Winterim 2020 in Spain

2020 Academic Trip to Spain

¡Vamos a España!  

During our immersion in Spain, we will strive to practice responsible behavior by respecting both the Spanish culture and each other.  We will prioritize broadening our horizons by putting ourselves out of our comfort zones and taking advantage of every learning opportunity.  We will also have fun!

Day 1 - Reid

Today we arrived at the Nashville airport at 7:45 in the morning  Since we got there early, we had time to go get breakfast and hang out with all of our friends departing from Nashville before we left.  We got to Philadelphia around 1pm and had about six hours until our connecting flight departed.  During this time, we explored the Philly airport, which was a fun airport for a layover  due to the various restaurants and stores.  Finally, around 8pm, we took off for Spain.  During our flight, we watched movies, listened to music, and even ate the luxurious airplane food.  Everyone tried to sleep on the airplane because of the huge time difference.  Once we arrived in Spain, it was 8:30am.  We went straight to our hotel, checked in our baggage and left for the Reina Sofía, where we saw works by famous artists like Dalí and Picasso.  We were so tired from the jet lag, that when we had a break in the museum from the tour, we fell asleep on the floor. 

Once we finished exploring the Reina Sofía, we came back to the hotel and took a siesta until 6pm.  In Spain, dinner is served very late in the evening.  We left our hotel to eat at 8:15pm at Restaurante La Catedral, where we tried many tapas including our group's favorite, jamón. Following dinner, we came back to the hotel and went straight to bed.  We can't wait to share what other adventures we will experience!!

Day 2 - Emma

Today we visited the Palacio Real with our guide, César. First we spent some time between the Palacio Real and the Catedral de la Almudena. We learned that the palace and the church are facing each other to symbolize the alliance between the monarchy and the church in Spain. After taking a few pictures, we went inside the palace where César explained many statues, color choices and furniture in the Palacio Real. The palace contains thousands of rooms, but may are closed to the public. The rooms we visited are very colorful and had amazing artworks on the ceilings. Then, we split into two groups and chose our own restaurants for lunch. After eating our groups competed to find four sites our teachers sent us to find. We then went to eat dinner with Caroline Hoffman '13 who now teaches in Madrid.

Day 3 - Lydia

Friday in Madrid was a very eventful day. The first thing we did as a group was walk to the Parque del Retiro. The park was beautiful, and there were many people there that morning, including lots of families. There is a central lake in the park where people took out row boats. We walked around the park and ate some crepes at one of the food stands.  

After visiting the Retiro, we walked to the Museo del Prado, where we met our guide for the trip, César.  The Museo del Prado is considered to have one of the world's most extensive collections of art. We got to see works by Francisco de Goya as well as Bosch and Rubens. After spending lots of time with the artwork, we made our way back to the hotel for a siesta and to get ready for dinner and our long-awaited surprise that Señora Allen had planned for us. We split into groups of five and chose places within each group to go for dinner.  After that, we met at our central meeting place on Plaza Santa Ana and walked to our surprise. It was a flamenco dancing show! Flamenco is a type of lively, disciplined and loud dance that is very popular in Spain. The show was fantastic.

After the show wrapped up, we went to go get some churros con chocolate at Chocolatería San Ginés, a place that Profe Herring's friend had suggested. Overall, it was a very busy but amazing day.  

Day 4 - Lizzie

This morning we went to meet our tour guide, César, for a walking tour of our Madrid neighborhood.  In Spanish, he explained the history and significance of different buildings, monuments, and statues. We saw Plaza Mayor, an old jail that had once housed the French king Francis I, and heard two ghost stories about a nearby building.

Afterwards, we split into two groups and found different lunch places. My group ate jamón sandwiches and potatoes. We met back at the hotel to check out, then pulled our luggage a few blocks up Gran Vía to meet our bus to the train station.  After security and a wait, we boarded the train for the hour ride. We were very nervous on the train to meet our host families, but also excited. Our families greeted us with signs and besos at the train station before we left with them to start the homestay portion of our trip!

Day 5 - Ellie

Today was our first full day in our home stay families. When I first arrived, I was nervous because the Spanish dialect was somewhat different than the Spanish that I am used to in school. 

Regardless, from the moment I met my host family at the train station, they were incredibly welcoming! As the day has passed, I have begun to understand them with greater ease, and it seems like they can understand me better as well. 

