León 2023: Final Blog Post

This is the final blog post for IUHPFL León 2023. The final write up below is a great opportunity for students and parents to reflect on the positive aspects of the program. We (Katie, Nick and Rachel) want to personally thank ALL the students for their hard work over the past six weeks, and we hope to see some of you in our Spanish courses this fall at IU Bloomington. 

Rachel will be teaching S280: Spanish Grammar in Context (https://spanport.indiana.edu/student-portal/undergraduate/courses/fall/HISP-S280%20.html) and Nick will be teaching S315: Spanish in the Business World (https://spanport.indiana.edu/student-portal/undergraduate/courses/fall/HISP-S315%20.html). 

IUHPFL León 2023

Wishing everyone a wonderful and restful summer!Team León (2023) was led by Nick Blaker, Katie Jonard and Rachel Sangster Garza, all instructors of advanced undergraduate Spanish at Indiana University (Bloomington) and PhD students/candidates in Hispanic Linguistics at the same university. The team led 22 Indiana high school students studying Spanish to León, Spain for six weeks. Students lived with host families, took courses in Spanish culture/literature, linguistics and grammar/communication. Students participated in a variety of activities (e.g., Spanish movie afternoons, tapas tour, a 4th of July celebration with host families that culminated in our traditional tortilla de patatas and apple pie contest, singing/dancing and art). Also, students were able to meet the mayor of León and walk dogs at the local animal shelter (Hotel Canino Las Lomas). The students explored their host city through short visits to the Cathedral, San Isidoro, Plaza Mayor and MUSAC and visited many surrounding cities: Gijón (Asturias), Vigo and the Islas Cíes (Galicia), Astorga (in the province of León), Segovia and Madrid. The most integral excursion of IUHPFL León was student’s participation in the last 12 miles of the famous Camino de Santiago departing from O Pedrouzo (Galicia) and arriving to the center of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia). The time spent in León and Spain not only challenged students to live in a new culture and use Spanish, but also to learn how to become independent and self sufficient individuals for their many future endeavors.