9th-GRADERS VISIT SPAIN

FROM A CHAPERONE'S PERSPECTIVE

by Emily Barth

THE 9TH-GRADE CLASS and their chaperones kicked off their grand adventure in Spain with a truly harrowing two days bustling between international phone calls and late-night shuttles and a string of flight delays. You could say the trip did not get off to a promising start. But our intrepid crew learned a valuable lesson about resilience and the power of positive thinking, because our troubles were forgotten from the instant we reached the Hotel Almijara and dipped our toes into the Mediterranean Sea.

Our home base was the cozy coastal hamlet of La Herradura, which means “the horse-shoe” in Spanish, referring to the shape of the town’s coastline. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the first full day in Spain would set the tone for the rest of the trip in a number of ways. We did a lot of steep hiking and ate a lot of delicious food, and our brilliant local guides, Carlos and Marie-Josée, felt like family from the very beginning.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

To help us get our bearings, our guides led us on a walking tour from one end of town to the other on the first day. We got our first culture shock when we passed a house where an elderly woman sat in the shade of fruit trees in her front yard. Carlos stopped us and asked, “What do you think—would it be alright for us to ask this lady for some of her lemons? Is that something that you would do?” As a group, we Americans shifted around uncomfortably and muttered “no,” but to our surprise Carlos struck up a conversation with the woman (a complete stranger to him) and politely requested a lemon. She showered us with half a dozen, giving us not only a taste of fresh citrus, but also a taste of the generous community spirit of Mediterranean Spain.

We strengthened our own sense of community with a nightly circle every evening, where we discussed the highlights and take-aways of the day’s ventures. Each mealtime also gave us an opportunity to reflect together and boost community morale. At first, we were a little put off by the sheer length of time allotted for every single breakfast, lunch, and late-night dinner, which lasted hours. But by the time the trip was over, some of us were thinking that we’d really miss the extra time for the companionship and leisurely conversation that comes with a long Spanish dining experience.

As it turned out, the best way to overcome cultural barriers was to jump right in. A scavenger hunt on the second day of the trip challenged us to kick our Spanish skills into high gear. We took it out of the classroom and into the streets, where we had to ask local townspeople for directions and information using not only language skills but also a combination of body language, charades, and good humor. These, we learned, are the real keys to crosscultural communication. They came in handy later in the week when we visited a classroom full of Spanish teenagers in the neighboring town of Almuñécar. Nervous tension quickly gave way to enthusiastic new friendships once everyone began to realize how much they had in common.

THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

Another common theme of the week was an appreciation for traditional craftsmanship and hard work. Through observation and first-hand experience, we learned the value of producing useful and beautiful things with skill and perseverance. We observed the construction of a Spanish guitar, the process of making chocolate from cacao trees, the crafting of rugs and tapestries on a traditional weaving loom, and even the methods used by the ancient Phoenicians for salting and preserving fish.

Traditional craftsmanship played a big role in the remote mountain villages of Pampaneira and Bubión, which were first built by Moorish Muslims seeking refuge after the Christian Reconquista of Spain. Isolated from the outside world for generations, the towns’ inhabitants had to be strong and self-sufficient in order to survive. They also took great pride in irrigating the land and transforming a harsh environment into a thriving oasis. On a four-hour hike across the countryside from village to village, we walked the same rocky paths that the original settlers of the region followed over five hundred years ago.

A hike through the Spanish countryside.

On the last day of the trip, it was our 9th-graders’ turn to do some work. They spent a morning of community service clearing weeds from mango trees on an organic fruit farm. Afterward, they laboriously prepared a delicious paella dinner from raw ingredients grown on the farm. In my opinion, they served up the best paella of the trip—and not just because of the extra labor of love that went into it!

DEEPLY ROOTED IN HISTORY

Kayaking. Snorkeling in the cove. Visiting the fish market. Petting silkworms. Seagulls in the castillo. Fresh churros and chocolate. Dancing flamenco. There’s simply too much to cover in one short summary, but it wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our day trip to Granada.

Valley Schoo 9th-graders explore Alhambra.

The crowning jewel of Granada is the Alhambra, a medieval palace and fortress built by Muslim Moors during their 800-year rule in Spain. The culture that created the Alhambra was expelled from the continent five hundred years ago, but their scientific and artistic achievements still dominate the landscape and affect everyday life in modern Spain. The sheer scope of visible history in Spain is eye-opening for Americans. Over here, in the U.S., something is considered antique if it’s a mere one or two centuries old. Over there, we scrambled up walls and streets that were built two or even three millennia ago. Again and again throughout our trip, we saw layers of history preserved in the stone around us. As different civilizations established themselves in the region—from the Phoenicians and ancient Romans to the Moors and Castilian Christians—each built upon foundations laid by those who came before.

One of our deepest and most challenging nightly circles focused on questions of cultural exchange, from a historical perspective. What are the benefits of living in a multi-cultural society? What are the potential pitfalls and sources of conflict? As always, our 9th-graders had deep insights and thoughtprovoking observations to share on the topic.

“Our trip to Spain may be over, but it will continue to impact our lives just like the legacy of past civilizations lives on in the Costa del Sol.”