Esperanza: I can't believe I didn't notice your 'post' re. 'student tour postponed' til this AM. I probably would have suggested Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico) as a substitute. Or 'if you can't bring Mohamad to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohamad,' meaning: a scavenger hunt around NYC for things from Spain and a Spanish-type fiesta right there in Riverdale. If you decided on the latter, you might could have even 'booked' a room for the party at Manhattan College. A nephew of mine did that for my (RIP) Mother's 86th birthday.
As for the former: Old Guadalajara's early 17th Century architecture makes it very similar to Alcala de Henares (Spain) and it is the birthplace of Mariachi. We took a pony cart to a folkloric festival in Teatro Degollado Sunday morning - it was awesome! The closing number was Guadalajara, Guadalajara and the audience (full house) was on its feet. I believe Continental Airlines flys to Guadalajara from Houston. I had been looking into a return trip to Guadalajara for myself. We missed a nearby village that has a huge open air market last time because it was an either-or proposition for a Sunday morning.

Something like that (Guadalajara) trip might still be a viable option for the students who won't be around next year.

Gloria, I think the idea for a forum for Spanish teachers would be great , this is if Madridman thinks there would be "enough" participation.

I think a forum for teachers is a great idea!

It was with great reluctance that we cancelled our plans for a trip to Spain this spring. 1) It was not school-sponsored, and was not with an organized tour group, just me 2) a lot of parents were nervous about pending hostilities 3)I don't mind travelling by myself or with my family, but don't want to be responsible for the welfare of a group of young people under these conditions.

If I had known last year that I would have to skip a trip, I would haved stocked up on olives and Magna soap!! If I could afford to go without the stipends from student travelers, I would be on the plane in April, regardless.

For those of you who are venturing forth, buen viaje y vaya con dios.

Liatris in western Washington

I feel very strongly about "terrorist alert level" This is pure propaganda, I like to refer to it as the Bush's "I don't have enough support for my insane war and I need to use meaningless propaganda to encite fear alert level"
If you have genuine concerns about visiting a country based upon your own educated perspective of the current events, then by all means do what you feel is necessary to protect yourselves and retain your sense of security. But Please do not base your decision on propaganda. We are suppose to have learned from our forefathers about the lies and deception of propaganda involved when tensions are running high and the ultimate price is at stake. I worry when people buy into the "terror alert level" and I fear what was learned from history was that the propaganda is more devious. Please evaluate what you hear in the media, question it and come to your own conclusions. No one has ever detailed what the "terror alert level" is based upon. It is completely subjective and elicits the exact response it was meant to .... fear... no good decision was made based upon fear.

Well, we're still going to Spain in May. I was in Ecuador as an exchange student (age 15) when the military junta overthrew the government and we had to flee Guayaquil for the coast. (Now, there was a real hardship.) Like Canuck, we were in Spain when Franco died. No major problems just the closing of businesses. And we visited Spain again right after 9-11 when we often became the focus of their sorrow filled sentiments. Am I safer staying at home, near San Francisco??--CC

Just to finish my end of this thread: Today I spoke with one of my students who was supposed to be on the (cancelled) trip with me. Her father arranged for her to still go ( without our school group) with ACIS. She had a great time! ( how could she not---it is SPAIN )and that the group was safe and did not feel threatened because they were Americans. BTW She and some of the other kids went to one of the Anti- War rallies. She thought it was a real learning experience to see and be part of such an event outside of the USA. She added that it seemed to "add" to the experience abroad.

Oh, of course she also mentioned she loved the tortillas and that Sevilla was her over-all favorite place! Yet, she liked Madrid also ( of course!)

My students were to make a second payment 9/15/01. 9-11 happened, and the parents did not care if they lost every cent paid, they were not going to send their children outside the country.

Our travel agent was very generous about the refunds. (Making me want to book again because of the gesture of the refund.)

Now, the travel agent calls to see about future bookings. Our administration firmly says no. The parents say no.

The future looks bleak for travel abroad with students. It was absolutely the best part of my job and now it is gone. I wonder for how long.

I can see the pros for continuing forward with a trip, but I have felt the sadness of losing the trip. Many of the comments posted prior to this one gave me a sense of support and understanding for what was a very painful and sad loss.

PS: The kids beg every day "please take us to Spain".

Sofia, your post makes me so sad! I'm planning 3 group trips in the next 2 years, and may add more, and I wouldn't be able to bear the thought of not going. I'm planning them on my own, using Passports to set up what I ask for (they are fantastic!), and my school is allowing me to approach the families to sign up for trips. Other than that, they have no say. I recently came back from my first (the day before war started), and it was such a huge success, I'm afraid I'll have to turn people away for future trips - and this is with the war going on. The school administration is absolutely thrilled - it makes them look good, even though they did (basically) nothing.

Could you set up something on your own? You need just 6 people to get a free ticket for yourself with Passports. I'd hate to think there are kids who want to travel and they can't because of fears that may be irrational.

Have you seen Rick Steve\'s take on travel now ? I saw this after I came back from my trip, and wished I had had it before, to calm the nerves of a few of the parents sending their kids with me. In the end everything went great, and I convinced them of their safety on my own, but it's nice to have a back up.

Also, I've discovered that having kids travel with a parent works really well. I'm thinking of making it a requirement for some of my future trips. That also helps with parental nerves.

And what I thought would happen did happen - as soon as we were on the plane flying east - everyone (adults especially) let go of their fears and had a good time living in the here and now - which is exactly what I love about traveling.

I hope you can travel with your students soon again! Good luck!

Esperanza, Sofia, Diana, and La Maestra,

The professor that usually takes our Freshmen and Sophmore students to Spain will be retiring next year and he asked me if I wanted to continue with the student trips, which the students enjoy and seem to be a lot of fun.

But, I don't know what it entails in the sense that you become responsible for ten students, how do you all deal with that? How much time do you devote to the students, etc.? Can you tell me what it is like?

I take students to Spanish speaking countries every other year, this June we are going to Cuernavaca, Mexico for 2 weeks. It is a huge responsibility taking and chaperoning a group of high school students in a foreign country. The trips have always wonderful but many things can and often do go wrong. If you haven't traveled with kids before I highly recommend you go with a friend from another school that has, they can teach you some of the tricks and offer a lot of insight. My first trip ever (with students) was in 1991 to Spain, I went with another school and we combined our groups. Since then, I've been traveling alone (I don't use a student travel company... but that's a whole other topic.) My students receive 1/2 unit of foreign language credit, it's an actual class listed in the course of study and I'm gone to Costa Rica, Spain and Mexico seven more times.
It's a wonderful chance to see the country anew through your student's eyes but it really requires advance preparation and work. I would do it if I were you, but plan of lots of planning and work. E-mail me if you have more specific questions.