Tinabeth Piña: Coming up next on Globe Scholars, we'll be following gap year students on the Spain By Train program.

Stay tuned.

By day I'm a TV reporter, but at night I write a travel blog, because I love to travel.

It brings people and cultures together.

And when a student travels abroad, not only do they become a global citizen, the subjects they learn in school come to life.

This is Globe Scholars.

Welcome to Globe Scholars.

I'm your host, Tinabeth Piña from TinabethTravels.com and today I'm in Vitoria, Spain, hanging out with gap year students who are spending twelve weeks exploring Espania through a program offered by Spanish Gap Year called Spain by Train.

Although I haven't been able to accompany them throughout their entire time in Spain, I'm about to hang out with these gappers while they're exploring the Basque region, where they'll learn how to cook and experience delicious food, learn about this area's rich history, get lessons on sustainability, stay with host families, and so much more.

I think vamos a pasarlo super bien.

So let's get started.

Students from the United States and the UK started their gap experience in Spain by first arriving in Granada and then traveling to Madrid, Toledo, Salamanca, and Camino de Santiago before arriving in Vitoria, Spain.

Arantxa Martinez: They've seen big cities.

They've seen student cities and they've been to the Camino, which is very outdoorsy and more rural.

Vitoria is the capital of Basque country.

It's a Green City, but it's very manageable.

Our host families are super close to the gappers here, and they're gonna be seeing about Basque culture through Basque sports.

We have a special festival at the end of the month as well.

They're going to be cooking Basque food.

And it is especially close to my heart because Vitoria is where I grew up.

Tinabeth Piña: What's so special about Vitoria in particular that makes it different than other Spanish cities?

Arantxa Martinez: For us, well, we pride ourselves on being green capital of Europe and food capital of Europe.

So we're going to be cooking Basque food and learning about Basque food.

And also we are going to do a strong module on sustainability.

So our program is aligned with the sustainable development goals by the UN.

And in Vitoria we get to see sustainable transport everywhere.

We're going to be biking and walking because the city is made for pedestrians.

And we are also going to be seeing other modules on sustainable communities.

Tinabeth Piña: But before we get to exploring Vitoria, Spain and all it has to offer, let's meet the gappers who are about to take their trip of a lifetime.

Keara Booth: I'm Keara Booth.

I'm 18 years old.

I'm from Chicago, Illinois in the United States.

I decided to take this gap year program before going off to school this fall because I've been in the same city, the same literally campus at school my entire life.

And I wanted to get out, travel, do some work on my Spanish skills, and get some of the travel that was inhibited by COVID-19.

Alex Dee: I'm Alex, I'm 19.

I'm from Bath in the UK, in the Southwest.

Yeah, I decided to take a gap year to grow up, like grow up a bit before Uni.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: My name is Tabitha.

I am from San Obispo, California on the Central coast.

So pretty.

I absolutely love it.

And I'm 19.

And I decided to do Spanish Gap Year because I knew I wanted to travel and be a part of a program and I really wanted to learn Spanish but I wanted to be in Europe.

So Spain was the place for me.

And when I started looking into programs, I had a friend who was on this program in the fall and she just had such a wonderful experience and had recommended it.

And so I looked into it and I, it was the program for me and I'm super happy that I chose it.

Bradley Traeger: My name is Bradley Traeger.

I am 20, I just turned 20.

And I'm from the suburbs outside of Chicago.

And I had a lot of reasons to go in this program, actually.

I was living in Arizona for about like a year before coming here, and this is my second gap year.

So I've had a lot of time off from school and I didn't want to just like work and be at home anymore.

So my mom found this, sent it to me and I was like, this sounds so amazing.

And I signed up for it and now I'm here.

But I just kind of wanted a change.

This is a pretty big change, which is what I was looking for.

Kate Grabowski: My name is Kate Grabowski.

I am 19 years old and I'm from Atlanta, Georgia.

And I decided to come on a Spain program because I wanted to learn Spanish in a way that was like, not just in classes, like more immersion learning, and it looked pretty fun.

I liked some of the activities we were gonna be doing.

Gapper: Oh, we have a rolly poly.

Tinabeth Piña: Clearly the Spain by Train program offers students a chance to experience Spanish language, culture, and adventure through travel and home stays throughout Spain.

