¡A comer!

Team León holding the IU flag in front of the cathedral

Things are going wonderfully in León! Today marked the first day of classes - a moment of initial nerves and eventual reassurance as students realized that they were, in fact, more than capable of taking multiple different courses 100% in Spanish. Tomorrow will begin afternoon activities (Latin dance, theater, and jokes/comedy skits), which everyone is very excited about.

The photo above also shows off our group's return today to the cathedral to do a scavenger hunt for famous and/or obscure landmarks around the downtown area in small teams. Suspense was running high at the end of the afternoon to know which team will claim the coveted León Scavenger Hunt 2017 Grand Prize (to be announced and awarded tomorrow morning in a beautiful ceremony). Apart from providing a bit of healthy competition, the scavenger hunt is also a great way to get students acquainted with the downtown area of León - something they took full advantage of immediately afterward as they split up into smaller groups and headed off toward one of various ice cream establishments to break this week's heat wave.

As promised, below are some photos taken of students enjoying lunch (la comida) at our usual restaurant, Casa Blanca. A number of students sampled gazpacho today, while others had peas with Spanish ham, pasta, fish, or meatballs. Enjoy!

Mikhail, Katey, Helen, and Tessa feeling pretty good about life in Casa Blanca

Isaac, Anthony, Chyan, David, Nick, Trey, Nicole, Jasper, and Gabi thrilled to be eating in León

Maya, Augie, Grace, Sam, Ivy, Julia, Lauren, Paige, Veronica, and Leah smiling about lunch being so great

Reagan, Madison, Nate, Emma, Mikhala, Eleni, and Jade showing off awesome food

Classes will continue as the week progresses until Friday when we have our first official excursion to Astorga and Ponferrada, where we'll see (among other things) a famous palace designed by Gaudí, a chocolate museum, and an ancient Templar castle. Look forward to a long and photo-filled update at the end of the week!

Until then,

~Mark (and Sarah T, Sarah G, and Israel)