!Muy buenos días a todos!
After a long and adventurous journey from JFK to Cádiz, I am happy to report that we have all arrived in one piece and spent the weekend exploring our new city! As those of you whose children traveled with Annika and I may already know, on both Thursday and Friday in JFK and in Madrid, we ran into several unexpected bumps in the road that delayed our arrival in Cádiz. Ultimately, the last group to arrive got in at about 11pm local time on Friday night, where our host families and our Spain-based team were waiting to help us into our new homes.
While I was honored and excited to be spending the summer with your children long before meeting them, I have to say that now more than ever I am absolutely thrilled. Every single member of our group kept a positive attitude throughout our journey, even in the moments when we were most tired. They were helpful, attentive, and responsive during all 24+ hours in transit. You should be very proud of each of them!
On late Saturday morning after a night´s rest, our group went on a walking tour of the city lead by one of our Spanish staff members, Victor. We ate lunch all together in a tapas spot in the city center, taking our time to enjoy lots of little plates (as the Spanish do!) After that, we held orientation, explaining the sequence and rules of the program to the group, and spent the rest of the evening assisting students to buy any items they needed before they headed home for dinner. Children staying at the residency came with me to the supermarket to buy food supplies.
As everyone was incredibly tired heading into Sunday, we decided to take a relaxing day at Playa Victoria, one of Cádiz´s most loved beaches. The group played beach soccer, beach volleyball, swam in the water, some did a bit of summer reading in the shade. Typically, weekends are used for excursions outside of the city, however this weekend we decided to keep it local seeing that everyone was very tired and anxious to get to know each other.
Today classes began in the morning and the group´s energy levels seem to be back to normal after our tiring weekend! I am attaching a calendar for the week to this email so you can follow along with what your children will be doing during their first full week in Spain.