Looking for a first opportunity...: My first English Camp

An Aussie Girl in Madrid by Kate N. - Post # 1.

I arrived at the airport in Madrid to be greeted by Andrea holding a sign with my name written in bold! A great start to my time as a Camp Monitor with Greenbee Town Summer Camps. Andrea was a coordinator and was friendly and ready to answer any questions I had regarding the Summer Camps.

I met Joanne, a girl from Northern Ireland and Rachel a girl from England who were the other two native English speakers chosen to work within the Summer Camps. We were all taken to Lunch with Andrea and David, a member of First Opportunity who works closely with Greenbee Town. We all had the opportunity to try some authentic Spanish Tapas in Madrid that included Patas Bravas (mini potatoes with a chili mayonnaise sauce), Croquetas (fried food roll with bechamel, meat or fish covered in breadcrumbs) and Huevos rotos (fried eggs with mini sausages and mini peppers) followed by a Coffee. It was delicious! During this time we were informed about extra details of the Summer Camps to come.

Each of us was then escorted to our Host Family who would be providing us with accommodation in exchange for us to teach English to their children or do some babysitting. I am very lucky to be staying with Almudena and her husband who have two young boys Pablo 8 years and Jorge 6 years. I am staying in Boadilla del Monte, a small town not far from Madrid.

The first summer camp consisted of 8-year old Spanish speaking students who have been learning English as a second language at their school. The purpose of the camp was to have the children speak English the entire duration of the camp so they could put their language lessons into practice. Each day consisted of activities that involved learning new English words or providing fun and exciting activities to keep the children interested and learning new skills. The kind of activities we did with the children were: cooking cookies; paper mache; dying t-shirts; talent shows and lots of sports such as Ultimate Frisbee, Giant Volleyball, Hockey, Archery, Football.

Each room where the children would sleep at night had two monitors to assist them to wake up in the morning, get themselves dressed, have their showers, meals and then to put them to bed. The monitors also slept in the room with the children to be there in case they woke up during the night. This provided comfort, security and stability for the children during the camp.

A typical day consisted of music to wake up the children followed by an aerobic warm up before breakfast, two activities before lunch, some free time after lunch, followed by 2 more activities before dinner. The children were then to have a shower and put on some clean clothes. Dinner was at 8pm followed by another activity before bed. Each day was well structured that provided a good routine for the children. Throughout the camp there was an energetic vibe from all the Camp monitors and improvisation was what got us through the camp.

All the games I played during childhood or with the children I have worked with throughout my nanny experience all came to into play. The last night we had a Talent Show which was a huge success. The children had a ball dressing up and dancing. I was lucky enough to be one of the judges. I was ´Madam Butterfly the 'nice judge' dressed as a green alian. Issac was the neutral judge from Hawaii wearing a flowery necklace and giant red sunglasses. David was the mean judge dressed as a dorky professor. It felt like a party with dancing, soft drink and the children running about the grass until bedtime; probably the best part of the day for the staff. Once the children were all tucked in bed and the monitors had a meeting to discuss any issues we had throughout the day and to organise the activities for the next day. It was a chance to hear the monitors speak in Spanish and spend time with other young people. A lot of translation was done for me to make me feel included which was greatly appreciated.