LAST ENTRY!

Last entry and last experiences in Cambridge... Our students have had three intense days, and this is how they started:

On Friday, we had booked a meeting room in the library, so that students could present their magazine in group, using a laptop and a projector. They still had some little things to correct, but the result in general was awesome! When we record the CDs you will be able to see it :)

Alicia and Luis presenting their part

Concha and Carlos showing us their pages

The girls looking for new images

Then, as always, they had some free time for having lunch and relax for a while, and then some of the students went home to finish the magazine and the scrapbook... What a responsible people! Great!!!!

We met at home, and there we prepared all the ingredients we needed for our farewell party: a BARBEQUE!!! We headed for a new park near Cherry Hinton Road, and got ready for having dinner.

We prepared some delicious hot dogs with ketchup... And for dessert we had a typical American recipe: s'mores! Which are marshmallows with chocolate and biscuits! Yummy!!!!!! But that wasn't the end: we had a surprise for Laura's birthday: a cheesecake! 

Hot dogs!!

S'mores!!

As you can imagine, we had to burn all these calories... so we played some moving games, combined with relaxed games to be able to take some breath! :)

This was a really fun night, and we the teachers felt that it had been an awesome farewell party!!

Saturday was day off, so students used this day for doing the last shopping, packing, cleaning and finishing some other tasks. Then, everyone met at home for dinner.

On Sunday everyone finished cleaning their bedrooms and common areas, and at 4 pm the taxis were waiting for us!

It was time to say goodbye to Avimore, to say goodbye to Cambridge, and also goodbye to all these experiences and anecdotes our students have lived during these three weeks. 

We are sure they won't forget them... But, from here, we encourage them to keep using their English and applying all the knowledge they have acquired here in Cambridge!

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you guys for making this experience so beautiful and exciting :)

We hope to see you soon!!!!!!!!!

Claudia and María.

23rd August - WE LOVE SHREK!

Hello everyone!!!

What do you think about British sense of humour? Our students can tell you something about it!!

Yesterday was our second to last day of library! And the magazine is almost finished!!!! When you see the result, you will be able to check how hard our students have been working, and actually we can also tell that they are journalist material! :P

In the afternoon, we went home, because the rest of activities were going to be carried out in the guest house. 

The first thing we did was our reading club, our last reading club! Students told the endings of their books and their impressions on them. They said that they enjoyed reading in English, and we encouraged them to keep doing it when they are back in Spain! 

Then, we brought forward our theme night. We had a good time laughing at some jokes and watching funny videos in English. It was a nice and relaxed atmosphere :)

After that, the cooking team started preparing dinner: fish and chips!!!!! Yummy...

Then, everyone was ready for the cinema at home session: we were going to watch "Shrek"! In English, of course ;) Besides, we had a surprise for them: popcorn and some snacks!!!!! Can't you see their happy faces?? 

And that was all for yesterday!! Once again, we hope you are enjoying our blog... Please, leave a comment! ;)

22nd August - INTERVIEWER STUDENTS!

Dear readers, 

Did you know that our students have a hidden facet as journalists? We the teachers found out yesterday! :)

In the morning, as usual, students worked on their personal tasks. We are noticing that their writing skills are becoming better and better every time, what do you think? Besides, we could have a quick look at their magazines and... Wow!!! They are almost done! :)

In the afternoon, we had a special guest to interview: Jack, a student from Cambridge University. He told us many things about the colleges, and he belongs to Churchill College. He also explained the selection process to get into the University and dismissed the myth that says you have to be rich to study there. Furthermore, our students could learn about how it feels to be a student from the University of Cambridge. 

Later, we met at King's Parade to continue with our interviews. This time, the students had to look for British citizens and ask them about their opinion on the London Olympics. According to our students, this was an interesting activity, and they liked intermingling with native speakers.

When we finished this activity, it was time for a break before going home! Once there, we had dinner and got ready for our theme night about film editing. Students are working very hard, and the result will be a nice documentary about buildings in Cambridge. We are looking forward to seeing it! :)

Then, it was late, so everyone went to bed happily knowing that they could sleep for half an hour more! 

See you tomorrow!!!!!! Keep reading and leave a comment, please!

21th August - HUNTERS AND GHOSTS MOVING AROUND CAMBRIDGE

Gooooooood morning!

Did you know that Cambridge is one of the most haunted cities in the United Kingdom???? Keep reading and you'll find out why!

In the morning we had our daily routine, and we can see that our students are doing a nice job. Their blogs and diaries are more creative every day, and the groups are really into the magazine!! :)

In the afternoon, we had a very challenging activity: a Treasure Hunt! Students were given a piece of paper with instructions, and they had to follow several steps which would take them to some colleges, shops and famous places in Cambridge. The winners were: Laura, África and Helena!!! Congratulations, treasure hunters!!!!!!!!

Students listening to the instructions for the Treasure Hunt

Then, they had some free time to relax for a while after the Treasure Hunt rush. Afterwards, we met at home and started preparing dinner. 

