Everest is Not in Spain

In South Africa we celebrated Human Rights day on March 21. Not sure if anything was achieved by it. At my school in the Middle East, we held an International Day. Each class had to choose a country, research it and present it by way of displays. At least I know something was achieved. They now know where Spain is. They also know that it is not home to the highest mountain! Here are their responses to the question: What did you learn? Their average age is 11 and they are mostly from Pakistan or Egypt.

What is the most interesting thing you learnt about Spain?

(Something you didn’t know before.)

JAMES

The strange food – they eat octopus! (Almost everyone found that fascinating – or hard to imagine)

ALLAHDAD

Counting in Spanish – I can still remember how to count to ten. (and he can!)

ABDULLAH

That they have artists (such as Picasso and Miro) – their art is interesting. (Spain is more than just football, glad Abdullah found that out!)

RAMI

Words in Spanish and artists – I didn’t know they had so many wonderful artists. (Indeed!)

AIMUN

That Spanish people bury dead bodies under their houses and take out all their organs!!! (No, Aimun – those were the Aztecs!)

They eat octopus.

MAYA

That Macarena is a dance of Spain, (forgot about Flamenco?)

and that Barcelona is a Spanish team.

Also: I learnt about the king; their food; and that Spanish is spoken in South-America.

MOSTAFA WAFAEY

The Spanish eat octopus and love seafood. I eat crabs and squid but will not eat octopus. (and the difference being…?)

NAWAAL

That Spanish people like seafood. I thought they liked Burritos and Tacos, but then I found out it was the Aztecs (guess they learnt from the Aztecs)

and that Pablo Picasso was from Spain (I thought he was British)

ANGELIQUE

Its culture. I’ve always wanted to know about their culture, the food, the people, the music, what daily life is like. It is exciting to learn about a different country. To me Spain is a country with light, fun and passion. (Angelique is South African and non-muslim – it shows! She will enjoy Spain.)

ALVINA

The interesting thing about Spain is that they have very good football skills and they even won the 2010 Fifa World Cup (I was so happy when I found out that they were the champions!)

ALIA

They like to eat seafood (I thought they liked pasta, same as the Italians); that Goya is Spanish (because I thought he was French); its capital city is called Madrid (got confused with Lisbon).

MAZEN

They drive on the right-hand side all the time (And how is that different from where we are now?) Here they drive anywhere, even on the sidewalks!

MINNAH

They eat pigs, and most countries in South America speak Spanish.

MOSTAFA MAHER

That the coach for Real Madrid is José Mourinho (The most interesting fact!)

AYA ALSERMANI

The parts of the body (Spanish words for it!) (Aya made a beautiful drawing to illustrate it – she thought the word for ‘foot’ is very funny – ‘el pie’ – “it looks like a pie”)

ASEEL

That Spain is the third largest city in the European Union and it is in the Iberian Peninsula. (I’m sure she means Madrid – third largest after London and Berlin) The population in Spain is about 48 million. I found it interesting because I didn’t realise it was such a big country.

NAGHAM

It has the highest mountain (Everest) in the world. (moment of confusion)

Subsequent research: 3404m Aneto – Pyrenees mountain range (thank you, Nagham!)

AYA JAWAD

That the capital city is Madrid and they have the most important teams  in the world. Never heard of Real Madrid or Barcelona before! (So proud of you Aya! Life without that knowledge is still life.)

SARAH

About the artists – I like Miro! I also didn’t know the Spanish football teams. I thought Real Madrid was in Argentina! (Given the number of foreign players in their teams, this is an honest mistake.)

RAWAN

I learnt the numbers. It is nice to know another language and in the future I would like to learn Spanish.

As for me, I told them about “Don Quixote” and without exception they all wrote it down as: “Donkey Cote, Donkey Khotey, Donkey Khtas, Donkey Khote, Donkey Khotay, Donkey Ghote… No wonder they were so amused by it! – I also did not think that Flamenco dancing is equal to Flamingos dancing!  (flamenco is indeed the Spanish word for flamingo) - Ms H