The schedule for Vaughan Town 50/50 programs is different from the traditional Vaughan Town programs. Instead of arriving at the Grupo Vaughan offices at Calle Ourense 66 at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning, we we told to be there by 4:15 p.m. That late start means that other than talking with Spaniards on the bus, there would not be much of the traditional activities on Sunday. We arrived at Izan Hotel Puerta de Gredos in the town of Barco de Avila about 7:30, went over some of the rules, had a group activity, and then dinner as usual at 9:00. And we finally got to check into our rooms at 10:30 - a very different start to the week.
On Monday morning, I went on my walk and went the two kilometers into town. Now that I am walking more than ever, I had time and energy to explore the town center - something that I had only briefly done on prior trips here. On my way back to the hotel, I was greeted by this horse, one of six who were in this field several hundred meters before reaching the driveway to our hotel.
After going through the gateway, there is a smallish building on the left. This is used by Vaughan Town as our meeting room. The good news is that activities there do no disturb the other hotel guests. The bad news is that when some Vaughan Town participants are not there at the start of a scheduled activity, it is harder to find them.
The main building with reception, the bar, dining room and some guest rooms (my room was on the top floor) is about 100 meters from the meeting room building. There are also two large buildings with more guest rooms and a building with the pool, spa and fitness facilities.
The 50/50 program has both an Emcee and Program Director as traditional Vaughan Town programs, but also has two English instructors. The Spanish participants get four hours of instruction per day. That means there are no phone conversations or conference calls as in traditional programs. That also means instead of six hours of one to one conversations, there are only two hours per day. Hence, we English speaking volunteers are free about four hours per day, in addition to the siesta break after lunch. The 50/50 schedule also includes a break at noon and at 4:45 with coffee, juice and snacks provided by the hotel.
Because of the extra free time and my walking more, one thing I discovered in town early Tuesday morning was one part of the riverwalk that goes from the Roman bridge upstream.
On Tuesday, all of the horses were out to greet me.
Here is a sample of our schedule. We still have idioms and phrasel verbs to explain to the Spaniards (at the top in orange). The Anglo names are listed at the bottom left and if you follow the lines across, the green marks on the right mean you have free time or the name of a Spaniard for a one on one. My schedule had a one on one and one hour of free time. All of the Spaniards and Anglos were together for the presentation workshop during the first two hours of Tuesday morning.
During the Tuesday siesta, on my return from town, I noticed that there were some ostriches at the Rancho el Barco next door to the hotel property. They also had horses, chickens, mules and other animals. This picture is from the road that goes into town and was with the maximum zoom on my phone's camera. I decided that I needed to get closer, so the second photo was taken from the other side of the large stone wall in the first picture. The entire hotel property is surrounded by this wall which is about eight feet tall. I had to step on a stump and then climb part way up the wall with the phone in my mouth - this was the only way to get up over the wall to see the ostriches. Well one of them did not like this and he charged at me and the eight foot tall wall.
I also discovered that there was a bus station with regular bus service to Salamanca and Avila, the two nearest larger cities. On the hill above and behind the bus station, there is a nice plaza with great views of the river and mountains, and there is a castle.
I got the chance to walk around the castle, but it was not open that afternoon. It is quite impressive. My understanding is that the town is called Barco de Avila or boat from Avila, as this was as far upstream that boats could travel on the Rio Tormes. Our hotel is called Puerta de Gredos because it was at the gateway to the Gredos Mountains. Through that gateway, farm products, animal furs, silver and other minerals came to Barco de Avila to go by boat, and conversely, finished products came upstream from the cities for sale to the farmers, hunters and miners. Thus, the need for a castle to defend this valuable location.
On Monday morning, I went on my walk and went the two kilometers into town. Now that I am walking more than ever, I had time and energy to explore the town center - something that I had only briefly done on prior trips here. On my way back to the hotel, I was greeted by this horse, one of six who were in this field several hundred meters before reaching the driveway to our hotel.
The hotel is set back from the road. After going through a gate which is closed at night, there is a second open gate way in the stone wall.
After going through the gateway, there is a smallish building on the left. This is used by Vaughan Town as our meeting room. The good news is that activities there do no disturb the other hotel guests. The bad news is that when some Vaughan Town participants are not there at the start of a scheduled activity, it is harder to find them.
The main building with reception, the bar, dining room and some guest rooms (my room was on the top floor) is about 100 meters from the meeting room building. There are also two large buildings with more guest rooms and a building with the pool, spa and fitness facilities.
The 50/50 program has both an Emcee and Program Director as traditional Vaughan Town programs, but also has two English instructors. The Spanish participants get four hours of instruction per day. That means there are no phone conversations or conference calls as in traditional programs. That also means instead of six hours of one to one conversations, there are only two hours per day. Hence, we English speaking volunteers are free about four hours per day, in addition to the siesta break after lunch. The 50/50 schedule also includes a break at noon and at 4:45 with coffee, juice and snacks provided by the hotel.
Because of the extra free time and my walking more, one thing I discovered in town early Tuesday morning was one part of the riverwalk that goes from the Roman bridge upstream.
On Tuesday, all of the horses were out to greet me.
Here is a sample of our schedule. We still have idioms and phrasel verbs to explain to the Spaniards (at the top in orange). The Anglo names are listed at the bottom left and if you follow the lines across, the green marks on the right mean you have free time or the name of a Spaniard for a one on one. My schedule had a one on one and one hour of free time. All of the Spaniards and Anglos were together for the presentation workshop during the first two hours of Tuesday morning.
During the Tuesday siesta, on my return from town, I noticed that there were some ostriches at the Rancho el Barco next door to the hotel property. They also had horses, chickens, mules and other animals. This picture is from the road that goes into town and was with the maximum zoom on my phone's camera. I decided that I needed to get closer, so the second photo was taken from the other side of the large stone wall in the first picture. The entire hotel property is surrounded by this wall which is about eight feet tall. I had to step on a stump and then climb part way up the wall with the phone in my mouth - this was the only way to get up over the wall to see the ostriches. Well one of them did not like this and he charged at me and the eight foot tall wall.
Patrick, one of the Anglos, needed to get some new shorts, so he asked me to scout the town for a store with sporting goods. I found that there was such a store and across the street there was also a China Bazaar store which would have things at a much better price.
I also discovered that there was a bus station with regular bus service to Salamanca and Avila, the two nearest larger cities. On the hill above and behind the bus station, there is a nice plaza with great views of the river and mountains, and there is a castle.
I got the chance to walk around the castle, but it was not open that afternoon. It is quite impressive. My understanding is that the town is called Barco de Avila or boat from Avila, as this was as far upstream that boats could travel on the Rio Tormes. Our hotel is called Puerta de Gredos because it was at the gateway to the Gredos Mountains. Through that gateway, farm products, animal furs, silver and other minerals came to Barco de Avila to go by boat, and conversely, finished products came upstream from the cities for sale to the farmers, hunters and miners. Thus, the need for a castle to defend this valuable location.
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