Here are 3 highlight albums from the semester:
Scenery
People I
People II
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Video Reflection
How I prefaced this at our goodbye reception:
"I think we can all agree that for each of us, this semester in Sevilla has been a unique experience that has touched our lives in distinct ways. But I know we can also say that our time here has been a shared experience for all of us. Each of us has had a hand in shaping each others' times here, and all of our experiences have been touched by others. This video tries to show just that. I originally was going to just make a slide show for my family and friends, with my reflections, but that wasn't what this semester was to me. You have all had a hand in making my experience here, and I wanted you all to share in the creation of this video, even if you didn't know it. While most of them are mine, many of the photos aren't mine, many of the videos aren't mine, and most of the words aren't mine. Yeah, if I told you that I had a friend back home working on an article, it was a lie; it was for this. But ok, I'm going to stop talking now--I hope you enjoy the video."
"I think we can all agree that for each of us, this semester in Sevilla has been a unique experience that has touched our lives in distinct ways. But I know we can also say that our time here has been a shared experience for all of us. Each of us has had a hand in shaping each others' times here, and all of our experiences have been touched by others. This video tries to show just that. I originally was going to just make a slide show for my family and friends, with my reflections, but that wasn't what this semester was to me. You have all had a hand in making my experience here, and I wanted you all to share in the creation of this video, even if you didn't know it. While most of them are mine, many of the photos aren't mine, many of the videos aren't mine, and most of the words aren't mine. Yeah, if I told you that I had a friend back home working on an article, it was a lie; it was for this. But ok, I'm going to stop talking now--I hope you enjoy the video."
Sunday, December 07, 2008
London, baby!
My London trip the weekend after Thanksgiving was a whirlwind of a trip. First off, the Thanksgiving dinner that CEA put on for us was better than we could have imagined. The turkey was really amazing, and the side dishes were pretty close to the real thing. We've all grown pretty tight, so it was some consolation for not being at home for the holiday.
But yeah, London. Fun city, could never live there. Josh, Stacy, ad I got into our hostel around 3 in the morning and were up by 8 the next day to meet Stacy's friend Debbie (from Leeds) at King's Cross. So we got to be tourists on the Tube and stuff. I like their Metro--it's clean and organized...pretty much DC metro with more lines in terms of efficiency and convenience. They even have a SmarTrip equivalent.
In terms of touristy things, we did a lot, but not everything. Day I we saw Big Ben and the Parliament buildings from the outside, went into Westminster Abbey (lots of famous people are buried there--it was surreal), saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham (interesting, though very strange when the Guard band played Michael Jackson and the Star Wars theme), then we had lunch, saw the Tower of London (but didn't pay the £14.50 to go in--next time), crossed part of Tower Bridge, saw London Bridge, then we went to the British Imperial War Museum (which was soo much bigger than I expected), and then Tate Modern (which has some really famous pieces: Picasso, Boccioni, Roy Lietchenstein, etc.) before getting some fish and chips and calling it a night. The next day we saw a little cathedral in Westminster before heading to Tate British, getting some lunch at a great restaurant, watching some soccer, and making our way to the airport.
Today begins my last week in Sevilla. I've had a lot of time to think of a concluding entry for this trip, and I think I'll post it before I get home. This week I have finals, our goodbye reception (where I've prepare a couple surprises for the CEA crew), checking out the Arab baths (on CEA's tab--it pays to be on the student committee), and maybe heading to Carboneria one last time.
But yeah, London. Fun city, could never live there. Josh, Stacy, ad I got into our hostel around 3 in the morning and were up by 8 the next day to meet Stacy's friend Debbie (from Leeds) at King's Cross. So we got to be tourists on the Tube and stuff. I like their Metro--it's clean and organized...pretty much DC metro with more lines in terms of efficiency and convenience. They even have a SmarTrip equivalent.
In terms of touristy things, we did a lot, but not everything. Day I we saw Big Ben and the Parliament buildings from the outside, went into Westminster Abbey (lots of famous people are buried there--it was surreal), saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham (interesting, though very strange when the Guard band played Michael Jackson and the Star Wars theme), then we had lunch, saw the Tower of London (but didn't pay the £14.50 to go in--next time), crossed part of Tower Bridge, saw London Bridge, then we went to the British Imperial War Museum (which was soo much bigger than I expected), and then Tate Modern (which has some really famous pieces: Picasso, Boccioni, Roy Lietchenstein, etc.) before getting some fish and chips and calling it a night. The next day we saw a little cathedral in Westminster before heading to Tate British, getting some lunch at a great restaurant, watching some soccer, and making our way to the airport.
Today begins my last week in Sevilla. I've had a lot of time to think of a concluding entry for this trip, and I think I'll post it before I get home. This week I have finals, our goodbye reception (where I've prepare a couple surprises for the CEA crew), checking out the Arab baths (on CEA's tab--it pays to be on the student committee), and maybe heading to Carboneria one last time.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Barcelona!
Ok, I'm pretty late in writing this entry, but here goes.
We met up really early on the 21st at Prado to catch the bus to the airport. Things went pretty smoothly, except our plane caught a tailwind during our approach, and we had to abruptly ascend and turn around to land against the wind. You could feel the plane getting jerked around by the wind. We landed in Reus, a little town about an hour outside of Barcelona (because that's what you get when you fly Ryanair. We hopped on a bus to the main city and checked into our hostel in el Barri Gótica. Gothic Point Hostel was really cool--vividly decorated walls, big rooms, and a lot of activities.
After a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring the Gothic quarter of the city and just getting a feel for the place. We saw the Plaça Catalunya (ç se pronuncia como z...oh, that's "th" for you seseantes), which had some interesting artwork, and a lot of pigeons. Not as cool as Sevillano pigeons, however. After that we went to La Boquería, which is a famous market. It's one of the remaining throwbacks to history in such a modernized city. There were gigantic candy stands, fruit shops, meat and seafood venders...I had to remind myself that I had already eaten many a time haha.
We made our way to the port of Barcelona, where we took pictures with the lions in a traffic circle before hanging out on the docks. There's a sense of purity about the lack of supervision around the water that the US with its obsession with safety and liability just seems to lack. It was great to just dangle our feet over the edge and see the fish and birds. We had wanted to see the sunset, but it set over a mountain and a castle, which was pretty cool regardless. Later, Blake, Allison and I walked to a little park and saw a Gaudí fountain by night and also the Arc de Triunfo. We went to bed around midnight because we were going to get an early start the next day.
8:00 our alarms started going off. Grr. But it was exciting because we were off to see some important sights. First stop was the Sagrada Familia cathedral. The construction was started in 1882 and is still ongoing. It was originally designed by Gaudí, who at one point, when someone asked him about why the construction was taking so long, replied "My client is not in a hurry," referring to God. What's already been built is extremely impressive, nothing like anything I'd ever seen before. It's scheduled to be done in 2026, meaning at some point after that I'm going to have to journey back to Catalunya. We paid a couple euros to take an elevator up to the top of the tower where we got an amazing view of Barcelona (the first of many).
Next stop was Parque Güell, which is a massive park that contains a lot of famous Gaudí architecture. Nobody warned us that after you get out of the Metro (which was great by the way, DC-esque in simplicity), you have to climb almost a kilometer of hills and take about 3 esclators to the park, and then climb up more hills. But when we finally made it there and it was all worth it. It was great--you have to check the pictures on my Facebook albums to get a feel for it.
We stopped to get a couple tapas for lunch (we found a place that actually didn't charge 4 euros for a tapa...a rarity in Barça. We stopped in our hostel for a bit to drop off some stuff before heading to the beach. It was really relaxing to be out there. We hung out on a pier for a while before walking down the shore. After that we returned to the park from the night before to see it all by daylight.
Later that night we went to Barcelona's Plaça de Espanya, where every Friday and Saturday night there's a fountain light show. Again, check out the Facebook pictures (too lazy to post them on this). After that, we went to Chupitos for some chupitos. They had all these crazy shots--one was called the Boy Scout, where the bartender lit a fire and we roasted a marshmellow as a chaser.
We also had Pecha Zeta, which involved Pop Rocks and jumping around. El Punto J and an Orgasmo de Monjas were also had. At the end, we were all given a free one by the bartender (probably because between the 5 of us we spent almost 35 euros). Then we went home, well, Blake and Allison went by the Med for like 10 minutes, because on the way home Blake decided he needed to use the bathroom. Katie and I wanted to call people back home...and you all know how that went haha. In any case, we were in bed by 1:30ish.
The next day, we "slept in" until 9 before checking out of the hostel. There weren't many stops on our to-do list. We went to the Olympic stadium (which was a lot smaller than you would imagine), and saw the rest of the Olympic grounds. During our exploring, we came across a dirt track where people were racing remote control cars...really durable, really fast remote controlled cars. It was really cool. After that, we made our way up the mountain (we were with Allison, obviously) to see the fortress. Let me start by saying that I was developing a cold, so it was not exactly a pleasant walk. But the view was worth it. We stared out across the Med from one direction, and the city from the other.
We caught an early bus back to Reus and toured the town for a while, stopping for coffee and aceitunas...and ice cream. It was a nice little place. We met up with some other CEA Students in the airport and made it home smoothly.
Reflections: Barcelona is pretty much exactly as I expected it. Great for a visit, could never live there, and I'm glad I studied in Sevilla. It's too big of a city for my tastes, and the Catalan would definitely make it difficult to learn Spanish the way I've learned it here. But it's full of life and culture and I definitely think I'll be back to see the finished Sagrada Familia one day.
I got back from London yesterday, so expect an entry about that by the weekend. I can't believe I'm going home in just 11 days!
We met up really early on the 21st at Prado to catch the bus to the airport. Things went pretty smoothly, except our plane caught a tailwind during our approach, and we had to abruptly ascend and turn around to land against the wind. You could feel the plane getting jerked around by the wind. We landed in Reus, a little town about an hour outside of Barcelona (because that's what you get when you fly Ryanair. We hopped on a bus to the main city and checked into our hostel in el Barri Gótica. Gothic Point Hostel was really cool--vividly decorated walls, big rooms, and a lot of activities.
After a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring the Gothic quarter of the city and just getting a feel for the place. We saw the Plaça Catalunya (ç se pronuncia como z...oh, that's "th" for you seseantes), which had some interesting artwork, and a lot of pigeons. Not as cool as Sevillano pigeons, however. After that we went to La Boquería, which is a famous market. It's one of the remaining throwbacks to history in such a modernized city. There were gigantic candy stands, fruit shops, meat and seafood venders...I had to remind myself that I had already eaten many a time haha.
We made our way to the port of Barcelona, where we took pictures with the lions in a traffic circle before hanging out on the docks. There's a sense of purity about the lack of supervision around the water that the US with its obsession with safety and liability just seems to lack. It was great to just dangle our feet over the edge and see the fish and birds. We had wanted to see the sunset, but it set over a mountain and a castle, which was pretty cool regardless. Later, Blake, Allison and I walked to a little park and saw a Gaudí fountain by night and also the Arc de Triunfo. We went to bed around midnight because we were going to get an early start the next day.
