Break the touristico bubble in which lots of us travel by speaking or at least studying the local language. But forget about the crazy conjugations. You don’t have to be a linguist to absorb some of the basics, the surround sound, and rhythm of a new tongue when eager to intensify an adventure.
In Peru this fall, consider spending nine marvelous days under the wing of Llama Expeditions and your life could be transformed. The have cleverly combined active adventure travel with living language lessons taught by Carlos Bazan, teacher and founder of “Enjoy Spanish”, top-rated Spanish language school in San Francisco.
Andean trekking specialist, Diane Valenti, founder/owner of San Francisco-based Llama Expeditions says, “Carlos believes that a language is best learned when the whole self is engaged” and she has constructed a smart trip to accomplish just this. An on-line Spanish language quiz helps determine skill level and, adds Valenti, advanced-beginners do best. Orchestrating the stimulation of an exotic environment under the baton of a skilled linguist, travelers will be encouraged to encounter each other and the locals communicating only in Spanish.
“Spanish Learning Vacation” highlights: tours of historic Lima, a culinary dip into authentic ceviche, visits to Pachacamac, the pre-Columbian archaeological complex, colonial Cusco, Inca ruins, a traditional weaving community in the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and the salt pans of Maras. And not to worry, you’ll meet many cute llamas along the way.
Her company is philanthropically focused and guests are encouraged to donate gifts of food, school supplies and clothing. One great Spanish on-the-go trip only: Nov. 9-17, 2013 and designed for only six to ten people. The per-person double rate is $3,977 for all land arrangements and many meals. Call 415-553-7731.
Where better to learn something new than at England’s legendary Oxford University. Their Oxford Experience - a residential program of one-week courses – is open to all from July 1 to August 11, 2012. Thrillingly, there are no requirements, no exams and no papers to write. Summer students live and study at the venerable 500-year old Christ Church, one of the most prestigious and beautiful of the Oxford colleges.
Students of all ages pour in from the U.S., Canada, all over Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, and Asia. Choose from a menu of more than 60 subjects: Virginia Woolf and her Circle; Castles in Britain; Anglo-American Relations and the Making of Modern Britain. The Celts in Britain; Tudor London; The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain. The Georgian Home; Oxfordshire Towns; The Brontës; Wagner’s Ring; A History of the BBC; English Country Houses; From the Blues to a Symphony; Page Fright—And How to Overcome It; and Warfare in the Modern World.
These ultra-rich courses also include excursions to stately homes, cathedrals, museums, evening pub walks, a whisky tasting, a quirky performance, evensong in the college chapel, plays and concerts. And on the last night, all together, drinks in the flowering Cathedral Garden and a sumptuous farewell dinner in Harry Potter’s Great Hall. Cheers!
Visiting any foreign country and speaking the language, even minimally, adds enormously to the experience. Of course! But how? Cactus Language Training, a globe-trotting language training company, teaches 30+ languages in 60 countries at 500 destinations worldwide. Each year new destinations are added, new immersive cultural experiences are added too.
Deep in the heart of the American desert, in Mesa, Arizona, Fighter Combat International School can zoom you to stratospheric learning heights. From their menu, for beginners, we’d select the Aerobatic lesson: get strapped in for a 20-minute mid-air lesson (they fly, you scream) in a state-of-the art plane. For the more adventurous or advanced, check out a combat half-day lesson that simulates the jet-fighter experience. Wheew. You and the pilot-instructor are up front in this two-seater with dual controls … so you can actually try out your lesson live at 250 mph. Should you have even extra reserves of adrenaline that require siphoning off, do consider their “intensive” five-day program. Hero photos available.
Looking to work, literally like a slave, in the hot sun for no or low pay some summer? If you join an archaeological dig in one of the ancient sites in Israel, you will sift soil where King David walked and Jesus trod. You will see and feel the past, alive in your own hands and on the soles of your feet. The thrill and incredible excitement of finding authentic treasures such as pottery, mosaics, glass, and gold that are thousands of years old and holding them is hard to describe.
What’s in store? Dust! Heat! Stones! Sunburns! Brains! Brawn! History! New friends. And sometimes even romance… (hey, you never know…) So shake out your shovel, grab a hat with a big visor, slather on the sun cream and join one of the many major archaeological excavations scattered throughout this modern-ancient land, some near cities, some on the shores of the Mediterranean, some in the mountains or deserts.
Small classes, great chefs, and almost everywhere around the world — Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, South America, India, and the U.S. – cooking schools make for delicious cultural immersions. Sign up for a cooking school and make friends, explore local markets, discover delicious and unique local produce: wines, cheeses, and antiques (of course). Explore tiny towns and neighborhoods… and even learn a culinary trick or two. The Shaw Guide to Cooking Schools is a dizzyingly encyclopedic treasure trove of precise and valuable information on who, what, where, and when, plus career ideas.
Brew Master