Caroline Hambley

SARANAC LAKE — Caroline Hambley, who teaches French and Spanish at Lake Placid Elementary School, will give a presentation on her recent sabbatical tour of four Spanish-speaking countries.

Hambley, of Rainbow Lake, focused on language immersion and making community and cultural connections to bring back to her students. Her presentation, “Four Countries, Five Months: Discovering the Joys of Hispanic Culture,” will take place at noon Thursday in the Cantwell Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library.

Hambley’s trip started in Mexico and included a visit to the winter sanctuaries of the monarch butterfly, the pyramids of Teotihuacan, and mangroves and turtle sanctuaries on the nation’s Pacific coast.

Panama was next with visits to the Canal Zone, the Biodiversity Museum, an orchid farm and a hike up an 11,400-foot volcano with views of the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Then she sailed from Panama to Cartagena, Colombia, on a 51-foot sloop through the San Blas Islands, belonging to the Kuna people, and out into the open sea. In Cartagena she attended a language school and visited chocolate and coffee plantations, historic sites and museums.

In Spain, Hambley walked the Camino de Santiago, an arduous trek which many find to be spiritually and mentally rewarding. The high points of this walk were visits to the caves of Altamira and Tito Bustillo, with their prehistoric depictions of animals on the cave walls, created more than 30,000 years ago.

This will be the third presentation of this season’s Library Lunch Program. All presentations are free and open to the public. Bring soup or sandwich if you like, and enjoy a dessert and beverage provided by the Refreshment Committee. For more information, call 518-891-4190.