Wednesday

This morning our students had language/culture class from 10 - 11 and then headed to the market to buy the ingredients we will need to make paella tomorrow afternoon. At about noon, we headed to the Puerto Comercial and hopped on a ferry headed to Puerto Santa Maria. It is another port/city within the province of Cadiz, located along the banks of the Guadalete River, that has played a significant role in the history of Spain. Christopher Columbus's second expedition to the New World left from Puerto Santa Maria (the kids quickly put two and two together) and the first map of the Americas was drawn there as well (by Juan de la Cosa). We visited the Castillo (castle) de San Marcos and we took a walking tour of the town during which our students were the tour guides. They were given pictures of important places that they had to find and then read (in Spanish!) a description. Here are some photos from the day:

On the ferry:

 Cadiz is an important port in Spain. They are building another bridge from the mainland to Cadiz that you can see here:

 Puerto Santa Maria:

 One of the important bodegas (wine storage sheds):

 El Castillo de San Marcos (inside are Roman ruins, a Muslim mosque and a few Catholic alters that were later protected by the construction of castle walls):

 They offered us snacks and juice after the tour:

What happens when you give a group of teenagers free snacks:

 The walking tour of Santa Maria with our impressive tour guides:

 More ice cream!!!