Cait and I left Nice super early on Saturday morning to meet Laura in La Spezia, Italy. We had tried making train reservations the day before but the Nice computers were down so that wasn’t a possibility. Thankfully when we showed up at the train station in the morning we were able to get a ticket to Ventimiglia, Italy, which is a town right across the France/Italy border. After a short and uneventful train ride we had made it to Italy and picked up tickets taking us to Genova and then on to La Spezia. We had an hour and a half in between trains to rather than sitting in the train station we took our packs and went into town to see what Ventimiglia had to offer. Ventimiglia is kind of a mixture of all sorts of things. Because it’s right across the border there are some French influences to this Italian town. I liked France while we were there but Caitlin and I both have a soft spot in our hearts for Italy so we were very happy to see the red white and green flag flying over the city. Neither of us know any French at all beyond “thank you” “hello” and “my name is…” Nor do we have any idea how to pronounce words in French so we couldn’t even pretend when reading a menu. Both of us have studied Spanish, which is closely related to Italian, so here we fared a little better.
Looking inland, in Ventimiglia we could see our first real, snow-covered mountains looming in the background, and looking in the other direction we saw the ocean, beach, and palm trees. It was a little strange but very cool to see both of these in the same place. We walked along a little river down to the ocean and sat for a while, then turned around and went back into town to further investigate a farmers market we had passed by on our way. It was fantastic, so many amazing fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers. With our packs on we were clearly way too big to be walking around in there but we lumbered through anyway, trying our best not to knock things over or hit people when we turned around. We bought some strawberries from one of the stands and went back to the train station to catch our connection to Genova.
One of the things that I have noticed in my travels abroad is that there are a ton of Canadians traveling all over Europe. I’ve met more people from Canada than from any other country. Maybe they’re just trying to get out of Canada, and really who can blame them for that? Anyway, there was a guy from Canada in our train compartment for the trip to Genova and our connection to La Spezia as well. This came in handy when trying to haul my huge pack up into the overhead storage bin. Meeting new people from different places is one of the most exciting things about traveling, and I always learn lots of good tips and interesting things from these interactions.
All of the trains were on time and before we knew it Caitlin and I were at the La Spezia train station heading to the ticket counter, hoping that Laura’s trains had been on time as well and she would be waiting for us. It was so good to see Laura! I hadn’t seen her or talked to her very much since she visited me in Sevilla at the beginning of February because her internet connections weren’t very good in London or in Florence. The three of us had a glorious reunion in the middle of the train station, and then picked up our packs and headed off to catch the little local train that would take us to the town we were staying in. Caitlin’s backpack is a relatively small pack perfect for 2-weeks worth of clothing, etc. I look ridiculous next to her with all of my stuff from the semester and 4 weeks of travel crammed in to a not-so-small backpack. It made me feel a little better that Laura was in the same boat and had all of her stuff from the semester in an enormous backpack. Now we can look ridiculous together.
The Cinque Terre is a series of 5 beautiful, tiny towns located on the Mediterranean coast of Italy. The land is extremely hilly with huge cliffs down to the water. The towns are separated from one another by hills and coves but are connected by railway. To get from one town to another you can either take the train for 1.4 euros per trip or you can hike along the cliffs following the coast. In order from north to south the towns are: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Laura had gotten us a reservation for a 3-person apartment in Riomaggiore, which is the closest town to La Spezia.
The apartment was very simple and cute: a little bathroom with a shower, tiny kitchen with a huge window that opened onto the street, a small table and two ‘bed rooms’ separated by a half wall. Once we had moved our stuff in the first order of business was dinner. We walked up the hill a little ways and stopped in a few of the local shops we passed and picked up groceries. We bought bread, tomatoes, olive oil, an entire basil plant, spaghetti, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, an onion, a bar of chocolate and an enormous bottle of cheap white wine. We went back to the apartment and baked some delicious tomato and mozzarella bruschetta for an appetizer, and then walked down the hill to the water to watch the sunset. We climbed out onto some rocks in the bay to get the best view possible and watched the sky change colors. From where we were the sun sank down behind a mountain and we could see the other Cinque Terre towns a few hills over. After the sun went down we went home and made spaghetti, drank our wine and did our best to catch each other up on what our semesters had been like.
In the morning Caitlin and I got ready to do the hike between the towns Corniglia and Vernazza. Laura didn’t want to risk her knee going out and she had already been hiking in the Cinque Terre earlier in the semester when her mom came to visit so she took the train straight to Monterosso for some beach time and Caitlin and I met her there when our hike was over. To begin the hike Caitlin and I climbed a series of almost 300 stairs zigzagging straight up a cliff face to reach the tiny cliff town of Corniglia. It took us about an hour and a half to hike from there to Vernazza, and it was potentially the most beautiful hike I have ever been on. The trail is pretty easy to follow, but there is a lot of up and down and climbing over big rocks. The hike stays along the coast the whole time, giving you a spectacular view down to the ocean. The hills on the other side of the trail are covered with trees and plants that give a little bit of shade. By the end Cait and I were drenched in sweat but we couldn’t have been happier. We had hiked with our swimsuits on so when we caught the train to meet up with Laura in Monterosso we jumped straight into the clear blue Mediterranean water. Swimming in that place was so surreal, looking around and seeing the towns on each point down the coast, the color of the water and the sand beaches. We enjoyed the beach and the sun for a while, grabbed an Italian gelato and slice of pizza for a late lunch and headed back to Riomaggiore to shower and nap.
We got dressed up for the evening and took a train back to Vernazza to watch the sunset and find some authentic Italian food for dinner. Vernazza is the most picturesque town I have ever seen. The colorful houses and restaurants come down the steep hills straight to the water. We watched the sun set over a bay full of small painted boats and sailboats, after which we left the main plaza to find a side street restaurant for dinner. We stopped at a quiet little restaurant serving pasta and seafood and had an Italian feast. Caitlin and Laura had seafood pasta and I had pesto ravioli. We shared bread and a cheese plate and a carafe of ‘cinque terre’ wine. Everything was spectacular, and we each got a final cone of gelato on the way home before calling it a night and getting our bags ready to leave for Switzerland in the morning.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Nice 5/20 – 5/21
As I write this blog update we are on the train from Barcelona to Nice and it is 11:45am. So far today hasn’t quite gone as planned. We got up early to try and reserve more trains for later in the trip at the station before we left for Nice. The man at the station told us that we couldn’t make reservations because all of the places reserved for Eurail travelers had already been sold out, for most of the trains that we need to take on the rest of our trip. That makes me more than a little nervous but I’m not going to worry about it until we get to France. Then Caitlin and I looked at our tickets and realized that we were at the wrong train station. We needed to be at Barcelona Franca station, rather than the main rail station. So, with an hour before our train left we hopped back on the metro and rode it across the city to the correct train station. We got there with 10 minutes to spare and boarded our train without any more problems. The trip has thus far been less exciting, and the scenery outside the windows is incredible! The train runs right alongside the ocean so we have a perfect view of the coast, cliffs, and all of the tiny red-roofed pueblos we pass through. Neither Caitlin nor I have ever been to France so we’re excited to get there and explore someplace new. Hopefully not speaking French won’t be too much of an issue! We still have 2 hours on this train and about 4 hours on the connecting train after Montpellier but we should arrive in Nice this evening in time to watch the sunset on the beach and find some good food for dinner.
The rest of Nice: our train took a 40-minute delay in some tiny town between Barcelona and Montpellier which appeared to me to be a big smoke break for all of the passengers and train crew, so as a result we pulled into the Montpellier station 9 minutes before our connecting train was supposed to leave for Nice. Caitlin and I ran through the train station, found our train and jumped aboard with exactly 2 minutes to spare before it pulled out of the station. That added just a little bit more excitement to our otherwise long, boring day. We arrived in Nice, found our way to the hostel and headed out to get something to eat. We had forgotten to pick up groceries in Barcelona, and we left before the hostel started serving breakfast so all we had to eat was half of a granola bar. The plan was to grab lunch at the station during our hour in Montpellier but since we ended up with 9 minutes to get to the train we skipped lunch as well. We did split an overpriced and rather disgusting sandwich from the trolley on the train but we were definitely ready for some real food. We walked down the main street in Nice towards the ocean and stopped at a kebab restaurant along the way. I ate a “kebab burger” that was bigger than my head and then we continued down to watch the sunset from the water.
The beaches at Nice aren’t nice sand beaches, they actually look a lot like the North Shore. The beach we were at was covered with big, rounded rocks that made a really cool sound as they rolled over each other when the waves rolled in. After checking out the beach situation we walked up a big hill to a tiny plaza on top of the hill that has built-in marble benches that are perfect for ocean/sunset watching.
Nice is a beautiful city full of plazas and fountains, and at night everything lights up. In the main plaza there are these weird statues of people sitting on top of tall posts that line the streets. At night the statues light up from inside with colored lights that change every few minutes. They kind of look like big gummy bears. Also, strung across the main street above the metro cables are strings of light blue and dark blue lights. In the dark of the night the street looks stunning.
The next day we got up late, walked around town, found a grocery store to make ourselves a picnic lunch and headed out to the beach to soak up some sun. Like I said, the beaches aren’t very sandy but we made due with the rocks. After we’d had enough sun we made a stop at the gelato stand and then headed back to the hostel for showers and a nap. The night before we had walked through a square that was full of people, street markets and tiny restaurants. For dinner we headed back down there to find some legit French cuisine. We ended up at a very cute small restaurant that had tables outside. They had a special on 3-course meals so of course we had to try it. Caitlin’s dinner consisted of a plate of fried zucchini and eggplant (delicious) with salmon and rice. I had a Nice salad (anchovies and tuna on top of lettuce and all kinds of vegetables), and beef stew that came served over noodles. I liked everything that I tasted, but the best part was yet to come. For dessert Caitlin and I split chocolate mousse and crème brule. As most of you know I have always been a huge fan of dessert, but I think it’s safe to say that this might have been the best dessert I have ever experienced. I know, it’s a bold statement but I’m sticking by it. I’ve never really liked crème brule before but this was SO good. The shell or crust or whatever you call it on top was the perfect crispness and the whole thing just melted in your mouth. And the chocolate mousse was rich and light all at the same time so we ate the whole thing but didn’t feel sick. It was beautiful. After dinner we went back up the hill for another sunset, then walked a bit further and sat by the ocean listening to the waves roll in until it was time for bed. I’m not sure that Nice is a place that I would go back to, nor someplace that I would want to spend a long period of time, but it was great for a short visit.
The rest of Nice: our train took a 40-minute delay in some tiny town between Barcelona and Montpellier which appeared to me to be a big smoke break for all of the passengers and train crew, so as a result we pulled into the Montpellier station 9 minutes before our connecting train was supposed to leave for Nice. Caitlin and I ran through the train station, found our train and jumped aboard with exactly 2 minutes to spare before it pulled out of the station. That added just a little bit more excitement to our otherwise long, boring day. We arrived in Nice, found our way to the hostel and headed out to get something to eat. We had forgotten to pick up groceries in Barcelona, and we left before the hostel started serving breakfast so all we had to eat was half of a granola bar. The plan was to grab lunch at the station during our hour in Montpellier but since we ended up with 9 minutes to get to the train we skipped lunch as well. We did split an overpriced and rather disgusting sandwich from the trolley on the train but we were definitely ready for some real food. We walked down the main street in Nice towards the ocean and stopped at a kebab restaurant along the way. I ate a “kebab burger” that was bigger than my head and then we continued down to watch the sunset from the water.
The beaches at Nice aren’t nice sand beaches, they actually look a lot like the North Shore. The beach we were at was covered with big, rounded rocks that made a really cool sound as they rolled over each other when the waves rolled in. After checking out the beach situation we walked up a big hill to a tiny plaza on top of the hill that has built-in marble benches that are perfect for ocean/sunset watching.
Nice is a beautiful city full of plazas and fountains, and at night everything lights up. In the main plaza there are these weird statues of people sitting on top of tall posts that line the streets. At night the statues light up from inside with colored lights that change every few minutes. They kind of look like big gummy bears. Also, strung across the main street above the metro cables are strings of light blue and dark blue lights. In the dark of the night the street looks stunning.
The next day we got up late, walked around town, found a grocery store to make ourselves a picnic lunch and headed out to the beach to soak up some sun. Like I said, the beaches aren’t very sandy but we made due with the rocks. After we’d had enough sun we made a stop at the gelato stand and then headed back to the hostel for showers and a nap. The night before we had walked through a square that was full of people, street markets and tiny restaurants. For dinner we headed back down there to find some legit French cuisine. We ended up at a very cute small restaurant that had tables outside. They had a special on 3-course meals so of course we had to try it. Caitlin’s dinner consisted of a plate of fried zucchini and eggplant (delicious) with salmon and rice. I had a Nice salad (anchovies and tuna on top of lettuce and all kinds of vegetables), and beef stew that came served over noodles. I liked everything that I tasted, but the best part was yet to come. For dessert Caitlin and I split chocolate mousse and crème brule. As most of you know I have always been a huge fan of dessert, but I think it’s safe to say that this might have been the best dessert I have ever experienced. I know, it’s a bold statement but I’m sticking by it. I’ve never really liked crème brule before but this was SO good. The shell or crust or whatever you call it on top was the perfect crispness and the whole thing just melted in your mouth. And the chocolate mousse was rich and light all at the same time so we ate the whole thing but didn’t feel sick. It was beautiful. After dinner we went back up the hill for another sunset, then walked a bit further and sat by the ocean listening to the waves roll in until it was time for bed. I’m not sure that Nice is a place that I would go back to, nor someplace that I would want to spend a long period of time, but it was great for a short visit.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Barcelona 5/18 – 5/19
Tuesday morning at 6am Caitlin and I woke up to walk with all of our stuff to the bus stop to start our journey to Barcelona. We got to the train station with plenty of time to spare, and made it onto the AVE (Spain’s high speed train) with no problems. We slept most of the way to Madrid, where we got off, ate pastries at an airport café, and then got on the next 3-hour train to Barcelona. Caitlin went to Barcelona for a few days last year with her family so she knew much more than I did. When we got off the train in Barcelona we bought our dual-person metro pass and rode the metro to our hostel. The first order of business was to shower after a long day on trains, and then we went out to enjoy the last few hours of daylight in the city. We walked up Las Ramblas, the main pedestrianized avenue in Barcelona. It is lined with huge trees and shops, stands with artists selling their work and random vendors with flowers, chickens, fish & other pets, and of course FC Barcelona fútbol gear. We took tons of pictures, meandered through the winding streets and found a little restaurant where we shared chicken paella, tortilla de patata and olives for dinner. After we ate we found gofres con chocolate (waffles with hot chocolate sauce) and coffee for dessert. We finished the evening with a walk by the harbor and a few drinks with some people from our hostel.
Wednesday was all about tourist sightseeing. We got up early and hit the city hard. Our first stop was Güell Park, which is full of Gaudi’s works. It was incredible, this beautiful park above the city full of gorgeous, fantastical buildings and works of art. We spent a long time here, hiking through all of the paths up to the very top for a spectacular view of the entire city and the ocean beyond. After we had our fill of the park we walked down through the city on our way to the Sagrada Familia. We stopped at a little shop for bocadillos and a small bottle of wine to share. We took a lunch break in a park before continuing our way down. The Sagrada Famila is a massive, awe-inspiring building designed by Gaudi before his death. It has been under construction for over 100 years and is still far from being finished. The detailing is so complex and the building is so massive, I can’t even imagine how much time it will take to complete it.
The next place on our list to visit was the Arc d’Triumph and a walk through the park. Barcelona is an incredibly beautiful city. It has the charm of a smaller European city when you walk through the tiny streets lined with balconies and window gardens, but at the same time it is very metropolitan and has massive structures like the Arc and downtown skyscrapers. Every park and plaza is filled with fountains and stone statues with benches and patches of grass that are perfect for resting your feet. We slowly made our way back to the hostel and took a power nap to recharge for the night’s activities. We ate a delicious dinner of vegetable pasta and pizza at an Italian restaurant in one of the plazas we had passed earlier, and then Caitlin took me to a crepe place she had discovered last year. We split one of the best desserts I have ever had, a hot crepe with nutella. It was perfect.
Wednesday night, Barcelona was hosting the league fútbol finals and Sevilla was playing Atlético de Madrid. All day long we had been running into huge packs of Madrid fans wearing their jerseys and scarves, singing, chanting, etc. There weren’t many Sevilla fans in the streets however, so I had to represent the city the best I could. Cait and I stopped into an Irish pub for a pint of Strongbow and to watch the game. Sevilla scored in the first 5 minutes and held the lead until the very end, when they scored a second goal to secure the win. It was an exciting night and we went back to the hostel to pack out bags and get ready for our train to Nice in the morning.
