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With Stella and Stefan in Maria Louisa Park. Life has certainly been an adventure during the last two months . we’ve climbed towers, mountains and seen castles, and stumbled a few times along the way. This past month in Sevilla I have been in an intensive language program at a school named Clic. It has provided a wonderful sense of community and I’ve met so many interesting people. My head is spinning with all the grammar we are studying: the four past tenses, por/para, ser/estar, future, conditional… yikes! When you gain a little knowledge, you often realize how much you have yet to learn!
My two closest friends are both from Switzerland (and both speak five languages), you may have seen the pictures already of Stella (who spends 6 months a year in Palm Springs) who has been a journalist, career counselor and has started a foundation in Peru to educate the kids in the village. She is here to study Spanish to better communicate with them. My other friend is Steffan, of Basil Switzerland, who is a pharmaceutical student and semi professional handball player. The boys idolize him and are quick to engage him in a game of futbol. We eat together a couple times a
Angie and Stella
In Plaza de Espana, where a few scenes from one of the Star Wars movies was filmed. week and they have made our stay so much more fun. I also have two Japanese students, here for three and the other for nine months to study Flamenco. Every week, we have a few other students who usually come for a vacation to study, many who choose to live with a family and practice their Spainish. My school, Clic, also offers several programs in the afternoon or at night, many of which our family chooses to participate in. Every Thursday the boys play futbol and bracket the group with their ages of being the youngest and oldest. Across the street is a park where Keenan and I go when we tire of watching. After, we all go out for tapas along the Rio Guadaquivir.
Yesterday was the Feast of San Fernando, and in typical Spanish fashion, everything was closed for the day and there was a big procession of the Virgin Mary atop the remains of San Fernando, a king of Spain in the 1200’s who was later sainted. Their were flowers, candles, a full band and a silver carved flotilla that left the Cathedral with his remains and wove through the crowded streets. San Fernando is celebrated
Keenan
The statues behind here represent three phases of love. here for driving the Moors out of Sevilla. During the day we joined my school field trip through the city and Maria Louisa park; a park donated by princess Maria Louisa in the early 1900’s. Last night we went to a Flamingo show together and had a great time. The guitar is amazing and the song and dance explodes with Passion! The stomping of the shoes, clapping of the hands and strumming of the guitar captivated the kids. Keenan wanted to dance the whole way home. It reminded me of the broadway shows Riverdance and Stomp on a much smaller and more intimate scale.
Last week was the Rocio, a pilgrimage made by five different parishes to Rocio, an hour south. They are met there by several others who have traveled from Cordoba and Granada, and there are plenty of parties along the way, with drinking, song and dance. Our day started by being woken up by loud fireworks to announce the beginning, and then I observed the people singing and playing the guitar, many dressed in traditional Flamenco and formal costume, with carriages pulled by ox and horses. Sevilla is definitely rich in culture and tradition.
Our
Angie and Keenan
With the lovely flowers whose name I forget. daily routine starts with waking around 7:15 to get the kids to the bus at 8:10… and most days with tears and protests. Our first few weeks the kids were celebrities of sorts, and when the dust settled, they have really felt like outsiders. This is both a culture thing where it simply just takes a long time, and a class thing. We seem to have landed in a very elite school where there appears to be a strong class system: today we saw one of the fathers from our bus stop being driven to work in a chauferred Mercedes. When TJ and I went to the parent days, no one spoke to us for at least an hour. There are, of course, exceptions, but imagine that the kids have been at school for 4 weeks, we are both at the bus stop every day, two times a day and no one has asked us what we are doing here, where we live, or how long we are staying. It is unlike any other experience I’ve had in any other Latin culture, where people are anxious to befriend you and make a connection.
That being said, there have been
exceptions, the Mexican born Spanish dad who took us out to lunch, the teachers at my school, our friends in Roquetas (they are British and Zimbabwean), our friends John, Maleni, and Yolanda, and thank God, the two boys, Pablo and Nacho who live in our apartment building. Pablo and Nacho have been such a blessing! Although Pablo speaks English, they mostly talk in Spanish. They play futbol with the boys almost nightly, have had them to their home for dinner and to play PS2 and have been a significant touchstone to this Spanish experience, as I believe that the best way to understand a culture is through relationships. Our experience is so much ricer thanks to them. Our time with John and Maleni and children has been wonderful. While they have provided such an achor to our community, they are 1/2 hour away by train and so at best we see them once a week.
The kids are right on the cusp of exploding in their language, and it’s a shame that we leave Spain in 10 days. Several nights we have heard each of them talking in their sleep in Spanish, and they really understand quite a bit. Tommy watches a video with Spanish subtitles to help his vocabulary. Keenan can roll her “R’s” like no one’s business, and Ryan is quick with adjectives on the futbol field. We go to Roquetas next week for another week of language school. This is a change in plans (we are skipping Barcelona as we have learned that big cities have little interest for our kids), but chosen because we love the school, the beach, and the sense of community there.
So are we glad that we came, have we learned what we had hoped, was it “Vale the Pena (worth it?) Absolutely! I thank God that we’ve been able to have this time with our family, good health, the opportunity to travel and visit other cultures, work on our Spanish, and to study history, art and architecture up close. I am sure that we will be drawing upon this experience for a lifetime. It has created a new lens on life for all of us. I am sure that our kids will never read the paper, study history, think of transportation, politics, or different cultures the same way. They have also learned hard lessons about what it feels like to be an outsider, and I hope they will be more inclusive in the future. The boys seem to have a stronger friendship that I hope is carried back to the US. We’ve had fun playing family games of Uno, scrabble and suduko on the terrace in view of the Alcazar at night, and we’ve ready plenty of great books thanks to Betty Conley’s special care package! It has been a wonderful education and gift to us all…. but it’s not over, we have three weeks to go, and so much to learn, so stay tuned!
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Robin
non-member comment
experiences
Hi Angie, Great entry! It sounds as though you have had quite the trip and the experiences that you and our family have gained are invaluable! We miss you and love catching up on all of your activities each week! See you soon! School will be out a week from today and I believe you come home around the 15th? let us know. Spencer loved TOmmy's catus spear, of course he wants to know how to make one. Cooper cant wait to talk with Ryan about the football experience. Take care. kisses and hugs...Robin