This is the main hotel, the center of most activities and all meals. It was an old hacienda in a former life, with the family living upstairs, and the animals being kept downstairs.
The hotel contains the lounge and bar, and dining room. There is also another small building up the hill where some of the activities take place (mainly the noisy ones where we might alarm the other guests). Yesterday all of the Anglos had to give a two minute presentation on where I live and why my town is really, really cool and better than your town. The Spaniards will do something similar this afternoon - and then the skits begin. I am set to be in a skit tonight, but I won't know what it involves until later this afternoon.
The schedule is a little more relaxed today. After lunch and siesta, I have a group activity where we are just the audience, a rehearsal, free time, then entertainment. During siesta, we think Jose will join our little swimming group (yesterday it was Katy from England, Begona from Spain, and me). We don't want it to get too popular because we don't want to share the lanes. :-)
Some are pushing to have another trivia night after dinner (only with easier questions), but last night's went till nearly midnight. It didn't start, though, until 10:30 because dinner doesn't finish until 10:00. I know it sounds late, but the whole day runs late, so it isn't hard to get used to. As it was last year, meals are at tables for four, with two Anglos and two Spaniards. It is easier here because there are blue chairs and tan chairs in the dining room, and the Anglos get the blue ones. So if you walk up to a table and both blue chairs are occupied, you have to find another table.
Breakfast 9:00
One-to-ones, telephone calls, rehearsals, etc. 10:00, 11:00 12:00, 1:00
Lunch 2:00
Siesta/free time 3:00-5:00
Group 5:00
One-to-ones, telephone calls, etc. 6:00, 7:00
Entertainment 8:00
Dinner 9:00
At lunch we had something that was billed as "rice casserole with meat and fish". What arrived looked more like chicken broth with rice and loads of small sea creatures - tiny crabs, shrimp (unpeeled), prawns, tiny lobster claws - as well as chunks of fish, chicken, and chorizo. We all just picked around the sea life and ate the rice. It was funny that even the Spaniards didn't quite know what to do with our little fishy friends. It turned out that they weren't really meant to be eaten, they were for flavor and looks, mainly. There was hardly any meat on them (or so I am told).
Tomorrow we will take a group walk (with one-to-ones along the way) into "town", which will take about 30 minutes, they say, so we can see the town and do any necessary shopping. I am not involved in any conference calls, but those are going on today and tomorrow. The Spaniards are beginning to work on their presentations that they will give on Thursday, too. There are still a handful of Spaniards that I haven't spoken with yet (I have now done 11 one-to-ones), but everyone gets to everyone by the end of the week (I have four left). Things are falling into a little routine now, and I have learned a lot about them and their lives. One of the Australian girls was a little freaked out last night because she accidentally said "hola" in front of the Master of Ceremonies, and she is afraid she won't get asked back. There is no Spanish allowed by anyone, but lots of people, including me, have slipped up a time or two. The other Anglos that I didn't mention yesterday are two women from England, a woman from Tucson, AZ who is originally from Trinidad & Tobago, and me. Tomorrow I will tell you a little about the Spaniards in the group.
My little barn away from home. Mine is the closest one. The single upstairs window is the bathroom, and the triple window is the bedroom.
Finally found your blogs very insightful and I enjoyed reading about your adventures and misadventures! Hope we can meet up in BN in September! cj
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