Our Home Away from Home - Alicante, Spain

It's been a while since we posted! We were busy finishing up our time in Europe and now we are writing to you from our home in Arizona, where we will spend the next month before switching to South America. However, for the last three months, our family's home was in Alicante, Spain. In their ELA classes, Lia and Mateo reflected on their time in Alicante and wanted to share their writing with you!

Alicante (A Creative Writing Piece) by Lia Stavros

Alicante is an alluring town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Spain. The blue, green water is stunning and it sparkles next to the stone village full of colored buildings. The first thing I noticed in Alicante was that everything was within walking distance, and we didn’t need a car. The shops are small and quaint and personal to their specialty. For example, there is a butcher shop downstairs where you purchase your dinner, and a bakery where you get your pastries, sweet treats, and breads. By contrast, growing in America, everything is more spread out, you must drive everywhere and stores are bigger. For this reason, I appreciate living in Alicante with places closer together and you get more exercise. It is almost like looking into the past a little bit because American society used to have smaller stores on the street corners and some family shops.

              I highly recommend visiting Alicante for a change of pace or to see a beautiful landscape. For me, it made me see differently from the hustle bustle of American lifestyle. There is a lot more color and people are outside more enjoying the beach, nature and talking to each other instead of staying in the car or at home all day like in America. Additionally, people are much more friendly here, even though I might speak more English, everyone always has time for conversation with someone. They are never hurrying to sports or work. For example, every day you can see people dancing on the beach together, riding their bikes or shopping. It almost feels like you’re on vacation the whole time. You can truly get an authentic Mediterranean experience here.

Why You should Visit Alicante, Spain (An Argumentative Essay) by Mateo Stavros

              If you like partying, I know the perfect place for you. You should visit, Alicante, Spain because of the amazing color of the ocean water and its different sea creatures. The hiking is not very tiring in Alicante, Spain and the history is very interesting too.

              The first reason you should visit Alicante is because the ocean water is very beautiful. The water is also very refreshing to swim in and very clear! The beach has paddle boats with slides that you can rent with your family. Also, there are sea animals in the water that are unique and colorful.

              The next reason you should go to Alicante is because of the hiking. The hikes have amazing views of the ocean. Most of the hikes are short but very nice and fun to go on. Sometimes, on the hikes, you can see bats and different weird bugs.

              The last reason you should visit Alicante is because of the history. It is very interesting to learn about the Moors. It is fun to learn and there is a castle you can go to see. The castle is very old and you can hike to it. If you prefer, the good thing is that you can also drive up the mountain or take an elevator up and down it.

              You should visit Alicante because of the beautiful beaches. Next, you should go because the hiking has views of the ocean and city. Lastly, you should go see Alicante because it has amazing history that is very interesting. Alicante is one of the nicest places I have ever been to and I would like to share it with you.