sekretariat@cpg-gilching.de 
January 15th
Our first week in Logroño is over and I can say it’s been quite a week. Going to Spain, living in a new family, speaking another language and meeting so many new people has been very exciting. Speaking Spanish in Spain is very different from speaking Spanish in class. The only thing I was able to say the first few days was ,,gracias“ and ,,sí“. And I wasn’t that bad in class in Germany.
Our school in Spain starts at 8.30 a.m. That’s very fortunate because so I can sleep longer and I also live next to the school so I don’t have to get up till 7.45 a.m. Although you may think I sleep a lot. I don’t because a Spanish day is longer. Normally we eat dinner between 9 and 10 p.m and go to bed at 11 p.m or later. But I might add that they have a so called siesta. That means they take a nap after lunch. At the beginning I was so confused because in Germany it usually has been my most productive time of the day and here they sleep😂. Spanish school is very different than ours, for example they only have one 30 minute break and that’s the only time they can go to the toilet. Furthermore they have every subject three or four times a week. That means more homework for us. A thing I really miss, is the interaction between the students during class because all students sit alone with their own table and they don’t have any group work. Nevertheless the relationships in school are stronger, especially between students and teachers. Probably because the students call their teachers by their first name. Moreover they have an extra class, called Tutoría where the class and their tutor do stuff to strengthen the class bond or talk about problems. In my opinion we should also have that in Germany because a good class atmosphere is essential for learning with fun and the mental health of everyone since we spend half our day with our class. On Friday Emma and I have been to an Escape Room with our exchange students Alba and Rebeca. The setting was in medieval style and it made you feel as if you had travelled in time. Afterwards we walked through Logroño and ate tortillas de patata. They are delicious. If you ever go to Spain you have to try them. Spanish food is outstanding especially the jamón. In Spain people eat it all the time and everywhere you go you will see teenager eating chuches. Chuches are chips or sweets. Very famous are the salted sunflower seeds.
Well, that’s it. I am excited to see what this week will hold for me.
Briana Larkin
