Article on Vaughantown

Here is the web address to read the article on the Vaughantown experience that the journalist on our trip wrote:

http://justaguyintheworld.blogspot.com/

Weather in Spain

The next time I go to Europe, it will definitely be in the spring or fall, not the summer. It was very hot in Madrid and Extremadura (the place where I did the program). Although it was dry heat (not the normal humid weather we have in Columbus) 90+ is still hot!

Pueblo Ingles vs. Vaughantown

The Kiplinger's Retirement Report article lists two websites that are very similar in nature - http://www.puebloingles.com/ and http://www.vaughantown.com/. For 1 week I tried to access http://www.puebloingles.com/ with no luck. Since I had immediate access to Vaughantown, I went with that program. While in Spain I discovered why the two programs appear to be so similar. Pueblo Ingles was the brainchild of Richard Vaughan, an American from Texas, and he had a Spanish partner who put up the money. A couple of years ago, the two had a falling out, and the Spaniard kept the Pueblo Ingles program and Richard Vaughan started his own program called Vaughantown. As of today, the case is still in litigation. Several people told me that they applied to Pueblo Ingles but never heard back from them. I don't know what is going to happen to the Pueblo Ingles program, but I can say that Vaughantown appears to be very strong. Unfortunately, the program in Italy falls under the Pueblo Ingles program. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Dual Citizenship

I learned one very useful bit of information in Spain. Since I was born in Italy, I could apply for dual citizenship...which means that I can work in Italy. Most of you know that a goal of mine (that is when I retire) is to spend 3-4 months out of the year teaching ESOL in Italy. Does anyone have dual citizenship or does anyone know how I go about getting it?

Spain

I'm back from Spain and have finally recovered from jet lag. The experience was wonderful and I would do it again in a heart beat...in Italy. Any of you can do this program - you don't have to know Spanish, you only have to be a native speaker of English and be willing to talk, and talk, and talk, and talk. While walking and talking with the Spanards I learned so much about their culture and the only custom I could never get used to was...eating dinner sooooooooo late at night (10:00 pm or later).
If anyone wants to do the program, I'd be very happy to share whatever info I have with you.