As the plane carrying 22 Parker students took off for Spain, the students were filled with “excitement and nervousness, and still a tang of homesickness,” sophomore Lilah Weed said.
Little did she know what the days of touring, nights spent with her host family, and cultural immersion had in store for her, and how grateful she would be for the experience once it was over.
Planning for the Spanish trip to Seville, Spain, was “no easy feat,” Upper School Spanish Teacher Liz Villagomez said. “There were actually a few logistical issues. We started the application process, and some people went further into it than others. One of the most difficult things logistically was to figure out who was in and who was out, like who was actually going on the trip. This was really important to the rest of the planning since we had to start matching host families and booking tickets and things like that.”
While the exchange program is a unique and valuable experience, it isn’t something new at Parker. Earlier this year, exchange students from Belgium came to Parker for a week, staying with host families and experiencing Chicago culture.
“My host family was really, really welcoming and I always felt included in their family conversations and activities. We would watch movies together and sit by the fire together and eat dinner together everyday. They also really helped me work on my Spanish and only spoke Spanish to me, and if I had any mistakes they would help me,” sophomore Sloane Kins said.
The family pairings weren’t random. Before the trip, each student attending the exchange filled out a survey about their personality and their usual living style, attempting to help them find the closest match for their host family.
“We each filled out a form about ourselves, and then the teachers went on a phone call to match us up with who they thought would be the best fit,” Kins said.
Though the entire trip was an immersive learning experience, some moments stood out in particular.
“One moment that I felt really immersed in the culture and also one of my favorite memories is after eating a long dinner with my host family and their extended family,” Weed said. “I watched a movie with my exchange student and it was really fun.”
School trips are notorious for their ups and downs, the However, there was “no trauma caused by this trip,” and a new funny, laughable event can be added to that collection. “Señor Amo was following us around with a camera the whole time. He took pictures of literally everything. That doesn’t really sound funny now, but it was funny in the moment!” Weed said.
From the food to the Flamenco dance classes, students returned to the halls of Parker with a new sense of Spanish culture, stories from Seville to share with their classmates, and new memories that will last a lifetime.
“Seeing my students, and many of my former students, and just seeing them engage culturally and linguistically with the folks there was just great to see because clearly they had no choice but to practice through Spanish. Seeing the students really immersed in the language is a huge benefit” Villagomez said.
