Feliz Navidad!

With the holidays upon us it is interesting to see how Sotogrande International School approaches Christmas compared to schools in the states. Back home it is obvious that the separation of church and state is taken seriously and schools avoid anything that could be interpreted as promoting Christianity. This means that schools will have “winter festivals” and send “holiday greetings” but will conscientiously avoid decorating and talking in specifically christian ways. Schools general avoid teaching about any kind of religion in school just to be on the safe side. They leave that instruction to the parents and many students never get a good understanding of other religions or a non-biased idea of their own.

Our classroom "Thinking Tree". It has questions
 we have about Christmas and things we know.
 Around it is an  art project with fractions.

That approach is very different here at SIS. In P5 we are teaching a unit of inquiry on Festivals of Light, meaning various religious holidays around this time of year that have a significant element of light. We focused on Divali, Hanukkah, and yes, Christmas. This means we actually taught the Christmas story. It also gave us a chance to talk about where our Christmas traditions come from and the meaning behind various symbols. The teachers were confused when we mentioned that we would probably never teach this kind of content at home. They said that it is important to show the kids how all of the religions have common elements and ways of celebrating.

The main lobby of the school is all '
decorated for Christmas

It is also interesting how the school itself approaches Christmas. There are Christmas trees, garland, ornaments and other decorating filling the school entry way and many of the public spaces and common rooms around the school. The younger students are putting on a Christmas play about the nativity story, and there are a couple different Christmas festivals and Christmas bazaars. There is absolutely no attempt to be politically correct or to lessen the importance of Christmas in these celebrations. There are a couple reasons behind this. For one, Spain is a very Catholic country and there is not the concept of separation of church and state that we have in the states. It is not something the teachers and parents worry about or get offended over. There are a few students who come from backgrounds other than Christian, but they do not seem concerned about the proliferation of Christmas celebrations- it's accepted as part of the culture here.

Feliz Navidad!
Alyssa

Going boating in November!

Going boating is something we Minnesotans cherish during those short three summer months every year. In Sotogrande, however, we’ve been “boating” for the last two weeks- in November! Allow me to explain… Libby and I have been full-time teaching for the last two weeks in Primary Years 1. As mentioned in an earlier post, our unit of inquiry is on materials. The students went on “hunts” around the school for things made from metal, glass, wood, plastic, etcetera during this unit, as well as studying the properties of these materials, such as smooth, bumpy, squashy, etc. While distinguishing between smooth and bumpy things, one of my curious students, Tom, raised his hand and asked “Miss Christa, do you have smooth things in America?” Another student replied for me by saying, “Tom, there are smooth things EVERYWHERE.” He gave her a knowing expression and said “Yes, everywhere except Africa!” Needless to say, their comments and questions have been endless free entertainment for us!
The first boat we made was out of a square piece of tinfoil. Every student got one square piece to design their boat however they wished. Miss Lin and I filled up the water tables in the courtyard outside our classroom, and the students put their boats to the test! After a few minutes, we added an extra challenge…adding toy people to the boat to see if it would still float! We had talked about floating and sinking earlier in the week, and this was a great demonstration on the difference between the two concepts.
Later in the week, we made paper boats (paper hats tipped upside down!) The students enjoyed making the boats, but the fun part was of course testing them in the water! Even with aprons on, we had a lot of wet jumpers for the rest of the day! After the project, we talked about whether or not water was a good material to use when making a boat, as well as the difference between waterproof and absorbent.
The final piece of this project was completed last week. In partners, the students made plans for making their final boat, constructed the boat, tested the boat in the swimming pool, and finally reflected on their experience. The students were so motivated to make the best boat they could and spent one morning working hard on their construction! Most of the students made the boats out of old cardboard boxes, and decorated them with flags, toilet paper rolls, etc! To say the students were excited when we finally got to bring the boats to the pool is a big understatement!
This whole experience was such a good example of the IB school philosophy. The young children worked mostly on their own, and used their imagination and prior knowledge to construct their own learning. Libby and I really enjoyed the unit, and I think the students did too! Who knows when the next time we’ll be able to go “boating” in November will be, right?!

Experiencing behavioral problems

This past Friday was our last day of full time teaching. Through all of our classes of students here at Sotogrande International School we all have experienced different languages, cultures, routines and especially for me, behaviors. I have a student that is being tested for ADHD and behavioral problems. When I’m teaching, she will get up in the middle of my lesson and wander around somewhere in the classroom. There are lots of signs for ADHD and behavioral problems. I have learned a lot of different teaching strategies that have helped with her behavioral problems. One strategy is where I have a treasure bucket and I put in a treasure when students are sitting nicely on the carpet or just when they are following the Golden rules. I say their name followed by a reason why I’m putting in a treasure in. This student also has a mat that she sits on, on the carpet, which has a number seven on it. This really helps because the mat is right in front of my red chair. When the rest of my students are sitting on the carpet and she isn’t yet, I count down from five, four…etc. This is a great technique that I also used at my other student teaching placement. My cooperating teacher made a sticker chart for her behavior during the three daily playtimes. If she were behaving sensibly she would be able to put a sticker of her choice in the column. I know Christa had this same technique in her classroom with a student and it worked pretty well. This past week a physiologist came in to observe her. It was kind of nerve racking having him come in but my cooperating teacher reminded me that “he’s just here to observe the student not you.” After observing the student he told my cooperating teacher that I was handling it very well.
I have learned a lot of different techniques and how to enforce good behavior within my classroom. Although this was a difficult teaching experience I’m glad to have had the opportunity to work with this student. She is very funny and has a great spirit. Every year a teacher will have a different set of students with different learning abilities.

