Un periodista, Museo de Reina Sofia, y Flamenco!

Hola familias!

Yesterday was another great day in Madrid.  In the morning, we were joined at our hotel by Júlia Manresa Nogueras, a journalist from Barcelona who covers business and finance in Madrid for Ara, a Catalan newspaper.  As you may know, Catalonia is the autonomous community (more or less like a U.S. state) located in the northeast of Spain, home to Barcelona and one of the wealthiest places in Spain.  After being refused more autonomy by the central government, Catolonians have voted for independence, a move that has been rejected by the federal government in Madrid, and has led to violence on both sides.  Júlia spent two hours with us discussing the current issue of Catalan independence, as well as other topics including women's rights and the difference between Barcelona and the rest of the Spain.  Júlia was a very effective speaker, she came across as relevant, knowledgeable and approachable.  Shira said, "Júlia brought the topic alive for me.  Instead of just seeing a news headline, she personalized complex topics and helped me understand a complicated subject.  I loved meeting Júlia!"

After lunch together, we broke into two groups based on student interest - one group went to the Museo de Reina Sofia - a modern art museum that showcases Picasso's Guernica and includes many smaller drawings that were intermediate steps as Picasso worked on his masterpiece.  The second group elected to shop in an around Plaza del Sol, and enjoyed a street carnival that emerged unexpectedly during our visit.

We had dinner at Cafetin la Quimera, a small cafe that is outside of the central district of Madrid, and provided a more genuine flamenco experience - Liora, our resident dancer, announced herself "very impressed" with the ability, grace, and creativity of the three flamenco dancers.  The students enjoyed taking the metro to and from la Quimera, feeling a little bit more like Españoles and less like tourists as a result.  We capped off the night with Churros in the street at Chocalateria San Gines, a famous 24-hour Churros bar. 

We can't believe that Sunday is our last full day in Spain!  In some ways it seems like we just got here, and in other ways it seems like we have been here a long time.  But all of us are looking forward to seeing our friends and family again very soon!

On the Metro

Júlia Manresa Nogueras

Friday in Madrid!

Hola todos!

Upon arriving in Madrid, we unpacked our bags into our hotel and left straight from there to meet our tour guide for the morning, Nani. Naniwalked us through the city center to the Centro Sefarad Israel where we listened to Ester talk to us about the current Jewish community in Madrid. She spoke briefly about the number of synagogues in Madrid and schools (only 1!) compared to other countries. We also learned that as a recompense to the Sephardic people, if you can prove your lineage, you can apply to obtain a Spanish passport! 

After leaving the Centro Sefarad, we passed through the Mercado de San Miguel close to the Plaza Mayor. This mercado is famous for gourmet tapas and was built in 1916. We grabbed some quick snacks and went on our way! We continued our walking tour through the center of the city, passed by several street performers in the Plaza Mayor and were awed by the major shopping district, Sol. We ended our tour with Naniin the hip/young neighborhood of Malasaña. Known for it's interesting restaurants and vintage thrift stores, we split into groups for some free time to eat lunch and do some shopping before heading back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat services. 

We left on foot to the synagogue, which was about 40 minutes away. The weather in Madrid is great for un paseo. No rain or snow here! We arrived at the Comunidad Judia de Madrid and entered through security.   A recent Weber gradudate, Rachel Colonomos, joined us for services:  Rachel graduated in 2015 and is in Madrid for a semester, visiting from the University of Maryland.  She joined us for dinner as well.  A few minutes after we sat down, our students made quick friends with kids from Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, a K-12 community day school in Baltimore.  They had 18 students there as part of a six-day trip they had taken through the South of Spain.   Small world! They chatted it up about learning Spanish and meeting Spaniards. 

From the Shabbat services, we walked to a great fusion (Mexican/Spanish/Korean) restaurant. The array of foods they had was awesome! From mini mushroom quesadillas to a potato, egg, and corn nuts dish, this place was one-of-a-kind.  We strolled back the hotel, "Roomate Mario," arriving after 11 and enjoyed a comfortable night in a modern hotel. 

We have certainly seen a good cross section of Spanish life - from the very rural Gallicia, to the small towns of Castile y Leon, and now on to the big city of Madrid!  We are all having a great time, and we'll be home soon.  

Caroline finally found churros!

Last Day In Castilla y Leon: Cooking & Shopping in Valladolid!

Buenos dias familias,

We are en camino (en route) to Madrid. Our time in Castilla y Leon has truly flown by, and though we are excited to experience the hustle and bustle of Madrid, we are sad to leave this region. From a programmatic standpoint, it has been meaningful moving from rural to urban, and yesterday was our first big taste of urban: a visit to nearby Valladolid.

After a light breakfast in our five hundred-year-old house, we left Simancas (population 5,000) and drove ten minutes to Valladolid (population 300,000)--quite a change! We walked through the Campo Grande, an extensive, green park filled with ponds, trees, and pavos reales: peacocks! After several photos with these gorgeous birds, we walked to a rambla (a pedestrian-only street) just outside of the casco historico (historic downtown) to meet some important Spaniards: Rabbi Jose Carlos Garcia Perez and Palmira Soler.

