Our final day at school found the Wayland students in a role reversal—they were now the teachers! We visited two elementary school English courses to teach them some songs and games in English. “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” Duck, Duck, Goose!, and “Happy Birthday” were among the favorites, both for us and for the niños.
(Clockwise from top of photo) Jamie, Kami, Logan, and Paul teach some third graders a game in English.
Izzy, Emily, Thomas, and their group of third grade boys after an intense game of Red Light, Green Light. Note the bunny ears…
Arielle and Cate giving the girls a ride around the school grounds on “caballito”.
With Sevilla’s famous Feria de Abril just around the corner, it was imperative for us to learn the famous Sevillanas dance moves. Accompanied by our host brothers and sisters, we practiced our palmas, pasadas, and our ¡Olé! (the dance ends with that shouted an accented, out-of-breath finale).
The group in the later stages of the dance course with our teacher, Eva.
Natalya, Lily, Arielle, Taylor, Andrea, Thomas, and a few Spanish host brothers and sisters take a rest during our “Sevillanas” class.
The host parents organized a farewell picnic for us at the school, full of the typical Spanish dishes they had been feeding us all week. In typical Spanish fashion, we had more than enough food, besos, and abrazos to last us the remainder of the trip.
The whole group of Wayland/Aljarafe homestay brothers and sisters (minus Paul and his host brother Manu, who were watching Manu’s soccer team win 12-0!) at our farewell picnic.
Overall, the homestays were an incredible experience for the students from both Wayland and Aljarafe and the host families as well. Everything went off without a hitch, and the only question we were left with was, “¿Y cuándo volvéis?” The entire group was assured that whenever our return might be, we’ve all got a home in Aljarafe.
Just before our final, teary farewell…
Up next, action and adventure in the beautiful Andalusian villages of Grazalema and El Bosque before one final day at the Mediterranean beach town of Nerja. As they say in Spanish, “el tiempo vuela…”