Photos from the mountains

Robert has posted lots of photos from the trip to the mountains!  

Post-mountains

Just a note to say we made it back to Oviedo and the students are with their families now.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Best I have seen on this excursion yet!  I am sure Robert will be posting photos this weekend sometime but here are a couple of mine to tide you over.  

Misc stories

I forgot a couple of things yesterday!  First is a funny story about Nick!  Before we let the students off the bus in Oviedo to meet the host families we were going through a few things with them.  We asked if they had any more questions and Nick raised his hand and very seriously said:  ¿Qué día es hoy?  which means 'What day is it today?'.  Giselle and I were laughing about this again last night.  First, we had to think about the answer.  Second, it is a simple example of how difficult that much travel and lack of sleep can be.  I found it funny, too, because it is such a common phrase that is used in a first-year Spanish class.  It sounded so elementary but we knew he was dead-serious!

Secondly, the students had sports on Wednesday.  Many kids played soccer out in front of the school on a soccer field.  And some stayed in the gym to do Zumba!  One of the school custodians watched the soccer for a bit and was very complimentary on how good the students are at the game.  He couldn't believe their level of play.  Yesterday, a professor from the school came to the instructor's table at lunch to say the same thing only he was specifically complimenting the girls!  He wanted to sign them up for a team in Spain!  He pointed out Shelby, Anna S. and one other girl (I don't know which one!).  Hopefully Robert has some photos of this that might get posted sometime this weekend!

Lucky us (extremely lucky) that today is perfectly sunny for our trip to the mountains because Saturday it is supposed to rain all day!

First week of classes

Today we finished with our first week of classes.  It seems like the students are getting accustomed to the pace of the classes and what is expected of them!  They have been asking tons of questions.  Today we continued working on a mix of talents the students will do in front of the parents for the farewell program.  We have been begging them to be patient with the creative process of trying to decide what is best!  We also began practicing the Hymn of Asturias which the students will perform for the final program.  It always brings the host mothers to tears!  We also started the phonetics class today!  This is a new topic for the students.  Some were a bit overwhelmed at first, but I know they want to learn the correct pronunciation to not sound so 'American'.

Tomorrow we have our first excursion to the Picos de Europa to see beautiful lakes left by glaciers if the weather permits, Covadonga (the site considered the origin of the Reconquista), and Cangas de Onis (the town where the Battle of Covadonga was planned).  I told the students today that there is a fountain in Covadonga with a legend that says if someone who is single drinks out of all 7 spigots with out breathing, they will be married with in a year!  None of them seemed to interested in that.

Don't forget to check Robert's site (link is both above and below!).  He has uploaded more pictures and at least one video that I saw.

Here is a picture of everyone from our rainy tour around Oviedo earlier in the week.  We are in front of the main cathedral in Oviedo.

First day of actual classes!

Today was the first of a somewhat normal day.  We took a tour of the 'Casco Antiguo' in Oviedo with the students.  The casco antiguo just means the old part of town. It began to rain while we were walking!  I think the students are becoming accustomed to the weather.  Rain, sun, rain, sun, clouds, sun, fog, rain, sun, humidity.  We have our fingers crossed for our first excursion to the mountains on Friday.      We had short classes to introduce our classes and give some homework :).  In the afternoon, we began preparations for the farewell show for the host families.  Below are two photos.  The first is of the host family orientation.  To see more photos, go to Robert's photo site:  http://robertpbaxter.smugmug.com/IUHPFLArchive/Oviedo-2012  I will put this site up on the page blog site somehow so it is easier to access.  Unfortunately, we don't have photos of each student with his or her family.  We won't see the families again for a while so we won't be able get photos for you!  In this photo, the students are sitting with their host families!  

Today was a long day!  The students were troopers, though.  We met at school around 10:30.  They took an exam so that we can mark their progress over the course of the summer.  Then we played a team-building game outside.  It started to rain, we almost gave up and then the sun came out so we finished.  We ate lunch together in the 'comedor' and we have new cooks this year.  At first, the instructors were disappointed because we liked the ones we had last year but the new ones are just at nice and the food is 10 times better!!!!!!

We had a small orientation with the students which was similar to what they heard in Bloomington.  We did some other administrative things like make sure they have the names and addresses of the school, their families, our cells, even the Bloomington office on a card that they carry with them at all times.  We gave them some free time to explore Oviedo and then we met back at the school at 7 for an orientation with the host families!  It was great to see the host families again since we didn't get to have much time to talk to them when they picked up the students.  They seem to be enchanted with your kiddos!

Robert took several photos today but I will have to post them sometime tomorrow!

I plan to post as often as I can, but sometimes the day gets away from me.

In Oviedo!!

Our travel went very smoothly yesterday.  Our bus was waiting for us when we arrived to Madrid.  We had a 5-hour bus ride with a stop for lunch (it will be interesting for you to hear about your student´s very first impression of Spain.  Imagine road-side truck-stop restaurants in the US and you will have an idea. Of course, the bread is still delicious even at such a place!).  We passed through the Cantabrian Mountains and right by the Picos de Europa which we will visit on a later excursion!  The host families met us and Marivi (on-site coordinator) matched the families with the students.  

In the third picture, you can see the mountains we have the fortune of seeing every single day!  In the last couple of photos, you can see some of the host families.  The second-to-last is the Maria, host mother of the students living with the two families on the organic farm, (Anna Schilling, Emily Warshauer, Conrad Ault).

Students have the weekend with their host families and we will see them bright and early (10:30!) Monday morning.  Their host families will bring them to school the first morning.  They will take an exam for which they are NOT to study that they will retake at the end of the summer to show their progress.  Then we will eat lunch and take a tour of the city.  They will have some free time around the city and then their families will come to the school for their orientation where we will review the Honor Code and the expectations of the students and the parents.  Tuesday begins the regular class schedule!