Rabbi Jose Carlos is a Sephardic Jew who lives in Valladolid. He is one of six remaining Jews left in Valladolid. 6 out of 300,000 people are Jewish. This was difficult to believe. The rambla where we met Rabbi Jose Carlos seemed like just a random spot, but at this point in the program, we have realized that nothing in a LITA program is random. It turned out that the street we were standing on used to be a Jewish cemetery. We were standing over what is estimated to be 78 graves of Sephardic Jews. Our mouths dropped when we discovered the sacred ground on which we were standing, and Rabbi Jose Carlos drew our attention to a few stones in the street that memorialize this Jewish community with a quote from Moshe Ibn Ezra. Written in both Hebrew and Spanish, the bricks translated to:

"These are old graves from ancient times/where men now sleep eternally/inside there is neither hate nor greed/neither love nor enmity toward one's neighbor/Upon looking at these graves, my mind is not capable/of distinguishing between slave and free man."

This quote written in Spanish and Hebrew is displayed by every remaining Jewish cemetery in Spain. We explored its meaning by having May read the quote in Hebrew and Daniel Stearns in Spanish and using both our Hebrew and Spanish to arrive at a translation in English. For me as a Content Dean in Spanish at a Jewish school, I was reminded of the responsibility we have as a Jewish Community to study Spanish and Hebrew and teach them together.

The second important person we met yesterday was Palmira Soler. Palmira Soler is a professional chef and owner of 5 Gustos, a Michelin Star restaurant. Palmira gave us a private cooking class of Sephardic recipes found in a special book she showed us (side note: when flipping through this cook book, we found a picture of Paco Diez, the musician we met and sang with on Tuesday. It was unreal to see a picture of someone we knew in a published book). We prepared and ate our own food in this amazing restaurant, and it was amazing!

After several hours to walk around Valladolid and shop, we met back up in two groups and ate dinner in familias. The "Familia" groups led by Laura and Olivia had a cool experience meeting a chef of a Michelin-recommended restaurant. This chef ("Paco") is the official chef of the Olympics for Spain, and he has traveled all over the world cooking for athletes. He was at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and was so excited to discover we are from Atlanta. It was a great experience talking to Paco about how much we love our city and his city.

"Oh my G-d, that is so delicious and amazing." -Jonah (in response to Chef Palmira's spin on a traditionally Jewish dessert, Charoset)

"This was the best day ever" -Paul

"I have never experienced a trip like this one." -Lindsey

These are just a few of the multiple, positive comments we heard about yesterday, and we are so sad this trip is ending soon.

Madrid, here we come!

Archivos, Toro, y Queso!

Hi all,

Laura here. I finally stole the computer from the other two. 

Today was a really beautiful day! We spent the morning in the Spanish General Archives in Simancas. There we toured through the Castle of Simancas, which was established as the Spanish General Archives in 1540, and was the first official archive of the kingdom of Castilla (a big deal). The bridge, front entrance and doors at the entrance are all still original from the 15th century. We saw beautiful maps that were hundreds of years old of different cities/countries that Spain conquered during it's quest for gold, G-d, and glory. They were incredibly detailed. We also were able to enter the original personal archives of Felipe II. Toward the end of the tour we met with the director of the archives, Julia, who read aloud to us the original royal decree protecting the Jewish people of Sevilla. This text was amazing to see and touch. It was written in 1478 and not considered old!

After we left the general archives in Simancas, we headed to a nearby town called Toro. Our very own Olivia lived there for a few weeks last summer and vouched for it's charm. When we arrived, we had some good moments in the sun in the Plaza Mayor. Afterwards, everyone dispersed in groups to eat lunch, shop (a little), and go on the hunt for an interview with someone in the pueblo. It was a bit of quieter day than we expected, but most found a Spaniard to interact with or ask their questions.

Just outside of Toro we arrived at Queseria Campoveja, an artesanal cheese factory. There, we did a tour of their factory and entered into their bodega to see cheese as it's stored, curing, or aging. We tasted 4 different cheeses and had some time to browse their shop. We learned about the history and cheesemaking process in this particular factory and what makes them special-- they wash their cheese wheels every day with salt and water (and amor)! 

Overall, today was a relaxed day with great weather, good food, and new experiences!

Un Dia con Paco Diez! Guest Blogger

Hola Familias!!

In addition to all the wonderful quotes about Galicia, I thought it would be a good idea for some of our blog posts to come straight from the source! So, live and through an internet connection, Caroline Schneider writing to you from Castilla y Leon! I had this idea after reading a blog from LITA's Summer Program where the students wrote about what they were doing. Today was a super special day, and I felt like it would be the perfect opportunity to share my thoughts, and for a small descanso from Sra. Rocamora's adjectives (but we love you)! However, brace yourselves. I have even more adjectives.

