Cadiz 2009 - Abbey Road Programs

Hope this works!

2009-07-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

Even though I have already said ¨hasta luego,¨ here is a video from our flamenco class that Cristina just gave me. Hope it works and you get to see it!

Jose

!Hasta luego España!

2009-07-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

As an old adage says, ¨all good things must come to an end.¨ Although it will be sad for us to say ¨hasta luego¨ to each other in just a few hours, we are also looking forward to seeing our friends and family members back home. Having this wonderful opportunity to live in Spain for the past fours weeks is something that has enriched our lives forever. And, hopefully, it will also encourage our students to try to see the world from another perspective.

On behalf of my staff members and I, we thank you for allowing us to bring your children to Cadiz to share all the sounds, tastes, and sites of this incredible part of the world. Rest assured that we have tried our very best to make this program successful and an experience of a lifetime for everyone involved! I am confident we have accomplished our mission and look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow at JFK.

Finally, please know that during our final day we will have a final trip to the beach and have invited the homestay families to join us. We are also going to have a farewell dinner at a local restaurant, and, if time permits, I will post the pictures in the blog later on tonight.

Well, that is all folks! It has been my pleasure to keep you informed.

!Adios!

Jose

Last Day of Classes

2009-07-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our final day of classes. And afterwards we all met to celebrate our accomplishments this summer by having soft drinks and snacks. You should have seen how the students could not wait to get their hands on the potato chips (i.e. Doritos), cookies (i.e. Oreos), and drinks (i.e. Coca Cola). I must say it was pretty funny! Guess they have been missing American products...

Here now are some final pictures from our classes. Hope you like them!

Weekend Update

2009-07-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

On Saturday, we went to visit the city of Jerez, which is known for its wines, horses, and flamenco music and dancing. The main attraction was the horse show we saw the Equestrian School of Andalucia. As you can see from the pictures, it was quite a show!

Then, on Sunday, we provided our students with the opportunity to see the MARE exhibition I have mentioned before and showed you pictures and the Roman theater. The students that had seen either one last week were able to see the other one this weekend. And this also allowed those that went to Seville last weekend to see either one or both. As promised, here are some pictures from the Roman theater.

Enjoy!

Last Pictuers from Seville Excursion

2009-07-26T02:44:00.001-07:00

That is all! As youc an see, our students had a wonderful time in Sevilla!!!

I will do a weekend update later on today or tomorrow.

!Hasta luego!

Jose

More Pictures from Seville

2009-07-26T02:37:00.000-07:00

Students having more fun in Sevill!

Disfrutando en Sevilla

2009-07-26T02:25:00.000-07:00

As you can see, our students had a blast in Seville! I am once again sorry for the delay in sharing the pictures, but unfortunately I encountered even more technical difficulties with the blog.

Hope you like the pictures!

!Sevilla!

2009-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Finally, as promised, here are some incredible pictures from Seville!

In Their Own Words

2009-07-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

As you may know, this year we have ¨Student Ambassadors,¨ who will be writing essays to share their experiences with the rest of us. Here now, in her own words, is Smita Garb:

¨Being in the warm and beautiful town of Cadiz, I, not only as a student, but also as a person, have learned a lot about the language, the culture, and the traditions of Spain. I have delved into each aspect of what the country has to offer, and truly gained a memorable experience of a lifetime. For, whether it is in school or in my own personal life, Spain is a milestone that has and will always help me obtain and incorporate those various unique and beneficial qualities.¨

!Muchas gracias Smita for sharing your thoughts with us!

The Tastes, Sounds, and Views of Cadiz

2009-07-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some images to give you a better idea of what life has been like for us here in Cadiz for the past few weeks...

As many of your kids can attest to, one of the favorite dishes to have in town is ¨churros con chocolate,¨ or fried dough with hot chocolate. I am just as guilty of having a ¨sweet tooth.¨

In the other pictures you can see one of the most beautiful plazas of all of Cadiz, Plaza San Antonio. The architecture and layout of the plaza makes it one of the favorite places for people to meet and hang out. You can also see a view of New Cadiz, where we have been taking the students at night to enjoy the seabord with its local vendors. Lastly, you can see the Plaza de la Constitucion and our students simply having fun.

