Seventeen students participated in the General Education Summer Abroad program, a total immersion experience, staying with Spanish families in Valencia, Spain. They studied Spanish with Dr. Lily Anne Goetz, History with Dr. William Holliday, and Theater with Dr. Eugene Muto during the program.

The other students in the group worked with teachers at the British K-12 bilingual school, Caxton College, in Valencia, Spain, where they assisted with all of the duties of their host teachers, including planning and teaching lessons to small and large groups. These Practicum II students were supervised by Dr. Lily Anne Goetz.

 

Valencia

The historical and cultural treasures of the seaside city of Valencia served as the backdrop for the many activities in which the students participated. Valencia is a beautiful city filled with parks and fountains, and convenient to nearby beaches.

 

One of the first activities for the group after their arrival was Tapas Night at a restaurant in the historic center of town; the students sampled various typical dishes, including Spain's famous Tortilla de Patata (a kind of potato-egg fritatta), croquetas, Patatas Bravas ("fierce potatoes"), sausages, pescaditos fritos (small fried fishes), and other snacks.

 

Once a river, The Turia, has been converted to parks, gardens, and sports fields, and is home to the futuristic Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias complex of museums

 

Classes

Language learning activities included a Scavenger Hunt in the Central Market; students had to identify the typical products and ask vendors for specific information about them. They found such exotic items as monkfish, octopus, saffron, rabbit, blood sausage, Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, and Susus, a Valencian pastry. Of course, no one in the Market speaks English, so students had to negotiate everything in Spanish. Indeed, over the course of the four weeks, students found very few people who spoke English, including their host families.

 

The students formed lasting relationships with their host families.

Students in the programs lived with Spanish families, having meals and going places with them. Before the program began, students practiced various strategies to make the most of this relationship, including planning discussion topics for meal times. This way the students were able to experience a real cultural immersion, and learned first-hand what life is like in another culture.

Living with a Spanish family also gave them invaluable opportunities to become more proficient in Spanish, since none (or very few) of them spoke English. Exploring a Spanish city on their own, and interacting with a Spanish family, sure beats spending time in the language lab and goes a lot farther in providing real practical situations in which to use Spanish!

 

Question of the Day

Students in the Spanish, History and Theater classes had to research a Question of the Day each day; these questions were related to Valencian or Spanish culture or history, and students were to ask the questions to at least 2 native Spaniards, so that they could get differing perspectives and engage in conversations with their families and Spanish friends.

 

History and Theater Activities

History students observed one of the oldest democratic traditions in Europe that takes place every Thursday at the Cathedral door: the Tribunal de las Aguas (Tribunal of the Waters). Farmers from various districts of the Valencia region come with their disputes to have a court of their peers arbitrate the usage of water and irrigation systems.

 

 

Students sampled traditional Spanish hot chocolate and churros while Dr. Holliday teaches about the history of chocolate and how it came to Spain from the Americas

 

Athens & Delphi

The General Education group made an excursion to Greece to visit Athens and Delphi as part of the History and Theater courses. In the Athenian Acropolis and Agora they learned about the origins of democracy in its birthplace while walking in the footsteps of Socrates, Pericles, and Cleisthenes. In Delphi, students gained a real understanding of the close connection between Greek theater and religion.  

 

Sagunto

Though based in Valencia, the group visited a number of sites throughout Spain. In the ancient city of Sagunto they thought about what it must have been like to experience Hannibal's seige during the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome, and had a theater lesson in a Roman theater.

 

Peñíscola

In Peñíscola the groups visited the castle of Anti-Pope Benedicto XIII, also known as Papa Luna, toured the dungeons, and the room where it is said that Papa Luna was a victim of an unsuccessful attempt upon his life, one of the many adventurous intrigues surrounding his life.

 

Granada

In Granada, the group experienced the Alhambra, the spectacular palace of the last Moorish kings in Spain (XIII-XV Centuries) as well as the home of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. They also enjoyed a flamenco show in a traditional "cave" in the hillside of Granada, with a tapas dinner.