What about spending your vacation in Spain? Would you like to be a tourist while studying the language? Just pack your bags and come!

GOOD REASONS TO STUDY SPANISH IN SPAIN

Spain is one of Europe’s top destinations for tourism and study abroad. The country is a window for Moorish, Romanesque and Gothic architecture as well as cultural elements like bullfighting, flamenco and botellon street parties—they are just a part of why so many travelers continue to choose Spain for their vacation or longer visits to study the language and learn about its culture and way of life. Other people choose Spain for the warm Mediterranean climate and delicious gastronomy.

1. Door to history

   Travel throughout history and experience it yourself. Palaces, museums, bridges… History is at your fingertips everywhere you go in Spain.

   The Prado Museum in Madrid, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Moorish architecture in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, the Giralda in Seville, Santiago de Compostela and its pilgrimage trail, cave paintings, discovered in Altamira, which date from 15,000 to 8500 B.C., or the Roman aqueduct in Segovia are just a few places rich in culture and history.

   Then there’s the coastal city of Valencia and the wild pyrotechnics that take place every year around mid-March at the week long festival of Las Fallas. Add in the bullfighting rings of Pamplona and the world-class beaches of San Sebastian in northern Spain and you’ve got enough attractions to sight see for weeks if not months.



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September is Education Month in Buenos Aires. On the 11th of September we´ll celebrate Teacher´s Day, which is also the anniversary of the death of Argentine President Domingo Sarmiento. This day was named in his honor, as he was the first to introduce an Education plan in Argentina that was effective in bringing the overall education level of the country up to date with developed nations. President Sarmiento also encouraged the immigration of European educators, and built many schools and public libraries throughout the country, truly making great strides in education. A fun fact about Buenos Aires: nearly 60% of the population has some degree of Italian descent, and because of that, there are a lot of pizza restaurants in the city.

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Now you´ve made it to Peru! Bienvenidos! Here are 5 tips for keeping safe, getting a great bargain and enjoying the exciting cultural nuances of Peru that may be completely new to you. Enjoy your study Spanish in Cusco Peru experience and your trip to Peru and all the new experiences it brings!!

1. Look both ways!
   When you are crossing the street, be aware! Traffic rules don´t always apply here in Peru the way they do in the countries that you may be used to. Just because the semáforo (traffic light) is red, it does not necessarily mean the car will stop. Just because the vehicle is using it´s right turn signal does not necessarily mean the driver plans to make a right turn… keep your eyes open and pay attention as you navigate your way through Peruvian traffic on foot!


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Don’t delay any longer if you are considering signing up for a Spanish course in Buenos Aires ! The electric city of Buenos Aires will undoubtedly provide you with the most amazing South American experience — full of culture, night life, history, fashion, passion, adventure, and new local and foreign friends ! A great setting where you can learn Spanish and feel immersed 24/7.

An amazing discount on our Spanish courses offer if you sign up before July 1st.

Why Study Spanish in Buenos Aires ?

1. Enjoy the nightlife in Buenos AIres !
   Are you prepared to be a night owl? Buenos Aires is not only the biggest city in Argentina, it’s by far the most vibrant one. Here, music plays an important role, and Buenos Aires offers a large selection of nightclubs and concerts. Be aware, the nightclubs are open from 2 am to 6 am. Don´t worry if you don’t like dancing, there are also a lot of good restaurants and a wide variety of bars. The most famous and fun are in San Telmo, Recoleta, Palermo and Belgrano. Kitchens are usually open from 8pm to 1am and the pubs normally close at 6 a.m..
   Tip ! The AMAUTA staff at the school administration of AMAUTA Buenos Aires will help you ……


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Street food in Cusco! Should you try it? People back home for sure told you not to and so do some travel guides…. But living in Cusco as a Spanish student, we think you should! It´s a cheap and quick way to sample local fare and, it’s all great!

A lot of people have reservations about eating food prepared and sold by a street vendor, but believe me, its normal to do here in Peru and just fine in most cases! Trust your instincts…if it looks bad or you don´t feel right about it, don´t eat it and move along! Also…trust the crowds! A good rule of thumb that I use when traveling…if there is a long line of locals waiting to eat it, it´s probably downright delicious and perfectly safe! If the place is deserted…there´s a good reason for that too…and I don´t want to find out what it is!

Below is a list of some local Cusco favorites…this is not at all a complete list of available options around town, so explore on your own too and let us know! ! Buen provecho!

