Introduction: La Carta

Episodios 1 y 2

Welcome to the Journey

The story begins at La Gavia, a sixteenth century estate near Mexico City. Don Fernando Castillo Saavedra is very ill and recently received a letter that reveals new information about a secret from his life in Spain. His family gathers at La Gavia and don Fernando reveals that during the Spanish Civil War he married a woman named Rosario. When Guernica was bombed, Fernando thought that Rosario, who was pregnant, had died. But he recently received a letter from a woman in Sevilla named Teresa Suárez saying that Rosario didn’t die and it is possible that Fernando has another child in Spain. His brother, Pedro hires a lawyer from Los Angeles, Raquel Rodriguez to investigate. 

Recursos para los episodios 

Click on + signs below to access the textbook, workbook, audio recording, transcript, and other instructional resources for an episode.

About the audio files:

Episodios 1 y 2

La Gavia

Ciudad de México

Episodio 1: La Carta

Resumen del episodio (episode summary) –At the family estate of La Gavia outside México City, an ailing don Fernando Castillo summons his children and brother Pedro after receiving a troubling letter from Spain. Flashing back to a wartime memory of a woman named Rosario, he hints at a long-buried secret. The episode ends with don Fernando alone in the chapel, haunted by Rosario’s memory.

📖  Conceptos

Grammar: The verb “ser”. Subject pronouns and introduction to the present tense.

Other: Cognates, introductions, and basic questions.

Episodio 1 La carta

Episodio 2: El secreto

Resumen del episodio – Don Fernando’s children and brother Pedro gather at La Gavia, where Fernando finally tells them the story of Rosario: they married in Spain just before the Civil War, he believed she died in the bombing of Guernica, and a letter from Teresa Suárez now suggests otherwise — and that he may have another child. Pedro calls in a lawyer, Raquel Rodríguez, and hands her Teresa’s letter to begin the investigation. The episode ends with don Fernando alone in the chapel, imagining he sees Rosario’s ghost.

📖  Conceptos

Grammar: The noun gender system, definite and indefinite articles, and how to express possession.

Other topics: Family vocabulary; greetings and polite expressions; the pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet.

Episodio 2 El secreto

Done with the Spain episodes?

✈️ Continue to Destination 1 España

Clarification about the audio files ....

There is only one set of audio files for both the textbook and workbook/study guides. Each audio file is used for both. The textbook contains the “script” and reading that goes with the audio file. The Workbook (Manual de actividades) contains the actual blanks to be filled in while listening to the audio file.

The audio is specifically designed to “talk” you through both the textbook and workbook activities. For example, a narrator will say, “Lección uno. Comprensión. Ejercicio A…” and then provide the audio content used to respond to the workbook questions & activities. 

Recent Updates & fixes

3 May 2026:

The Q&A content needed attention. Originally (a long time ago) I included two different sets of questions from various sources. But the questions were redundant, some answers were wrong, and the number of questions was overwhelming. With a little AI help I went through every episode and combined the Q&A sets, grouped the questions, and checked the answers. It took three long, tedious days to complete. I hope you like the results.

13 Apr 2026: 

  1. Received feedback that a user did not know how to access the videos. I moved the “ticket” image from the right sidebar to the center on each page.
  2. Added a pop-up to explain that there is only one set of audio files for both the textbook and workbook/study guides. When the headphones icon appears in either the textbook or workbook, it refers to the single audio file for that episode.

Please send suggestions and ideas. I will continue to update the site based on feedback.