Sports Nutrition and the Mediterranean Diet / May 22nd: Activity at IES Heliopolis and evening activiy with SAIIE students (rowing on the river)

Hanna and I woke up at 8 to meet at the bus stop at 9 to go to the culinary school. Today we were working with younger culinary students, about our age, to plan a presentation for children on how to make 3 traditional dishes and what nutrients they have. The children we will be presenting to are all taking English classes so, our plan is to first present to them in English so that they practice English comprehension, then present to them in Spanish so they understand. At the culinary school, 4 students gave us lists of their favorite Mediterranean dishes to make I am in the dessert group so we chose to present Arot con Leche. We plan on explaining the health benefits of calcium from the milk, fiber from the rice, vitamin c from orange and lemon and health benefits of cinnamon. Jose Carlos, culinary student in our group will make the dish while we present. We were told to speak very slowly and use basic English when talking to the kids because English is still new to them! This makes sence because I can only understand my senora when she speaks Spanish very slowly and clearly. After class around 2pm, we took the bus home, had a delicious lunch of lentil stew and salad, and took a siesta. 

I must be getting used to the Spanish lifestyle because I slept so well from 3-5! At 5:30 we left the house to meet the SAIIE group for kayaking! But first we stopped at a cute little bakery for a pastry! I had a chocolate croissant twist with pecans on it and it was AMAZING! Hannah had a piece of chocolate cake that was also very good! When we met at SAIIE, we met other students from Wisconsin. They are taking classes through SAIIE as well! From what I understand, there is a history of Spain class, and a Spanish monuments class. The students are taking one or both of the classes in English or Spanish. As a big group we waled to the river and met our Kayaking leader! We all took double kayaks, Hanna and I were together. The city looks so beautiful from down in the water. As we kayaked, we passed a Van Gough art museum, I thought it might be fun to go to, but then I realized, there is art everywhere you look in Sevilla! You don’t even need a museum! Besides, Chicago’s art institute has a van gouge wing. As we were kayaking we also saw so many rowers. From 1 person to 6 person rowing, we saw them all! Roving must be very popular in Sevilla, I would love to try it! After we finished kayaking, we came home and had dinner at about 9:30 pm. Our roommates, Sarah and Lauren had dinner with us. I told them our group was thinking about going to see a Bullfight on may 27th and I asked them what they thought. They both respected that bullfighting is part of the Spanish culture, but neither of them would want to go to one. I’m still trying to decide If I would go to the bullfight. On one hand, it’s a highly beloved cultural event that I would probably never again get the chance to see, on the other hand, I have a strong belief that animals should be respected and I fail to see how a bullfight could be done in a respectful to the bull.