So while Alejandro has been working in place of his dad while his dad is on vacation, Cassie headed to Colombia a little early to get a quick refresher on Spanish. For the last 1.5 weeks, she has been participating in an immersive Spanish program called Spanish Adventure in San Carlos, Antioquia, Colombia. It is a small town of about 18,000 people.

A typical day was 2 hours of formal class in the morning (8-10 AM) followed by an hour of conversation from 10:30-11:30 AM. After which there was some time to do some homework or chill for a little bit before lunch around 12:30-1, followed by some more time for homework or hanging out until the afternoon activity at 2:30. Monday, we went to a place called La Planta, which was a cool area by the river with swimming as well as volleyball and soccer. We eached paid about $10 USD to eat for the week and took turns cooking. My (Cassie’s) turn was the first night. We made fajitas, which ended up pretty challenging for 18 people!

Tuesday, we did a hike to La Cascada (The Waterfall), and picked up trash along the way. There was a great infinity pool type swimming hole at the top that we hung out at for a while.

Tuesday evening was a dance class! We learned Salsa, Meringue, and Bachata (as well as some twerking practice!). Wednesday we had an activity with some of the people from the local community that were interested in learning English. We told some stories about ourselves in Spanish and they told stories about themselves in English. It was a great experience.

Thursday, the activity was a hike to a place called Charco Redondo, which was a beautiful little swimming hole with a waterfall where we hung out for a few hours. We also got to try a fruit called maranon, which kind of tasted like a pear- pretty yummy! (In the bottom picture you can see me jumping off the rock). We also had a campfire this night on one of the nearby beaches.

Friday, we went back to La Planta to hang out for the afternoon. In the evening we had organized karaoke. The students all had picked out a spanish song to sing (and practiced most of the week), and the teachers had to sing in English. I was pretty nervous about it, but it ended up being a great time.

Saturday, we went on a canyoning adventure, jumping off waterfalls, sliding down chutes, swimming, etc.

It was so much fun, but totally exhausting. Sunday was mostly a recovery day, watching some Spanish movies.

Monday, we went to another swimming place called El Indio, and it was my turn for cooking again. This time we made an asian noodle vegetable stir fry.

Tuesday we headed back to La Cascada and had another round of Salsa lessons. Hope it sticks! Wednesday was my last day of class. I was sad to leave everyone at Spanish Adventure. It was a truly great experience. For anyone that is looking for a great immersion program, I would highly recommend it!

On Wednesday afternoon, I hopped on a bus to Medellin and flew to Bogota to meet Lizzie, my friend/roommate from college, to start a couple week trip together with her.