Category: Blog

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Life in Villanueva – Vivian

My 15-minute walk to and from the Academia each day is full of sights, smells, and moments that are unique to life in Villanueva.

My Morning Walk

Save for a handful of people out and about, the town feels quiet, still resting from last night’s festivities. In the mornings before the Spanish sun becomes uncomfortably hot, I see women of all ages getting a head-start on daily chores. Outside their doors, they clean their stoops vigorously, making conversation with each other every so often. I make a right and I see dogs walking themselves. Running aimlessly through the streets, the dogs stop for no one. Monday mornings are the best because I can smell the freshly-delivered bread that is tied to the handles of doors across the town. It makes me smile; only in Villanueva could people trust that their bread wouldn’t get stolen. 

My Evening Walk

The walk back to my house is a completely different experience. It seems as though the setting sun sends a signal to the people of Villanueva to leave their houses. Like clockwork, at 9PM every street is bubbling with laughter, music, and excitement. I love seeing people of all ages and generations sitting together at bars strategically placed at every corner. The young people come out a bit later than everyone else. If I leave work late, I’ll see groups of tan, stylish teenagers in impeccable outfits sauntering towards the center of town. The best part about my walk is this one lady who always smiles and waves at me; I don’t know her name but she makes me feel accepted and welcome.

There are a lot of things I will miss about Villanueva. I will miss the food and the quality television programs (shoutout to El Concurso del Año!). Of course, I will miss the people, too. But there’s something about walks that lets you take it all in at once. 

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A Trip to Sevilla and Cádiz – Joanne

Hey friends! Currently, I am at the Biblioteca Municipal in Villanueva chillin’ with the AC on full blast. Yee yee.

Anyways, here is a quick recap of my trip to Seville and Cadíz!

We started our trip RIGHT after we left work at 9PM; Anna’s host mom Rafi graciously offered to drive us to the train station in Pedroches. I am so glad she did because she is a FUNNY lady. Apparently, her favorite American singers are Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Go figure.

After an hour on the Renfe, we arrived in Seville! By this time it was like 11PM so we checked into our hostel and decided to call it a day. BUT, when we got to our hostel, our hostel man couldn’t get the door to open because the locks were broken or something so we waited like 30 minutes for him to try and open the door. When our hostel man finally got the door to open, we couldn’t find the remote to the air conditioner so we went back to the check in lobby (which is like two blocks away) and asked the hostel man where the remote to the AC was. He told us that we had to pay 6 euros for the air conditioning so we went all the way back to our room, grabbed 6 euros, walked back to the check in lobby, and finally got our remote to the air conditioning. Honestly, now that I’m writing this out, I think I’m making the whole ordeal a lot dramatic than it actually was. Ha.

The next day we woke up bright and early and took on Seville! Obviously, we can’t begin a day without cafe con leche so we stopped by a small restaurant and had our usual feast of bread and coffee.

From our life changing breakfast, we walked over to the Plaza de España where we spent a good chunk of our day. It was CRAZY because five minutes to us being in there we saw Anna’s high school Spanish teacher AGAIN. Like how in the world does that happen TWICE across the ATLANTIC OCEAN, GEEZ. Anyways, we continued our tourist-y adventures by taking a million photos and taking in the #culture.

It was pretty fun until it wasn’t and then we decided on investing in a 30 minute boat ride thing but in a boat we had to paddle ourselves in the center of the Plaza. It started out with Vivian and me rowing but because I have no upper body strength, I traded with Ahliaa. But don’t you fret because I still contributed to the group effort in making this boat move: I was the coxswain. This position included me blasting the “Cotton Eye Joe” and singing “My Heart Will Go On”by Celine Dion.

I think people enjoyed it because they looked over and laughed. I think one guy even took a picture. Anyways, while we were paddling down the river we saw a man and his son rowing near us. Unfortunately, we could see his buttcrack over the hem of his jeans. So, being the coxswain that I am, I used the scene as an incentive to get us back to shore. Then, I made the worker guy take a picture of me and Anna in the Titanic pose.