8:00 our alarms started going off. Grr. But it was exciting because we were off to see some important sights. First stop was the Sagrada Familia cathedral. The construction was started in 1882 and is still ongoing. It was originally designed by Gaudí, who at one point, when someone asked him about why the construction was taking so long, replied "My client is not in a hurry," referring to God. What's already been built is extremely impressive, nothing like anything I'd ever seen before. It's scheduled to be done in 2026, meaning at some point after that I'm going to have to journey back to Catalunya. We paid a couple euros to take an elevator up to the top of the tower where we got an amazing view of Barcelona (the first of many).
Next stop was Parque Güell, which is a massive park that contains a lot of famous Gaudí architecture. Nobody warned us that after you get out of the Metro (which was great by the way, DC-esque in simplicity), you have to climb almost a kilometer of hills and take about 3 esclators to the park, and then climb up more hills. But when we finally made it there and it was all worth it. It was great--you have to check the pictures on my Facebook albums to get a feel for it.
We stopped to get a couple tapas for lunch (we found a place that actually didn't charge 4 euros for a tapa...a rarity in Barça. We stopped in our hostel for a bit to drop off some stuff before heading to the beach. It was really relaxing to be out there. We hung out on a pier for a while before walking down the shore. After that we returned to the park from the night before to see it all by daylight.
Later that night we went to Barcelona's Plaça de Espanya, where every Friday and Saturday night there's a fountain light show. Again, check out the Facebook pictures (too lazy to post them on this). After that, we went to Chupitos for some chupitos. They had all these crazy shots--one was called the Boy Scout, where the bartender lit a fire and we roasted a marshmellow as a chaser.
We also had Pecha Zeta, which involved Pop Rocks and jumping around. El Punto J and an Orgasmo de Monjas were also had. At the end, we were all given a free one by the bartender (probably because between the 5 of us we spent almost 35 euros). Then we went home, well, Blake and Allison went by the Med for like 10 minutes, because on the way home Blake decided he needed to use the bathroom. Katie and I wanted to call people back home...and you all know how that went haha. In any case, we were in bed by 1:30ish.
The next day, we "slept in" until 9 before checking out of the hostel. There weren't many stops on our to-do list. We went to the Olympic stadium (which was a lot smaller than you would imagine), and saw the rest of the Olympic grounds. During our exploring, we came across a dirt track where people were racing remote control cars...really durable, really fast remote controlled cars. It was really cool. After that, we made our way up the mountain (we were with Allison, obviously) to see the fortress. Let me start by saying that I was developing a cold, so it was not exactly a pleasant walk. But the view was worth it. We stared out across the Med from one direction, and the city from the other.
We caught an early bus back to Reus and toured the town for a while, stopping for coffee and aceitunas...and ice cream. It was a nice little place. We met up with some other CEA Students in the airport and made it home smoothly.
Reflections: Barcelona is pretty much exactly as I expected it. Great for a visit, could never live there, and I'm glad I studied in Sevilla. It's too big of a city for my tastes, and the Catalan would definitely make it difficult to learn Spanish the way I've learned it here. But it's full of life and culture and I definitely think I'll be back to see the finished Sagrada Familia one day.
I got back from London yesterday, so expect an entry about that by the weekend. I can't believe I'm going home in just 11 days!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sevilla es mi cante...
"La tierra se abrió ayer en Sevilla y se tragó un quiosco de prensa. Literalmente." The earth opened up yesterday in Sevilla and swallowed a news kiosk. Literally.
This was the first line of an article in an Andalucían newspaper today. I know I haven't written about my Barcelona trip yet, but this week in Sevilla has been tan busy and interesting enough to warrant an entry today. But yeah, the Metro that they've been building here in Sevilla for the past few years has been delayed over and over again (it was supposed to be done 2 years ago...Dec 20 is the current opening date for Line 1), and this surely doesn't help. Apparently the owner of the kiosk (that I pass every day on the way to class) and his family noticed that the ground was rumbling and got out of the kiosk only minutes before it fell through the ground into where the metro station is being built. Yeah.
Speaking of Sevilliano construction, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but for the past 3 months, they have been working on the water pipes on my side of the river. My street is at the end of 6 different streets, and they have been making their way street by street over the course of the semester. They are now on the second to last one. Based on how many people we see working, and how many smoke breaks they take, we've guessed that in America, the project would have been done two months ago. Instead, now and then I get to wake up to jackhammers in the morning, or the house shaking because they're working on pipes under us. Yeah.
Also, remember my post about the big protest about No a Bolonia? Yeah, the students have been continuing to cause problems for the university. At one point they started sleeping in the university, so now the city decided to block off the courtyard doors so no one can get in. This means that we pretty much have to walk around the whole building to get to a classroom that used to take us 30 seconds to get to. Then today there were protests by the students again, this time against the closing of the doors. ::shrug::
Last night we went to a play put on by some of the people in our program. It was funny, and they've all gotten definitely better at their Spanish (though some people still have horrid accents). After that we all got tapas (well, I got a full meal), before going to La Carbonería. This time I was there for the whole show. We got there and the performer thanked us for being there. "Que frio hace esta noche...pero el flamenco es caliente: calenta el corazón, calenta el alma, y el cuerpo..." It was a great show, felt so much more authentic than the Patio Sevillano show we saw earlier. At one point, they decided to play Sevillanas (variation of flamenco), and got a man and a woman from the crowd to come up and dance (they were very good).
The songs were beautiful and surprisingly easy to understand (even Spaniards have trouble hearing the words a veces). The lyrics were pretty--"Sevilla es mi cante, Sevilla es me flor, Sevilla es mi baile, Sevilla es mi amor..." We left around 12:20. Hopefully I'll have the chance to go one or two more times before I leave.
Tonight we're having a Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. ¡Que tengáis un gran Dia de Acción de Gracias!
This was the first line of an article in an Andalucían newspaper today. I know I haven't written about my Barcelona trip yet, but this week in Sevilla has been tan busy and interesting enough to warrant an entry today. But yeah, the Metro that they've been building here in Sevilla for the past few years has been delayed over and over again (it was supposed to be done 2 years ago...Dec 20 is the current opening date for Line 1), and this surely doesn't help. Apparently the owner of the kiosk (that I pass every day on the way to class) and his family noticed that the ground was rumbling and got out of the kiosk only minutes before it fell through the ground into where the metro station is being built. Yeah.
Speaking of Sevilliano construction, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but for the past 3 months, they have been working on the water pipes on my side of the river. My street is at the end of 6 different streets, and they have been making their way street by street over the course of the semester. They are now on the second to last one. Based on how many people we see working, and how many smoke breaks they take, we've guessed that in America, the project would have been done two months ago. Instead, now and then I get to wake up to jackhammers in the morning, or the house shaking because they're working on pipes under us. Yeah.
Also, remember my post about the big protest about No a Bolonia? Yeah, the students have been continuing to cause problems for the university. At one point they started sleeping in the university, so now the city decided to block off the courtyard doors so no one can get in. This means that we pretty much have to walk around the whole building to get to a classroom that used to take us 30 seconds to get to. Then today there were protests by the students again, this time against the closing of the doors. ::shrug::
Last night we went to a play put on by some of the people in our program. It was funny, and they've all gotten definitely better at their Spanish (though some people still have horrid accents). After that we all got tapas (well, I got a full meal), before going to La Carbonería. This time I was there for the whole show. We got there and the performer thanked us for being there. "Que frio hace esta noche...pero el flamenco es caliente: calenta el corazón, calenta el alma, y el cuerpo..." It was a great show, felt so much more authentic than the Patio Sevillano show we saw earlier. At one point, they decided to play Sevillanas (variation of flamenco), and got a man and a woman from the crowd to come up and dance (they were very good).
The songs were beautiful and surprisingly easy to understand (even Spaniards have trouble hearing the words a veces). The lyrics were pretty--"Sevilla es mi cante, Sevilla es me flor, Sevilla es mi baile, Sevilla es mi amor..." We left around 12:20. Hopefully I'll have the chance to go one or two more times before I leave.
Tonight we're having a Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. ¡Que tengáis un gran Dia de Acción de Gracias!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Great weekend so far...
Haven't done anything really worth blogging, but this has been one of my favorite weekends in Seville so far.
Wednesday
--Irish pub with Matt, Blake, and Kevin
--Orange toss
--Random spanish bar
Thursday
--"so indie"
--Alfalfa
--wandering the city
Friday
--toast and coffee
--guy with dancing puppets
--guitar session by the river
--Parque de Maria Luisa/Pigeons at Plaza de Americas
--tapas
--Alfalfa with Brenna, Sarah Catley, and some CEA Barcelona people
Saturday
--waking up at 1pm and having Filli make fun of me
--the fried ham and cheese and tortellini with Spanish cream sauce for lunch
--getting stuck in a procession in Triana for 30 minutes
--Italian buffet and Scottish pub with Stacy and Sevillanos
Sooo tired...
Wednesday
--Irish pub with Matt, Blake, and Kevin
--Orange toss
--Random spanish bar
Thursday
--"so indie"
--Alfalfa
--wandering the city
Friday
--toast and coffee
--guy with dancing puppets
--guitar session by the river
--Parque de Maria Luisa/Pigeons at Plaza de Americas
--tapas
--Alfalfa with Brenna, Sarah Catley, and some CEA Barcelona people
Saturday
--waking up at 1pm and having Filli make fun of me
--the fried ham and cheese and tortellini with Spanish cream sauce for lunch
--getting stuck in a procession in Triana for 30 minutes
--Italian buffet and Scottish pub with Stacy and Sevillanos
Sooo tired...
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Granada!
This weekend was our last CEA-sponsored excursion: Granada. Located about 3 hours west of Sevilla, Granada is famous for its Islamic heritage. Most notably, Granada has La Alhambra, a Moorish citadel that houses three palaces, and a pueblo called Albaicin that contains a lot of Muslim architecture and overlooks the main city and Alhambra.
view from Albaicin
We started in Albaicin, where we spent a lot of time taking pictures. It was a great spot—we could clearly see the Alhambra on top of a small mountain and the city to the right of it. There was a lot concentrated in this little scenic spot. There were street vendors selling everything from puppies (they let us hold them, and I think Shelby actually asked Aranoa if she could buy one—as a joke of course), to jewelry to drawings. Also, this group of men were sitting and playing and singing flamenco. They were really good—a lot of us gave them money when they took a break. There were a lot of student age people enjoying the view and the music. It was a nice place.
KG and puppy
Street Entertainment
Afterwards, we made our way down to the main city (walking). Granada was a very interesting place. It’s a much smaller city than Sevilla, but to me, it felt more “city,” which is interesting because when I told Allison I still liked Sevilla more (because a lot of people said that they loved Grenada so much they could have studied there instead of Sevilla), she said it was because I liked big cities. ::shrug:: It reminded me a lot of American cities, with the neo-classical architecture on tall, modern buildings, the artsy street lights and flowered medians.
