Foreign Language--High School--Rebecca Blumenfeld
George Washington Carver High/Birmingham City Schools
The city of Santiago from the top of Cerro Santa Lucia is breathtaking.
The Learning Adventure of a Lifetime--Project Summary: | |||
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On June 3, 2014, I departed Birmingham, AL for Santiago,
Chile to set forth on the learning adventure of a lifetime.
Ten hours after leaving Birmingham, I arrived at my
gracious Chilean host family's door. For the next five
weeks I lived and breathed the Spanish language, Chilean
culture, and Peruvian culture -- a dream come true for this
high school Spanish teacher! My first four weeks were spent in Santiago. I began my mornings in a language school where I worked on my fluency by having conversations with people from all over the world. We spoke in Spanish about current world events and compared practices in our home countries. Once a week I co-taught in an English as a Foreign Language classroom. I still get a rush of excitement when I think about my time with the students at Escuela Luis Matte. When I was not in a classroom, I spent my time in the streets of Santiago observing life and visiting museums to gather more knowledge about Chile. I will never forget the power of visiting the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. Although it has been almost 25 years since the Pinochet dictatorship, it is still very much a part of Chilean life. After my time in Santiago ended, I was off to Peru to learn about the Inca Empire. I started in the once Inca capital Cusco. Next, I was off to Machu Picchu. After climbing Huayna Picchu, I took a tour of the ruins and was briefed on the purpose of each area. My last stop was Lima. Here I learned about the era of time in Peru known as the Internal Conflict. It was truly an incredible five weeks of professional and personal growth. |
Blog--Summer in Santiago
Cultural Ambassadors to Costa Rica
Article about Rebecca's program
Educator Spotlight: Rebecca Blumenfeld, Spanish teacher, G.W. Carver High School
Last modified: Friday, April 3, 2015, 1:50 PM