Over the winter break, students and teachers alike enjoyed their vacations. Some used them to get a little rest, hang out with friends while some lucky ones got the opportunity to travel to other states for their times off. Ms. Koss, a Spanish teacher at Jacksonville High School, had other break-time festivities, however. For four days, Ms. Koss traveled to visit several gorgeous cities in Spain to gain more experience for her upcoming trip in the summer.
In early June, Koss and fellow foreign language teacher, Mrs. Lynette Cervi, are embarking on a trip to Spain with several students who are in Spanish 4/5. On this journey, the group will be going to cities such as Madrid, Seville, Toledo, and Costa del Sol. To prepare for this, Ms. Koss went to the Madrid and Toledo in order to get more of a feel for the way the trip was to be set up.
In these cities, she visited iconic sites such as the Palacio Real, el Museo de Prado, and St. Mary’s Synagogue. Some of her favorite times of the journey, however, were when she had free time to explore herself. Koss said that she enjoyed “getting the chance to try new foods and finding [her] way around using the Metro.”
On this four-day journey, the Spanish teacher was immersed into the culture of Spain. She noticed that the Spaniards “take more time to enjoy life” and are very “proud of their country’s culture.” On New Year’s, Ms. Koss got the chance to take part in Las Doce Uvas (the Twelve Grapes) at the Puerta del Sol. This interesting tradition involves placing one grape in your mouth for the last twelve seconds of the New Year countdown. Each grape represents luck and prosperity, and Koss was excited that she managed to accomplish this.
This luck will undoubtedly be needed this summer when the large group goes to Spain. Ms. Koss is glad that she was able to experience this quick trip to Spain and was happy to be able to get an idea of what the upcoming trip is going to be like. With this memorable experience in hand, Ms. Koss “can’t wait” for the life-altering trip in June.