Spanish immersion weekend completed

LINCOLNVILLE — A total of 25 students and teachers spent the weekend, from 4:30 p.m. Friday to 2 p.m. Sunday, in a pilot project for a language immersion weekend.

According to organizers of “Spanish in the Woods,” the participants would spend the weekend “in a Spanish world” at Camp Tanglewood in Lincolnville. During the course of 45 hours, the participants would speak, cook, dance, sing, eat, read, listen and “probably dream” in Spanish.

This was the second of two weekends. The first was Friday through Sunday, Aug. 9-11. Facilities included the Big Pine conference center at the 4-H Camp and six- and eight-person cabins.

The weekend was organized by Julia Schulz, president of the Penobscot School in Rockland, and Carney McRae, educator at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, assisted by teachers and students. Staff at the camp included Marie Fuentes, a native of Spain who grew up in the Canary Islands, and Laura Riesco-Luszczynska, an associate professor at the University of Maine, and volunteer instructors throughout the state.

The program was open to high school students who have completed at least one year of Spanish, Spanish teachers who wanted a refresher course, and anyone who sought to gain fluency in speaking and understanding Spanish.

Weekend activities included a campfire that, because of cold weather, had to be moved to a fireplace in the main building; games, including Spanish Trivial Pursuit, with questions and answers in Spanish; a scavenger hunt with items written in Spanish; “Win, Lose or Draw” in Spanish; and songs of all types, the words given to students to teach at their schools.

Meals included arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), tortilla de patatas (a Spanish omelet), ensalade aragonesa (a Spanish salad), churros (a dough fritter) and arroz con leche (rice pudding). Meals were prepared by staff members, assisted by students.

Students and teachers came from Lincoln, Oxford Hills, Camden, Mechanic Falls, Norway, Milo, Berwick and Bangor.

At the conclusion Sunday afternoon, a critique was held, with those attending agreeing that the weekend had been quite an experience. Throughout the weekend, students remarked of the cold, “Hace mucho frio.” Rather than sleeping in cabins Saturday evening, the students moved their sleeping bags into the main dining room. Several left the camp Sunday with colds, a souvenir of the “frio.”

Monetary support came from Camden National Bank, Rockland Branch; El Taco Tico Restaurant in Rockland and the Bangor Daily News Charities Inc.

Future Spanish immersion retreats are being planned in response to demand for this type of program. Anyone interested in participating in Spanish or French sessions may contact the Penobscot School in Rockland.