Since there weren’t many arrivals today, the reception staff let me check the guests in, as well as pouring them drinks on their arrival. After completing these tasks, I then went to the different apartments to collect items that people had left behind them, such as a hair straightener, sunglasses and t-shirts. These items were brought up to the reception and placed in paper bags with the correct room number. Throughout the afternoon I planned ahead and organised the check-ins for the following day and the receptionists taught me some new Spanish phrases such as ‘’una para La Pinta por favor’’ which I used a number of times to call for a taxi for the guests. The staff in my hotel are lovely and they go above and beyond to ensure that I understand what they are saying and how to do certain tasks.
-Caoimhe
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Today I began work at 11 a.m. at Hotel Hovima Costa Adeje. It was a busy day for me as I had a lot of jobs to do. There were about 15 new arrivals today and they all arrived at the same time so it was very busy. I was instructed to fill champagne glasses and give them to the guests as this is given out to each guest on arrival. As the guests arrived I also had to help them with any questions they would have. I also helped an English couple with their luggage as they needed some help. Another task involved me having to bring some flowers up to a room, and I was also given letters to put under doors as well. In the afternoon I was asked to pick up welcome letters and information pages in different languages and put them in envelopes which had room numbers on them. The day consisted of a lot of office work and paperwork as there weren't many check-ins today. I enjoyed it as it was a new experience for me and different to solely helping people with their luggage. It also required me to multitask and use some of the Spanish phrases that I have learned so far.
The receptionists here speak a variety of languages as not all guests speak English or Spanish. I have noticed during my time here that the guests have mostly been Spanish, English, or French. It has been interesting to hear all the different languages and I even understood some of the things the French are saying as I did French in secondary school. I am slowly learning more Spanish words and phrases, mainly by listening to people speaking it. I hope to learn more in the remaining time that we have here. -Claudia I began work yesterday at 11 am. When I arrived I met with Pedro, the hotel receptionist, and said good morning to him and the manager, Antonio. My Spanish is improving every day and my colleagues are helping me to pronounce words correctly. The day itself was quite busy with a total of 25 check-ins, many of which come all at once. It is great to be able to multi task and to use my organisational skills to manage some of the tasks that i'm given. I’m slowly learning how the reception operates and I was also able to assist Pedro with checking guests in. I had watched him do it a few times so had learnt what was required and I was happy to be able to help.
The guests that I have encountered here at the hotel are always very friendly. Once they are checked in I show them to their room and carry their bags for them. The hotel has many apartments and can be confusing sometimes at times in regards to the layout as it is so big, but I’m slowly learning where they are. On my free time I am able to catch up on course work and have access to a computer. I also assisted an elderly English gentlemen to set up the WiFi on his phone and his tablet. It has been good being able to use my communication and problem solving skills to help people where I can. I also was sent to one of the apartments to assist two elderly couples set up the safe in their rooms as they were having difficulty. I realised there was a fault with the safe itself and reported it to management. I was able to set it up for the other couple in their apartment and they were very grateful for my help. - Michael We have been here for over a week now and I have already learned so much. I have noticed that my Spanish is improving a little each day and I’m beginning to understand parts of sentences now. I hope to continue to improve my language skills further in the next two weeks. I also got the opportunity to put my first aid skills into practice yesterday when an elderly man tripped whilst walking up the stairs, cutting his elbow and bruising his knees. It was great to be able to put the skills that I have developed from GTI into practice and it made me feel more confident in my own skills, especially using them in a different environment.
Sunday is my day off so this morning I decided to explore the area a bit more before the place got too busy with locals and tourists. I walked along the promenade for a while and took pictures of the lovely view. Later in the day, Claudia, Alida and myself went to the Plaza el Duque shopping centre in Costa Adeje, where we explored some of the shops and got the opportunity to practice our Spanish a little more. The shopping centre is located in a really picturesque and tranquil area. I am looking forward to learning new skills this week. - Caoimhe Today I started work at 11am. Today was a quiet day but even though it was a quiet day I had still a lot of jobs to do. I helped with bringing luggage to rooms and outside the hotel for people who needed some help. When guests arrived I would help bring them champagne, as we give a glass of champagne for when our guests arrive. Today was a good opportunity to put into practice my communications skills and to put into practice some of the few Spanish words that I have picked up. After work, I went to our apartment pool for an hour, it is lovely to relax by the pool if you don’t want to go to the beach.
-Claudia Today was my first day off since I started working at Hovima Panorama. My colleagues are extremely friendly and so talented, as they can speak at least 4 languages. It really impressed me to find out that many other people on the island can also do the same. It is a huge advantage if you are working in tourist areas. My day began with me starting my Open Water Diving course. I was collected at 8:50 am and driven to Big Fish Diving Centre, where I watched videos in preparation for the dive and answered theory questions.