Wednesday was all about tourist sightseeing. We got up early and hit the city hard. Our first stop was Güell Park, which is full of Gaudi’s works. It was incredible, this beautiful park above the city full of gorgeous, fantastical buildings and works of art. We spent a long time here, hiking through all of the paths up to the very top for a spectacular view of the entire city and the ocean beyond. After we had our fill of the park we walked down through the city on our way to the Sagrada Familia. We stopped at a little shop for bocadillos and a small bottle of wine to share. We took a lunch break in a park before continuing our way down. The Sagrada Famila is a massive, awe-inspiring building designed by Gaudi before his death. It has been under construction for over 100 years and is still far from being finished. The detailing is so complex and the building is so massive, I can’t even imagine how much time it will take to complete it.
The next place on our list to visit was the Arc d’Triumph and a walk through the park. Barcelona is an incredibly beautiful city. It has the charm of a smaller European city when you walk through the tiny streets lined with balconies and window gardens, but at the same time it is very metropolitan and has massive structures like the Arc and downtown skyscrapers. Every park and plaza is filled with fountains and stone statues with benches and patches of grass that are perfect for resting your feet. We slowly made our way back to the hostel and took a power nap to recharge for the night’s activities. We ate a delicious dinner of vegetable pasta and pizza at an Italian restaurant in one of the plazas we had passed earlier, and then Caitlin took me to a crepe place she had discovered last year. We split one of the best desserts I have ever had, a hot crepe with nutella. It was perfect.
Wednesday night, Barcelona was hosting the league fútbol finals and Sevilla was playing Atlético de Madrid. All day long we had been running into huge packs of Madrid fans wearing their jerseys and scarves, singing, chanting, etc. There weren’t many Sevilla fans in the streets however, so I had to represent the city the best I could. Cait and I stopped into an Irish pub for a pint of Strongbow and to watch the game. Sevilla scored in the first 5 minutes and held the lead until the very end, when they scored a second goal to secure the win. It was an exciting night and we went back to the hostel to pack out bags and get ready for our train to Nice in the morning.
Sevilla 5/16 – 5/17
We hit a lot of weekend traffic coming back from the beach house, so José drove me straight to the airport to get Caitlin after dropping off Justyna and Javí so I didn’t have to waste more time taking the bus which was really nice of him. I was about an hour late and was worried that Caitlin would be sitting in the airport confused and worried because I wasn’t there to pick her up but when I walked into the airport her plane had just arrived. It had been delayed for an hour in London, so we miraculously got to the airport at the same time. Seeing Caitlin after 4 months apart was so exciting! We’d video chatted a lot via Skype but it’s just not the same as being together in person. Poor girl had been traveling for so many hours and was jet lagged and tired and all sorts of things. We took the airport bus to Prado bus station, walked to Lourdes’ apartment to pick up the rest of my things and headed to our hostel.
I’m pretty proud of myself, I somehow managed to fit everything from my semester abroad into an enormous backpacking pack I borrowed from Teddy before I left, my school backpack, (to be worn as a front pack. Super cool.) and a box of things that I paid way to much money to mail home. I left an entire suitcase full of clothes and things behind for Maria to give to her nieces etc. I know that I sill have too much stuff with me but I’m trying to get by without doing laundry until I get to Sweden. I will be leaving many things behind at hostels along the way to be sure.
After getting checked into our hostel Caitlin and I went in search of food. We ended up at the kebab stand because that was the only thing open at 12:30 on a Sunday night. My friends that were left in Sevilla met us here and we sat by the river for a while, not wanting to say goodbye. After an hour or so we really needed to get Caitlin to a bed, so we all said our final “hasta luego” and went our separate ways with lots of hugs and a few tears.
In the morning we got up, packed our bags up (which we left in the hostel lobby until later) and walked all the way through Sevilla to mail my box of school things and souvenirs that I don’t want to carry throughout Europe with me. Oh my goodness, it was so expensive to mail that box home! But it’s worth it, it saves my back a little more weight and I need my school materials to arrive safely at my house so I can submit them to Beloit next semester to get Anthropology credits for my courses in Spain. I feel safer having these important materials mailed via something that can be tracked vs. taking a 3-week boat trip from Spain to the USA.
Trying to plan this trip was way confusing with Caitlin being in the US, me being in Spain and Laura being in Italy. We never were able to get all of us online at the same time to discuss our plans so everything was done via email and Caitlin and my Skype chats. Thus, we had yet to actually make our train reservations which is a decision that may come back to bite us. I called the train station from my cell phone but all I found out was that it’s essentially impossible to do anything unless you are physically present in the train station with your Eurail pass. So Cait and I got on the city bus to the airport to try and get as many of our tickets figured out as we could. What a process. I am so thankful that I speak Spanish well enough to communicate effectively because if I didn’t we would have been lost. The process of making ticket reservations isn’t posted anywhere; it’s like some big secret with as many unnecessary steps built in as possible. Anyway, to make a very long story short we eventually found our way through all of the correct steps to find out that the night train we wanted had no available space, so we would have to take a train the next morning, and we reserved our trains from Barcelona to Nice.
We went back to the hostel to make a reservation to stay an extra night, took a nap and then called Erica to go out for one last dinner and drink. We went to the bar where my friend Susan’s señor works and had tapas and Cruzcampo in Sevilla one more time.
I’m pretty proud of myself, I somehow managed to fit everything from my semester abroad into an enormous backpacking pack I borrowed from Teddy before I left, my school backpack, (to be worn as a front pack. Super cool.) and a box of things that I paid way to much money to mail home. I left an entire suitcase full of clothes and things behind for Maria to give to her nieces etc. I know that I sill have too much stuff with me but I’m trying to get by without doing laundry until I get to Sweden. I will be leaving many things behind at hostels along the way to be sure.
After getting checked into our hostel Caitlin and I went in search of food. We ended up at the kebab stand because that was the only thing open at 12:30 on a Sunday night. My friends that were left in Sevilla met us here and we sat by the river for a while, not wanting to say goodbye. After an hour or so we really needed to get Caitlin to a bed, so we all said our final “hasta luego” and went our separate ways with lots of hugs and a few tears.
In the morning we got up, packed our bags up (which we left in the hostel lobby until later) and walked all the way through Sevilla to mail my box of school things and souvenirs that I don’t want to carry throughout Europe with me. Oh my goodness, it was so expensive to mail that box home! But it’s worth it, it saves my back a little more weight and I need my school materials to arrive safely at my house so I can submit them to Beloit next semester to get Anthropology credits for my courses in Spain. I feel safer having these important materials mailed via something that can be tracked vs. taking a 3-week boat trip from Spain to the USA.
Trying to plan this trip was way confusing with Caitlin being in the US, me being in Spain and Laura being in Italy. We never were able to get all of us online at the same time to discuss our plans so everything was done via email and Caitlin and my Skype chats. Thus, we had yet to actually make our train reservations which is a decision that may come back to bite us. I called the train station from my cell phone but all I found out was that it’s essentially impossible to do anything unless you are physically present in the train station with your Eurail pass. So Cait and I got on the city bus to the airport to try and get as many of our tickets figured out as we could. What a process. I am so thankful that I speak Spanish well enough to communicate effectively because if I didn’t we would have been lost. The process of making ticket reservations isn’t posted anywhere; it’s like some big secret with as many unnecessary steps built in as possible. Anyway, to make a very long story short we eventually found our way through all of the correct steps to find out that the night train we wanted had no available space, so we would have to take a train the next morning, and we reserved our trains from Barcelona to Nice.
We went back to the hostel to make a reservation to stay an extra night, took a nap and then called Erica to go out for one last dinner and drink. We went to the bar where my friend Susan’s señor works and had tapas and Cruzcampo in Sevilla one more time.
Traveling 5/16 – 6/15
Before I left for Spain I decided to take full advantage of being in Europe and plan a 2-week trip across a few countries, meeting up with Laura in Italy. That plan has since snowballed and turned into a rather epic adventure. Caitlin pulled some strings and managed to get herself a ticket to Spain to come traveling with me! She and I are taking on Spain and France before meeting up with Laura in Italy to continue to Switzerland and Paris. Laura leaves us in Paris to fly home and Caitlin and I will hop up to London for a few days. Being able to do this kind of a trip with my 2 best friends was amazing enough, but then I got in contact with some relatives in Sweden and my trip got another incredible extension. After London, I am taking a flight to Stockholm and will be staying with my Swedish relatives for 2 whole weeks before finally flying home to the USA. Barring disaster, the schedule is as follows:
• May 16th – Caitlin in Sevilla!
• May 17th – Sevilla, Spain
• May 18th – Barcelona, Spain
• May 19th – Barcelona, Spain
• May 20th – Nice, France
• May 21st – Nice, France
• May 22nd – Cinque Terre, Italy
• May 23rd – Cinque Terre, Italy
• May 24th – Zermatt, Switzerland
• May 25th – Zermatt Switzerland
• May 26th – Bern, Switzerland
• May 27th – Paris, France
• May 28th – Paris, France
• May 29th – London, England
• May 30th – London, England
• May 31st – June 14th – Sweden
• June 14th – Flight back to London, London to Chicago, Chicago to Minneapolis…
• June 15th @ 1:40pm HOME
I know that we’re probably trying to do too many places in too short of time and are going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time on trains, but I am SO excited. Regardless what happens this trip is going to be fun and I can’t wait to see so many new places, even if we’re only there a short while. I like to think of it as a sampler platter, scoping out lots of places to decide which places we want to go back to.
• May 16th – Caitlin in Sevilla!
• May 17th – Sevilla, Spain
• May 18th – Barcelona, Spain
• May 19th – Barcelona, Spain
• May 20th – Nice, France
• May 21st – Nice, France
• May 22nd – Cinque Terre, Italy
• May 23rd – Cinque Terre, Italy
• May 24th – Zermatt, Switzerland
• May 25th – Zermatt Switzerland
• May 26th – Bern, Switzerland
• May 27th – Paris, France
• May 28th – Paris, France
• May 29th – London, England
• May 30th – London, England
• May 31st – June 14th – Sweden
• June 14th – Flight back to London, London to Chicago, Chicago to Minneapolis…
• June 15th @ 1:40pm HOME
I know that we’re probably trying to do too many places in too short of time and are going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time on trains, but I am SO excited. Regardless what happens this trip is going to be fun and I can’t wait to see so many new places, even if we’re only there a short while. I like to think of it as a sampler platter, scoping out lots of places to decide which places we want to go back to.
Leaving Sevilla 5/17
And here ends my semester in Sevilla. I can’t believe that it’s over and I’m not really sure whet to think or feel. I lived here for 4 months, which seems like a long time but went by much too quickly. I can’t believe that the life I carved out for myself here is ending and that I might never see the people who were a part of my daily routine for a very long time, if ever again. Saying goodbye is always hard, no matter what the circumstances are, but saying goodbye without knowing if/when you will say hello again is the hardest. Leaving my host family was very strange. They have had so many students staying in their house; they can’t get too attached anymore. We had a good semester together and I hope that they enjoyed having me in their house as much as I enjoyed being there but they weren’t terribly sad to see us go. I know that chances are good I’ll never see either of them again, but Maria asked me to leave some photographs of myself behind and told me that if I ever come back to Sevilla I always have somewhere to stay. Spaniards don’t say goodbye, it’s always see you later. So that is the attitude with which I leave my city behind – someday I will return, to walk the streets and take in the sights again in a new stage of my life. The friendships I’ve made, people I’ve met and experiences I’ve had will stay with me forever; they are a part of me now and have left their mark. This semester has been an incredibly ride, so much more than anything I could have imagined. I have learned so much about myself, and my place and purpose in this world.
I am so sad that my life in Sevilla is ending, but in life there is always so much to look forward to. So here begins the next stage of my journey…
I am so sad that my life in Sevilla is ending, but in life there is always so much to look forward to. So here begins the next stage of my journey…
Beach House 5/14 – 5/16
To celebrate the end of classes and mourn the end of our time in Spain my roommate Justyna and I went with some Spanish friends to the beach for the weekend. Lourdes, one of Justyna’s friends, has an aunt and uncle who own a beach house in Huelva, which is roughly 1.5 hours outside of Sevilla. She invited us to stay there with her for the weekend, which was extremely generous and so much fun. In total there were 8 of us: Justyna and me, Lourdes, Javí, Pedro, Javier Francisco, José y Mauri. We spent our 2 days there tanning, collecting shells, swimming in the ocean and of course playing soccer on the beach. Watching all of these Spaniards interact was a hilarious and perfect example of Spanish culture. They are all such nice, friendly people. They didn’t all know each other when we got to the beach house but by the end of 2 days they were best friends. We all helped cook enormous meals of delicious Spanish food and watched the fútbol games on TV. In Sevilla there are 2 teams: Sevilla FC and Betis. Sevilla is really good and Betis has been terrible in recent years but each team has a huge base of extremely loyal fans. It’s true here that fútbol is a lifestyle. One of the things you ask about people, or one of the things you first find out judging by their clothing, tattoos, jewelry, etc, is what team they ‘belong to.’ Sevillanos don’t say, “I’m a fan of…” or “I follow…” or “I like…” a certain team, it’s always “I am.” “Soy Betis” o “Soy Sevilla.” They are true fans to the end regardless of how the team is doing in the standings and they really do feel like they are a part of it. Sevilla and Betis are bitter rivals. While we were at the beach both teams played so we all watched the games together. There was so much yelling and arguing going on between fans of each team, it was hilarious to watch.
It was an excellent weekend overall, and a great way to finish off my semester here.
It was an excellent weekend overall, and a great way to finish off my semester here.
Finals 5/10 – 5/13
Classes here ended with a flurry of exams and papers. As much work as it was, finals really showed me how much my Spanish has improved since coming here 4 months ago. I am so much more confident now, and I am much more comfortable with the language. During finals week a partner and I gave a 45-minute Anthropology presentation in Spanish and wrote an accompanying 13 page paper, I wrote a 7 page paper about my cultural experiences since arriving in Sevilla and my other Anthro group and I wrote a 15 page paper about gender roles and stereotypes in Andalucía. In January, never in a million years would I have thought I would have been able to do all of that. It was a lot of writing and a lot of studying in a short period of time but I came out all in one piece and summer vacation has officially begun! I still can’t quite shake the feeling that this whole semester has been a vacation of sorts, which some work mixed in here and there of course… After classes ended my program threw us a goodbye party at one of the beautiful restaurants on Calle Betis overlooking the Guadalquivir River. They had drinks and bite-sized tapas that were all delicious. It was so strange to see all of the kids from my program together in one room again, I couldn’t believe that it was 4 months ago when we were all lost and confused at orientation at the hotel. The party was so fun, a great way to celebrate the end of finals and the end of the semester altogether.
Lagos 4/21 – 4/ 24
After experiencing Feria for a day or two Erica and I decided that we wanted to take advantage of our week of vacation and do a little bit of traveling. We loved Portugal so much when we traveled to Lisbon so we decided to make a return to the country. We booked a hostel and bus tickets for Lagos, Portugal and away we went.
Lagos is a beautiful beach town on the southern coast of Portugal. It was the perfect place for a short beach vacation. The town is situated above the coastline on high, beautiful red and yellow rock cliffs overlooking the clear, aquamarine ocean. Between the amazing rock formations, brilliant water and blooming flowers there was so much vibrant color in Lagos and it was spectacular. Little secluded beaches are tucked into coves and are only accessible via a cliff walk that runs along the top edge with stairs leading down to the sand. We tried a different beach each day and they were all peaceful and secluded, ideal for relaxing. Besides lying on the beach, we walked the streets of Lagos, ate fabulous Portuguese food and took a cave/cove boat tour guided by a Portuguese fisherman. Overall I liked Lisbon better but if you ever find yourself in Portugal with the opportunity to spend some time in Lagos, I highly recommend it.
Lagos is a beautiful beach town on the southern coast of Portugal. It was the perfect place for a short beach vacation. The town is situated above the coastline on high, beautiful red and yellow rock cliffs overlooking the clear, aquamarine ocean. Between the amazing rock formations, brilliant water and blooming flowers there was so much vibrant color in Lagos and it was spectacular. Little secluded beaches are tucked into coves and are only accessible via a cliff walk that runs along the top edge with stairs leading down to the sand. We tried a different beach each day and they were all peaceful and secluded, ideal for relaxing. Besides lying on the beach, we walked the streets of Lagos, ate fabulous Portuguese food and took a cave/cove boat tour guided by a Portuguese fisherman. Overall I liked Lisbon better but if you ever find yourself in Portugal with the opportunity to spend some time in Lagos, I highly recommend it.
