Archive for the 'LES' Category

I recently spoke with Simone & Emilio to get more news from their adventures in Spain!

On Friday after school, the group traveled via bus to the coastal town of Cadaques, the town where Salvador Dali spent the majority of his life. On Saturday morning, they went on a 3-hour boat ride around the coast where they had the opportunity to go snorkeling in the clear blue water. For dinner, they took a break from cooking and went out to an authentic Spanish restaurant. The students really loved the patatas bravas and croquetas. They spent Sunday morning on a scenic old-fashioned train ride through Costa Brava before returning home to Barcelona.

Highlights of the week included spending the day swimming at the 1992 Olympic Pool. The kids really loved playing sharks and minnows, or as they called it “tiburones y piscardos!” After that, they went to a famed chocolate store in Passeig de Gracia where they sampled all sorts of decadent chocolate made right there in the store. For dinner the students made grilled cheese and gazpacho! Another great day was a visit to the beautiful beach town of Sitges, located 30 km from Barcelona. They also went to the famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia, by Gaudi. The students were so taken by the elaborate architecture and its grandeur. Afterward, the leaders’ surprised the students by going to the movies to see Harry Potter!

Later in the week, they went out for traditional Spanish tapas at a restaurant by the port. They also visited the Chocolate Museum where the students were able to learn about the history of chocolate and participate in a workshop. In the workshop they created their own chocolate molds. That evening, they went to a magnificent flamenco show. The students commented that they had never seen such talented dancers before. The group is excited for their next stop at the FC Barcelona stadium!

As for Spanish, the group has all rallied around an agreement to only speak Spanish on public transportation and on the walks to and from school!

Hasta luego!

-Melissa

Carolyn & David checked in to share some stories and highlights from Spain!

The leaders were really excited to report that the group has gotten into the groove of the trip and they commented that everyone is coming together and forming great friendships. The past week has been a total blast. Around Barcelona, they have explored the beach near their apartment (just a 5 minute walk!), visited Camp Nou (FC Barcelona´s stadium), gone out to a traditional Spanish restaurant for dinner, visited the small town of Sitges, shopped at La Boqueria (a famous market) and taken Salsa lessons.

Last weekend they ventured to a small town called Nuria in the Spanish Pyrenees. In order to get there they took a train from the City and then “la cremellera” (rack railway) and a gondola up to the hostel which was nestled in the mountains. The views were breathtaking and although the weather was a bit chilly, they spent most of their time outside playing games, hiking, and doing a low ropes course. There was a Spanish summer camp at the hostel and so the group was able to practice Spanish with kids their own age. It was motivating and exciting for the kids to interact with their Spanish-speaking peers!

As for food, their best group meal was probably last night when the cook crew made a delicious Mexican meal. They prepared fajitas with the options of rice, beans, grilled chicken, grilled veggies, guacamole, salsa, cheese and mangos. They ate until their bellies hurt, but it was worth it!

Their upcoming plans for exploration include the zoo, Park Ciutadella, and visits to both the Chocolate Museum as well as Picasso’s museum in “el barrio gótico” (gothic neighborhood)! They are also very excited for their weekend trip to Cadaques.

Hasta luego!

-Melissa

I checked in with Carolyn & David to see how their week is going in Spain!

During their first full day, the group decided to take advantage of Barcelona’s beautiful architecture as they visited Parc Guell, Gaudi’s famous park. At the park, they took in the breathtaking views of Barcelona while experiencing unique architecture unlike anything many of them had seen before. The group was also excited to learn that the park was the setting of where the movie Cheetah Girls 2 was filmed as well as an episode of the show America’s Next Top Model. To top off the day, they stumbled upon two Russian dancers that taught them some new dance moves for the runway. Watch out America’s Next Top Model!

After one week of classes, there have been glowing reviews of the school from the group. So far, the students are pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable Spanish class can be! The leaders are so impressed with the group already taking an initiative to speak Spanish outside of the classroom.

A highlight of their Barcelona exploration this week was a stroll down the famous La Rambla where they got to watch street performers and check out local vendors. They also went to a cooking demonstration of the traditional Spanish dish, paella. Paella is a rice dish that comes in several variations such as seafood, chicken, and vegetarian. We tasted traditional Spanish tapas (including pan con tomate, a few types of jamon, manchenga cheese, olives, patatas bravas) and watched a Spanish chef prepare the paella. The entire group agreed that the paella was delicious– even students who had never tried traditional Spanish food before.

