In Spain!

After a crazy series of flights with 15 teenagers in tow I have finally arrived in Spain.

It's odd to say it like that because it feels like I've been here for years already. We ended up having to spend the night in Atlanta because they had bad weather which made us divert to Memphis and miss our international connection. However, in the process of rebooking us onto the next flight they moved my ticket to a flight to Paris with a connection to Madrid. Sensing the errors of leaving 15 teenagers alone on a plane with a single escort they then booked me onto the same flight as the students, but in first class. It was lovely in first class, I must admit. It wasn't quite enough to make up for the night in Atlanta, but it was nice to have a little more room to stretch out and a dinner that lasted for two hours. In the end, I probably would have slept better if I had been in coach because I didn't get a single moment of rest next to my snoring neighbor.

Upon arriving we went to the hotel (after submitting lost luggage forms for one of our poor students) and then embarked upon what can only be referred to as a death march. After 5 hours of sleep in Atlanta, whatever moments they managed to snatch on the plane, and being awake at what would be considered 5am STL time we took our kids on a walk through central Madrid, through an art museum and then toured the Royal Palace. It was amazing to me because I honestly felt connected to each and every one of my kids. The feeling of being the one to make sure they didn't pass out in Goya's Black Period, protect them on the Metro, and animate them to wake up enough to enjoy the bizarre 12 foot long guns in the armory made this maternal instinct I had never felt before come roaring out of me.
It sounds bizarre, but as much as I felt like I had connected with my students before, it can't compare to how I've opened up with these kids. I am not a touchy person.I don't really do hugs or pats on the back or anything beyond eye contact, but I was at the Alhambra yesterday and asked a student to take a picture of me and another student who was next to me threw her arms around me in this huge hug to be in the picture with me and I was totally OK with it. I had another student who broke down and was terrified before going into the family stay and I calmed her down. I hugged her and talked her down and make her confident enough to be the first one to step off the bus and greet her host family successfully with the traditional kiss on each cheek. Seeing her smile when she realized that she had done it was so rewarding for me I almost cried right there in front of a hundred waiting family members.

I don't think I can describe here how rewarding this experience has been thus far for me. I've grown so close to these kids, answered a milion questions, and helped to give them an even better experience than the one I was fortunate enough to have when I was their age. I am so indescribably proud of them and how well they've done. Our kids make the kids from the other schools we're travelling with look so amateur. They've been speaking in Spanish the whole.entire.time. Even our tour guide said he's never seen students speak as much Spanish as ours have been. They even created games to play on the bus to entertain themsevles, like MASH in Spanish. They are so awesome. So very, very awesome.

Maybe a little bit of that was due to how well we prepared them and were clear as to our expectations, but the other students in our group speak constant English and I've walked behind some of ours in the street during their free time and heard them speaking Spanish to each other, listened at their hotel room doors to see if they were asleep yet (while doing bed checks-so you know I'm not a creeper ;D ) and heard them speaking it to each other. It's so above and beyond anything I was able to do when I was in their shoes and I'm so excited to see where they go from here.


So... anyways, back to the trip. I've now been to Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Sevilla, Granada and now I'm currently camped out in a hotel in Talavera de la Reina in case they need anything during their family stays. It's been so cool to go back and see some of these sights with a guide. I didn't even remember seeing the Alhambra from when I went 10 years ago (good God that makes me feel old) and it's just so nice to be back here in this country that I love so much.


This is the Roman aquaduct in Segovia. It's 2,000 years old and was being used up until a couple of decades ago when modern plumbing finally surpassed its capabilities.



The city of Toledo and the Tajo River as seen from the hill where El Greco painted "Vista de Toledo"



This was the view of the incredible Catedral de Sevilla and the Giralda (now bell tower originally built by Muslims in 11th century to announce the call to prayer) as seen from our hotel's balcony. Gorgeous, no?



A scene from the bullfight that we went to. This deserves a post all of its own considering I'm a former vegetarian and crazy animal lover and actually thought it was cool.



I'll try to upload some more pictures ASAP. Otherwise, I hope you guys back in STL are staying cool with the heat wave. We've been having slightly cooler than average weather here, and it's warm, but I know nothing to complain about.

Take care, miss you all.