We checked into our hotel and had lunch courtesy of CEA. It was identical to most CEA meals we’ve had: bread, followed by salad, followed by chicken and vegetables, followed by ice cream. I was very satisfied. Afterwards, we had some free time. A bunch of us checked out the Romanesque cathedral, which was very impressive. I love how you could track the history of art through the side chapels—starting with the proto-Renaissance and ending with the high Renaissance. It was also enormous. Gothic cathedrals may be fancier, but this one was magnificent in its own right. It was very well lit (very strategically placed fluorescent lights accentuated the natural light reflection off the white stone), and overall one of the favorite churches I’ve even been in.
Main Sacristy of the Cathedral
After that, we spent some time wandering around the city. Translation: I was the only guy, and the girls wanted to go shopping for boots. It was still very interesting—there is this one section of Grenada that is very similar to a Moroccan market street: narrow roads, cheap goods in small shops, salesmen sitting on chairs just outside the doors, ready to pounce. It brought back some good memories.
Oh, right, I should share this. Grenada is situated at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which means it was very cold. I ended up buying a pair of gloves.
Anyway, it was eventually dinnertime, which I had been really excited about since I knew we were going to Grenada. In Granada, tapas come with drinks. We stopped at this one place and got drinks and the free tapas, and then we each ordered another one (I ordered 2). 4.80 Euros for a drink and 3 small sandwiches. Then we went to Bella y la Bestia, which had been recommended to me before the trip. This place was amazing. I ordered 8 drinks for the group, and with our drinks we were given ham and cheese bagels, French fries (with ketchup and RANCH DRESSING), and pasta salad, all for 2 Euros each.
Enjoying our Tapas
The Venue
After that, we got dessert as a pastelería (dessert store) before heading back to the hotel. I ended up going with some people to rendezvous with some CEA Granada guys. They took us to this bar that was really far away and very crowded, but the drinks were good and cheap. I only had one because I only wanted to be out for a little bit, and around 12:20 (very early by Spanish standards), Robyn, Matt, and I caught a cab back to the hotel….at which point we ran into Kevin, Ruth, and Katie (in her pajamas). Apparently it was mojito night at a nearby bar. Matt continued to the hotel, and Robyn and I joined the group. We got our mojitos in plastic cups para llevar (Kevin just took his glass back haha) and hung out in the hotel for a while before going to bed.
I set my alarm for 8:20 and was showered and eating breakfast downstairs by 9:05. I was (eventually) joined by James, Allison, and Aranoa. It was some good food—little did I know it would be my most substantial meal for the next 11 hours.
Allison and I took to the streets around 10:00. We walked through the city central before she decided to show me the river/canal area. It was really cool—unlike Seville, Granada actually experiences fall. The leaves do change color. So we just followed the river until we ran out of sidewalk. At this point we walked up into the residential area, thinking that all we had to do was go back around and make a loop (because doubling back is boring). We climbed up a lot of stairs and walked up some roads…I don’t know why we thought there’d be an easy way down, but we did.
All of Granada
At one point, we were reaching what seemed to me the highest part of the road we were on. It was in fact the highest part of the road, but it was also the end of the road. Looking down off this particular edge of the mountainside, we saw a road that looked like it would take us toward the city central. Here we had a choice: either we double back on the road we had just spent the last 15 minutes on, or climb down the hill. We chose to make our way down the hill. It didn’t look too steep from where we were. I also decided that worst-case scenario was that we call the emergency number and have the group pick us up on the way to La Alhambra.
The Situation
Most of it wasn’t that steep. The main problem was that the ground wasn’t very sturdy—the rocks kept failing to support us. Some times I just sat completely down and slid. Luckily, attached to that tree in the bottom right of the picture was a thin rope. Unluckily, taking the rope only got us to the steepest part of the way down, where we were confronted by our next impediment: cacti. There was a rock wall that we could use for support, and my jeans absorbed the brunt of the cacti and (what looked like but probably weren’t) aloe plants. I made it down. Allison wasn’t so lucky. First of all, she’s a girl and was carrying a purse. So she threw it and her jacket down to me. Then, every time she tried to use the rock wall for support, the rock wouldn’t be steady and would just go flying down at me. My knee is still a little sore from a particularly large rock. Also, at one point, she fell on a cactus. Allison decided she wasn’t going to be able to make it down the same way I did, so she found another way down that involved shimmying down a wooden pole. We made it all in one piece…albeit with rocks in our shoes, and in Allison’s case, her purse and pants.
The Solution
So then we took the road towards the general direction of the city center. If we were smart, we again would have just doubled back and walked very quickly, but we pressed on. To our dismay, the road continued UP the mountain, toward the Alhambra. At this point I seriously considered just walking to the Alhambra and telling someone to get our bags. But we still had about an hour and a half to get back. We ran into a painter at a scenic spot who told us a way down. We ended up walking through a quaint pueblo blanco and made it to the city centro with about 45 minutes to spare. We treated ourselves to ice cream.
Great views of the city...too bad it meant we were going the wrong way.
So recap: Allison and I went off the map, walked part of the way up the mountain, climbed a steep hill down the mountain, accidentally went even further up the mountain, came within probably 100 meters of the Alhambra, then walked through a village back to the centro so we could take the group bus back up the same road to the Alhambra. It wasn’t the smartest decision we could have done. (And today my butt is sore.)
Dogs on the way back down
Then we took the bus up to the Alhambra. Allison and I kept pointing out the places we had been that morning—it was fun and ridiculous to relive our little excursion.
We started off in the gardens outside La Alhambra. These gardens surrounded the summer house of some dead rich guy. Then we went into the house. Inside (and in the Alhambra too) were all these little floor fountains. After all these years (the Moors first arrived in 711), the water still comes down from the mountain, and the fountain is still powered by gravity and pressure. The architecture was really ornate. The walls were covered with stucco molds of Arabic script, and a lot of the mosaics really reminded me of Morocco (which makes sense because it was the same Berbers).
pretty
Our guide told us to hurry because our tickets to the palace expired at 3:30 p.m., and it was currently 3:25. We arrived at the gate at 3:29, and they almost didn’t let us in. “Os voy a matar. Os voy a matar,” repeated the lady who scanned our tickets (I hope she was referring to our guides.). When we got inside, our guide told us she wasn’t allowed to stop and talk because they don’t want groups blocking certain rooms in the palace.
palm tree columns
All in all, we were very impressed with Granada. When I read that the tour of La Alhambra was 3 hours, I thought, “How could they possibly fill 3 hours of time?” It was a lot of walking, but totally worth it.
Next week I’m staying in Seville (I think…might go to Madrid for a day.), and then it’s Barcelona, London, and home! I also have my first two exams this week. It’s funny, Alina’s taking finals this week, and I’m taking my midterms.
view from AlbaicinWe started in Albaicin, where we spent a lot of time taking pictures. It was a great spot—we could clearly see the Alhambra on top of a small mountain and the city to the right of it. There was a lot concentrated in this little scenic spot. There were street vendors selling everything from puppies (they let us hold them, and I think Shelby actually asked Aranoa if she could buy one—as a joke of course), to jewelry to drawings. Also, this group of men were sitting and playing and singing flamenco. They were really good—a lot of us gave them money when they took a break. There were a lot of student age people enjoying the view and the music. It was a nice place.
KG and puppyStreet EntertainmentAfterwards, we made our way down to the main city (walking). Granada was a very interesting place. It’s a much smaller city than Sevilla, but to me, it felt more “city,” which is interesting because when I told Allison I still liked Sevilla more (because a lot of people said that they loved Grenada so much they could have studied there instead of Sevilla), she said it was because I liked big cities. ::shrug:: It reminded me a lot of American cities, with the neo-classical architecture on tall, modern buildings, the artsy street lights and flowered medians.
We checked into our hotel and had lunch courtesy of CEA. It was identical to most CEA meals we’ve had: bread, followed by salad, followed by chicken and vegetables, followed by ice cream. I was very satisfied. Afterwards, we had some free time. A bunch of us checked out the Romanesque cathedral, which was very impressive. I love how you could track the history of art through the side chapels—starting with the proto-Renaissance and ending with the high Renaissance. It was also enormous. Gothic cathedrals may be fancier, but this one was magnificent in its own right. It was very well lit (very strategically placed fluorescent lights accentuated the natural light reflection off the white stone), and overall one of the favorite churches I’ve even been in.
Main Sacristy of the CathedralAfter that, we spent some time wandering around the city. Translation: I was the only guy, and the girls wanted to go shopping for boots. It was still very interesting—there is this one section of Grenada that is very similar to a Moroccan market street: narrow roads, cheap goods in small shops, salesmen sitting on chairs just outside the doors, ready to pounce. It brought back some good memories.
Oh, right, I should share this. Grenada is situated at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which means it was very cold. I ended up buying a pair of gloves.
Anyway, it was eventually dinnertime, which I had been really excited about since I knew we were going to Grenada. In Granada, tapas come with drinks. We stopped at this one place and got drinks and the free tapas, and then we each ordered another one (I ordered 2). 4.80 Euros for a drink and 3 small sandwiches. Then we went to Bella y la Bestia, which had been recommended to me before the trip. This place was amazing. I ordered 8 drinks for the group, and with our drinks we were given ham and cheese bagels, French fries (with ketchup and RANCH DRESSING), and pasta salad, all for 2 Euros each.
Enjoying our TapasThe VenueAfter that, we got dessert as a pastelería (dessert store) before heading back to the hotel. I ended up going with some people to rendezvous with some CEA Granada guys. They took us to this bar that was really far away and very crowded, but the drinks were good and cheap. I only had one because I only wanted to be out for a little bit, and around 12:20 (very early by Spanish standards), Robyn, Matt, and I caught a cab back to the hotel….at which point we ran into Kevin, Ruth, and Katie (in her pajamas). Apparently it was mojito night at a nearby bar. Matt continued to the hotel, and Robyn and I joined the group. We got our mojitos in plastic cups para llevar (Kevin just took his glass back haha) and hung out in the hotel for a while before going to bed.
I set my alarm for 8:20 and was showered and eating breakfast downstairs by 9:05. I was (eventually) joined by James, Allison, and Aranoa. It was some good food—little did I know it would be my most substantial meal for the next 11 hours.
Allison and I took to the streets around 10:00. We walked through the city central before she decided to show me the river/canal area. It was really cool—unlike Seville, Granada actually experiences fall. The leaves do change color. So we just followed the river until we ran out of sidewalk. At this point we walked up into the residential area, thinking that all we had to do was go back around and make a loop (because doubling back is boring). We climbed up a lot of stairs and walked up some roads…I don’t know why we thought there’d be an easy way down, but we did.
All of GranadaAt one point, we were reaching what seemed to me the highest part of the road we were on. It was in fact the highest part of the road, but it was also the end of the road. Looking down off this particular edge of the mountainside, we saw a road that looked like it would take us toward the city central. Here we had a choice: either we double back on the road we had just spent the last 15 minutes on, or climb down the hill. We chose to make our way down the hill. It didn’t look too steep from where we were. I also decided that worst-case scenario was that we call the emergency number and have the group pick us up on the way to La Alhambra.