Cook crew has also done a great job of preparing dinner for the group. They’ve had everything from paella to pizza to grilled cheese & tomato soup! Each night, they have also enjoyed a have a yummy fruit salad as well as a fresh garden salad.  They are off to a great start and cannot wait for the Pyrenees this weekend!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos from David & Carolyn yet. If any come in, I will post them here! Also, once they return from Europe, we’ll upload their photos onto the Overland SmugMug site!

More news to come from sunny Spain!

-Melissa

I spoke with Emilio and Simone to get the latest from their group!

They had plans to hit the beach early this week, but it was a bit cloudy so the group decided to head to Parc Guell instead. It is quite a hike up to the park, so it was nice to go on a cool day. The group explored the park and marveled over the views from the hill. Still a little jet-lagged from the flights on Sunday, in the late afternoon the group played catch phrase and watched a movie in Spanish the apartment!

The cook crews have prepared awesome meals so far! A highlight was lemon chicken, risotto and bruschetta for dinner. The crew got really into the meal and ended up using 2 kitchens in the apartment to cook all the food and the group loved it!

On Tuesday, we had a Salsa dance class and Yulia, the instructor, was great! She showed them different types of salsa, including different styles from Cuba and Los Angeles. She taught the basic steps and how to keep to the music’s rhythm. The kids practiced in pairs. After being in the dance studio for an hour, they went to the beach to cool off. It was a really windy day, but the kids nevertheless had a great time with their first swim in the Mediterranean.

Later in the week, one of their first Barcelona city visits was to the 1992 Olympic Pool to go swimming there. The pool is situated on top of a mountain and had awesome views of Barcelona!

So far, the group is really taking an awesome initiative to learn Spanish. While at school, they’re challenged to only speak Spanish — even during breaks. The group has also committed to Spanish-only on the metro to get as much practice as possible!

The group is psyched to head to Cadaques this weekend for some sun & sand on the coast!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos from Simone & Emilio yet. If any come in, I will post them here! Also, once they return from Europe, we’ll upload their photos onto the Overland SmugMug site!

More news to come from sunny Spain!

-Melissa

¡Hola a todos!

Carla & Tom passed along some news from another amazing week in Spain. Prior to the third week in Barcelona, they headed out to explore another city – Madrid.  Everyone was impressed by the beauty of the city. Highlights included catching a free outdoor concert at the Palacio Real, spending the evening in Plaza Mayor, where two or three students participated in a street-comedian´s act and where they had a special outdoor dessert circle of gelato, conducted in Spanish(!) in the middle of the Plaza. They spent at least 2 hours in the Prado museum exploring classic works of art and ate lunch in the park followed by paddle boat rides on the lake. In three boats, they raced across the lake—but wouldn’t tell us who won!

Upon returning to Barcelona, the group learned to dance Salsa de Cuba, de Nueva York, y de Los Angeles. Before they got there, one student suggested that the group should all decide together that they wouldn’t be too embarrassed to dance. Everyone was really into it!

They also chose a great day this past week to visit Sitges for some sun and sand. It just so happened that they had run into the European Explorer groups’ cooking crew the night before in the grocery store, and found out they were heading to Sitges that day as well! They all met up on the beach, striking up conversations between groups. Later in the afternoon, they decided to hold a massive 12-on-12 volleyball match, LES 4B vs. EX, rally score to 21. After a back and forth match up, EX came away with the victory by a small margin. After exchanging high-fives, they all circled up for an epic match of Ninja, which came down to two students, one from each group. Again, EX came out victorious, but a great time was had by all. They lingered at the beach into the late hours of the day (it stays light until 8 or 9pm there!).

This week, they have also visited the MACBA (Museu d´Art Contemporani de Barcelona), which was a high for many students–in fact, instead of writing in the journal that evening, the journal crew chose to draw a series of abstract figures representing the highlights of the day.

The group finally experienced their first gray, overcast day, and the students suggested a Spanish movie day at home. The leaders thought this was a great idea, but decided it would be fun to play a little trick on everyone. Carla and Tom told the group they were actually going to walk around the Gothic district and visit more churches. They gathered everyone to get ready to go, and then sprung it on them that the whole thing was a joke and that they were actually staying home to watch movies in Spanish. They loved it–almost everyone cited the afternoon, and the prank that had accompanied it, as a high for the day

See below for a great picture of the group in Sitges!

-Melissa

I recently heard from Ari & Michele and they passed along some news from their adventures in Spain!