After waking up this morning, we took a short trip to Mucientes, another town outside the big city of Valladolid. There we met Paco Diez, esteemed musician and Sephardic music expert. Paco has a museum dedicated to Sephardic musical instruments, and we spent the morning walking through it with him. We were all a bit tired from the lengthy travel day before, but Paco captivated us with a brief history of Spain before 1492, or mil cuatrocientos noventa y dos. All of our guides and teachers have stressed the importance of this year, not only because of the discovery of the New World, but also the marriage of Isabella y Fernando to form what we know today as Espana. Additionally, this year was the start of the Spanish Inquisition, a time of persecution of all non-Catholics. Since we have learned lots about this momentous period in Spanish History, it was refreshing to hear about Sephardic Jewish history and how religious groups mixed well at one point in time. We will learn much more about this when we visit Toledo, a city where at one time Jews, Christians, and Muslims all lived together in peace and reached a cultural acme. When Paco began describing the coexisting of the three major monotheistic religions, Sra. Rocamora mentioned Peace by Piece, a wonderful organization in which Weber participates. Rosa and I described the program in more detail for Paco, and it was interesting how the past in Spain mirrors what we strive to do with Peace by Piece.

One reason that Paco Diez is such an incredible musician is because he can literally play every instrument ever to exist. At one point, he had us close our eyes, and our ears filled with a sonorous tune. Once we opened our eyes, we saw that Paco was blowing into a stick that could not have been more than a centimeter in circumference. Paco walked us through all the different instrument groups from strings to percussion, playing every instrument with ease, and violently placing them back into their cases. He played at least 30 different instruments one right after the other, leaving us all in disbelief. Paco also talked to us about how percussion is in everything we do: there is a rhythm in every step and every heartbeat. The last instrument he showed us was the gaitas or bagpipes, and he played the Hatikva and we all sang along. If only it were Friday...

After the museum, a new guide Lucia met us so we could venture into the earth. That's the sci-fi way of saying that we went to an underground wine cellar, which is called a bodega here. There, we got to learn about the preparation and fermentation of the grapes, and the importance of wine as a major staple in Spanish culture. Jordan also got us some pastries that were muy deliciosos. I had a chocolate covered elephant ear cookie--a palmier--which is making me drool just thinking about it (just para que sepas, I am writing this before dinner y tengo mucho hambre).

We were invited into the private bodega of Paco Diez after our wine tour, where we ate lunch and had our own personal jam session. Paco and his wife cooked us some lovely paella and chicken that was so good I ate the dark meat (and I only like white meat chicken). But our jam session was the main reason that I wanted to write today's blog post specifically. It was such a beautiful moment that brought a few of us to tears. We sang songs in Spanish and English, and we got to hear the lovely voices of our counterparts. We started with a rendition of Adio Kerida, the Ladino song we learned before our departure.

Side Note: Last night after dinner, all of us girls were getting ready for bed when we heard some laughter outside our window. The boys, who are staying in a different house, were serenading us! They sang their Ladino hearts out and braved the cold winds to make sure we went to bed happy. Actually, it might have been for a grade.

Paco taught us some Sephardic Spanish songs and sang a few of his own, but the real magic came when we got out some song books. What really got the ball rolling was Sra. Rocamora's solo of Besame Mucho, which left us all SHOOK (teen slang for "we were all pleasantly surprised and loved it"). Daniel S. joined Senora up front to sing Beatles classics "Yesterday" and "Imagine" and everyone joined in. Paul went up front too for "Hotel California," followed by Jordan singing an original song and Daniel S. singing "Bones" by Lewis Watson. "Blowing in the Wind" was followed by a "La Bamba/Twist and Shout" remix. With help from Chloe and Sta. Bowers, Leonard Cohen's "Halleluyah" reminded many people of summer camp. May's insanely amazing and energetic version of "I Will Survive" made us all long for voices like hers, but then the boys took over for "Piano Man." We finished with a second round of Adio Kerida, and Paco shared some inspirational words. He said that "la musica no tiene fronteras"--music has no borders. He also talked to us about the importance of understanding other cultures while maintaining our own. I speak for everybody when I say that there is a lighter energy among everyone now, and we have music flowing in our blood tonight.

There are many photos and videos on the photo stream for all to enjoy!

Thanks for reading--I know I wrote a lot. We miss you all a lot but we are having a ton of fun at the same time. Hasta luego!

P.S. Picture this: a dimly lit, toasty room with two candelabras. At one point during a slow song, a  paella-filled Mr. White (Barrigon) decided to "rest his eyes" - a mistake on his part. Paco made sure to sing extra close, and he woke in a startle. It was the highlight of the day.

Caroline Schneider

Last post with student quotes....

And here are the last four student quotes from Galicia!

Liora:  I loved everything from the food to the beautiful nature, but the best part was not even having the option to speak English since we were in the country and most people there spoke only Spanish and Gallego, the local language.  I can't believe how much more confident I feel with my Spanish in only four days!

Chloe: Galicia, for me, was full of new experiences, and my confidence in speaking Spanish was boosted so quickly, since we spoke to so many genuinely nice people, willing to talk to us.  Most of the people we met there seemed very open to talking with us and showed an interest in wanting to get to know us.  I really hope to be able to visit Galicia again!