The boat ride left us all famished so we pulled a classic American move and went to lunch at The Hard Rock Cafe (PERSONALLY, I was craving Mac&Cheese). Anna and I pretended we were celebrating our 2-year anniversary so we could get a free desert. Luckily, we pulled it off well and got one! Only downside of that lunch was the fact that I accidentally blew out the candle before we got a photo with the gust of wind from my nose. Oops.

An anniversary celebration, fake or not, would not be complete without a photoshoot so yeah we did that (see below for our modeling talent, shoutout to Vivian and her phone for the pics).

We topped off the anniversary with a Starbucks visit. We are not ashamed.

Unfortunately, coffee couldn’t hold us over with the crazy heat wave that was going on so we took a siesta because #culture. This proved out to be a great decision because we could spend the rest of the evening exploring in cooler temperatures. We continued our shopping and site-seeing and took more anniversary photos by the water front.

I LOVE SPAIN YOU GUYS, UGH. So many pretty sites and so much Euro flair. Swoon.

We finished off the day with sushi for dinner (there is only so much croissants and tapas American girls can take) and grabbed some beers at a local bar. Since coming to Spain, I have found myself very fond of Radlers and hard ciders. An extra bonus to this all is that they tend to have a lower alcohol content which is GREAT for somebody who is allergic to alcohol like me. If you’re ever looking for a little night cap, I highly recommend Ladrón de Manzanas– it’ll help you go to sleep REAL quick. Or maybe that’s just me because alcohol tolerance doesn’t exist for me.

On Sunday, we grabbed a train out of Sevilla and headed down to Cadíz for a beach day. Honestly, it was a little cloudy and cold when we got there but it wasn’t anything a café con leche couldn’t fix! While we were waiting for our breakfast at a cafe in the plaza, a random man just CAME UP near our table and started to SING. And it wasn’t great singing. It was like half chant, half song and it honestly startled me. Another guy not too far away from us screamed “SHUT UP!” After about three minutes of sitting in discomfort, he started asking us for money but I pulled a “Sorry, we don’t speak Spanish” out real quick and he walked away.

It was still cloudy by the time we finished breakfast so we split into pairs and explored the town a bit. Anna and I went on a walk and ended up at the waterfront and cathedral. We walked some more and find ourselves at Burger King because that was the only place I could find iced coffee to go and WiFi. If you couldn’t tell, I kind of sort of have an unhealthy relationship with caffeine. But also, Anna and I saw a very cute potted palm tree out of our window at Burger King.

The sun came out around 2PM so we all headed towards a mini-mart for our European picnic lunch at the beach. We split some bread, cheese, prosciutto, fruit, and wine and napped, swam, and lounged around. Unfortunately, this was the day I got VERY sunburnt. However, I was able to be distracted by the pain of it all by the story of a man Vivian and Ahliaa saw who apparently YEETED HIMSELF OFF THE CLIFF IN CADÍZ. SPANIARDS ARE WILD, BRO.

Sun burnt yet happy, we all trekked back to the train station to catch the train back to Sevilla and another train from Sevilla to Villaneuva. We almost missed the train back to Villanueva because we messed up and stayed in a 15 minute line for McDonalds.

BUT ALAS, we made it to Villanueva. Señora Rafi was waiting for us at the train station, so cute. As soon as we walked towards the parking lot. she abruptly stopped and was like “wait, let’s take a picture.” Hahaha, so we took a picture in the parking lot of Los Pedroches.

Unfortunately, we have come to the end of the story of this great trip. BUT DON’T YOU FRET! I have two more blog posts coming your way. GET HYPE!

Still peeling off the dead skin,

Joanne aka JUANI

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We Went to Córdoba! – Joanne

¡Hola, amigos! The title says it all: WE WENT TO CORDOBA! Man oh man, what a great day trip.

We began the day a little earlier than usual with a bus ride at 7:45AM to the train station in Pedroches.

From there, we took a 20 minute train ride to Córdoba where the fiesta beGAN. When we walked out of the train station, I felt so ALIVE. Even in the early morning, everybody was hustlin’ and bustlin’ in their own ways and I just LOVED the energy. I was also very excited to see the familiar sites of Burger King and Starbucks (you BET I got some Starbucks, woo)!

