Valladolid Homestay: Scavenger Hunt in the City Jan. 15 by Molly B.

Today was our first time seeing each other as a group since we met up with our host families at the train station on Saturday.  It was refreshing for all of us to see familiar faces and speak a little bit of English!  (😧 from Profe Allen who is getting ready to publish this post!)  We all got to share stories of our experiences with our host families and the fun things we have done (and new foods we have tried) with them.  After a bit of catching up, we went on a mini-tour of Valladolid, which included Miguel de Cervantes' house (author of Don Quijote), the Plaza Mayor, and a historic market with different meat and seafood stalls. 

Christopher Columbus died in a convent on the Plaza Mayor here in Valladolid in 1506.

Then, it was time for chocolate con churros!! While eating our new favorite snack, we talked a bit with Heather, the home stay coordinator, about how we are doing in our families and customs we should know.  One of the Spanish customs she told us is that it is considered rude to close the door when you go into your room to hang out because it signifies that you don't want to interact with the family.  This was a surprise to us and made us a bit more aware of how our families could be interpreting actions that are fairly normal to us as rude. 

After this meeting, we went on a scavenger hunt near the Plaza Mayor.  We had to use a map to navigate our way to the official store of Real Valladolid, Campo Grande park to take a picture of the peacocks (which roam freely among people), several statues and various other sites.

This was a fun activity because it allowed us to interact with locals, who were more than willing to help us find where we were going.  It also helped us realize that without GoogleMaps, life is a bit more difficult.  While we are loving time with our host families, today was perfect for us to regroup and spend some much needed time together!