Feria 4/20 – 4/25
My program had a second ‘spring break’ week with no classes to celebrate the Feria de Abril in Sevilla. Feria used to be a celebration centered around cattle auctioning and everyone from the country would come into the city all dressed up for the occasion but today it has lost that original purpose and stands as a celebration of the city of Sevilla. There is no real purpose or intent other than to celebrate everything it means to be a Sevillano in the city that they love. The women all dress up in traditional style flamenco dresses of every shape and color complete with enormous matching earrings, hair combs and the biggest flowers I have ever seen directly on top of their heads. If the men are riding their horses into town or driving a horse-drawn carriage they dress up in traditional ‘cowboy’ clothes, and if not they put on their best suit.
The fair grounds are located in ‘los remedios’, which is a neighborhood just outside of the city center. Here rich families and businesses own ‘casetas’ which are little tents that are completely furnished as houses with floors, tables and chairs, bathrooms and a kitchen in the back. For the week of Feria this is the families house, and they entertain guests all day and night. If you are invited into a private tent they will take care of you, paying for all of your food and drink. An entire, classy tent city goes up for Feria complete with street signs and addresses. The streets are lined with lights and colored paper decorations.
Manzanilla, a very strong white wine, is the traditional drink of Feria, and in recent years people have started mixing it with 7-up to make rebujitos. These are dangerous things because they taste good and dilute the taste of the wine so it’s really easy to drink a few too many. We were well warned by all of our professors and host families but there were many hilarious rebujito-related stories to be told among the CIEE kids after Feria was over.
Like I said, Feria is all about celebrating Sevillan culture. The people come together to eat, drink, and above all, dance. The Sevillana is a style of flamenco dancing that originated and is still performed in Sevilla. Everybody knows how to do it and Feria is where they show it off. Every caseta has some sort of music playing, live bands or recordings, and everyone there is dancing with each other. It’s a beautiful dance and especially impressive with the women in their brightly colored, ruffled flamenco dresses and killer heels. I really don’t know how these Spanish women do it; my friends and I wore heels out to one night of Feria and ended up sitting on the curb before limping home to bed.
Feria is a cultural celebration but it is a very private celebration. There are a few tents open to the public but the majority of the celebrating goes on inside the casetas. My friends and I got into a private company caseta, which was less cool than a family caseta but still quite the experience.
The fair grounds are located in ‘los remedios’, which is a neighborhood just outside of the city center. Here rich families and businesses own ‘casetas’ which are little tents that are completely furnished as houses with floors, tables and chairs, bathrooms and a kitchen in the back. For the week of Feria this is the families house, and they entertain guests all day and night. If you are invited into a private tent they will take care of you, paying for all of your food and drink. An entire, classy tent city goes up for Feria complete with street signs and addresses. The streets are lined with lights and colored paper decorations.
Manzanilla, a very strong white wine, is the traditional drink of Feria, and in recent years people have started mixing it with 7-up to make rebujitos. These are dangerous things because they taste good and dilute the taste of the wine so it’s really easy to drink a few too many. We were well warned by all of our professors and host families but there were many hilarious rebujito-related stories to be told among the CIEE kids after Feria was over.
Like I said, Feria is all about celebrating Sevillan culture. The people come together to eat, drink, and above all, dance. The Sevillana is a style of flamenco dancing that originated and is still performed in Sevilla. Everybody knows how to do it and Feria is where they show it off. Every caseta has some sort of music playing, live bands or recordings, and everyone there is dancing with each other. It’s a beautiful dance and especially impressive with the women in their brightly colored, ruffled flamenco dresses and killer heels. I really don’t know how these Spanish women do it; my friends and I wore heels out to one night of Feria and ended up sitting on the curb before limping home to bed.
Feria is a cultural celebration but it is a very private celebration. There are a few tents open to the public but the majority of the celebrating goes on inside the casetas. My friends and I got into a private company caseta, which was less cool than a family caseta but still quite the experience.
Madrid Art Trip 4/16 - 4/18
Trip to Madrid! Just for fun, my program offers its students the opportunity to be in one of several 'interest groups' that focus on various aspects of Spanish culture (sports, food, cinema, international relations, etc.) I am in the modern art interest group, so all semester we have been going to see various examples of modern art around Sevilla. It has been really interesting and we've seen so many cool things, along with a couple of extremely 'modern' art forms that were a litlte bit puzzling. The interest groups all take a trip at the end of the semester, payed for the the program. My group went to Madrid to see the city and tour the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen Museums. We took the AVE (Spain's high-speed train) to Madrid and stayed in a ridiculously nice hotel for the weekend, with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet! Spain doesn't really do breakfast besides a piece of toast or two so we were all very excited to eat a USA-style breakfast, complete with pancakes. The boys in the group put away entire plates of pancakes while all of the Spaniards in the restaurant watched them in awe. But besides the breakfast buffet we did many other equally exciting things in Madrid. It was my first real visit to Spain's capital city, and I was very impressed. Ángel, our amazing group leader and professor, gave us a walking tour of the city, as well as a tour through each museum we went to. I swear that man knows everything. The three museums were very different from each other but I loved them all. It was incredible to get to see so many amazing works of art in person.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Roommates in Sevilla 4/9 - 4/13
Michelle and Kaitlin spent their 5-week (yes, 5 whole weeks) break traveling around Europe, and made Sevilla one of their stops. Our other friend from Beloit Brandon who is studying in the Netherlands decided to visit Sevilla as well, and by sheer coincidence their visits overlapped. They were here for the weekend of April 9th, and we had a great time. It was the first time that I did a lot of the 'tourist' stuff in Sevilla. We toured the Cathedral of Sevilla (originally a mosque during the Muslim reign of Andalucía) and climbed up the Giralda (currently a bell tower that was converted from the mosque's minaret) for a beautiful panoramic view of the city. I walk past the cathedral every day but had never been inside before so that was very cool. After hitting up most of the big tourist sites I asked the girls and Brandon what else they really wanted to do in Sevilla, they all said they wanted to relax! So we took a bus to the nearest beach, called Matalascañas (about an hour and a half ride) and spent a day in the sun.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Semana Santa: Background
Holy Week, Semana Santa, is one of the biggest celebrations of the year here in Sevilla. It's a pretty big deal all over Spain, especially in the south, but Sevilla takes it to a whole different level. The basic idea of Semana Santa is to celebrate the passion, death, and more or less the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Semana Santa truly is a weeklong celebration, 24 hours a day, that takes place during the week of the 4th full moon every year.
The base of Semana Santa are the hermandades, brotherhoods, of the city. Most of these brotherhoods are associated with neighborhood-based churches throughout the city. These brotherhoods/societies aren't legitimatized until they participate in Semana Santa. Participation here refers to the procession of pasos.
Every hermandad in the city has a procession, called a paso, of members that walks from the home church to the cathedral in the center of the city, and back again on a specified day during Semana Santa. The schedule of these pasos is established well ahead of time and printed out in little booklets that are distributed for free at information centers, bars, and restaurants throughout the city. Because the processions go all the way from the door of the home church to the cathedral and back again, they can take anywhere from 6-14 hours, depending upon how far away the church is. There are many parts to these processions and a huge number of people from the hermandades take part, called nazarenos or penitentes in the procession. The procession begins with the 'cruz de guía' a nazareno who carries a large ornate cross. Hundreds of other nazarenos follow, some penitentes carry black wooden crosses with rosaries to repent their sins, acolytes carry tall candles, priests walk along with the procession spreading incense, many processions have accompanying bands of drums and cornets. But the most important part of these processions are the pasos themselves, large intricately decorated platforms that carry life-size depictions of Jesus, the Virgen Mary, and various scenes from the Passion. Each hermandad has at least two of these pasos: one that carries a depiction of Christ and one that carries a depiction of the Virgen. These depictions are incredibly lifelike and are often displayed in the church all year long but are mounted on the paso only for Holy Week.
The Cristo y Virgen María of each hermandad are very sacred, personal things. The members of certain barrios (neighborhoods) in Sevilla are fiercely loyal to their Cristo/Virgen and there are big rivalries between neighboring hermandades about whose is the best. For the Spanish people these figures embody Christ and the Virgen Mary. When Sevillanos pray, they don't pray directly to God or even to Jesus Christ the biblical figure, frequently they pray to their neighborhood's Cristo or to their Virgen María. It's considered offensive to refer to the paso figures as 'sculptures' or strictly works of art because to the Sevillan people there are so much more. However, there isn't a good translation for this in english so just know that when I talk about the Semana Santa figures that's what I'm talking about.
Anyway, these figures are mounted on these massive, rectangular platforms called pasos that are decorated with lit candles, hundreds of flowers, decorated in intricate silver and gold metalworks, and ornately woven cloth. There isn't really a way to accurately describe these without seeing them for yourself, I'll see if I can throw some pictures on here. Once these pasos have been put together with all the decorations and the figures themselves, they are lifted onto the shoulders of a team of 30 or so men called costeleros who walk underneath the paso, carrying it down the street all the way from their church to the cathedral and back again. The costeleros are completely hidden underneath the paso and a long cloth conceals their legs from view so to the crown it appears as though the figures on top are walking down the street by themselves. These costeleros are absolutely amazing - they carry an incredible amount of weight on their backs and walk blind down the cobblestone streets of Sevilla for hours on end. They get relieved by other costeleros throughout the procession, but it's still an unbelievable feat. It is a great honor to be a costelero and get to carry your Christ or Virgen in the procession. The pasos are set down every couple hundred meters which is part of the reason that the processions take so long, on top of the fact that there are so many people to get through the streets.
The pasos leave more or less in the order in which their particular Passion scene takes place chronilogically. For example, the hermandad that has a paso depicting Christ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey makes its procession on Palm Sunday, and the pasos that depict Christ on the cross go out later in the week. The streets of the city are completely shut down for these processions and people flood the sidewalks and plazas trying to find the ideal place to watch their favorite pasos go by.
Semana Santa appears to be an incredibly religious holiday, but in actuality it is a much stronger cultural celebration. Many members of the hermandades aren't religious followers, and the people who come out to watch the pasos don't necessarily come watch because they are hard core Catholics. People take part in the hermandades for the community, friendships, and family/cultural history that goes with them. They are centered around churches, but they have many functions outside of religion. That is something that is very important to understand when experiencing Semana Santa, people are celebrating their culture and everything that it means to be Sevillano on top of the religious holiday.
Easter may be all about Jesus, but the Virgen Mary is the star of Semana Santa. In each procession the paso with the Cristo goes first, and Mary follows. The people here love and are so proud of thier Virgen pasos. On the biggest night of Semana Santa (Thursday night to Friday morning) the whole city is awake and out all night long watching the biggest, most prestigious pasos. The two most famous Virgens in Sevilla are from the neighborhoods of Macarena and Triana. La Esperanza de Triana y La Macarena go out on the same night, and there is quite the competition between them. Rumor has it that the hermandad of La Macarena pays the local TV stations to only cover her paso when it re-enters the church, so that it is impossible to watch La Esperanza re-enter her church unless you are in Triana at the time. When these beautiful pasos go by, people watching from balconies above throw down flower petals, everyone on the streets yells out "¡Guapa! ¡Qué guapa!" Roughly translated this means beautiful or attractive and is typically heard on the streets as a piropo or cat call. It might seem a little sacrilegious to be calling the Virgen Mary hot, but once again that is the cultural aspect of Semana Santa. On certain balconies (which are in high demand, people pay a ridiculous amount of money to rent them just for Semana Santa. The same goes for seats that are set up on the street leading up to the Cathedral, it's impossible to get in unless you have an absurd amount of money) singers stand to serenade the pasos as they go by. It's a beautiful thing.
On top of the wonderful sights and sounds, there are also incredible tastes and smells that go along with Semana Santa. All of the flowers have burst into bloom at this point, including the very fragrant orange tree blossoms, and all of the pasos are covered in real flowers. At this time of the year, special pastries and sweets that are only made for Semana Santa go on sale at all of the bakeries and cafes around the city. Small stands and shops materialize in the middle of sidewalks and plazas, selling refreshments and toys for children. The whole city is abuzz with activity all day and all night. It is an incredible transformation to see.
The base of Semana Santa are the hermandades, brotherhoods, of the city. Most of these brotherhoods are associated with neighborhood-based churches throughout the city. These brotherhoods/societies aren't legitimatized until they participate in Semana Santa. Participation here refers to the procession of pasos.
Every hermandad in the city has a procession, called a paso, of members that walks from the home church to the cathedral in the center of the city, and back again on a specified day during Semana Santa. The schedule of these pasos is established well ahead of time and printed out in little booklets that are distributed for free at information centers, bars, and restaurants throughout the city. Because the processions go all the way from the door of the home church to the cathedral and back again, they can take anywhere from 6-14 hours, depending upon how far away the church is. There are many parts to these processions and a huge number of people from the hermandades take part, called nazarenos or penitentes in the procession. The procession begins with the 'cruz de guía' a nazareno who carries a large ornate cross. Hundreds of other nazarenos follow, some penitentes carry black wooden crosses with rosaries to repent their sins, acolytes carry tall candles, priests walk along with the procession spreading incense, many processions have accompanying bands of drums and cornets. But the most important part of these processions are the pasos themselves, large intricately decorated platforms that carry life-size depictions of Jesus, the Virgen Mary, and various scenes from the Passion. Each hermandad has at least two of these pasos: one that carries a depiction of Christ and one that carries a depiction of the Virgen. These depictions are incredibly lifelike and are often displayed in the church all year long but are mounted on the paso only for Holy Week.
The Cristo y Virgen María of each hermandad are very sacred, personal things. The members of certain barrios (neighborhoods) in Sevilla are fiercely loyal to their Cristo/Virgen and there are big rivalries between neighboring hermandades about whose is the best. For the Spanish people these figures embody Christ and the Virgen Mary. When Sevillanos pray, they don't pray directly to God or even to Jesus Christ the biblical figure, frequently they pray to their neighborhood's Cristo or to their Virgen María. It's considered offensive to refer to the paso figures as 'sculptures' or strictly works of art because to the Sevillan people there are so much more. However, there isn't a good translation for this in english so just know that when I talk about the Semana Santa figures that's what I'm talking about.
Anyway, these figures are mounted on these massive, rectangular platforms called pasos that are decorated with lit candles, hundreds of flowers, decorated in intricate silver and gold metalworks, and ornately woven cloth. There isn't really a way to accurately describe these without seeing them for yourself, I'll see if I can throw some pictures on here. Once these pasos have been put together with all the decorations and the figures themselves, they are lifted onto the shoulders of a team of 30 or so men called costeleros who walk underneath the paso, carrying it down the street all the way from their church to the cathedral and back again. The costeleros are completely hidden underneath the paso and a long cloth conceals their legs from view so to the crown it appears as though the figures on top are walking down the street by themselves. These costeleros are absolutely amazing - they carry an incredible amount of weight on their backs and walk blind down the cobblestone streets of Sevilla for hours on end. They get relieved by other costeleros throughout the procession, but it's still an unbelievable feat. It is a great honor to be a costelero and get to carry your Christ or Virgen in the procession. The pasos are set down every couple hundred meters which is part of the reason that the processions take so long, on top of the fact that there are so many people to get through the streets.
The pasos leave more or less in the order in which their particular Passion scene takes place chronilogically. For example, the hermandad that has a paso depicting Christ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey makes its procession on Palm Sunday, and the pasos that depict Christ on the cross go out later in the week. The streets of the city are completely shut down for these processions and people flood the sidewalks and plazas trying to find the ideal place to watch their favorite pasos go by.
Semana Santa appears to be an incredibly religious holiday, but in actuality it is a much stronger cultural celebration. Many members of the hermandades aren't religious followers, and the people who come out to watch the pasos don't necessarily come watch because they are hard core Catholics. People take part in the hermandades for the community, friendships, and family/cultural history that goes with them. They are centered around churches, but they have many functions outside of religion. That is something that is very important to understand when experiencing Semana Santa, people are celebrating their culture and everything that it means to be Sevillano on top of the religious holiday.
Easter may be all about Jesus, but the Virgen Mary is the star of Semana Santa. In each procession the paso with the Cristo goes first, and Mary follows. The people here love and are so proud of thier Virgen pasos. On the biggest night of Semana Santa (Thursday night to Friday morning) the whole city is awake and out all night long watching the biggest, most prestigious pasos. The two most famous Virgens in Sevilla are from the neighborhoods of Macarena and Triana. La Esperanza de Triana y La Macarena go out on the same night, and there is quite the competition between them. Rumor has it that the hermandad of La Macarena pays the local TV stations to only cover her paso when it re-enters the church, so that it is impossible to watch La Esperanza re-enter her church unless you are in Triana at the time. When these beautiful pasos go by, people watching from balconies above throw down flower petals, everyone on the streets yells out "¡Guapa! ¡Qué guapa!" Roughly translated this means beautiful or attractive and is typically heard on the streets as a piropo or cat call. It might seem a little sacrilegious to be calling the Virgen Mary hot, but once again that is the cultural aspect of Semana Santa. On certain balconies (which are in high demand, people pay a ridiculous amount of money to rent them just for Semana Santa. The same goes for seats that are set up on the street leading up to the Cathedral, it's impossible to get in unless you have an absurd amount of money) singers stand to serenade the pasos as they go by. It's a beautiful thing.