We caught up with the gappers just as they arrived in Vitoria and met their host families for the first time.

Keara Booth: I haven't been in the Basque country before.

Earlier we went to Bilbao, but I'm expecting it to be different than Granada and Madrid as we've already seen, but I'm kind of going into it with no expectations, so everything's coming at me as a surprise.

I'm really excited to especially be living with Dani because she's my age and so far I've had siblings in my other host families, but I haven't had one as close to my age.

So I'm really excited to fully get into like the young adult lifestyle here and get into what typical lifestyle is.

Tinabeth Piña: Her host family is excited to meet her and live with her as well.

Daniela Berganzo: Sí es muy maja y la verdad es que tengo ganas de estar con ella y presentarle a mis amigos salir juntas algún día y todo.

Tinabeth Piña: Cierto es una diferencia cuando es alguien que tiene más o menos la misma edad suya.

Daniela Berganzo: Si bueno al final pues como es un año más mayor que yo y la mayoría de mis amigos también son un ano mayor que yo - así creo que se van a llevar muy bien todos por mis amigos son también super abiertos - no saben mucho inglés, pero va a ser bastante gracioso.

Tinabeth Piña: Cierto, es una oportunidad también para aprender inglés o para practicar el inglés y para ella practicar el español.

Daniela Berganzo: Sí, parece también que el año pasado la chica que tuvimos no sabía mucho español así que la mayoría lo hablamos inglés pero sabe mucho español ahora así Que supongo que hablaré en la mayoría con español con ella.

Tinabeth Piña: Gapper Tabitha was excited about meeting her host family as well.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: I'm really excited.

I was a little nervous and the second I met them, my nerves just were super calm and I'm super happy to be here, so.

Arantxa Martinez: We love it when they meet their host families because to them it's a very exciting moment.

They've been looking forward to it for a week since they knew their matches.

They've been talking to their host siblings on social media and messaging back and forth, so it's really lovely to see when they finally meet in person.

And tomorrow morning, I can't wait to hear all that they have done this evening with them.

Tinabeth Piña: Vitoria is the most appropriate city for these kids to live while they're visiting the Basque region, because it's the capital city of Basque country and consistently ranked as one of the five best places to live in Spain.

It's also the first Spanish municipality to be awarded the title of European Green Capital.

And it's also been recognized by the UN with the Global Green City Award.

The Old Town has some of the best preserved medieval streets and plazas in the region.

Now that our gappers are settled into their new homes in Vitoria, they're about to get a history lesson on how this town came to be.

Lucas Palacios: At the beginning of the 19th century- all of Europe.

The most important time of this town was in the Middle Ages.

I think it's really good for them to know about this part of the history because yeah, it's like the highlights of this town were at that time, you know?

So when the King of Castile conquered this area, he called this town, New Victory.

So this is why this town is called Vitoria.

But, in the former times before there was a village here and it was a village that there were Basque people living.

And the name of this village was Gasteiz.

That it's a Basque name.

So the Spanish name of this town is Vitoria, and the Basque name is Gasteiz.

Arantxa Martinez: A lot of our gappers come from countries that don't have Medieval history and for them to be transported to centuries ago through architecture and buildings that they're in and the streets that they're walking on, I think is, well, a fascinating experience, on the one hand.

But also it gives us a chance to talk about history in a more interactive way.

So we are in the real setting of where battles have taken place, of where neighborhoods existed and now they have been replaced or where medieval buildings have been preserved.

So in a way it's culture and history.

In another way for those interested in studying architecture, it is very, very interesting to see the different styles through the different eras.

Bradley Traeger: It was super cool.

I thought the streets were so quaint, especially that little like, old house we saw, like so well preserved.

And there's so many like little stores that have like, really like ornate exteriors.

And it just seems like a really fun city.

Alex Dee: Vitoria is a very pretty town and we saw a lot of wall murals.

The town square was very similar to a town square that we saw in Salamanca.

They also seemed like, proud of their heritage.

I've seen a lot of kind, of statues and monuments.

Tinabeth Piña: While walking through the Old Town Vitoria, the gappers were able to admire the architecture of the old buildings and thousand year old medieval city walls.

They also explored the Plaza de España, Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, as well as several murals that gave glimpses into Vitoria's past, and as the students learned, the murals were a way for its residents to express themselves.

