Left Kiss, Right Kiss: New Greetings and New Beginnings

Por fin estamos aquí! After a mad dash to catch the connecting flight from Lisbon to Sevilla, the students finally arrived on Sunday, welcomed by a hot, hot, hot Sevilla day. On Monday, the students met their new Spanish host families, whom they will be staying with for the next three weeks. While the famlies here come in all shapes and sizes: large, small, with kids, without, older, younger, etc., they all made a lasting impression and will play a major role in the students' experiences! For some students, the Spanish greeting came at quite a shock. In Spain, it is customary to greet people with two kisses: first on the left, and then on the right. Easy enough, right? Actually, it can be quite complicated and can lead to some slightly awkward introductions! To calm their nerves, some of the students practiced the Spanish greeting with each other. 

Monday was also when the students met Carlos, their filmmaking teacher, for the first time. If you haven't met Carlos, let's just say he's quite a character, but in the best way possible. He exudes passion and knowledge, and truly cares about the students and their learning process. He's funny, charismatic, and adaptable. With Carlos, the students expressed their goals, worries, and expectations of the class, and with this, Carlos created a program tailored specifially to their needs. 

Orientation continued on Tuesday, with a lively presentation on Health & Safety by Morgan from the Student Life Team, and a presentation on Goals & Program rules by HSSA staff. To really nail down the rules, six groups of students created their own skits, role-playing real-life scenarios that might occur while in Sevilla, and the best ways to respond.

Tuesday also marked the first "real" session of the course, when Carlos explained the structure and content of the course, and assigned them their first project! Throughout the three weeks, the students will be following a map of "The 7 Treasures" of documentary making, including Telling, Observing, Participatory, and many more. The students are already so knowledgable and I can't wait to see their projects as the weeks progress!