"I say Anglo, you say Spaniard..." Pueblo Ingles 2011

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Teen Pueblo Ingles

I came across Pueblo Ingles whilst browsing the internet for a volunteer program abroad for teenagers. The programmes are run by the ‘More than English’ English language teaching company and bring together Spaniards and native English speakers (from the USA, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand etc) between 13 and 18 years old in residential camps to improve the Spaniard’s English through conversation with people of their own age.

The programmes take place in hotels throughout Spain but the only language spoken throughout the week is English to ensure maximum exposure for the Spaniards. Spanish is forbidden! Pueblo Ingles has teen venues in La Alberca (Salamanca), Aldeaduero (Salamanca), Cazorla (Andalusia), Els Avets (Pyrenees), Campus el Sabio (Andalusia), Priego (Cordoba) and Pinar de La Vidriera (Andalusia)

It appealed to me as it was a way to meet friends from all over the world, particularly from Spain as I am currently studying Spanish. It is also fully supervised by counsellors throughout the week from the moment you arrive at Madrid airport and Spain was not too far away for my parents to rescue me should a problem have arisen.

The application is via a simple online form, Pueblo Ingles then contact you within the next couple of weeks offering dates which you then have to confirm. The maximum amount of programs you can do in a row is two as they are tiring. I found the company was very helpful as they could be contacted with any questions or problems by e-mail and always replied within 24 hours and sorted out problems with no hassle. Once you have accepted your program/s you have to send back medical, flight and parental consent forms.

Another appealing aspect of the programme is that ‘Anglos’, as native English speakers are called, do not have to pay for it. The only costs you are expected to cover are flights to Madrid and a Welcome pack (about 95€). This welcome pack is compulsory for all under 18s and includes: one night at the NH Zurbano Hotel in Madrid, a tour of the city, airport pickup, lunch, dinner and breakfast and a briefing.

All participants are expected to arrive in Madrid the day before their programme commences. Under 18s stay at the NH Zurbano hotel and share a room with another Anglo of the same gender for the night and are supervised by counsellors who also stay in the hotel. 18 year olds are also welcome to book in but this is not compulsory, they do however have to attend the briefing session.

The briefing gave an overview of what was expected of us during the week and allowed us to meet other Anglos (some of whom I had already talked to on Pueblo Ingles’s Facebook page) and counsellors who were going to your camp through icebreaker games.

The day in Madrid is a fantastic time to make friends with other Anglos, both from your program and others running at the same time as you are thrown together from the moment you arrive at the airport. Many of the people I met, including my roommate, were going to other camps but we formed good friendships and have kept in touch.

One of the best friends I made was Carl from near Boston who I met at the airport. We spent the day comparing words and sayings which vary in our home countries (Carl: “You really say ‘Would you like a biscuit with your tea?’ That’s so weird.”). I also set about dispelling his misconceptions about English people (“No I do not sit around drinking tea and eating crumpets all day and the first time I ever had an ‘English’ muffin was in California.”) and tried to explain Netball and the English schools system. During an icebreaker game in which two people were picked to say three facts about each other that they had learnt, Carl informed everyone that “This is Emma, she goes to primary school and plays Natball.” Umm, not quite. Evidently my explanation was not overly successful.

After a late dinner (Spaniards eat much later than the English speaking world) we were sent to bed in order to get some sleep before the early rises to set off for the hotels the next morning. My roommate, an English girl called Alice who lived in Lyon, and I stayed up talking for a while and played card games with a couple of her friends from school.

The wake up and departure times varied dependant on which camp you were going to, the earliest wake up was for Els Avets which is a 9 hour bus ride from Madrid, the latest was my camp, La Alberca which is 4 hours from Madrid. The counsellors ensured you were awake by knocking on your door at the allocated time, you then had about an hour to get ready and have breakfast. I got up earlier as my roommate was heading to Cazorla and I went for breakfast with her. Breakfast was a fantastic buffet in the hotel restaurant with a huge variety of food, the apple tart comes highly recomended. Each group were allocated a time to meet in the lobby with suitcases. We then boarded the coaches, I was joined by my first Spaniard of the week, Javi from Mallorca.

The rest of the Spaniards were picked up from the football stadium (the majority of Spaniards are from Madrid) and sat next to an Anglo for the trip.

On arrival at La Alberca we were given a three course lunch in the dining room, sat Spaniard, Anglo, Spaniard, Anglo, around tables for 5 or 6 people. All lunches and dinners were served this way by friendly serving staff from the local village (Fran being a particular favourite of us teens on account of her amiable and ever helpful nature). There was normally a choice of two starters and two main courses followed by dessert and all tables were laid with bread, oil, salt and water. The meals were all very tasty, some examples include whole trout (which caused a few laughs when the head and tail were stuck in a pile of mash with a sign saying 'Help Me'😉, spaghetti bolognaise, paella, tuna steak and chocolate mousse. If you were still hungry the staff were happy to serve extra food or there was a tuck shop selling sweets, crisps and ice creams throughout the day and a pool bar where ice creams could be purchased at free time. The Maxibon ice creams were a favourite amongst the Anglos. Water was available from the lobby for free throughout the day.