Top 7 Peruvian street food in Cusco

Anticucho — ¨Meat on a Stick¨ You can find this delicious snack being barbecued on many street corners in Cusco in the evenings. You can choose from chicken, beef, or if you are really adventurous, cow heart, impaled onto what can only be called a deadly weapon (an incredibly sharp skewer made from bamboo) with an extremely dry potato stuck on the end (for safety we presume as the papa is in no way the highlight of the experience.) When trying this perfectly-seasoned delicacy, be sure to sample some of the yummy green chimichurri sauce available at every stand!
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Today’s recipe: Rocoto Relleno

It is no longer a secret that Peru has a very authentic and flavorful cuisine; Peruvian cuisine is actually booming all over the world.  AMAUTA Spanish school in Cusco, therefore, offers an interesting workshop Peruvian Cuisine that can be combined with a Spanish course in Peru.

One of the most famous dishes is the Rocoto Relleno, a stuffed hot pepper that is colorful, aromatic and incredibly tasty all at once. It is a traditional appetizer from the mountain city of Arequipa in the south of Peru, served alongside a delicious potato gratin; however in all fairness, it could make for a complete meal already!

This Peruvian recipe contains beef, pecans, raisins, olives and more. It can take some time to prepare as there are several preparation steps involved (boiling the peppers, filling, stuffing and baking) but once you taste its hot and unusual flavor you know it was all worth it. This heavenly meal will definitely impress at a dinner party.  Serves 8 to 10:

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This week is a unique week for Spanish students that are interested in the traditional culture of Peru and that came to not only to learn Spanish but to be immersed in Peruvian cultural. Especially if you study Spanish and live with a Peruvian host family you will have a very special week: Semana Santa (Eastern) – is a very important event to the people, full of processions and traditional food and sweets.

It all starts with ´Domingo de Ramos´ (Palm Sunday) when Peruvian families in Cusco go to church together , all holdings crosses with palms and seek blessings. Many beautiful creations of flowers can be found on the streets of Cusco. Monday, is the day of the patron Saint of the city of Cusco called The Lord of the Earthquakes or El Senor de los Tremblores This is a very important day of the people in Cusco. It all starts at around 2pm and goes until the evening, when the saint is taken to the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas to be blessed; thousands of people come to the central square to meet here, a very interesting event when you are interested in the culture of Peru.

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Peru is one of the world’s great travel destinations. However, despite the economic benefits generated by the international tourism industry in the area the majority of the local people live in either poverty or extreme poverty. For instance in Lima, and Cusco, there are a lot of children working on the streets. The older ones often have to take care of their younger siblings and are the first ones who drop out of school.

AMAUTA Spanish School in Cusco has been organizing volunteer placements in Peru ever since its founding in 1998 and we are happy to connect local people and projects with our Spanish students, of which many are interested in give a helping hand as a volunteer. AMAUTA not only organizes the volunteer placements itself but offers complete programs for volunteers– including Spanish classes in Cusco, accommodation in our Student and Volunteer House or with local guest families, and we organize cheap and fun tours in Cusco. And – most important – AMAUTA does not only support the volunteers, but also the projects in Cusco, in different ways. Are you interested? Many volunteer projects in Cusco need you and through your booking, AMAUTA can support the projects even more!

The project for street kids in the city centre of Cusco is one of those organizations that benefit greatly from the participation of volunteers! Thanks to the help of many AMAUTA volunteers, the kids in this project can be a child for a couple of hours, and play, learn, do their homework, learn some English, enjoy recreational activities and maybe even enjoy a small meal at the end of the day. Through your volunteer work in Peru, AMAUTA can support this project to help around 25 street kids that are working on the streets of Cusco, selling sweets, postcards etc. on the streets, or work as a shoe-shiner.

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So, Spanish Students: if you’ve seen Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, and filled up on your fair share of ruins and Inca culture in Peru, what do you do for a weekend in Cusco?

How about quad biking? I went a few weeks ago, deep in the wet season, and it was all the better for it! We watched as we chilled out in AMAUTA during the morning and the rain lashed down, knowing that the perfect biking conditions were being created for us as we waited. 

We headed down by taxi to the lower parts of the city of Cusco, where we met our guide, Katy, and her driver. We practiced in a small off-road area, where we got used to the gears and brakes. Before long we were heading out along main roads back into the city, but before you knew it we were off the main roads and onto small roads leading higher out into the city outskirts.
As we climbed roads got thinner, and eventually we were on dirt track roads, high above the city of Cusco.

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So with Carnival around the corner, and Brazil charging through the roof for their extravagant celebrations, where are the best places in Peru and Argentina to celebrate?

In Peru, this is a much more traditional affair, with dances and songs performed, along with street processions and ceremonies all over the country. The place best known for Carnival is Cajamarca, where there is all the above and more. Here all the city’s inhabitants and tourists alike will dance around a ‘yunsa’ (also known as ‘humisha’ in the Peruvian jungle), appropriately decorated and adorned with prizes, such as alcohol and toys.

The Master of Ceremonies kicks things off by attempting to chop down the tree in 3 blows, before handing the machete over to someone else. The fall of the tree marks the start of the fiesta as all surrounding people rush forward to claim the prizes attached to its branches!

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