Spain

Every other year I take a group of students abroad so they can test out their speaking skills first-hand. The last few trips have been mission trips where students build houses, and the third-world country environment has them too scared to sneak out at night to cause any shenanigans. I get nervous taking students to Europe as it is always a battle with drinking age, sneaking out, and wandering off. The amount of work that goes into a Europe trip far surpasses that of any other kind of travel that we do so it always makes me a nervous wreck. This years group was a tight-knit group of 12 that had all just graduated. They were a fun-loving bunch that were fairly well traveled and had great language abilities. One of the highlights of the trip for me was when many Spaniards mistook us for Europeans instead of Americans. Most of them did a great job using their Spanish and conversing with the Spaniards. 

Our group in Park Guell, Barcelona.

Despite the exhaustion, Montjuic was amazing. 

I love the history, narrow paths, and cobblestone streets of the tiny cities in Spain. 

Girona was a new city for me this year as I have never been, but it was beautiful and one of my new favorite places to roam the streets of Spain.

We were so blessed to meet Lola who helped explain all of the intricacies of each city. In addition to traveling with Lola, we shared transportation with a group from Ohio. They were a little lower-key than our group as they were usually home by 10 and went to sleep. Our group...seldom a night they were asleep before 4AM. The 6:30 wake up calls were a bit rough. They definitely made the most of every minute in Spain, not a second was wasted.