To travel abroad is to immerse yourself in another culture, and students from West, City and Liberty High Schools got the opportunity to do just that over Spring Break for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Spanish students visited Spain, while students studying French visited France. The trips spanned the entirety of Spring Break, and students got to see a lot of different sights and also live with host families for a short period of time. 

The France trip began in the east of France in a town called Annecy, where students split up to visit their host families and stay with them for four to five days. “My family was so, so nice. They didn’t really speak English […] so I was speaking French the entire time.” said Briar Martin ’24. Students went to school with their host siblings and did other activities such as hiking and skiing in the surrounding mountains. After the host stay, the group got back together and traveled to Paris by train.

There, the group visited many different places, however they were not able to visit the catacombs or go up the Eiffel Tower because of the worker strikes happening in Paris. They visited other sights such as the Musee d’Orsay, the Chateau de Versailles and the Musée de Cluny. In the final days of the trip, students traveled around in groups and got a little more freedom to choose their activities, doing things such as shopping or taking a river ride in a bateau mouche. 

The trip to Spain visited four major cities: Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Seville. They also made stops at the Prado and Reina Sofía museums in Madrid, El Escorial, the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Roman Aqueduct, the Alcázar of Segovia and the Primada Cathedral of Toledo.

“I loved the aqueduct in Segovia. I didn’t realize that it was there, so we were on our bus driving to Segovia and then we got off and it was just this beautiful aqueduct. It was amazing to be able to actually be like, right next to it. And that was my favorite day.” said Clare Hollenbeck ’23. After traveling throughout Spain for the first half of the trip, the students were sent to their host families who lived in Seville and surrounding areas. “As you may expect, it was a daring moment because the students were going to be immersed in the culture and the language,” said West High Spanish teacher Javier Montilla. “From what I perceived; the families were so happy to welcome the kids into their homes. I suspected that it was going to be the best part of the trip for the students, because of the extraordinary connections they would form with their Spanish families.”

While going on a language trip is a big undertaking, students agree that the experience gained on the trips makes it worth it. “Honestly, definitely try it even if you’re really nervous about it,” said Hollenbeck. “It was a lot of firsts for me and I was really nervous, but I still tried it. […] Just try it out, it’s cool!”