The SituationMost of it wasn’t that steep. The main problem was that the ground wasn’t very sturdy—the rocks kept failing to support us. Some times I just sat completely down and slid. Luckily, attached to that tree in the bottom right of the picture was a thin rope. Unluckily, taking the rope only got us to the steepest part of the way down, where we were confronted by our next impediment: cacti. There was a rock wall that we could use for support, and my jeans absorbed the brunt of the cacti and (what looked like but probably weren’t) aloe plants. I made it down. Allison wasn’t so lucky. First of all, she’s a girl and was carrying a purse. So she threw it and her jacket down to me. Then, every time she tried to use the rock wall for support, the rock wouldn’t be steady and would just go flying down at me. My knee is still a little sore from a particularly large rock. Also, at one point, she fell on a cactus. Allison decided she wasn’t going to be able to make it down the same way I did, so she found another way down that involved shimmying down a wooden pole. We made it all in one piece…albeit with rocks in our shoes, and in Allison’s case, her purse and pants.
The SolutionSo then we took the road towards the general direction of the city center. If we were smart, we again would have just doubled back and walked very quickly, but we pressed on. To our dismay, the road continued UP the mountain, toward the Alhambra. At this point I seriously considered just walking to the Alhambra and telling someone to get our bags. But we still had about an hour and a half to get back. We ran into a painter at a scenic spot who told us a way down. We ended up walking through a quaint pueblo blanco and made it to the city centro with about 45 minutes to spare. We treated ourselves to ice cream.
Great views of the city...too bad it meant we were going the wrong way.So recap: Allison and I went off the map, walked part of the way up the mountain, climbed a steep hill down the mountain, accidentally went even further up the mountain, came within probably 100 meters of the Alhambra, then walked through a village back to the centro so we could take the group bus back up the same road to the Alhambra. It wasn’t the smartest decision we could have done. (And today my butt is sore.)
Dogs on the way back downWe started off in the gardens outside La Alhambra. These gardens surrounded the summer house of some dead rich guy. Then we went into the house. Inside (and in the Alhambra too) were all these little floor fountains. After all these years (the Moors first arrived in 711), the water still comes down from the mountain, and the fountain is still powered by gravity and pressure. The architecture was really ornate. The walls were covered with stucco molds of Arabic script, and a lot of the mosaics really reminded me of Morocco (which makes sense because it was the same Berbers).
prettyOur guide told us to hurry because our tickets to the palace expired at 3:30 p.m., and it was currently 3:25. We arrived at the gate at 3:29, and they almost didn’t let us in. “Os voy a matar. Os voy a matar,” repeated the lady who scanned our tickets (I hope she was referring to our guides.). When we got inside, our guide told us she wasn’t allowed to stop and talk because they don’t want groups blocking certain rooms in the palace.
palm tree columnsThe palaces were very impressive inside. Our guide explained that unlike Europeans (and Americans) who place their gardens and their fountains outside—“Our roses smell for our neighbors”—the Moors put all their beautiful reflecting pools, fountains, trees, bushes and flowers inside so the people who lived in the house could enjoy them. Smart idea, methinks. Also there was this one room where all the men would hang out and chat, and the fountains actually served a purpose—the sound of the water was meant to be louder than someone quietly talking, so people could be discreet. Also, all the women would stay in rooms upstairs and could watch what was going on. However, the windows were screened so the men couldn’t see the women watching them. “Jealously windows,” they were called.
gravity powered fountain in back center, jealousy windows up top
gravity powered fountain in back center, jealousy windows up topAll in all, we were very impressed with Granada. When I read that the tour of La Alhambra was 3 hours, I thought, “How could they possibly fill 3 hours of time?” It was a lot of walking, but totally worth it.
Next week I’m staying in Seville (I think…might go to Madrid for a day.), and then it’s Barcelona, London, and home! I also have my first two exams this week. It’s funny, Alina’s taking finals this week, and I’m taking my midterms.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Random Goings-on in Sevilla
Can I just repeat that I love Sevilla?
The other day, I went to fnac (media store) on Avenida de Constitución to buy a replacement camera for the next month. I picked up a decent Olympus...it feels kind of cheap, but it'll do for now. I'm going to sell it to the electronics store before I leave.
When I left the store, there was this street performer setting up outside. On his back were a puppet of a man and woman, and on a little stage were two empty boots. As he bent over, I realized what he was going to do, and he didn't disappoint. He dropped the "dress" over his head and stuck his arms in the boots, and it really looked like the pair was dancing. It was really cool. Then I continued onto my university. As I was approaching I heard music playing loudly. When I got there, there was a huge pack of people by the entrance. Apparently the month of modern dance that's going on in Sevilla made its way to the Universidad. It was really cool (I took a couple of pictures). One of the songs was "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service, a song I haven't heard in a while. :)
When I got through the walls into the courtyard, it seemed that there was another performance about to start. This one was weird, almost more acting than dance. Dressed in a blue jumpsuit and wearing a tube of newspaper over her head, a woman ran through the crowd into the central courtyard and around the fountain. She then proceeded to rave around the place, jerking and spazzing. At some point, she took off her newspaper, and at another point she was in the fountain. Then, for some reason, she started screaming the alphabet. First in Spanish, then in English. It was weird, and I'm pretty sure no one understood it, but we clapped anyway. There was a third performance, but I didn't see it because I had class.
Today I walked to class, passing by the courtyard as a stage was being set up. When I left class, I heard loud music playing and saw a large crowd of students there, grooving and drinking beer (remember this is at 2:30 in the afternoon). Apparently this weekend is a big electronic music festival at the University. There was a DJ on stage running the music, and everyone was having a good time. There was an act on also when I went to my 5pm class later in the day.
On la Avenida de la Constitución, there are these big signs on the street--like the ones that have the maps and ads in shopping malls. The ones in Sevilla are always an art display or an ad for the big cultural event going on. Last month they had weird flamenco photography up for the Biennal de Flamenco, and now they have photos chronicling the big European Film Festival that is starting soon in Seville. I might check out a show or 2, tickets are only 3 Euros each.
Anyway, elections. First off, YAY. Anyway, while a big part of me wishes I could have been home in the US to experience it, I was very interested in the European response. My novels professor spent 45 minutes of class talking about the European perspective and asking us what we thought. She said the first thing she heard on the radio was "El mundo se reconcilian con los Estados Unidos," which I thought was very interesting. I heard stories of people's host families waking them up at 6am to celebrate. Today I saw a headline that read "Todo del mundo celebran su victoria." The people in my barbershop (got a haircut today--didn't even need to tell him what I wanted; he had remembered even after 6 weeks), when they found out I was American, were asking me about the Electoral college and stuff.
I will be in Granada until Saturday evening. Next week I have a free weekend, and then Barcelona on the 21st and London on the 28th. I also have my first midterms next week. Should be interesting. 'Taluego!
The other day, I went to fnac (media store) on Avenida de Constitución to buy a replacement camera for the next month. I picked up a decent Olympus...it feels kind of cheap, but it'll do for now. I'm going to sell it to the electronics store before I leave.
When I left the store, there was this street performer setting up outside. On his back were a puppet of a man and woman, and on a little stage were two empty boots. As he bent over, I realized what he was going to do, and he didn't disappoint. He dropped the "dress" over his head and stuck his arms in the boots, and it really looked like the pair was dancing. It was really cool. Then I continued onto my university. As I was approaching I heard music playing loudly. When I got there, there was a huge pack of people by the entrance. Apparently the month of modern dance that's going on in Sevilla made its way to the Universidad. It was really cool (I took a couple of pictures). One of the songs was "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service, a song I haven't heard in a while. :)
When I got through the walls into the courtyard, it seemed that there was another performance about to start. This one was weird, almost more acting than dance. Dressed in a blue jumpsuit and wearing a tube of newspaper over her head, a woman ran through the crowd into the central courtyard and around the fountain. She then proceeded to rave around the place, jerking and spazzing. At some point, she took off her newspaper, and at another point she was in the fountain. Then, for some reason, she started screaming the alphabet. First in Spanish, then in English. It was weird, and I'm pretty sure no one understood it, but we clapped anyway. There was a third performance, but I didn't see it because I had class.
Today I walked to class, passing by the courtyard as a stage was being set up. When I left class, I heard loud music playing and saw a large crowd of students there, grooving and drinking beer (remember this is at 2:30 in the afternoon). Apparently this weekend is a big electronic music festival at the University. There was a DJ on stage running the music, and everyone was having a good time. There was an act on also when I went to my 5pm class later in the day.
On la Avenida de la Constitución, there are these big signs on the street--like the ones that have the maps and ads in shopping malls. The ones in Sevilla are always an art display or an ad for the big cultural event going on. Last month they had weird flamenco photography up for the Biennal de Flamenco, and now they have photos chronicling the big European Film Festival that is starting soon in Seville. I might check out a show or 2, tickets are only 3 Euros each.
Anyway, elections. First off, YAY. Anyway, while a big part of me wishes I could have been home in the US to experience it, I was very interested in the European response. My novels professor spent 45 minutes of class talking about the European perspective and asking us what we thought. She said the first thing she heard on the radio was "El mundo se reconcilian con los Estados Unidos," which I thought was very interesting. I heard stories of people's host families waking them up at 6am to celebrate. Today I saw a headline that read "Todo del mundo celebran su victoria." The people in my barbershop (got a haircut today--didn't even need to tell him what I wanted; he had remembered even after 6 weeks), when they found out I was American, were asking me about the Electoral college and stuff.
I will be in Granada until Saturday evening. Next week I have a free weekend, and then Barcelona on the 21st and London on the 28th. I also have my first midterms next week. Should be interesting. 'Taluego!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Up and Down Day
Up: It was really chilly in the morning. While normally the cold makes me not want to venture outside, here in Sevilla, it simply means that it's not hot. The high was only 60 degrees, and if I just survived the morning, I was in for a perfect afternoon of weather. I liked the crispness of the morning--it really woke me up. And then I got to school and had a nice warm tostada con mantequilla. Mmm...
Down: 6 hours of classes in a row. I almost fell asleep in two out of three of them, even though I had 8 hours of sleep the night before. I still can't figure out what we're supposed to be learning in my writing class (well I guess orthography--spelling and accents), but I fail to see the point of it. I just hope I get SPAN301 credit for it. My novels class isn't bad, but its status as my second class of the day, and the fact that it was really warm in the classroom, both made it really hard to keep my eyes open. Grammar was ok, except I had a comfy spot, which didn't help my attention span.
Up: Filli bocadillo. It meant I could eat right after class instead of starving on the walk home. Turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese. Yummy.
Down: I had to eat alone because Sara didn't show up for our normal lunch hour. Apparently I never responded to her "Yeah, I can meet at that time." email, so she thought I wasn't going to show. Lame.
Up: It meant I had time to go home, drop off my books, and look up where I was supposed to meet Ana---because 17-year-old Spaniards don't know how to give directions.
Down: I got lost on the way there. Cities are HARD.
Up: Taxis.
Down: Minimum fares.