Report Cards

It's that time of year, report cards! Here at Sotogrande International School the students will not be taking home a letter grade A through F, because there are NO GRADES in primary. Instead of a letter grade to indicate where the student falls in terms of meeting the expectations for the class, the student has a checklist showing what skills and knowledge they have and what they are still working on. They also have a small paragraph written by the teacher about that students' work habits, behavior and ability in class. We've been watching as the teacher work on these comments and noticed that they make a Herculean effort to say something positive about the student even if in extreme cases is is merely, “comes to class on time” or “is well-liked by peers”. We helped to do the maths report. For this we selected what level the students were at for a variety of objectives- “applied”, “understood”, “in progress” or “with support”. They also have some assessments that are conducted outside the classroom. For example they have a reading test to find their reading level. This test is standardized and conducted by a teaching aid.

The advantage of this sort of system is that more attention is payed to the individual student and their performance based on their potential. It reduced the comparison to peers and lets the students ability speak for itself. It also puts less pressure on the students and gives the teachers more flexibility- they are not bound to give a specific grade based on scores. In fact, most things we collect are not assigned points or recorded in a grade book. Instead comments come together to create an overall picture of a students ability and knowledge.

The disadvantage of this system is that it is very subjective. As Ashley and I realized as we prepared parts of the reports, it is hard to unattached your personal impressions about the student from their performance. It is also less standardized and hard to find how the student falls within the class and even harder to compare in different classes.
-Alyssa

Thanksgiving!

While you spoiled Americans were enjoying a break on Thanksgiving Thursday and Crazy Black Friday, we Spain teachers went about our normal day routines. School occurred on both Thursday and Friday this week, and although we knew it was Thanksgiving back home, it wasn’t quite the same in Spain. But no worries! Living in Spain couldn’t stop us from celebrating one of our favorite American holidays.
Thursday was another normal day at school, and although we received some thoughtful “Happy Thanksgiving’s” from the staff, everything else went as ordinary. For lunch, however, Alyssa and I were provided a lovely meal by our cooperating teachers. It was incredibly generous of them, and although there wasn’t turkey on the menu, we were still thankful for the delicious chicken curry and hamburger. We’ll take that over school lunch any day! Christa was able to show a quick clip from Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving to her 5 year-olds, who loved it! Who wouldn’t?! That night we also met up at Bonnie and Jim’s hotel for a special Thanksgiving dinner. Sam’s parents were still in town and joined us (even though Sam was spending Thanksgiving in Portugal with the futbol team). Libby’s family was also in town. After spending a few days in Barcelona, they made the long road trip down to Estepona to spend Thanksgiving here. Her mom, dad, boyfriend, and friend from France all joined us for the lovely meal! Because we were all starving Americans, we went to dinner at 7:30 (which was late in our books anyways). But there wasn’t anyone in the restaurant when we got there, so Jim’s voice seemed to carry even more than usual . Our 13 person table was the source of conversation and laughter all night. By the end of the meal (around 10:30) we noticed people were finally starting to fill the place up. The hotel restaurant was providing a unique Thanksgiving dinner that night, and man was it good! We enjoyed brie stuffed pastries as an appetizer. Turkey and potatoes in a delicious, reduced red wine sauce (that I could never replicate in a million years). And scrumptious pecan pie for dessert! Even though we were in Spain for Thanksgiving, we still partook in the tradition of stuffing ourselves to the brim and then proceeding to fall asleep.

