IES Torreón del Alcázar

For the majority of the year, I have been a Language Assistant at a Spanish secondary school called Torreón del Alcázar, which is often shorted to just el Torreón in speech, or IES Torreón in written form . It's one of the few bilingual schools in the city, and since I've just left the school I wanted to tell you guys a little about it. IES Torreón is a public school, even though I think the children get the level of education that private school pupils get. This is not only because of the fact that it is a bilingual school, but also because of the fact that the school gives the students a lot of opportunities. For example, the students have been on lots of trips and have taken part in many language exchanges. It's also a training centre, which means that people can study nursing, mechanics and go to classes that teach them how to succeed at job interviews and to perfect their CV at the school too. 

School trip to Mérida

Also, the students have been on trips to Spanish cities like Toledo, Sevilla, Salou, Mérida, Madrid and many more. The trips in Toledo and Mérida were educational ones, but at the same time the students were able to see beautiful buildings, such as synagogues, museums, wonderful view points, plus they had time to explore the city on their own in Toledo. In Mérida, they had the chance to watch a play performed at one of the most important places in the city, the ampitheatre, and it was a great play indeed. The trip to Salou is for the leavers in what is the equivalent of year 10/11 (4º ESO)*, and the students have done many things in Madrid such as going to the Warner Bros theme park, and next month they are going to watch the Cirque du Soleil in Madrid. These are just trips around their own country. Internationally, they have been to places such as France, Germany, Ireland and many places in England such as London, Durham and even Newcastle!

School trip near Valle de Alcudia

Lots of schools have trips like this school does, but I think that the one thing that makes the school standout is the fact that they have taken part in many foreign exchange trips, or just trips where the students get to go to England so that they can practise English. For example, some of them have been to Galway on a foreign exchange, where they had to attend schools in Ireland and live with a host family for two weeks.Students in 1º ESO  (basically year 7/8) are in Canterbury now, and those in 2º ESO (Year 8/9) are going to Whitley Bay in less than two weeks where they'll take part in cultural activities, like visiting Alnwick Castle, having English classes and living with English families. Some of the students have even gone on French foreign exchanges!

Even the way they are assessed is quite good.  At the end of each term they always have exams in every subject they have, and throughout the term they have to do assignments such as presentations. This school also offers the IGSCE qualification in English, which is useful to them. Moreover, if students get a high enough grade in the exam then they will qualify for a B2 certificate, which is a European qualification, at the same time as getting an IGCSE qualification. As you can see, the education they receive is excellent. They do fun educational things too, like watch English language movies and read English language books. Those in 1º ESO have just finished reading and watching Harry Potter, and some in 4º ESO have read some Edgar Allen Poe books.

Anyway, I'll miss my students very much and I'm sure they'll grow up to be highly intelligent adults. Here are photos of most of the classes I've been in the last couple of months:

4º ESO

4º ESO

3º ESO

1º ESO

1º ESO

3º ESO

2º ESO

1º ESO

*In Spain they also group the years differently than we do in England. For example, those in 3º ESO are all born in 2000. The eldest of the year would be born 1st January 2000 and the youngest 31st December 2000. That's why 3º ESO would be year 9/10. Those who are born from January to August 2000 would all be in year 10 here, however those born from September to December 2000 would all be in year 9. In Spain they'd all be in the same year though.

Las Fallas

There are many cultural events and festivals in Spain, and I've been to some of them such as Las Fiestas y Festivales, which happen at the beginning of September, Carnaval, which happens in February and la Feria de Abril (Seville Fair) which is held in Seville two weeks after Semana Santa. Although I enjoyed all these events thoroughly, I have to say the best festival or cultural event that I've been to in Spain has to be las Fallas (Spanish) or Falles (Valencian), even though La Feria de Abril is a close second for me. The Fallas is an event that lasts five days and nights and happens at the beginning of spring every year in Valencia to commemorate Saint Joseph. Other cities in the Comunidad de Valencia, such as Alicante, also have their own version of the Fallas, but Valencia is the main city where it is celebrated.

One of the parade at the Fiestas and Festivales in Guadalajara

The Seville Fair in the day

The main entrance to the Seville Fair at night

The word falles or fallas refers to both the celebration and the paper mache figures created during the event. During the Fallas each neighbourhood of the city has an organized group of people, called the casal faller or comissió fallera, that works all year long raising money to make the fallas. After they obtain the money, each group produces a construction known as a falla which that will be eventually burnt.

