The Traveler's Account

The following is a multimedia account on a Study Abroad trip to Spain from Honors student Candice Fleming...

VALENCIA

In May, 2010 I went to Valencia, Spain to complete my Practicum II requirement through Longwood University. This experience has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I observed and taught at Caxton College during the day, and on the weeknights and weekends explored the city of Valencia.

 

Places to Visit in Valencia

Valenica has many things to offer its residents and visitors. The historic center is a great place to eat, shop, and sightsee. Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Plaza de la Reina, and Plaza de la Virgen are all close together and great places to shop for souvenirs, take pictures, and eat at ice cream shops and restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plaza del Ayuntamiento is home to the post office and Town Hall along with fountains and flower stalls. On our first full day in Valencia, the group met in this plaza for a tour. The Cathedral is located a short walk from Plaza del Ayuntamiento, in between Plaza de la Reina and Plaza de la Virgen. The Cathedral is a great place to attend mass on Sunday. The Cathedral was built on the site of a Muslim mosque after the city was taken back from the Moors and showcases many different architectural styles. The Cathedral is also home to the left arm of San Vicente that can be found behind the main alter. Not only can you find the Cathedral in Plaza de la Reina, but you can also find great souvenir shopping and many restaurants and cafes. Plaza de la Virgen contains an entrance to the Cathedral, has many cafes and hosts many festivities throughout the year.

 

Also located in the historic center are the Central Market, Torres de Serranos, and Estación del Norte. The Central Market has hundreds of indoor stalls and sells vegetables, spices, meat, seafood, and much more. Even if you don't buy anything, the people, smells, and architecture are more than enough reason to walk through the market. The Torres de Serranos are towers that date from the 14th-century and are worth the climb to the top for the view of the Río Turia and the city. Estación del Norte is a beautiful train station in the historic center. 

 

The Turia Riverbed is another place to visit in the city. It is what remains of the diverted river that has been transformed into a park, soccer fields, and playgrounds. The riverbed is a great place for a walk, run, or just reading a book. Even if you just walk through the park to get somewhere else, it is worth it! While we were in Valencia, the riverbed also hosted a festival of nations full of shopping, food, and entertainment from countries around the world. On one end of the park is Bioparc, a new animal park, and on the other end is the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

 

Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias is a must-see when visiting Valencia. One of Valencia's own, Santiago Calatrava, designed the City of Arts and Sciences. The area contains Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (an opera house), the Hemisféric (an IMAX dome), the Science Museum Príncipe Felipe, Umbracle (a car park and walkway), Ágora, and the Oceanográfic (the aquarium). All are worth seeing, but the aquarium is very impressive with its tunnels of water surrounding you with the ocean life, aquariums dedicated to different parts of the world, and dolphin shows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located near Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias is a new shopping center called Aqua that is a great place to stop in if you are interested in shopping while in Valencia. Another place to shop while in Valencia, and the one I recommend, is Calle Colón. It is a stretch of shopping located on the eastern edge of the historic center. It is always busy and has three Corte Inglés along its stretch.

Just a short metro ride away is the beach! With the beach so close to Valencia, there is no excuse not to go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places to Visit Outside of Valencia

We also took some trips to places outside of Valencia. The first weekend in Spain we went to Granada, a city in southern Spain. We took a bus and left on a Friday and came back on a Sunday. In Granada we saw the Cathedral, Alhambra, and a flamenco show. Alhambra is a palace built by the Moors in the 14th-century and was later used by Christian rulers. We also went to the nearby town of Fuente Vaqueros, the birthplace of Federico García Lorca a famous playwright and poet.

 

 

We took another trip on the second weekend to Sagunto. There we saw a restored Roman theater and castle ruins that contain remains from many different architectural periods. We were able to climb through the ruins and see amazing views of the city and plains below! After visiting the ruins, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Canet Beach near Sagunto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our last weekend in Spain, we went to Peñíscola. The old city is surrounded by city walls and at the top of the winding streets sits a castle with magnificent views! The castle and area have a long history and was promoted by the Knights Templar. Its most famous occupant was Pope Luna, Benedict XIII. After touring the castle we spent the afternoon on the beach and shopping in the small shops.

 

There are some customs and courtesies in Spain that are different than in the United States. When meeting someone, you do not shake their hand. You must give dos besitos, one kiss for each cheek. Another custom in Spain is to eat lunch, the largest meal of the day, at about about 1-2pm, and dinner at about 9-10pm. At first it may seem difficult to adjust to a later schedule, but I found if I ate a snack during the day that I soon became accustomed to the late dinners. In Spain, everything is open later, people stay out later, and even the children are out until late at night and still get up early in the morning to start a new day.

Homestay Experience

Every student stayed with a host family, and each family was different. Some families were older, had kids, or were single. Some students had their own room while some students shared a room with another student from the program. My roommate and I had a great experience with our family. We ate dinner with them almost every night and spent time with them on the weekends. Our host mom was more than willing to help us with whatever we needed. She showed us our bus stops for Caxton, helped us buy things, gave us directions and even took us to dinner on our last night. Our host family was there to help us in anyway, and we were able to ask them any questions we had. We really enjoyed staying with our family, and it was a great experience both for us and them!

 

Every family was located a short distance from the American Institute. The American Institute was there to help us with any problems we had. Practicum students did not have many reasons to go to the institute, but the other students in the program had class there every day.

