As one walks through the language hallway in the east wing of St. Paul Academy and Summit School, the sounds coming out of the classrooms join together as a mass of teachers speaking in four different languages. However, if one pays attention to the voices coming from room 126, Mr. Ronaldo Castellanos’ familiar cuban accent is accompanied with the Madrilenian accent of SPA’s new Spanish language amity, Rocio Estevéz.

Here for a the duration of the 2014-15 school year, Estevéz recently graduated from the University of Seville in Seville, Spain. A big fan of travel, Estevez has spent a year in Portugal, a year and a half in Ireland, and some time in New York. However, this is Estevéz’s first visit to Minnesota.

Estevéz came to SPA through an amity program she applied to, and is very happy with the school. She is currently living with the Baron family and describes her host family as “lovely”. One big difference Estevéz experiences living with an American family is the traditional afternoon dinner time, as compared to Spain’s 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. dinner time.

Estevéz’s study of English originated as a lifelong dream of being an English teacher, one that she carries on with her even today. “I would love to learn lots of things about the different teaching [styles], because it’s very different, the way of teaching here and the way of teaching in Spain,” Estevéz said. She hopes to bring these teaching methods to her career as a language teacher in the future.