Spania

Du vil sannsynligvis bo i et urbant eller sub-urbant område i Spania, men selv Balearene og Kanariøyene er en mulighet. Mange vertsfamilier spiser både lunsj og middag sammen. Du vil nok nyte tradisjonen med lange tapas-måltider med familien og Siesta midt på dagen (da kan du gå hjem til lunsj og ta en rask lur om du ønsker). Utvidet familie har ofte en nær relasjon og de besøker hverandre ofte, spesielt i forbindelse med helger.

You’ll likely attend a public high school with a variety of different classes like Spanish language, literature, and physical education. School runs from Monday to Friday, 8am to 3pm but you may have additional classes on some afternoons. It’s also customary for students to call their teachers by their first name.

Spain has five official languages—Aranese, Catalan, Galician, Basque (Euskara) and Spanish. With Spain being a multilingual nation, 70% of the students hosted there live in bilingual communities where Spanish is not the primary language spoken in school and by the host family. However,  Spanish language study is compulsory in all schools and many people are bilingual so you will still have the opportunity to practice your Spanish. AFS offers the Rosetta Stone Spanish course to prepare you for your exchange.

While each region of Spain has its own food specialties, Spanish cuisine is generally Mediterranean in style with lots of olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes and peppers. Lunch is the main meal of the day and is served around 2 or 3 pm, while dinner may start as late as  9 pm when most family members can be together. Fish and seafood are abundant, but red meat and pork are also eaten nearly every day. With traditional Spanish tapas, you can try all different kinds of foods. Don’t miss thepaella (rice with vegetables and seafood) andgazpacho (a cold tomato soup).