Up: Intercambios. I made it right on time to where I was supposed to meet Ana. We looked around El Corte Inglés for a movie she wanted to see, couldn't find it. So we just chatted while she browsed the CDs and movies before getting ice cream. The McFlurry machine was broken, so we got Fusions at Burger King. My Spanish wasn't bad--I was pretty comfortable with it today. (My Spanish is always better Mondays and Wednesdays because of all the class.) Afterwards, she left to go study for her exam and I went to CEA.
Down: I didn't have dinner plans. I had told Filli I wasn't coming home for dinner because of the CEA Halloween night, and nowhere serves food between 5:30 and 8:30 except KFC and Burger King, and I didn't want KFC or Burger King.
Up: Blake had a tortilla española sandwich that he didn't want. It was delicious.
Down: I dropped my camera, and now it won't turn on. Boo. (I'm getting it replaced.)
Up: The rest of the night. Around 7:30, Juan, Aranoa, and the rest of the CEA staff and student committee started showing up so we could set up the building for our Halloween activity. Katie and Blake helped out too. We put out newspaper on all the tables for the calabazas (pumpkins), and set up the chairs and projectors for the movie. We had a good number of the CEA group show up--I'd say about 80% of the group was there for at least the pumpkin carving. We all split into groups of 3 or 4 to carve our pumpkins. Our pumpkin had glasses and buck teeth, and we also shaved off the skin off the top to creat a bowl cut of hair. It was pretty sweet--we even took paper clips and little bits of pumpkin to create pupils. Other notables: the bald eagle in front of an American flag (from a stencil), a bull and Ole!, a pumpkin throwing up. Steven brought his wife and daughters, and they were cute and fun--they would hand him the pumpkin and say "Daddy clean it." I honestly can't remember if they said it in English or Spanish. I think English...but they know Spanish better than English apparently.
After everyone was done, we put all the pumpkins in the lobby and lit them up. We were all proud of our accomplishment. It was a really good night. Then we put on Sleepy Hollow. It wasn't exactly scary, per se, but it was creepy and dark and I think a perfect Halloween-ish movie. Most people liked it I think.
A bunch of went to the hookah bar in Triana for some tea and hookah. Birthday boy (Matt) eventually showed up. It was a fun time--we all mostly talked about movies (a lot of "What movie is this quote from?") and travels and how we're liking Sevilla. We made it home around 1 or so...after which I spent two hours online. Haha. But since I don't class until 1 today, that doesn't really matter.
Long story short--I need to take care of my camera, but otherwise it was a good night.
Down: 6 hours of classes in a row. I almost fell asleep in two out of three of them, even though I had 8 hours of sleep the night before. I still can't figure out what we're supposed to be learning in my writing class (well I guess orthography--spelling and accents), but I fail to see the point of it. I just hope I get SPAN301 credit for it. My novels class isn't bad, but its status as my second class of the day, and the fact that it was really warm in the classroom, both made it really hard to keep my eyes open. Grammar was ok, except I had a comfy spot, which didn't help my attention span.
Up: Filli bocadillo. It meant I could eat right after class instead of starving on the walk home. Turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese. Yummy.
Down: I had to eat alone because Sara didn't show up for our normal lunch hour. Apparently I never responded to her "Yeah, I can meet at that time." email, so she thought I wasn't going to show. Lame.
Up: It meant I had time to go home, drop off my books, and look up where I was supposed to meet Ana---because 17-year-old Spaniards don't know how to give directions.
Down: I got lost on the way there. Cities are HARD.
Up: Taxis.
Down: Minimum fares.
Up: Intercambios. I made it right on time to where I was supposed to meet Ana. We looked around El Corte Inglés for a movie she wanted to see, couldn't find it. So we just chatted while she browsed the CDs and movies before getting ice cream. The McFlurry machine was broken, so we got Fusions at Burger King. My Spanish wasn't bad--I was pretty comfortable with it today. (My Spanish is always better Mondays and Wednesdays because of all the class.) Afterwards, she left to go study for her exam and I went to CEA.
Down: I didn't have dinner plans. I had told Filli I wasn't coming home for dinner because of the CEA Halloween night, and nowhere serves food between 5:30 and 8:30 except KFC and Burger King, and I didn't want KFC or Burger King.
Up: Blake had a tortilla española sandwich that he didn't want. It was delicious.
Down: I dropped my camera, and now it won't turn on. Boo. (I'm getting it replaced.)
Up: The rest of the night. Around 7:30, Juan, Aranoa, and the rest of the CEA staff and student committee started showing up so we could set up the building for our Halloween activity. Katie and Blake helped out too. We put out newspaper on all the tables for the calabazas (pumpkins), and set up the chairs and projectors for the movie. We had a good number of the CEA group show up--I'd say about 80% of the group was there for at least the pumpkin carving. We all split into groups of 3 or 4 to carve our pumpkins. Our pumpkin had glasses and buck teeth, and we also shaved off the skin off the top to creat a bowl cut of hair. It was pretty sweet--we even took paper clips and little bits of pumpkin to create pupils. Other notables: the bald eagle in front of an American flag (from a stencil), a bull and Ole!, a pumpkin throwing up. Steven brought his wife and daughters, and they were cute and fun--they would hand him the pumpkin and say "Daddy clean it." I honestly can't remember if they said it in English or Spanish. I think English...but they know Spanish better than English apparently.
After everyone was done, we put all the pumpkins in the lobby and lit them up. We were all proud of our accomplishment. It was a really good night. Then we put on Sleepy Hollow. It wasn't exactly scary, per se, but it was creepy and dark and I think a perfect Halloween-ish movie. Most people liked it I think.
A bunch of went to the hookah bar in Triana for some tea and hookah. Birthday boy (Matt) eventually showed up. It was a fun time--we all mostly talked about movies (a lot of "What movie is this quote from?") and travels and how we're liking Sevilla. We made it home around 1 or so...after which I spent two hours online. Haha. But since I don't class until 1 today, that doesn't really matter.
Long story short--I need to take care of my camera, but otherwise it was a good night.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Doñana and Matalascañas: Horseback Riding on the Beach
So after a quiet night in Sevilla, we met once again in el Centro at 9 (but DST ended so we got an extra hour of sleep!), this time to head to the southwestern coast of Spain for a relaxing day of horseback riding and chilling by the beach. This time, the movie didn't squeal. It was Juno, which I hadn't seen--it was weird but kept my interest, and in the end I decided I liked it but couldn't pinpoint why.
We arrived without finishing the movie and made our way to the stables. Discoversevilla had split us up into two groups, with all the CEA kids in the first group (minus James because his girlfriend was in the second group and because he doesn't really hang out with CEA anyway). Rachel from discoversevilla asked us who had been on a horse, which most of us had. She gave a quick 2-minute tutorial on how to steer horses for those who hadn't, and then we got on. Soo much less procedure than in the United States, which I liked. It was pretty much, "Here we are, let's ride."
MoCo kid on a horse
The ride was so much fun. The horses were pretty trail broken, but still listened to what you wanted them to do. I liked slowing down for a bit, and then catching up by having him trot a little faster. We all named our horses: Kevin named his Juan Ignacio de La Fuente, Shelby's was Pepe, and mine was Manuel Rodriguez Alonso. Blake and Josh's horses were a little independent...they liked being in the front a lot. Our guide took us through the national park, which was full of trees and bushes. The ground was sand, which was interesting (and also comfortable). Our horses liked to brush up against the bushes...we did not.
I like how you can see my horse's ears at the bottom
After a while, we were beginning to wonder where the water was, and then there it was over a hill. On the beach was a naked man that we had spotted from the top of the hill, but he (thankfully) covered up as we approached. We went down this path that must have been cut into the cliffs and were on the beach.
hitting the beach
At this point, our guide let us ride freely, so long as we didn't get too far ahead. It was a really good time--my horse did pretty much everything I asked it to do. It felt good. Blake, of course, had a horse that liked to go in the water. He eventually fixed the steering problem by shortening his stirrups, but it was funny because his horse went in pretty deep. Then we went back up through a different cut in the cliff and made our way back to the stables.
a mild steering problem
Then we went to the beach. We ate at a little restaurant off the boardwalk and had a lot of free time. Josh and I didn't feel like the beach (I don't like just laying out and the water was cold.), so we just walked up and down the boardwalk checking out the shops. Josh is one of those guys who has a lot on his mind, so I just let him talk the whole time. It was a relaxing time--we got ice cream (and I also had two sodas...eek). Then we all got on the bus and went back. We finished the movie and watched some more of The Office.
Even though it was only 6:15, the sun was already setting and it was dark by the time we ate dinner. I don't really like when DST ends and the days are so short. I called up Ana and emailed Sara and set up our meetings for the week. Wednesday is going to be a long day. 6 hours of class and then lunch with Sara, and then about a half hour break before I walk to meet Ana. Then I have to be at CEA by 7:30 to help set up our movie and pumpkin carving night. And then after that we're going out to celebrate Mateo's 21st birthday!
We arrived without finishing the movie and made our way to the stables. Discoversevilla had split us up into two groups, with all the CEA kids in the first group (minus James because his girlfriend was in the second group and because he doesn't really hang out with CEA anyway). Rachel from discoversevilla asked us who had been on a horse, which most of us had. She gave a quick 2-minute tutorial on how to steer horses for those who hadn't, and then we got on. Soo much less procedure than in the United States, which I liked. It was pretty much, "Here we are, let's ride."
MoCo kid on a horseI like how you can see my horse's ears at the bottomhitting the beacha mild steering problemThen we went to the beach. We ate at a little restaurant off the boardwalk and had a lot of free time. Josh and I didn't feel like the beach (I don't like just laying out and the water was cold.), so we just walked up and down the boardwalk checking out the shops. Josh is one of those guys who has a lot on his mind, so I just let him talk the whole time. It was a relaxing time--we got ice cream (and I also had two sodas...eek). Then we all got on the bus and went back. We finished the movie and watched some more of The Office.
Even though it was only 6:15, the sun was already setting and it was dark by the time we ate dinner. I don't really like when DST ends and the days are so short. I called up Ana and emailed Sara and set up our meetings for the week. Wednesday is going to be a long day. 6 hours of class and then lunch with Sara, and then about a half hour break before I walk to meet Ana. Then I have to be at CEA by 7:30 to help set up our movie and pumpkin carving night. And then after that we're going out to celebrate Mateo's 21st birthday!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Gibraltar: Shipwrecks, Caves, and Monkeys
We met promptly at the bus at 9:00 the morning to leave for our first British colony: Gibraltar. It was a three-hour bus ride, and it was not pleasant. Brazil didn't want me to forget her, so she was screwing with my stomach. I couldn't sleep at all. Also, they played a movie, but the DVD player kept squealing, which was bad considering I was right under a speaker. The movie ended (didn't really watch it, but it was Dan in Real Life), and then they put on The Office, so I gave up and just watched it until we got there.
We got off the bus and crossed the border on foot. The border guards barely looked at our passports--they didn't even take them; we pretty much just needed to flash the passport and keep walking. We could see the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance, but what caught our eyes more was the fact that even in Gibraltar, they had those famous red telephone booths that they have in England.