On top of the wonderful sights and sounds, there are also incredible tastes and smells that go along with Semana Santa. All of the flowers have burst into bloom at this point, including the very fragrant orange tree blossoms, and all of the pasos are covered in real flowers. At this time of the year, special pastries and sweets that are only made for Semana Santa go on sale at all of the bakeries and cafes around the city. Small stands and shops materialize in the middle of sidewalks and plazas, selling refreshments and toys for children. The whole city is abuzz with activity all day and all night. It is an incredible transformation to see.
Dublin
A lot has happened since my last blog post, so let me start with a little bit about my trip to the fantastic city of Dublin, Ireland.
There are 3 girls from Beloit studying in my program: me, Jenn and Lori. None of us knew each other before we came on this trip which is kind of hard to believe because our school only has 1300 kids. It's been really great studying with them here, they are both wonderful girls and we will have lots of stories to relive together when we get back to Beloit in the fall.
Anyway, Lori and I found super cheap flights to Dublin a few weeks ago and booked this trip on a whim. We left early Friday morning to fly to Alicante, Spain for an 8 hour layover, and then continue on to Dublin. It was just going to be the 2 of us, but when we arrived at the Sevilla airport we met up with a kid from our program named Nick who happened to be on all of the same flights. Nick goes to Madison and is from Richfield, MN. We all sat together on the plane to Alicante and decided to make the most of our 8 hours there. We took the city bus from the airport to the beach, bringing all of our backpacks, coats, and scarves with. Alicante is a beautiful city on the coast with clear, bright blue Mediterranean water and lovely sand beaches. We spent the day lying in the sun on top of our winter coats which we certaintly didn't need until we reached Ireland, we discovered a plaza where a radio station was giving away free fruit and horchata (delish), explored an old church which is Nick's favorite thing in the entire world, poked around the government building for a while, toured the marina and ate delicious ice cream. We returned to the airport via the same bus, grabbed a bite to eat, had an in-depth discussion of Disney movies and boarded the plane for Dublin. All in all, one of the best layovers I've ever had. While we were boarding the plane we noticed some poor guy dressed up like a stewardess with an eyemask on and an ipod in his ears being led onto the plane by his friends. We're guessing a surprise bachelor, or stag, party? Either way he must have an incredible amount of trust in his friends to get on a plane with no idea where he was going.
Nick was flying to Dublin to spend the weekend with his cousin Chris who lives in Aylesbury, England just outside of London which was where Nick was born. We met up with Chris in the baggage claim at the Dublin airport and took a bus into the city center to find our respective hostels. Our room was really nice, we met some kids studying in London and then headed back out to meet up with Nick and Chris to explore the Temple Bar area of Dublin. The drinks were ridiculously expensive but there was live Irish music everywhere we went, and the streets were full of people having a good time. Everyone I met in Dublin was so nice, and I loved hearing Irish accents everywhere we went. Sometimes the accents were so thick I felt like they were speaking an entirely different language, both the Irish accents and Chris' British accent, but we all got fairly good at translating for each other over the weekend. I had my first (and only) Guinness which I very much enjoyed.
On our first day in Dublin we took a 3 hour walking tour of the city, which was great because we got to cover all of the big tourist attractions and decide which ones we wanted to go back to later. After the tour we took the Dart (Dublin's above ground metro) out to Howth, a small fishing village on the coast. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Howth is incredibly quaint and just quintessentially Irish. We saw a bunch of seals in the harbor begging for fish, climbed to the top of the nearest hill for a spectacular view of the city and found the ruins of an old church and cemetary to explore. I loved the cemetary, though it sounds a bit morbid, but it was so peaceful, ancient and beautiful in the setting sunlight. I wanted to spread my arms out and hold onto the moment forever, soak it up and bring it home with me. We ate dinner at a restaurant called the Bloody Stream (I know, how pleasant) which was named for a nearby stream that literally ran red with blood during one of the many battles for independence that Ireland fought. I had my very first plate of fish and chips, and it was superb. We returned to Dublin and found many more adventures to be had in the Irish pubs before we went to bed.
On Sunday we all signed up for an 8-hour van tour of the Irish countryside. Looking back, this was a great idea (planned by Lori, she should probably just be a professional travel agent at this point) because we got to see a different side of Ireland: green rolling hills, grazing sheep and beautiful mountain scenery. The tour took us to the place where PS I Love You was filmed. For those of you who have seen it, we saw the spot where Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler meet for the very first time in Wicklow Ntl Park next to the bridge. We stopped at a lot of places along the tour, including another old cemetary/church where we took a long hike through the woods to a series of lakes. Ireland is a beautiful country, everywhere I looked could have been a postcard picture. It felt so good to take a hike through the woods and actually experience nature which is something that Sevilla, being a big city, lacks. We returned to Dublin in time to eat dinner at The Celt which was a pub that came highly recommended to us from a variety of sources. We all ended up ordering the same traditional Irish stew and brown bread, very tastey.
The boys left for England on Monday morning so Lori and I had the whole day to ourselves. The weather had been perfect thus far, mild weather and sunshine every day. Monday was the first day of rain, but I suppose it wouldn't really be a trip to Ireland without it. We walked around the city some more, explored St. Patrick's Cathedral, found a bagel shop (very exciting, bagels don't exist in Sevilla) and then took the Dart in the other direction to another coastal town called Bray. Here we took the oceanside/cliff walk and walked up a bit of the mountain for a beautiful and foggy view of the coastline. We came back to Dublin for dinner and one more night on the town before leaving (in the middle of a snow flurry) the next morning.
We flew Ryanair for this trip, which is a bit of a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. The rates are ridiculously cheap, but the planes aren't the highest quality and their luggage restrictions are absolute. Lori and I entertained ourselves in the airport by watching people who clearly had not read the luggage requirements (one carry on, no personal items, all cameras, shopping bags, etc must fit into the carry on and the carry on has to fit into the little sizing bin) try to argue with the people at the gate or frantically try to rearrange enormous suitcases to fit. We arrived back in Sevilla Tuesday afternoon, on day 3 of Semana Santa. The city was absolutely transformed and the celebrations were in full swing. More about that in the next post.
In summary, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with Dublin, with Ireland. I would recommend this trip to anyone and everyone. I for one, will definitely going back. I've been so lucky, I've absolutely loved both places I've traveled outside of Spain: Lisbon and Dublin. Maybe I just love traveling?! I guess we shall see in the trips to come.
Miss and love you all!
There are 3 girls from Beloit studying in my program: me, Jenn and Lori. None of us knew each other before we came on this trip which is kind of hard to believe because our school only has 1300 kids. It's been really great studying with them here, they are both wonderful girls and we will have lots of stories to relive together when we get back to Beloit in the fall.
Anyway, Lori and I found super cheap flights to Dublin a few weeks ago and booked this trip on a whim. We left early Friday morning to fly to Alicante, Spain for an 8 hour layover, and then continue on to Dublin. It was just going to be the 2 of us, but when we arrived at the Sevilla airport we met up with a kid from our program named Nick who happened to be on all of the same flights. Nick goes to Madison and is from Richfield, MN. We all sat together on the plane to Alicante and decided to make the most of our 8 hours there. We took the city bus from the airport to the beach, bringing all of our backpacks, coats, and scarves with. Alicante is a beautiful city on the coast with clear, bright blue Mediterranean water and lovely sand beaches. We spent the day lying in the sun on top of our winter coats which we certaintly didn't need until we reached Ireland, we discovered a plaza where a radio station was giving away free fruit and horchata (delish), explored an old church which is Nick's favorite thing in the entire world, poked around the government building for a while, toured the marina and ate delicious ice cream. We returned to the airport via the same bus, grabbed a bite to eat, had an in-depth discussion of Disney movies and boarded the plane for Dublin. All in all, one of the best layovers I've ever had. While we were boarding the plane we noticed some poor guy dressed up like a stewardess with an eyemask on and an ipod in his ears being led onto the plane by his friends. We're guessing a surprise bachelor, or stag, party? Either way he must have an incredible amount of trust in his friends to get on a plane with no idea where he was going.
Nick was flying to Dublin to spend the weekend with his cousin Chris who lives in Aylesbury, England just outside of London which was where Nick was born. We met up with Chris in the baggage claim at the Dublin airport and took a bus into the city center to find our respective hostels. Our room was really nice, we met some kids studying in London and then headed back out to meet up with Nick and Chris to explore the Temple Bar area of Dublin. The drinks were ridiculously expensive but there was live Irish music everywhere we went, and the streets were full of people having a good time. Everyone I met in Dublin was so nice, and I loved hearing Irish accents everywhere we went. Sometimes the accents were so thick I felt like they were speaking an entirely different language, both the Irish accents and Chris' British accent, but we all got fairly good at translating for each other over the weekend. I had my first (and only) Guinness which I very much enjoyed.
On our first day in Dublin we took a 3 hour walking tour of the city, which was great because we got to cover all of the big tourist attractions and decide which ones we wanted to go back to later. After the tour we took the Dart (Dublin's above ground metro) out to Howth, a small fishing village on the coast. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Howth is incredibly quaint and just quintessentially Irish. We saw a bunch of seals in the harbor begging for fish, climbed to the top of the nearest hill for a spectacular view of the city and found the ruins of an old church and cemetary to explore. I loved the cemetary, though it sounds a bit morbid, but it was so peaceful, ancient and beautiful in the setting sunlight. I wanted to spread my arms out and hold onto the moment forever, soak it up and bring it home with me. We ate dinner at a restaurant called the Bloody Stream (I know, how pleasant) which was named for a nearby stream that literally ran red with blood during one of the many battles for independence that Ireland fought. I had my very first plate of fish and chips, and it was superb. We returned to Dublin and found many more adventures to be had in the Irish pubs before we went to bed.
On Sunday we all signed up for an 8-hour van tour of the Irish countryside. Looking back, this was a great idea (planned by Lori, she should probably just be a professional travel agent at this point) because we got to see a different side of Ireland: green rolling hills, grazing sheep and beautiful mountain scenery. The tour took us to the place where PS I Love You was filmed. For those of you who have seen it, we saw the spot where Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler meet for the very first time in Wicklow Ntl Park next to the bridge. We stopped at a lot of places along the tour, including another old cemetary/church where we took a long hike through the woods to a series of lakes. Ireland is a beautiful country, everywhere I looked could have been a postcard picture. It felt so good to take a hike through the woods and actually experience nature which is something that Sevilla, being a big city, lacks. We returned to Dublin in time to eat dinner at The Celt which was a pub that came highly recommended to us from a variety of sources. We all ended up ordering the same traditional Irish stew and brown bread, very tastey.
The boys left for England on Monday morning so Lori and I had the whole day to ourselves. The weather had been perfect thus far, mild weather and sunshine every day. Monday was the first day of rain, but I suppose it wouldn't really be a trip to Ireland without it. We walked around the city some more, explored St. Patrick's Cathedral, found a bagel shop (very exciting, bagels don't exist in Sevilla) and then took the Dart in the other direction to another coastal town called Bray. Here we took the oceanside/cliff walk and walked up a bit of the mountain for a beautiful and foggy view of the coastline. We came back to Dublin for dinner and one more night on the town before leaving (in the middle of a snow flurry) the next morning.
We flew Ryanair for this trip, which is a bit of a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. The rates are ridiculously cheap, but the planes aren't the highest quality and their luggage restrictions are absolute. Lori and I entertained ourselves in the airport by watching people who clearly had not read the luggage requirements (one carry on, no personal items, all cameras, shopping bags, etc must fit into the carry on and the carry on has to fit into the little sizing bin) try to argue with the people at the gate or frantically try to rearrange enormous suitcases to fit. We arrived back in Sevilla Tuesday afternoon, on day 3 of Semana Santa. The city was absolutely transformed and the celebrations were in full swing. More about that in the next post.
In summary, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with Dublin, with Ireland. I would recommend this trip to anyone and everyone. I for one, will definitely going back. I've been so lucky, I've absolutely loved both places I've traveled outside of Spain: Lisbon and Dublin. Maybe I just love traveling?! I guess we shall see in the trips to come.
Miss and love you all!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Midterms, Cádiz and Beyond
The Spanish school system has been a very strange and new experience. We go to classes, don't do any sort of homework or have real assignments on a regular basis. The only grades that go in the book are 2 enormous exams, a midterm and a final, and possibly an end-of-term paper. This past week was midterm week, which was kind of shocking because it means that I am over halfway through my semester! I'm not quite sure how that happened. Either way, the past few weeks have been filled with hours of studying and test taking, but thankfully they are all over and I don't think I failed anything. I did, however, manage to find some time to have some fun in between studying and took a day trip to Cádiz with my program on Sunday.
Cádiz is an extremely old city full of history (for example, it was the birthplace of the 1st liberal constitution of Spain in 1812. Thanks history class) on the Atlantic Ocean. When we got there in morning it was a little cold and a lot cloudy. We took a walking tour of the city, climbed the tower of the cathedral and stopped for fresh bread and pastries at a fantastic little bakery. By the time the tour ended we were at the ocean and the sun had come out. It was gorgeous, and the smell of salt on the air was wonderful. We walked around to find some lunch and ended up at a tiny takeout place that serves fried seafood. I have eaten more fried food in Spain than during the first 20 years of my life combined. The other night my host mom deep-fried my burrito for dinner. I just might have a heart attack before I come home, but everything tastes so good! Anyway, we ordered fried choco and french fries. Choco is fried cuttlefish, which we didn't know until after we had eaten it at restaurants a few times. It's very similar to calamari and is pretty good if you can get past the cartilage-like texture. After lunch we went to the beach, walked in the sand, dipped our feet in the (cold) ocean and soaked up as much sun as we could.
Sevilla is gearing up for Semana Santa which starts on Sunday, el Domingo de Ramos. The city is going to be totally packed with people gathering in the streets to watch the church processions, called pasos. I'll write more about it next week, but it's a huge deal in Sevilla. All classes are canceled next week so that everyone can enjoy the celebration. Even my professors are ready for a break. Today my history professor spent most of class letting us ask him questions about anything and everything - Spain, traveling, food, gardening, etc. It was greatly appreciated by all of his students who didn't want to be awake and in class at 9am.
My friend Lori and I are taking advantage of the first part of this break and taking a trip to Dublin, Ireland. We leave Friday morning and will be back in Sevilla on Tuesday to see the rest of Semana Santa. I've never been to Ireland and didn't think that I would get there this semester so I'm really excited to go!! I'll let you all know how it goes.
Besitos,
Hannah
Cádiz is an extremely old city full of history (for example, it was the birthplace of the 1st liberal constitution of Spain in 1812. Thanks history class) on the Atlantic Ocean. When we got there in morning it was a little cold and a lot cloudy. We took a walking tour of the city, climbed the tower of the cathedral and stopped for fresh bread and pastries at a fantastic little bakery. By the time the tour ended we were at the ocean and the sun had come out. It was gorgeous, and the smell of salt on the air was wonderful. We walked around to find some lunch and ended up at a tiny takeout place that serves fried seafood. I have eaten more fried food in Spain than during the first 20 years of my life combined. The other night my host mom deep-fried my burrito for dinner. I just might have a heart attack before I come home, but everything tastes so good! Anyway, we ordered fried choco and french fries. Choco is fried cuttlefish, which we didn't know until after we had eaten it at restaurants a few times. It's very similar to calamari and is pretty good if you can get past the cartilage-like texture. After lunch we went to the beach, walked in the sand, dipped our feet in the (cold) ocean and soaked up as much sun as we could.
Sevilla is gearing up for Semana Santa which starts on Sunday, el Domingo de Ramos. The city is going to be totally packed with people gathering in the streets to watch the church processions, called pasos. I'll write more about it next week, but it's a huge deal in Sevilla. All classes are canceled next week so that everyone can enjoy the celebration. Even my professors are ready for a break. Today my history professor spent most of class letting us ask him questions about anything and everything - Spain, traveling, food, gardening, etc. It was greatly appreciated by all of his students who didn't want to be awake and in class at 9am.
