¡A bailar!

Today, the students spent a lot of time dancing. We started the morning off with rehearsal for the group dance that will be taking place during the farewell show in two weeks, followed by more dance rehearsal in the afternoon. The students were able to go home for a few hours after classes to relax before coming back to the school for our community event. We met with la Asociación Iguales de Discapacitados Intelectuales to learn a dance to 'The Lion King' (in Spanish, of course) and also play a game in which players were eliminated by having balloons popped. The students thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone, and it was a very special evening!

VIDEO: Medina Azahara y la Mezquita

Enjoy the sights from our excursion yesterday!

¡Vamos a Andalucía!

Yesterday, we took a bus to Andalucía to visit the ruins of Medina Azahara and to learn about the la Mezquita in Córdoba. When we arrived at our first destination, students were greeted by a pack of herding goats! You would have thought they were watching a very important parade by how interested they were in the passing goats. We soon entered a small theater to watch a video that taught the history of Medina Azahara. This was important so that the students would have a good understanding of the purpose of these ruins and the history behind them before getting to walk through them. We then took a short bus ride up the side of the mountain to begin the guided tour. The sun was a little brutal at times, but the temperature was great! 

Our next destination was the city of Córdoba. Students were able to have some free time to explore the city and grab some lunch before our 4:00 guided tour of la Mezquita. We were all in awe at the beautiful architecture of la Mezquita, and students were able to learn a lot about the history of this incredible structure. Afterwards, we had about an hour to grab some water, ice cream, coffee, or do a little bit of shopping before getting onto the bus to head back to Ciudad Real. They were exhausted by the end, but there were lots of smiles throughout the day! 

VIDEO: Campo de Criptana y Toledo

Enjoy the sights from our excursion yesterday!

Un viaje a Toledo

Our first excursion was a success! Students met in the center of Ciudad Real early in the morning to start our trips to Campo de Criptana and Toledo. It was a very quiet bus ride to start the day!

We arrived at Campo de Criptana around 10:00am, and it was there that we learned how the windmills are used to grind wheat and flour. While this is a tourist attraction, it was interesting to learn that the windmills are still used once so that their functions continue to work properly. The students were surprised to learn that the roofs of the windmills can be rotated so that the blades can properly capture the direction of the wind! 

Next we took the bus to Toledo. Upon our arrival, students were greeted with a blast of hot air, but thankfully the city of Toledo has tall buildings with narrow streets that provide for plenty of shade. After a quick lunch and a necessary pitstop at Starbucks (the students were beyond excited), we made our way to the cathedral. We then had a free hour to explore and do some shopping before starting a 2-hour tour through the city. Alberto taught us about the history of Toledo and showed us the old underground water system. Students (and instructors) were exhausted by the end, and, once again, we had a very quiet bus ride back to Ciudad Real.

It was a great day full of beautiful sights and incredible memories! I'm working on a video collage of footage from our excursion, and that will be coming soon!