A 7th grade Spanish class enjoyed a firsthand lesson about a beautiful Spanish city situated along the Mediterranean Sea.

What’s 3,954 miles when you can bring family into the classroom?

Students in a 7th grade  Sidwell Friends Spanish class got a real-time glimpse of life in Spain this month thanks to Assistant Director of Admissions Christian Baker, who connected family members living there to the classroom via Zoom.

Baker’s birth mother, Noelia, his aunt, Rosa, and his cousins, Carmen and Raquel, told the students about the geography and population of Marbella, a city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, part of the Andalucía region, as well as festivals, sports, famous people, traditional food, and places of interest, including La Concha, the iconic 1,203-meter-high mountain that overlooks the city, where Baker and his family hike and picnic each summer when he visits. And, of course, Marbella’s 24 gorgeous beaches with their soft golden sand, dunes, and warm azure waters.

While walking during the Zoom meeting, Baker’s cousin, Carmen, wandered into the Feria de San Pedro Alcántara, an annual fair held each October.  The autumn festival features street decorations, music, fireworks, fairground rides, flamenco performances, and community meals to honor the town’s patron saint. Carmen flipped her phone around to show the class back in Washington, DC a group of flamenco dancers in full Andalucian Spanish dress. She explained that the traditional flamenco dress is also called traje de gitana—the gypsy outfit—and reflects its origins with the Roma people (Gitanos) of Spain.

Students asked Baker and his family about the best parts about living in Marbella including their favorite dishes—gazpacho, Iberian ham, and fried fish. At one point, while answering a question, Noelia pointed out her window to a clear view of Gibraltar.

Baker joked that the students’ Spanish was better than his and his family noted how impressed they were with the students’ ease with the language and excellent pronunciation.

“My 7th graders were excited to have Christian join our class and ‘meet’ his Spanish family,” says Nan Pickens, 7/8 Spanish Teacher and Middle School Language Dept Chair. “This was a unique opportunity to interact—entirely in Spanish—with residents of beautiful Marbella. We study Spain all year, and we plan to have at least one more visit with Christian and his family to discuss the history and cultural influences of Andalucía.”

Baker, who grew up  in Boston with his adoptive parents, met his birth family when he was 16. The story of how they reconnected and how his birth and adoptive families overlapped in both countries is out of a novel—the serendipitous synchronicity seems almost fairytale-like.

Baker, who spends each summer in Marbella and revels in the time spent with his birth family and his ever-growing circle of friends, says, “I am incredibly lucky! I truly believe that you can never have too many people who love you. I have many homes, including the one in beautiful Marbella.”