The Rock
Our guide was a native of Gibraltar, meaning he had one of the most interesting accents I've ever heard. Three-fourths of the time it sounded British, and the rest of the time it sounded Spanish. The official language of Gibraltar is obviously English (due to the fact that it's a British colony), but a lot of people speak a well-developed version of Spanglish. He drove us towards the rock--it was interesting because part of the road cut right through the middle of the local runway. Like a train crossing I guess haha. Also, in Gibraltar, they drive on the right side of the road, a change that went into effect in 1929. I guess they figured that switching every time you cross the border was too much of a hassle.
Driving through a runway
We stopped between a lighthouse and a mosque (that cost £7 million). Two weeks ago there was a massive storm in Gibraltar (winds at 120 kph and gale force 11 on the seas). This large oil tanker broke anchor because of the strong winds and drifted against the cliff by the lighthouse, where it was battered by the waves for over 10 hours, causing it to split in two. Staring over the edge of the cliff, it was amazing to see evidence of the sea's power. Luckily, there wasn't anyone on board (you'd have to be an idiot to be on it during the storm), and it wasn't carrying much fuel. From that spot, we could also see Morocco directly across the strait, the Atlantic Ocean to our left, and the Mediterranean to our right. It was quite a sight. The skies had already started to clear up by that point too.
Morocco in the background
The back half of the tanker
Our next stop was St. Michael's Cave, which is a cavern that is located inside the Rock. Before we got in, Kevin was asked, "Do you value your face?" to which he responded "Yeah." Then the guy said, "Then take off your sunglasses--caves and sunglasses don't mix." Inside was a great sight, but I remember being more impressed with Luray Caverns in Virginia. One cool thing was that they built a mini concert hall in the cave where their orchestra performs now and then. I definitely think that'll be one of those expensive things I do when I grow up haha. They also had this cool colored lighting in the cave.
Now, before we got to the cave, we had to pause because monkeys had jumped onto our bus. However, this is a common occurrence near St. Michael's Cave. Our guide had a stash of peanuts ready and was feeding the monkeys at his window, making them give him high fives. He told us--but I don't know if he was joking or not--that the 6 packs of monkeys are all named after members of the British royal family. We kept driving with one of the monkeys on the windshield. One jumped from a trash can and was pulling itself onto the roof, and so when Brenna turned left, she was staring right at a monkey. That was funny.
So when we exited the cave, we were confronted with a lot of monkeys. We were told not to feed them (the guides do because the monkeys know them). It was CRAZY. Monkeys were jumping on our heads; our guides were putting them on our shoulders. So much fun. To get a picture with a monkey, this girl had one on her shoulder, and then the guide put a peanut on my shoulder to get the monkey to jump on me. Alisa had a monkey jump from the bus onto her shoulders, and Shelby had one jump from her to the bus, only to have another creep up behind her and jump on her too. We also saw two monkeys, um, what's the professional word for it--mating. Yeah.
Then we went down to play with some more. There were even some baby monkeys. A couple monkeys got in a fight (it's the time of the year where one asserts himself as the dominant of the group). At another point, one monkey fell of the wall that separates the mountainside from the road. It was okay, but sooo funny because all the monkeys went to the wall too see if it was ok, and they actually had what looked like faces of concern.
Again, monkeys were jumping from person to person with no abandon, we remarked that it was like being in a zoo, but WE were the exhibits to be petted and played with. I've posted some of the monkey pictures here, but you should definitely check out the full albums.
Getting the monkey off my back
Then we hopped on the bus and went into town, where I had some AMAZING fish and chips and chocolate cheesecake. Brenna and Alisa had the same, except they had ice cream. Then we walked around town for a bit. The Spanglish was interesting--our waiter at the first restaurant told us "No hay ice cream." There was a "Bureau de Change." Then we hopped on the bus to go home. I was able to sleep VERY well on the way back. When we got home, I didn't do much because I had to wake up the next day to go to Doñana!
We got off the bus and crossed the border on foot. The border guards barely looked at our passports--they didn't even take them; we pretty much just needed to flash the passport and keep walking. We could see the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance, but what caught our eyes more was the fact that even in Gibraltar, they had those famous red telephone booths that they have in England.
The RockOur guide was a native of Gibraltar, meaning he had one of the most interesting accents I've ever heard. Three-fourths of the time it sounded British, and the rest of the time it sounded Spanish. The official language of Gibraltar is obviously English (due to the fact that it's a British colony), but a lot of people speak a well-developed version of Spanglish. He drove us towards the rock--it was interesting because part of the road cut right through the middle of the local runway. Like a train crossing I guess haha. Also, in Gibraltar, they drive on the right side of the road, a change that went into effect in 1929. I guess they figured that switching every time you cross the border was too much of a hassle.
Driving through a runwayWe stopped between a lighthouse and a mosque (that cost £7 million). Two weeks ago there was a massive storm in Gibraltar (winds at 120 kph and gale force 11 on the seas). This large oil tanker broke anchor because of the strong winds and drifted against the cliff by the lighthouse, where it was battered by the waves for over 10 hours, causing it to split in two. Staring over the edge of the cliff, it was amazing to see evidence of the sea's power. Luckily, there wasn't anyone on board (you'd have to be an idiot to be on it during the storm), and it wasn't carrying much fuel. From that spot, we could also see Morocco directly across the strait, the Atlantic Ocean to our left, and the Mediterranean to our right. It was quite a sight. The skies had already started to clear up by that point too.
Morocco in the backgroundThe back half of the tankerOur next stop was St. Michael's Cave, which is a cavern that is located inside the Rock. Before we got in, Kevin was asked, "Do you value your face?" to which he responded "Yeah." Then the guy said, "Then take off your sunglasses--caves and sunglasses don't mix." Inside was a great sight, but I remember being more impressed with Luray Caverns in Virginia. One cool thing was that they built a mini concert hall in the cave where their orchestra performs now and then. I definitely think that'll be one of those expensive things I do when I grow up haha. They also had this cool colored lighting in the cave.
Now, before we got to the cave, we had to pause because monkeys had jumped onto our bus. However, this is a common occurrence near St. Michael's Cave. Our guide had a stash of peanuts ready and was feeding the monkeys at his window, making them give him high fives. He told us--but I don't know if he was joking or not--that the 6 packs of monkeys are all named after members of the British royal family. We kept driving with one of the monkeys on the windshield. One jumped from a trash can and was pulling itself onto the roof, and so when Brenna turned left, she was staring right at a monkey. That was funny.
So when we exited the cave, we were confronted with a lot of monkeys. We were told not to feed them (the guides do because the monkeys know them). It was CRAZY. Monkeys were jumping on our heads; our guides were putting them on our shoulders. So much fun. To get a picture with a monkey, this girl had one on her shoulder, and then the guide put a peanut on my shoulder to get the monkey to jump on me. Alisa had a monkey jump from the bus onto her shoulders, and Shelby had one jump from her to the bus, only to have another creep up behind her and jump on her too. We also saw two monkeys, um, what's the professional word for it--mating. Yeah.
Then we went down to play with some more. There were even some baby monkeys. A couple monkeys got in a fight (it's the time of the year where one asserts himself as the dominant of the group). At another point, one monkey fell of the wall that separates the mountainside from the road. It was okay, but sooo funny because all the monkeys went to the wall too see if it was ok, and they actually had what looked like faces of concern.Again, monkeys were jumping from person to person with no abandon, we remarked that it was like being in a zoo, but WE were the exhibits to be petted and played with. I've posted some of the monkey pictures here, but you should definitely check out the full albums.
Getting the monkey off my backThen we hopped on the bus and went into town, where I had some AMAZING fish and chips and chocolate cheesecake. Brenna and Alisa had the same, except they had ice cream. Then we walked around town for a bit. The Spanglish was interesting--our waiter at the first restaurant told us "No hay ice cream." There was a "Bureau de Change." Then we hopped on the bus to go home. I was able to sleep VERY well on the way back. When we got home, I didn't do much because I had to wake up the next day to go to Doñana!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
XV Feria de Naciones
I just got back from Gibraltar, but first I want to tell you about this really cool thing that I went to last night: La Feria de Naciones. It had started a month ago, but last night was the first night I made it out to Prado de San Sebastion to actually go see it (good thing, because it ends in a week). I went with Josh, Brenna, Christina, and Alisa. What the feria consists of is a ton of stands from a variety of different countries--sellling food, crafts, and of course, drinks.
When we arrived, there was a concert going on. It looked like a local band, well known judging by the screaming and signs. The guys were all probably around 16 or so, and what was interesting to me was that they sung in English. Josh and I grabbed crepes and a beer from the French stand. I had a strawberry crepe. It was great. Then he got a sausage and wine from the Argentina booth, and we also had caparinhas from Brazil. Around this time, a group of dancers came on stage, dancing to "salsa-ton." i.e. crazy Latin line-dancing. It was hysterical. They had this one dance called "Azucar"...which involved energetic thrusting to "Aaaaaa-ZUCAR!" (lean down during "aaaaa," thrust during "zucar."
Aaaaa-ZUCAR!
Then there were other local dance groups that were really good. They were all teenagers, and they all had various styles of dance that were pretty cool.
Ready to Rock Out
We had originally planned to make it an early night, but changed our minds. We had a couple more drinks and toured the shops for a while before heading to Plaza de Alfalfa, which is just a long street of bars near the centro.It was a good time, we ran into a lot of other CEA people. It was really crowded though--people were spilling into the street from the bars. Then we walked home in time to pass out before Gibraltar in the morning!
When we arrived, there was a concert going on. It looked like a local band, well known judging by the screaming and signs. The guys were all probably around 16 or so, and what was interesting to me was that they sung in English. Josh and I grabbed crepes and a beer from the French stand. I had a strawberry crepe. It was great. Then he got a sausage and wine from the Argentina booth, and we also had caparinhas from Brazil. Around this time, a group of dancers came on stage, dancing to "salsa-ton." i.e. crazy Latin line-dancing. It was hysterical. They had this one dance called "Azucar"...which involved energetic thrusting to "Aaaaaa-ZUCAR!" (lean down during "aaaaa," thrust during "zucar."
Aaaaa-ZUCAR!Then there were other local dance groups that were really good. They were all teenagers, and they all had various styles of dance that were pretty cool.
Ready to Rock Out
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Intercambios, or Argentina's not the only place for huelgas...
In Spain, every university or program that caters to foreigners have what they call "intercambios." Literally translated it means "exchange," but in Spain it's another word for "friend" or "acquaintance." They like to use it instead of "amigo," reserving the term we're more familiar with for "real friends." Spaniards perceive Americans as wanting to be real friends too quickly, so they figure this term is a little more casual. Then again, our campus director, who studied abroad in Seville many years ago, is currently living in Spain and married to his former intercambio. ::shrug::
I signed up for the list and took down a few emails. I figured if I emailed 4 people, one would get back to me. Two ended up responding, and one guy got my email from the list and emailed me. I set up times to meet with a couple of them this week. I would send them emails in Spanish, and they would respond in English.
