Host Family Day!!

Today our students got to enjoy one of the most notable days of our entire program- host family day! Though of course they get to see their host families every day in the morning and evening, this is the only day where our students get to spend the ENTIRE day with them. Plans for the day differ from family to family, allowing each student to have a totally unique and interesting experience. This is an amazing opportunity for our students to be totally immersed in Spanish, and specifically Mallorquin culture, and they were all very grateful and excited to have the chance to do so!

Sundays are a very sacred day in Spanish culture, traditionally used for relaxing, rejuvenating and most importantly spending time with family and friends. It is a day to totally disconnect from the prior week and take a break before the next work week begins. It isn't at all atypical for families in Spain to have a big lunch with the entire family every Sunday, and some of our students got to experience this very event!

While some students had the opportunity to meet their host family's extended family, other host families had different specific excursions planned. Some examples include: going to swim at a beach only frequented by locals, getting to explore the Cuevas del Drach (very famous caves in Mallorca,) going swimming at the family's pool, exploring Palma further, or even visiting popular "pueblos," or villages in Mallorca like Valldemossa and Soller. Every day leading up to host family day students could be heard excitedly talking about their plans for the day and how much they were looking forward to their different experiences.

Here are some things students said about their experience on host family day:

"Today for Host Family Day we went to my host mother’s parent’s house; “Es Xubec” which means relaxation. It was a gorgeous house with a pool and a view of the Mediterranean Sea. We relaxed (of course), played games, ate Paella (which was delicious!), had other various deserts and fruits, and I got to witness how playful and close the typical Mallorcan family is!" - Ana Lungeanu

"My host family decided to take me to the Rafa Nadal Museum, where they have virtual reality games, as well as a collection of notable athlete’s uniforms and trophies. After that, we made our way to Cala Bona where we had a fantastic meal at Sa Punta. We took a walk along the beach before moving on to the Caves of Drach, which was our final destination. Every trip they planned was perfect, and overall so much fun." - Drew Palmer 

"I really enjoyed host family day because it made me feel much more connected to my host family, and I learned a lot about them / how they live. I got to see a lot of cool places on the island that I probably wouldn’t have seen during the program, and I liked being able to visit places only known to locals!" - Floyd Neesen

"Host family day was so much fun!! After sleeping in and eating a great breakfast, we headed to a beautiful beach. Here we had a relaxing time paddle boarding, snorkeling, and getting to know eachother. We even saw an octopus!!" - Brenna Meinen

I would like to give a huge GRACIAS to our amazing host families for providing our students with such incredible days today, keeping them safe for the duration of the program, and for giving them an experience they will never ever forget!