After the meal we were introduced to the camp director, a man named Javi who had the annoying habit of asking “Yes or yes?” after everything. We also met the master of ceremonies and counsellors, some of whom were veterans of the program.

Then the camp director went through the rules, all of which are taken very seriously. These include: No drugs, alcohol or sex; No speaking of languages other than English; No Smoking; Do not go in rooms other than your own; No PDA (making out); Stay within the areas you’re allowed in.
If anyone broke the rules your team lost points (for the more serious offences they could send you home), your team could also earn points through good participation.

We were assigned into groups of about 6 Anglos and 6 Spaniards with a counsellor for the week. I was in red group ‘The Rednecks’ under the direction of a fun and motherly Puerto Rican, Mariola. Our group had a great mix of personalities: the lively centre of attention Mario, confidant Californians Rachel and Ariana, laid back ozzy James and dance guru Cristian amongst others.

The rooms are based on a Spaniard sharing with an Anglo so that English is spoken during all waking hours. The rooms in La Alberca are in chalets which each contain two bedrooms, each with a bathroom, and a living and kitchen area shared between four people. Our bedroom was upstairs with a balcony and slightly larger than the downstairs room. The hotel is rated 4 stars and the accommodation definitely reflected this. My roommate Ana and I got on really well throughout the week.



Each day followed a similar routine. Breakfast was at 9 or 9:15 depending on your group. This was a buffet style with foods such as pastries, cold meats, cheese, yoghurts, cereals, toast, cakes, tinned fruit etc. There was also fresh orange juice every day which was delicious. Breakfast was again sat Spaniard, Anglo around the tables. Breakfast was followed by ten minutes free time in which to brush your teeth.

At 10 everyone gathered to take part in a warm up session. These included things such as songs, martial arts and games and were often led by other Anglos, particularly those who had attended before.

We then had activities in our groups to earn extra points. These included acting, dance, boat/parachute building, setting up fairground stalls etc. The Rednecks were, perhaps, not the most successful, but we gained a fierce reputation for never giving up and would often be found still working on the challenge long after the other groups had finished.

One to ones formed the next part of the day with all Anglos being paired with a Spaniard for fifty minutes of conversation, easier with some than others. At one point I was with a girl who answered every question with a monosyllabic answer, meaning I was forced to think up hundreds of questions to fill the time. Others, however, were more successful; I had a serious conversation about the situation in Afghanistan and the Spanish Civil War with Jorge, whilst Javi asked my advice on what to do about one of the Spanish girls who had become rather too fond of him.

Fun to funs took the place of a one to one in the evenings. In these four Anglos and four/five Spaniards were put together and we played games such as Taboo, Tell Me and various card games whilst sat in the lovely grounds of the hotel.

After lunch we had a few hours of free time, often spent by/in the outdoor pool. This was followed by free choice activities. How much choice you had depended on the amount of points your group had collected/lost. During the week I did: Lifeguarding, Clothe making, Hide and Seek (on a day where we had very few points) and Swimming.

Each evening ended in the meeting room where everyone presented what they’d done during the day under the direction of the MC, Jason. Each night we enjoyed dances, jokes, strange body tricks, magic, acting, mime, ice cream eating races and music (we had especially good duets from Ingrid (from Ireland) singing and Jorge (Spaniard) playing guitar).

The day culminated with a final hour of free time before curfew at midnight.

On the final evening in La Alberca we had a disco in a cave like dance hall near the pool with one of the Anglos playing the music (DJ PJ). It finish at 2:30 and we were then separated into boys and girls and escorted back to our rooms (wouldn’t want to risk any PDA now).

The final day was all very emotional. We were presented with certificates of attendance and several people chose to make speeches which caused the rest of us the open the flood gates. Hugging and more crying then commenced as we gradually moved to the buses which would return some of us to Madrid and some to the airport.

I had booked an extra night in Madrid as my flight didn’t leave until the next morning. Returning to the hustle and bustle of Madrid after a week in an intense teenage microcosm of society was a slight shock and I didn’t enjoy returning to the NH Zurbano without all the people I’d stayed with a week previously. Fortunately there were others from my camp staying there too and Carl also unexpectedly arrived.

We had tea at what I can only describe as an upmarket McDonalds called VIPs where I found it highly entertaining to hear one of my new American friends say “Finally, real food!”. I ordered the same as them, three pancakes with chocolate sauce and cream, but felt slightly sick after one so gave up eating it. I still wonder how my friends managed to still look attractive whilst having this as their regular diet.
The day after, it was time to catch the flight home. We were taken to the airport by one of our counsellors who accompanied us until security. I then had a long wait before a sudden rush of final goodbyes, passport checks and boarding.

Once I’d managed to navigate my way through Luton airport (Was I meant to go through ‘Nothing to Declare’ or ‘EU Citizens’?) I met my parents, who of course wanted to know every single detail right there and then.
We stepped out of the terminal building, where it promptly proceeded to rain, as if to say “Welcome back to England...”.

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