Agurne Osoro: The importance of these murals, I think is the collaboration of the people, yeah?

They just wanted to like, decorate the medieval part and the work is done by artists, but also by the people who live here.

Volunteers, yeah?

Volunteering work is was like one of the most important things involved in this project.

I think in total there are about 19 or 20, and there are about like 13, from 13 to 16 in the medieval part, but there are others as well.

Most of them have a history of what is still there, because the ones that we saw about living and growing and everything is also the people who are born there, live there, grow their land there, everything.

And then the other ones that we saw as well they all have something to do with the old past.

Something to do with the past and the present.

A lot of them talk about living here and the language here and everything.

And of course, I suppose everybody feels proud of where they're from and their language and the, you know, the roots.

Keara Booth: The murals are amazing.

And this is only my second time in Europe.

So being able to see all of these different types of buildings, especially all of the art that's incorporated into the neighborhoods is really cool.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: It gives like, the old part of town a whole vibrance in life to it, which I love with the colors and stuff.

So that was really cool to see.

Tinabeth Piña: The gappers also visited the oldest church in town, the Cathedral of Santa María, a gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral that's not only a world heritage site, but also a source of Basque pride.

According to journalist Txenti Garcia, after more than a decade of excavation and restoration, visitors can now see portions of the original city walls.

Txenti Garcia: Bueno fundamentalmente la catedral de Santa María, o catedral vieja como también la llamamos, es muy importante por varios motivos.

Uno porque se ha conseguido recuperar un patrimonio histórico y se ha conseguido recuperar de una forma muy original.

Recuperando el trabajo y combinando el trabajo de restauración, de recuperación, de investigación arqueológicamente juntamente también con una dimensión turística de enseñar al público y por eso de ahí el lema que tiene la fundación de “abierto por obras", es decir que durante las obras este templo ha podido permanecer abierto a las visitas.

Así que estuvo cerrado por muchos años para el culto, se ha vuelto a recuperar para el culto y ahora ya combina el culto, las visitas turísticas y se sigue trabajando en la restauración y recuperación de muchas de las.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: Shows how important a foundation is for a place to establish itself, and especially because it was used as like, a defense for a lot of the time, but still a place of like worship and community was really cool to see.

Keara Booth: I thought it was amazing.

I loved being able to go underneath the church at the start, really figuring out the roots.

And how it was stabilized.

I thought that was really cool.

The architectural design and the fact that it was so integral to the initial town of the wall being established, it was incredible.

And the fact that then they extended the wall to make it, it was just, it was really cool.

Bradley Traeger: I can't even like, wrap my head around the fact that people could build things like that 500 years ago.

The restoration they've done to it.

The photos that she showed us from the 60s when they totally tore the paint off and re like put the metal beams in and restored it, it was so, so cool.

Kate Grabowski: I thought it was really interesting.

It was a little scary at first because they were like, oh, look at all these cracks and problems with the foundation.

But I really liked the lights to show you how the colors were, which I thought was awesome.

Tinabeth Piña: How did that make it easier for you to understand how it looked?

Kate Grabowski: I thought it was really cool because they didn't have to like, damage the building and you could kind of see like how it used to be and how it is now.

Narrator: I hope you have enjoyed contemplating the color and the memories that were hidden here throughout time, waiting to be discovered.

And now, as the white has revealed hidden and lost color, it is time to return to the present.

Tinabeth Piña: In addition to touring the cathedral and its many layers, the gappers ascended to the Bell Tower or the belfry, which gave them a panoramic view of Vitoria.

They also spent some time seeing the history of the cathedral with virtual reality devices that gave them a guided tour through the history of the temple and city wall from the 9th to the 16th century.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: This is so cute.

Gapper: This is so cute.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: It was special to see how it would've looked like, through the centuries and seeing foundations of it, what it looked like originally, and what it like, came to become.

It made you like, appreciate it a lot more to show how it started and where it's at now.

Keara Booth: I think it's cool that with technology and with archeology, we're able to go back in the past and kind of recreate it, or at least be able to see it through virtual reality through the video.

It was really cool.

Tinabeth Piña: And how did you like the virtual reality aspect?

Keara Booth: It was cool.

That was my first time doing that.

