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“I am familiar with Spain. They have Flamenco, Tapas, Architecture….. what else?”
“Do you know what happened to the rest of the world after this Spanish National Day?”
“Why do they use red color for bull fight?”
“Why Tapas is called Tapas?”

If you feel related to any of these, this post is for you. Although Spain is quite well known country among other nations, there are many more! To deep dive into this country, The Global Learning Center 3L organized the 5th event of “Feel the World through the 5 Senses” Spanish 🇪🇸 version on the Oct 12th (Sat).

What happened to Spain and rest of the world on this day?

 

For the last 4 events, we have featured Africa and Southern America (2 countries each: Madagascar and Mozambique and Chile and Peru).

Then why Spain instead of sticking to those regions?

Firstly, October 12 was the national day (Hispanic day), the day Columbus arrived Latin America in 1492 (with the cross on one hand and the arm on the other). After that, Spain distributed christianity and killed many indigenous people and brought black slaves, which led to the biggest colonization in the world.

Secondly, we didn’t want to limit 3L  to Africa and South America. Lastly but not least, I loved Spanish cuisine, and my Spanish friend taught me how to cook local foods, which we wanted to share with other people.

Why do they use red color for bull fight?

The answer is simple. It didn’t have to be red since Bulls are color blind, but it kept the color to keep the tradition.

Why Tapas is called Tapas? 

One of the common theories was to put plate on top of wine grass to avoid flies (Tapar in Spanish means “to cover”). Then they started serving small dishes.

Implementation of the event

1. Icebreaker (as usual, we put special emphasis on icebreaker to have friendly and safe environment, connect participants with facilitator through world greeting and building relationship among participants)
2. Pre-test (How much do you know about the world and the countries, and how familiar do you feel with them?)
3. Introduction to Global Learning Center 3L – MIEL and two stories
4. Five-sense stretching (which can be useful to be mindful, reduce stress and access to your own 5 senses)
5. Introduction to the countries (in a quiz format) and experiential activities (touching, smelling the ingredients of local foods, and participating in meal prep)
6. Presentation of world food, drinks, and desserts
7. Introducing videos, stories, performances (music and dance) from the countries
8. Mini language lessons (Spanish basic phrases)
9. Connecting online with locals
10. Local games
11. Reflection of the day
12. Post-test (same as the pre-test)
13. Post-event questionnaire

Below are some of the photos to illustrate the event.

Connecting with participants (great smile)

Safe and friendly environment

Everyone regardless of age can enjoy.

After some exposer to the world and country, it’s time to eat!

Cheers with local soft drink (Salud!)

Local guest connecting online!

Then we switched to local dance and play, where participants moved, laughed (and even cried for getting too excited!)

Everyone expressed “My Spain”

Group photo with 3L signNot only did we have fun, there was also small evidence about learning (last question shows that people felt closer after the event (green) compared to the beginning (red).

<Please rate your opinion about the following statements (1=not at all, 5=very much)>

1. You are interested in diverse world and cultures
2. You have knowledge about the global matters
3. You feel related to the global matters
4. You have knowledge about Spain
5. You feel close to Spain (<– this is the main objective of the event, which shows great results as shown in the above photo)

Participant Learning

From the above, I hope you can see that this event was jam-packed with content involving the five senses. Below are some voices from the post-survey:

🌍I never have a chance to feel close to countries I’ve never been to or that are far away, so even if I see or hear about them on the news, I think they have nothing to do with me. However, after learning about various things this time and experiencing online conversations with people who have ties to Spain, my perception of Spain has changed from a country I don’t know to a country I know. I think that this kind of accumulation leads to true international understanding.

🌍I thought it was a very enjoyable event for both adults and children! I liked the corner where we asked questions to local people. The food was more authentic and delicious than I expected, which surprised me! I’d definitely like to participate again. Thank you!

🌍It was nice to be able to get to know people I’d never met before by gathering around a common interest. It was fun to talk to people I’d never meet in my everyday life! I was very interested in all of Hiro’s stories, who know about a world I didn’t know. Thank you very much.

🌍The children enjoyed the physical greetings, dancing and games, so I thought it would be nice to have a children-focused world play event. The food and drinks were both delicious and great. Thank you very much.

In addition to these comments, all participants answered they learned something.

Key Learning from This EventーWrap up

The 5th event taught us many things, confirming that the best way to learn is by trying. We will continue to grow from these lessons.

By making the world and ourselves more visible (“MIEL”), we aim to promote diversity and wide-ranging learning. Though it may be a long journey, I hope we can walk it together with many people.

Thank you for reading this article. Have a great learning!

MD