Interviewer: Kimberly Mantuano*, ICC Travel Writer

VIP Guest: Carlos Vico, Director of CICA, Centro de Integración y Comunicación Learning Spanish in Spain http://cica.en.wanadoo.es

So we have to walk 100 meters to take a bus, then a subway train, then a regular train, another bus, a plane, and then a what? A boat? Seriously? It was really true. And then we even had to take another bus. Public transportation is, without a doubt, the European way. In the United States, there are only a handful of cities that make it easy to live without a car and the rest of the entire country requires one. Even when the tourists come to Orlando, Florida, they typically rent a car or have a planned itinerary with their hotel to taxi them everywhere. In Europe, the most economical way for the tourist to get around is to walk, bus or train. Some cities, like Rome, for instance are too big to walk to each attraction unless you are staying in the center of town or staying for a long time. The center of town is slightly over my budget - okay, dramatically over my budget. Fortunately, staying in the center of a tourist town isn't my favorite location because I'm always in search of the locals. I'm happy to stay just outside the city and ride the subway train with the Romans going to work in the morning. We all fight each other to get on the train and desperately hang on during the ride so as to not fall on each other. During rush hour, the Rome subway functions similar to the Washington, DC subway. You're shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of people you don't know that apparently don't bathe as often as you do.

View of the Venice "streets" from our gondola ride!

So what brought me to Rome and why did I have to take a boat? Kameron, my 9 year old daughter and I have been taking a slow tour of Europe for over 4 months. We've spent weeks of time each in Germany, Italy, and Spain with a weekend jaunt to Southern France. Doing short, big-city tours prevents you from seeing the real people. I find that a town and its inhabitants unravel so many characteristics during a 4 week timeframe that can't be seen in 3 to 5 days. But since one of my best friends, Jordan was visiting Europe for her first time, Kameron and I decided to accommodate a whirlwind adventure. Our trip would take us in this order to Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, and Milan.

Madrid welcomed us with a place to rest for a couple days and enough time to explore many of the monuments and museums. Since the 3 of us have an appreciation of art, we visited the Prado Museum, displaying masterpieces from the 16th to the 18th centuries, as well as some works from medieval times. To indulge in our appreciation of modern art, we also visited the Reina Sofia Art Center Museum. I had fun explaining to Kameron some of the history of Picasso and Dali while perusing through each room. So often contemporary art leaves you wondering what the artist was thinking. Kameron and I enjoyed staring at some of the paintings without reading the information card to test our perceptive ability to identify with the artist. We were only right about a third of the time. On another day, I took Kameron and Jordan on the search for a building that supposedly has no straight lines, the Palacio Longoria. Once we found it, I was very disappointed to learn that the interior of the building is private and under no circumstances was the armed guard going to let us in. So I took a few pictures of the extraordinary exterior. If it were painted in primary colors, you would swear it should be in a Dr. Seuss book.

Barcelona offers the same type of building scenery. In a network of commercial buildings are these astonishingly creative and decorated ones. The Palace of Catalan Music is in an unsuspecting location and looks like nothing you've ever seen. Forget the Barbie Dream House - they should make dollhouses look like this! Then, of course, there is Gaudi Park. We had the choice of seeing Gaudi Park or taking a field trip to the Police Station, so we chose the Police Station. The rectangular building is painted in neutral colors and has flags on the outside. The officers are very pleasant while they accommodate many foreigners with reporting stolen items. Okay, so unfortunately my girlfriend's wallet was stolen from her bag while we were eating an early lunch, which led us to the police station. I have to admit that the officers were very kind and helpful and quick to resolve urgent matters like canceling credit cards. They were even willing to process the report manually since we had to catch a plane that evening. I must also commend Visa for so efficiently managing her situation in providing immediate cash and a temporary credit card.

Ryanair delivers us safely from Barcelona to Rome. Have you ever been on a flight where the passengers clap when you land? VERY peculiar. Arriving in Italy consumed me with one thought: Italian coffee. Maybe it's strange the things that satisfy me, but I KNEW it would taste just as good as moist, chocolate cake with chocolate icing. It did. Ugh… how do the Italians do it? And it only costs 90 cents. Although, it can cost 4 euros in the Vatican City. In such an amazing place, I guess the coffee SHOULD be at the Starbucks price. In the middle of our 5 days in Rome, we also crammed a day and night in Florence and a handful of hours in Pisa. It was nice to revisit Florence, a town where I don't need a map and feel welcomed by all of our friends at Nettuno’s. It was the perfect place to celebrate Thanksgiving.