Before our Córdoba tourist adventures could begin, we decided to grab some grub at a local cafe not too far from the Judería (Jewish Quarters).

I would just like to say: everything in Spain is so yummy. For example, I had a croissant with ham and cheese and it was the best croissant with ham and cheese I ever had in my life. And of course, our breakfast staple, a round of café con leche. Now, THIS is something I will be adding to my diet in America.

From breakfast, we walked towards the Judería where we explored some of the local gift shops and started a day taking loooooots of pictures. 

We also explored the Synagogue a little bit since our supervisor, Lucy, told us that it was one of the three original synagogues remaining in Spain. Honestly, it was a little funny to see because it was like an 8 by 8 room with like nothing in it except a few artifacts and some Hebrew writing on the stone wall. But it was 0.30 Euros for #culture. So 0.30 Euros well spent!

From the Judería, we ventured towards the Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs. While we were in line for our tickets, my friend Anna saw a group of high schoolers from her hometown. Little did we know that we could run into her HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH TEACHER while exploring the medieval fortress! It truly is a small world. Anyways, the Alcazar was BEAUTIFUL, holy moly:

We spent a good solid hour here before heading off to the Mezquita; but before we walked over we HAD to grab some tapas and sangria for the #culture. We were STOKED about the sangria.

Our last touristy-adventure was to the Mezquita! That was also very cool and we nerded out and spent an hour and half exploring the Mosque-Cathedral.

After the Mezquita we were SUPPOSED to go to Goiko Grill, a famous burger place in Córdoba, but they were closed until 8PM and if we had gone, we wouldn’t have been able to catch our train SO WE MADE THE BEST DECISION EVER AND WENT TO A PLACE CALLED “Breakfast Club & Co.”

Throughout this entire trip, I’ve been craving two things: salads and burgers. ON THAT DAY, I HAD THE BEST BURGER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND I WAS A VERY HAPPY GIRL. We ended up talking with the owner for a little bit and we found out he used to live in Chicago and New York City. We love America.

Post-happy lunch, my friends and I walked around and explored the city a little bit more.

We popped into this one store called “Natura” and wow, everything was very pretty and very eco-friendly. 10/10 recommend. I ended up purchasing a cute pair of earbuds with zero-waste packaging. AND the bag that they gave it to me in had instructions on how to HULA DANCE. HOW COOL IS THAT. IT’S SO FUNNY. 

Our day came to a blissful end at a park 5 minutes away from the train station. We grabbed frozen lemonades and hung out around a playground. I think we low-key scared the Spanish children but we had fun!

Man oh man, I loved this trip. I got to bond with the homies and immerse myself in #culture and drink iced coffee. Swooooon. 

This weekend, we’ll be going to Seville for our next adventure. GET HYPE!

‘Till then,

Joanne aka Juani

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Half-Way Done! – Anna

Half-Way Done!

I have now spent over a month living and working in Villanueva and it’s amazing how quickly the time is going by. In our spare time during the weekend, the other interns and I have been traveling a lot. Since my last blog post, we have been to Sevilla, Cádiz, Málaga, and Ronda. In Sevilla we visited many beautiful monuments. We walked to the Plaza de España and rowed around the canal in a rowboat. I even saw my high school Spanish teacher again! What a coincidence. We also visited the Torre del Oro and the cathedral and went shopping. I bought a pair of pink pants and a pair of yellow shorts from Zara. I also bought a pink sparkly fan which I love.

 In both Cádiz and Málaga we spent a lot of time on the beach. I was very happy because there weren’t any jellyfish. In Cádiz I didn’t put on enough sunscreen and I got very sunburnt. But I learned my lesson and the next week in Málaga I made sure to put lots on to protect my skin. In Málaga I was able to see my aunt and my cousin who are living there for the summer. It was so nice to see my family and to enjoy a nice relaxing day on the beach. The waves were perfect and I had a lot of fun jumping in the water and they rolled to the shore. 

