Spain 2010 Blog
July 13, 2010
Today is Monday and we've been in Tordesillas for about a week now. It
was an amazing week, capped off by last night's victory by Spain in the
World Cup Finals. Spain beat The Netherlands 1-0 in overtime ("prorroga"
as we all learned to say in Spanish). There are no words to describe
the incredible atmosphere of last night in Tordesillas. Thousands of
people poured into the street following a drum procession down into the
Plaza Mayor. The atmosphere was electric and it was a night we will
never forget. Ever! The kids were right in the middle of the procession,
which lasted for over an hour. Everyone was dressed up in their Spain
jerseys and had their faces painted and we fit right in. When we all
spilled out into the Plaza Mayor, all the American kids were immediately
gathered up by their Spanish friends and everyone was yelling just to
carry on a conversation. It was 1am and it was an all ages affair. There
were kids as young as two or three years old on top of their parents
shoulders enjoying the celebrations along with everyone else. It was a
once in a lifetime experience to say the least and we all feel really
lucky to have been able to experience this.
Last Wednesday, we
did a tour of the monuments in Tordesillas, visiting El Monasterio de
Santa Clara, an active monastery in the historical part of the town. We
also visited San Antolin, a old church in town that has a spiral
staircase up through one of the turrets to the top of the building where
you can get a expansive view of the whole village. This week we're
doing a "charla" (a lecture) on Spanish history and politics on Thursday
afternoon and on Friday we are going to visit four smaller towns in the
area that are exceptionally beautiful. Torrelobaton has a well
preserved castle that we're going to visit. Wamba apparently has some
kind of church rosary with interesting tombs, and Urueña is a small
medieval walled village that is called "El pueblo del libro" (The town
of books) because it has several small bookstores. It should be a great
day.
As for host family news, everyone is doing really well and
settling into this experience. They all seem to be bonding with their
host parents, siblings and their siblings' friends. Everyone in town
knows that we're here and the kids have all taken on a sort of celebrity
status!
We'll update you all in a few days.
________
July 6, 2010
Hello everyone in Vermont! We hear it's really hot back home, so at the very least, we have that experience to share.
It's Tuesday evening right now around 10pm and we've been in Tordesillas for two days. It's been a whirlwind! The kids are definitely experiencing some serious culture shock, perhaps mostly because we got so used to being together as a group in lush and green Galicia. But, here we are scattered about in Tordesillas. Amazingly beautiful, but in very different ways. Golden wheat and hay fields as far you can see and not a cloud in the sky since we arrived.
So, everyone is with their host families safe and sound. Wow! What a fun experience it was when we pulled up on Sunday (around 2 p.m., late after oversleeping at Casa Louran). The families were all there, eager to meet their new American kids! After calling out names and matching each student up with their family they grabbed their luggage and were off in what seemed like 6 seconds. Everyone is doing really well. Culture shock has definitely set in, but everyone has a great attitude, and like we keep saying the most important thing for them to do is just dive right in. We continue to be incredibly impressed with how the group is doing and the positive attitudes that everyone seems to have.
The past two days, most of the kids have been spending time with all of their host siblings at the Tordesillas town pool. Quite the social. We're doing a guided tour of the monuments, churches, and monestary in Tordesillas tomorrow. We'll post pictures on Thursday. And remember to watch the Spain/Germany soccer match tomorrow. We'll all have our faces painted and watching with our host siblings in Tordesillas. Go Spain!
