by Brett R. Chonko '10
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This summer for about six weeks I had the opportunity to travel abroad to Spain  through a non-profit organization called Youth Services International.  During my stay, I held a teaching position in the Malaga English Program, an English-as-a-second-language summer camp for teenage Spanish boys.  The camp was located in the south of Spain, in the burgeoning port city of Malaga, on the beautiful Mediterranean coast.  I first took an interest in the Malaga English Program because I plan to become a high school English teacher after I graduate from Hampden Sydney, and, of course, I liked the idea of spending a summer in Spain.  My students taught me lessons that will put me leaps and bounds ahead of other first-year teachers, and the travel experience was unforgettable.

Mondays through Saturdays began at ten in the morning, much later than here in the States—one of the many benefits of the Spanish culture.  I taught three forty-five minute classes of twenty-two kids each morning.  Then, I joined in conversation with the students at lunch.  In the afternoon, I spoke one-on-one with about twelve students to help them prepare for a test at the end of the camp.  These personal speaking sessions were perhaps the most important part of the English Program since the examinations were completely oral—a typical practice in the European education system.  The day rounded off with another forty-five minute class, a study session, and more conversation during dinner.

I found my experience in the classroom to be a challenge.  It took quite a long time to prepare for each day’s classes.  I had the same kids every period, which meant new material for each block.  In the classroom itself, I improved most from failure, especially in terms of behavior management, which is by far the hardest aspect of being a teacher.  Perhaps most important, I learned the necessity of an authoritative, commanding first impression, and then finding the balance between simply giving warnings for students who step out of line and backing up warnings with punishment: the bark and the bite.  Once I had control of the classroom, the actual teaching process was a breeze in comparison.  When I was successful, it was a great feeling to see a group of young students really excited about learning, and my efforts and those of my four fellow American teachers turned out to be very successful; out of over one hundred kids, only three failed their examinations.

Before the camp started, I was lucky enough to travel with my father for about ten days to some of the most interesting places in Andalusia, the southern region of Spain.  We flew into Madrid and after a three-day visit, headed south to Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada, the wildly mountainous region of los pueblos blancos (the white houses), and the Mediterranean beach escape, Nerja.  The two most characteristic (and surprising to me) aspects of Andalusia were how dry and desert-like Spain’s interior is and the millions of square miles of the grayish-green olive groves that beautifully contrast the orange landscape.

I fell in love with the Spanish culture during my six-week stay, especially since I was fortunate to be there when both the Spanish national soccer team won the Euro Cup and Rafael Nadal beat the Swiss Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.  I also love the differences in the Spanish lifestyle.  They give more priority to the family, and although they work hard, they relax hard as well—both of which contribute to the institution of the siesta, when most families reunite in the afternoon for the big meal.  The Spanish also believe in having close social ties to a community.  One way this is demonstrated is in the typical Spanish dinner.  Many Spaniards, even families, eat dinner together late at night along the streets and in table-lined plazas as they socialize with friends.  I can remember being shocked in Madrid as I looked upon a playground full of kids laughing and playing as their parents ate and drank; it was forty-five minutes past midnight.  My trip to Spain was an amazing opportunity to become a part of another culture and to pick up some wonderful teaching experience in the process.  I only hope that I can go back some day.