May:  First of all, mom:  If you see the pictures and you think I'm cold - I'm not!  One of my favorite memories of Galicia was the second hike - it was hard, but the views made up for it (mostly)!  Dad, I am taking you back here, the bread is incredible!  I miss you and Scottie (and Daniel!)

Rachel:   Galicia was really fun, and I enjoyed the hikes and the outdoor activities, the nature was amazing.  Casa Louran was an amazing location with unbelievable hospitality and food.  I will miss Galicia!

More student quotes!

Here is the second of what will be three posts with quotes from the students: 

Sydney:  Galicia looked like a movie set, all the views were incredible!   Half of the experience was looking out the window while driving - everything was so beautiful. Even more importantly, the people in Galicia were very willing to talk with us and help us improve our Spanish.  I will miss Galicia!

Shira:  Galicia was a place for new experiences and views, between the cultural food experiences and the jaw-dropping views on the hikes, Galicia was a time to involve ourselves completely in the Spanish culture and way of life.  A moment to remember would be all the friendly faces in the streets, as well as our new friends in Casa Louran.  Although we all did our own things, we also felt connected to each other.  And, the deserts were incredible! 

Noa Grace:  The experience that stuck the most with me throughout Galicia was when we went to the different tapas bars, trying new foods and meeting new people.  Specifically, I met a unique person - Jamie the cobbler.  I asked him a very personal question, and he answered very completely and openly, and in that moment I was able to connect with the local. Whenever I think of this man's story, I will think of the special region of Galicia!

Caroline:  Galicia was the perfect place to start such a wonderful trip.  The hospitality in Casa Louran made us all feel so welcome, not to mention well fed! Although we were staying in the countryside and we had to drive - a lot - we always made the best of the experiences, and made a lot of memories along the way.  I am excited to see what Castilla y Leon brings!

Rosa:  In Galicia, it was wonderful to experience a new pace of life, enjoying leisurely meals and great hospitality, at our "casa rural."  Even the down time between activities, as long bus rides allowed us to appreciate the countryside, and observe many picturesque old towns that preserve a unique way of life.  I really enjoyed our hikes, and opportunities to explore the countryside, and to connect with unique guides, who were so passionate and knowledgeable about the culture they shared with us. 

Lindsey:  I really enjoyed the four days in Galicia, I thought it was a good way to connect to nature and also learn about each other.  My favorite part of staying in Galicia was going on the hikes, they were both really beautify and really fun.  I also enjoyed staying in Casa Louran because everyone there made us feel so welcome.  I am going to miss Galicia, but I am really excited for the next part of our trip!

Tiffany:  Galicia was very different for me, but it was gorgeous and a breath of fresh air.  We all bonded in the last four days.  One specific memory I have is that the second hike was very long and difficult, but with the help of friends and teachers, it ended up being really fun.   It felt great to finish the hike!  I am looking forward to more great experiences over the rest of the trip!

Student Quotes - from the boys

Hola Familias,

Now that we are in our second of three locations (Castilla y León), we wanted to give you a chance to hear directly from the students about their experiences so far, and we asked everyone to reflect upon what the trip has meant to them, specifically thinking about our first four days in Galicia. This is the first of at least two posts with student quotes, focusing on the boys.  We hope you enjoy hearing from your children, in their own words!

Jonah:  Yo pienso que Galicia fue un lugar muy importante para este viaje. Yo disfrute el tiempo que nosotros pasamos en Casa Louran y visitando muchos lugares historicos alrededor de Galicia. Mi favoritos fueron los acantilados y en general la naturaleza que nosotros exploramos en Galicia.

I think that Galicia was a very important place for this trip. I enjoyed the time we spent in Casa Louran and visiting many historical places around Galicia. My favorite was the cliffs and in general the nature that we explored in Galicia. 

Daniel L: Galicia era un lugar muy unico con muchas historia para mi. Me Encanta el Casa Louran y todo el comida especialmente el pan. Las vistas y la naturaleza eran parte que yo nunca olvide.

Galicia was a very unique place for me that had a lot of history. I loved staying in Casa Louran and all the food, especially the bread . The views and the nature in Galicia was something I will never forget. 

Daniel S:  Galicia tiene casi demasiado belleza a existen. Las montanas, las acantilados, y las vistas del mar son solo un parte de una cultura muy especial y son sitios increible a ver. Todo el tiempo alli fue tiempo bueno. Me extranere todos los personas magnificos que nos encontramos.

Galicia is almost too beautiful to exist. The mountains, cliffs, and the ocean views are all part of an incredibly special culture and are incredible sights to behold. All of the time spent there was time well spent. I will miss all of the magnificent people that we met.

Paul:  Galicia es el lugar perfecto para comenzar nuestro viaje, debido a la rica historia y la gente que se enorgullece de ser de Galicia. Nunca he estado en un lugar rural como Galicia en mi vida, y siempre tendrá un lugar especial en mi corazón. Es difícil comprender la significación de Galicia, sin viajar allí.  