I had written in my host family letter that history was one of my favorite classes, and luckily for me my host family lives very close to a famous historical site.  Where most of the Harpeth Hall students have host families in Valladolid, my host family lives in Tordesillas, a city slightly southwest of Valladolid. This is the same town where the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed 525 years ago, "dividing" the world between Spain and Portugal. Though the clauses of the treaty are not upheld today, it is a very important history, especially for Spain, who ended getting much more territory from the treaty than Portugal because much of South America had yet to be discovered at the time of the treaty. It was such a cool experience to see a document that I have studied in history classes in person! During the same outing, I saw the place where the tower where Juana la Loca, the mother of the first king in the Hapsburg dynasty) was, which was also very exciting, despite the fact that the original building is no longer standing and there is currently a street through that site.  Finally, we toured an ancient convent. It was beautiful, and I was very surprised to find that the nuns still live there today!

After our history visit, my host sister, Julia, took me to her friend's house in a pueblo called Berceruelo to teach me how to play a Spanish game called Jugger (pronounced yog-gher). The general premise is that you either have two foam swords, one foam sword and a shield, or one long sword.  The other people playing will have one of the combinations you do not have. The goal is to hit everyone else without getting hit.  It reminds me a bit of fencing but with more running and action!  Afterwards, Julia's friend's mom made us all a tortilla, which is like an omelette made to serve multiple people. It is a very traditional Spanish food, and I am glad I tried it!

Overall, I fell like I'm getting into the groove of homestay!  Tomorrow, I am going to school with one of my host sister's friends because my host sister is a few years younger than me. I can't wait to see what other new experiences are just around the corner!

Day 6 - Megan

Today, my host sister, Nuria, has exams in her school, so I was offered the opportunity to go to work with my host mother, Nuria as well. She is an English teacher as well as a television host, so I helped her teach her students advanced English by introducing English phrases first in Spanish and then in English. I was very happy to help teach her students because they often taught me some common Spanish phrases. After going to the academy, we went to the studio where I was given a big surprise! I am going to be on TV!  I am going to be a part of a segment where I explain to the host American culture and specifically common New Years Resolutions. This will be entirely in Spanish, so I am a little worried (but more excited than worried). After coming home, Carlos taught me a card game, and we had dinner. So far, I have met both sets of abuelos, two tíos, and three primos. Family is a large part of Spanish culture, and I am excited that I get to be a part of it!

Day 7 - Maura

Today I went with my host sister, Eva, to my second day of school. We had history, math, literature, religion and English. The teacher made me the "mini-teacher" and I helped with the lesson. It was really fun to hear their English and let them ask me questions. There are so many differences between my life in Nashville and life here in Valladolid. What has stood out to me the most is the food and the eating schedule. We don't eat breakfast, and at around 11:00 a.m. at school we have lunch, which is bread, ham and a tangerine. At 3:00 p.m. is the big meal. And we have a big dinner at 9:30 p.m. or 10:00 p.m.  For me this has been the biggest adjustment. I am excited to get to know my family and Valladolid!

Day 8 - Molly

Today was our first time seeing each other as a group since we met up with our host families at the train station on Saturday. It was refreshing for all of us to see familiar faces and speak a little bit of English! We all got to share stories of our experiences with our host families and the fun things we have done (and new foods we have tried) with them. After a bit of catching up, we went on a mini-tour of Valladolid, which included Miguel de Cervantes' house (author of Don Quijote), the Plaza Mayor, and a historic market with different meat and seafood stalls. 

Then, it was time for chocolate con churros!! While eating our new favorite snack, we talked a bit with Heather, the home stay coordinator, about how we are doing in our families and customs we should know. One of the Spanish customs she told us is that it is considered rude to close the door when you go into your room to hang out because it signifies that you don't want to interact with the family. This was a surprise to us and made us a bit more aware of how our families could be interpreting actions that are fairly normal to us as rude. 

After this meeting, we went on a scavenger hunt near the Plaza Mayor. We had to use a map to navigate our way to the official store of Real Valladolid, Campo Grande park to take a picture of the peacocks (which roam freely among people), several statues and various other sites. This was a fun activity because it allowed us to interact with locals, who were more than willing to help us find where we were going. It also helped us realize that without Google Maps, life is a bit more difficult. While we are loving time with our host families, today was perfect for us to regroup and spend some much needed time together!

