PRESS RELEASE - ¡Viva España!
Revalee Hemken
My husband and I were delighted to travel to Spain with Profe Maria Villagomez to study Spanish and to learn more about the culture and history of Spain. Our group included students as young as 16 and as old as 60. The levels of Spanish proficiency were raw beginners to fairly fluent. What we all shared was excitement about our adventure.
We lodged with Spanish families in the lovely medieval city of Salamanca. We were able to assimilate fairly quickly with the help of our host families. We were grateful for every Spanish class we had at NVC because the families do not speak English. The meals were a big surprise to our American sensibilities. Breakfast is coffee and sweet bread or cookies. Lunch is the big meal of the day. It is late (2 o’clock) and is followed by a siesta. Dinner is a very light meal served between 9 and 10 at night. The Spanish eat churros with wonderful hot chocolate for snack early in the day and tapas for snacks after siesta. We were happy to return to our normal schedule and diet when we returned, but we miss those siestas.
We had classes four hours a day at the Universidad Pontificia, a Dominican University. The University is absolutely beautiful. The professors were friendly and enthusiastic about teaching foreigners how to speak Spanish. We studied grammar, culture, and practiced conversation with different professors. The University offered guided tours of some of the more notable sites in Salamanca. We also enjoyed films in Spanish once a week. We had access to the computer lab once a week to study Spanish and to email our friends and loved ones. Profe Villagomez was very supportive of all the students throughout the three weeks.
We had some very good excursions through the program. We visited Segovia and La Granja one day. We visited the castle where Columbus asked Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand to fund his voyage to discover a shortcut to China. We also viewed a seventeen mile section of the Roman aqueduct which still conveys water. La Granja is a very lavish ‘summer home’ where kings could enjoy country life. We also visited Oporto, Portugal. We enjoyed an excellent walking tour of the city and a port wine facility. Later we had a boat ride on the river that is still used by the Portuguese to export their goods to the world.
We had ample opportunities to experience Spain on our own. Salamanca is set up to make walking a pleasure. There are an amazing number of sites to visit. We enjoyed sharing our discoveries with our classmates and learning about theirs. Shopping in Salamanca is a lot of fun. We also had time to visit other cities on our own. The excellent public transportation system made it easy to visit Madrid.
We absolutely fell in love with the Plaza Mayor. It is the perfect place to sit and visit. We enjoyed the magnums of cerveza often. We visited the Café Novelty where Unamuno and the other intellectuals of his day used to meet. They make the best ice cream in Salamanca, too. We saw the lights turned on the Plaza many times, but we never failed to say, ‘Ahhhh’. Belissima.
We encourage students of Spanish to consider traveling to Spain with NVC in the summer of 2008. The cost is very reasonable. Salamanca is sure to enchant anyone who studies there.