In the tradition of the holiday, we decided to name some things we have been grateful for throughout this trip:
• Each other! We seriously have had such a great time getting to know each other this trip. Not like we haven’t spent the last two years in the same classes or anything, but we have learned a lot about one another, and a lot from one another during this experience. And I think this goes for everyone when I say this, but living together has actually brought us closer. We do still have two and a half weeks left, so I don’t want to speak too soon 
• Our teachers! They have been so tremendously helpful throughout this whole experience. We’ve learned a great deal from both the school and our classrooms. It’s been such a unique and valuable experience, and we can’t wait to take back all we’ve learned here and apply it to the schools in the states.
• Our advisors! We want to thank them both for visiting us here across the ocean. Thanks for setting up this whole experience and helping us become better teachers. Also, thanks for the great meals. We always eat so well whenever we have visitors here!
• The location! Our apartments are seriously amazing here. We love waking up every morning to the sun rising above the Mediterranean Sea. We love falling asleep to the sound of the gentle waves crashing against the shore. And we love the tranquility of watching the sunset down by the pool. We are a bit spoiled here! Oh yeah and there’s none of that cold white stuff-what do you call it again?!? Snow?!
• The kids! They keep us young. Whether we’re in Spain or in Minnesota, we absolutely love spending time with our students. They always keep us on our toes and make our days brighter. Christa was explaining to her students that she would normally be at home on this day, enjoying a big meal and spending time with her family. So she was a little homesick today and a missing her loved ones. The kids were so sympathetic and cheered her up, saying, “But Miss Chreeesta! You have us!”
• Lastly, we’re thankful for the whole new culture we’ve been able to experience here. The laid-back, casual style. The timeless attitudes. Eating dinner at 10:00 at night. And putting Nutella on EVERYTHING! It’s been an incredible experience so far! And we’re all very grateful for this opportunity.

-ASHLEY

Classroom Management

Even though most of these kids are super polite, we still need to have some management 
tricks up our sleeve.  The question is, what kind of management techniques?  Some
strategies we used in the states seems to be ineffective here in Spain while others have
still been useful.  For the youngins, Christa and Libby have been using some singing
management to gain the students' attention.  "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, we were talking now we're done!" and "tootsie roll tootsie roll lolly pop, we were talking now we stop" have worked in their classrooms.  Alyssa, on the other hand, tried turning the lights off to
get the students to be quiet, and (when she finally found the light switch) nothing really happened.  Some of us have also tried to do clapping patterns for students to repeat.  Sometimes the students will repeat the pattern and sometimes they will just
start clapping loudly while still talking or moving around.  It has been interesting to see what does and does not work for management techniques over here!
There are also different techniques that the teachers here use that we've never seen/heard before.  We are all familiar with the "clean up song" in America. Over here in kindergarten it's not the "clean up song", it's the "tidy up song."  And thanks to Christa and Libby's beautiful singing back at the apartment, we are lucky enough to have this song ingrained in our brains as well!
The language and accent differences have also been a factor in our teaching.  We don't throw things in the garbage, we throw things in the bin. We don't erase our mistakes, we rub them out. We're starting to get used to saying these phrases instead of saying
"garbage" and "erase," yet the accent differences have been a bit of a problem when it comes to phonics and spelling tests.  As Ashley was giving her class a spelling test, she would say the word and the students would reply, "What?!" Then when Ashley said the word in a sentence..."Ohhh you mean _________!"  Phonics is also tough!  It is hard enough knowing what each letter or blend sounds like, but when you throw in all of the accents it's just a mess!
While these issues can sometimes be hard to overcome, many of them are also humorous. The most important part is that we get through the day accomplishing our goals.  Then we can go home and give each other advice, or chuckle at all of our frustrating/funny stories. :) 

-Chelsea

Getting the best out of students: The roles of an effective teacher.

“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.” 

Carol Welch

For the past few years, this quote has summed up the purpose and necessity of physical education for me.  Focusing on one of my disciplines, it is crucial to address three domains within every single PE lesson: psychomotor (physical), cognitive (mental), and affective (emotional).  Four years of schooling and active participation in a national PE and Health association has helped to establish my ideals and goals as a physical educator.  At the same time, my philosophy was still not exactly nailed down.  When the opportunity arose to student teach in Spain, I recognized it as the chance of a lifetime to practice teaching a very controversial and challenging discipline in a completely different environment.

My experiences as a teacher outside of America have instilled in me several key roles of a physical educator that will ultimately develop physically educated students – students who will have the knowledge, skills, and value of being active and fit for life.

1.     Deliver lessons with activities that engage ALL students, increasing their curiosity and motivation to participate and learn more

2.     Develop strong relationships with students that establish trust and safety, encouraging risk-taking and cooperative learning

3.     Consistently expect the most out of every student, bringing the best out of every student

Regardless of where I teach or what I teach, these tasks are part of my mission.  In order to effectively develop each of the three domains mentioned previously, objectives are developed for every lesson within these areas that guide students to a much broader goal for each unit.  I learned in college the most effective ways to teach the psychomotor, or physical, domain.  However, during this student teaching placement, I am learning to more effectively connect PE to every day life and other disciplines by asking higher-level questions.  Here are some examples of questions that accompany themes for various units:

Primary Years Tag Rugby: What are the three most important ways to successfully work together as a team while passing with a partner? Why do we always need to perform these tasks?

Low Middle Years Basketball: Think of your favorite hobby… Relate it to basketball - Why must we always begin something with very basic and easy skills and build upon them?

Upper Middle Years Basketball: Think of the debates in your other classes currently.  Relate basketball to the debates.  Why do you need to be an expert of both offense and defense or the pro’s and con’s of any given controversy/situation?

