Tag: travelling

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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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Bye For Now, Villanueva! – Janine

And… I just finished my last full day of classes! I can’t believe that this summer has gone so quickly. The last few weeks have been crazy busy for me and also pretty amazing. Tomorrow I have three more classes and then I am completely done teaching! On Saturday, I fly back to the United States for a couple more days of summer with my family and then it’s back to Oberlin College for me. It’s been hard work, but so rewarding to watch my students become better English speakers this summer! As my students have learned more English, I also have learned lots about how to plan lessons, manage a classroom, and answer questions. I also have definitely learned lots of new Spanish words, which is exciting. A huge thank you to my host family and all of my students this summer! It has been a pleasure getting to know you all!
During the break from classes at the end of July and the beginning of August, I left Villanueva to take a trip with my mom to Amsterdam. The beginning of the trip was a bit stressful. When I arrived at Atocha station, there was a taxi strike and it was a hard to find a way to the airport! Thankfully I found a 24 hour airport bus and I made my flight in time. My mom and I tried to do as much sight-seeing as possible in six days. We saw so many beautiful places, but my favorite part of the trip was going to a cat sanctuary on a boat in one of the canals, called De Poezenboot. At least 15 cats live on the boat, and people can come visit them every day and adopt them! I also enjoyed Amsterdam’s cheese and some world famous Dutch pancakes. After traveling with my mom, I also had the opportunity to stay with my good friend Emily and her family who live near Hannover, Germany. Emily was an exchange student at my high school, and I was thrilled to have the chance to see her again! Emily and I were pretty lazy, and we spent a lot of time sleeping and watching Dan & Phil videos on YouTube. I also ate a lot of delicious German bread and some fantastic cherry crepes.
When I returned to Villanueva, I was the only summer intern left in town! It was a change of pace to teach and plan classes by myself, but it was also lots of fun planning lessons. I’m thinking about becoming a teacher after college, and it was good practice to teach six classes a day. It’s been interesting teaching such a wide age range of students, from little kids to college students. I also took a short one day trip to Seville to see some of the more famous sights, such as the Plaza de España and the cathedral. Seville is an absolutely gorgeous city.
Although I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family in the United States, I am so glad I came to Villanueva this summer! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to come visit!
Good luck on your exams!
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Trip to Morocco – Kaelan

Hey everyone!

The last week was a ton of fun! We started teaching classes, and it’s been interesting getting to know the students as well as telling them about where I’m from! Last week I went out with my friends, and figured out why nobody likes Correos.

On Wednesday, I went to Morocco. I didn’t realize how far Morocco was, but it took us around 7 hours to get there! We took a ferry from Algeciras and got to stay in Tánger. Tánger is very different from Spain, and the Arabic was incredibly interesting to listen to! We went to markets, to the Atlantic Coast, as well as to the Malabata beach, which was beautiful!

The second day in Morocco we went to Ceuta. The land border at Ceuta was incredibly intense, and seemed like a prison crossing over. There were so many people! The currency is Euro versus the Moroccan Dirham, so I had to do some currency exchange while I was there.  The culture of Ceuta is very interesting, and the city is beautiful but foggy and warm!

I also went to Málaga for the first time to visit my cousin! She and her boyfriend came from London to Málaga. It was great getting to see them, relaxing on the beach with them, and just enjoying their company. I’ve never really been sunburnt, but in Málaga I definitely burned my shoulders! It’s a lesson for next time!

Stay tuned for more updates!