After October ended on a positive note with buying our new home in Flagstaff and then flying to Madrid, November started on a negative note. Friday November 1 began with checking out of Hostal Tokio and having breakfast at the VIPS restaurant on Puerta del Sol. I then started to walk to Atocha Station to meet up with the Anglo volunteers and Spaniards going to Monfrague for English Immersion with Estacion Inglesa. About half way there, I went to check my phone and it was gone from my pocket. I quickly returned to VIPS to see if I had dropped it or left it at the table - no such luck, somebody had stolen my phone. I walked to Atocha Station, found the group and used the internet to suspend my phone service and email friends and family to watch for fake emails and texts. The good news is that I was not hurt - I assume it was a pickpocket who got the phone. Thus, this post is without photos - perhaps as other participants post their photos online or email them, I might be able to copy some into this post.
Tony, Steve, Tony and Bernadette, Jane, David, Morgan and Argeny, Kath, Melissa, Heather and I were the twelve native English speaking Anglo Volunteers. Cristina, Arturo, Javier, Ysabel, Yolanda, Leticia, Luis Miguel, Jonathon, Oscar, Carolina, Maria and Rosanna were the twelve Spaniards working to improve their English skills.
We had many one on one sessions where we would spend 45 minutes talking about whatever we wished, followed by five minutes to give feedback using the forms provided by Estacion Inglesa - many times we went for a walk, other times we found a place to sit and chat at the hotel. Meals had assigned seats so that we rotated through meals with all of the other Anglos and Spaniards, always with two Anglos and two Spaniards at each table - the food was excellent (the biggest problem was trying to not eat too much). We played games. Each Anglo had phone conversations with five of the Spaniards. We had a trip to Trujillo, the city from which Francisco Pizzarro came, he who conquered the Incas and ruled Peru, including establishing Lima. The wealth he and his aide Orellano took from Peru helped build Trujillo into a wealthy city - today, the castle, museums, old homes and cobblestone streets make this a popular spot for tourists. Hospederia de Extramadura was a very nice hotel - from what I understand, it is owned and operated by the local government with a goal of promoting tourism in Monfrague National Park. Although there is a nearby birding center and astronomical observatory, our week did not included visiting them - on my early morning walks, I checked out both of them but they were closed. Our week ended with each of the Spaniards giving a short presentation in English, a group dinner, and Karaoke after dinner until the wee hours Tuesday night (Wednesday morning). Wednesday lunch was tapas and then a graduation ceremony with certificates for all 24 of us participants. Then it was the three hour bus ride back to Madrid.
I had no problem getting to Hostal Viky. While checking in and arranging for my Friday morning ride to the airport, I found out about the Lufthansa pilot strike and the cancellation of more than 1,300 Lufthansa flights on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8 - here is a link to a news article about it:
Lufthans Flight Cancellations
My flight schedule is Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany, then United to Denver and on to Phoenix. Madrid Airport is a 15 minute walk from Hostal Viky (one of the reasons I chose it), so after seeing that my Lufthansa flight appeared cancelled, I walked to the airport and talked to one of the Ground Force employees (they handle flight changes for passengers on Lufthansa and Swiss Air). She could rebook me for Friday on Swiss Air to Zurich, then Chicago, and United on to Phoenix - but she checked with her supervisor and since my Lufthansa flight had not been cancelled, she could not change my flight. So I walked back to Hostal Viky and then walked a block to the plaza where I got a burger, fries and a beer for dinner.
Thursday morning, I checked in online - however, without a phone for digital boarding passes, I needed paper boarding passes. So I walked to the airport again and got both confirmation that my Lufthansa flight was not yet cancelled and paper boarding passes. Back at the Hostal, I scheduled a 3:45 a.m. wake up call plus they offer free transportation to the airport (another reason I chose Hostal Viky), so I scheduled myself on the 4:00 a.m. shuttle for the 6:10 a.m. Lufthansa flight. The rest of Thursday was spent hanging out and hoping for the best with my flights on Friday, Nov. 8.
Tony, Steve, Tony and Bernadette, Jane, David, Morgan and Argeny, Kath, Melissa, Heather and I were the twelve native English speaking Anglo Volunteers. Cristina, Arturo, Javier, Ysabel, Yolanda, Leticia, Luis Miguel, Jonathon, Oscar, Carolina, Maria and Rosanna were the twelve Spaniards working to improve their English skills.
We had many one on one sessions where we would spend 45 minutes talking about whatever we wished, followed by five minutes to give feedback using the forms provided by Estacion Inglesa - many times we went for a walk, other times we found a place to sit and chat at the hotel. Meals had assigned seats so that we rotated through meals with all of the other Anglos and Spaniards, always with two Anglos and two Spaniards at each table - the food was excellent (the biggest problem was trying to not eat too much). We played games. Each Anglo had phone conversations with five of the Spaniards. We had a trip to Trujillo, the city from which Francisco Pizzarro came, he who conquered the Incas and ruled Peru, including establishing Lima. The wealth he and his aide Orellano took from Peru helped build Trujillo into a wealthy city - today, the castle, museums, old homes and cobblestone streets make this a popular spot for tourists. Hospederia de Extramadura was a very nice hotel - from what I understand, it is owned and operated by the local government with a goal of promoting tourism in Monfrague National Park. Although there is a nearby birding center and astronomical observatory, our week did not included visiting them - on my early morning walks, I checked out both of them but they were closed. Our week ended with each of the Spaniards giving a short presentation in English, a group dinner, and Karaoke after dinner until the wee hours Tuesday night (Wednesday morning). Wednesday lunch was tapas and then a graduation ceremony with certificates for all 24 of us participants. Then it was the three hour bus ride back to Madrid.
I had no problem getting to Hostal Viky. While checking in and arranging for my Friday morning ride to the airport, I found out about the Lufthansa pilot strike and the cancellation of more than 1,300 Lufthansa flights on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8 - here is a link to a news article about it:
Lufthans Flight Cancellations
My flight schedule is Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany, then United to Denver and on to Phoenix. Madrid Airport is a 15 minute walk from Hostal Viky (one of the reasons I chose it), so after seeing that my Lufthansa flight appeared cancelled, I walked to the airport and talked to one of the Ground Force employees (they handle flight changes for passengers on Lufthansa and Swiss Air). She could rebook me for Friday on Swiss Air to Zurich, then Chicago, and United on to Phoenix - but she checked with her supervisor and since my Lufthansa flight had not been cancelled, she could not change my flight. So I walked back to Hostal Viky and then walked a block to the plaza where I got a burger, fries and a beer for dinner.
Thursday morning, I checked in online - however, without a phone for digital boarding passes, I needed paper boarding passes. So I walked to the airport again and got both confirmation that my Lufthansa flight was not yet cancelled and paper boarding passes. Back at the Hostal, I scheduled a 3:45 a.m. wake up call plus they offer free transportation to the airport (another reason I chose Hostal Viky), so I scheduled myself on the 4:00 a.m. shuttle for the 6:10 a.m. Lufthansa flight. The rest of Thursday was spent hanging out and hoping for the best with my flights on Friday, Nov. 8.
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