Summer in Spain - Cádiz 2017

Continue to check this space for updates from The Rivers School’s Summer in Spain trip to Cádiz, Spain!

1. The first couple of days in Cadiz have been packed with activities. On Monday, students went to class for the first time where they met their classroom teacher, Javier. Then, in the afternoon, students had a walking tour of Cadiz, stopping along the way for a taste of some artesanal ice cream to help cool them off.
2. On Tuesday, the day started again at the school, where they learned about different accents amongst other things, and in the afternoon, they learned about the first Spanish Constitution, the Constitution of 1812 which was created and signed in Cadiz, then the only stronghold against the French invasion. The afternoon activity ended at the Oratorio Felipe Neri, which used to house the parliament during the French invasion. On Wednesday morning, our students got a tour of Phoenician ruins which were found in the heart of Cadiz a few years back and which prove that Cadiz is the oldest city in Europe. Later that morning, they got to meet and interact with Spanish students who attend the school where their morning classes are held.
3. In the afternoon, they continued their cultural activities by visiting Torre Tavira, the tallest house and tower in Cadiz, which houses a “camera obscura” dating back to the XVIII century. They finished their activities by visiting el Castillo de Santa Ana. Here are some pictures of their jammed-packed agenda.

• On Thursday, Rivers students met up with other Spanish students at San Felipe Neri. For the first half of the «intercambio cultural», everyone spoke in Spanish, and for the second half, in English.

• The afternoon activity had the students visit roman ruins, a theatre, in the the oldest neighborhood of Cádiz, el Pópulo, followed by a cultural scavenger hunt-team competition in which students had to ask people on the street the answers to the questions on their sheets. Here are some pictures of these activities as well of the winning team!

• On Friday, Our students attended their morning classes but at noon, a bus met us to pick us up and take us. To a small coastal town an hour away from Cadiz city, called Bolonia. There, our students visited the ruins of the Roman city Baelo Claudia, a fishing community of 2000 inhabitants which was constructed in 1 b.c. After learning all about Baelo Claudia and roman city planning, students got to spend the rest of day on Bolonia’s beach, a Spanish heritage site, which is also the closest area of Europe to Africa, a continent you can clearly see from the beach.

After a 3+ hour drive, we arrived in Granada just in time for lunch to taste Granada’s famous “free” tapas. Then, we walked the streets of la Alcaiceria towards the Capilla Real and the cathedral.

After dinner, we watched a flamenco show with plenty of dancing and singing, after which, we trekked all the way up to el mirador de San Nicolás to admire the Alhambra at night.

• Our second day in Granada was jammed packed. After waking up at 7:30 am and leaving the hotel at 8:30am, we took the bus to the Alhambra. There, we had a quick explanation of everything we were going to visit: la Alcazaba, el Generalife y los Palacios Nazaríes.
• First, taking advantage of the “cool” 80 degree weather, we headed towards the Alcazaba and Generalife:

• Then, we stopped at the Palacio de Carlos V and the Torre de velas where we enjoyed amazing views of the city below.

• We saved the best for last: the Palacios Nazaríes, making sure we took a picture next to the room where Washington Irving wrote “Cuentos de la Alhambra”

• Of course, we couldn’t leave Granada without having another taste of its delicious tapas. Today, on the menu? Snails. Yum!

On Monday, the students resumed their morning classes at San Felipe Neri. However, this time, instead of going home to their Spanish families after classes were over, their headed over with their cultural coordinator, Antonio, to cook a paella over at foodie Cadiz.

• Once at foodie Cadiz, students began prepping for the food by washing it and cutting into small pieces. We were going to be making paella!

• After all he veggies (peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic), meat (chicken) and seafood (squid) were prepped, the students washed their cutting boards and started prepping the fruit for their non-alcoholic Sangria.

• At times, it was a little scary watching the students work with such big sharp knives!

• When all the prep work was done it was time to get busy with the actual cooking.

• We even got to taste some jamón con tomate

• Finally, the food was ready. By then, everyone was very hungry and ready for a taste of paella. It was so delicious, many went back for seconds (and thirds, and fourths…)

• Our Monday activities however didn’t end there. After lunch, we all had a couple of hours to digest the food and take full advantage of a siesta and we gathered back again by 6:00 pm. Thanks to Antonio, our cultural coordinator, and to Sophie Abrams ‘18 and Maddy Olton ‘18 IDS project, we met and interviewed at the casa iberoamericana Fernando Rodriguez Izquierdo, a Jewish man who is the representative of all Jewish people who live in Cadiz. It was truly an incredible experience for all.

On Tuesday, instead of meeting up at San Felipe Neri for their morning classes, they met up at a churrería called La Guapa, situated in front of the Mercado Central. They bought some churros y chocolate, and walked over to a near playground to enjoy this delicious (and extremely filling) typical Spanish breakfast item

• After having some churros, the students met up with Javi, their classroom teacher and headed over to the Mercado. There, they partnered up and interacted with clients and vendors to figures out the answers to the questions about how the typical Spaniard goes about their shopping at the Mercado.

• Following this activity, the students went back to San Felipe Neri to resume their morning class, but they met up again for their afternoon activity. Dancing flamenco!
• For this activity we met up with Antonio and our dance instructor, Virginia. Virginia was going to teach us how to dance one of the four sevillanas, a typical dance that is very common at ferias and southern gatherings.

• By the end of our lesson, there was a sevillana dance off!

• And here are your winners for the Rivers 2017 sevillanas competition

On Wednesday, we attended our morning classes. This time, however, we started the day an hour earlier because at noon, Antonio, our cultural coordinator met with us to take us to the Cadiz museum

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• In the museum, the second best in archeological displays in Spain, Antonio synthesized@ for them, using the displays, all the information that our students had been gathering in the past week and a half at the different sites visited.

• After a couple of hours in the museum, Antonio had a surprise for our students to thank them for all their hard work and dedication during our cultural visits: a free surf lesson paid for by mundolengua!

• So, after a quick lunch, and the chance to change into beach clothes, we went to la Cortadura beach to learn all about the waves.

• Hard work really pays off! It was so much fun!

• On Thursday, morning classes only lasted two hours as our afternoon activities were going to start early due to the second heat wave we are experiencing in southern Spain.
• After a brief picnic lunch by a nearby park, we took a bus to El puerto de Santa Maria. There l, we went to the local bull ring, the largest ring in Spain.

• There, we met a novillero or aspiring matador who taught us a little bit about the different spades used in bull fighting as well as some of the moves associated with this traditional Spanish art.
• After our stop at the bull ring, we headed over to the Castillo de San Marcos, a castle that dates back to the IX century a.c which had previously been a mosque and converted by Alfonso X el sabio.

• We took a catamaran from El Puerto back to Cadiz. The students got a chance to ask the passengers and crew about boat and fishing vocabulary.

• Back in Cadiz, we met up again for our “goodbye to Cadiz and mundolengua” dinner at Balandro restaurant. It’s kind of hard to think that our little adventure is almost over.

Our last day in Cadiz! We went to morning classes and towards the end of he class, Javi handed the students their certificates and their grades.

• We had a quick picnic lunch and were picked up by a chartered bus at San Felipe Neri. We were heading to Gibraltar!

• In Gibraltar, we took a bus tour of the rock and its best sights: punto Europa, las cuevas de San Miguel y Main Street. And let’s not forget about the visit to the famous Gibraltar monkeys!

• After our tour, our students got to enjoy some of the local food.

• We can’t believe it’s almost over. Tomorrow we fly back to the states. It has gone by so fast!