My friend Lori and I are taking advantage of the first part of this break and taking a trip to Dublin, Ireland. We leave Friday morning and will be back in Sevilla on Tuesday to see the rest of Semana Santa. I've never been to Ireland and didn't think that I would get there this semester so I'm really excited to go!! I'll let you all know how it goes.
Besitos,
Hannah
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Days Without Rain!
Spring in Sevilla has been unusually cold and wet. In the past month that I have been here it has rained almost every day. Sevillanos aren't used to not seeing the sun, and they were going as crazy as I was. Wet shoes, squishy socks, and cold walks to school aren't very fun day after day. However, things appear to be turning around and for this past week the weather has been wonderful.
This weekend was absolutely perfect, and the Spaniards were out in full force. When the sun is shining and the weather is warm Sevilla is a whole different city. People flood the streets, sidewalk cafes, parks and plazas. Everywhere you walk you can hear live music being played on street corners and in plazas, by people who are trying to make a living and by people who just love to play. Crowds of people laugh, sing, yell, shout across to friends and neighbors, always talking with their hands with broad, sweeping gestures.
Little kids are so excited to be outside after a month of rain. Few things can make a person happier than watching happy kids play. In the parks they find their way straight to the places they can make the biggest mess of themselves. While I was sitting in Parque María Luisa I watched kid after kid run to the fountain/pond and the surrounding puddles of mud. Some made the jump in before their parents could catch up, sadly others did not.
Days liek these really show me just how laid back the Spanish culture is. People here don't walk, they stroll. Even people who are in a hurry seem to walk slowly to me. The sidewalk cafes are filled with couples, friends, adn families leisurely enjoying a coffee, a bottle of wine with olives, bread and a dessert or two. Parents are very relaxed and patient with their children, and it's a beautiful thing to see. After class one day I sat on a bench overlooking the river listening to music and writing for an hour, just to enjoy the weather and the day. While I was there I saw a dad and his 2 or 3 year old daughter walking along the boardwalk near me. She was curious about everything she saw, playing with/chasing the pidgeons, kneeling down to look at every rock she passed, climbing benches, climbing stairs, sitting down, standing up, jumping. Her dad just watched her, talked to her, let her move at her own pace and do what she wanted to do. It took them over an hour to walk 100 yards but he never put her in the stroller or made her move on. Families here are so loving and affectionate. Family is the center of the Sevillan world, and that includes aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, best friends, god parents, etc.
I have midterms next week, so this weekend has been full of "studying." In all seriousness, I have studied quite a bit but the weather has made it hard to stay inside. On Saturday a few friends and I met at the Plaza de España (an enormous, tiled Plaza built for the 1929 Iberian Exhibition) and walked into the surrounding Parque María Luisa to read and study. When the sun went down we grabbed a cup of coffee and headed home for dinner. At 11 we met at Elley's apartment in the neighborhood Los Remedios for a USA style girls night in. Here people typically don't visit each others' houses because most families live in small apartments but Elley's señora was gone for the weekend and was nice enough to let her have friends over. We hung out and watched The Hangover (hilarious) over bread, a platter of fantastic cheese, wine, and chocolate. It was surprisingly comforting to have a familiar night in with friends.
Today (Sunday) I have spent all day studying down by the Guadalquivir River. There isn't a whole lot of grass, but people are literally lining the banks, sitting on stone walls, bringing out blankets and towels to sit/sleep on. It reminds me of 4th of July in Detroit Lakes, waiting for the fireworks to start. It's that packed. I took a lovely nap in the sun, spent some quality time people watching, listening to the guitar music coming from somewhere up the river. Dare I say it? Spring has officially arrived.
This weekend was absolutely perfect, and the Spaniards were out in full force. When the sun is shining and the weather is warm Sevilla is a whole different city. People flood the streets, sidewalk cafes, parks and plazas. Everywhere you walk you can hear live music being played on street corners and in plazas, by people who are trying to make a living and by people who just love to play. Crowds of people laugh, sing, yell, shout across to friends and neighbors, always talking with their hands with broad, sweeping gestures.
Little kids are so excited to be outside after a month of rain. Few things can make a person happier than watching happy kids play. In the parks they find their way straight to the places they can make the biggest mess of themselves. While I was sitting in Parque María Luisa I watched kid after kid run to the fountain/pond and the surrounding puddles of mud. Some made the jump in before their parents could catch up, sadly others did not.
Days liek these really show me just how laid back the Spanish culture is. People here don't walk, they stroll. Even people who are in a hurry seem to walk slowly to me. The sidewalk cafes are filled with couples, friends, adn families leisurely enjoying a coffee, a bottle of wine with olives, bread and a dessert or two. Parents are very relaxed and patient with their children, and it's a beautiful thing to see. After class one day I sat on a bench overlooking the river listening to music and writing for an hour, just to enjoy the weather and the day. While I was there I saw a dad and his 2 or 3 year old daughter walking along the boardwalk near me. She was curious about everything she saw, playing with/chasing the pidgeons, kneeling down to look at every rock she passed, climbing benches, climbing stairs, sitting down, standing up, jumping. Her dad just watched her, talked to her, let her move at her own pace and do what she wanted to do. It took them over an hour to walk 100 yards but he never put her in the stroller or made her move on. Families here are so loving and affectionate. Family is the center of the Sevillan world, and that includes aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, best friends, god parents, etc.
I have midterms next week, so this weekend has been full of "studying." In all seriousness, I have studied quite a bit but the weather has made it hard to stay inside. On Saturday a few friends and I met at the Plaza de España (an enormous, tiled Plaza built for the 1929 Iberian Exhibition) and walked into the surrounding Parque María Luisa to read and study. When the sun went down we grabbed a cup of coffee and headed home for dinner. At 11 we met at Elley's apartment in the neighborhood Los Remedios for a USA style girls night in. Here people typically don't visit each others' houses because most families live in small apartments but Elley's señora was gone for the weekend and was nice enough to let her have friends over. We hung out and watched The Hangover (hilarious) over bread, a platter of fantastic cheese, wine, and chocolate. It was surprisingly comforting to have a familiar night in with friends.
Today (Sunday) I have spent all day studying down by the Guadalquivir River. There isn't a whole lot of grass, but people are literally lining the banks, sitting on stone walls, bringing out blankets and towels to sit/sleep on. It reminds me of 4th of July in Detroit Lakes, waiting for the fireworks to start. It's that packed. I took a lovely nap in the sun, spent some quality time people watching, listening to the guitar music coming from somewhere up the river. Dare I say it? Spring has officially arrived.
Lisbon Lovin'
February 25th-March 1st I traveled with some friends to Portugal. A very belated post about everything Lisbon...
February 28th was Día de Andalucía here in España, and school was canceled to celebrate. Most of the kids took advantage of this 4-day weekend to travel. I planned a trip to Lisbon, Portugal with three girls from Tufts University that I met on my program - Elley, Erica and Susan. When I made my list of places to travel while in Spain, Portugal was at the top so I was super excited to go. We arrived in Lisbon early Friday morning and left late Sunday night so we had three whole days to explore the city. In those three days I fell in love, and I fell hard. Lisbon is one of the most beautiful, interesting places that I have ever been. It is a big city, but very compact which makes getting around easy on foot, or by bus/metro.
Lisbon and San Francisco are often referred to as sister cities because they look so much alike. Both are extremely hilly, have quaint trolley systems, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Okay, so maybe it's not the same bridge but the '25th of April' bridge in Lisbon was built by the same group of people that built the Golden Gate bridge in San Fran and they are strikingly similar (http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/pfreire/paulo/Lisboa_ponte25deabril.jpg). The weather was terrible while we were there, clouds, rain, and ridiculously strong winds but we had a great time anyway, and the weather just made the trip a little more interesting. I didn't really know what to expect from Portuguese food before we left but I was very pleasantly surprised. The food was honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip (as you'll be able to tell from the rest of this post), I LOVED almost everything that we ate, and it was all really affordable.
We began our journey at 11pm on Thursday night, catching an overnight bus from Sevilla to Lisbon. The bus was really nice, they played a movie for the first couple of hours and the seats could lay back but despite that it was a long, mostly sleepless 7-hour ride. We arrived in Lisbon at 6am (they are 1 hour behind Sevilla), deciphered enough Portuguese to purchase our metro passes and groggily found our way through the dark, winding streets to our hostel. For the record, Portuguese and Spanish are NOT similar languages. We could translate a few words here and there but most of the time I had no idea what was being said or written. An interesting fact for you all, (according to my tour guide) many Japanese words and Portuguese words are very similar because Portugal was the first Western country to establish a trade route with Japan and the two cultures have had a long period of contact.
We stayed at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel and it was really incredible. First of all, it was inexpensive which is always a plus, but the rooms were super clean, the beds were comfortable, and the shower was amazing. We stayed in a 6-person room with 3 sets of bunk beds and a private bathroom. However, when we got to the hostel at 7am we couldn't check in yet but the guy behind the front desk let us drop our bags off in the laundry room. We ate breakfast at a little café we had passed on our way down the hill, and planned out our day. We went back to the hostel, took turns cleaning up in the downstairs bathroom and headed out to hit up all of the tourist sights in downtown.
We toured the Cathedral and some smaller churches that we passed, and hiked around the Castle of Saint George, which offered gorgeous views of the whole city and the coast. We had a list of recommended restaurants, so for lunch we decided to try one out. Walking through the city trying to find the restaurant we got caught in a massive downpour. Even with an umbrella, we were all soaked in a matter of minutes and the streets were like rivers with so much water running down the hills. So instead of continuing on to the restaurant we ducked into the next place we came across. It happened to be a kebab restaurant, and we all ordered kebab sandwiches because it was one of the only things on the menu that we could understand and we wanted food quickly. Oh my goodness, it was one of the greatest things I have ever eaten. Some sort of shredded meat, a garlicky white sauce, lettuce, tomato on a toasted bun. It was HUGE and came in a little wrapper/envelope so that it didn't fall apart while I was eating it. I made a huge mess of myself but it was well worth it.
When we got to the hostel we checked in officially, made it to our room and crashed for 3-hour naps. We woke up, showered and got ready to go out for dinner. We made it to the restaurant we were looking for during lunch that serves traditional Portuguese food. We ordered different dishes and shared, trying roasted chicken, cod (what Portugal is known for. I'm not a big fish person but I really liked this one), a seafood curry, and roasted pork. With a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine and 2 ice cream-esque desserts it was a perfect meal.
After dinner we went back to the hostel and mingled with the rest of the guests in the super nice kitchen/dining room/living room. We met some girls from California who are also studying in Spain, a guy who is actually studying in Sevilla this semester (who we ran into randomly last weekend in a bar in Sevilla, pretty crazy), and a girl from Argentina named Sol. We all decided to go out and try to find a place to listen to Fado music. We found a club that had a show starting in 5 minutes, and as long as we each drank 5 euros worth of drinks entrance was free. We ordered pitchers of sangria and enjoyed the show. Fado is a traditional Portuguese music style (similar to Flamenco in Spain). Typically there is a singer accompanied by guitar/mandolin type music. I wish that I could explain the vocal sounds of Fado music, they are strong, sad, and dramatic, but it's really something you need to experience. The show was pretty incredible, and Sol speaks Portuguese (as well as Argentinean Spanish, Catalan, and a little French) so she could translate what was happening in the song. All of the songs were really sad, but beautiful.
The next day we had signed up for something called the We Hate Tourism Tours van tour offered through our hostel. Little did we know but this was going to make our trip. There's a guy who works at the hostel named Bruno. He was born and raised in Lisbon, is absolutely in love with the city and surfing. Working at the hostel he realized that lots of people were leaving Lisbon without seeing all of the 'important' parts or having truly authentic Lisbon experiences. To fix this he started offering tours himself, in his huge, red 9-person van. Elley, Erica, Susan and I joined 4 other girls who are studying in Madrid on this all-day tour. Bruno took us to all of the hot spots in Lisbon and the surrounding cities: Sintra, Belem, and Cascais. Along the way we stopped at many small bakeries to sample the very best pastries that Portugal has to offer. As Bruno explained, the Portuguese love sugar more than anything, and one has never truly experienced Portugal if they have not tasted the sweets. Bruno was full of life advice and just listening to him would have made the tour worthwhile. In addition to the incredible desserts, we ate a chorizo (Iberian sausage) fresh bread calzone creation at a cute little roadside stand/trailer. Bruno has the owner's phone number so he calls her to let her know he will be stopping by with a tour. When we got there she was just pulling 9 of these amazing things out of the oven so they were fresh. Heavenly.
During the course of the day we visited and hiked the grounds of the Palacio de Pena in Sintra, which was built high on a hill by a king for his queen to express his love for her. It was beautiful, and the grounds legit reminded me of a scene from Fellowship of the Ring. We stopped at the western-most point of continental Europe and nearly got blown into the ocean by the wind. I'm not exaggerating, I've never been in wind like that, you could lean back and it would hold you up. We saw the Tower of Belem, which was built to welcome ships returning from the New World to Portugal, a huge monument built for all of the great Portuguese explorers, shipmen and mapmakers, and the Jeronimos Monastery. We also made a short stop at beach in between Cascais and Belem. It was so great to take my shoes off and walk through the sand! The beach has a steep sand ledge that drops off into the ocean, and the beach is eroding more and more every day. While we were there, huge chunks of sand would suddenly drop off into the water, making the beach a few feet shorter. It was crazy to watch. We were going to drive along the ocean into Belem but the police had closed down the highways because the waves were too high and were coming up over the road. We parked the car as close as we could and watched these unbelievable waves; I've never seen anything like it.
After our awesome van tour we walked over to a local fruit stand that was up the hill from the hostel and bought some fresh fruit and a cheesy bread thing called pao de queijo and had a picnic on our room floor. After some more epic naps we got dressed up, went out for dinner (once again, fantastic food and wine), and tried to find a place to go dancing. We found a few clubs but we were about 30 years too young. I've never seen so many 'older' people having such a great time. At 3 in the morning the club was packed with people who were old enough to be my parents rocking out to '70s and '80s music. We decided to leave the partying to them and headed to bed.
The next day we checked out, but once again left our bags in the laundry room so we could explore the city without them. We hopped on a tram to see where it would take us. We ended up having a super interesting conversation with the tram driver about everything from international politics to our shared love of pancakes and maple syrup. We rode the tram for over an hour just so we could keep talking to her. After that we took the metro to a different 'zone' of Lisbon to visit the Gulbenkian Museum, then grabbed our stuff at the hostel and hit up the bus station. The ride home was much better than the ride in, probably because we were so tired. We got in to Sevilla at 4am, I came home and crashed until 2pm.
All in all, an amazing weekend. If any of you ever have the opportunity to visit Lisbon, take it! You won't regret it.
February 28th was Día de Andalucía here in España, and school was canceled to celebrate. Most of the kids took advantage of this 4-day weekend to travel. I planned a trip to Lisbon, Portugal with three girls from Tufts University that I met on my program - Elley, Erica and Susan. When I made my list of places to travel while in Spain, Portugal was at the top so I was super excited to go. We arrived in Lisbon early Friday morning and left late Sunday night so we had three whole days to explore the city. In those three days I fell in love, and I fell hard. Lisbon is one of the most beautiful, interesting places that I have ever been. It is a big city, but very compact which makes getting around easy on foot, or by bus/metro.
Lisbon and San Francisco are often referred to as sister cities because they look so much alike. Both are extremely hilly, have quaint trolley systems, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Okay, so maybe it's not the same bridge but the '25th of April' bridge in Lisbon was built by the same group of people that built the Golden Gate bridge in San Fran and they are strikingly similar (http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/pfreire/paulo/Lisboa_ponte25deabril.jpg). The weather was terrible while we were there, clouds, rain, and ridiculously strong winds but we had a great time anyway, and the weather just made the trip a little more interesting. I didn't really know what to expect from Portuguese food before we left but I was very pleasantly surprised. The food was honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip (as you'll be able to tell from the rest of this post), I LOVED almost everything that we ate, and it was all really affordable.
We began our journey at 11pm on Thursday night, catching an overnight bus from Sevilla to Lisbon. The bus was really nice, they played a movie for the first couple of hours and the seats could lay back but despite that it was a long, mostly sleepless 7-hour ride. We arrived in Lisbon at 6am (they are 1 hour behind Sevilla), deciphered enough Portuguese to purchase our metro passes and groggily found our way through the dark, winding streets to our hostel. For the record, Portuguese and Spanish are NOT similar languages. We could translate a few words here and there but most of the time I had no idea what was being said or written. An interesting fact for you all, (according to my tour guide) many Japanese words and Portuguese words are very similar because Portugal was the first Western country to establish a trade route with Japan and the two cultures have had a long period of contact.