After this preparation, I spent time on the beach learning diving skills and techniques. This was the best part of the experience as I was shown what to do in an emergency if your “buddy” or diving partner gets into trouble. We were also shown the emergency procedures in regard to running out of air, becoming tangled in netting, and also the use of hand signals to be able to communicate with my instructor under water. Once I had grasped the skills, my instructor decided to let me log my first dive. We swam around the beach looking at the sea life to a depth of 12 meters for about 20 mins. By this point, we had reached 100 psi in out air tanks which meant we had to then begin our return swim. While in my dive I spotted many fish varieties along with some barracuda which can bite, so we kept our distance from them. When we returned to shore I was shown how to take off all the equipment and shown how to properly wash and keep them clean. My next day of diving will be on Monday which I am really excited about. - Michael Today was a busy day in Hovima La Pinta Hotel. We are in preparation for the busiest day of the week which is Friday. I spent most of the day behind the reception preparing the guest welcome cards which had their room number, type of trip, tour operator and the arrival and departure dates. Once this task was complete, I began processing the room cards for the guests and placed them in individual envelopes.
After 3p.m, check-in started which meant that I helped the receptionists by pouring glasses of Cava and Orange Juice and carried guest’s luggage to their rooms. On top of this, I showed the children who arrived with their families, the interactive aquarium which they could touch and find out more about different types of fish. For most of the day I was developing my interpersonal skills, communicating with the staff and guest and it was also very important to be organised. When we all finished work in the evening, we walked to Siam Mall to have a look around and explore some of the shops and cultural sites. -Caoimhe Today was our first day working in the hotels. We all started work at 11am and finished at 5pm. I started the day by getting up at 9am and I went out to breakfast with Caoimhe before we went to work.
When I arrived at Hovima Costa Adeje Hotel, I was brought to the office to get a name tag to go with my uniform that I was given the day before. The uniform they have is a white shirt, grey pants and black shoes. I met the reception team and they were all so nice. Maggie, one of the reception team showed me around and where everything was located. She also shared information with me about the Hotel incase people may ask me about things such as, activities, markets and questions regarding the hotel such as restaurant opening times, gym times etc. During lunch time, Anne and Mariví came to check up on me and ask how I was getting on. Marirví showed me where the staff canteen was and also the back exit for staff. I got to eat in the canteen at lunch time, where they had lots of varieties of food available. The food was lovely there and I got to meet some more of the staff in the canteen that work in the other parts of the Hotel. The hotel was quite today as there wasn’t much checking in, but I got to help bring a lady’s luggage up to her room today. She was from England and she was on a break with her husband. I was also given letters to put under people’s doors in the hotel. During the evening I got sent down to the supermarket to get some drinks that was needed in the bar. Overall, I enjoyed my day and I am slowly learning some Spanish and look forward to putting it into practice during the week. After work I went to the beach to meet up with a few of the girls and we were lucky enough to catch the sunset which was beautiful. - Claudia Our day began with each of us being collected from our accommodation by Rebecca from the Tenerife job training at 8:30am. We were driven from our accommodation and brought to the government office to collect our social security numbers so we can work. We also visited each of the Hovima hotels, where we will be placed. Our jobs include some of us being placed at the front desk. Today we will met with the staff we are going to be working with. Some of the skills that we will develop while we are here include developing our language skills, confidence and also our interpersonal skills, something that will be important in a career in the emergency service. I am enjoying the sights and sounds of the country, the people are extremely friendly also. The food and drink here is very affordable and we have so far tried two restaurants which had a variety of Spanish food options.
We are slowly starting to pick up the language and are enjoying the learning experience and challenge of communicating in Spanish and we are looking forward to the work placement tasks. -Michael This morning, we got up at 6.20a.m. as we had to get our documentation sorted in the local police station which opened at 7.30a.m. A lady from Tenerife Job Training called Rebecca gave us a lift to the station and waited with us until we got sorted. While there, we met a group of five Belgian students who were undertaking an ErasmusPlus placement for three months in an animation studio so we spoke to them for a while. Later that morning we met with the manager of the Hovima hotels who informed us that we would begin work on Wednesday once we received our social security numbers. She then gave us timetables and informed us about what we would be doing for work.
Since many of us had the afternoon off, we took the opportunity to head down to one of the beaches near to the accommodation to relax, unwind and to reflect on the day and the upcoming work experience. Today I also managed to learn a few Spanish phrases and I hope to improve on this during my time over here, which i'm looking forward to. -Caoimhe |
Emergency Care Students 2017/18Michael Mitchell Map of Tenerife |