From Madrid to Sevilla

Hola family and friends!

Our group said goodbye to Madrid with a celebratory dinner at Botin. Known as the oldest restaurant in the world, Botin was one of Hemingway's favorite restaurants and Goya is rumored to have worked as a dishwasher. After a delicious meal, the waiter led us downstairs to the oldest part of the restaurant, a wine cellar which dates back to the 18th century.

The next morning we took the high-speed AVE train from Atocha Station to Sevilla and we checked into our hotel in the beautiful Barrio Santa Cruz. Right away, we became avid believers in the powers of siesta! Each day, when Seville's temperatures reached their highest (even the Texans in our group were sweating!), we enjoyed the hotel's pool and a quick nap. During our five days in Sevilla, we visited the most important architectural and historical points in the city: the Alcazar, the Cathedral and Plaza de Espana. We used the Alcazar's Moorish gardens and tilework to teach the students about the Arabic influence in Southern Spain. From our Spanish tourguide in the Cathedral, we learned that Seville's Cathedral is one of the largest in the world, and it is also home to Christopher Columbus´s remains.

In the evenings, we visited a local summer fair along Seville's Guadalquivir River, we watched a Flamenco performance that included different singers, dancers, and guitarists, and we saw the Spanish film "Camino" as part of Seville's outdoor summer movie series. We also sampled all sorts of tapas including gazpacho, huevos rellenos, and queso de cabra con frambuesa. Given Andalucia´s rich gastronomy, our language lessons have centered on restaurant and food vocabulary. Students taught one another how to prepare various tapas after interviewing locals and they role-played restaurant scenarios. They also studied articles from Spain's major newspapers and surveyed locals' opinions regarding current events.

To stay cool, we took a river cruise and saw Seville's famous bullring and Calatrava bridge by boat. Even more refreshing was our day at Aquapolis, Seville's waterpark. We had a blast on the waterslides, and highlights of the day included go-kart racing and a 200-person water aerobics class in the wave pool!

Tomorrow we head to Zahara de la Sierra, a small town in the mountains of the Cadiz region of Spain.

Saludos and we will be in touch soon!

Kate, Bergen, and Lane

Tunas playing for our table at Botin, Madrid

Attending a Flamenco show

Boat ride on the Rio Guadalquivir

Inside Seville's Cathedral

Plaza de España

Taking a break in the shade in Plaza de España

All things Madrid

Hello again!

The Language Learning Spain C crew has made it through homestays and we have jumped right into a full week in Madrid. Our students had a great time with their homestay families-- some even cried as they said goodbye to their host families. It was just as touching to see how excited they were to come back together as a group!

We had a busy week in Madrid, filled with many cultural events. Our first day in the city, we did a tour of Real Madrid´s stadium Bernabeu; Real Madrid is Spain's world renowned soccer team. It was a fun chance for everyone to see how important soccer is in Spanish culture and to grab some souvenirs for home.

On Sunday we toured the best weekend market in Madrid, el Rastro. Later that day we attended our first bull fight. While not everyone stayed for all 6 rounds, it was an extremely eye opening experience that our students were glad to have witnessed.

On Monday we took a train to Segovia, a historic city about 30 minutes from Madrid by train. Here the group saw the beautiful church, the ancient Roman aqueduct, and the old Alcazar palace. During our daily recap we learned that there wasn´t a student in our group who didn´t enjoy this day trip.

For the past two days we have woken up early to visit the Prado, where we learned about Spanish artists such as Velasquez and Goya, and the Reina Sophia, where we saw the amazing works of Picasso and Dali. But of course all of this learning wouldn´t be as fun without a few surprises. . . Our students were doing so well with Spanish that we decided that the group deserved an evening off-- we surprised the group with a trip to a small amusement park. Roller coasters and water rides were a welcomed treat! And this afternoon´s language lesson was actually a scavenger hunt in Madrid´s famous park, Parque Retiro.

Tomorrow is our final day in Madrid. We plan to check our the Thyssen art museum and then break into groups to see a Sorolla exhibit at the Prado and another important contemporary artists at the Caixa Forum.

We hope you enjoy the photos below. We will check in soon with updates from Sevilla!

Saludos,

Bergen, Kate and Lane

Students before their first bull fight

About to enter Segovia´s Alcazar palace

Students under a statue of Velasquez outside of the Prado Museum

in Parque Retiro

An update in photos

Group shot heading out of Luarca on our first big hike

Yoga Ball Soccer (with the group's spirit animals) in a small town outside of Luarca

Group shot at port in Luarca

Group shot at the beach, Luarca

en route to Astorga

Saludos desde Cuenca

Hola family and friends!

Everyone sends besos from Cuenca, Spain. Cuenca is a small city in region of Castilla de la Mancha that is known for its Casas Colgadas (hanging houses), houses situated on the edge of a cliff. Here in Cuenca, our students have just begun their homestays. We spent a great deal of time preparing the students for this experience through vocabulary lessons, question and answer sessions, and role-plays of situations in which they might find themselves. Most of the families have adolescent children, so we are hopeful that our students will develop very special friendships and learn an enormous amount of Spanish. This week, we leaders will visit our students at their homestay families' houses, and at the end of the week we will have a farewell picnic for all students and their families.

Before our arrival in Cuenca, we visited Luarca (in the region of Asturias) and Astorga (in the region of Leon). Luarca is a small fishing village located along the cool, green coast of Northern Spain and there, we developed great friendships with local teenagers. The students chatted and played soccer with their Spanish friends in the town plaza every evening, met on the town beach, and we even invited several of the groups' Spanish friends to our final dinner celebration, in which we feasted on paella!

