Flamenco and Beach Time

Yesterday's optional afternoon activity consisted of flamenco classes. The classes were at the same academy whose students performed Friday night (a great show, I might add!) at the local concert hall.

The teacher was wonderful, leading the students in several numbers without getting into the nitty gritty of the particular steps. They followed along quite well! Tomorrow they will have another class. I'm sorry I'll miss it, as I'll be on my way to Rome to meet up with another SPI group!

I had a chance to listen in on their conversation classes this morning - one class was talking about food, and the other was playing a game of 20 questions. (hence the piece of paper on their foreheads below!)

This afternoon I accompanied many students across the bay to Somo, to a less crowded beach than those here in Santander. Everyone enjoyed the quick boat ride (20 minutes?) and the less hectic beach!

I'm sad to leave this group behind - they have been a lot of fun! The students that depart this weekend wish they could stay for more time, too. Now that they've had a small glimpse of Spain, I know they'll be back!

Week 2

Sunday was a free day for everyone, and I am willing to bet that most students spent it at the beach after a midday meal with their host families! The weather was amazing.

Yesterday was also beautiful - after morning classes the students were free in the afternoon. I took advantage of the open schedule to visit a few of them at home.

Today after class they begin an optional Flamenco dance class! (today and Thursday - perhaps continuing next week for those students staying in Santander for the full month)

Tomorrow I'll take the boat across the bay with interested students to Somo, a small town with a beautiful, long stretch of sand. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

I leave for Italy on Thursday to meet up with another group of students and teachers on an SPI program there - but the other Santander directors will continue to send updates and photos to Celeste in the main office!

Picos de Europa

We had a great time in the Picos de Europa National Park today!

Although we had to endure the trip to get there on a narrow and windy road and then waited close to an hour to go up in the gondola, the view from the top made it all worthwhile!

Settling in

This week the students have been learning how to get around the city and have settled in quite nicely, I think! (bus passes with discounted fares help!)
We hiked up to the lighthouse yesterday. Even though the weather wasn't great, it was still a nice walk. This part of Spain is so green and lush - it could almost be Ireland.

Everyone is still making an effort to speak nothing but Spanish! It is fun to witness their language skills growing with each day. A student even commented to me yesterday that he's learned more here in the last few days than he did in full year of class at home! The power of immersion is truly inspiring.

We're headed to the Picos de Europa tomorrow - an Alpen-like mountain range a few hours from here! Prepare yourselves for some more pictures of beautiful Spanish landscapes! :-)

I love this city!!

Today after class and lunch at home, we took the bus from the city center to the Magdalena Peninsula, where a former royal residence is located.

It was finished in 1912 and used as a summer home for the Spanish royalty until 1930, but it now belongs to a local university. It's fun to imagine what it must have been like for the royal court to live there. I know I would love to have it as a summer home!

Afterward we made our way down to the beach. Most of the students were more interested in the playground there than the beach itself!

¡Santander, por fin!

Finally we have arrived in Santander! The kids are doing great - they are already trying really hard to speak nothing but Spanish and I can tell that they're learning a ton.

They were so cute meeting their families last night! Everyone arrived on time to class this morning and things seem to be going well.

They all took a placement test this morning to place them in one of two class levels for the grammar and conversation classes, and will be together as one big group for the culture class.They really enjoyed the architecture and food of Madrid, Segovia, Burgos and Bilbao - these cities are all so wonderfully different!

Yesterday was the Corpus Christi holiday (which occurs 60 days after Easter each year) - we caught a great procession near the magnificent gothic cathedral in Burgos! A few students were also able to experience mass in Spanish, and reported that they were able to follow along, more or less!

We have all been taking lots of pictures (teachers and students alike!) - I will upload more as our adventure unfolds.

¡Hasta la próxima!