The holidays are over for most people, so as a summary I would like to share with you a post about one of my holiday adventures. If you are curious about what I did in the first half of August, how I managed to go to Spain for 2 weeks as a low-earning student and much more, I invite you to read!
Solo travelling in Spain – how I went about it
If you don’t know yet, Spain is a country particularly significant to me, because I am a student of Spanish philology and I love delving into the culture and language of this country. Wanting to improve my Spanish and see the beauty of the Iberian Peninsula, I have been dreaming of going to this part of the world since the beginning of 2024. As a student earning only from part-time work, I could not afford a vacation in one of the four-star hotels, of which there are many on the “Costa del Sol” – one of the most famous tourist areas in southern Spain.
Without giving up on my dreams, I decided to take a look at this year’s volunteering opportunities offered by workcamps.pl. It wasn’t completely new to me, as I had already participated in volunteering in 2021, in the northern Italian town of Gaiba. This experience enriched me with many beautiful memories, so I decided to try it again, this time in Spain.
There were a lot of offers – but I had to decide on something 🙂 The project that suited me the most was the one on two-week English classes for local children. A significant part of the volunteers did not come from Spanish-speaking countries, which was supposed to “force” young Spaniards to break their language barrier.
What did it all involve?
Volunteering projects are currently an increasingly popular form of holiday travel, especially among young people, because you can save a lot on them! For this reason, the average age range for this type of project is around 18-27, but there are also slightly older people, which is most welcome! The greater the diversity, the more ideas and creativity during joint action 🙂
Each of the people signed up for the project received detailed information about the date and place of the meeting. Since each of us came from a different part of the world (in our “team” we had people from France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Hungary, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Wales, Spain, and Poland :)), each of us had to organize their own transport.
First impressions
The town where the volunteering was organized was Jódar – a town surrounded by the Sierra Mágina mountains, an hour’s drive from Granada. From the first moments of my stay there, I felt the incredible atmosphere of this place and its difference from the Polish towns I know well. Old buildings in bright colors (protecting the interiors of the buildings from heating up), fields of olive trees stretching to the horizon, an eternally blue sky. There’s no denying that one of the first things that “struck” me there was the temperature 🙂 During the day between 35 and 40C, at night not dropping below 27C – the air conditioning in some of the classrooms that served as our bedrooms was really a godsend!
On the first day, after settling in at the school, which was exclusively at our disposal, an organizational and introductory meeting took place. From the very first moments I felt that I was surrounded by people who were curious about the world and willing to contribute something of their own to the project. Each of us had our own baggage of experiences, spoke English or Spanish more or less fluently and had different expectations for this trip. However, despite all these differences, I think we managed to create something really beautiful <3
What did we do?
Our main project task was to organize games for about 15 children aged 4 to 12. We wanted to help them learn as much vocabulary and phrases in English as possible, so every few days we would have a big “brainstorming session” on how we could do it through play. Finally, we decided to divide the children into two age groups so that the classes could be more interesting and appropriately adapted for them. At the end of the two-week cycle of classes, we prepared a show for parents, in which our little heroes could dance, sing and draw attention to issues related to environmental protection – of course, all in English 😊
Our free time and other attractions
Afternoons and weekends were at our complete disposal. Due to the fact that it was hot outside until 7 p.m., some of the volunteers decided to stay inside, where the air conditioning saved us 🙂 However, if you know me personally, you probably know that I am unable to sit in one place for a longer moment! A privilege I often used was the fact that as volunteers of a well-known organization in the city, we had free entry to the swimming pool, which was only a 5-minute walk from where we slept. And what a swimming pool! One thing is for sure – the Spanish know how to spend their holidays and are aware of how essential a place to cool off in the heat is 🙂
In addition to the swimming pool in Jódar, you could go to an ice cream shop, organize a trekking trip (recommended rather in the colder months ;)) or… go to a local market! Twice a week, local sellers of clothes, seafood and aromatic spices would come to the town. The attractions that you could enjoy during the day may not sound amazing, but real “life” there only starts around 11 p.m.
We could see this every weekend, when the square overlooking my room hosted parties starting at midnight and ending at… 6:30 a.m.! What’s more, the mix of songs couldn’t be complete without reggaeton and techno rhythms. To sum up – a full-on party!
Unfortunately, once you get to Jódar, it’s not so easy to get out! Accustomed to living in well-connected Krakow and Silesia, I was surprised that only a few buses to the nearest towns run there throughout the day. I can also mention a twist of fate that befalls every traveler from time to time. During the last days of my stay, for which a joint trip to the nearby city of Úbeda was planned, I got sick with a virus I had caught earlier. With a fever and stomach pain, I fell asleep wherever I could 🙂 However, what pleased me most was that despite my illness, I managed to survive the 3000 km journey back home on my own – fortunately most of it by plane 🙂
My discoveries about Spain
This year’s trip was my second visit to Spain. If you remember, the first one was a trip to Barcelona, which I described in the post “My first meeting with Catalonia- some inspirations from Barcelona” – I encourage you to read it if you haven’t already! https://to-see-more.com/en/my-first-meeting-with-catalonia-some-inspirations-from-barcelona/
I have to admit that some of the things I experienced this year very accurately fit into the often repeated stereotypes about Spaniards. Firstly, people of this nationality are much more relaxed about making an appointment with someone for a specific time. A perfect example of this was the situation in which we were invited as a group to a party starting at 10 p.m. and when we showed up at the gate at 10:05 p.m., the organizers were surprised! At this time, they were just setting up the stage and they didn’t expect the first participants until around 11:30 p.m.
The second thing I have to admit about the Spanish people I met is that they party and have fun like few others! The proof of this is the weekly parties I mentioned, which were attended by people of all ages! Interestingly, I even noticed a few pairs of young parents with children in strollers, which would seem unthinkable in Poland.
Referring to the previously mentioned issue of very high temperatures, it must be admitted that during the summer, functioning at 100% during the day is practically impossible. It is difficult to do anything unless you are all the time in an air-conditioned room. The Spanish sun is a beautiful gift, but it also brings with it certain inconveniences. For this reason, in Andalusia, shops open at 6 p.m. and close at around 2 a.m. Another issue that would be difficult to accept in my country!
The change in operating hours also affects children. I remember one evening when I was talking on the phone at around 11 p.m. and decided to walk down the corridor from which I could see the adjacent playing field and playground. I couldn’t get over the surprise that the playground was bursting at the seams! Such hours are often the norm in Spain, because there is no other way to deal with the unimaginable heat.
My personal experiences
Volunteering in Jódar was a beautiful experience for me, which allowed me to get out of my “Polish box” again. I am very happy that I decided to go on this trip, because it allowed me to get to know Spanish culture in practice and thanks to it I could also practice my Spanish (which was sometimes veeeery necessary with little kids :)). Apart from that, I am extremely grateful for another opportunity to work with children, which is always very developing for me and teaches me humility. The beauty, simplicity and enthusiasm of the little Spanish boys and girls gave us wings when their endless energy sent the last of our strength out of us.
Nevertheless, the deeper I build relationships with people close to me, the more I understand that longer trips abroad are not for everyone, at every stage of life. I had a very good and developing time in Spain, but I was also very happy to return and spend time with my loved ones.
If this post interests you, be sure to stay up to date with other content that I will be publishing 🙂 I also plan to share additional travel inspiration from my first days in Spain (before starting my volunteering) and tell you more about ways to travel on a budget 😀
That’s all for today, I hope that I have brought you at least a little closer to the Spanish reality from my perspective and inspired you to experience it yourself 😀
With love,
Kasia