Ultimately, I think the biggest difference between effective and ineffective teachers has nothing to do with the type of school at which they teach or where they are in the world.  Their ability to effectively teach Physical Education depends upon the ability to develop a safe environment, encourage full participation and risk-taking, and make connections that intrigue students.  These jobs can seem daunting and sometimes impossible at times; however, when completed effectively, teaching is incredibly rewarding. I am learning how to become an effective teacher here primarily thanks to the incredible mentor I have found in my cooperating teacher who always pushes me to take risks and try something new with my students – no matter how crazy my ideas seem at the time!  I have heard many people comment that students at IB schools are smarter than others.  I would strongly argue that the students are not smarter.  Instead, the teachers are trained to bring the best out in every student.  I am so excited to take home with me the skills to be a great teacher and share them with colleagues.  

- Samantha Broderius

Night Out in Marbella

There’s nothing like a Girls Night Out to break up a long week of teaching! Last night, all of the student teachers, Deb and her daughters, and four of the teachers from SIS took a mini-road trip to Marbella, a bigger city about 25 minutes away from Estepona.  After school, we hopped in a few cars and made our way down the road.  Deb and her daughters were waiting for us close to the beautiful oceanfront and Salvador Dali statues.  Deb informed us that Salvador Dali lived in Marbella for a time and donated some of his beautiful art to city.  While the first group waited for the last few ladies to show up, we ordered a few tapas and watched a little boat take people to and from shore from a gorgeously lit cruise ship in the distance! 

When the whole group arrived (all thirteen of us!) we walked to a quaint little restaurant around the corner.  Eliza and Lisa, Ashley and my cooperating teachers, took the reins and ordered a few different dishes for all of us.  We weren’t always sure what we were eating, but I personally thought everything was delicious! A new dish was brought out every few minutes, and it just kept coming and coming! One dish we ate was called morcilla, which roughly translates to black pudding, meaning blood sausage.  Tastes better than it sounds! Other dishes included calamari, octopus, squid, unpeeled prawns (shrimp) and lamb chops!  We ordered a side of chicken and potatoes for Ashley J

During dinner, we traded stories about American and Spanish life.  The Sotogrande teachers explained to us more about how public schools in Spain work.  In Spain, every single public school uses the same textbook, and teaches the same lesson on the same day.  It is very traditional and regulated.  I think we were all surprised at how different Spanish schools are from Sotogrande and most American schools. 

A few years ago Eliza came to Gustavus for a short visit.  At dinner, Deb was trying to convince the rest of the ladies to come next! Everybody seemed on board… until we told them how cold it really gets in the winter!  We’re all hoping that our teachers can visit us someday…maybe when we have our own classrooms!  Sitting by the ocean, eating and enjoying good company was just what we all needed! It was great to spend some time with our teachers outside of school and get to know them better.  We want to thank Deb for all her help, and taking time out of her busy schedule to visit us and provide us with some great advice! We’ll be good when you’re gone Deb, we promise!  


-Christa

Themes of the International Baccalaureate School

           This past week, was our first full week at the Sotogrande International School. It was really nice to start getting into a routine. In being at an International Baccalaureate school, each of our grade levels have different themes that we are teaching. Christa and I are in PY 1 classrooms.  Our theme is Materials so the students are learning about plastic, wood, metal and their properties. This theme is also incorporated into every content subject throughout the school day. Alyssa and Ashley are in PY 5 classrooms.  Their theme is celebrations so they are teaching about the different ways people celebrate and different holidays that happen throughout the world. Chelsea is teaching in a PY 3 classroom and their theme is time. They have been learning about the different time zones, and how you grow in throughout periods of time. 

The themes usually last about six weeks. Sotogrande International School has six main themes for every grade level through the year. Even though this is very new concept for most of us I think we are all settling into the concepts and routine well. 

-Libby 

                                                                       

A Time for Everything

We've been adjusting to differences in time in many senses. We've now gotten over the initial jetleg but it took a couple days of little sleep, waking up in the middle of the night, and in some cases sleeping pills. But that wasn't the only time change we had to get used to.

Because of the oppressive heat in the summer, Spaniards have developed a tradition of siesta where much of the population takes a couple hours off anywhere from 2-6. The beaches and sidewalks clear up as everyone heads inside to spend time with their families and nap. The stores and restaurants close and things get pretty quiet. The restaurants don't open again until around 7:00 for dinner and most people don't have dinner until 8 or 9. Even then the dinner is pretty light- often just tapas (an array of appetizers and small sandwiches). While we were on vacation we decided to check out the night life and were dismayed and surprised to find that places don't get hopping until 1-2 in the morning. We talked to one girl who said she stays out until 5 or 6 in the morning then sleeps all the next day!!

