Living in Spain

In May 2010 I studied abroad in Spain for a month. I lived with a host family and another girl from my college, St. Joseph's. The host family only spoke Spanish, so I was able to practice my speaking and understanding of the language. I also tried different foods that my host Mom made that I normally would not eat at home. I went to school every day and learned more about the language and culture. I lived in a beautiful city called Alicante, right on the beach. Everyday I went to the beach during the siesta. At night we would go to town to eat and hang out. We also watched a bullfight, parades, soccer games, and climbed an old castle. There I met other people from the United States who came from colleges in other states. All of us traveled to other cities like Barcelona and Granada. There were so many things to do there I am sure we did not do all. We saw Flamenco dancers in Granada and climbed to the tallest point in Barcelona.We also visited many monuments, like Alhambra. It was the best experience of my life so far and I would love to go back.

Vocabulary 

Culture- the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time.

Beach- an area covered with sand or small rocks that is next to an ocean or lake.

Siesta-  a regular period of sleep or rest in the afternoon in some countries.

Bullfight- an event that is popular especially in Spain in which a person fights with and usually kills a bull for public entertainment.

Castle- a large building usually with high, thick walls and towers that was built in the past to protect against attack.

Flamenco- a fast and lively Spanish dance, that sometimes tells a story. 

Monuments- a building, statue, etc., that honors a person or even. 

Vocabulary Exercise

Fill in the banks in each sentence with the correct vocabulary word from above. 

1. The king and queen lived in a big ________________ that protected them from dangerous people. 

2. Everyday I take a  ____________ so that for the rest of the day I am not tired. 

3. When I visited Mexico, I wanted to experience the culture. So I went to see a _______________, where a matador and a bull fight each other. 

4. Living in Spain, I got to not only learn about the language but the ______________ as well.

5. I like many different types of dances, but my favorite is the _______________.

6. The White House is a very important _________________ in the United States. 

Grammar Point 

I used a lot of past tense verbs in the paragraph above. First underline the verbs and then write a paragraph about something you did in the past. (Ex- vacation, trip, holiday, etc)