One of the highlights of Middle School is the trip to Spain. While we won’t be able to take students on a tour of Spain this year, Sam and Quique from Chill Expeditions, the tour group we used previously, prepared an interactive virtual tour this past week! Each morning, students used their Spanish skills to talk with Sam (from Spain) and Quique (from Costa Rica), and other Spanish tour guides. They learned about a different topic each day, including the idea of an “expedition mentality” when traveling, the Alhambra palace and geometric tiling, hand-crafting Spanish guitars, and the art of Flamenco. Students saw sights and tried their hands (and feet!) at creating some of what they saw and also researching to find background information.
Students learned about the citadel “La Alhambra” and the use of mosaic tile in geometric patterns. The geometric compositions are based on the concept of tessellation, repeating patterns of shapes that cover a plane with no gaps or overlaps. Students tried their hands at creating some of those patterns.
On Wednesday, students learned from Spanish guitar maker Stephen Hill about his craft and created their own rosette patterns. Guitar making is an intricate and romantic aspect of Spanish culture.
Originally from Southern Spain, the art of Flamenco is much more than just a dance; it is considered a culture in and of itself. The genre is composed of music, dance, hand-clapping, finger-snapping, and beautiful costumes. The students took a crash course in Flamenco to get a taste of this complex dance.
We hope that students will be inspired to travel to see these sights in person someday.