In Villanueva I have been eating lots of tomatoes! My family eats them with every single meal along with bread. I’ve never eaten so many tomatoes in my life. When I was a kid, I really didn’t like tomatoes, but as I’ve grown older I’ve started to like them more and more. And after how many I have eaten so far this summer, I like them more than ever.

Until next time!

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Blog Post #2 – Ahliaa

Hello again!

It has been a whole month since I have started living in Spain and I have learned a lot. There are many different customs that I have become accustomed to, such as the siesta. I’ve also tried many different foods and met many friendly people in town.  I now know that Churros and chocolate is a great way to start the morning, while tapas and a Radler is a great way to end the night. 

We have started teaching classes at the Academia and I think they are going well. There are many classes to teach therefore the other interns and I have assigned each other classes. All of the students are a lot of fun. The class of 5 and 6 year-olds is the hardest! Most of the older students are studying for the Trinity or Cambridge Exam, so it is important for them to practice reading, writing, listening, and discussing. We make the students practice different skills by creating new and engaging lessons everyday. 

When I’m not teaching in the Academia, then I am traveling somewhere new in Spain. So far, I have seen Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, and a beach in Malaga. This weekend I will be going to Ronda and then Portugal after that! I have many pictures from all of these trips. I need to organize all of these photos! I buy a magnet from each city as a souvenir from the trip. I need to buy gifts for my family. I want them to have a little piece of Spain. 

That’s the end of my little update! Talk to you soon!

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Week One is Done! – Anna

I arrived here in Villanueva exactly a week ago and the time has flown by! Since being here I have been speaking so much Spanish and meeting lots of people. Yesterday I was invited to my host brother’s girlfriends’s house in the country for lunch and swimming. When I got there I realized it was more of a party than a lunch. I was overwhelmed at first but it ended up being really fun. We ate tortilla española with spinach and pasta and lounged by the pool. It was hot outside and the pool felt so good!  Later on that day I tried caracoles for the first time and they were pretty good! Although they may be a bit of an acquired taste they are really fun to eat! My host mom told me that they’re best while they’re hot so you have to eat them really fast. Everyone here seems to love them. I also saw the procession of Corpus Christi with my host mom, Rafi, and her friends. I really enjoyed listening to the band that was playing. It was a lovely way to end the day!

Outside of Villanueva, I went to Córdoba on Saturday with the other interns. My favorite part was the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. It only cost 2.50 euros to get in with my international student card and from the top you could see most of Córdoba. I really liked how the gardens were full of bushes shaped like pottery and castles. When we were standing in line to get into the Alcazar, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt from my high school and then Vivian, one of the other interns, yelled “Colorado” to get there attention. Turns out, a tour group from my high school was in Spain for their Spanish class! I even saw Sra. Bouchta, my old Spanish teacher from high school. I gave her a big hug and we talked for a little while. It was such a coincidence! After the Alcazar, we went to the Mezquita and I spent an hour and a half walking around and looking at all the tiny details in the architecture. It was the second time I had visited the Mezquita and it was even more beautiful than I remember.

After spending a week here, I am looking forward to starting teaching classes next week and to continue practicing my Spanish. I feel so excited and grateful to be here and I can already tell that this time is going to go by really fast! 

¡Hasta luego!

Anna

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Blog Post #1 – Vivian

Hello from the sunny Villanueva de Córdoba! I am happy to be falling into a routine after a rough start in Madrid.

Spending the summer in Spain didn’t become real to me until I touched down in the Barajas airport, and all I can say is that it was a bumpy start. From Barajas, I accidentally took the train to Chamartín instead of Atocha. I then jumped on a different line that was supposed to take me to Atocha and sadly watched as the train passed the station and made its way to Perla instead. Unaccustomed to how the train system works, I spent a whopping two hours riding a total of four lines until I finally arrived at the correct station.

When I finally made it to Atocha — sleep-deprived and sweat-soaked —  I, for reasons unknown, thought it would be a good idea to accept and eat candy given to me by a total stranger. In retrospect, I realize how dangerous and silly that was, and thankfully, nothing happened to me. (Caution: please do not ever accept candy from a stranger!)

From Atocha, the trip to Pedroches was a quick two hours, and I have been in Villanueva now for a little more than one week.

