Pascack Valley students traveled to Spain and Portugal during spring break. PV Spanish teacher Courtney Rems and Chemistry teacher Cindy Reese were chaperones for the trip. 

“It’s one of my favorite places to visit,” Rems said.

Reese organizes many of the international trips that PV offers. She asked Rems to chaperone with her, which Rems agreed to. 

Rems is well-traveled and had been to Portugal once and Spain numerous times before the pandemic, so she was excited to do another trip after the pandemic. 

“This was my fifth trip to Spain because we had done three trips before the pandemic with our [Spanish] exchange program,” Rems said. “This was my 3rd time [to Madrid], but it was the first time I had been there for more than one day, so it was really nice being there overnight to experience the culture a little more.”  

Despite having been to France, Panama, and Japan, PV senior Sophia Bovino had never traveled to Spain or Portugal. Bovino chose to go to Spain and Portugal because of her interest in Spanish language which stemmed from taking Spanish classes at school. 

“I thought it would be a great experience to practice my Spanish, get to know the culture, and experience everything that we learned about [in Spanish class] for the past four years,” Bovino said. 

Despite being in another country that spoke a different language, there was not a significant language barrier. Most of the students on the trip were able to use the Spanish they learned in school for communication and navigation.

“I teach AP Spanish and Honors Spanish III, and it’s [traveling] the best way for the kids to see how well their language skills work in the actual setting of being forced to use the language [in class],” Rems said. 

In agreement with her AP Spanish Language and Culture teacher Rems, Bovino found it easy to communicate in Spain because of her Spanish skills.

“I thought it was really nice to use my Spanish, and they could understand me,” Bovino said. “We could go back and forth and have conversations.” 

Those who didn’t speak Spanish also didn’t struggle in Spain because most of the native people spoke English at a high level, and they had a tour guide who was fluent.  

Although some students got sick during the trip, the experience was still fun according to Bovino. They visited Portugal on the country’s independence day, so they were able to see the annual rituals that celebrate the day. 

“Although [Spain and Portugal] are neighboring countries, they have different cultures,” Bovino said. “We were in Portugal on [Portugal’s] independence day, so we got to see a lot of ceremonies which was really cool.” 

By witnessing this holiday, Rems learned about the importance of their independence. 

“It was special to be there on the 50th anniversary of their independence from the dictatorship. We learned what a friendly group people from Portugal are,” Rems said. “They were super excited to share their culture, talk with us, and always had a smile on their face.”

Since Rems had been to Spain before the pandemic, she explained that she was able to see the differences in Spain’s culture after the pandemic. 

In Spain, the group watched bullfighting, which is a large part of Spain’s culture. Bovino said that she was slightly nervous to see the violence of the bullfighting but became desensitized to it due to the rich cultural aspects. 

“As [the bullfighting] went on, I [realized] this was their culture and how they live their lives,” Bovino said. “I also thought it [the bullfight] was really cool because there were a lot of people from different countries [sitting] around me coming to see the fight, so it was really nice to see a lot of cultural exchange.” 

Although Bovino liked Spain more than Portugal because of the landmarks she was interested in visiting and the beautiful weather, Bovino recommends going to both Spain and Portugal, especially if you want a laid-back trip. 

“In Spain, they have a siesta after lunch [where] everyone takes a four hour break from work before going back,” Bovino said. 

Rems also thinks everyone should visit Spain and Portugal. Spain is one of her favorite places to visit, and she already booked a flight to return to Portugal in June. 

“I will never ever get sick of going to Spain,” Rems said.