Much like Barcelona in the big Spanish football game of the week, we now have four on the board! As we approach the half way point in the program, things have now settled down into something of a rhythm, especially so far as the classes are concerned. The AIFS office has been busy with a steady stream of students coming by to print out their class assignments. However, for every essay spat out by our overworked printer, there has been a Ryanair boarding pass to accompany it. As I write most of the students will either be lapping up the sun in Barcelona or walking along the Seine in Paris. Travel fever has swept most of the students to far flung corners of Europe this weekend, so we look forward to hearing of their adventures on Monday.

The theme of the Spanish Life and Culture course this week turned to Art. With heavyweights like Dali, Goya, Velazquez, Picasso and Miro, Spain has arguably contributed more to the world of painting than any other nation (sorry Italy!), so there was plenty to discuss. Leading our Tuesday class was Spanish native Roberto Rubio, who, a classical piano player, not only talked about oil on canvass, sculpture and sketching, but also enlightened the group on Spain's musical history. We wrapped up the class by listening to a recording on 54 stringed "cubist" guitar and enjoying some air-piano from Roberto as he transported us - with the opera Carmen - to the gypsy communities of 19thC Seville.

To complement Roberto's lecture, on Wednesday we organised a visit to the Da2 modern art gallery in Salamanca.  As the impressive building is a renovated prison, this visit is always a favourite with the AIFS staff as misbehaving students can be locked in the "cooler" for a few hours! On display was an exhibition called "from madonna to Madonna", which pondered the role of women in art, both as creator and subject, as well as other works from the gallery archive.

So, the biggest challenge of the program so far - will the students be able to pack a whole weekends worth of luggage into the shoe-box sized suitcases that are permitted on Ryanair?! Seriously speaking, organising a weekend away can be a tricky task for the first time traveller. Of course it's an ultra-exciting one too. We've been impressed by some of the students making weekend itinerary plans, with all their buses, flights, hostels and sightseeing lists. However, the acid test of how much attention was being paid in our Travel Workshop has arrived - it's time to pack those passports and jet off! One of our boys, Will Dixon already unwittingly gained himself a whole extra day in Barcelona by booking a flight for 8:00am rather than 20:00 (watch out for that 24 clock!). No doubt there will be further anecdotes, and a whole lot of photos to show, when our young travellers get back from Barcelona, Paris, Valencia and Toledo on Sunday...

Next week sees us dive into the kitchen for one of the most popular activities of the SLC course - we head to culinary school to learn how to cook paella and Spanish omelet. Mmm! On Tuesday night we'll also be putting on an optional trip to the Liceo Theatre to see "Goya's Ghosts". This movie, in which Spanish hunk Javier Bardem plays Francisco Goya, is a great one to catch having seen the artist's most famous work in the Prado on arrivals weekend.

From a sunny (finally!) Salamanca,

Andy and Carlos.