one has taught them the phrase 'LET GO!' yet. After this, I was sure to incorporate this into my next lesson.

I'd like to shoutout to my girl Virginia, my tutor, who let's face it, has not just taken me under her wing, but basically adopted me at this point. She is the best. The language barrier has been a challenge but a funny one for sure. As long as you're mediocre at charades, you're fine (just try not to knock over a glass with all the gesturing- no word of a lie).

Besides eating my body weight in tapas and finding new places to drink coffee, we have been to Santiago which definitely lived up to our expectations- it was extremely gloomy. On the other hand, we were lucky enough to visit when the scaffolding had been taken down finally after around 7 years of it masking the beauty of the church we visited. We even got a kind of tour of the inside, in which we learnt about the fascinating Pilgrim history in the walls that stood before us.

Other aspects of the church included religious creations such as huge beautiful tapestries, not to mention one of my personal favourite factors of the church, the very abstract statues and their very long fingers (see below).

We went for lunch (more tapas, shock), I ate octopus for the first time which was, okay, and we finished the day in the best way- drinking Spanish champagne. Now, this all sounds rather sophisticated, but I'm afraid to say the illusion was shattered when we got another bottle (let me stress this now-by ACCIDENT!!) and had to drink it fairly swiftly after realising we didn't exactly have enough time to sip in a dignified manner before getting back onto the bus. I may have acquired a flute in the process... But hey. If you can't have a laugh, what can you do! Santiago was a pretty unforgettable experience! Cheers to UKLC for providing us with a great trip, and a very friendly and knowledgable tour guide, Christina.

Whilst I'm here, I should probably mention carnival. But a picture paints a thousand words right? So I'll make it easy for both of us. (Watch the videos!!).

Tune in next time!

ps.. hope you're all well and enjoying your last week (in Maryam's words OMG!!) in Spain xoxo