Chicago

10.25.11 - Chicago, Illinois - If you haven't heard it yet, Eunice and I are moving to Chicago. We went up apartment hunting last week and even managed to see a few sights (read: Millennium Park, the Marilyn Monroe Statue and the John Hancock Tower). We had a couple of great meals in Logan Square at Lula Cafe and Longman and Eagle.

We'll be moving up in a few days, so more on that as it develops.

-Will

That beany thing in Millennium Park.
Antique shop in Andersonville.
Dad at Longman and Eagle. I had the chicken and waffles.
Careful out there kids.
Thought this was a better view. Haha.
A bit o' Lake Michigan.
L stop in Logan Square.
Dog in Andersonville.

Coming out of the L downtown.

Magic Village Video

09.06.11 - El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain - For my last trick, I will be submitting the Magic Village video (no pun intended). It is in a beautiful spot in the Sierra de Grazalema at the bottom of a little town called Benaocaz. Campers learn English through media by playing the Wii and watching the Simpsons and speak only English most of the day. It works as a feeder camp for Little Village.

There I followed Lyan, who was great and spoke excellent English. Highlights were watching (didn't have my camera, long story) the dragon on the zip line, Mr. Muscle cross dressing and seeing them win Intercamp.

Let me know what you think.

-Will

Here it is:

Winning Intercamp.
Mr. Muscle. Rory, SMH man, SMH.

Get to know your monitor.

Star Camp Video

09.05.11 - El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain - This is the video for Star Camp, where TECS runs a "Guided Independence" program for older (13-18 year old) campers. It's famous for for being in a four star hotel in Sotogrande and offers campers off-site activities taught in English. I hung out with Javi from Madrid who learned padel his first week of camp.

It was one of the more difficult videos simply because the kids have a lot of free time and independence outside of the class. "Independence" is a difficult concept to visualize. However, difficult the filming, the hotel room and buffet made up for it. If I close my eyes, I can almost smell the breakfast spread. . . .

Let me know what you think.

-Will

Here it is:

Javi in class.
Padel practice.

An evening fashion show.

Little Village Video

09.04.11 - El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain - Little Village is TECS's Total English camp where the campers come and only speak English for two weeks. The camp sits on a pretty site just on top of the white-washed town of Grazalema in the mountains of Cadiz. TECS converts the campsite into it's own slice of the UK (or America) where everything is done in English. Campers work a lot on conversation and speaking English as their native speaking monitors and teachers do.

Here I profiled Amalia (yes the same name as the girl from Go Camp) who in addition to having excellent English, participated in the camp exchanges, worked as a monitor for a day, was on the debate team for intercamp and generally worked at being awesome. Kudos to Amalia.

For anyone who has ever taught English abroad, and especially in Spain, I can tell you that it actually works and is an amazing camp environment.

Let me know what you think.

-Will

Here's the video:

Amalia.
Nacho, who sadly didn't get to make a cameo in the video (Sorry Nacho). He definitely provided some laughs over the two weeks, especially with his routine as the Australian painter who was raised with an Italian accent so he could be more artistic.
Yoga. That's right. They do yoga at Little Village. And it's awesome.

Amalia, as part of the monitor for a day exchange.

Go Camp Video

09.03.11 - El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain - Go Camp is TECS's camp for first time campers. They focus a great deal on the welfare of the campers and exposing them to adventure activities for the first time. It's in a very typical Andalusian farm in central Cadiz and it comes complete with donkeys and other various forms of livestock. I profiled Amalia here, who at eight years old, is the youngest camper I worked with.

-Will

Here's the video:

We had a beach day out and I took some great photos that I wound up not using for this. I thought this one summed it up though.
Adam during Cluedo (Clue for Americans). He recorded several of the songs for these videos. If I had to choose, this would be his first album solo cover

Didn't get to use this but it remains one of my favorites from the summer. Very Go Camp.

Family Camp Gredos Video

09.02.11 - El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain - This is the Family Camp Gredos video I produced for TECS. The camp runs a similar program to Family Camp in El Puerto, but in the center of the country, specifically the Sierra de Gredos about an hour and a half west of Madrid. It's a beautiful area and I focused on projecting that and the wide range of activities the campers can do in that environment. If you ever get a chance to get over that way, I recommend it. It is truly spectacular.

Let me know what you think.

-Will

Luis and Ali sharing a laugh.
Golf.

By far one of my favorite images from the summer. Just says it all.