After Pisa, we trained back to Rome and spent a couple days rushing around to all the typical sites. I wonder if the Romans notice that there are ruins of columns next to their office building. I wonder if it occurs to them that the Coliseum has been there for almost 2000 years as they whiz past on the 2 lane road, 20 feet from the actual structure. We saw almost everything except the Sistine Chapel. A shame, I know. We did take a tour of the line to get into the Chapel, though. Now THAT was impressive. Apparently, this particular Sunday signified the one Sunday of the month that the entrance to the Chapel is free. In fact, it was almost a 10 minute walk to find the end of the line. We passed groups that looked as though they had been sleeping there the night before. If I had read the travel books ahead of time, I would have known before I forced us to get up at 6am in hopes to gawk at Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Since we had to be at the airport by 3:30, we wanted to take advantage of our last Roman hours. We went back to the Coliseum to be mesmerized one more time. We bargained for a horse and carriage ride and then began the economical path to Venice.

 

Palacio Longorio in Madrid

After our delightful horse and buggy ride, we took the subway to the bus station. We took the bus back to our hotel to catch a taxi to the airport. We flew to Treviso and then took a train to Venice to find the boat that would take us to our hotel. I had written the directions from the hotel's website and was confident that I could make it to the correct boat stop and then ask for walking directions to our hotel. So, with help from a Venetian, we stepped onto the correct boat going in the right direction. It was amazing to actually HAVE to take a boat in order to get to your destination. I had never been to Venice and couldn't understand what a town without streets would be like. But as I had suspected, it was amazing and enchanting.

We find our stop (fortunately it was obvious) and walked to the nearest hotel to ask for directions to OUR hotel. When the concierge laughed out loud, I was a little worried. Then he informed that we have to get back onto the boat and go to the very last stop! Once we finally made it to the last stop, we had to take a bus to get to the edge of the island to find our hotel. No tourist would intentionally stay where we pre-booked our accommodations. I find these kinds of “accidents” to be part of the journey. It's those accidents that make the memory more fun for me.

Lido is where our hotel was located. It's on the edge of the Earth! It's the outermost island off of Venice. In fact, they don't include Lido on most of the Venice maps, but it's a delightful place that exhales small-town charm. Walking the streets of Lido is totally different from walking the streets of Venice. I feel lucky that we accidentally ended up there. Lido actually lured us into staying a couple nights longer and skipping Milan altogether. We would take the ferry boat over to Venice to explore before returning to Lido in the evenings. One day in Venice, we took a gondola ride. The gondolier sang to us and impressed us with historical information. He stated that the population of Venice is 45,000 and they receive 14 million visitors a year! I'm proud to be part of that statistic for this year.

Accidentally booking a hotel in the middle of nowhere or going the “long way” is what I call the scenic route of any adventure. Fortunately, on most of these “scenic” occasions during our European tour, we have nowhere to be except lost trying to find our way. I don't have that directional radar as an innate quality. Getting lost is easy for me whether I'm exploring on foot with a map, on a bus hoping that some monument will prove that we've arrived at my stop, or even following explicit instructions with landmarks and street names. On one occasion, I directed us onto a bus that supposedly went to our hotel. After a forty-five minute tour of a residential area of town, we arrive back to the stop at which we should have exited 39 minutes prior. Another time, I put us on the right bus going the wrong way and after about 40 minutes we return to the exact place we started without ever coming to our stop. Did they put GPS in a wrist watch yet? I need one. In the meantime, I think I’ll start talking to the bus driver beforehand.

I successfully navigate the 3 of us back to Spain and then say good-bye to Jordan as she travels back to the States. Kameron and I unload our backpacks in our rented apartment in Almuñécar, and look forward to relaxing in a beach town through the holiday season. No more buses or trains. No more tickets for the subway. No more research about historical buildings to visit. No more repacking our stuff. Just normal life in a small Spanish town. There are Christmas decorations already hanging above the streets and store windows displaying holiday specials. It'll be a time for absorbing Spanish culture and appreciating simplicity. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

LEARN SPANISH IN SPAIN THIS SUMMER
By Kimberly Mantuano & ICC

Are you an ambitious teenager? Would you like to take a vacation to the beaches of Spain that your parents would approve of? Here's your opportunity. During your summer break from school, visit Southern Spain to hang out on the beach, learn or practice your favorite water sports, and meet people from all over the world. So why will your parents approve? Because you'll be learning Spanish in a safe environment. In fact, Centro de Integración y Comunicación (CICA) is a Spanish school that offers Spanish courses in coordination with various extra-curricular activities catering to the students' preferences.

International Connections Consulting (ICC) sent one of our travel writers to Spain to take Spanish classes at both of CICA's campuses. Not only did she take classes, but she spent a couple of months researching the culture and the people. CICA prides itself on offering incredible programs at a low price. Furthermore, ICC has performed a comparison of many in-country Spanish programs. CICA has such an extra-ordinary success rate for teaching Spanish that the students actually return! The interview below shares some details about the programs and the school.

ICC:"Why should a student choose to learn Spanish at CICA compared to another language school?"