Tabien:  hablar español es como hablar con chicas, a veces se golpea, pero de vez en cuando se llega a un jonrón.

Galicia is the perfect place to start our trip, because of the rich history and people that are proud to be from Galicia.  I have never been to a rural place like Galicia in my life, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.  It is hard to comprehend the significance of Galicia, without travelling there.  

Also:  speaking Spanish is like talking to girls, sometimes you strike out, but occassionally you hit a homerun.  

Eli:   Galicia fue una buena manera de comenzar el viaje, porque pude tener mucho tiempo íntimo con personas que hablaban español, y me encantaron todos los enormes molinos de viento. ¡No tengas miedo de fallar cuando hablas español!

Galicia was a good way to start off the trip, because I was able to get a lot of intimate time with people speaking Spanish, and I loved all the huge windmills.   Don't be afraid of failing when speaking Spanish!  

Herminia en la judería

Buenas Tardes Familias Queridas,

We hope this post finds you well and warm! We heard it's pretty chilly over there. Though we had wonderful, warm weather with blue skies yesterday, our drive into the interior today brought us colder weather. We were pretty cold throughout our time in Ribadavia and had to step inside of a few cafes to warm up, but the cold was certainly worth what we found: history of a once thriving judería.

Judería is the Spanish word for the Jewish quarter of a town. As we mentioned in previous blog posts, Gallegos and Jews share the common experience of persecution, but up until today, we hadn't seen too much evidence of Jewish life in Galicia. But the bus pulled into the southern Galician town of Ribadavia, and from the moment we entered into the Juderia, signs of Jewish life were everywhere: stars of David, Hebrew writing on stone blocks and on street signs, and most importantly, Herminia. Herminia is an elderly woman who owns a small cookie shop in the Jewish quarter, and she quickly became our Spanish-Jewish abuela. Proudly wearing her white apron, her pin of the Israli and Spanish flags, and the new dentures she just got as a gift from her daughter, Herminia opened up a china cabinet behind her to display all of her cookies: with almond, with poppyseed, with dates, with flour, without flour, with egg, without egg, and with some ingredients imported from Israel. She is known all over Europe as the only establishment that has certain biscuits made according to the typical Jewish recipe. Herminia has lived above her cookie shop for over fifty years, and the stone wall that houses the old-fashioned oven she uses to bake is over five hundred years old. Stepping inside, it truly felt like we had traveled back in time.

A few students asked her questions in Spanish. Noa asked, "What valuable lesson did your parents teach you?" and Liora asked, "What makes you happy?" Herminia's answers were the same for both questions: "Trabajar." Working. Herminia wakes up at 4am every morning to begin baking her cookies, and when she's tired, she puts a sign in her window that says she's done for the day. At eighty years old, she has no plans to retire!

A deeply meaningful moment was when May asked Herminia in Spanish, "Have you been to Israel?" Herminia replied, "Solo en mis sueños." Only in my dreams. These words, spoken to a group of students, many of whom have had the honor and the privilege of going to Israel (in some cases more than once) was a powerful reminder that not all Jews get to stand on such sacred ground. We hope that one day when our kids make their next journey to Israel, they will dar un paseo, take a stroll, on behalf of Herminia, who only gets to love her Homeland from afar.

After our special visit with Herminia, we had lunch together in a great restaurant where the owner was also once the mayor of the town. After a delicious lunch of hot soup, salad, meat and potatoes, and four different kinds of dessert plus coffee (there is no such thing as a "light lunch"), we were on our way out of the restaurant when Caroline noticed that a Galician gentleman at the table next to us had a cochlear implant, similar to hers. She courageously went up to this Spanish stranger and used their shared connection as a way to warmly meet him. They chatted in Spanish, and two wonderful things happened: Caroline walked away feeling grateful again for the opportunity to hear another deaf man speak and for her ability to speak about it, and the other man felt grateful for being able to hear and talk to her. We can confirm the latter part of this because as Caroline walked away, we heard the Galician man tell the others at his table how impressed he was with her Spanish.

What we thought would be a mere "traveling day" with a few stops turned out to be a highlight of the trip for many of us.  On to Castilla y León!

Una yinkana en Santiago de Compostela!

Hola familias,

We are on our way back from a great day in Santiago de Compostela, and we wanted to give you a quick update before dinner.  This morning, after driving to Santiago (about 90 minutes from Casa Louran) we met Carmen, one of the musicians from Friday night, who spent the morning and early afternoon giving us a walking tour of the old city of Santiago de Compostela.  This ancient city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, featuring Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic architecture, some of which dates back to as early as the 800s.  The weather was beautiful -  unseasonably warm and sunny.   Carmen taught us to play "el juego de las ollas," a Galician game played during carnaval where you pour flour in an open cup and then toss the cup to the next person in a circle, who tries not to spill any.  Another highlight of the walking tour was visiting the "Árbol de las Ciencias" (tree of college majors) where students could divine what their college major was likely to be.  (The picture below shows Chloe in action - she got "history.")

