Monastery Monitor Moments

After completing my first two weeks out of six  weeks here at the San Jeronimo monastery in Alba de Tormes, I’ve realized there are several universal truisms about summer camp whether they are held outdoors in Canada or in a monastery in Spain.

In my opinion there is no such thing as a ‘camp kid’ and a ‘non-camp kid’ – every kid can enjoy and benefit from a certain type of  camp. Kids learn how to get along with others, how to pack a suitcase, how to set pranks, how to avoid getting caught for said pranks, how to take a shower etc

In the same way the more often you work as a monitor the more you realize that kids and camps are largely the same all over the world.

There is always the smelly kid, the sick kid, the spoiled kid, the clueless kid and the annoying kid at every summer camp. Sometimes these are not necessarily different kids.

Being a monitor isn’t as easy as it looked when you were 12 years old.

Nap where you can and when you can.

Being on lunch duty when there is soup and/or beans is the worst.

You will see pee, blood, vomit, tears or any combination of the former.

Think twice before dying your hair purple (or having someone cut it) even if its sounds like a good idea when it is suggested by someone else.

Good ventilation in the kids’ bedrooms can’t be overrated.

Camp food is filling but not always healthy or tasty.

The relationship between when monitors wants kids to be in bed and when the kids want to be in bed is an inverse relationship. In the morning the monitors want the kids out of bed and the kids want to stay in bed. In the evening it’s the reverse.

Next month I will be staying here in Alba de Tormes working as a English teacher with two different groups of children from Galicia. Being a teacher is a little bit different from being a monitor, you see a little less blood but just as many tears. However generally the above truisms are the same for teachers at summer camp as much as they are for monitors.

Wonderful Working Holidays

This is my third summer on a ‘working holiday’ in which I spend part of my summer working and the other part travelling. I’ve discovered this is the one of the best ways to travel for students. 

1. You earn money – It’s always fantastic to get a little cash so you can travel longer and further. Even if you aren’t earning a lot of money, every bit helps. Furthermore in a lot of temporary jobs (fruit picking, summer camps etc) your accommodation is provided, so this allows you to save more money.

2. You learn more about local culture – You work with the locals so you learn all the inside tips for enjoying your visit to the area. If you want to learn the language working holidays are a great way to immerse yourself in a language. You learn all the slang words and expressions that are not taught in a formal class.  

3. You have a home base  – Travelling to many cities in one trip can be draining. In summer 2007 I visited 25 cities in three months. For the weeks I was changing cities every two or three days, I felt quite tired afterwards. Also if you do short day trips or weekenders from where you are working you don’t need to lug a huge backpack (or suitcase) around!

Even working at the same camp two years in a row, you meet different people and see different things.  I love the Spanish lifestyle -  eating lunch at 2pm, taking a siesta, enjoying an afternoon clara (beer and lemon soda), doing some shopping,  then going for dinner at 10pm and going out to bars at 12am. My experience would not be the same if I was only a tourist and not working here .