Activities in May

It's very hard to believe that May already passed by and I'm almost at the end of my project already... anyhow, let's see what happened! :)

At Ecocompartimos I'd say things go "business as usual": we had English and the kids (this time I finally have a pic with them thanks to Dilya :)) and had the 2 monthly intercultural chats as well: the first one about life after death which was not a very intercultural topic, yet it was really interesting. A lot of people came, so we had a lot of controversial opinions and points of view. The second one was about movies: it went like the one with the books, everyone recommended a movie (or two) from his/her country. I'm looking forward to watching them. :)

Our group of kids

Talking about life after death

Besides these, we had a fashion photo shoot: Dilya, Mabel and I dressed up in some of the clothes we have at the shop to promote a bit our "spring collection". It was a lot of fun and the photos look like they are from some kind of magazine. ;) Also now I know how painful models must feel in those shoes that don't quite fit but look nice on the photos.... :P

Here are some of the final pics:

And some from behind the scenes:

I also helped Charo (our Spanish teacher) in taking over the Banco del Tiempo tasks. She already started to coordinate some things and I'm happy to see that she likes it (and the task suits her too). 

I was asked to continue with the quilling/creative classes for May within the Banco del Tiempo, so I had 3 more sessions. At the last one the girl was so nice, she gave me some of the pictures we made together as a present. And we also agreed with her and her mom that we'll get together some time in June before I finish my project to have lunch together. :)

From personal perspective May was again an active month: the weather felt like summer already, so everyone got active. :) 

At the second weekend we went to a Soul Food picnic in Retiro with Dilya and Amber: there were around 50 people mostly from the USA, bringing typical food from the Southern region: banana pudding, fried chicken, mac and cheese, stuffed eggs and many more.

The day after I went again to eat: this time to a street food festival called MadrEAT. It was very nice: there were trucks all over the place with all kinds of food and drinks. The only bad thing was that we had to queue for everything, as there were many people. However the location was perfect, because it was shady and there was a lot of space to sit down in the grass. :)

Cool food trucks

After the festival enjoying some pancakes with milkshakes :)

The third weekend of May was a huge celebration in Madrid: it was a holiday of San Isidro, so there were all kinds of festivities all over the city. We went with Michaela and Filiz to walk around a bit and ended up in a concert at Plaza Mayor. A famous singer called Ainhoa Arteta was singing first some opera songs and then zarzuela (which is similar style to opera), it was very nice.

Plaza Mayor packed with people

And finally at the last weekend of May we had 2 farewell parties: first for Amber on Friday, as she left to enjoy the summer in Italy in a summer camp. And then on Saturday for Filiz, who'll go home to Germany in a few days, because she finished her project. I'm sad that we already had to start this "farewell process", but on the other hand most probably in a few months I'll see the girls again.

April activities

I think the highlights of April were my Easter trip and my workshop that I already wrote about, but of course there were other events as well last month that worth mentioning. :)

We had the usual two intercultural chats (this month we actually managed to have them without the incredible amount food we always have :D): the first about sports and the second about literature, which was I think the best one so far. :) We didn't just talk about literature in general, but as the 23rd of April was the day of books, everyone had to think of a book of his/her country and tell us a few things about it. 
As a 'bonus' the volunteers in Numancia - Filiz and Emmi - joined us and also another Romanian volunteer - Mihaela - who just started her EVS in Esquivias, so we were a more international group this time. :)

Our very international charla

Girl power: Emmi, Amber, Mihaela, me, Dilya and Filiz

Apart from this we had the usual English conversations and games with the kids from what I still have no photos from, since being with them usually consumes all my energy, so I never remember to take photos. :)

One Wednesday after the games we were making some jokes about spying on Paula's (on the right) dance show, so we got "disguised" :)

Also this month I got a bit more active within Banco del Tiempo: I delivered a powerpoint-excel training and a quilling session, so I now I have a lot of hours that I don't really what to use for... yet. :) Also as Sandra got a job and is now very busy it seems that I'll get more involved with Banco del Tiempo things... it's a new challenge. :)

And last but not least another highlight of the month: at the end of April I got to spend 10 lovely days at home with my family and friends. It was great: we celebrated my father's birthday, mother's day, I got to see my best friends and we even went to Romania for a couple of days to visit some friends, so I had a wonderful time.

March activities

Finally spring has arrived! :) And our activities continue as usual. :) 

We had an English event again together with the reading club in the library on Friday 13th which was not as successful as the previous one, yet we had a lot of fun. We talked about superstitions from all over the world and then went to the teahouse together for a drink. :)

Our small but enthusiastic group :)

We also keep doing the English games for kids, though it is also getting challenging - in the first week we had again a nice big group, so we played a "human-sized board game" about favorites and a memory game, but then when we prepared a quiz only 3 kids came... so it's a bit unpredictable. Though last time we had again the whole group so we could play the quiz in the end. :)

Of course we had the usual 2 intercultural chats, the first about famous people (that somehow went into the direction of politics as well at one point :P) and the second about Easter - as it is a big celebration here and quite different from other countries. As usual we had some food too, for the first chat Dilya brought some nice Russian goodies and for the second we prepared some Easter-food from our countries. :)

I made some kaszinótojás ("casino-eggs") and potato salad (and I couldn't miss out piros arany - it's pepper cream, very Hungarian :))

Super delicious sweet potato soufflé by Amber :)

As for non-work activities I had a quite active month too: the first weekend of March was almost like summer, so I spent most of it outside. That Sunday I got invited to a brunch and got to know some new people, it was a lot of fun. :)

11 people from 10 different countries :)

The 11th was a local holiday here in Illescas - as I was sick that week I didn't really participate at any activities, but I went to a concert where a violinist with Armenian origin played together with  Spanish guitarist. Everybody was excited about them so I was curious too - and yes, they were amazing, I'm glad I had the chance to go and see them.

