Nottingham High School
Alex & Pablo
Although the idea of staying in a stranger’s house for four nights was daunting initially, both Pablo and I settled in instantly and got on really well with our host family, and this was the case everybody on the trip. Upon our arrival Pablo and I decided to explore the city, which was easy given the layout, and visit the only beach in the old town.
Despite being unfortunate in terms of the weather, on the Wednesday it was sunny enough to take a trip to the beach following our lesson in the morning. This was my favourite part of the trip as we were fortunate to see the most guapa chica en todo el mundo! This seemed to set the tone for the rest of our stay.
Across the majority of cities world wide, the percentage of ‘guapas chicas’ trends to around 10% of the female population; however in Cadiz, it was mutually agreed that this percentage was around 35%; therefore it is a great city to visit This was of course an educational visit, and both Pablo and I found the experience of being taught in this environment extremely beneficial.
Even though the stay was only short, speaking and listening to authentic Spanish constantly developed these skills significantly (more so than I had expected prior to the trip). Not only this, but learning in the friendly environment of the K2 International School helped us to feel at ease, and settle in well. ‘Una gogó’ is a word that should come in useful for me in the future when applying for a job in Ibiza – meaning, ‘a podium dancer’.
Tom & Chris
The hospitality of the family with which we were staying set us at ease from the start. Although speaking English wasn’t an option, Margarita still managed to get across the message that we weren’t to return to the flat ‘borracho’ by dancing around whilst waving her arms! We began lessons early on Wednesday morning with our teacher, Patricia (with whom a certain member of the group – Alex – became infatuated).
It was, at times, challenging to have a solely Spanish speaking teacher but this encouraged the group to stretch themselves, and get steadily more confident about the forth-coming Oral exams. The rapport amongst the group is the most memorable aspect of the trip for us. From idiotic mispronunciations – ‘K-erca’, to hilariously jokes, the trip was both educational and a good break from the work pressures of term-time.
Richard & Harry H
Coming to Cádiz during Semana Santa, we saw all of the processions in which the town’s people carry floats of religious imagery around, it is interesting to see the difference between the celebrations in England and Spain.
All the streets in the old town are picturesque, narrow with terraces of houses and the gardens of the city are interesting, with knotted and artistically cut trees and statues.
The best bit would have been the beach, however, the weather let us down. Teresa our host was really simpática and would not take no for an answer when it came to feeding us.
The lessons at the school were focused but relaxed, looking mainly at the past tenses. On the coach to Cadiz, Señor Picardo taught us a local phrase, ‘¿Dónde va picha?’ if someone is pushing in a queue etc.
Karan & Harry D
Cadiz is a very typical European city, with both a newly built up market end of town as well as the older, historical town surrounded by the old city walls. The old town has various ‘plazas’ with lots of cafes and the streets are filled with Spaniards conversing with their neighbours.
Our host, Carmen, didn’t speak a single word of English (which for the first hour was awful!), however she was very welcoming and happy to cook whenever necessary.
The school lessons had a good mix of banter and learning and were very helpful in teaching us how to interact with the locals. We studied a variety of tenses as well as some very useful vocab (which we then used when going round Cádiz and with Carmen). We have learnt a lot about the religious traditions of the Gaditanos (people from cadiz) from the processions that were ongoing all week, celebrating ‘La Semana Santa’.
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