We stayed at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel and it was really incredible. First of all, it was inexpensive which is always a plus, but the rooms were super clean, the beds were comfortable, and the shower was amazing. We stayed in a 6-person room with 3 sets of bunk beds and a private bathroom. However, when we got to the hostel at 7am we couldn't check in yet but the guy behind the front desk let us drop our bags off in the laundry room. We ate breakfast at a little café we had passed on our way down the hill, and planned out our day. We went back to the hostel, took turns cleaning up in the downstairs bathroom and headed out to hit up all of the tourist sights in downtown.
We toured the Cathedral and some smaller churches that we passed, and hiked around the Castle of Saint George, which offered gorgeous views of the whole city and the coast. We had a list of recommended restaurants, so for lunch we decided to try one out. Walking through the city trying to find the restaurant we got caught in a massive downpour. Even with an umbrella, we were all soaked in a matter of minutes and the streets were like rivers with so much water running down the hills. So instead of continuing on to the restaurant we ducked into the next place we came across. It happened to be a kebab restaurant, and we all ordered kebab sandwiches because it was one of the only things on the menu that we could understand and we wanted food quickly. Oh my goodness, it was one of the greatest things I have ever eaten. Some sort of shredded meat, a garlicky white sauce, lettuce, tomato on a toasted bun. It was HUGE and came in a little wrapper/envelope so that it didn't fall apart while I was eating it. I made a huge mess of myself but it was well worth it.
When we got to the hostel we checked in officially, made it to our room and crashed for 3-hour naps. We woke up, showered and got ready to go out for dinner. We made it to the restaurant we were looking for during lunch that serves traditional Portuguese food. We ordered different dishes and shared, trying roasted chicken, cod (what Portugal is known for. I'm not a big fish person but I really liked this one), a seafood curry, and roasted pork. With a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine and 2 ice cream-esque desserts it was a perfect meal.
After dinner we went back to the hostel and mingled with the rest of the guests in the super nice kitchen/dining room/living room. We met some girls from California who are also studying in Spain, a guy who is actually studying in Sevilla this semester (who we ran into randomly last weekend in a bar in Sevilla, pretty crazy), and a girl from Argentina named Sol. We all decided to go out and try to find a place to listen to Fado music. We found a club that had a show starting in 5 minutes, and as long as we each drank 5 euros worth of drinks entrance was free. We ordered pitchers of sangria and enjoyed the show. Fado is a traditional Portuguese music style (similar to Flamenco in Spain). Typically there is a singer accompanied by guitar/mandolin type music. I wish that I could explain the vocal sounds of Fado music, they are strong, sad, and dramatic, but it's really something you need to experience. The show was pretty incredible, and Sol speaks Portuguese (as well as Argentinean Spanish, Catalan, and a little French) so she could translate what was happening in the song. All of the songs were really sad, but beautiful.
The next day we had signed up for something called the We Hate Tourism Tours van tour offered through our hostel. Little did we know but this was going to make our trip. There's a guy who works at the hostel named Bruno. He was born and raised in Lisbon, is absolutely in love with the city and surfing. Working at the hostel he realized that lots of people were leaving Lisbon without seeing all of the 'important' parts or having truly authentic Lisbon experiences. To fix this he started offering tours himself, in his huge, red 9-person van. Elley, Erica, Susan and I joined 4 other girls who are studying in Madrid on this all-day tour. Bruno took us to all of the hot spots in Lisbon and the surrounding cities: Sintra, Belem, and Cascais. Along the way we stopped at many small bakeries to sample the very best pastries that Portugal has to offer. As Bruno explained, the Portuguese love sugar more than anything, and one has never truly experienced Portugal if they have not tasted the sweets. Bruno was full of life advice and just listening to him would have made the tour worthwhile. In addition to the incredible desserts, we ate a chorizo (Iberian sausage) fresh bread calzone creation at a cute little roadside stand/trailer. Bruno has the owner's phone number so he calls her to let her know he will be stopping by with a tour. When we got there she was just pulling 9 of these amazing things out of the oven so they were fresh. Heavenly.
During the course of the day we visited and hiked the grounds of the Palacio de Pena in Sintra, which was built high on a hill by a king for his queen to express his love for her. It was beautiful, and the grounds legit reminded me of a scene from Fellowship of the Ring. We stopped at the western-most point of continental Europe and nearly got blown into the ocean by the wind. I'm not exaggerating, I've never been in wind like that, you could lean back and it would hold you up. We saw the Tower of Belem, which was built to welcome ships returning from the New World to Portugal, a huge monument built for all of the great Portuguese explorers, shipmen and mapmakers, and the Jeronimos Monastery. We also made a short stop at beach in between Cascais and Belem. It was so great to take my shoes off and walk through the sand! The beach has a steep sand ledge that drops off into the ocean, and the beach is eroding more and more every day. While we were there, huge chunks of sand would suddenly drop off into the water, making the beach a few feet shorter. It was crazy to watch. We were going to drive along the ocean into Belem but the police had closed down the highways because the waves were too high and were coming up over the road. We parked the car as close as we could and watched these unbelievable waves; I've never seen anything like it.
After our awesome van tour we walked over to a local fruit stand that was up the hill from the hostel and bought some fresh fruit and a cheesy bread thing called pao de queijo and had a picnic on our room floor. After some more epic naps we got dressed up, went out for dinner (once again, fantastic food and wine), and tried to find a place to go dancing. We found a few clubs but we were about 30 years too young. I've never seen so many 'older' people having such a great time. At 3 in the morning the club was packed with people who were old enough to be my parents rocking out to '70s and '80s music. We decided to leave the partying to them and headed to bed.
The next day we checked out, but once again left our bags in the laundry room so we could explore the city without them. We hopped on a tram to see where it would take us. We ended up having a super interesting conversation with the tram driver about everything from international politics to our shared love of pancakes and maple syrup. We rode the tram for over an hour just so we could keep talking to her. After that we took the metro to a different 'zone' of Lisbon to visit the Gulbenkian Museum, then grabbed our stuff at the hostel and hit up the bus station. The ride home was much better than the ride in, probably because we were so tired. We got in to Sevilla at 4am, I came home and crashed until 2pm.
All in all, an amazing weekend. If any of you ever have the opportunity to visit Lisbon, take it! You won't regret it.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Granada
CIEE hosted a trip to Granada this past weekend, and I went with Lori who is another Beloit girl on my program. We met at the University and boarded the buses at 8:30 Saturday morning and slept for most of the 3-hour ride. When we arrived in Granada we checked into our very nice hotel, ate lunch, and then headed out for our first tour of the trip: La Alhambra La Alhambra is a palace built by the Moors in Granada during the 14th century. It was taken over by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, Los Reyes Católicos, and their descendents during the 16th century, and today is a prime example of the mixing of Islamic and Christian art and architecture. The Alhambra is set on a hill above the city of Granada. It is one of the most intricately decorated buildings I have ever seen. In my Cultural Approaches to Math class from last year we studied the Alhambra because it is one of the only places where all 13 mathematical ‘strip patterns’ are found in one place. Almost every surface is covered with azulejos, stucco printing or carved designs. Even the ceilings are beautifully decorated with tiles or wood. Each window we passed offered a new but equally breathtaking view of Granada and the surrounding countryside. The Alhambra is so big and has so much history, our tour lasted about 3 hours and we barely scratched the surface.
After the Alhambra we all walked down the huge hill into the city para tomar un té at a ‘traditional’ tetería. Granada has a long history of Arab influence (it was the last city to be ‘re-conquered’ from the Arabs by the Los Reyes Católicos of Spain in 1492) and for this reason it still has an Arabic flavor and feel. I loved walking down the crowded side streets where many of the shopkeepers speak Arabic and sell scarves, jewelry, wall hangings, and simple leather bags that are unlike anything I see here in Sevilla. Everything is wonderfully colorful, crowded and noisy. The people who visited Morocco last weekend said that shopping in Granada was very similar to shopping in Morocco – the same language being spoken and similar products being sold. My friend Elley spent the last semester studying Arabic in Egypt, so she was really excited to be able to communicate with the Granada shop owners in three languages – Spanish, English and Arabic.
The tetería (tea shop) that we stopped at was very cool; each table was tucked into a niche surrounded by benches with comfy pillows, small poufs and stools. The lighting was very dim and lots of the tables had ordered hookahs so the whole place was kind of hazy but not in a gross way. Our mint tea was served in beautiful silver teapots, and we drank out of traditional Arab tea glasses – essentially very tall, decorated shot glasses. The sticky, nut-covered pastries we were served were a new, delicious experience for me. We tried five different types, all of which were good.
After the tetería we walked around the streets for a while, then took a taxi to the hotel to take naps and shower before dinner. The hotel provided us with a buffet at each meal for the entire trip, and the food was incredible. I had my very first Spanish paella experience (complete with shrimp and mussels), ate way too much bread and plates full of pasta.
After dinner we waited until the appropriate time to go out (11pm) and headed to a café to get some coffee to start the night off and keep us awake. We ended up at a very Spanish bar/café with a bunch of guys watching the fútbol game on TV. Sevilla was playing Real Madrid, was up 2-0 but managed to lose the game 2-3. Everyone else in the café was a hardcore Real Madrid fan so needless to say there was an excessive amount of noise, celebrating, and beer drinking going on. We were approached by a very, very drunk Spaniard who tried to explain to us that they were all out celebrating his cousin’s bachelor party, but he didn’t believe that we spoke Spanish so tried to say all of this in sub-par, slurred English. All of his friends knew that we spoke Spanish and kept making jokes about him in Spanish that we could understand. We talked to them for a while until the café closed and we moved on to another bar.
One thing that I haven’t quite gotten used to in Spain is that in every traditional tapas bar, they hang cured legs of meat, hooves included, from the ceiling with little plastic dishes at the bottom to catch the drippings. The next bar we went to had rows and rows of these pig legs hanging from the ceiling. Here we split a jug of wine complete with free tapa (as is the tradition in Granada). The next place we went, recommended by our taxi driver, was a club-type bar with a DJ and disco ball. Here we tried pomegranate liquor (Granada means Pomegranate in Spanish, and there are pomegranates everywhere in the city painted on buildings, street signs, in sculptures, etc), which was really good but super expensive. We had originally planned to go to a discoteca afterwards but nobody wanted to pay the cover to get in so instead we just stayed for the rest of the night and danced to a surprisingly good mix of Spanish and American music. All in all, it was a successful night.
The next morning we headed out on a walking tour of the old Muslim and Jewish neighborhoods of Granada looking at architecture of old mosques and synagogues that have been converted into current-day Christian churches among other things. We stopped at El mirador de la Alhambra, which is a lookout point that gives the best view of the Alhambra in the city. Unfortunately it was raining so the view was very hazy but beautiful nonetheless. There was an extremely talented guy playing his guitar and singing flamenco at the lookout so that was really fun to listen to. After the lookout we visited the tomb of the Catholic Kings of Spain, kind of creepy but beautiful and impressive.
Walking back to the hotel we were stopped by a massive protest in the streets. On Sunday the leaders of the European Union, Spain, and Morocco held a summit at the Alhambra to discuss their economic states and plans for the future of their international relations. Many groups of people used this meeting as a forum to bring their issues to the table and make their voices heard. A giant parade full of peaceful protestors holding signs and chanting slogans supporting different causes flooded the streets of Granada. Everything was in Spanish of different dialects and it was difficult for me to understand, but a few of the groups I could understand were Andalucíans against Capitalism, supporting a Socialist state to deal with the 25% unemployment rate that has plagued the region in the last few years, and a group of people supporting the Saharan Liberation, breaking away from Morocco and forming their own independent state to escape human rights violations occurring in the countries of northern Africa. It was awesome to see all of these people getting up and speaking out for the causes they are passionate about, and the Granada police force (although equipped with riot gear and frighteningly large assault rifles in case things got out of hand) stood by and let the protest go on.
After we hiked back up the hill to the hotel we boarded our bus and slept the entire ride home, arriving in a wonderfully cloudless Sevilla just in time to catch the first sunset I’ve seen in over a month.
Coming soon… a flashback to my weekend in Portugal. I really need to get better at updating this thing!
After the Alhambra we all walked down the huge hill into the city para tomar un té at a ‘traditional’ tetería. Granada has a long history of Arab influence (it was the last city to be ‘re-conquered’ from the Arabs by the Los Reyes Católicos of Spain in 1492) and for this reason it still has an Arabic flavor and feel. I loved walking down the crowded side streets where many of the shopkeepers speak Arabic and sell scarves, jewelry, wall hangings, and simple leather bags that are unlike anything I see here in Sevilla. Everything is wonderfully colorful, crowded and noisy. The people who visited Morocco last weekend said that shopping in Granada was very similar to shopping in Morocco – the same language being spoken and similar products being sold. My friend Elley spent the last semester studying Arabic in Egypt, so she was really excited to be able to communicate with the Granada shop owners in three languages – Spanish, English and Arabic.
The tetería (tea shop) that we stopped at was very cool; each table was tucked into a niche surrounded by benches with comfy pillows, small poufs and stools. The lighting was very dim and lots of the tables had ordered hookahs so the whole place was kind of hazy but not in a gross way. Our mint tea was served in beautiful silver teapots, and we drank out of traditional Arab tea glasses – essentially very tall, decorated shot glasses. The sticky, nut-covered pastries we were served were a new, delicious experience for me. We tried five different types, all of which were good.
After the tetería we walked around the streets for a while, then took a taxi to the hotel to take naps and shower before dinner. The hotel provided us with a buffet at each meal for the entire trip, and the food was incredible. I had my very first Spanish paella experience (complete with shrimp and mussels), ate way too much bread and plates full of pasta.
After dinner we waited until the appropriate time to go out (11pm) and headed to a café to get some coffee to start the night off and keep us awake. We ended up at a very Spanish bar/café with a bunch of guys watching the fútbol game on TV. Sevilla was playing Real Madrid, was up 2-0 but managed to lose the game 2-3. Everyone else in the café was a hardcore Real Madrid fan so needless to say there was an excessive amount of noise, celebrating, and beer drinking going on. We were approached by a very, very drunk Spaniard who tried to explain to us that they were all out celebrating his cousin’s bachelor party, but he didn’t believe that we spoke Spanish so tried to say all of this in sub-par, slurred English. All of his friends knew that we spoke Spanish and kept making jokes about him in Spanish that we could understand. We talked to them for a while until the café closed and we moved on to another bar.
One thing that I haven’t quite gotten used to in Spain is that in every traditional tapas bar, they hang cured legs of meat, hooves included, from the ceiling with little plastic dishes at the bottom to catch the drippings. The next bar we went to had rows and rows of these pig legs hanging from the ceiling. Here we split a jug of wine complete with free tapa (as is the tradition in Granada). The next place we went, recommended by our taxi driver, was a club-type bar with a DJ and disco ball. Here we tried pomegranate liquor (Granada means Pomegranate in Spanish, and there are pomegranates everywhere in the city painted on buildings, street signs, in sculptures, etc), which was really good but super expensive. We had originally planned to go to a discoteca afterwards but nobody wanted to pay the cover to get in so instead we just stayed for the rest of the night and danced to a surprisingly good mix of Spanish and American music. All in all, it was a successful night.
The next morning we headed out on a walking tour of the old Muslim and Jewish neighborhoods of Granada looking at architecture of old mosques and synagogues that have been converted into current-day Christian churches among other things. We stopped at El mirador de la Alhambra, which is a lookout point that gives the best view of the Alhambra in the city. Unfortunately it was raining so the view was very hazy but beautiful nonetheless. There was an extremely talented guy playing his guitar and singing flamenco at the lookout so that was really fun to listen to. After the lookout we visited the tomb of the Catholic Kings of Spain, kind of creepy but beautiful and impressive.
Walking back to the hotel we were stopped by a massive protest in the streets. On Sunday the leaders of the European Union, Spain, and Morocco held a summit at the Alhambra to discuss their economic states and plans for the future of their international relations. Many groups of people used this meeting as a forum to bring their issues to the table and make their voices heard. A giant parade full of peaceful protestors holding signs and chanting slogans supporting different causes flooded the streets of Granada. Everything was in Spanish of different dialects and it was difficult for me to understand, but a few of the groups I could understand were Andalucíans against Capitalism, supporting a Socialist state to deal with the 25% unemployment rate that has plagued the region in the last few years, and a group of people supporting the Saharan Liberation, breaking away from Morocco and forming their own independent state to escape human rights violations occurring in the countries of northern Africa. It was awesome to see all of these people getting up and speaking out for the causes they are passionate about, and the Granada police force (although equipped with riot gear and frighteningly large assault rifles in case things got out of hand) stood by and let the protest go on.
