SPAIN!

Hope everyones first week of school (and first long weekend) went really well.  I am in Spain! Today is my last day in Spain and then we are headed to Morocco. I already boarded the ship for our next segment at sea. While in Spain I visited 2 cities: Cadiz and Seville.  In Cadiz I explored the city by wandering through the side streets and getting really lost.  I started to learn the city this way though, and by the end could kind of find my way around.  I spent a day at the beach in Cadiz as well.  It was nice to swim in the atlantic ocean and spend some time relaxing.  In Seville I visited an ancient royal palace. Part of the palace is still in use today. It was awesome, some parts of the old palace were still functional, although not used (including a bath house powered by rain water).  This palace is the location of where Christopher Columbus's voyage was planned and put in action.  I also visited the Cathedral in Seville. The cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in the world!  It was very cool, and was also the location of Christopher Columbus's tomb!  The last thing I did in Seville was attend a bullfight.

The food- Something that I really enjoy about traveling is experiencing the food in different cultures. In Spain they really love their ham. Their ham is different than ours though. It is sliced very thin (like bacon) but not crunchy.  It is very different than anything we have in the U.S.. It is very common though and is considered quite a treat.  Also, the time scale of a typical Spanish day is very different than ours.  They have breakfast a little later than us and then start work/school a little later than us also.  They have lunch around 1-2pm and then return home for a Siesta (nap). Most of the city closes down during the siesta time (including stores and restaurants).  After siesta the restaurants open for 'Tapas' which are small plates of food. They are sometimes the same meals you can get during meals, but are smaller versions, and sometimes are different than other meals. These tapas are relatively inexpensive and are usually served from about 4-6 pm.  At this point many people return to work for the evening. Dinner is not served until about 10 pm!  It took a little while to get used to the new schedule, but once we did, it was pretty nice.  Other meals that I ate while in Spain include : Calamari (fried squid), potato and egg sandwich, marinated bulls tails, and helado (ice cream!).

I will update more later, but I would love to hear from you in the mean time. It would be especially nice to know which teachers are using the blog, and how you are incorporating this into your classroom. Please email me at amdryer@semesteratsea.net.