The culture of time is also different. I've noticed less of a sense of urgency and rush here. While we were exploring Sevilla it seemed that people walked more and at a slower rate than we Americans took. There is also less emphasis on getting places on time. Rachel Schmitt (a gustie grad we met up with), explained that if you saw a friend on the way to meet with someone else it would be considered rude brush off the friend in order to make it to your previous engagement on time. We've seen some of this attitude in the classroom as well. There are few clocks around the school and unlike many of our previous placements, the clock does not dictate classroom movements. There are no bells, even for the end of the day. When Ashley asked the IT teacher how long the class stayed at the computers he shrugged and said until the next class comes in. We talked with a teacher who said she likes this system because it makes the students more independent and less reliant on an outside source (a bell) to dictate when they should be places. They just have to go and take responsibility for their timeliness.

The time difference is 7 hours ahead of Minnesota. Though there was a strange aberration last week. For some inexplicable reason Spain has daylight savings time a week before the united states does. So from October 30^th to last Sunday we were only 6 hours ahead. Go figure! If anyone is looking for skype dates the best times are in the early afternoon. We don't get back from school until 5:00pm here (10:00 am there) and usually go to bed around 11:00 pm (4:00 pm there).

-Alyssa

Granada!

We arrived in Granada on a train to find a rainy, dreary day ahead of us. We got to our hostel in the afternoon and since a lot of touristy places were closing, we decided to SHOP! But first, we needed to find some food. It was too early for dinner, so we just wanted something small… and to our luck we found churros and chocolate! We had been looking all over for churros and when we stumbled upon them, either they were closing or didn’t serve churros at that time. So we were sooo happy to find a place that was open AND serving churros. They were so delicious and perfect for a rainy day. Our tummies were all warm inside and we were ready to shop. We found some great stores! When we were tired of shopping (or ran out of money) we went searching for a tapas bar that came highly recommended by our hostel. We found it, and it was packed! We decided to go in and try to find a spot to sit. We had no luck, so we crowded around a little round table and had to stand. We got a huge plate of some yummy (and interesting) tapas. While eating, we had the pleasure of meeting some lovely older men who came over to talk to us. One man asked where we were from, and when we replied Minnesota, he must have thought Minnesota was like the old wild west because he said, “Ohh Minnesota.. Pew Pew Pew!” And had his hands at his hips pointed like guns. We found it pretty entertaining. 

On Friday we woke up and went on a walking tour of Granada. The weather was pretty gloomy, but the rain held off while we were on our tour. Our tour guide was an interesting fellow… his sense of humor reminded us of Jane Schuck. J   Interesting fact we learned: People started driving on the left side of the road because before there were cars, people would walk on the left side so their right arm was free to either fight, shake a hand, or tip a hat to a lady. Well, Napoleon was left handed, so he switched it so that people walked on the right side of the road.  The British, however, stayed on the left side of the road because they did not like Napoleon.

After our tour, we walked up the hugest hill in the world to see the Alhambra. Right as we started walking around, it started raining. Luckily Ashley had an umbrella, so 2 or 3 of us could use that. Chelsea had a rain jacket, and Alyssa had a half-broken umbrella she found on the street, so it sort of worked for 1 or 2 people. Nevertheless, we all got wet and it wasn’t too fun walking around in the cold rain. We saw a sign for a café, so we followed it…to find some vending machines in a little hallway. We tried to warm up in there, but it didn’t really work so we found a souvenir shop instead. We stayed in there and looked around until we felt warmer, then decided to brave the weather and keep going. Well, we didn’t last long. We were bummed, but we got to see most of the Alhambra. We walked back down the hugest hill in the world (with Christa tagging along 20 yards behind the group) and went back to the hostel to shower and warm up. 

After a good nap and shower, we were ready for Friday night in Granada! First we went to Babel, another recommended tapas bar. After that, we went to a flamenco show. It was a hole-in-the-wall little place that was pretty cozy. There was a singer, a guitarist, and a dancer. The show was spectacular. That lady’s feet could MOVE! We were all impressed, and on our walk back Libby and Chelsea had some fun testing their flamenco skills out on the street! Of course they were great. We were hungry again, so we decided to go back to Babel! This time we ordered fajitas…which were gone in .4 seconds. So Sam, Chelsea, and Libby ordered another tapa. We didn’t know what to get, so we kind of just let the waitress surprise us. She came back with what looked like a shrimp cocktail, but instead of shrimp, it was calamari, little beans, and a baby octopus! Sam had no trouble, but Chelsea and Libby were a little hesitant to eat the baby octopus. But, we toughened up and tried a little bit. It wasn’t bad, but I felt bad eating a helpless little baby octopus! Anyway, Granada was a great place; even though it was cold and rainy… at least it’s better than snow! ;)

-Chelsea 

Ronda

To Fight or Not To Fight?  