While in Luarca, we took a day hike through local farms (we passed donkeys, roosters, horses, and cows) and ended at a beautiful restaurant in the neighboring town. We played a rousing game of soccer at the local elementary school before we hiked back to our hotel!

The next day, we visited a cemetery with views of the harbor and ocean. Students also gave presentations on the results of their interviews with local people. In pairs, they asked two older and two younger Spaniards about cultural differences between Spain and the United States. Examples of interview questions included "Why do Spaniards eat dinner so late at night?" and "Do you agree with the saying 'Americans live to work and Spaniards work to live'?". Another day in Luarca, we split into two groups: one group went kayaking and swimming while another group rode on horseback through the hills of Asturias.

From Luarca the group ventured on to Astorga, a historic city located along the famous Camino de Santiago. While in Astorga the group explored this historic city by visiting its many town plazas as well as its Cathedral and Gaudi Palace. We also went on a long walk along the Camino de Santiago and were able to pass through many small and historic towns that European pilgrims have been passing through on foot for thousands of years. Finally, on our last day in Astorga we traveled to the neighboring city of Leon, the capital of the region, where the students explored together the many fascinating sites located here.

As we left Astorga on our six hour bus ride to Cuenca, we could sense our students were a little nervous about meeting their new homestay families. When we arrived in Cuenca, all of the families were waiting, extremely excited to meet us and to welcome our students into their family for this week.

Next Saturday, we will head to Madrid!

Until soon,
Kate, Bergen, and Lane

Hello family and friends!

We made it through to Madrid with a flawless transfer though Paris where the group enjoyed snacking on croissants de chocolate. While the students tried sleeping on the flight it seemed many were unsuccessful and we had quite a tired bunch.

As soon as we arrived and started to see the historic streets of Madrid the students perked right up. We quickly dropped our things off at our hotel and gave the students the option of a picnic or eating at a restaurant nearby. Everyone chose to hold off on eating so that they could shop at the local grocery store. Students were very excited as they used their Spanish to order and purchase their own lunch ingredients.

We brought our picnic to a grassy area in front of the Royal Palace and a few students went off to play frisbee while others sat around and practiced their Spanish enjoying the blue skies on a sunny day. After a quick Spanish lesson on 'the park and our surroundings' we decided to head back for to shower and get ready for dinner. We walked from our perfectly located hotel to Plaza Mayor where the students were amazed by local theatrics and the old world Spanish architecture. The group sampled local tapas-- some students tried new foods such as calamari, paella, and croquettes. After dinner we were all exhausted and went straight to bed.

Today the group is off to a great start getting ready for our train ride up to the Northern coast and the fishing town of Luarca, where we will spend five days doing projects getting to know the local culture.

Hasta pronto!
-Bergen, Lane, and Kate

at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris

our Spanish lesson in the park.

The group in Plaza del Sol getting prepared to shop for our picnic

students with the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) in the background

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Madrid.

Meet the trip leaders

2009 Spain leaders, left to right: Kate Pallin, Lane Golden, and Bergen Kay

BERGEN KAY: Trinity College, B.A., American Studies with minors in Women´s Studies and Spanish Studies. Bergen has dedicated herself to travel and studying Spanish. She has traveled through Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. She spent a college semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and one in Morelia, Mexico, where she volunteered with non-profit arts organizations. After graduating from college, Bergen worked in public relations in New York City. When not at work Bergen volunteered with children at Bellevue Hospital. Bergen has spent this past year traveling through Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. While in Argentina she spent a month volunteering at a children's center outside of Buenos Aires. Bergen loves music, reading, traveling, yoga, outdoor sports, and exploring cultures through food. During high school, Bergen was a student on a Putney Language Learning program in Spain where she fell in love with Spanish culture. She is fluent in Spanish.

KATE PALLIN: Hamilton College, B.A., Hispanic Studies; Middlebury College School in Spain, M.A., Spanish. At Hamilton, Kate worked as a tutor at the Writing Center, directed Hamilton’s Community Service organization, and was a captain of the women’s varsity crew team. She wrote her senior thesis on the creation of a feminine space in the culture and politics of Spain after the death of Dictator Francisco Franco. She spent a summer in León, Spain, living with a family and studying at the Universidad de León. She returned to Madrid to complete her Masters degree in Spanish. She became especially interested in Spanish art, architecture, and film. While in Spain Kate lived with a Spanish family and competed as a member of Madrid’s rowing club. In her free time, she traveled extensively throughout Spain and Europe enjoying the vast culinary differences at each stop. Since finishing her Masters degree, Kate has dedicated herself to sharing her two loves with students: rowing and Spanish. She currently teaches Spanish at the Fairfield Country Day School in Fairfield, CT. This past year Kate directed and coached the Old Lyme Rowing Association’s summer rowing programs in Old Lyme, CT. Kate is fluent in Spanish.

LANE GOLDEN: Tulane University, B.A., cum laude, Spanish, International Development, and Latin American Studies. Lane's interest in Spanish began as a child in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, and has continued since then. He traveled twice during high school to study in Spain, in both Santander and Salamanca. While at Tulane, Lane studied abroad in both Argentina and Spain, where he had the opportunity to live in a homestay with a local family and in university dorms with fellow students. During college, Lane was actively involved in the Kappa Alpha Order Fraternity, as well as the Tulane Squash Team, serving as Captain his senior year. Lane is an active outdoorsman who enjoys to bird hunt, fly fish, and snow ski around the world. Next fall Lane will begin his first year of law school at Tulane University. Lane is a Putney Student Travel alumnus. During high school he participated on a Language Learning program in Costa Rica. Lane is fluent in Spanish.