At the end of our tour with Carmen, we split the students into groups and gave each team a set of photographs taken in and around the city, and they had about three hours to each lunch in their groups and try to replicate as many of the photos and complete as many of the tasks as they could.  This "yinkana" (scavenger hunt) gave the students a chance to spend time with a new group of people, see Santiago independently, and meet some locals, as the only way to find the places in the photographs was by asking for help.  It was a hard fought battle, but the team of Daniel, Daniel, and Tiffany won, earning them sweatshirts from Santiago de Compostela that they will treasure forever!

We are looking forward to our last dinner at Casa Louran, and leaving for Castilla y Leon in the morning.  We hope you are keeping warm in Atlanta, as we heard it was 15 degrees there today!

Saturday Senderos

Buenos dias familias,

As we are beginning our last full day in Galicia (a trip to the sacred city of Santiago de Compostela), we wanted to take a few minutes to talk about our day yesterday before the time escapes us. The title of this post is "Saturday Senderos." Sendero is the word for path/trail. It's a fitting title both literally and figuratively.

We began yesterday with a trip to Fragas do Eume, a nature preserve here in Galicia. We met wonderful guides Juan and Rocio, who hiked with us through the preserve and told us about the river system and the animals in the preserve. We talked in great detail about the local "lobos" or wolves in the area because the boys actually saw one when driving to their house a few nights ago. Because of the abundance of food in the area, these wolves are not dangerous to people, so don't worry parents! The hike in the forest was gorgeous and filled with eucalyptus trees. It was really amazing to see the forest so green even though it was a cold, January day. We will risk sounding cheesy, but this is how we feel about our program: in the dead of winter when it's cold and everyone is tired, a program like this brings life to education, and we are so grateful for this opportunity.

After the hike, we headed to a town called Betanzos to "tapear" (hop from bar to bar to try tapas) and to formally begin our individual projects: street interviews and street portraits of Spaniards. Students have chosen a question they would like to ask Spaniards from different generations and different regions, and they are going to compare/contrast their interviewees through photography and bilingual quotes and present them during Fine Arts Night in March (mark your calendars!). Think "Humans of New York" but in Spain. During the tapas experience, I (Sra. Rocamora) truly enjoyed watching Liora smile from ear to ear as she finally got to experience the "Spain bar experience" with May, Sydney, and Rachel--fifteen to twenty people crowded in a tiny bar, mostly standing, huddling together and eating great food. The patatas never tasted so good.

Confession: we weren't sure how the project part was going to go. It takes a lot of courage to walk up to someone and start a conversation in English, let alone Spanish. But these kids are rock stars, and on the first day of this project, the majority of the students got their first interviews and had a wonderful experience. Daniel Livnat had two very funny interviews about soccer: one from a man who said he lives for the sport (and as he is saying this there are people in the bar screaming at the soccer game on tv and shouting all kinds of expletives that I of course did not translate to the kids) and a man who said every Sunday he takes his bookbag, rain or shine, and leaves town during the games because he would rather walk on a dangerously narrow "sendero" with thorny bushes on one side and a steep cliff on the other side then have to suffer through Spaniards acting like barbarians during the game.

The one experience we wanted to most highlight in detail was Sta. Bowers and a group of students (Noa, Eli, Lindsey, Tiffany, Chloe, Paul, Rosa, Shira) who met a wonderful man in a bar named Jaime. Noa asked Jaime about his parents and what they have taught him, and the man started crying as he thought of his father. Jaime is one of twelve children, and he took over his father's shoe repair business, and it was obvious his relationship with his father was strong. Jaime insisted the group go next door to his shoe repair shop and see the business he is so proud to own.

This is why we came to Spain. This is why we are here. Language, however broken and incorrectly conjugated, opens the doors to connections with people that "cambia el chip"--change and open our minds. We are so immensely proud of these kids.

We finished the evening with a private tour of an abandoned monastery from the 1100s. This was mostly held in the dark so that students could empathize with monks and experience what it was like to live in the dark when the sun goes down. The tour was very eerie--our voices echoed, it was raining outside, and we were haunted by old architecture and Spanish history. As we alluded to in the previous post, Gallegos were persecuted along with the Jews for not being Catholic, and we learned about the extent of this persecution in ways that are too dark to describe on this blog. We were all reminded of the dark, shameful years of Spain's history, perhaps also making the connection that our country too has had its shameful years, and it's our job not to repeat them.

It was a very tiring day (my Fitbit read 18,000 steps by the time I went to bed), but it was the best kind of tired. We learned that we need more time in nature, we learned that students in Spanish 2 and  3 can lead their peers just as well as Spanish 4 and AP, and we learned of the importance to combat darkness with light.

We preserved Shabbat, and Shabbat preserved us....

Hola familias! 

Shabbat just ended here and this post will focus on our Friday night activities; we will make a seperate post that covers our Saturday activities.