 

That is the Question…

After settling into our hotel and eating a delicious meal recommended by Pepe, the owner of our hotel, we headed out for yet another eventful, yet much needed relaxing day of sightseeing.  Our first stop brought us to the famous bullring of Ronda.  This is the first official bullring used only for bullfights.  Prior to the construction and opening of this ring, facilities were used for human and animal fights for many other purposes ranging from military training to entertainment to punishments and tests.  

Currently in Spain, an incredible controversy is being debated over bullfighting.  Should it remain legal or be altogether outlawed in the country?  There are two points of view to consider.  1) Bullfighting is an inhumane act, inflicting pain on innocent animals for human pleasure and simple sport.  2) Bullfighting is an integral part of rich Spanish history and culture.  In northern regions of Spain, several cities have already banned fights.  However, southern regions of Spain have not given up hope that their beloved fights will always remain part of Spain.  Here are some pictures of us enjoying the scenes of the bullring!

After the sights of a real bullfighting arena, we were off for quite an excursion at the city's famous bridge.  Puento Nuevo was originally constructed for three primary purposes.  First, it provided water to cities along a 14 kilometer stretch of land.  The people of these cities relied solely on water that flowed through the makeshift dam built into the bridge.  Second, this bridge and dam was also a crucial part of the agricultural economy of the area.  A mill at the base of the bridge relied on the flow of water to run its grinding components that crushed grain, turning it into useable flour and cornmeal products for the people of neighboring cities.  Third, the original purpose of the bridge was security.  Ronda is a city situated high on the edge of some cliffs.  The city's buildings literally teeter over the edge of the terrifying drop-offs.  It was placed here as a means to watch for invaders and effectively fight anyone attempting to overtake the city.

We were able to walk up into the bridge where an old security watch room has been turned into the bridge museum.

Finally, before the day was done, we hiked down a hill to the edge of a cliff for some breathtaking photo opportunities of the bridge.  We made it back up the hill to our hotel just before the rainfall began for the day.  Our evening ended with some tapas at a local stop and a few games of cards that provided much needed rest and relaxation after our hours of walking in Sevilla.

Hasta pronto, guapos.... Sam

Sevilla!

October 31-November 1

Day One

Today marked the first day of our mini-tour of Spain!  We set our alarms for bright and early, and headed for the local bus station.  We waved goodbye to the beautiful beaches of Estepona and made our way to the city of Sevilla/Seville (Say-ve-a).  We arrived in Sevilla around 1:30pm and were ready for lunch! After wondering around for a few minutes, we sat down at a place that served paella, a traditional Spanish dish of rice and seafood or chicken.  Little did we realize we were sitting right across the street from The University of Sevilla!  It is a large, old, gray building adorned with three bright flags.  Some of our friends from Gustavus have studied here during their time abroad, so it was awesome to see it in person!

After lunch, we hauled our luggage (which was getting pretty heavy at this point!) to our hostel.  None of us had ever stayed at a hostel before, so we were naturally a little apprehensive to see what we would find.  Luckily, it was a clean, friendly place with free breakfast and free Wi-Fi!

Before we left we had connected with a fellow Gustie, Rachel Schmitt, who moved to Sevilla after graduation to teach English.  She met up with us and showed us one of her favorite little ice cream parlors.  We all agreed it was nice seeing a friendly familiar face in a foreign city! Later we walked around the city, did a little shopping, and visited the Festival of Nations and the Plaza de Espana.  The Festival of Nations had a bunch of different stands from countries like Egypt, Australia, and India selling products from their homelands. Plaza de Espana is a beautiful castle like building constructed for the World Fair to attract people to the city.

Being Halloween, we decided that we should dress up and see the nightlife of Sevilla.  We made do with the supplies we had in our backpacks, and ended up as a group of funny looking zombies!  We met up with Rachel and some of her friends in town and had a wonderful Spanish Halloween!

Day Two

            We started off day two in Sevilla by going on a free walking tour provided by the hostel.  The two-hour tour ended up taking almost three and a half hours, but I think we’d all agree it was well worth it!  Our tour guide (who spoke in English by the way!) was incredibly knowledgeable about Spain, and especially Sevilla.  Some of the highlights of the tour included:

-       The Cathedral.  It was recently proven that at least 10% of Christopher Columbus’ ashes are in this cathedral.  There are 37 ramps (which would equal more than 2000 stairs) to reach the top for the call to prayer.  They used ramps instead of stairs so they could ride a donkey up every day!

-       We walked through the narrow streets, which we learned were designed as natural air conditioning systems.  Sevilla is the hottest city in Spain, reaching 100°-130° F during the summer months.  The narrow streets created a wind tunnel to help keep people cool. 

-       In one of the gardens we visited, we saw eight huge Mongolian trees that were brought here for the 1929 World Fair.  The first tree was brought as a sapling, a gift from the Moorish people to the King.  The city of Sevilla liked it so much they had 7 more full-grown trees shipped in from China. 

The plaque by Susona's window where her skull used to hang...

