litalanguageimmersiontrips

[litalanguageimmersiontrips]

This morning we woke up to the smell of breakfast pastries and homemade marmalade at Casona del Duende. Enrique woke up to the tune of “Happy Birthday,” or rather “Cumpleaños Feliz.” :)

We got an early start and along the way we stopped in other lovely aldeas, met our guide, Jose’s, father for some homemade, garden grown gazpacho, and ran across a river-side lending library. 

Finally we gratefully returned to our beautiful hotel in Aracena. Everyone is ready to put away their hiking shoes for the remainder of the trip. At dinner it was fun to hear all the students talking about how accomplished they felt. Also at dinner we celebrated Enrique’s 17th birthday! Though I’m sure it didn’t approach the bash he would have had at home with his family, it was sweet to see everyone doing their part to make Enrique’s day special. On our way home from dinner, we stopped for ice cream and sang happy birthday again, this time in English.

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Yesterday we began our hike! Starting in Fuenteherido we passed through Castaño de Robledo and two other aldeas of Aracena, and we arrived at Casona de Duende (the cutest hotel ever) in Alajar. 

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Last night was beautiful. All of the host families and students gathered for a last hurrah. The laughter and excitement were the perfect testament to three incredible weeks. Every student has made us proud; each has faced and grown through challenges and has shown grace and resolve. The bonds that have formed between your students and the families they have come to know and love here are heartwarming and precious. It was wonderful to watch the bittersweet moments throughout the night. 

The students each delivered a small thank you speech to their respective host family and it was clear that the gratitude and affection was mutual. Your children have made as much an impression on this town as it has made on them. They will not be forgotten in Osuna. 

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Some more photos to accompany Bonner’s post!

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Hola padres! Here are TWO posts, one from Enrique and one from Nick. Today has been nice and overcast, so a lot of the students are catching up on much needed rest. The pool shots are from our 4th of July celebration and there’s one photo from Carlotta’s práctica today.

From Nick (to whom I forgot to specify that this post need not be in Spanish...):

“El cuarto de julio es tan popular y tan importante en los Estados Unidos. Nosotros queríamos celebrarlo con nuestros amigos nuevos. Nada es más americano que un barbacoa, entonces nosotros teníamos un barbacoa es España con el espíritu americano. ¡Nosotros hablamos mucho y lo pasamos bien! Estaba un piscina al lado de la casa donde jugamos algunos juegos con un balón grande. !Nos divertimos mucho! Era un día especial y mezclamos la cultura de España y de los Estados Unidos entonces comimos comida España durante la comida y comimos hamburguesas para la cena para honor el espíritu de América. También escuchamos y cantamos canciones de España y Los Estados Unidos. Algunas personas nos enseñaron el flamenco y hablamos al lado de la piscina por horas. Y por supuesto nosotros también cantamos el himno nacional de los Estados Unidos al fin del día para celebrar nuestro país.”

The 4th of July is so popular and important in the US. We wanted to celebrate it with our new friends. Nothing is more American than a BBQ, so we had a Spanish BBQ with American spirit. We talked a lot and had a great time! There was a piscine by the house and we played a bunch of pool games and had a lot of fun! It was a special day and since we were mixing Spanish and American cultures, we had a Spanish lunch and an American hamburger dinner in honor of the American Spirit. We also listened to music from both cultures, and even sang the Star Spangled Banner and the hymn of Andalusia. Some host siblings taught some of us to dance Flamenco and Sevillano and we hung out by the pool for hours. 

From Enrique:

The entire homestay has been quite an experience for me in my personal opinion. I have learned much about myself and about the culture of this fine city, and in its entirety, a little about the country as well. At first I was very nervous about living with a family and being away from my family and friends and my fantastic group members, as well as Zac and Fritsl, which apparently is a name that is impossible to pronounce in the Spanish tongue. The night we arrived, I was rather exhausted, but my family took me in as one of their own. I truly feel my Spanish blossoming as the other day I had had a dream that was entirely in Spanish. The next day I had gone to the camp for the young children with a group member, Zach. The camp was very fun and the monitors of the group were very welcoming and brought the both of us into the camp with open arms and "dos besos." That night I had gotten much closer with my host brother as he had introduced me to his friend group, and at first they did not accept the fact that I was not from Spain as I have the same skin color as they. This made me feel very welcomed and enthralled to be a part of this fantastic homestay venture. The following day, which was then the Fourth of July, our entire Lita Group had a party with all of our families and I had learned that I am a much different person when around other people of my age. I was told I was quite "chistoso" and also "guapo". This entire trip and hopefully this entire homestay will be one of new experiences and great memories. I am thankful for the opportunity and give nothing but thanks and love to my family back home.

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A log post from our very own Gavin Pola

1. Tell us about some of the people you've met thus far. What are they like? Did anything surprise you about them? Everyone is really nice and friendly. Some people have really interesting stories, like how Josh’s gread grandfather played Han Solo in Star Wars. Everyone is from all over the US which makes for diverse stories of where they are from. 2. If you were talking to a friend back in the US, what is the one thing you would want to tell them about? I would tell them about the laid-back style of the Spañards, the amazing people here, and, of course, the great food. 3. Complete this thought in 5 sentences: I never knew that (in) Spain… Everyone knows so much about and is so proud of their heritage. Back in the United States almost nobody knows about where you are from or how your family got to the US. But here, everyone knows not only their family history but their town’s history too. Yesterday, we went to Betanzos and interviewed the locals about the architecture of the town. I definitely thought that everyone was going to be clueless, but everyone had something different to say: from how the architecture was inspired by Versailles to how the seven columns represent the seven regions of the town. ¡Adios!