Twenty-five Spanish students and three of their teachers arrived with their host Dominican College families on Saturday 21 February in Portstewart, Co Derry.
This is the seventh year that Dominican pupils from Portstewart have visited their exchange school, IES María Zambrano in the sea side town of Torre del Mar, about 30 minutes outside Málaga. The visit of the Spaniards to Northern Ireland follows on from the Dominican visit to Torre Del Mar last October. The Spanish students are staying with their Irish host families as part of their Irish experience.
After spending a day at school (on Monday) the pupils have been undertaking many educational trips to various locations such as the Ulster Folk Park, Derry, the Giant's Causeway, etc. The final cultural visit of the week (on Friday, 27 February) will be to St Mary's University College in Belfast. In Belfast the Spanish pupils, accompanied by their Dominican counterparts will visit wall murals in both the Falls and Shankill, with St Mary's senior lecturer Dr Peter Collins providing historical expertise. The students will then have a typical lunch (yes, including chips!) at the university college, which is sponsored by St Mary's International Office.
We hope to meet some of the young people again in the future, perhaps as International students on the Erasmus programme!