I couldn't see my feet.

It was a little disorienting, but it was just really cool because it really was immersive in a completely different historical reality.

Tinabeth Piña: While the gappers spent their days exploring other sections of the city, one aspect of the overall gap year experience that has made it easier to adapt to their new home is the fact that the gappers are staying with host families who make them feel at ease.

Arantxa Martinez: They're being immersed in their routine.

They talk to them about current affairs.

And it tends to be very, very interesting for them.

Of course, mealtime is where they get together every day, three times a day.

But some of them get involved in helping with cooking lunch and helping with cooking dinners.

So they're getting to see the country in depth.

Tinabeth Piña: Alex shared with us his host family experience thus far.

Alex Dee: Well, with this family, it's been very easy to settle in, because they've been very friendly and welcoming from the get go.

Tinabeth Piña: And how has it helped your Spanish?

Alex Dee: Being dropped in the deep end.

Like you have to, you have to speak Spanish to interact with them.

Mariana Herrero: Se ha integrado bien a la rutina de la familia.

Se maneja como uno más, siempre ha intentado colaborar o integrarse en la rutina familiar - super bien.

Abel Zoratti: El hecho de tener hijos en la misma edad nos sirve para poder saber cuáles son sus inquietudes y tal, y lo puedan desarrollar viviendo una experiencia de una familia en otro lugar con otra cultura - y con Alex estamos muy conformes, de acuerdo y muy contentos.

Tinabeth Piña: And what do Alex's host siblings have to say about him?

Luca Zoratti: Todos los días aprendes de cómo viven la gente de mi edad.

Veo a mis amigos, como vivo yo y pienso que todo el mundo es así pero después te das cuenta de que cada país tiene su forma de relacionarse con la gente, sus planes, sus rutinas diarias.

Y es interesante también para decir bueno esto está bueno porque no acá también.

Irina Zoratti: Es mucho más tranquilo que mi hermano.

Con el otro todavía me peleó más y él es más tranquilo.

Ya con el pase de la semana cambia y se pone un poco más a la defensiva y ya vamos a tener nuestros conflictos.

Tinabeth Piña: Alex has also appreciated not only the times he gets together with his host family, but also the fact that they've given him the freedom to learn how to get around Vitoria on his own, thus immersing himself in the culture even more.

Alex Dee: I think they've got the mix of like, kind of looking after the host and kind of letting them be independent really well.

So yeah, I have to kind of sort myself out to get to the organized activities that the program is running.

But then we always have like, a sit down social dinner, which is nice.

Yeah, it's been really easy settling in.

So yeah, they've done a good job on that.

Tinabeth Piña: For Alex and the other gappers, speaking Spanish is part of the home stay experience, but Basque country has two official languages; Spanish and Basque.

And although the Gappers are here to learn Spanish or practice their Spanish it was really important for them to get lessons in the original language of this area, Basque, whose origins are unknown.

Agurne Osoro: Even though it is the oldest in the whole of Europe there have been lots of studies and everything but they've done a lot of research, but nobody can tell us where we come from.

It's a pity that many people stopped speaking Basque during the dictatorship here in Spain, because it was forbidden to speak Basque.

Tinabeth Piña: Agurne is referring to the time in Spain's history when General Francisco Franco banned the use of the Basque language, also known as Euskera, during the Spanish Civil War.

Franco made it illegal to speak or even teach Basque, and people were fined for doing so.

He also stripped rights from the Basque people and ordered the destruction of the Basque city of Guernica.

In the years since Franco's death in 1975, Euskera has been largely revived in the Spanish gap year program wanted its gappers to understand the history behind the language.

Agurne Osoro: People suffered a lot.

There were many people who didn't even know how to speak Spanish.

You know, people who lived in the farms or baserri’s as we call them, you know?

And they didn't know how to speak Spanish, because they spoke the mother tongue all the time.

They didn't need to speak Spanish at all until this happened.

And obviously they had to struggle and make themselves understood and they knew they couldn't speak Basque because they would be punished, even taken to prison and even tortured, you know?

So that did a lot of damage to the language because a lot of people stopped speaking it.

And then they didn't pass it on, you know, to their children and grandchildren and et cetera.

So obviously a lot of it has been lost.