After we hiked back up the hill to the hotel we boarded our bus and slept the entire ride home, arriving in a wonderfully cloudless Sevilla just in time to catch the first sunset I’ve seen in over a month.
Coming soon… a flashback to my weekend in Portugal. I really need to get better at updating this thing!
Monday, February 22, 2010
A rather long update on what I have been doing with my life…
Two weekends ago (Feb. 13/14) Laura flew all the way from London to come visit me for her long weekend. She was supposed to fly in on Thursday night but the people at Heathrow managed to screw things up badly enough that even though she arrived at the airport hours before her flight, she didn’t make it through security on time to board her flight. Needless to say, she is incredible and went through the whole ordeal of dealing with tube rides, airport security hang-ups, waiting in lines and riding busses the next day and we were able to spend Friday night and Saturday together. It was so good to see her; I wasn’t quite prepared for how emotional it would be to see a familiar face. I could write an entire post all about our weekend, but seeing as she is an English major and can describe it far more eloquently than I, I’ll direct anyone who is interested to her wonderful blog:http://londonflorenceandlaura.blogspot.com/2010/02/slow-day-long-blog-post.html
A great perk of my program is that they sponsor free day/weekend trips to nearby cities. So far I have been to Córdoba and Aracena, and am signed up to spend a weekend in Granada and a day on the coast in Cádiz in March. It’s awesome to be able to travel a bit and see other cities in southern Spain to get a better feel for the area.
I left Laura on Sunday morning and rode a CIEE bus with my roommate Justyna, and the two other Beloit girls Jenn and Lori to Aracena, a small town about an hour and a half away. We weren’t there with any particular itinerary, just to enjoy the day and take in the town. Aracena is adorable. The town is tiny, which is great for a day trip because you can pretty much see all of the sights in a few hours. White houses with clay tile roofs line the narrow cobblestone streets. There is a huge hill directly behind the city, and at the top are the beautiful ruins of an old castle. I really wanted to climb up and look around but I wasn’t exactly wearing the appropriate shoes and nobody else was that interested so I guess I’ll just have to go back. Instead of hiking up to the castle we walked the streets and hung out in the tiny town center. María, our program guide, told us that Aracena is known for two things: great jamón y a famous pastelería (bakery/sweets shop). The vegetarians in the group weren’t super excited about the ham so we passed up el museo de jamón, but everyone was up for finding this pastelería. We asked a few people on the street and found our way just fine. The bakery was packed with people picking up Valentine’s Day cakes and treats. Because all of us were spending our Valentine’s Days alone, we bought ourselves some treats to make up for it. I got a small mousse cake in the shape of a heart and a piece of layer cake. Phenomenal. They were definitely some of the most delicious things I have ever eaten, though I’m sure the location helped it taste even better. We walked around some more and after a quick tapa/coffee break we met up with the rest of the group to take a tour of the Aracena “caves of marvels." I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The caves were very cool, much bigger and more beautiful than I had expected. It’s pretty incredible that things like that happen naturally.
After a fun weekend it has been a pretty sad week at my Spanish house. I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and the weather was terrible. It poured rain all week, making the 20-minute walk to class significantly less enjoyable. I didn’t bring my rain boots and really don’t want to buy them here so instead I just rotated shoes and tried to avoid large puddles. All of the streets here are cobblestone and plazas are paved so there isn’t much grass to be found. Water just kind of sits on the sidewalk or runs into gigantic puddles so after a few minutes most people give up on avoiding it and make peace with having wet shoes and socks. I’m sure this didn’t help my state of health, and I kept getting worse. When I woke up on Wednesday I had a terribly sore throat, crusty eyes, and lots of sinus pain. I stayed home from class, called and woke my parents up at 4am to see what I should do, and decided to go to the doctor. My host mom was really great about helping me out. She called CIEE to get the name of a good clinic that I could go to, walked me there and helped me communicate with the doctor. Diagnosis was a throat/sinus infection, and he gave me prescriptions for two medicines that I could pick up at any of the hundreds of pharmacies lining the streets of Sevilla. I was more than a little nervous about how I was going to pay for all of this but after the appointment and prescriptions my total was 45 euros – thank goodness for Spain’s public healthcare! After taking the first rounds of medication I felt better and finished out the week of classes.
On Friday morning Justyna woke me up (at 11:30) and we went out for churros. According to my host mother the churros near my house are terrible “malísimo” although they taste pretty great to me, but she gave us directions to what is supposed to be the best churro place in Sevilla. According to her, when the king of Spain comes to Sevilla this is where he gets his churros. When we got there, they gave us cold churros with sugar and directed us to a bar around the corner where we could get a cup of chocolate to dunk the churros. I’m partial to hot churros so I wasn’t very excited about the cold ones but the chocolate was fantastic so overall I was pleased with the churro experience. When we got back to the house we told our señora that the churros were good, but that we like hot ones better. Apparently we got served the cold churros because we’re clearly foreigners, but if we ask for hot churros they will make fresh ones for us. We’re going to have to try it again sometime. Last weekend Justyna and I also tried out an Italian restaurant close to our house, and had some great pizza and lasagna. I swear I could just eat all the time and a happy camper for the entire semester. All types of food I have had here have been amazing; I’ve even eaten fish and shrimp (I know mom and dad, hard to believe).
This weekend was the first time that all four of my household members have eaten lunch together (usually my señora eats out with her sister or eats after we do). We sat around the lunch table for a good 2.5 hours talking about anything and everything. We started discussing healthcare systems and the current issues with healthcare in the USA. This led to María telling us more about her husband. We knew that he got sick and died about 10 years ago but didn’t have that many details and didn’t know how to ask. It turns out that he died from throat cancer; he was a smoker all his life. The general doctor he went to when his throat had been hurting for a while didn’t think it was a big deal, he gave him a 2-week prescription for amoxicillin. When that didn’t work he went back and was told to go see a specialist. When he finally got an appointment, it was too late and his very aggressive form of cancer had taken over. He died a year later. María brought out photo albums and showed us pictures of she and her husband when her daughter was just a baby. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for her to look at those pictures. She had a whole different life envisioned for herself. She married her husband when she was 21 years old. He was 15 years older and already had 2 kids from a previous marriage. They had María when my señora was 30 years old, and seven years later her husband passed away. She has spent the past 10 years cooking and cleaning every day for exchange students living in her house. I know that this isn’t the life she wanted to lead but I admire her so much for how positive she is, and am so appreciative that she is an incredibly supportive host mother.
On top of this sad story, the sister of María’s husband also has cancer and has been in the hospital for the past several months, on the same floor of the hospital where María’s husband died. It has been really difficult for her to go through another loved one’s battle with cancer and relive everything she went through with her husband. Yesterday morning, the sister-in-law passed away. The funeral was this morning. It was an expected death and came as a relief to the family who has watched this woman suffer through the past few months of her losing battle, but it was still a very sad occasion.
Sorry for the depressing post, I assure you that despite all of that things are still going well over here. I’m liking all of my classes, (hopefully) getting better at Spanish, and loving living in this beautiful city. I miss everyone at home and abroad; let me know how you guys are doing!
Much LOVE, Hannah
A great perk of my program is that they sponsor free day/weekend trips to nearby cities. So far I have been to Córdoba and Aracena, and am signed up to spend a weekend in Granada and a day on the coast in Cádiz in March. It’s awesome to be able to travel a bit and see other cities in southern Spain to get a better feel for the area.
I left Laura on Sunday morning and rode a CIEE bus with my roommate Justyna, and the two other Beloit girls Jenn and Lori to Aracena, a small town about an hour and a half away. We weren’t there with any particular itinerary, just to enjoy the day and take in the town. Aracena is adorable. The town is tiny, which is great for a day trip because you can pretty much see all of the sights in a few hours. White houses with clay tile roofs line the narrow cobblestone streets. There is a huge hill directly behind the city, and at the top are the beautiful ruins of an old castle. I really wanted to climb up and look around but I wasn’t exactly wearing the appropriate shoes and nobody else was that interested so I guess I’ll just have to go back. Instead of hiking up to the castle we walked the streets and hung out in the tiny town center. María, our program guide, told us that Aracena is known for two things: great jamón y a famous pastelería (bakery/sweets shop). The vegetarians in the group weren’t super excited about the ham so we passed up el museo de jamón, but everyone was up for finding this pastelería. We asked a few people on the street and found our way just fine. The bakery was packed with people picking up Valentine’s Day cakes and treats. Because all of us were spending our Valentine’s Days alone, we bought ourselves some treats to make up for it. I got a small mousse cake in the shape of a heart and a piece of layer cake. Phenomenal. They were definitely some of the most delicious things I have ever eaten, though I’m sure the location helped it taste even better. We walked around some more and after a quick tapa/coffee break we met up with the rest of the group to take a tour of the Aracena “caves of marvels." I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The caves were very cool, much bigger and more beautiful than I had expected. It’s pretty incredible that things like that happen naturally.
After a fun weekend it has been a pretty sad week at my Spanish house. I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and the weather was terrible. It poured rain all week, making the 20-minute walk to class significantly less enjoyable. I didn’t bring my rain boots and really don’t want to buy them here so instead I just rotated shoes and tried to avoid large puddles. All of the streets here are cobblestone and plazas are paved so there isn’t much grass to be found. Water just kind of sits on the sidewalk or runs into gigantic puddles so after a few minutes most people give up on avoiding it and make peace with having wet shoes and socks. I’m sure this didn’t help my state of health, and I kept getting worse. When I woke up on Wednesday I had a terribly sore throat, crusty eyes, and lots of sinus pain. I stayed home from class, called and woke my parents up at 4am to see what I should do, and decided to go to the doctor. My host mom was really great about helping me out. She called CIEE to get the name of a good clinic that I could go to, walked me there and helped me communicate with the doctor. Diagnosis was a throat/sinus infection, and he gave me prescriptions for two medicines that I could pick up at any of the hundreds of pharmacies lining the streets of Sevilla. I was more than a little nervous about how I was going to pay for all of this but after the appointment and prescriptions my total was 45 euros – thank goodness for Spain’s public healthcare! After taking the first rounds of medication I felt better and finished out the week of classes.
On Friday morning Justyna woke me up (at 11:30) and we went out for churros. According to my host mother the churros near my house are terrible “malísimo” although they taste pretty great to me, but she gave us directions to what is supposed to be the best churro place in Sevilla. According to her, when the king of Spain comes to Sevilla this is where he gets his churros. When we got there, they gave us cold churros with sugar and directed us to a bar around the corner where we could get a cup of chocolate to dunk the churros. I’m partial to hot churros so I wasn’t very excited about the cold ones but the chocolate was fantastic so overall I was pleased with the churro experience. When we got back to the house we told our señora that the churros were good, but that we like hot ones better. Apparently we got served the cold churros because we’re clearly foreigners, but if we ask for hot churros they will make fresh ones for us. We’re going to have to try it again sometime. Last weekend Justyna and I also tried out an Italian restaurant close to our house, and had some great pizza and lasagna. I swear I could just eat all the time and a happy camper for the entire semester. All types of food I have had here have been amazing; I’ve even eaten fish and shrimp (I know mom and dad, hard to believe).
This weekend was the first time that all four of my household members have eaten lunch together (usually my señora eats out with her sister or eats after we do). We sat around the lunch table for a good 2.5 hours talking about anything and everything. We started discussing healthcare systems and the current issues with healthcare in the USA. This led to María telling us more about her husband. We knew that he got sick and died about 10 years ago but didn’t have that many details and didn’t know how to ask. It turns out that he died from throat cancer; he was a smoker all his life. The general doctor he went to when his throat had been hurting for a while didn’t think it was a big deal, he gave him a 2-week prescription for amoxicillin. When that didn’t work he went back and was told to go see a specialist. When he finally got an appointment, it was too late and his very aggressive form of cancer had taken over. He died a year later. María brought out photo albums and showed us pictures of she and her husband when her daughter was just a baby. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for her to look at those pictures. She had a whole different life envisioned for herself. She married her husband when she was 21 years old. He was 15 years older and already had 2 kids from a previous marriage. They had María when my señora was 30 years old, and seven years later her husband passed away. She has spent the past 10 years cooking and cleaning every day for exchange students living in her house. I know that this isn’t the life she wanted to lead but I admire her so much for how positive she is, and am so appreciative that she is an incredibly supportive host mother.
On top of this sad story, the sister of María’s husband also has cancer and has been in the hospital for the past several months, on the same floor of the hospital where María’s husband died. It has been really difficult for her to go through another loved one’s battle with cancer and relive everything she went through with her husband. Yesterday morning, the sister-in-law passed away. The funeral was this morning. It was an expected death and came as a relief to the family who has watched this woman suffer through the past few months of her losing battle, but it was still a very sad occasion.
Sorry for the depressing post, I assure you that despite all of that things are still going well over here. I’m liking all of my classes, (hopefully) getting better at Spanish, and loving living in this beautiful city. I miss everyone at home and abroad; let me know how you guys are doing!
Much LOVE, Hannah
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Classes
My intensive grammar session ended with a final exam last Saturday (February 6th) and my regular courses started a week ago as of today. I had originally signed up for 5 courses: 3 'Cursos para extranjeros' which are courses offered only to exchange students at the University of Sevilla and 2 classes offered through my program at the CIEE study center. I quickly realized that I didn't want to have to do the work for 5 classes if I didn't have to (I'm still trying to adjust to the STUDY aspect of study abroad) so the plan was to go to all of my classes for the first day and then drop the class I liked the least. And they are...
(U of Sevilla) Cultural Anthropology of Andalucía
(U of Sevilla) Cultural Anthropology of Latin America
(U of Sevilla) Contemporary History of Modern Spain
(CIEE) A History of the Three Cultures in Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims
(CIEE) Art and Fiesta: Andalucía and Her Popular Traditions
I was more nervous about my University classes, I didn't know what to expect from Spanish professors or what the class structure would be like. The University itself is an enormous stone building located at the center of the city, very close to the Cathedral. It used to be a tobacco factory way back in the day, and is built with large open-air courtyards throughout. I still haven't gotten used to having these open areas inside, especially when it's raining and I need to use an umbrella to walk through the building.
Anyway, I thought that I would like my CIEE courses more than the university classes but after my first week I am surprised to say that I love (almost) all of my university courses, and have dropped the 3 cultures course. The content of the 3 cultures course looked really interesting and the professor definitely knows his stuff, but on the first day of class I was barely keeping up with what he was saying and the rest of the classes were going to be pretty reading-intensive. Having all of my classes taught in Spanish adds an entirely new academic element - not only do I have to think about and understand the course content but I also have to pay close attention just to understand the words the professor is saying. There is no room for zoning out, even if you just stop paying attention for a second or two there is no way you can absorb anything that is being said. But all of my professors are really good about speaking slowly and repeating things using different vocab if we aren't understanding them. The transition from english classes to Spanish classes has been much easier than I thought it would be, and that is really exciting. My comprehension level is miles above where it was a month ago when I got here, and hopefully my speaking skills will get there too before it's time to come home.
A quick walk-through of my classes...
Cultural Anth. of Andalucía (11am - 1pm T/Th)
This is my least favorite class so far, the first week has been very dry but hopefully that will change once we get past the introductory lessons. My professor loves powerpoint presentations and has so far spent most of his time talking from his desk while we copy down random facts and figures. For the first 2-hour class we went over 'what is anthropology?' Being an anthropology major, this was all review but it was interesting to see it explained in Spanish by a non-Beloit professor. I'm very interested to see how my anthro classes in Sevilla are going to compare to my anthro classes at Beloit as far as teaching style and theory goes. We shall see...
Art & Fiesta: Andalucía and her Popular Traditions (5-6:35 T/Th)
This is now my only non-University class. It is taught in 'el palacio' which is the name of the CIEE study center building. It used to be a civilian house but now all of the rooms have been converted into classrooms or administrative offices (my classroom used to be the triclinium, or the dining room, and is one of the largest enclosed rooms in the building). The building is absolutely beautiful, with colored walls covered in intricate tiling. The center of the 3-story palacio is an open-air courtyard with a fountain on the ground floor. The 3rd floor of the building is a flat open-air rooftop patio with benches and several enclosed offices for CIEE professors. In my Art and Fiesta class my professor explained to us that the building was built in typcial Roman style because of the many cultures that have lived and ruled Andalucía and the rest of Spain over the centuries, Rome was the first. They laid the base for Andalucían civilization, most importantly reflected in the language (Spanish is a Latin language), organization of the territory (city structure with a large cathedral in the center), diet (heavy in olives, wine and grains), and religion (Sevilla and the rest of Spain has a very strong Catholic tradition). Sorry for the tangent, there is a little cultural history lesson for you all.