-       Our tour guide told us an interesting story about a Jewish girl named Susona.  She was the daughter of a prominent Jewish figure, who was planning a rebellion against the King of Spain.  Currently dating one of the Catholic soldiers (not to mention, pregnant with his child), Susona revealed her father’s secret to her boyfriend so he could escape the coming attacks.  Her boyfriend betrayed her secret to his superiors, making Susona a publicly ostracized traitor to her people.  She fled Sevilla and became a nun.  Her dying wish years later was to have her head hung outside her childhood window to warn others not to betray their own people.

Later that night we met up with Rachel again and went to the top of the “Plaza Mayor” aka the “Parasol de Sevilla”.  It gave us a beautiful view of Sevilla, just as the sun was setting!  After a delicious dinner of different tapas, we searched the town for churros and chocolate.  Everywhere we found was closed due to it being a National Spanish holiday.  Instead we settled for brownies and ice cream at Burger King!  When I (Christa) visited Spain in high school, this was one of my favorite treats, and I was so happy to find it again and share it with my traveling companions! 

Pictures to come! ~ Christa

DIFFERENCES IN ESPANA!

                When traveling to a foreign country, it’s always great to experience the differences in food, music, language, and way of life.  Here are some fun things we’ve learned about the culture in Spain:

FOOD! 

                First of all meal times are totally different than in the U.S.  We eat breakfast at 10:40am at the school (we’re all starving by this point).  Breakfast is usually very small: coffee/juice and bread of some sort.  Then lunch is served around 1:00pm.  In general, restaurants serve lunch from about 1:00pm-4:00pm, so we’re glad we got the early end of that deal.  Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, consisting of bread, salad,  vegetables, a main meat/fish dish, and some sort of dessert.  They do love their pastries in Spain, and we’re not complaining, especially when it comes to churros dipped in chocolate!  Mm, Mm Tasty!  Around 4:00, school is let out and the town goes into lockdown, or siesta time.  Most restaurants and stores close.  People go home to be with their families, take naps, or get tapas!  Tapas are little appetizer dishes that are eaten for snack or dinner.  We’ve experienced quite an array of tapas over this trip so far:  sandwiches with mysterious meats, tortilla patatas (potatoes/eggs), crochuetas, calamari, and octopi?...maybe? (we’re still not sure on that one).  In Granada, most tapas bars serve free tapas when you order a drink.  Needless to say, we enjoyed our tapas during that visit.  After siesta/tapas is  dinner.  We’re used to eating around 6:00pm back home, but here it is much, much later.  Most restaurants do not even open until 7:00pm for dinner, and they are completely empty until about 9:00pm anyways.  Dinner is served very late in Spain, usually anywhere between 8:00pm and 11:00pm.  So we try not to eat too many spicy foods before bedtime!

 

                Other than the meals, there were a few other things we noticed about the food here in Spain.  The milk.  Yeah, it’s served warm most of the time…in a glass, with cereal, whatever the case.  It’s room temperature.  Water.  You can’t just get a free glass of water in Spain.  This is something I seriously took for granted back home.  If you want water at a restaurant, it comes in a bottle with a glass, or with bubbles, and costs between $1.50-$2.00.  Finally, there is no peanut butter anywhere!  It is extremely hard to come by in Spain.  However, they do have some conventional alternatives:  jams from just about every fruit you can imagine (apple, pear, orange, strawberry, peach, etc.), and nutella!  (a chocolate, hazel spread that goes great with just about anything)

LANGUAGE!

                Well, we all came to Spain knowing they spoke a lot of Spanish here, but we didn’t realize the differences in English we would be encountering.  Everyone here is taught British English, so there are a few foreign words we’ve encountered even in our native language: 

                “Miss, I’m in trouble with my test, may I have a rubber?” were the words of a student during our P.E. teacher’s first year.  “A rubber?!  I cannot give you a rubber!”  she responded.  But don’t worry folks, a rubber here is not what it you might think; it’s simply a pencil eraser.  Never ever tell someone to take off their pants in Spain.  Pants mean underwear, not jeans or sweatpants.  Those are referred to as trousers.  And a sweatshirt back home is called a jumper in Spain.  Just picture a little kindergarten saying, “That’s my jumper!” in a British accent.  It’s way cuter than sweatshirt.  Finally, if nature calls, ask for the toilet, not the bathroom.  A toilet is the public place where you take care of business.  A bathroom refers to a room at your house with a toilet, sink, shower, bath, etc.  

TRANSPORTATION!

