English Immersion Programs in 2023

Here is a post I started and never finished until now.

In March of 2023, I did a Vaughan Town program in Alhama de Aragon.  There are hot springs in this town,  so our hotel and nearby one are very popular for people who like to soak and play in the naturally heated water.

There were lots of art work, both sculptures and murals.

Several of us went to the nearby hotel that had access to the thermal lake.

As usual, there were skits, songs and presentations.  I gave a presentation about my February trip to Portugal to build with Fuller Center for Housing.

Some of the buildings were built into the rock cliffs.

Trees were in blossom all around the thermal pond where we went swimming.

I developed a sore throat Thursday and stopped participating at lunch.  I changed my flights and flew home on Saturday and by that evening, I tested positive for Covid. I got Paxlovid Sunday morning and spent the next week in a hotel.  Other than feeling tired for a couple of weeks, I did not have any long term effects.

October 25 to November 4, Ben and I did a father son trip, visiting Brugge, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium, and Berlin, Germany.  He then went to visit friends elsewhere in Germany and Austria.  I went to Prague where I met my friend Ken, and we did an English Immersion program with Prague Volunteers in Chotoviny, Czechia.

The town is a small town that appears to be a suburb of Tabor, a medium size city for Czechia.

One of the activities was a tour of Tabor.

Look closely at the clock.

There was a museum near our hotel - it had a very eclectic collection.

Back in Prague after the program, Ken and I met Danilo for coffee, pastry and more conversation in English.

After Thanksgiving, I did another program with Vaughan Systems, this time at Hotel Izan Puerta de Gredos in the town of Barco de Avila.  My corner room was on the top floor with sloped ceilings - there were parts where I needed to duck under the massive beams.

As on past trips, I often walked into town, either before breakfast or during siesta after lunch, sometimes alone, sometimes with other participants.

Now it is August of 2024 and I am looking forward to a program later this month with Estacion Inglesa in Mengibar, Jaen, Espana, and in November with Prague Volunteers in Telc, South Bohemia, Czechia.

Summer and Fall 2023 in Arizona

After returning from house and pet sitting in Portland in May, we spent most of our time in Flagstaff with visits to Phoenix as needed.  This was at the Duck Pond in Flagstaff.

This is a view of Mount Humphreys from Lone Tree Road in Flagstaff.
 

It was too hot in Phoenix for Piper, so she spent the summer in Flagstaff.  Here she is looking for squirrels at a nearby construction site.

These next two were taken at the Duck Pond in Flagstaff - this is about a 25 minute walk from our home.

As with the spring, beautiful blossoms can be found in both gardens and out in the wild, in the mountains of Flagstaff and the valley of Phoenix.

On some of our walks in Flagstaff, we saw lots of wildlife.

We have nicknamed Piper as the solar powered dog - she loves to go outside and lie in the sun.

One morning, there was a herd of 8 or nine of these guys across the street from our home in Flagstaff - I was returning from a walk with the dog and they were only about a hundred feet away from us.

On one of my trips to Phoenix, it was 116 degrees when I walked to the drug store.  There was record heat in Phoenix and much of the world.  The big problem was the heat island effect of the city where night time lows were in the low to mid 90s.  This is a problem for cacti, as they need the night time temp to drop below 90 so they can open their pores and finish the exchange of gases from photosynthesis.

And even in that heat in Phoenix, I came across this guy.