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On our way to VaughanTown
8.30am and there is a gathering of Anglos in the foyer, and a gathering of Spaniards outside, ready to board the bus. The rule is we have to sit with a Spaniard - this is the first of our One-on-Ones. We will be stopping for a coffee break at 10.30am and when we get back on the bus we are to swap partners.
At the briefing last night we were told to speak at our normal speed, with our normal accent and not to try and make it easy for the Spaniards who will have varying degrees of competency in English.
My first victim is a very quietly spoken man who I discover has a training compnay in Barcelona - which is pronounced Bathlona. After a bit more chatting I learn that he has a Dale Carnegie Franchise and suddenly we had a common point of interest, as I have done the course and been a Graduate Assistant. The hour and a half went very quickly and we managed to have a conversation for most of that time, only a few 'pregnant pauses.'
A stop for coffee - another lesson on how to buy coffee - stand at the bar and push in - don't be polite and wait to be served or you will miss out. I ordered coffee and churro, the coffee turned out much more milky than I thought I was getting, but good all the same
After a twenty minute stop, which went really quickly, we were back on the bus and this time I was joined by a delightful young girl, who is studying Masters in English and is an Interior Design Architect. We chatted away about life in Spain, her family and her boyfriend who is a television programme producer.
As we got closer to Avilla it started to snow quite heavily - thank goodness I brought my winter coat. It was still snowing as we arrived at the hotel Puerta De Gredos, but stopped not long after we arrived. A couple of the Spaniards suggested we might wake up in the morning to snow on the ground.
We were bundled into the meeting room where we were given instructions on what was to happen over the next few days, and how to order our meals, and where to find the schedule. The VaughanTown programme has been running for a number of years and we learned that our organiser Marrisa (an Australian) has been with the company for over 11 years and this is her 300th course. Wow, what a record, and it surely showed as she is extremely efficient and the course runs like clockwork. The MC is an energetic and vibrant young lass named Alba who is an actress. She is an amazingly talented facilitator/presenter.
Next task was to take our luggage to our rooms - I am on the second floor, and what a lovely room I have - two beds, a desk with a TV which I never turn on, a mini-bar (bit expensive but apparently we get a 40% discount both mini-bar and at the bar downstairs) and a lovely bathroom with a jacuzzi bath. There is a very high window with a step up to it, and a wonderful view of the hills - covered in a light dusting of snow.
Lunch is next and I sit at a table for 6 and the rule is 3 Spaniards, 3 Anglos. I felt a bit out of the conversation for the first half of the meal as they were all talking about last night's soccer game, until somebody said - "Heather, are you a football fan?" to which I replied "I'm a New Zealander !" and the the chorus was "Oh rugby" and a discussion then about the Rugby World Cup, how good the All Blacks are, and the sad news of Jonah Lomu. They are certainly well informed. We learned that one of the girls is an aeronautical engineer, now working in airport security systems and this led to a discussion about women in powerful positions.
One of the older Spaniards wasn't contributing much to the conversations so someone asked what line of work he is in and we learned he is retired but had a car dealership which led a discussion anbout scandals with Volswagon and Mercedes - another topic I knew nothing about.
We then have time for a siesta, and are to meet in the meeting room at 6pm for a group activity. We are seated one Spaniard, one Anglo along the rows, and we pair off and have to introduce ourselves to our neighbour. We have to make a rhyme with our partner's name, find out or make up a good story about why they are called that and find out what is their 'super power' My partner is a delightful young man named Ricardo (who sang the lead role in the Mikado), named after his grandfather and his superpower is that he is able to stay awake for the required 10 hours of study per day required for his Masters.
It was a lot of fun, and some of the rhymes and super-powers had us in fits of laughter - there are some very imaginative people on this course.
Two one-on-ones followed the group activity - the first a guy who works for the local beer company Mahou and we continued the lunch time discussion about soccer, rugby and he wanted toknow about the haka, and we talked a lot about travel. I am learning that the Spaniards are very well travelled. I guess it's a lot easier for them to travel to lots of the European countries, but they all seem to travel much further afield, with many going to Asia and America.
My second one-on-one was with the chap I had met on the bus, so we continued with the conversations we started earlier in the day, and I learned his wife loves animals and has travelled extensively in Africa and worked with chimpanzees and gorillas. Wow, what exciting lives some of these people have. Of course he has travelled a lot with his Dale Carnegie business and has spent quite a lot of time in USA along with many other countries.
Dinner was at 9pm and I sat at a six seater table again and this time the conversations were about the good and bad effects of technology, losing touch with people and basic communication skills because everyone is connected to their cell phone, and preparing for a future where we won't need those basic skills as we won't cook or drive cars or work like we do now. A very interesting debate with lots of varying ideas about what the future is going to look like.
What a long day - so much talking - I am not used to this much talking in one day. I have well and truly used up all my 27,000 words for today, of that I am quite certain. But what surprised me most of all, an hour is not all that long really. When I first heard that we had to talk to someone for 50 minutes then take a 10 minute break to clear the mind, have a drink etc, I thought what on earth can I talk about for that long, but I was very surprised to learn that I could talk quite knowledgeably about topics I didn't know I knew much about, and at the end of the 60 minutes we were still very engaged and wanting to continue, but we had to move on and find our next victim (as Alba calls them).
And so to bed. I am really ready to sleep, but my mind is going over all the conversations and trying to remember everyone's name.
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