The weekend after I went to a free workshop of natural cosmetics here in Illescas, which was interesting and useful. We made a soap, a body lotion, a hand cream and a lip balm. They were all surprisingly easy to make and we got the recipes too, so from now on I can make my own things. :)

The week after we arranged a trip from Ecocompartimos to Carranque to finally see the Archeological Park and have a guided tour about the Roman ruins and mosaics there. It was very nice, the group we "recruited" and the sights as well. :)

Ruins of a temple

Ruins of a room where we could observe the heating system they had back then

Amazing mosaics made of very small pieces

Speaking of mosaics: I'm done with my second "masterpiece" and now I'm working on a Picasso picture... I think this one will take a lifetime to finish haha, it's quite big and with challenging shapes... but let's see. ;)

My newest piece of art :)

February activities

And here we go again with the summary of the month! :) The highlight of February was definitely the mid-term evaluation in Mollina and then the trip to Málaga, but besides this we had some other things going on too.

First of all we managed to "finish" the YouthPass wall, or well, at least to update it until the end of January and then of course we'll keep on adding the upcoming activities.

We also started with the "English playground" on Wednesdays: we play different games with a group of kids these afternoons. So far it has been quite successful, they seem to enjoy it. Though it is a challenge to make them speak in English. :) Plus they are quite a big group (around 7-8) and quite active, so it also takes a lot of energy to pay attention to them and try to keep them from shouting hehe. :) But it's fun, so far we played for example home-made Scrabble, Twister, Activity.

This month we had again 2 sessions of the intercultural chat series: one about Carnival and the other one officially about arts - practically we spoke more about traveling, but it was still very interesting. And of course at both we had some food - I think it's now kind of a tradition that we always have to eat something while chatting hehe. :)

Enjoying the Russian-style pancakes (typical food for them at Carnival) and some natillas con galletas, which is like an "egg-pudding" with biscuits.

In February we started with the Spanish courses finally. Charo, our "veteran" English student was kind enough to offer organizing conversation classes for us, so with her now we are finally having some classes and learning things. :) I think I haven't written about our struggle with the Spanish course yet... long story short: we subscribed for an official on-line university course that in the end doesn't exist and they refuse to give us our money back so far. The battle is still ongoing, so fingers crossed, I really hope to get our money back in the end, even if it takes long.

And last but not least, we organized our very first EVS preparation session this month! :) (well first since September and first where it's not me who is being prepared) There are 2 girls, Irene and Beatrice who went to Poland for a 10 months long project, so before leaving we tried to give them as much practical advices as we could and also shared our experiences. Of course it was also fun and I hope it was useful for them and they will enjoy their projects. :)

Madrid and Toledo

I realized that I wrote so far about all the places I've visited, except for Madrid and Toledo. :) This must be because they are both quite close and I have visited both of them several times (especially Madrid), so it doesn't really feel like traveling... But as both cities are great, here are my impressions and some photos:

Madrid

Well, Madrid is as amazing as any capital can be. :) I just love the city, it is perfect for any kind of activity: there are huge parks to walk around but also many bars and all kinds of events to hang out and meet people. It is always very vivid, during the day and during the night as well and is very liveable.

I don't really feel like writing a long list of what I have seen and visited here (as I'm not even nearly done with seeing everything :)), so I will give you a glimpse with a few photos:

Puerta del Sol - the very center

Plaza Mayor

Plaza de la Cebada in La Latina, a really cool square to hang out, they have also music on most Sundays

Palacio Real - though the royal family doesn't live here :P

Plaza de Cibeles - town hall

The symbol of Madrid :)

Wall in Lavapiés, a very multicultural and artistic quarter of Madrid

Retiro Park - it actually reminds me of Heroes Square and Városliget in Budapest

Royal Palace at sunset

Casa de campo - an enormous park in the middle of the city

View from the cable car over the park and the city

Toledo

Toledo is like a nice little treasure box, it is just beautiful. Although the fact that I had to go to foreign office here to arrange my papers (as Illescas officially belongs to the province of Toledo) takes away a little bit of its charm, but well. :) The city is still very nice, walking in the old town feels like time traveling and it's also a wonderful mix of Spanish, Arabic and Jewish architecture and history. Not to mention it's on a hill so the view is amazing from the top. :) I still have a lot to discover here as well, but as I will have more friends visiting me in the upcoming months, I will have the chance to get to know the city more.

Beautiful view on every side of the hill :)

Charming narrow streets

The Alcázar

The Cathedral