Spanish woman emerges after spending 500 days living

alone in cave
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/spanish-woman-emerges-after-spending-500-days-living-alone-in-cave [ADAPTED]

Solitude - soledad; the state or situation of being alone.

After spending 500 days alone in a dark cave 70 metres below

the Earth’s surface, attacked by a plague of flies and the odd
desirable vision of roast chicken, most people would be craving
a wash and some company.

But after emerging from her subterranean lair in southern Spain

a little after 9am on Friday and having a quick checkup with a
doctor and a psychologist, Beatriz Flamini was treated instead to
a 50-minute press conference in which she attempted to explain
the almost inexplicable.

“I was expecting to come out and have a shower,” she told the room full of reporters. “I wasn’t
expecting there to be so much interest.” That was one of Flamini’s rare miscalculations.

On Saturday 20 November 2021 – three months before Russia invaded Ukraine – the elite
sportswoman and extreme mountaineer entered into the cave outside Granada, determined to
learn more about how the human mind and body can deal with extreme solitude and
deprivation.

Monitored by a team of scientists from the universities of Almería, Granada and Murcia, who
kept in touch through special, limited messaging technology, the 50-year-old athlete from Madrid
is now thought to have broken the world record for the longest time a person has spent alone in
a cave.

Flamini told the media that she had lost track of time after day 65. Asked how she had
succeeded in keeping herself sane for so long, Flamini pointed to her extensive experience and
mental preparation, adding: “I got on very well with myself.”

Yes, she had talked to herself – but never out loud. After all, the silence of the cave (“it wasn’t
my house”) had to be respected. The key, she added, was consistency.

“For me at least, as an elite extreme sportswoman, the most important thing is being very clear
and consistent about what you think and what you feel and what you say,” she said. “It’s true
that there were some difficult moments, but there were also some very beautiful moments – and
I had both as I lived up to my commitment to living in a cave for 500 days.”

Flamini said she passed the time calmly and purposefully by reading, writing, drawing, knitting –
by enjoying herself: “I was where I wanted to be, and so I dedicated myself to it.” Put bluntly, the
trick was living in the here and now: “I’m cooking; I’m drawing … You have to be focused. If I get
Spanish woman emerges after spending 500 days living
alone in cave
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/spanish-woman-emerges-after-spending-500-days-living-alone-in-cave [ADAPTED]

distracted, I’ll twist my ankle. I’ll get hurt. It’ll be over and they’ll have to get me out. And I don’t
want that.”

She had managed to keep fit, plough through 60 books and use two cameras to chronicle her
experiences for a forthcoming documentary. But surely there had been some hard moments –
times when she was tempted to hit the panic button and head back into the world?

Flamini thought for a moment and then remembered one particular moment.

“The flies! The flies! The flies!” she said. “There was an invasion of flies. They came in, they laid
their larvae and I didn’t control it and so I suddenly ended up enveloped by flies. It wasn’t that
complicated, but it wasn’t healthy … but that’s just what it was.”

While she fell victim to an intense craving for roast chicken with potatoes, the solitude was less
of a problem. Before she entered the cave, she told her team that she did not want to be told
what was going on outside, even if it involved the loss of a loved one. “The people who know
me and love me respect that,” she said. “There’s no problem.”

Flamini sounded ever so slightly irritated when remembering how she felt when the moment
came to leave the cave. “I was sleeping – or at least dozing – when they came down to get me
… I thought something had happened. I said: ‘Already? No way.’ I hadn’t finished my book.”

Comprehension: True/False questions

1. An athlete trained for 500 days in a cave for a race. T / F
2. The athlete was a 50-year-old mountaineer. T / F
3. The cave the athlete spent 500 days in was 70 metres underground. T / F
4. The first thing the athlete did upon resurfacing was have a shower. T / F
5. The athlete had counted down the end to the 500 days. T / F

Speaking: Discussion Questions

1. Would you ever want to try living in a cave? What are the pros and cons of this?
2. What is the longest time you could spend alone?
3. Is there anything good about being isolated? Describe how isolation can affect your
mental health.
4. What is the first thing you would do after leaving the cave, if you were the athlete in the
article?
Spanish woman emerges after spending 500 days living
alone in cave
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/spanish-woman-emerges-after-spending-500-days-living-alone-in-cave [ADAPTED]

Speaking: Role Play

1. Clear thinking: You think clear thinking is the best thing about solitude. Tell the others
three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as good. Also, tell the others which
is the least attractive of these (and why): lots of sleep, no social media or knowing
yourself.
2. Lots of sleep: You think lots of sleep is the best thing about solitude. Tell the others
three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as good. Also, tell the others which
is the least attractive of these (and why): clear thinking, no social media or knowing
yourself.
3. Knowing yourself better: You think knowing yourself is the best thing about solitude.
Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as good. Also, tell the
others which is the least attractive of these (and why): lots of sleep, no social media or
clear thinking.

Writing: Solitude
Think about these aspects of solitude, writing a sentence or two about each (do you like it,
positive/negative aspects, which is the best or worst, etc.):

● Clear thinking ● Knowing yourself better

● Book reading ● No social media
● No stress ● No problems to solve
● Lots of sleep ● Time for creativity

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