It was popular Swiss student Kurt Bichsel’s last day at the Mester Spanish Academy in Salamanca today – and we saw him off in style with an international lunch for himself and the group he’s been studying with.
The farewell party!
The class, lead by teacher Maria, is made up of a wide selection of nationalities, making for a varied and enjoyable lunch and a great way to get to know other cultures! The students, who hailed as far as from China, South Africa, Sweden and Holland, each brought a typical food of their country. And all this was washed down with a glass of cava and a orange refreshment (the colour of Holland!) to celebrate the day of the Dutch Queen! In fact, the Dutch girls even put on their orange face paint, taking the day very seriously indeed!
At work making the lunch!
The food was a great success and all cooked in class. There were Chinese style ribs, Spanish tortilla, pannekoeken and drop stroopwafels from Holland and the star plate, cooked by the party’s host Kurt,fideua de sepia (a squid noodle dish). Dessert was taken care of by teacher Maria, who had made “leche frita” (fried milk) and arroz con leche (rice pudding) for the event.
The day was a great way to show how doing things such as a Spanish course in Spain is a great way to make international friendships and open your eyes to things you could never do should you stay in your own country. Everyone’s in the same boat – in a new country, away from home and wanting to meet new people, try new experiences, widen their horizons and better their Spanish. The activities organised by Mester (see our Salamanca activity programme!) are a great way to aid this bonding as well as consolidate the Spanish learnt in the classroom, trying it out in a social atmosphere.
Kurt, teacher Maria and students
In fact, food is often a major part of the social activities we organise – from Spanish cookery classes to typical Spanish meals to tapas tours through the city to chocolate and churros for breakfast in class, the Spanish culture of social eating is always a popular hit with the students!
Keeping up to date with all these activities is easy if you make Mester your “Facebook friend“. It is here you can also see photos and reviews of all the events, contact your classmates and keep up to date with all the local news in Spain.
All that’s left for us is to bid farewell and a safe journey home to Kurt, to thank him for his enthusiasm in making this day a special one and to wish all Mester students, including Kurt, a very happy weekend!