Hope you like them!

Jose

P.S. I still owe you the Seville pictures, I know. Trust me, I will share them with you as soon as I get them. Thanks for your patience!!!

More Fun Under the Sun!

2009-07-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

Although our wonderful program is coming to its final days, we are still trying to do as much as possible to keep the students busy. This week, for example, some of them went to ¨Cadiz Virtual,¨ which is a 3D show on the history of the city that included a visit to the original gate and fort used to protect the ¨Gaditanos.¨ As you can see from the pictures, we had an incredible time!

At night there are usually concerts taking place around the city. Earlier in the week some of us had the opportunity to attend a classical music concert at the Santa Catalina Castle, which took place until sunset. It was absolutely wonderful to listen to such incredible music while the sun was setting over the Atlantic. Hopefully my camara was able to capture some of the beauty produced by mother nature.

Last night we also went back to Playa Victoria where there are tons of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. My nieces would be happy to know that I finally found some jewelry for them, just like many of the young ladies in our program have done. Others decided to play around on the beach instead of doing more shopping.

Hope you like the latest pictures!

Community Service

2009-07-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

One of the afternoon elective courses we are offering this year in Cadiz is community service. The students in this course have been participating in a project to clean up beaches and, thereby, create an awareness campaign for locals. Many of them are surprised to see that we, as foreigners, are coming in and trying to protect their own environment. In fact, when I visited the class earlier this week, someone stopped us and asked if we were part of the Red Cross. Ricardo has done an amazing job with our students in their attempt to clean up the environment!

After doing more than their fair share to clean up the beaches, the students come together for a group discussion. One of the main things they like to talk about is the reactions people had towards them and how this can hopefully have a positive impact on society at large.

Here are a few pictures so enjoy!

Additional Cadiz Pictures

2009-07-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share a few additional images from our trip! Come back later in the week for the pictures from Seville.

Regards,

Jose

Another Update on the Cadiz Program

2009-07-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we have overcome our technical difficulties. I hope you are enjoying the pictures I promised to share with you. Here are some additional pictures from Cadiz, including some from another boat trip we took earlier in the week in the ¨Vaporcito.¨

Enjoy!

Weekend Update

2009-07-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

!Hola!

As you know, part of our group is spending the weekend in Seville. And, from what I have heard so far, everyone is having an incredible time up there! I cannot wait to get their pictures and hopefully be able to share them with all of you soon.

For those of us that stayed behind in Cadiz, the calendar has also been extremely busy. On Friday we went to "El Corte Ingles," which is Spain's largest department store. Everyone loved it and bought a few things, among them shoes, clothing, and KINDER, which is a chocolate candy that many of our students have fallen in love with here in Spain.

On Saturday we visited a "pueblo blanco," or a "white village," because of the predominantly white-colored buildings. It was absolutely beautiful! Then, at night, we visited Victoria Beach where there are plenty of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. Some of our students decided to play sports on the beach instead and interacted with the locals.

Today, our students visited either the Roman Theater near the cathedral or MARE: a photography exhibit at the Santa Catalina Castle. We are planning on spending the afternoon at the beach and then we are having dinner together as a group at a local restaurant.

Well, that is all for now. Hope to write more in the next two days and to be able to add the pictures. !Hasta luego! :-)

La tercera semana

2009-07-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

We started the third week with a bang!

In addition to going to the beach, we also want to make sure that our students are exposed to cultural and academic activities. On Thursday a group of us visited the Cadiz Museum, which to my surprise even had artwork by Paul Reubens. Other students decided to attend one of our conversation workshops, which provide them with additional opportunities to improve their Spanish speaking skills.

Then that night we went to a Jazz concert in Plaza Mina. Cannot wait to share all these incredible pictures with you guys soon! And to provide you with the weekend update...

!Hasta luego!

Clase de Flamenco

2009-07-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting Cristina's Flamenco class. I was very much impressed by how much our students have learned in such a short amount of time. Cristina is an absolutely fabulous "bailaora," in addition to being the best Program Coordinator we can have. The local newspaper, "El Diario de Cadiz" even passed by on Wednesday and they just published a wonderful article with some nice pictures that we hope to share with you soon.

