Educational & Intercultural Exchange Program for NPS students in Spain
Spain - the land of the dangerous sport of bullfighting, the world renowned La Liga championship and the majestic dance form that is the Flamenco. And NPS International School had the privilege to send a team of 25 students to this beautiful and culturally rich country.
Under the leadership of the founder, director of the school, Mr. J.N. Das and a teacher; our students participated in this Cultural and Educational Exchange program from the 6th of June to the 16th of June. The team landed at the Madrid Bajaras – Adolfo Swarej (Madrid Airport) on the 7th of June, at around 2:30 pm. They received a warm welcome at the airport itself, and were consecutively divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 13 students who went to the Centro Escolar de Amanecer Residential school and the second group stayed with the host families of students belonging to Collegio Joyfe.
The next day, after a hearty breakfast, the students were given a tour of the school by the English Teacher Amelia Rodriguez. Most of the students and teachers spoke little or no English as they had to learn it only as a secondary subject in school. The students attended a Spanish class and interacted with other students of the class, mostly with gestures, but also with the little words and phrases that they had learnt so far. An exciting part of their day was the games session they had every evening, where different matches were played between the Spanish and the Indian students. It was just the right mix of fun and physical activity. It should be mentioned here that sunset in Spain occurs at around 9:30 pm, which gives the place long hours of daylight.
The next day, the team went museum hopping. They visited the National Museum of Archaeology, Madrid and the Del Prado Museum.
The third day was very special. The students of both countries had a discussion amongst themselves about their individual culture, educational systems, the outlook of the young and so on. The same day they also had a cuisine exchange program where our students got to taste the famous Spanish dish called, “Paella” and the Spanish students tasted an Indian dish flavoured with our world famous “Bhoot Jolokia.”
On the fourth day, a cultural extravanganza was held at the Amanecar school where the students of Joyfe were invited too. Each country displayed their colourful traditional dance with much aplomb and gaiety. The Spanish students were very impressed with the Indian dances, and were totally taken by surprise when our students presented a Spanish dance on the soundtrack of Bailando.
After that, the students were taken to the Estadieu de Santiago Barnabeu, more commonly known as the Real Madrid Stadium. The students, especially the boys were mesmerized with the huge press rooms, the massive greenrooms, the glittering Hall of Trophies, the display of the jerseys of the star players and so on. It was a dream come true for the students to view and revel in the glory of the home ground of one of their favourite football teams.
On the fifth day, the students spend the day roaming around and shopping in the largest mall of Madrid – namely Xanadu Shopping Centre. The mall not only had numerous big stores and eating joints, it also had a state-of-the-art ice skating rink and a snow park.
On the sixth day, the team made an excursion to Segovia, which is a historical place. Some of the architectural monuments of this place dated back to the 1st century – and had been preserved with utmost care and careful maintenance. They were shown exquisite statues and other sculptural displays, which had been created most artistically.
The seventh day our students went to an amusement park, joined by the students of Joyfe and Amanecar schools.
The eighth day, the students spent their time in the school again, attending some more classes and interacting with more school students.
The next day, our students were given an emotional farewell by the Spanish students. The students boarded the plane to India - enriched with new knowledge of a beautiful country and lots of happy memories of their Spanish buddies in their hearts.