The main falla in Plaza de Ayuntamiento in Valencia

There are various events that happen during the Fallas. For example, there is La Despertà which is essentially a wake up call at 8 am to start the day. There's also the La Mascletà which is where firecrackers, and sometimes fireworks, are set off for an hour in every neighbourhood starting at 2pm every day of the falles. La Mascletà certainly scared me because even though the firecrackers are harmless, some of them are set off right in front of you without you realising until the last moment. Thirdly, there's La Plantà,  which is the deadline set for the fallas to be finished - it falls on 15th March. The infantils (the small falles) are to be finished in the day whereas the falles majors are to be completed by night time for La Plantà. The fallas that aren't finished will be disqualified. Next is the L'Ofrena de flors which is where is falla group takes an offering of flowers to the virgin Mary. Then the Els Castells and La Nit del Foc happen the day after. The Els Castells are firework displays in the old riverbed in Valencia that happen on the nights of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th. Each night is progressively grander and the last is called La Nit del Foc (the Night of Fire). On the final evening of the Fallas at 7pm the Cabalgata del Fuego happens. This is basically a fire parade.  Finally there is La Cremà, which is when all the fallas, including the winning one, are burnt. La Cremà is started by the infantils being burnt first, and then the bigger ones are being burnt couple of hours after at around midnight or sometimes later.

The Virgin Mary

Now, because I work for the majority of the week I could only make it to the last day of the Fallas, but in the end I think it was enough to give me a good taste of the event. Even though the weather was absolutely terrible (the worst I've seen in Spain so far - except the snow in the North) I had an amazing time.

As soon as I and the other passengers on board the train to Valencia got off the train, we were greeted by the sounds of many fire crackers being set off: the Cabalgata. I know that it started at 2pm, but expected it to be finished by the time I arrived, which at about quarter past two, but the banging continued as I made my way to my hostel, and I even stumbled across families and children setting them off right in front of me. Apparently the Calbagata had been going for several weeks according to another traveller I met at the event. 

The winning falla

As soon as I had settled in my hostel, I went exploring and wanted to see all the fallas. I first stumbled across the winning one, which is actually quite beautiful even though there was certainly a lot of competition from other fallas.  Unfortunately, because the  weather was terrible (it was too windy) the Cabalgata del Fuego was cancelled due to the  health and safety risks involved if they continued. I was very disappointed, because the fire parade sounded and looked really cool and I wanted to take pictures. However, I still got to see some other cool stuff.  For instance, I randomly and thankfully stumbled across an event which was essentially the process of switching all the street lights on to prepare for La Cremà, and it was amazing. It instantly reminded me of Christmas and got me excited for the burning of the fallas, that would start soon.

The street lights being turned on

Fireworks being set off before the falla is burnt

In the end,  I only got to see one falla burn, the one in Plaza de Ayuntamiento, and it was fascinating to see. Although we waited ages to see it burn (we arrived early to actually get a good spot to see the burning) the experience was fantastic, a part from it being too crowded. There were fireworks, cheering, a mini countdown to tell you how long was left for the falla to burn, and it was just great to see all these people cheering and waiting for the falla to burn. As soon as the paper mache lion was lit up I could feel the heat, but the most interesting  part of the burning was seeing the actual falla being demolished by the fire.

The beginning of the burning

More professional image I didn't take

So, although I only got to see the last day of las Fallas and even though some events were cancelled, I had a great time and hope to return again to Valencia to see the event in its entirety next year. I hope the weather will be better though!

Easter in Spain

As we've just celebrated Easter, it thought I'd tell you all about how it is celebrated in Spain. Easter is literally translated as Pascua in Spanish, but a more common name for the whole Easter Holidays is Semana Santa, even though the meaning of this is Holy Week. The biggest difference between Easter in the UK and Easter in Spain is that the main focus in Spain is the religious aspect, even though bakeries and chocolate shops do sell chocolate eggs and other chocolate goodies. A part from buying chocolate in shops, one can also buy and eat torrijas, which are  slices of bread soaked in milk or wine with honey, that are then dipped in egg and fried. They are more typically eaten for Lent as well as Easter than chocolate is. In fact, some check-out operator was actually trying to sell me some torrijas to make at home when I went shopping at the Mercadona during Semana Santa.

A picture of some Easter chocolate goodies I saw when I was in Barcelona.

Torrijas

This year Semana Santa was from Sunday 29th March til Sunday 5th April, with the school break being from 27th March until 6th April. However, in some cities such as Toledo Semana Santa celebrations are even longer, starting on the Thursday or Friday before normal beginning of Holy Week.  As the focus on the christian aspect of Easter is a lot greater in Spain, the main attraction are the processions which feature men with pointy hoods. There are also floats used in the processions called tronos which are carried through the street by people. Each float is beautifully decorated with important Easter figures representing the Easter story on it. For example, there are floats with Jesus being crucified. They are so extravagant that they are normally covered with gold, silver, fine cloths and fresh flowers.