After we returned from the majestic cliffs of San Andres de Teixido, we immediately went into the "palleira" - a large room separate from the rest of the house, typical of the rural construction here, made of stones and originally used as a stable.  There to greet us were Carmen, Richie, and Xan, three Galician musicians and good friends of Jordan, who spent the next three hours with us.  Each of the three musicians took turns talking about the importance of preserving galician music, and they introduced the instruments traditionally used for singing and dancing. Carmen showed us a type of local tambourine called a pandeireta, and Richie demonstrated an accordion.  Richie asked for a brave volunteer to play the accordian and Caroline (who has experience with the piano) accepted the challenge of trying to play the accordian in under thirty seconds. But Caroline got tricked! Even with Eli's help who also stood up to help her, they couldn't even get the accordian to open because Richie had locked it. But Liora caught on to Richie's trick and rescued Caroline. After the accordian, Xan introduced us to Galician "gaitas" - bagpipes - which demonstrated the Scottish influence seen throughout Galicia.   Xan offered to let Daniel play one of the pipes, and Daniel was left huffing and puffing without making a sound! This was also a trick, this time by Xan, as the pipe was missing an important piece. Caroline had the important piece and was able to play it, leaving Daniel behind in the dust (see picture below).

The real fun began after the charla when Richie and Xan played while Carmen showed us several traditional Galician songs to sing and dances to learn.  One of our favorite moments was a type of "broom dance" in which an odd number of us were dancing together in pairs in a type of comic waltz, and when the music stopped, we all switched partners.  The odd person out was left dancing with a broom.  It was hilarious, especially when Noa had the broom and danced with it for thirty seconds before realizing she was supposed to drop it.  After about 45 minutes of laughing, singing, and dancing, Carmen started asking us if we were tired or if we wanted to learn "one more" dance.   All the students kept shouting "uno mas!" and I think we went through her entire repertoire and got to dinner a few minutes late.

The musicians joined us for Shabbat dinner, and what an experience it was to share Shabbat with these three Galicians, who have never met anyone Jewish besides Jordan! In the three Spanish immersion programs we have had at Weber, this was the most powerful moment we have experienced as a Jewish community: an unplanned, spontaneous lesson in Spanish about what Shabbat is and what it means to us. May started with the most beautiful explanation of how G-d created the world in six days and the seventh day was intended for rest.  Carloline provided specifics that Shabbat started at sundown on Friday and lasted until after sundown on Saturday.   Liora jumped in and added that Shabbat was a time for reflection and introspection, and that while she usually attended synagogue on Shabbat, different Jews observed Shabbat in different ways.  Rosa topped the cake with a beautiful quote she attributed to Rabbi Joshua Heschel:  "If you preserve Shabbat, Shabbat will preserve you..." Jonah talked about the significance of the wine (water in our case!) and bread, and led the blessings.  Lindsey volunteered to lead the Hebrew prayer over the candles, and Jordan led us in a few songs including Bim Bam - Shabbat Shalom and Shalom Aleichem. 

We believe this was an incredible moment for our group, who was reminded that much of the world does not know about Judaism and it's a gift to be able to educate and share our passion with those who are willing to listen. Something Gallegos (people from Galicia) and Jews have in common is that they were both people heavily persecuted by the Catholic Church during centuries of the Inquisition era, and last night was a moment where these two minority groups were able to eat together at the same table and celebrate how our traditions are still alive and thriving.

Dinner started with the challah, of course, expertly and lovingly made and braided by Rachel and Liora, who taught Ana (the owner of the bed and breakfast) how to make it.  Dinner, like every meal we have had here, was delicious, and featured pumpkin soup, salad, roast veal and potatoes (with additional vegetarian options for those that don't eat meat) and "requeson con fresas" (a kind of yogurt / cottage cheese with strawberries) made from milk taken from the cows on the farm next door.  We were all pretty tired, but happy and full, when we turned in for the night a little after 11:00 p.m.

Friday in Galicia

Buenas tardes, familias! Before Shabbat begins, we wanted to take a few minutes to paint a picture of our evening last night and day today.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a short drive to a local ermita, where we did some goal setting and reflecting about the trip. Jordan, director of LITA and active teacher during the program, worded it perfectly: promises you are making to yourselves. To be more open, to be more courageous, to be more kind, to be more curious...these are values we are pushing students to nurture in the coming days. Last night, after a wonderful dinner of soup, salad, chicken, and fresh fruit, we gathered around the hearth, and Jordan gave students an inspirational charla about how to really become fluent in Spanish. It was a turning point in the program because we had a lot of Spanglish up until that point, and after that talk, I think it really clicked for kids and we've heard them speaking in Spanish (and laughing a lot) between themselves all day today.

After a breakfast full of homemade touches (like toast and 4 different jams and honey and butter all made on the farm we are staying at), we began our day with a bus ride to the coast: specifically, the cliffs of San Andres de Teixido. We walked past wild horses and cows grazing, taking in the quiet and simple yet breathtaking sights. It was a highlight to hear the kids gasp as they looked down on the crashing waves from the tallest point.

