My youngest students at the high school are also the ones Sam and I got to go on a 13 hour fieldtrip with. We spent our day off with these little ones going to see the cave paintings in Altamira, an adorable village with buildings and streets alike made from small bricks and stones, and finally the remains of an ancient Roman city.
The crew at Altamira was really unorganized and they had us waiting around for nearly an hour with nothing to do because one of their guides had been injured by a student during hunting the previous day. Apparently 24 hours is not enough for them to find a replacement or come up with a different schedule, so they forced our group of 12 year olds to learn a bit of patience. The injured guide finally showed up and is showing the boys here how to launch that long arrow and hit the deer out on the field. It was rather entertaining to watch. Until...they started shouting "Leigh, Leigh- your turn!" I couldn't say no. Let it be known that of all of the girls in my group I was the only one who killed us some dinner- they even cheered for me. Now all I need is a prehistoric mate who can make fire and I'll be good to go.
When we came over here, I thought we were going to learn to make fire and I was SO excited. Until the man said "My wrist is hurt so I won't be teaching you fire today" and he showed us some tools instead. I think I might have been more disappointed than the kids. Especially since I'd proven myself in hunting, I was feeling fairly confident and wanted to show off my other paleolithic talents.
Here is Esther, the geography and history teacher I work with. We are in Santillana del Mar and are nearly running behind her to try and find the place that sells the best "Sobaos" in the city. Unfortunately, it was closed when we found it, but we did buy others. They are small spongey yellow cakes that taste buttery and are popular throughout Spain, but this is where they are famous. We also bought some jelly to put on top, though when we told our students about this they said "Um...no. Jelly is for toast", only in Spanish, and with more attitude. Little do they know how delicious sobao+jelly really is.
If I lived in Santillana del Mar, this would be my house. You can't have such a beautiful, ancient stone house without hanging obnoxious amounts of flowers off of your balcony.
The cathedral with its tiny bell tower. This plaza was beautiful because, like most of the rest of the town, the cobblestone streets seemed endless as they effortlessly climbed vertically creating a surrounding of buildings made of the same materials.
At our last stop, Juliobriga. The countryside was incredible for most of the bus ride. So many people travel to Ireland thinking that is the place where you can find views, well, like this. For those of you who have never considered a trip to Northern Spain: this is what it looks like. Rolling green hills flow into small rivers and lakes. Small orange-roofed houses dot the countryside as do horses and cows wearing bells.
Looking like a Kansas farmgirl out in the Spanish countryside. We were sitting here waiting for our kids who had each been prepared with 2 sandwhiches to get them through their long day. So about this time they all pulled out number 2. Wrapped in foil, on fresh baguette bread, with chicken, chorizo, and ham. There was not a pb&j in sight.
This leg was a little hard because we were so tired. Then we were made to watch a little movie, and listen to a very long tour about what life was like in ancient Roman cities. The guide was very knowledgable but she definitely loved to chat, even when she realized she had lost more than half of the group (including me). The students began coming up to me. "Leigh, it's just that she talks SO much." They started to fade and many leaned against walls, finally sitting down on the floor during her talk but I didn't even stop them. I would have done the same.
Our students were truly lovely. The bus rides were less than fun, but other than that I can't complain about them. They spoke a lot of English (though they did get to hear me in Spanish a bit), were well behaved during our tours, and showed up on time at every meeting point. We met some students from England doing a similar trip and the English kids kept shouting at mine in terrible Spanish. "No hable ingles!" one said. I turned to him and said "Well you don't speak Spanish either, because that makes no sense." That's when he used an expletive and said "Oh --- they speak English!"
For some reason, I was so very annoyed by the bratty English children who spoke loudly in English about my kids and then yelled at mine in terrible Spanish. Even the English teachers were saying rude things in front of us because they thought we couldn't understand. Just as that would happen, I'd turn and address my group in English. I hope that scared them enough to keep them from being terribly rude.
So a bit of advice for our English speaking friends. It is really unsafe to assume that no one around you can understand your derogatory comments. It is even more ignorant to then go up to the register and speak English, assuming that the people you need help from are the only ones that understand you. Ah. Needless to say, they made me love and appreciate my little Spanish loves who were excited to hear English and just wanted to go make friends with them.
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