When we finished, we got ready for our evening activity: GHOST TOUR!!!!!!!!!! Everyone was very excited and we painted our faces pretending to be scary ghosts, and we headed for the city centre, and started telling horror stories about several places in Cambridge: Sydney Sussex College, King's College, Clare College, Corpus Christi College, Indigo Coffee House, The Haunted Bookshop, Fudge Kitchen, etc. 

Meanwhile, our students tried to frighten people who were having a quiet walk, and some of them were reeeeeeeeeeally scared! hahaha.

It was late, so we ran and ran to get our bus, and we made it! I have to admit that our students are very good at running... They deserve a golden medal :P

And that is all... We hope that you enjoy reading all our stories and anecdotes.

Leave a comment if you liked it!!!!!!! :)

20th August - PROFESSIONAL CRICKET!!!

Hi there!

This is the beginning of our last week here in Cambridge and, as you can imagine, we are trying to make the most of it!

In the morning, a little bit more of our daily library work, and afterwards, students had some free time for having lunch and charging their batteries... Do you want to know why? Keep reading!

We met at 4:30 in Parker's Piece and we headed for Romsey Recreation, which is a nice park with many facilities for those who want to practice some sport, or simply relax for a while!

There, we met Ben, from the Cambridge City Council, and he taught us how to play cricket in a more professional way :P

This was a fun afternoon for our students, and we think that they can now join the professional cricket league! :P

Later on, we had a new challenge for them.... doing the shopping by themselves! We gave them a budget and a list of the things we needed. Then, we met at the bus stop, where we could check that they had done a great job!!!! We the teachers can tell they know how to save money! :)

After all this, we went back home to have dinner and carry on with the rest of our activities. Yesterday's theme night was Scrapbook, so everyone gathered in the cabin to get creative with it! 

And that's all! We hope that you like our blog... Leave a comment! :)

16th, 17th, 18th & 19th - MORE FUN THAN WORK!

This was a very long delightful weekend!! And so, there are many stories to tell... Let's start from the beginning!

Thursday, 16th:

After the usual work at the library, we headed for the riverside. Our students had a very interesting task: looking for narrow boat owners and interviewing them! 

Concha and Carlos interviewing

África, Laura and Helena 

Alicia and Luis looking for a boat owner

All the groups got very interesting responses from the boat owners, which you will be able to read in the digital magazine they are creating.

Afterwards, we had a nice walk throughout the Midsummer Commons, and we came across some funny cows! Look!

Mind the cow pies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, we went back home and had dinner, and finally we were ready for our book club. We the teachers are very happy, because we feel that our students are enjoying their books. Thanks to this daily reading, they are improving their reading speed and adding up some vocabulary. Besides, when presenting their books, more fluency and self-confidence can be observed. Great job!!!!!

Reading club at the cabin's gardens

On a different note, our students are already into editing their video-tour around Cambridge, and the first results look pretty nice! We bet you cannot wait to see it finished!

Theme night: "Cinema"

Friday, 17th:

What an exciting and exhausting day! Finally, our trip to London would take place! We had to get up very early, but this wasn't a problem for our students, because everyone was absolutely thrilled about it!!!!

Once in London, our first destination was the city centre, where we had a long and interesting walking tour. We could see: Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Soho, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Horse Guard, The Big Ben and Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye... Have a look at the picture collection! :P

Piccadilly Circus

Chinatown

Soho

Soho

Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Musicians in Covent Garden

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Stable Yard, next to Buckingham Palace

Stable Yard again

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Horse Guard

Big Ben!!

Big Ben and Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

Nice photo, isn't it?

London Eye

After this typical London Tour, we decided to take a bohemian destination: Camden Town! Everyone could feel the quaint atmosphere that this neighbourhood has: plenty of shops, big markets and stands to try international food. It is also the place where we met Pilar ("the boss"), who was so happy to see us :)

Camden Town

The afternoon started with our visit to the great Saint Paul's Cathedral, followed by a quick trip to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, where we could see the huge Olympic Rings, hanging from this famous bridge.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Tower Bridge

The last place to visit in our trip to London was Hyde Park, where we gave the students some free time to go shopping in the popular Oxford and Regent streets. 

Marble Arch, next to Hyde Park

And this was the end of this wonderful day... Everyone was tired, but very happy too, for sure! :)

Saturday, 18th:

Another nice day for our students! This was their day off, so they had plenty of time for themselves. At night, they told us what they did: some of them took advantage of this day for resting, some went shopping, and others used this day for making it an adventure day visiting a couple of villages around Cambridge.

Sunday, 19th:

After some time off in the morning, everyone met in the town centre, because we were going to go on a biking tour to the beautiful neighbour village of Grantchester. Having spent some minutes choosing the bikes, everyone was ready to go!

Are you ready?????????

During the tour, our guide Anthony told us some interesting facts about Grantchester, its riverside and the important people who lived there, like Rupert Brooke, whose house we saw yesterday.

Beautiful landscapes!

Rupert Brooke's house

Fantastic gardens in Grantchester

Not only that, we also had the opportunity to have lunch in the gorgeous Orchard Tea Gardens, where we could enjoy the great weather we had yesterday.

The Orchard Tea Gardens, Grantchester

And that's all! As you can read, we have had a very busy and fun weekend!! :)