                You never really truly appreciate something until it’s gone, like a car.  A lot of people in Estepona have vehicles to get around, but in bigger cities (like Seville and Granada), it’s much cheaper, quicker, and healthier to walk everywhere.  Watch out, we’re coming back with some buff legs!  The streets are incredible narrow here anyways, so it’s more efficient to walk to your destination.  But be careful of some crazy drivers.  WARNING:  cars here are very small, unpredictable, and produce quick movements.  It’s not unusual to have a car driving six inches from your feet, or for a person to stop in the middle of the street and simply put their flashers on.  From the wise words of Mereille (our P.E. teacher), “Once a car has their blinkers on, it’s like they are invisible.”  The hustle and bustle of transportation here is unlike that of the U.S., and especially St. Peter.   While we were in Seville, Ronda, and Granada, we took public transportation to reach our destinations.  AKA long, smelly bus rides, and crabby drivers.  Combine tired tourists, impatient regulars, foreign speaking cashiers, and temperamental bus drivers, and you have quite an interesting experience.  Our modes of transportation during this week we’re quite noteworthy, and even though none of us had quite experienced this before, we actually made it to all these cities AND home successfully.  No worries mom ;)

OTHER RANDOM FACTS!

Stray cats everywhere!  Black ones, white ones, orange ones, furry ones, skinny ones, wild ones!

Everyone and their mother owns a dog, probably a little yelpy one.  (which also leads to a lot of poo on the streets…)

Lights are on the outside of the bathrooms.

No clothes dryers.

No clocks anywhere!  If you’re on time in Spain, you’re early.  If you’re twenty minutes late, you’re on time. 

-Ashley

Chill-laxing

Today was a very relaxing day! We got to sleep in till 10:00am but Christa, Chelsea and I totally forgot that it was daylight savings. So we were suppose to meet the other girls and Mereille at 10:00am but instead we were waiting outside at 9:00am. Since we woke up an hour early, we decided to rest a little bit before we actually had to meet up. Mereille came over to help us plan our weeklong trip around to Seville, Ronda, and Granada. Ashley decided to take the plunge in helping plan the weeklong trip with Mereille. THANK YOU GIRLS!!! While they were busy going to the bus stations, and booking the hotels the rest of us decided to walk down to the market that happens every Sunday in the port. There were all sorts of things that you can imagine there, scarves, purses, jewelry…etc. I wanted to buy everything! After walking around and seeing everything we walked back but inside of going our usually route we went towards the beach. We got stuck in a parking lot full of mud, but we eventually worked our way around the big pills. When we arrived back at the apartment; Mereille and Ashley were still working on the plans. 

They said we should go lay by the pool so most of the day we spent the day out by our pool. The view in the back of our apartment is very beautiful; we can see Gibraltar and the top of Africa in the distance. Spending the whole day out by the pool there was a local restaurant on the beach that was having live music and a BBQ. After Ashley and Mereille were done planning the long trip, we all walked down to the restaurant. When we arrived we were very shocked that the live music was a man wearing 70’s looking tight pants that included speakers in them. He even made up his own words to the songs. Very entertaining, we were all laughing! Chelsea had the pleasure of volunteering ;) to sing a song to the rest of the audience but he couldn’t find Grease Lighting! This pretty much ended our day…

 

You may be wondering who Mireille (Mir-ray) is…she is our lifesaver! She is Sam’s cooperating teacher and she is the Physical Education teacher/coach at the International School. Mireille is very welcoming and nice! The first day we got here she took us down to the port and had dinner with us. She has really showed us the taste of Estepona. Also helping us a lot with planning our trips! I don’t know where we would have even begun without her. We also have gone to her apartment to use her Internet since we are waiting till next Monday to set it up because of our weeklong Holiday. Meireille has really helped us with a lot of things and we are learning a lot about the Spanish culture from her!  

~Libby

 

Home Sweet Home!

Our apartments are right on the ocean in the port town of Estepona. It's about a 25 min drive from here to the school in Sotogrande and a couple teachers volunteered to drive us every day. We are in two apartments in the same complex but we have to go outside to get to each others place. Christa, Libby and Chelsea are rooming together in an apartment on the first floor and Alyssa, Ashley and Sam are on the third floor (actually the 4^th because they call the first floor bajo and then start with primero on the second floor). The first time we went up to the apartment we tried to take the elevator. It is very small and we all packed in like sardines. The door closed behind us and we pressed the button for the third floor but nothing happened! We realized that we were way over the weight limit for the elevator and frantically pressed the button for the doors to open and nothing happened! We panicked for a couple seconds before the doors finally decided to open. We've been happily taking the stairs ever since! When we got here Pippa (our contact from the school) had pre-stocked our apartment with food. Some of it was familiar (noodles, chips) and some of it was strange (a mystery melon that tasted like sweet honeydew). Our apartments are often rented out to people on Holiday, so there are some goodies left behind in the closets. We had fun exploring and finding an umbrella, lawn chairs, a huge bag, even a mini scooter! Our apartment is right next to the ocean and we have a beautiful view from our windows Unfortunately our keys don't work for the gate to get back from the and we had to be creative to get back into our complex after a walk by the ocean! There is a pool in our yard and perfect weather for sunning and swimming. Plus there are beautiful tropical flowers and plants everywhere. The pictures here are from the window of our third story apartment. Yep, we're living the good life here in Estapona.