University of Calgary

Dawn Johnston and Lisa Stowe blog

Instructors Dawn Johnston and Lisa Stowe are taking Communication and Culture students on a culinary journey of Spain May 3 – 23 in a Spring travel study course. More than a form of sustenance, the food of Spain is an expression of culture and regional identity as well as a way to communicate. Students are not only visiting and tasting, but gaining a greater understanding of how food dictates the culture of Spain and how it is important in defining a Spanish identity to the rest of the world.

The combined Communications Studies 401 and 501 class, a Group Study Program with the Centre for International Students and Study Abroad, visits restaurants (local, ethnic, tourist, chain and world-class), tours wineries, joins cooking classes, and speaks to gastronomy experts as they learn about the complex interrelationships between producers, consumers, and media construction of food and identity

Slow before speed, pleasure before profit, and human beings before head office

Submitted by spain on Tue, 2009-05-19 11:50.

May 19, 2009

As a special treat for today's blog entry, we have a guest blogger. Liz Horner, one of C&C's own students in the Group Study program in Spain, agreed to allow us to use her excellent presentation notes from yesterday's class as a blog entry. We could say it no better than Liz says it herself!

Wine, food and the north of Spain

Submitted by spain on Tue, 2009-05-19 10:31.

May 18, 2009

After rising early and bidding a fond farewell to Madrid, we boarded a bus to our next destination, Vitoria, located on the border between the Rioja and Basque regions of Northern Spain. After four and a half hours of driving, we arrived for a much needed stretch and snack, at the Bodegas Martinez Lacuesta in Haro, the capital of the Rioja region.

Madrid... almost feels like home

Submitted by spain on Tue, 2009-05-19 10:19.

May 16, 2009

After three days enjoying the Andalusian hospitality of Cordoba, we returned to Madrid and our "home base" at the Hotel Mediodia on Monday morning. With the rest of the day free, some students took the opportunity to catch up on reading, meet with their seminar groups, send postcards home, or to support the economy of one of the best shopping cities in the world. Groups of students met for a tapas night that evening, while others made a much-needed trip to FresCo, a tourist-favorite all-you-can-eat salad bar in Spain -- people don't realize how much they miss vegetables until they've eaten 8 days of restaurant food...

Experiencing Cordoba

Submitted by spain on Wed, 2009-05-13 11:13.

May 13, 2009

On Day Five, our group left the bustle of cosmopolitan Madrid for the very different feel of the Andalucian city of Cordoba. At first glance, Cordoba represented the "Spain" our students had come to expect from guidebooks and tourist brochures -- bullfighting and flamenco posters everywhere, competing architectures of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions, cobblestone streets and tapas bars on every corner.

Art and Food in Madrid

Submitted by spain on Wed, 2009-05-13 11:00.

May 8, 2009

Our second and third days in Madrid brought a walking tour of the city, a first ride on the city's proudly efficient Metro (on time 98.5% of the time!), and visits to two of the great museums of Spain -- the Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia. Showcasing some of the most recognizable and renowned works from traditional Spanish masters Goya, Velazquez, and El Greco, the Prado has more than 7000 pieces in its regular collection.

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