Monday, I met up with Sara for lunch after my classes. Like most of the Spanish intercambios at the Universidad de Sevilla, she's a freshman in the Department of Philology, studying English and other languages and literature. She's crazy--she's taking 6 classes at the university and then another class in a language center. Then again, many of you all at UMD (coughStephcoughAimee) do the same. But yeah, it was a little awkward trying to find stuff to talk about like that. Tomorrow we're going to meet again and speak in English.
Tuesday I met up with another intercambio se llama Ana. She's real young, only 17. At first it was just her, her friend, and me, but then other people came. They were a funny bunch--it's easy to see that they're a bit younger than me. They also speak really fast. Josh came later because Ana's friend is his intercambio. They were going to go to a movie, but I had class.
Today was a rare cloudy day in Spain. Class was intersesting. In my Redacción y Composición class, we read about the various ways Spaniards shorten words in text messages--think our old AIM-speak on steroids. k a cs = ¿que haces? por example. My novels class was interesting, but I'll tell you about that in a bit. In my contrastive grammar class, we start every class with examples of Spanish that we think are interesting or that we don't understand. Someone heard "¡Que leche!" which is an exclamation of surprise, and so we started to talk about other words that lose their meaning when used as an exclamation of surprise, including "coño" and "cojones." Hehe. We then moved onto palabrotas in general.
Study abroad money well, spent, huh?
I signed up for the list and took down a few emails. I figured if I emailed 4 people, one would get back to me. Two ended up responding, and one guy got my email from the list and emailed me. I set up times to meet with a couple of them this week. I would send them emails in Spanish, and they would respond in English.
Monday, I met up with Sara for lunch after my classes. Like most of the Spanish intercambios at the Universidad de Sevilla, she's a freshman in the Department of Philology, studying English and other languages and literature. She's crazy--she's taking 6 classes at the university and then another class in a language center. Then again, many of you all at UMD (coughStephcoughAimee) do the same. But yeah, it was a little awkward trying to find stuff to talk about like that. Tomorrow we're going to meet again and speak in English.
Tuesday I met up with another intercambio se llama Ana. She's real young, only 17. At first it was just her, her friend, and me, but then other people came. They were a funny bunch--it's easy to see that they're a bit younger than me. They also speak really fast. Josh came later because Ana's friend is his intercambio. They were going to go to a movie, but I had class.
Today was a rare cloudy day in Spain. Class was intersesting. In my Redacción y Composición class, we read about the various ways Spaniards shorten words in text messages--think our old AIM-speak on steroids. k a cs = ¿que haces? por example. My novels class was interesting, but I'll tell you about that in a bit. In my contrastive grammar class, we start every class with examples of Spanish that we think are interesting or that we don't understand. Someone heard "¡Que leche!" which is an exclamation of surprise, and so we started to talk about other words that lose their meaning when used as an exclamation of surprise, including "coño" and "cojones." Hehe. We then moved onto palabrotas in general.
Study abroad money well, spent, huh?Anyway, back to interesting cultural/political stuff, in case Aimee actually reads this blog or if other people care haha. Mike got a call from his intercambio last night saying that there would be a "huelva" (strike) today. about 2/3 of the way through my contemporary novels class, we suddenly heard a lot of yelling and cars honking outside, and through the window we could see a long line of students walking through the rain (by the it's pouring outside right now).
Ever since I started at the University of Sevilla, I had seen signs and graffiti que dice "¡No a Bolonia!" Apparently, in 1999, the ministries of education in the European Union met in Bolonia, Italy to create an organization to make the education systems in the EU more similar to make exchanges easier. In Spain, at least, it means a fundamental change to the degree granting process.
Here, if you're a Philology major, you study philology for four years, and that's it. As I understand it, you pick a concentration during your last two years of high school--bachillerato--and then you sit for the university entrance exam or go to a technical school. So if you want to be a doctor, you study bio or chem in 11th and 12th grade, and the study medicine for four years at a University. This is why a lot of European doctors have to go to med school again if they want to practice in the US. The change would be that you would have four years of university for "orientación generalista" and then 2 years of postgrad in your specializacion. Wow, I definitely meant to type specialization. Haha.
To Spaniards, "Bolonia" represents an Americanization of the education system. It means it will take them more time to get their degree or license in their field. Also, another major change is that they want to privatize higher education here because they think the competition will make the universities better and more affordable. But the immediate effect would that education would cost more, so Spaniards don't like that at all. Sara says she heard that there is going to be a bigger strike in November.
Well, I'm off to have some tapas with some people to celebrate their new apartment. Basically, their casa in el Centro sucked--they got bad food and recently ran out of hot water, so CEA gave them the opportunity to switch. Now they live in Los Remedios, so I'm going to go... hope I avoid the rain.
This weekend I'm going to Gibraltar to see some monkeys and take another look at Africa. Then I'm going to Doñana to ride some horses and hang out on the beach.
Ever since I started at the University of Sevilla, I had seen signs and graffiti que dice "¡No a Bolonia!" Apparently, in 1999, the ministries of education in the European Union met in Bolonia, Italy to create an organization to make the education systems in the EU more similar to make exchanges easier. In Spain, at least, it means a fundamental change to the degree granting process.
Here, if you're a Philology major, you study philology for four years, and that's it. As I understand it, you pick a concentration during your last two years of high school--bachillerato--and then you sit for the university entrance exam or go to a technical school. So if you want to be a doctor, you study bio or chem in 11th and 12th grade, and the study medicine for four years at a University. This is why a lot of European doctors have to go to med school again if they want to practice in the US. The change would be that you would have four years of university for "orientación generalista" and then 2 years of postgrad in your specializacion. Wow, I definitely meant to type specialization. Haha.
To Spaniards, "Bolonia" represents an Americanization of the education system. It means it will take them more time to get their degree or license in their field. Also, another major change is that they want to privatize higher education here because they think the competition will make the universities better and more affordable. But the immediate effect would that education would cost more, so Spaniards don't like that at all. Sara says she heard that there is going to be a bigger strike in November.
Well, I'm off to have some tapas with some people to celebrate their new apartment. Basically, their casa in el Centro sucked--they got bad food and recently ran out of hot water, so CEA gave them the opportunity to switch. Now they live in Los Remedios, so I'm going to go... hope I avoid the rain.
This weekend I'm going to Gibraltar to see some monkeys and take another look at Africa. Then I'm going to Doñana to ride some horses and hang out on the beach.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Strolling Around
Allison I met up at Torre de Oro in the morning to check out a couple more of the museums. We walked through El Parque de Maria Luisa and stopped in at the Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla. It housed collections of artifacts from both Seville (mostly Phoenician artifacts) and Italica (Roman artifacts). We moved chronologically through the museum. The Roman art was particularly interesting--I didn't know they had put so much in Italica. There were life-sized statues of Diana, Mercury, and Fortuna, as well a numerous busts and larger than life sculptures. It was great.
Mercury
Mercury
FortunaAfter that we visited the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares. Like the other museum, it was once a mansion that now houses a museum. Also like the Archaeological museum, we got in free with our student IDs (yay). It was basically a museum that house collections of this very rich family. We got to see how a typical rich Spaniard's house was adorned. In the basement was a bodega (wine cellar) and a mock guitar maker's shop, a blacksmith's shop, a clacker (for flamenco/Sevillana) maker and cases of rifles, pistols, and swords, for defense, hunting, and self-defense. The coolest part for me was the wooden model of La Giralda located in the center of the museums spiral staircase.
After that we spent some time in Plaza de America watching the families playing. Allison wanted to to the thing where you get a bunch of birdseed and watch them come to you, but there were so many people that it wouldn't have worked well. There were all these parents giving birdseed to their little children, telling them "¡Corre, corre!" to get them to chase the birds.
The birds at Plaza de Americas are special white pigeons that can't be found anywhere else in Spain. They were a gift from the Philippines for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. But anyway, it was a fun sight to see all the little kids out--because I've lived in College Park for the past couple of years, I haven't really seen toddlers out. Sometimes I forget how ridiculously cute they can be.We walked on to Plaza de España, which was also built for the 1929 fair. It's been converted to government offices and museums. It was also used in Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. It was beautiful.
Postcard shot
On the way home, Allison showed me a park in Los Remedios that she usually runs through. It kind of reminded me of Brookside gardens in Wheaton because it had a viney covered walking path and a constructed lake. There was also this pretty cool playground (again full of kids). Here I witnessed one reason that Spaniards are in better shape than Americans. Near the see-saws, swings, and merry-go-rounds was this.
In the first pictures, you can clearly see what looks like a stationary bike. In the second picture, look to the left through the wheel and you can see a toy eliptical machine. Behind that, a kid is sitting in a chair and pulling on a bar that pulls him up. All of this is brightly colored like any other playground, but don't be fooled...these kids are excercising. I have seen similar setups in other locations in the city. Americans need to get on this.
Today (Monday), I met with an intercambio (language exchange partner) for lunch. The purpose of intercambios is to practice the language, so today we spoke in Spanish and on Wednesday we'll talk in English. It was funny because she thought my first name was Salvador (because it's more common here). She's studying philology (language and literature) like me at the University of Seville. She's crazy--like all my UMD friends--taking classes in English, Spanish, and German, as well as another class at a language institute (7 classes total) as a freshman.
Now I'm going to finish off my second lunch and take a nap. Oh, yeah, I switched rooms with Jared (we're rotating), so now I'm rooming with Matt for the next 5 weeks, and then Jared moves back downstairs for the last 5 weeks.
In the first pictures, you can clearly see what looks like a stationary bike. In the second picture, look to the left through the wheel and you can see a toy eliptical machine. Behind that, a kid is sitting in a chair and pulling on a bar that pulls him up. All of this is brightly colored like any other playground, but don't be fooled...these kids are excercising. I have seen similar setups in other locations in the city. Americans need to get on this.Today (Monday), I met with an intercambio (language exchange partner) for lunch. The purpose of intercambios is to practice the language, so today we spoke in Spanish and on Wednesday we'll talk in English. It was funny because she thought my first name was Salvador (because it's more common here). She's studying philology (language and literature) like me at the University of Seville. She's crazy--like all my UMD friends--taking classes in English, Spanish, and German, as well as another class at a language institute (7 classes total) as a freshman.
Now I'm going to finish off my second lunch and take a nap. Oh, yeah, I switched rooms with Jared (we're rotating), so now I'm rooming with Matt for the next 5 weeks, and then Jared moves back downstairs for the last 5 weeks.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Ronda
This past Friday, CEA took us on a day trip to Ronda, which is situated about 100 klicks away from Málaga and close to a two and a half hour drive from Seville. I learned on Wikipedia that Ronda is a sister city of Chefchaouen in Morocco, which I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Our journey took us through a lot of mountains, and unlike in Morocco, we didn't feel sick or like we were going to fall off the side of the road. It was a fun ride: we learned that Aranoa (our student services coordinator) has a nice Jewish boy who lives in New Jersey whom she met when he was studying in Spain, and that Steven (our campus director) likes to take pictures of sleeping CEA staff members.