We then took a small hike down to the pueblo below.  Legend has it that if you don't hike to this pueblo and touch the walls of the temple before you die, you will reincarnate as a bug and have to make the trek to the temple. Though we aren't a superstitious group, we are a group that likes to cover all of our bases, so we touched the town's temple before getting on the bus to go to lunch.

Stopping at a delicious tavern nearby, we sat together (intentionally sitting next to peers we don't necessarily sit with to try and get to know one another more) and gorged ourselves on some great food and conversation. We gave toasts in Spanish, expressing what we were grateful for, and they said things like Ana (the owner of the bed and breakfast), Pedro (our bus driver), and conversations in Spanish with each other. It was an awesome way to take the temperature of the group, and it seems like everyone is really enjoying being unplugged and engaged in relationship here.

More to come! Stay tuned!

-Sra. Rocamora, Sta. Bowers, and Sr. White

We're here!

Buenas tardes a todos! We are so happy to announce that after exactly 24 hours of travel, we have finally arrived in a rural green paradise: Galicia, Spain! It took lots of caffeine, sugar, and walking from gate to gate, but we have arrived in good spirits ready to embark on an adventure. Though we have been really impressed so far with the number of students already practicing Spanish, I personally was really moved by a few moments:

The first moment was our first flight from Atlanta to Miami. Looking back, even though it was an extra flight, it was fabulous to have a plane full of latino people with us, and I could hear both Caroline and Daniel Stearns talking up a storm in Spanish to latinos they were sitting next to. My Spanish teacher heart swelled with pride as I listened to them navigate a conversation entirely in Spanish. This is the kind of love we are hoping to instill in the kids: a willingness to take risks and make connections with others when no one else is watching.

A second moment was watching May bravely volunteer as the first student to sit in the “co-pilot” seat on the bus and talk to our wonderful bus driver, Pedro. We were complete, sleep-deprived zombies at this point, yet May engaged in conversation with passion and curiosity, debating her current views about the world like she was a native speaker! Though most of Day 1/Day 2 has been dedicated to safe travel and rest, it’s obvious many of these students are going to take advantage of each moment they have.

When we arrived to Casa Lourán, our bed and breakfast, we had a lunch of traditional Galician dishes including empanadas, potato omelet, cheese, vegetable flat bread, everything made fresh on the farm here. Lunch was waiting for us on one long, family-style table, cooked by the owner of the house: Ana. She is officially our Spanish abuela, bringing such warmth and comfort to us through her food and conversation. This afternoon, we will be resting and then gathering to reflect on the trip ahead of us. We will gather around “la la’reira” (the Gallego word for hearth), get an introduction to Galicia, and then we will head out to a really special place: an ermita. This is an old, weathered stone structure often used for religious ceremonies. We will be going there to sit on the property of the ermita, which has an incredible view of giant windmills spinning in the fog. It’s truly a magical vista, and since the windmill is a famous symbol of dreams (Don Quixote) in Spain, it’s a great place to journal about our dreams and academic goals for this trip. After this time together, we will have some down time at Casa Lourán and eat dinner together and rest up for tomorrow: visiting the cliffs of San Andrés de Teixido. Google it, and you will see why I’m so excited for the kids to see them tomorrow!

Un gran abrazo a todos,

Sra. Rocamora (con Sr. Blanco y Sta. Bowers)

About this blog

This blog will be the primary communication method we will use to document the trip portion of our program and keep in touch with parents, relatives, and friends back home.  As you know, a major goal of this trip is for all of us to "unplug," so after exploring options including Twitter, Facebook, and direct email, we settled on a simple blog that will allow us to describe our daily activities for our loved ones back in the States.   Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• We plan to update the blog daily starting on Thursday, January 11th, through Sunday, January 21st.  Please be aware, however, that especially in Galicia (1/11 through 1/15), we expect our Internet access will be slower and less reliable than in other locations. Please be patient if you don't see a blog post on one or more of those dates.
• We plan on featuring at least one photo, including student photos, each day, as pictures are an important part of their interview assignments.   
• In keeping with our "unplugged" theme, the primary authors of the blog will be Sras. Bowers and Rocamora, and Mr. White, a/k/a Señor Blanco.   Students will weigh in with quotes and short contributions within our daily blog posts.
• We would love to have you post comments to blog posts, but please don't expect we will immediately respond.   In case of an emergency, please contact Laura Klingensmith.  She will be able to contact us the quickest in case you need to reach a trip leader or a student immediately. 

We hope you enjoy this blog and that it helps you experience a little bit of this special program!

Laura Bowers
Olivia Rocamora
Mitch White

Ladino, Patatas Bravas, & Flamenco: Engaging Spain with All 5 Senses

We are elated to continue our journey of understanding rural, historic Spain with all of its mysteries and complexities, and no doubt our time in Spain will be elevated beyond the tourist experience because we started learning about Spain a few months ago. With progressive teaching and interactive learning, students engaged all five of their senses to authentically connect to a different culture, all in an environment Spaniards would approve of: in the kitchen, on the porch, at the dinner table, and around the fire in various homes.

¡Vamos a España!

One week from today, 19 Weber students and faculty will be departing for spain!