Last weekend, the group hopped on their bus to La Seu d’Urgell, the gateway to Andorra. They explored the small town, went down to the riverwalk, and had a blast playing Jedi Juice on the grass until it was time to return to the hotel for dinner. Last Saturday, they arose bright and early to catch a bus to Andorra for a morning hike.  The hike wound up being much more strenuous than they were expecting, but they were rewarded with breathtaking views of Andorra La Vella and Escaldes-Engordany and the incredible mountains surrounding those towns. After lunch on the trail, we descended once more for a couple of hours of shopping in Andorra La Vella, which pleased many members of our group. The group was excited to be able to say that they’ve “hiked the Pyrenees” and to add a new and rare country to the list of places they’ve been!

Back in Barcelona, the group enjoyed a sunny picnic lunch in Parc de la Ciutadella, and then went to check out Museu Picasso. The cohort of museum-lovers in the group adored this museum – it is still the highlight of the trip for some of them! They also strolled around El Born, the quaint and trendy area of the city in which the museum is located, before stumbling upon the historic Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar, where they sat to rest and admire the architecture for a few minutes. Upon leaving the Basílica, they stumbled upon an amazing band of musicians from Italy playing in the street, and wound up staying and watching for over an hour (high of the day for many), until it was time for our noche de tapas y flamenco! The flamenco show was awesome.

They enjoyed another picnic lunch in the Jardinets de Gràcia, located literally in the middle of the historic Passeig de Gràcia. They also toured Casa Batlló, one of the most famous and (arguably) most beautiful Gaudí houses. Everyone agreed that the handheld audioguides that they gave us were comically verbose and boring, but all the kids thought the house was incredibly cool. Then, they walked down Passeig de Grácia to take a peek in El Corte Inglés, Spain’s largest department store, which occupies a full city block and sells everything from groceries to handbags to washing machines to violins to trips around the world. It was getting late, so they only spent 15 minutes walking around, but Michele and Ari promised the group that they would return to shop…

As for meals, there have definitely been some favorites in the past week. The kids loved Tapas night; a cook crew made an amazing sesame teriyaki salmon/chicken/tofu dinner with fried rice that everyone raved about; another cooking crew made a Spanish meal of tortilla de patatas (tortilla española), patatas bravas, croquetas de pollo y jamón, and salad, complete with flan for Dessert Circle (or rather, “Círculo de Postre”!) The two tortilla-making teams had a competition to see who could make the best tortilla, and both team’s creations turned out deliciously, although flipping a Spanish tortilla proved to be much more of a challenge than expected.  We all won in the end, eating delicious tortillas!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a photo from Michele & Ari this week, but when they return to Williamstown, we’ll post all of their pictures on our SmugMug site!

-Melissa

I just got an update from Ari & Michele, and their group has had an incredible week in Barcelona!

Over the weekend, they got out of the city and boarded the bus to Tossa del Mar, a beautiful coastal town.  The group accommodations were just a block from the beach which, of course, is where they spent most of the weekend. It also turned out that they overlapped with Tossa’s Festa Major (it is very common for towns in Spain/Catalunya to have an annual town-wide celebration). So, they got to end the day watching an amazing fireworks show over the beautiful 1000 year old Old Town of Tossa (which looks basically like a castle on the hill overlooking the water), and then had Dessert Circle on the beach!

On Saturday, they visited the “Old City” and climbed up to a lighthouse museum, and reported that despite the long walk, it was “incredibly cool.” That evening, they hit the town in their finest dinner attire as a break from cooking! To conclude their coastal exploration on Sunday morning, they took a private boat ride through the caves along the beach.

Upon their return to the city, they began another week of exploration in Barcelona! Their first meal back at the apartments was “breakfast for dinner” – a huge hit! A definite highlight of the week was their Salsa class, where everyone learned “el mambo,” el lateral, el diagonal, las giras (twirls) and other salsa moves. They also discovered the teleférico (cable car) to Montjuïc. They were rewarded after a long day of walking with fantastic views over the harbor.

Later in the week, the group had an extended Dessert Circle, during which everyone shared something they were really proud of from the first week. Several students were proud of the Spanish they had learned, and many of them stated that a goal was to speak up more at dinner (always in Spanish!) and try to use it more in everyday conversation. While they enjoy Spanish conversation at every dinner and in the morning walk to school, the group has done other engaging Spanish language activities as well.  One that the kids especially enjoyed was splitting up into teams to see which team could label the most things in the kitchen.  Many of the students thought “outside the box,” and both leaders ended up covered in post-it notes by the end of the game. The winning team got to pick tomorrow´s dessert for Dessert Circle! (Chocolate fondue but shhhh the others don´t know it yet!)

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos from LES 4wA this week. Once Ari & Michele return to Williamstown, though, we’ll upload their photos onto the Overland SmugMug site!

Hasta la proxima!

-Melissa