A float I saw in Granada

 A part from being extravagant, these tronos weigh so much that forty or fifty  people carry each of them on their shoulders. The people who carry the floats are called costaleros and it is said that the pain that they feel after carrying the heavy floats reminds them of the pain that Jesus suffered. The processions that I saw didn't last too long and I don't think the tronos were that big, but I heard that some can last for five hours, or maybe even more! The most famous and biggest processions are in Sevilla, and each one is organised by a Cofradía which is basically a brotherhood. In fact, processions all over Spain are organised by these brotherhoods, but each cofradía  in Sevilla tries to put on the biggest and best procession during Semana Santa so there's a lot of competition. Because the processions in Sevilla are the most famous in Spain during Holy Week, it tends to be extremely crowded around this time.

If you look closely you see the feet of the

My friend who was in Sevilla during Semana Santa said that if she had one word to describe it she'd describe it as 'overcrowded'. What's worse is that the roads are blocked to pave the way for the floats, and tourists are sometimes not allowed to visit certain religious places of interest. This not only happens in Sevilla, but in other Andalusian cities too. I went to Granada for Semana Santa and I can say and a lot of the tourist places weren't open for tourists because of the Easter events. Also, bus services were modified or unavailable on certain days, so I'd say Semana Santa may not be a great time to visit Andalusian cities if you want to see a lot of the touristy places without any hassle, but only if you just want to see the processions and what Easter is like in the south of Spain.

Now let's talk a little bit more about Semana Santa itself. The first day of Holy Week is called Domingo de Ramos and the final day is called  Domingo de Resurreción.  The rest of the days in between just have santo at the end of the days of the week. For example, Maundy Thursday would be Jueves Santo and Good Friday would be Viernes Santo. The mass on Easter Sunday, the last day of Semana Santa, is also important. The pointy hoods, called capirotes, that have been worn throughout the week by the penitentes (the people who lead and follow the floats) to signify mourning of the death of Jesus Christ, are taken off to celebrate the resurrection. When I first saw these capirotes, I was instantly reminded of the KKK, but apparently, KKK members adopted the idea of these hoods when they saw the Holy Week celebrations, as they were impressed by the effect the design had on onlookers.

Penitentes wearing blue capirotes

If the slightest drop of rain falls then the processions are cancelled straight away because the floats are old and can be damaged easily, so if you see it's raining on one day during Semana Santa, the odds are that the processions will be cancelled for that day. My flatmate told me that one of the teachers at the language school she works at said that if it rains and the processions are cancelled then people are so disappointed that some of them even break down crying.

So Easter in Spain is entirely different to how it is in England. The focus really isn't on chocolate  but on religion, which left me gutted when I found out because I love chocolate. However, Easter in Spain was quite interesting to witness, but I do miss the chocolate you get at Easter in the UK, such as Creme Eggs!

Shops in Spain

Supermarkets

Mercadona

The most popular supermarket in Spain, I'd have to say, is the Mercadona. When I was staying in Torrevieja I lived right opposite a Mercadona , and when the family I stayed with went shopping they would always go shopping there. Likewise, when we went back to Guadalajara, the Mercadona was still the place they went to go shopping, even though it was further away then other supermarkets, like Lidl. I do most of my shopping at here because things are decently priced and I like what they sell. I've come across 4 or 5 Mercadonas so far and haven't even explored all the city, so it's definitely the most popular supermarket.

Eroski

Eroski is less popular, but there are a wider range of items here. I also live about 10 mins away from it, whereas I live about 15 mins away from the nearest Mercadona,  Eroski's more expensive than Mercadona and other supermarkets, though. You can find good baking ingredients here, kitchen stuff, living room stuff, clothes, baking stuff - almost everything. The Eroski supermarket is also in an Eroski shopping centre that has clothes shops, restaurants, sweet shops and more.

Día

Recently I found out that there's a Día supermarket less than 10 minutes away from where I live, so this is the closest supermarket to me. I previously thought that the nearest Dia to me was about 10 minutes away, and thought that both Eroski and this Día supermarket were both the closest supermarkets to me. This is less popular than Mercadona but more popular than Eroski, as I've only seen one Eroski supermarkeet whereas there are several Días. It's cheaper than both Mercadona and Eroski.

Other supermarkets

Carrefour

I found out a Carrefour existed in Ciudad Real about a couple of months ago. It's just over 15 minutes away from me and is as expensive as Eroski, so I don't really shop here.

Aldi

Apparently there's an Aldi here. The only evidence I have for this is seeing my flatmate's receipt from Aldi and then googling it to find out where it is. It's not too far away from where I live, but there are closer supermarkets so I've never paid it a visit. I must visit it before I leave though!