I’ve had a few chances to explore the local food, and I have fallen in love with the seafood dishes, such as the ensaladilla from La Dulce and the paella that my host mother made. If I had to choose, I would say that my favorite meal so far has been the escargot dish from El Ruedo. I haven’t stopped talking about those snails!

The snails from El Ruedo come in a flavorful and savory tomato-based sauce. I enjoyed eating this dish with bread and left my bowl spotless. I also tried snails served in a spicy, herbal broth from a nearby bar. It was equally as delicious. It reminded me of babbouche, a Moroccan street food that features snails in a thyme, liquorice, mint, chili, and tea-laden broth.

Reflecting on my first full week, I am excited for the weeks to come and not just because of the food. The students at the academy are great, and I have really enjoyed sitting in on the different classes. Spaniards have a great sense of humor! I am also looking forward to exploring and traveling. For instance, this weekend, I will go to Granada for a day-trip/jamón competition.

Until next time,

Vivian

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Getting Started – Ahliaa

Hello Everyone!

I have only been in Spain for a couple of days now and I have already done a lot of new and exciting things! Just in my first day, I made it through the airport and train station without getting lost, rode a super fast train from Atocha station to Pedroches, and got to see the parade for the last day of Romería. My second day was full of observing classes at Academia Manhattan, eating at some of the local cafes and restaurants, and seeing new parts of the city.

Villanueva de Córdoba is beautiful! From the roof of my host family’s home, I can see the whole pueblo. It is even more beautiful during the sunset! My host parents, Sebastian and Anna, are super friendly and really funny. They showed me some of the best places around and always make sure that I’m not hungry. They have been helping me improve my Spanish speaking skills by having long conversations with me and encouraging me to say full sentences (rather than just “Sí”). They let me take my time and stop me from using Google Translate. Once they understand what I am trying to say, they correct any grammar or conjugation mistakes. Through all of this, I’m sure my speaking and listening skills are going to improve greatly!

Sebastian and Anna also run a little clothing store and they seem to know everyone who walks in! I think it is nice that everyone in town knows one another and are super friendly. Hopefully I can also meet more of the residents (especially when I start teaching some classes).

One thing that I have noticed is how late dinner can be. Last night, I ate dinner at 10:00 pm (22:00), but in America, dinner is usually at 6:00 pm (18:00). Even though there is a four hour difference, I don’t get too hungry since the meal sizes for lunch are very large. It also helps that everything is delicious! The siesta is also a new experience that I have to get used to. I love the idea of a midday nap, especially if it means cooling down when it is way too hot, but having all of the shops close down can be difficult. Hopefully I will learn to work around that since I have an entire summer left to go!

I can’t wait for the many new things I will get to try while I am here and am especially ready to start exploring Spain!

Ahliaa

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Blog Post # 1 – Joanne

Gooooood afternoon, friends! Joanne, here, from SPAIN (woot woot)!

After a stressful day of spending an entire day at the airport, getting lost in Atocha station, and almost missing my train to Pedroches, I am HERE. It is currently June 7th, my third day here in Villanueva and so far I am having the time of my flippin’ life.

Villanueva de Córdoba is a very small city with approximately 8,774 people; it is adorned by beautiful architecture which I have had the pleasure of looking at on my way to the Academia. Caty, my host mother, is a very sweet and caring lady and has been showing me around the pueblo. From what I have noticed, everyone is very kind and greets each other with two cheek kisses (~so euro~). SPEAKING OF MY HOST FAMILY, everyone is so nice and funny! Because they speak a very limited amount of English (and my Spanish is… improving) our communication oscillates between hand gestures and Google Translate. It is a fantastic system.

My host family also has a dog, PEPITO! He is very cute and I have been playing with him regularly. He is a very charismatic pup and is fond of belly rubs. I like him a lot.

After spending the first day catching up on some sleep, I had my first day at the Academia. Lucy, my supervisor, gave me a tour of the place and we reviewed the summer schedule together. Because of the Trinity Exams that are taking place today and the “feria chica” happening this weekend, there isn’t a lot of work to do yet. However, today I helped with the review session for students taking the B2 exam by working on the conversation section with them. I was very impressed by their fluency and how well they discussed the social dilemmas of Spain in English.

