Spanish Students Find Food and Fun in Local Community

For Greenhills Spanish students, May was a fun (and very tasty) month.
On May 3, 39 Spanish II students hit the road to explore Tienda La Libertad, a relatively new local store that sells an array of products from the Spanish-speaking world. Students first participated in a treasure hunt around the store, identifying various interesting products such as corn husks, chiles, exotic teas, etc.  The students then sat down to a buffet lunch consisting of authentic México City-style tacos and vegetarian fajitas. The owners of the store, César and Ana Hervert, spoke to students in Spanish about the origins of the store and all the services it offers.

On May 4, 20 Spanish 7 middle school students visited the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory. Co-owner Lupe Quetglas gave students a tour in Spanish, explaining the factory’s natural production methods. At the end of the tour students sampled fresh, hot tortillas and chips right off the machines.

Then on May 18, Spanish 7 students celebrated the end of a special cultural unit on Spanish cooking by sampling all of the foods they had studied. Harriet Seaver, owner of Tíos, catered a multi-course authentic Spanish lunch in the Greenhills Dance Studio that included bread and olive oil, Spanish olives, empanadas (savory turnovers filled with spinach and cheese), tortilla española (an omelette filled with potatoes and onions), and paella.  In order to make sure that the students tried everything, Sra. Moffat gave out points for every different dish consumed.

“The students had an absolutely wonderful time at each of these activities,” says Sra. Elaine Moffat.  “I had lots of requests to return to Tienda La Libertad and the tortilla factory.  Of course, whenever there’s food involved, students love it!”