Club de Español

Last Monday, although we faced some technical issues, we had a very special session at the Spanish Club: We learnt about an ancient pre-Hispanic game played by the Mapuche people -one of the First Nations from what is now southern Chile and Argentina-, a game called Palín. 

Palín wasn’t just a sport; it also had a spiritual side. It was a way for different communities to come together, to resolve disputes and to make important decisions. Palín is a game that at first sight, looks like field hockey, but it has significant differences. It is played on a field that might vary, but usually it is around 120 meters long and 6 meters wide, with small ball made of wood, same as some curved sticks, called wiño. A game can last between minutes to days, because for a team to win, it has to score four consecutive unanswered points.

Both children and parents had a great time, playing, or trying to play the game. 

We want to thank Raúl for lending us the school’s hockey sticks to be used as wiños.

For our final session of the year, el Club de Español will say hasta luego, with a “fiesta”. Everyone is welcome! Don’t be shy and come and say ¡Hola!.  Hispanics tend to show love through food, so if you have some time after drop-off, we will be under Twiggy: The friendship tree, with delicious choripanes, a popular street food sandwich from Argentina and Chile, arepas from Colombia, tortilla española and more.

We are looking forward to bringing more fun actividades en español to all our Newlands community in 2026. We would like to extend our invitation a todas las familias to join us next year. You don’t need to speak Spanish... but we will try to send you home every Monday afternoon with some new vocabulary and una gran sonrisa. 

 ¡Nos vemos pronto!