By Grace Kenworthy '25 (Reporter)
Please note: This article was written in May 2024
This March, Spanish teachers Alejandra Socorro and Cristina Pérez accompanied 16 Friends’ Central students on their trip to Spain. Students included juniors Olivia Anyumba, Alex Aronson, Ciara Barry, Mico Carpiniello, Samantha Ernst, Natalie Gould, Sasha Groch, Elle Jaeger, Grace Kenworthy, Oliver Lederman, Lawson Messe, Julián Robinson, Maia Sevin, Elio Spagnuolo, and seniors Azaria Sifontis and Dalija Interlandi.
After a lengthy eight-hour flight departing from the Philadelphia International Airport, students arrived in Madrid, and a Megabus took them to their hotel. Students spent two nights at Hotel Europa, a beautiful hotel located in the heart of Madrid known as ‘La Puerta del Sol.’
After unpacking at the hotel, the group wasted no time, beginning their stay in Madrid by touring two museums, el Museo Arqueológico and el Palacio Real. On their second day, students took a field trip by bus, about an hour and a half away in the historic city of Toledo. The group spent their day touring several places of worship in Toledo, such as la Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca, el Catedral de Toledo, and the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz. The group’s tour guide Federico taught them all about the history of the coexistence of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Spain. After a restful bus ride back to their hotel in Madrid, students found dinner at el Mercado de San Miguel, a Spanish food market that was reminiscent of the Reading Terminal!
Mico Carpiniello ‘24 describes the Spanish cuisine as “delicious,” an accurate representation of the variety of dishes. Mico recalls, “The food in Spain was definitely a highlight. On our first night in Madrid, we went to an endearing tapas bar where we enjoyed plates of croquetas, jamón ibérico, and cuttlefish. My host family in Sevilla introduced me to ‘palmeiras de huevos,’ a large pastry covered in a sugar glaze and one of my favorite desserts from the trip. ‘Tortilla de patatas,’ a potato-based omelet served cold for any meal, was one of my favorite meals that we had quite often. We also learned the Spanish eating schedule: breakfast in the morning, followed by a ‘bocadillo’ (little sandwich) during midday, lunch around 3:00, ‘merienda’ (snack) at 6:00, and dinner anytime after 9:00, followed by a late-night dessert.”
The final day in Madrid before the students left for Sevilla was packed with tours around the city. Students explored many museums, including el Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and el Museo Nacional del Prado. They enjoyed a picnic lunch at el Parque del Retiro as students spent time together bonding before their trip to Sevilla. A high-speed train took the group from Madrid to Sevilla, where 16 Spaniards eagerly awaited the arrival of their American exchange partners at the train station.
After acclimating to their new Spanish homes and host families, FCS students spent several days at La Preu, the highschool of the Spanish exchange students. Maia Sevin ‘25 describes the experience in her own words: “Something that stood out to me was the discrepancies in the transparency of student success in the United States versus in Spain. In the U.S., grades are private. When the teacher returns your test with the grade in the top right corner, it is your choice to share your grades with the students around you. In Spain, on the other hand, receiving your test grade is a public ordeal. In front of the entire class, the teacher will read off your name and the grade you received on a grading scale of 0-10. The class will cheer for you if you do well, and scold or laugh at you if you do poorly. To the outside eye, this sounds terrible! But in Spain, it is completely normal.” As Maia described, there were many differences between Spanish and American culture, especially in the school environment. Another difference was that La Preu was an entirely academic school, as opposed to the more holistic Friends’ Central. There were no clubs, sports, or extracurriculars of any sort; students didn’t even eat lunch there!
After a week spent at La PreU and going on excursions to nearby cities including Córdoba and Grenada, it was time for spring break! Students at La PreU had a one-week break from school for ‘Semana Santa’ or ‘Holy Week,’ the week before Easter. The city of Sevilla is famous for its seven-day Holy Week festival, attracting thousands of tourists from around the world. During Semana Santa, a series of processions parade throughout the city, depicting the stages of Jesus Christ’s life. ‘Nazarenos,’ dressed in long robes and tall hoods, are people who are repenting for their sins,. These Nazarenos walk alongside the floats, called ‘pasos,’ that visually represent stories of the Christian faith. The processions continue all week long, even through the nights, with thousands of Nazarenos filling the streets of Sevilla. Some students stayed in Sevilla for Semana Santa, and others left the city for a short spring break vacation with their host families. Students agree that this incredible cultural experience was one that they will never forget.
As Semana Santa came to an end, FCS students said their farewells to their exchange partners, who had grown to be their families over just the short three-week exchange. They took a high-speed train from Sevilla back to Madrid, after an emotional goodbye. The group spent their last night in Spain back at Hotel Europa, overlooking the city of Madrid. An early wake-up was shortly followed by a restful eight-hour plane ride home to the beautiful city of Philadelphia, where FCS families eagerly awaited the return of their world travelers.
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