Contemporary History of Modern Spain (9-11am M/W)
This is the first history class I have taken in a long time, and I am loving it. The first week of this class has made me realize how truly ignorant I am about the history of other countries and people. My world history classes from high school just aren't cutting it. In this class we are covering the history of Spain from roughly the early 1800s until present day. My professor is very nice, and absolutely loves what he teaches. Taking notes in this class is a little tricky because he covers the entire chalkboard with timelines, dates, arrows and lots of little pictures/sketches to get his point across. At the end of every class period he makes us ask 10 questions before we can leave. At first this was annoying but as it turns out, almost everyone has something they aren't quite sure about but probably wouldn't ask otherwise.
Cultural Anthropology of Latin America (3-5pm M/W)
This is by far my favorite class. I feel inspired every day when I leave. My professor reminds me so much of my grandpa in appearance, demeanor and his view of the world. He has high expectations for every member of the class, and he is one of those people that you naturally want to impress and to have think highly of you. This class is a general overview of Latin America, its countries and people and their individual and shared cultural history. In groups throughout the semester we will be researching a specific group of indigenous people from a Latin American country (who they are, where they live, their lifestyle is like, interactions with other groups of people, interactions with their own government, interactions with foreign governments/companies, etc). I'm way excited for that. My professor is a social (in the United States = cultural) anthropologist who has done most of his research in Latin America. His goal as an anthropologist is to combat ethnocentrism, the idea that there is any sort of cultural hierarchy. True anthropologists look at how cultures are distinct from one another, never how they are better/worse or more/less advanced. This idea resonates with me very strongly, and has shown me an important connection between my education major and my anthro major. If I can take this idea of intercultural understanding and oppostion to ethnocentrism and make it a central part of my classroom, regardless of what subject I may be teaching, and expose my students to this ideology at a young age I feel like I can contribute something important to the world.
(U of Sevilla) Cultural Anthropology of Andalucía
(U of Sevilla) Cultural Anthropology of Latin America
(U of Sevilla) Contemporary History of Modern Spain
(CIEE) A History of the Three Cultures in Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims
(CIEE) Art and Fiesta: Andalucía and Her Popular Traditions
I was more nervous about my University classes, I didn't know what to expect from Spanish professors or what the class structure would be like. The University itself is an enormous stone building located at the center of the city, very close to the Cathedral. It used to be a tobacco factory way back in the day, and is built with large open-air courtyards throughout. I still haven't gotten used to having these open areas inside, especially when it's raining and I need to use an umbrella to walk through the building.
Anyway, I thought that I would like my CIEE courses more than the university classes but after my first week I am surprised to say that I love (almost) all of my university courses, and have dropped the 3 cultures course. The content of the 3 cultures course looked really interesting and the professor definitely knows his stuff, but on the first day of class I was barely keeping up with what he was saying and the rest of the classes were going to be pretty reading-intensive. Having all of my classes taught in Spanish adds an entirely new academic element - not only do I have to think about and understand the course content but I also have to pay close attention just to understand the words the professor is saying. There is no room for zoning out, even if you just stop paying attention for a second or two there is no way you can absorb anything that is being said. But all of my professors are really good about speaking slowly and repeating things using different vocab if we aren't understanding them. The transition from english classes to Spanish classes has been much easier than I thought it would be, and that is really exciting. My comprehension level is miles above where it was a month ago when I got here, and hopefully my speaking skills will get there too before it's time to come home.
A quick walk-through of my classes...
Cultural Anth. of Andalucía (11am - 1pm T/Th)
This is my least favorite class so far, the first week has been very dry but hopefully that will change once we get past the introductory lessons. My professor loves powerpoint presentations and has so far spent most of his time talking from his desk while we copy down random facts and figures. For the first 2-hour class we went over 'what is anthropology?' Being an anthropology major, this was all review but it was interesting to see it explained in Spanish by a non-Beloit professor. I'm very interested to see how my anthro classes in Sevilla are going to compare to my anthro classes at Beloit as far as teaching style and theory goes. We shall see...
Art & Fiesta: Andalucía and her Popular Traditions (5-6:35 T/Th)
This is now my only non-University class. It is taught in 'el palacio' which is the name of the CIEE study center building. It used to be a civilian house but now all of the rooms have been converted into classrooms or administrative offices (my classroom used to be the triclinium, or the dining room, and is one of the largest enclosed rooms in the building). The building is absolutely beautiful, with colored walls covered in intricate tiling. The center of the 3-story palacio is an open-air courtyard with a fountain on the ground floor. The 3rd floor of the building is a flat open-air rooftop patio with benches and several enclosed offices for CIEE professors. In my Art and Fiesta class my professor explained to us that the building was built in typcial Roman style because of the many cultures that have lived and ruled Andalucía and the rest of Spain over the centuries, Rome was the first. They laid the base for Andalucían civilization, most importantly reflected in the language (Spanish is a Latin language), organization of the territory (city structure with a large cathedral in the center), diet (heavy in olives, wine and grains), and religion (Sevilla and the rest of Spain has a very strong Catholic tradition). Sorry for the tangent, there is a little cultural history lesson for you all.
Contemporary History of Modern Spain (9-11am M/W)
This is the first history class I have taken in a long time, and I am loving it. The first week of this class has made me realize how truly ignorant I am about the history of other countries and people. My world history classes from high school just aren't cutting it. In this class we are covering the history of Spain from roughly the early 1800s until present day. My professor is very nice, and absolutely loves what he teaches. Taking notes in this class is a little tricky because he covers the entire chalkboard with timelines, dates, arrows and lots of little pictures/sketches to get his point across. At the end of every class period he makes us ask 10 questions before we can leave. At first this was annoying but as it turns out, almost everyone has something they aren't quite sure about but probably wouldn't ask otherwise.
Cultural Anthropology of Latin America (3-5pm M/W)
This is by far my favorite class. I feel inspired every day when I leave. My professor reminds me so much of my grandpa in appearance, demeanor and his view of the world. He has high expectations for every member of the class, and he is one of those people that you naturally want to impress and to have think highly of you. This class is a general overview of Latin America, its countries and people and their individual and shared cultural history. In groups throughout the semester we will be researching a specific group of indigenous people from a Latin American country (who they are, where they live, their lifestyle is like, interactions with other groups of people, interactions with their own government, interactions with foreign governments/companies, etc). I'm way excited for that. My professor is a social (in the United States = cultural) anthropologist who has done most of his research in Latin America. His goal as an anthropologist is to combat ethnocentrism, the idea that there is any sort of cultural hierarchy. True anthropologists look at how cultures are distinct from one another, never how they are better/worse or more/less advanced. This idea resonates with me very strongly, and has shown me an important connection between my education major and my anthro major. If I can take this idea of intercultural understanding and oppostion to ethnocentrism and make it a central part of my classroom, regardless of what subject I may be teaching, and expose my students to this ideology at a young age I feel like I can contribute something important to the world.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Things I Have Learned...
On the first day of my grammar class my professor told us that it's okay to struggle sometimes, it's the only way that you learn anything. I have decided that this is a great motto for my first couple of weeks in Spain. Below is a list of just a fraction of the things I have learned in my time here so far by doing them wrong the first (few) times...
- The two most essential clothing items to have are a scarf and a good pair of boots. Never leave your house without them.
- The light switch by the door of my apartment is in actuality NOT a light switch. It is a doorbell. Don't push it when you come home at 3am fumbling with your keys in the dark
- If it looks like it is going to rain, it's going to rain. Especially if you forget your umbrella. Keep one in your purse at all times.
- People here don't hug each other or shake hands. Every time you say hello or goodbye to anyone kiss them on both cheeks, first the left and then the right.
- Ignore construction workers. They seem to have nothing better to do than sit on the street, smoke cigarettes, and yell things at blonde Americans such as myself/my roommate - annoying but harmless.
- All electrical appliances not being used should be unplugged (including lamps and the TV)
- Northface fleece = Americana. Don't wear it out in public.
- Always bring all sets of keys with you when you leave the apartment, otherwise you will find yourself locked out of the building and have to wait until someone with keys comes and creep in behind them.
- Fruits and vegetables cannot be purchased at the normal checkout counter in a supermarket - they have to be weighed and priced at the produce counter first. The first time I tried to buy an orange ended with lots of pointing and undecipherable Spanish on the part of the cashier and me walking out of the store with said orange still unpaid for. Oops.
- I walk too fast and worry way too much. This is the most valuable lesson I have learned in the past 3 weeks. Learning to stop worrying about things that are out of my control and trusting that everything will work out. And usually, it does.
- Don't be overly concerned about where you are going, take time to enjoy the ride. Look up, see what is around you. Trust that your feet know where to go, and if you get lost it's just another chance to discover something new.
- Don't put up with cold churros - ask for hot churros and people will make fresh ones for you
- If you smile and wave at people you see everyday (the guys that work in the cafe in my building, the doorman, the super friendly old man who works at the pharmacy down the street) they will eventually wave back and strike up conversations when you see them.
- Three people should NEVER make one bed at the same time (I came home to María and María changing the sheets on my bed and tried to help out. Big mistake) it's considered extremely bad luck for the person who sleeps there.
- Never open an umbrella inside. Ever.
- Be aggressive at crosswalks, traffic lights aren't really mandatory and if you let every car run the light you'll be standing on one side forever.
- Tomar un café y comer un postre cada día. The coffee in Spain is fantastic, and one should never pass up the opportunity to drink un café con leche and eat a pastry after class.
- The refrigerator door is broken, open carefully unless you want to break it some more.
- Cover all drains in the bathroom when they are not in use, and leave the toilet cover down. I'm not really sure why we do this but it has something to do with 'cucarachas' and since I don't want any of those, I follow this religiously.
- María does her 'big cleaning' on Mondays. If you leave stuff on the floor and don't straighten up your desk she will do it for you and rearrange everything how she thinks it should be set up. It's like a little game, you never know where your things will end up.
- Barcelona is the greatest team in the world. Messi is God. No discussion needed.
- In my experience, everything we were warned about Spanish mothers during orientation is true. They are super nosy - always wanting to know what you're doing, what you're writing, whose facebook or tuenti you're looking at, what your friends look like, what your exam scores were, the status of your love life. They are blunt, sometimes embarrassingly so, regarding how people look (muy fea, gordita, etc.), what they are thinking, what they want from you or things that you're doing that they don't like. They are proud of their cooking and take offense when you don't eat everything on your plate and ask for more. They will force feed you if that's what it takes. Showers are supposed to be 7-10 minutes. At minute 10.2 they are knocking at the door "just checking" to see if you are done. They have an internal sensor for what they consider to be unneccesary light usage. If they don't think you need the light, they will come in and turn it off. But most importantly, they love and protect their children fiercely. They are so proud of every single little accomplishment that their kids have and call all of the friends and relatives to let them know, whether it's getting a good score on an important exam or getting your picture put in the local paper. They know when you are upset even when you try your best to hide it and will do everything they can to fix your problems or just hug you until you feel better. I have had the wonderful opportunity to experience all of the extreme ups and downs of my very own Spanish household this semester. It has been an unbelievable ride, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Snapshots of My Life: Week 3
It's hard to believe that I have only been in Sevilla for 3ish weeks, it feels like so much longer. So many things have changed in such a short amount of time - adjusting to life in a foreign place is exhausting, but exciting.
I'm still trying to adjust to speaking Spanish all of the time. I'm much more comfortable speaking with my host family, we use lots of hand gestures and pull out the spanish/english dictionary on a daily basis but communication is getting much easier and developing beyond the "good morning, how are you?" type of conversations.
My host sister María is a lot of fun. She is usually fairly quiet, listens to music a lot and spends all of her time on 'tuenti' which is the Spanish version of Facebook. But when she starts talking about something, usually having to do with her boyfriend Nacho, she is a very funny and animated speaker. The apartment we live in is small, so the four of us hang out in the living room watching tv or just talking. My señora loves to watch game shows (Spanish wheel of fortune and a text-twist-like game are particularly popular. Also, there is an Andalusian Cash Cab driving around that my roommate and I are determined to find), and every week day María and María del Mar watch a telenovela during dinner. I've never watched soap operas in my life, but I have to admit that I'm getting hooked. It's exciting to kind of be able to follow a plot line and understand what the characters are saying. Good practice, right? It's still a little bit awkward to be living in someone else's house, but slowly this apartment is starting to feel like my Spanish home rather than just the place I sleep and shower.
My first class started last week, an intensive grammar class that meets for 3 hours every day for 2 weeks. Three solid hours of grammar is about as fun as it sounds, but I like the people in my class a lot so it's really not so bad. We also get to do lots of fun excursions and explore the city. So far we have had to visit the Universidad de Sevilla where we will be taking classes when the regular session starts next Monday and strike up conversations with random Spanish students about some differences between university here and in the United States. This was a little bit intimidating at first, but after talking to the first few students it got much easier and I got to practice my Spanish with some really nice people.
Sevilla has a plethora of interesting and beautiful museums - so far I have visited 2: El Museo de Bellas Artes and El Museo del Flamenco. The art museum was unbelievable - it is an enormous, intricately decorated building hiding in the middle of 'el centro' (the part of the city I live in). As in all Spanish buildings there are many open-roofed courtyards with gardens and orange trees inside the museum. I'm not even sure how many rooms there are, the building is sort of like a maze, but each one is filled with amazing works of art. I could spend an entire day there. And maybe I will, there is no enterance fee and it's a 10 minute walk from my house.
The flamenco museum was very cool, and not at all what I expected. It was very interactive, lots of audio and video of different types of flamenco dancing, exhibits about famous flamenco dancers, authentic flamenco costumes, etc. I never knew that flamenco dancing had such a diverse history before - it evolved over time and various aspects of the dance come from different cultures from around the world (ex. hand motions from Indian dance, hip and shoulder movement from Cuba, foot stomping from France, castinettes from Crete...)
Other than class and home, things here are wonderful. I'm getting to know people better and starting to get into a groove. I still haven't gotten used to the eating schedule but the churro shop on the corner is doing a great job at making sure I never go hungry. Life is good.
I'm still trying to adjust to speaking Spanish all of the time. I'm much more comfortable speaking with my host family, we use lots of hand gestures and pull out the spanish/english dictionary on a daily basis but communication is getting much easier and developing beyond the "good morning, how are you?" type of conversations.
My host sister María is a lot of fun. She is usually fairly quiet, listens to music a lot and spends all of her time on 'tuenti' which is the Spanish version of Facebook. But when she starts talking about something, usually having to do with her boyfriend Nacho, she is a very funny and animated speaker. The apartment we live in is small, so the four of us hang out in the living room watching tv or just talking. My señora loves to watch game shows (Spanish wheel of fortune and a text-twist-like game are particularly popular. Also, there is an Andalusian Cash Cab driving around that my roommate and I are determined to find), and every week day María and María del Mar watch a telenovela during dinner. I've never watched soap operas in my life, but I have to admit that I'm getting hooked. It's exciting to kind of be able to follow a plot line and understand what the characters are saying. Good practice, right? It's still a little bit awkward to be living in someone else's house, but slowly this apartment is starting to feel like my Spanish home rather than just the place I sleep and shower.
My first class started last week, an intensive grammar class that meets for 3 hours every day for 2 weeks. Three solid hours of grammar is about as fun as it sounds, but I like the people in my class a lot so it's really not so bad. We also get to do lots of fun excursions and explore the city. So far we have had to visit the Universidad de Sevilla where we will be taking classes when the regular session starts next Monday and strike up conversations with random Spanish students about some differences between university here and in the United States. This was a little bit intimidating at first, but after talking to the first few students it got much easier and I got to practice my Spanish with some really nice people.
Sevilla has a plethora of interesting and beautiful museums - so far I have visited 2: El Museo de Bellas Artes and El Museo del Flamenco. The art museum was unbelievable - it is an enormous, intricately decorated building hiding in the middle of 'el centro' (the part of the city I live in). As in all Spanish buildings there are many open-roofed courtyards with gardens and orange trees inside the museum. I'm not even sure how many rooms there are, the building is sort of like a maze, but each one is filled with amazing works of art. I could spend an entire day there. And maybe I will, there is no enterance fee and it's a 10 minute walk from my house.
The flamenco museum was very cool, and not at all what I expected. It was very interactive, lots of audio and video of different types of flamenco dancing, exhibits about famous flamenco dancers, authentic flamenco costumes, etc. I never knew that flamenco dancing had such a diverse history before - it evolved over time and various aspects of the dance come from different cultures from around the world (ex. hand motions from Indian dance, hip and shoulder movement from Cuba, foot stomping from France, castinettes from Crete...)
Other than class and home, things here are wonderful. I'm getting to know people better and starting to get into a groove. I still haven't gotten used to the eating schedule but the churro shop on the corner is doing a great job at making sure I never go hungry. Life is good.
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