Castillo de Alhabar

Cambil

Wednesday, October 20th was our first trip to Cambil, a tiny town of only 3,000 people nested between the mountains. We hopped on a bus at noon and enjoyed the half an hour ride, as it was accompanied by a scenic view the whole way, through hills and mountains dotted with olive trees. Jaén and the surrounding areas are known for their olive groves and olive oil. They are jam-packed with green olives which are comparable in shape and size to the black kalamata olives from Greece. I have been eating them like crazy and even bought a two liter bottle of them at the grocery store the other day. Who knew olives could be so tasty?! They are worlds apart from the canned olives they sell in Minnesota. It has been interesting ingesting so many olives and so much olive oil-- Amy, Holly and I have noticed the increased grease in our skin and hair since arriving, gross!

Castillo de Alhabar

When we arrived to Cambil we walked into the school, Castillo de Alhabar, not knowing exactly where to go or who to talk to. We ended up finding a classroom of little kids and a teacher who attempted to speak English to us as she lead us to the principal’s office. It seemed as though everyone was expecting us and we were warmly welcomed by all the teachers and staff. The school is right in the “center” of Cambil and consists of a bunch of little buildings within a fenced area. Each building is for a certain grade. There is also an outdoor basketball court where they have gym class and recess. Holly is working with elementary school students, from pre-school age (3 years) to sixth grade. I am working with middle school students between the ages of 13-15. I will be working only Tuesdays and Wednesdays with a number of different classes, both English and Natural Science, all at different levels in English. Spaniards are known for their poor English skills, and I can now see where the problem begins. Spanish people who teach English do not seem to speak English all that well. They teach children the correct grammar, but with a very heavy Spanish accent. The first day I sat in on class, there were things the teacher said in English that I could not understand. It is kind of funny… the kids can understand their Spanish English teacher, but not me. It seems like Spain needs to be importing more native English language teachers. Because Holly and I only work 12 hours a week, and we get only one hour a week with each class, it is not like we will be having a huge impact on these kids English language skills. We’ll see, though.