Tinabeth Piña: Although a lot of it has been lost, the Basque government created a Basque language initiative over 50 years ago that has since integrated the Basque language into the education system among other things, and our gappers had a chance to learn the language.

Agurne Osoro: If you come to the Basque country, you should learn a little bit of Basque.

Like, a little bit of, Hello.

How are you?

Or goodbye.

Or thank you.

Typical words that you use like, constantly.

I think it's nice.

So being able to teach such an ancient and weird language to other people and being able to speak it myself is something that obviously you feel proud about.

Tinabeth Piña: The gappers language skills are being put to the test right here at the Card Museum [Museo Fournier de Naipes de Alava] in Vitoria, where everything is in Spanish or Basque.

Agurne Osoro: The whole point of this program is learning a language, in this case either Basque or Spanish, because they're in Spain, but also in a small part of Spain, which is the Basque country.

And the language is always important for our country, isn't it?

Tinabeth Piña: Besides the language practice, the gappers got an in-depth view of the museum and learned how Spain played a pivotal role in the history of playing cards worldwide.

Kate Grabowski: I thought it was really cool just seeing how they used to make cards and like the old cards and from the different places.

Like, they were different from Spain and then they were a little different from Germany.

And then I liked how they had the different designs on them and it was like, really creative how they did it.

Yeah, I never really thought about like, the process of making cards, I guess.

And they had like, the stamps that they used for the old cards and like, apparently the king had to like, give them special permission to like, manufacture cards, which was really interesting.

Bradley Traeger: Those cards were so beautiful, especially on the cards from China.

I dunno if you like the Mahjong cards.

The art, the fish on them, so intricate, so beautiful.

And just like the history behind it too.

Like I did not know people were playing cards in the 14th century.

I did not know that.

That's crazy.

And like those printing presses are 300 years old.

I had no idea.

Keara Booth: My family and I are really big on cards.

We play at every family function, every holiday, just random nights.

So it was really cool to be able to go to a card museum, learn about the different types of cards in a different country, and also see cards that were still in pretty much perfect condition even from the 14th century.

That's really cool.

It was emphasized that the women were the only ones that were fit to check if the cards were actually up to standards, because the men were making them in the factories with the big machines, but then the women were going through them and seeing if they were fit for families, which was cool.

♪ [old time piano music] ♪ Tinabeth Piña: And what do the gappers think of their new home city of Vitoria thus far?

And their improved language skills?

Tabitha Vanderhorst: I came here not knowing a lot just what I learned in school and to actually be able to put it to use and learn it thoroughly and learn different phrases from different parts of the country was also really cool.

Bradley Traeger: And it's great having, I mean, people that live here like Lucas, who he knows where to go, he knows what to do.

They have great ideas of like, free time activities and all this stuff.

So I'm always like, booked and busy.

Stuff in my schedule, no downtime, which is perfect for me.

Keara Booth: I think it's awesome.

You just learn so much more when you're right here experiencing it about also not just the language, the culture, the history, everything.

The feel of the people around here, the lifestyle.

It's really awesome.

Kate Grabowski: I've been able to communicate with my host family who, they don't speak very much English at all, so I've been able to communicate.

I do have to pull out Google Translate a lot, but that's okay.

It is a lot easier to learn Spanish if you’re being forced to speak Spanish than if you just did in class.

Tinabeth Piña: Now that you have a very good idea about the history and language of the Basque region and specifically Vitoria, Spain, now you have to stay tuned for our next episodes where the gappers explore Basque cuisine and learn why Vitoria is an environmentally aware global Green City.

Until then, agur!

Bradley Traeger: I was like, oh my- I wanted to touch them.

I was like, Hello!

[laughing] Like all the people in there.

It was super cool.

Alex Dee: A town square that we saw in Salamanca.

Yeah, just kind of the setup.

It's like a square, square, square with, yeah, apartments on top.

Tabitha Vanderhorst: And I absolutely love the way of living here, and it feels so much more relaxed and less hustle bustle and like go go of the American lifestyle so I've really been enjoying that.

Tinabeth Piña: For more information about studying abroad in Spain or any part of the world, check out GlobeScholarsTV.com for useful information, web only education abroad videos, scholarship information, travel reviews, and helpful travel minute videos specifically about Spain.

Make sure you check it out.