Thursday, August 19, 2010

Background on our year abroad


On August 2, 2010, we left the United States for Zaragoza, Spain where we will be living for about 11 months. Parker is teaching math in the School Year Abroad program where students from the U.S. live with host families for the school year and take classes in the country's native language (Spanish in this case) with the exception of their English and Math courses. Celia is on a leave of absence from her position at Oracle.

A bit about Zaragoza...it stands in the northeastern quarter of Spain and is the capital city of the Aragón area. At about 700K people, Zaragoza is the fifth largest city in Spain and is centered around the Ebro River. It's rooted in Roman heritage, being home to the Murallas Romanas, ancient remains of Roman walls, which once surrounded the central area of Zaragoza.

Aragón is one of largest and most significant region's in Spain, as Aragón was Castilla's rival kingdom in medieval times. When Fernando of Aragón wed Isabel of Portugal in a world-changing political dealing, the kingdoms united to form one Spain. In addition to history, Aragón boasts some of the highest peaks of the Pyrenees mountains and picturesque stone villages in the valleys.


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