El aeropuerto - Part 2

And how many days has it been? Is it really time to go back to Indiana?

Yes, unfortunately it was. :(


47 days after our arrival at Madrid's Barajas airport, we found ourselves there again, this time - with the students heading home. Having shared a summer full of grammar, vocabulary, laughter, excursions, cultural immersion and gastronomic adventures, our kids took advantage of the final hours they'd have with each other in Spanish. And they even smiled one last time for the Blog!

You went all the way to Spain and ate what?????

Although a few of our students had visited McDonald’s and/or Burger King in León, it wasn’t until we got to bustling capital of Madrid that they were able to enjoy the other American ‘favorites’: Starbuck’s (I am guilty of indulging as well!) and Dunkin Donuts.

Pijamas, pizza y profesores...

Another group shot with pizza, Spanish-style! (Don't be surprised if your students come home and inspect each pie carefully before devouring - they've learned to be wary! Crazy things like tuna and fried eggs can often appear with the sauce and cheese!) Also shown here is our "official" program t-shirt, designed by Maggie, and modeled by students and instructors.

Madrid - Part 6: Una fiesta de pijamas, pizzas y profesores

After a brief swim or siesta upon our return to the residence hall, it was time for the students to tackle what for some may have been the biggest challenge since their arrival here in Spain - the suitcases! With all of their purchases made, the only thing left to do was make sure everything fit inside and that the luggage would "make weight" at the Iberia counter's ever-so-precise scales.

That evening, to conclude both our final excursion and the summer program, we held our last fiesta, complete with pijamas, pizzas y profesores. As the pictures show, there were plenty of smiles and laughs to go around in spite of our impending departure.

Madrid - Part 5

Shown here are two of Madrid's major landmarks, both located in the Puerta del Sol. The sun, also known as kilómetro cero , is the center of the radial network of Spanish roads and the statue, el oso y el madroño by Antonio Navarro Santafé, is easily recognized as the symbol of the city.

Madrid - Part 4

The next stop for our recorrido was the Madrid’s famous “old art” Museo del Prado (as opposed to the “modern” or more contemporary art of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia), which home to more than 7,000 works. Here, students were given the opportunity to see firsthand many of the paintings they had learned about in culture class with Beatriz. A must-see for many of them was “Las Meninas,” by Diego Velázquez.

In the pictures, you can see the busy entrance to the Prado (luckily, we didn't have the extensive wait in the heat that some other visitors did!), the students (posed in front of Spanish artist Goya) and the nearby church of San Jerónimo el Real.