When we first arrived in Ronda, we were unimpressed. It looked just like a smaller version of Sevilla, except that the roads were hilly instead of flat. Realizing that we weren't eating lunch for at least two and a half hours did not help our moods. We did met up with CEA Granada at the bus stop, which was cool. After about 15 minutes, we met our guides and split into two groups: 1 Spanish-speaking guide, 1 English-speaking guide. I went with the Spanish guide, who took us through the city streets while explaining stuff about Ronda that I can't remember.
After our first stop, the mood of the day completely changed. Our guide took us to El Tajo, which is the gigantic gorge carved by the Rio Guadalevín over thousands of years. It's Ronda's version of the Grand Canyon. It splits the city in two and is the location of Ronda's three famous bridges: Puente Nuevo (only just finished...in 1793), the Puente Viejo (aka Puente Arabe), and the Puente Romano. The Puente Nuevo rises about 120 meters from the canyon floor. It was a stunning sight. Our guide also pointed out the steps that the Arabs built so they could gather water from the river.
Portraits in Front of El Tajo
We paused so we could take a million photos, and then made our way across the Puente Arabe and toward the Arab baths. Our guide likened them to a country club in the US, where people would go to talk before and after doing their religious cleansing of hands, feet, and face. We watched a short animated video, but I don't remember any of it...it was in Spanish and the room was dark, and so I kept nodding off.
Crossing the Arab Bridge
Continuing on through the city, we paused at various locations to learn a little of the history. We stopped at this one church that used to be a mosque, like the cathedral in Seville. He told us that before the main Plaza de Toros was constructed, bullfights used to be held in the plaza we were sitting in, and that people would use the floors of the church as "club box seats."
Our next stop was at the house of Juan Bosco. The walls were beautifully decorated and it was filled with art. Then we went upstairs where there was a bay window. Hemingway and Orson Welles both lived in Ronda, as did a number of Spanish poets. Looking out, it was easy to see why. We went out into the garden to take in a better view. Straight down the cliff face you could see a beautiful countryside with groves, forests, plains and little houses. In the distance were the mountains. To the right was a giant cliff face and the Puente Romano. There was a light wind on our faces and there was just the right amount of sun. We spent some time just staring out in silence. It was great. If I had the desire to be a writer, I would go back and spend a summer in Ronda. I'd probably get a lot better.
View from Juan Bosco's
After that we made our way to the Plaza de Toros, which is the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain. It's still used, though not as frequently as those in Sevilla. He took us through the stages before a bullfight. Apparently, there are always nine bulls brought to every fight. First they are placed in the corral where they are judged...the six bravest looking go on to fight and die. The others are there just in case the bull gets timid all of a sudden before going into the ring. I thought it was interesting to find that the timid ones are spared and the brave ones go to the ring. He showed us the bullpen where the bulls are kept before their turn. It's a fairly dark area, which is why when the bull goes out into the ring into the lights, he always comes out with his head down.
Then we went out into the actual ring, where he told us how it's one of the only bull ring that has completely covered seating. It was interesting to be out there and looking around. He showed us the emergency hiding spots for people in case the bull jumps out of the ring into the area between the ring and the seats (which apparently happens more frequently than one would hope/think).
Minaret/Bell Tower on the Left, Box Seats on the Right
We had our free lunch in a nearby restaurant (chicken, yay...and ice cream for dessert), before heading out into the town. It was a nice, quiet place--less busy than Seville. A few of us had coffee while others shopped. At one point, a ton of schoolchildren started running through the city with things to hold change. Apparently they were having a small contest to see who could collect the most. It was cute when they would try to speak English (and their English wasn't bad). After that we went back to the cliff to hang out by the view before heading home. All in all a great trip.
When we first arrived in Ronda, we were unimpressed. It looked just like a smaller version of Sevilla, except that the roads were hilly instead of flat. Realizing that we weren't eating lunch for at least two and a half hours did not help our moods. We did met up with CEA Granada at the bus stop, which was cool. After about 15 minutes, we met our guides and split into two groups: 1 Spanish-speaking guide, 1 English-speaking guide. I went with the Spanish guide, who took us through the city streets while explaining stuff about Ronda that I can't remember.
After our first stop, the mood of the day completely changed. Our guide took us to El Tajo, which is the gigantic gorge carved by the Rio Guadalevín over thousands of years. It's Ronda's version of the Grand Canyon. It splits the city in two and is the location of Ronda's three famous bridges: Puente Nuevo (only just finished...in 1793), the Puente Viejo (aka Puente Arabe), and the Puente Romano. The Puente Nuevo rises about 120 meters from the canyon floor. It was a stunning sight. Our guide also pointed out the steps that the Arabs built so they could gather water from the river.
Portraits in Front of El TajoCrossing the Arab BridgeContinuing on through the city, we paused at various locations to learn a little of the history. We stopped at this one church that used to be a mosque, like the cathedral in Seville. He told us that before the main Plaza de Toros was constructed, bullfights used to be held in the plaza we were sitting in, and that people would use the floors of the church as "club box seats."
Our next stop was at the house of Juan Bosco. The walls were beautifully decorated and it was filled with art. Then we went upstairs where there was a bay window. Hemingway and Orson Welles both lived in Ronda, as did a number of Spanish poets. Looking out, it was easy to see why. We went out into the garden to take in a better view. Straight down the cliff face you could see a beautiful countryside with groves, forests, plains and little houses. In the distance were the mountains. To the right was a giant cliff face and the Puente Romano. There was a light wind on our faces and there was just the right amount of sun. We spent some time just staring out in silence. It was great. If I had the desire to be a writer, I would go back and spend a summer in Ronda. I'd probably get a lot better.
View from Juan Bosco'sThen we went out into the actual ring, where he told us how it's one of the only bull ring that has completely covered seating. It was interesting to be out there and looking around. He showed us the emergency hiding spots for people in case the bull jumps out of the ring into the area between the ring and the seats (which apparently happens more frequently than one would hope/think).
Minaret/Bell Tower on the Left, Box Seats on the RightWe had our free lunch in a nearby restaurant (chicken, yay...and ice cream for dessert), before heading out into the town. It was a nice, quiet place--less busy than Seville. A few of us had coffee while others shopped. At one point, a ton of schoolchildren started running through the city with things to hold change. Apparently they were having a small contest to see who could collect the most. It was cute when they would try to speak English (and their English wasn't bad). After that we went back to the cliff to hang out by the view before heading home. All in all a great trip.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Benvenuti a Italia!
I’m starting this entry in the Milan-Bergamo airport at 3:15 in the morning Monday, sitting against a wall surrounded by sleeping people. I just woke up from about 90 minute worth of sleep, and I don’t think I’m going to get much more sleep before we check in for our flight. Damn my bony hips…it’s impossible for me to get comfortable, so I’m just going to get what I can on the plane.
This has been a pretty sweet weekend. I had set my alarm on Friday for 4:45 in the morning looking to walk to the bus station, but I didn’t get up until 5:45, so I just took a cab. The bus and plane were pretty smooth. I landed in Italy around 12:00, and was in Milan by around 1:30. I met up with Matt and Blake around 3. We had about two hours before our train to Venice, so we took a trolley into the city center to see the square and the cathedral. It was pretty impressive.
Il Duomo Milano
(I wrote the rest after getting back to Sevilla)
It’s hard to describe Venice because it’s a city that so many people have heard a lot about. Everyone knows about the canals, the gondolas, carnivale. But I have to say that it’s something you really have to see for yourself. Every corner we turned revealed a postcard worthy waterway. We arrived at night, so we didn’t have much time to see it before we went to our hostel. We caught the 10:30 bus out of Venice (not realizing at 9:30 that the bus was just right next to us). When we got to the campground, there was a full on toga party going on at the bar. Our accommodation was nice, 3 beds and a bathroom. We hung out at the bar with the Aussies and Irishman that we met at the bus stop and were joined by a Canadian and a couple Kiwis. It was a fun time.
After sleeping in until 10:30, we caught the last bus from the campground back into Venice to grab lunch. We decided to just get lost in the city and find a place to eat. I had pizza diavolo, which is hot salami pizza. Pretty good, and about the spiciest thing I’ve eaten since I’ve come to Europe (unfortunately it wasn’t that spicy). Matt and I also split this massive mussels and clam appetizer. It was great.
We walked around the city for what seemed like forever, at one point before sunset making it to the complete end of the main island. Like I said before, we were just blown away by the city: the fact that the buses, cabs, ambulances and police are all boats. We went up the tower by St. Mark’s Basilica and then went into the basilica. Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures in the basilica, but it was beautiful.
La Basilica San Marco
We had dinner at a place off the main road and went in for the night.
Sunday we did more exploring. When we got to one end of the main island, we sat down at a bus stop (read:dock) and played cards. Eventually, we went to the train station and got some really cheap tickets back to Milan. We had dinner in Milan (pizza again), and caught a bus to the airport, where we met up with all the CEA people who had been traveling through Italy.
Venetian (Murano) Glass
All in all, a very relaxing weekend in Italy.
This has been a pretty sweet weekend. I had set my alarm on Friday for 4:45 in the morning looking to walk to the bus station, but I didn’t get up until 5:45, so I just took a cab. The bus and plane were pretty smooth. I landed in Italy around 12:00, and was in Milan by around 1:30. I met up with Matt and Blake around 3. We had about two hours before our train to Venice, so we took a trolley into the city center to see the square and the cathedral. It was pretty impressive.
Il Duomo MilanoIt’s hard to describe Venice because it’s a city that so many people have heard a lot about. Everyone knows about the canals, the gondolas, carnivale. But I have to say that it’s something you really have to see for yourself. Every corner we turned revealed a postcard worthy waterway. We arrived at night, so we didn’t have much time to see it before we went to our hostel. We caught the 10:30 bus out of Venice (not realizing at 9:30 that the bus was just right next to us). When we got to the campground, there was a full on toga party going on at the bar. Our accommodation was nice, 3 beds and a bathroom. We hung out at the bar with the Aussies and Irishman that we met at the bus stop and were joined by a Canadian and a couple Kiwis. It was a fun time.
After sleeping in until 10:30, we caught the last bus from the campground back into Venice to grab lunch. We decided to just get lost in the city and find a place to eat. I had pizza diavolo, which is hot salami pizza. Pretty good, and about the spiciest thing I’ve eaten since I’ve come to Europe (unfortunately it wasn’t that spicy). Matt and I also split this massive mussels and clam appetizer. It was great.
We walked around the city for what seemed like forever, at one point before sunset making it to the complete end of the main island. Like I said before, we were just blown away by the city: the fact that the buses, cabs, ambulances and police are all boats. We went up the tower by St. Mark’s Basilica and then went into the basilica. Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures in the basilica, but it was beautiful.
La Basilica San MarcoWe had dinner at a place off the main road and went in for the night.
Sunday we did more exploring. When we got to one end of the main island, we sat down at a bus stop (read:dock) and played cards. Eventually, we went to the train station and got some really cheap tickets back to Milan. We had dinner in Milan (pizza again), and caught a bus to the airport, where we met up with all the CEA people who had been traveling through Italy.
Venetian (Murano) GlassAll in all, a very relaxing weekend in Italy.
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