At the end of the Easter holidays, I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of the L6 Spanish exchange to Santiago de Compostela, this was a phenomenal and enriching trip that I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to improve their Spanish in a fun and exciting manner.
It was so lovely to reconnect with our exchange partners are their time in Sevenoaks in January, the experience of living with a new family is unparalleled and I was really lucky to be welcomed into such a lovely family who helped celebrate my birthday. We also saw the beautiful cathedral in the heart of Santiago with such rich history and importance to the area.
Throughout the rest of the trip, we were all spoilt with various fun activities, we explored the headquarters of the fashion company Pull&Bear which was fascinating get an insight into such a giant and complex industry from photo shoots to packaging to collaborations. We also attended classes with our exchange partners, taking both an English and a Philosophy class which were both fascinating and a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the friendly competition on Spanish and English culture on the first day.
We explored the town of Santiago in the evening and at the weekend, my family and I visited the end of the famous Camiño de Santiago, with vast views and beautiful rock formations this was truly awe-inspiring. I also had the pleasure to experience the only river in Europe that ends in a ginormous waterfall, the weather was beautiful, and once again the scenery took my breath away.
We enjoyed various lessons in the school; a cooking class to make the famous Spanish tortilla with eggs and potatoes, a dance class learning the skills to master our salsa and a drama class of the famous Casa de Bernarda Alba which we all really enjoyed.
At the end of the trip, we all shared heartfelt goodbyes amongst the streams of tears and took pictures to commemorate such an unforgettable time. I would like to thank all the teachers involved in this trip, your clever pair matching and thoughtful planning made this a trip I will never forget!
Amelia Ashcroft, L6
During the Easter break, 17 Lower Sixth students travelled to Santiago de Compostela for this year’s Spanish exchange trip after the Spanish students had already visited Sevenoaks in January.
We spent the first morning of our stay visiting the world-famous Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica, learning about the pilgrimages many undertake there. The cathedral was breath-taking, and it was very interesting to learn about its history.
We spent most of the afternoons with our exchange families after school, as well as meeting other Spanish students and visiting the city together. We attended classes with our exchange partners, completing an intro to Latin music and a drama class in Spanish, which I personally enjoyed a lot.
On Friday we went on an excursion to see the impressive offices of the brand Pull&Bear. We took a tour of their incredible storage system and heard an explanation of their business plan. In the evening, all the exchange students went to get dinner together in a typical Galician restaurant and we celebrated the birthdays of four of the students on the trip!
We spent most of the weekend with our families, but on the Sunday we all took a trip together to the beach in the North of Galicia – it was a perfect day to put it simply.
On Monday we returned to school where we were given a cooking class to learn how to make a Spanish tortilla; delicious! We also had a class of Latin dancing which was very enjoyable. Then on Tuesday, both Sevenoaks and Peleteiro students went on an excursion together to the vineyards in Cambados which were very serene.
On the final trip we said a tearful goodbye to the many friends we had made on this unforgettable trip.
Paul Nassar, L6
