Dear families,
We have arrived! Although the trip was long, it was well worth it already. The school could not treat us nicer and the students are happy with their host students and families. Now that we have some wireless en casa, we can start blogging regularly.
On Tuesday, the students attended their first Spanish classes. Before sending them off to class, we sat down as a group and spoke about the families and their experiences. Everyone seems very happy and at home! They attended class with their host students for a few hours, as Ms. Vallas and I got to meet the teachers and tour the school. In the early afternoon, the directors welcomed us and we exchanged gifts from our respective schools. They threw us a little reception in the cafeteria, “un pincheo”, a local term for “a snack”, where the host students and Nichols’ students socialized and got to know each other better. Afterward, the students went home to eat and met up later on that evening to explore the city.
Yesterday was a very busy day; we had an excursion first to the Roman baths, where we had a guided tour about the history of the baths, which happened to be more of a place of hygeine, but a “tertulia”, or a meeting place for the Romans, constructed between the 1st and 4th centuries .
The Roman Baths
Afterwards, we went to the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) and was given a brief tour with explanations on how meetings are run. We were brought to the room where many, many matrimonies are typically conducted. Thankfully, they didn’t perform any during our tour :).
Ayuntamiento de Gijon
We then proceeded on a walking tour through the old part of the city for a couple of hours, learning about the history of the city and where everything is in relation to the sea. We then returned to the school where after chatting with the students, they returned home with their host families.
The newest statue of Gijon, erected just a few days before our arrival
Today was a regular day, minus a lecture in the morning, where the group learned about the many languages in Spain (there are 5), the dialects and their history and differences between them all. Afterwards, we checked in with the students after the talk, during recess and after school. During these meetings, we make announcements for upcoming excursions and talk about the students’ experiences with the families, etc. We share stories, teach them about the culture and go over any phrases or words they might need help expressing in Spanish.
More to come soon! Stay tuned…