!Ole!

"Hasta luego" to Our Two Week Students and Staff Member

2009-07-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we had to say "hasta luego" to our two week students and staff member, David. After doing some last minute shopping and taking final pictures, we celebrated at "El Malecon," where our students were taught how to dance Salsa. I cannot wait to show you the pictures from that incredible event!

Blog Update

2009-07-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not writing in a few days, but I have had technical difficulties in the last couple of days. Hopefully we will be able to fix the problem by Monday and post new pictures. In the meantime, I am going to provide you with only written descriptions so you can still stay informed.

Jose

Puerto de Santa Maria Part II

2009-07-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are a few more pictures of this weekend's trip. Enjoy!

Visit to El Puerto de Santa Maria

2009-07-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

For this weekend's trip we went to El Puerto de Santa Maria, where the famous Santa Maria ship from Christopher Columbus's Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria sailed from in 1492. We took a water taxi to this port city and visited some of its main sites, including the cathedral and the San Marcos Castle.

There are so many great pictures that I will have to do another entry. :-)

Enjoy the pictures!

Noche de TAPAS

2009-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we divided our students into smaller groups of 8 or 9 students so they could "step out of the box" and try some local cuisine. It also served as a great opportunity for them to interact with others that they may not ordinarily spend time with in classes or in other cultural or recreational activities. Needless to say, it was a great success!

As you can see from the pictures, we all had a blast!

La segunda semana en Cadiz

2009-07-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

We have kept ourselves busy during the second week. Classes are still going well and we are trying to see as much as possible of the province where Cadiz is located. We also had the fortune of welcoming a new member to our staff, Daniel, who came from Madrid to teach one of the Spanish classes. During one of his first classes he took his students to the local library where they were able to read some children's book and see what it is like to be a typical student here in Spain.

La primera semana en Cadiz

2009-07-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Although this may come as a surprise for many of you, we have already been on the program for a week. On Monday our classes started, and as many of you may know, we spend part of the language classes outside having students interact with locals. Undoubtedly we believe that putting into practice in a "real world" setting what has been learned in the classroom enhances student learning. Additionally, albeit it may be challenging at times, it can also be extremely rewarding. For example, my students had the opportunity to interact with some locals at Parque Genoves and they asked them about cultural differences between Americans and Spaniards. As you can see from the pictures, we had a lot of fun! Some even found time to play in the swings.

In the afternoon we either have our elective courses (community service, flamenco, and Spanish culture and conversation) or cultural and recreational activities. Today some of us went to Torre Tavira and were in awe with the "camara oscura," that allowed us to see around all of the city of Cadiz. Here are a few pictures of us so you can get a taste of what life is like for us here. Enjoy!

Conil Part II

2009-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

My apologies, but we took so many great pictures in Conil that I just have to share them with all of you. Enjoy!

Cultural and Recreational Activities

2009-07-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

Some of the main activities we had this weekend include the Flamenco show we attended on Saturday and the trip to the breathtaking beach resort of Conil. While having tapas at "La Cava," we were mesmerized by the incredible music and dancing filled with passion. Many of our students are now truly looking forward to our Flamenco workshops.

On Sunday, we took a tour around the historic center of Conil and then spent the rest of the day at the beach. We even had our own version of the Beatles' "Abbey Road," Spanish style! !Ole!

By the way, just in case you could not tell, in the first picture you can see all of the program's staff members. In order of appearance: David, Cristina, Jose, Maria, and Ricardo.

First Days in Cadiz

2009-07-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

We started our summer program with an introduction and orientation at our local school and then began to explore the wonders of Cadiz. The first stop in a tour around the historic center was at the Cathedral with its adjacent tower, Torre de Poniente, which provided us with incredible views of the entire city. Our students also visited the Archeological Museum and then we had an "icebreaker" activity at the famous beach call "La Caleta." As you can see, we have started the program on the right foot!

!Hola from Spain!

2009-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we arrived safe and sound in Spain and settled in what will be our new homes for the next few weeks. This Andulusian jewel is full of beautiful plazas, incredible architecture, and, most importantly, really warm and friendly people. The delicious food and pristine beaches also make us want to stay forever. Here are a few pictures so you can see for yourself!