Lidl

There's also a lidl here, but it's more than half an hour away so I doubt I'd be visiting it.

Los Chinos

No, these aren't shoes. They're not even Chinese people in this context. If you here a Spanish person say "Voy al chino", what they're saying is that they're going to a shop owned by a Chinese person, that are famous for selling  a wide range of products that are cheap. Need a needle and thread? Go to el chino. Need cheap earphones? Go to el chino. Need a cheap frying pan? Go to el chino.  They've come in handy and there are several of them in every neighbourhood, so there's always one that's near. There are even two on the same street here in Ciudad Real.

Places to eat

Acuario

This is the first tapas bar I went to. At the time I didn't know what tapas were and thought that you
had to pay for them so declined free food when I was starving, haha. You can get a lot of traditional tapas here, such as patatas bravas al aliolli, which are potato wedges with this kinda of mayonnaise sauce, tortilla española, and other dishes. I remember one tapa I had were these chicken balls on a kebab stick, which was delicious.

El Portalon

This tapas bar is quite big - there are two floors and an outside seating area. The size of this tapas bar isn't the only large thing about it, because the tapas are also huge. Tapas are meant to be small appetisers you get with your drink. For example, you could get some tortilla española between two slices of bread as a tapa, but at el Portalon you get hamburgers, pizzas, chicken wings, and typical Spanish dishes (which I have yet to try). They're not proper big dishes, but they're big compared to other portions you get at other bars. You could easily have a cheap dinner here.

Come y Calla

This tapas restaurant serves some really good tortilla española! I used to go here a lot with the other language assistants as well. I think it's a little more expensive than other tapas restaurants, like Acuario and El Portalon though, and there's not a lot of room inside, which sucks on cold days (which actually exist in Spain).

Magestic Zahora

I've been to this tapas bar/restaurant (this is a tapas bar and a restaurant) a lot of times with the other language assistants. It's quite posh, the tapas are well presented on the dish in extravagant way and they're quite tasty, but the drinks are the same price as in other bars, so I really like this place.

Telepizza

In England, we have places like Pizzhut and Domino's, but in Spain Telepizza's where it's at. You will probably find several in every city and on Thursday's there are lines so long that they go past other shops, because of the special offers. These queues even exist in bad weather. For example, one of my friends said that one night it was freezing and raining, but the line was still extremely long. One of the pizza flavours that Spanish people love most from here is the barbacoa flavour, which is basically a barbecue flavoured pizza.

Other places to eat

Llaollao

It's pronounced yowyow and it looks like a very cool yogurt shop. I haven't been, but would like to go because it looks like they sell good yoghurt, and I see a lot of the students at the school I teach at hang out there quite often, so it must be great.

Heladarías

These are ice cream shops. I know cities in England have Ben & Jerry's shops, but I really don't believe we really have a lot of ice cream shops, given the weather. There are many of them scattered around Spanish cities and you can get all kinds of interesting flavours. I've had a bubblegum flavour, a black forest flavour,  a leche merengada flavour (which is to die for!) and more. You can also have half of one flavour and half of another, get sweets, chocolate and many more things put in some of them.

Clothes

H&M

Spain has a lot of clothes shops that we have in England (even though there's no H&M in Wolverhampton or Durham) and H&M is one of them. I mainly do my clothes shopping here because the clothes are so nice and it's one of the first clothes shops I encounter when I walk into the city centre. It's not as cheap as Primark though, which probably can only be found in big or touristy Spanish cities.

Bershka 

I don't think we have many Bershka shops in England. I've seen one in the Mertrocentre, but that's about it. I like this shop because you can get some nice decently priced clothes. It's  right next to the H&M, so is another one of the first clothes shops I come across when I go to the city centre, buy it's a little cheaper than H&M, I think.

Mary Paz 

Shoes! If you want a lovely pair of shoes at a decent price, Mary Paz is the place to go! When I need shoes I head to Mary Paz. Some of the other language assistants I know are obsessed with this shop and told me that they always felt compelled to buy shoes whenever they walked past a Mary Paz shop.

Shana 

I wanted to add this shop to list, even though I don't really shop here because it's almost my name. I visit it just be reminded of this fact haha. I haven't really been in the one in Ciudad Real though, but have visited Shanas in Guadalajara and Torrevieja. I prefer Bershka and H&M to Shana, though!

There are other shops that I could have mentioned here, but I don't really shop at them and they're not the most important ones. As you see, life in Spain is quite different, especially when going to buy food. In Spain, there are no Tescos, Asdas, Sainsbury's or even Pizza Huts or Domino's - well not in most Spanish cities anyway. It's been very interesting to adapt to this new way of shopping, and when I get back to England it's going to be equally interesting to get used to English shops again!