 

A typical day for my roommate and I was very busy. Everyone's experience depended on their host family and what they wanted to see and do. My roommate and I woke up, got ready for school, and made our breakfast. We walked to the bus stop and took the bus with the Caxton students to Caxton College. We would return home from school at about 5:30pm and then go out into the city to explore. We would get back home at about 9:00pm to eat dinner with our family and then work on homework before bed. The weekends were for excursions with the program and any plans we made on our own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food

The food we ate in Spain depended on our families also. I think our host mom tried to make food she thought we would like, but some of the other students on the trip had to be more adventurous. I highly recommend you try tapas and paella while in Valencia! Our trip included eating these as a group as part of the program. Tapas are small portions of food and can make up a meal or just be an appetizer. Paella is rice, meat, and vegetables. Valencia is on the coast so seafood is very popular along with olive oil and famous Valencia oranges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valenciano

Valencia also has its own dialect, or language depending on who you talk to. Everyone speaks Spanish, but most can also speak Valenciano. Most street signs are written in Valenciano, but it is not hard to figure out because it closely resembles Spanish. Kids learn it in school, and it is even taught at Caxton. My Caxton class went on a field trip to a play, and I was surprised to find it was in Valenciano. There are also television channels in Valenciano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practicum II: Caxton College

School Information

Caxton College, founded in 1987, is a private British day and boarding school located about twenty minutes north of Valencia, Spain in Puçol. The curriculum is based on the British National Curriculum with certain aspects of the Spanish system. The students take all classes in English except Spanish and Social Studies. Students can begin to attend the school at the age of one and continue until Year 13 when they are about eighteen years old. Both local and foreign children attend the school with a growing number of students from other countries. Caxton College offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities for its students including modern dance, judo, tennis, Chinese, piano and soccer. The school also offers summer English and Spanish courses.

More information can be found at www.caxtoncollege.com.

 

Practicum Student Information 

On the first day of school, Practicum students were presented with a packet of papers. We were given a class list, staff handbook, primary checklist, and an objectives booklet for the year we were with along with some other information. The class list was intimidating at first, but even though all of my students were Spanish, I knew all of their names by the end of the second full day. The staff handbook was good to read through to see what was expected of the staff so as a practicum student, I could act accordingly. The primary checklist outlined dates for meetings, field trips, and other important dates. The objectives handbook was very helpful when creating lesson plans and for seeing what the students had learned and still needed to learn before the end of the year. It was good to become familiar with the objectives, especially the objectives the students needed to meet while I was at Caxton.

 

While the days at school seemed long, there are many opportunities to work on homework with time after school for exploring the city. I was with Year 1, and a day for me started with getting on the school bus at about 8:50am and then arriving at the school at about 9:15am. The students arrived at the same time and put their things away, getting ready for the day. At 9:30 attendance was taken, and the first session started at 9:40. Every day the sessions and their order were different, but each day included Numeracy, Literacy, and Spanish. The students would also have Music, P.E., Art, and Topic (Social Studies or Science) depending on the day. During Spanish, Music, and P.E, practicum students were allowed to go work on homework in the lounge, but we could attend these classes with the students. I enjoyed going to a few to see the students in other settings and interacting in different ways.

After attendance, there were two 50minute sessions and then at 11:20am we would go to a 30minute break. The students would go have a snack outside, while the teachers prepared for another session or would have their own break in the teachers' lounge. Practicum students normally went to the lounge to work on homework, eat a snack, or just take a break. At 11:50 two more 50minute sessions began. At 1:30pm, students left for lunch and extracurricular activities until 3:00pm. During this time, we ate lunch and then went to the computer lab or teachers lounge to work on homework or read. After lunchtime, the students had two more 50minute sessions. For Year 1 they were Art, Topic, Assembly, or Open Doors followed by a session of Snack, Play and Story. Art was done in the classroom with the classroom teacher, Assembly was a time for all the students in Year 1 to get together and do different activities, and Open Doors was a time for students to go to different classrooms and have free play or organized activities.

After the last session, students would either go to more extracurricular activities or home. We normally returned home at about 5:30pm. It was a long day, but the breaks during the day really helped it to go by quickly. In Year 1, along with working with the classroom teacher, there was also a teacher's assistant who spoke Spanish and helped the students make the transition to only speaking English in the classroom. 

 

The American education system varies depending on state, district, and school system. The variations can be linked to funding, resources, teachers, and administration. These differences make it hard to compare Caxton College to the American school system, especially since Caxton is a private school with a majority of the students speaking Spanish as their first language. Caxton College has many great resources for their students both inside and outside the classroom, dedicated teachers, and amazing support staff. Just like in American schools, students are expected to learn certain content by the end of the year. Teachers at Caxton College face the same challenges and rewards American teachers face such as completing all the objectives, behavioral problems, parental involvement, and student understanding.

 

Tips for living in Valencia

• Wear a watch!

• Get a metro card. You will use it!

• Use Spanish if you can! No one will get mad at you for trying!

• Respect your host family. Let them know if you will not be there for dinner and try to help them out.

• Make a list of places to see if you are interested, but also just go explore. You never know what you may find!

• Try the food. You may think you won't like it, but you never know unless you try!

• In Valencia, not much happens until about midnight or later. Some places stay open until 6 or 7am!

 

Works Cited

Roddis, Miles. (2010). Valencia Encounter. Lonely Planet.