After the review session, my new friend Vivian and I walked around the town and checked out a small cafe called Churreria El Lagarto (lol, lizard). And let me tell you, this cafe has THE BEST café de leche I have ever had. After catching up with Vivian and doing some work, it was time for lunch and the siesta and I walked back home where Caty was waiting for me with huevos y patatas. Again, we communicated using hand gestures and GoogleTranslate. It is still very funny.

In the middle of lunch, my host brother Fernando and his friends walked in and I got to meet them all for the first time! But it was slightly awkward because I didn’t know that boys in Spain did the cheek kiss greeting to girls so when they all leaned in I was like, “Oh! Uhhhh, hola…. *kiss kiss*” Yeahhhh, awkward. But, noted! (Just confirmed with Lucy, it is common for everybody to do the cheek-kiss thing regardless of gender/sexuality).

Now, I am here back at the Academia to do some work before I meet with the examiner to go over what students need the most improvement on and what parts of the exam went well. Then, I will be working alongside Lucy by assisting a C1 class (the most advanced). Yay!

Thanks for reading, friends!

Hasta pronto,

Joanne

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Differences between the United States and Spain – Elizabeth

Hello Academia Manhattan! I have been in Spain for almost a year now, and I’ve noticed a lot of cultural differences between Spain and my home in the U.S.  For example, people here eat meat more often than at home, or at least within my family in the United States. My mother is vegetarian, and I have noticed that in Spain it is less common to be a vegetarian or vegan. I haven’t eaten very many vegetables here compared to in the U.S.  People also use olive oil much more here than in the U.S.! Speaking of food, people in Spain seem to go to bars more often than in the U.S. I’ve seen children’s birthday parties hosted at bars, which would never happen in the United States! In the United States, people under the legal drinking age, 21, are not even allowed inside bars. Here, anyone can spend time in a bar. I’ve also seen Spanish people drink a beer or wine with both lunch and dinner. In contrast, in the United States people usually only drink alcohol with dinner or after dinner, and generally don’t drink it as often, unless they are at an event, party, or some kind of celebration. Spaniards attitudes seem to be more relaxed about alcohol.

In terms of cities and towns, in Spain they are distinct. Many cities here have old neighborhoods that date back centuries and are still more or less the same as when they were built (with modern renovations of course). But there are also archeological remains right in the middle of the city, like the aqueduct of Segovia and the Mezquita in Córdoba.  In the United States, not many cities have these old neighborhoods, and everything is relatively new. Our oldest areas are only a few hundred years old, which in comparison with Spain, is basically new. Many of the towns or villages I have seen in Spain are built clustered together, with most people living within the town limits and in houses that are built right next to each other. There are patios, but few gardens or backyards. In the United States, towns are built more spaced out. It is harder to see where the town ends, whereas in Spain the buildings are built where the town suddenly becomes the country, and there are few buildings outside of it. In my town (Essex, Vermont) we have a town center where all of the shops and public buildings are built, but they are not near peoples houses. We have neighborhoods that are outside the center where there are only houses, and everyone has a backyard or garden. I live on a road that leads to the town center, but more in the country where I have a big backyard, or garden.  There is nothing but other houses and nature around me. That also exists in Spain, but it seems to be less popular to live so far from the town center.

I think the living standards are more or less the same in both countries. I have noticed that apartments and some houses and generally smaller here than in the U.S., but both countries have air conditioning, dishwashers, and that kind of technology.  I didn’t find it very hard to adjust to Spain in that respect. Although there tends to be more noise, especially in cities like Córdoba, compared to the U.S. People spend more time in the street and stay out later in Spain, so you hear people talking or the sounds from bars and restaurants more in Spain than in the U.S.  People are generally expected to be quiet past 10pm (22:00) in the U.S., and neighbors will get mad if people are making a lot of noise outside. Here in Spain I have heard people setting off fireworks at 8am in the streets of Córdoba on a Sunday, but people don’t seem to complain about it or talk to the police about it, whereas people in the U.S. would be more likely to complain.