Day 9 - Amy

Today was a great day in Valladolid! After getting to sleep in a bit, we met up at the local Civic Center for a typical Spanish cooking class! After a delicious breakfast, provided by the two teachers, both María José, we got to cooking. First, we chopped different veggies and chorizo for the base of the lentil soup. It smelled great!  After a few cans of lentils were added, it simmered while we started on the tortilla, thick egg omelette with potatoes. This dish proved to be more difficult, especially the process of flipping it manually.  After evaluating the data, I would guess we had about a 60-75% success rate in this arena. Though it took hours, the lunch was delicious and filling, as Spanish "almuerzo" should be. It was great to get together while experiencing Spanish culinary culture in the process.

Day 10 - Grace

Today was an amazing day in Valladolid! We had the privilege to attend a dance class in the morning where we learned bachata, salsa, and merengue along with other classic Spanish dances. We had a lot of fun dancing together and familiarizing ourselves with the steps, even though they were hard for me to follow at some points! 

After my host mother picked me up, I went home and started drawing sketch portraits of my host sisters.  Around 4:00 p.m. we decided that it would be fun to go shopping. I bought a new jacket, and my host sister got a new pair of shorts. We ate dinner at La Mejillonera, and I ate a calamari sandwich with a side of potatoes. All in all, it was a really awesome day today!

Day 10 - Molly

We had another day alone with our host families, doing various activities ranging from visiting museums to just staying in and having a nice relaxing Sunday. My host family had extended family come in today to celebrate the seventeenth birthday of the youngest daughter, Paula. The relatives first came over to receive a tour of the new apartment, and then we went to a nice lunch together.  Something I have learned on this trip is that meals in Spain are often much longer than in the United States. Families generally continue sitting at a table and talking after they have finished eating, on top of the fact that they order appetizers, entrees, and desserts with coffee at most meals. This lunch, for example, was about a four hour excursion from the time the relatives arrived at the apartment to the when we left the restaurant!  Many of us from our school group ventured to discotecas last night and were fairly tired today. I myself ended up taking a 3 hour nap when my host family returned from lunch, as I assume some of the other girls from the group did as well.

Tonight, my host family and I had a night in and watched Annabelle in Spanish (with English subtitles). It was fun for me to see how much of the movie I could understand without looking at the subtitles, which was more than I expected! On this trip our group has enjoyed listening to the voice over of the Spanish actors in English shows and movies, especially the voice over actors for the show Friends. Tomorrow we have an exciting excursion planned to Salamanca and have been told to look out for several statues that are supposed to bring us good luck!

Day 11 - Ellie and Megan

Today we visited the beautiful city of Salamanca. We began our escapade by scaling the hills to merendar (to snack) at Café Las Torres in the Plaza Mayor. Afterward we entered the unbelievably special cathedrals. There were two cathedrals, the "Old" Cathedral (12th-14th centuries) of Romanesque design and the "New" Cathedral (16th-18th centuries) of Gothic design. The students who have taken either AP European History or AP Art History gave us lessons on a few of the most important aspects of architecture and design. It was also very fun trying to find the astronaut hidden in the facade. We then scaled a billion stairs to reach the top of the tower of the cathedral. I swear that I could see Nashville from there. The scenery was unbelievably gorgeous. 

Afterward we embarked on the activity we do in each new city, the scavenger hunt. We divided into teams of five, each with one of our AP Spanish Literature students (Ellie & Molly). Our adventures included exploring Salamanca, finding local landmarks and, for the AP Lit students, the sites where events from one of their works took place. 

A site many people were very excited to see was la rana (frog) on the facade of the University of Salamanca. In the University's lore, if a student visits the university, but is unable to find the frog, they will fail their courses. Luckily for us, with the use of our Spanish to ask locals for directions, as well as helpfully seeing a magnet with a photo of the frog's location in a shop window, we were able to find the frog, which was being worn by a skull as a hat. Hopefully, this bodes well for the rest of our school year!

After the scavenger hunt, we all reunited for a lovely lunch at an Italian restaurant called A'Tarantella. Though we have all been enjoying Spanish food throughout our stay, it was a refreshing change of pace, and we appreciated having food a bit more similar to what we eat in the United States. This meal was also phone free so that we could appreciate each other's company for the last few days of the trip. 

After lunch, we had an hour and a half of free time before we returned to our home stays. We used this time to go out for gelato as a group, as well as buying gifts for our family members and souvenirs for ourselves. We all bought matching University of Salamanca sweatshirts, which was a fun group bonding moment. The sweatshirts will certainly help us remember our time in Spain.
 

Tomorrow, we attend school for one last day, and spend our last night at our home stays. Our time in Spain is quickly coming to a close, but with this, we are more sure than ever to savor every moment!