CICA: "The first thing that comes to mind is the location. The second is the quality of the teaching program including our teachers. CICA's main campus is in Almuñécar, which resides in the only subtropical area of Europe. It's a beach town and has so much to offer a visitor and yet it is small enough to manage on foot. No matter where you are in Almuñécar, the beach is within walking distance. Not only do students have their language classes, but each program offers so many exciting activities and excursions specific to Almuñécar and its surroundings. CICA is a language school teaching Spanish. While we do offer English classes to our local Spanish population, our full curriculum is solely for teaching Spanish as a foreign language. Because teaching languages is what we do, we can successfully provide students of all ages with superior language education. CICA's teachers are the best in the industry of teaching a foreign language and are extremely committed to the students."

ICC: "When you say that CICA's full curriculum is for learning a language, does that mean that CICA does not offer other types of courses?"

CICA: "That is correct; although our programs always offer some extra-curricular activities that may have courses as well. For instance, if a student chooses to take advantage of scuba diving or windsurfing, those activities have their own training classes. That training is separate from their language course, but secured and coordinated through CICA. But to answer your question further, we do not offer other types of classes like business, history, or real estate, for example. We specialize in Spanish as a foreign language."

ICC: "So you believe that CICA's location is a key factor in teaching students?"

CICA: "Absolutely. Learning Spanish in a "true" Spanish town is ideal. Almuñécar is the perfect setting because natural Spanish culture still remains, which in turn, provides a Spanish speaking community for students to practice what they've learned when they are not in the classroom. Furthermore, students hoping to enjoy the Spanish culture, get to see the real thing. Our host families are all Spanish and therefore, provide incomparable insight to the Spanish way of life."

ICC: "Do all students stay with host families?"

CICA: "Yes. A host family offers the perfect platform for a youth to live comfortably while learning the language. Since CICA's approach to teaching Spanish is a very communicative one, living with Spanish-speaking people is ideal. Each of our host families have been chosen with our students' needs in mind. The families provide meals, do laundry, and, when appropriate, offer students to join in family outings. Many of our students build everlasting relationships with their host families."

ICC: "Does the host family drive the student to and from their destinations?"

CICA: "Almuñécar is so small that almost everywhere the student needs to be is accessible on foot. Students walk to the school, which is no more than 15 minutes from their family's home. Almost all of the activities are within walking distance as well. The exception is for our excursions, in which we take a bus to and from our destination."

ICC: "Is it safe to send students to overseas programs?"

CICA: "I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but Almuñécar, Spain is very safe, including the entire Granada region. I have lived in this area my whole life and have traveled all over the world. Almuñécar is a small town where most people get around on foot. Even walking alone at night is safe. I have a daughter and would, undoubtedly, send her to this town without worry. Additionally, the student's host family is always concerned about them and their well being. Due to the town being small and quaint, people are aware of each other and look out for each other. I should also state that our youth programs require permission from parents and written agreements with the students regarding their involvement in activities and curfews. This allows us to cater to individual family needs and expectations. CICA also provides 24-hour service to its students, so that they can call at any time if they have a problem."

ICC: "You mentioned that Almuñécar is great for its activities. Can you name a few?"

CICA: "Of course. CICA offers several programs based on the interest of the students. Because Almuñécar is a beach town with sophistication, the location allows us to offer a wide range of activities from water sports to tropical tours. The water sports are very popular. Students can obtain a scuba diving certification and visit some of the most exciting underwater scenery in the world. Some choose to learn to windsurf or take advantage of sailing classes. We also have 1 day excursions to nearby towns such as Granada and the infamous Alhambra, or Nerja and its breathtaking caves. There are Jeep excursions, trekking, or even a visit to Almuñécar's water park. For those hoping for a lighter schedule, many students enjoy sitting on the beach and walking up and down our incredible boardwalk. There are local art classes or flamenco dancing lessons. Almuñécar has so many historical sites, as well proving its long history since first settled around 1500 B.C."

ICC: "CICA boasts about its professors. What makes them so good?"

CICA: "Not only do our professors hold a university degree, but they also hold an SFL (Spanish as a Foreign Language) qualification. This means that our teachers are trained to teach Spanish in every level from beginning to advanced. The education received by the students is always superior. Without a doubt, students complete the program with a number of accomplishments in the foreign language. CICA has one of the highest rates of students returning to take additional Spanish courses."

ICC: "You offer courses in various timeframes, such as 2 weeks or 3 weeks. In your opinion, what program is the most appealing?"

CICA: "It's difficult to suggest a specific program and timeframe because CICA can offer any program based on the student or group's desires. If a student or group is looking to learn some basic Spanish and about the Spanish culture, a 2 week program may be appropriate. If the desire is to learn Spanish as a 2nd language, then 2 weeks is definitely not enough for a beginner. Naturally, the longer the course, the more Spanish the student will learn."

ICC: "Is there a website for people to learn more about your programs?"

CICA: "Yes. Interested parties can review CICA's programs at http://cica.en.wanadoo.es. Almuñécar's website at www.almunecar.info is also a useful resource for learning about the area."

*The interviewer has taken courses from both CICA's campuses in Spain and is willing to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to email Kimberly at kamantuano@bellsouth.net.