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