Granada:
First we all met at 7am at the Hotel Sevilla Center- 7am. SO EARLY. and it's about a 10 minute walk from my house... ok enough complaining! We made it on the bus and I was immediately out and sleeping on the bus! About an hour later we stopped at a cafe place and I, in my zombie-like state, staggered into the place and immediately bought breakfast cookies and an Aquarius- the best gatorade like drink EVER, and it's made by Coca-Cola... why don't we have this amazing drink in the US?!??!!?!?!? Anyway, after this lengthy pit stop, we headed on to Granada. It was cold and raining- as usual so I was prepared with my umbrella and raincoat. When we were almost there, Dr. Stratton asked for volunteers to go in the first group to tour The Alhambra- this meant getting of the bus and immediately starting the tour. I honestly didn't care when I toured The Alhambra, so I let the others volunteer. Well, when we arrived, I got off the bus and Jonathan (our beautiful Spanish Conversation teacher) told me and my friends to go with the first group, so we looked around for them and saw them down this long path, so we catch up and then our tour guide starts jogging down the hill and then straight up running!! We ran for about 5 minutes to get to the entrance of The Alhambra. We were no longer cold. We were sweating. So we walk around the Alhambra which contains the massive palace of Carlos V built in the style of Spanish Renaissance, much of the architecture is from the Arabs- Muslims. Mostly everything in the Alhambra is based on the number 7, Allah, and colors. It's so interesting how this culture focuses everything on Allah. The ceilings had 7 layers forming a dome and the middle top is where everything stems from and represents Allah; I think it's also supposed to promote prosperity.
After the Alhambra, we went across the way to the Generalife which is the summer palace with many gardens and fountains. It was mostly dead, but still very green and extremely beautiful. I saw pictures from what it looked like in the summer and it's so amazing. I wouldn't mind living there!!
After those tours- which took the entire morning, we went to the Hotel and put our stuff in our rooms, ate our bocadillos, and then met up again for MORE tours!
We headed to the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabel and Juana la Loca and Phillip the fair. We walked in and could go down stairs and see their lead caskets. Kinda creepy because they are dead in there!! Interesting story: This is why Juana is called Juana la Loca... so she was married to Phillip the fair and when Phillip died, she made her servants pack him in his casket for trips. AND at night when she was going to bed she made her servants pull him out of his casket in his shroud so that Juana could sleep with her husband in the bed. OMG SO CREEPY!!! NO WONDER SHE IS JUANA LA LOCA!!! (Loca means weird)- we couldn't take pictures inside :(
Anyway, after the tombs, we went to the Cathedral which was extremely pretty and ornate and took many pictures inside. Something I thought was interesting- they had the candle things for people to light in honor of people, but they didn't actually have candles- they were lightbulb things and you had to put euros in the machine to light the light!! rip off much??
After the Cathedral, we went out the back and ended up walking to a spice market! They had some really neat stuff- I bought some safron- 2 grams for 7.50 euros; just couldn't pass up the cheapness! I wanted to get some loose tea, but it's not really packaged like the safron is, so I wasn't sure about customs and how all that would work.
Then we decided we were starving and we wanted to get a hamburger- so we went to Burger King. I haven't eaten at Burger King in YEARS. So, I braved it and got the equivalent of a "Mighty Kid's Meal" (I think that's McDonalds.. I don't remember) anyway, I got a double cheeseburger, apple slices, strawberry yogurt, and a coca-cola light for 6 euros!! Talk about tons of food for cheap! It was great!
Later that night we went to the Gypsy caves to watch flamenco. It was amazing!! I ended up sitting right in the front of the stage to where they were nearly hitting me during their dances. It was amazing. Flamenco is lots of stomping and extremely emotional- fury, angst, passion- it has it all. That was such a fun night! After, the gypsy people took us on a tour of their neighborhood which backs up to the Alhambra, so I got some neat pictures of The Alhambra at night!
When we got back to the hotel we all fell asleep immediately because it was such an exhausting day. We had to wake up early to go to the poet Lorca's house at 9:30 the next morning. Extra credit for Jonathan's class was to stand in front of Lorca's house and recite one of Lorca's poems to the group. Of course there is a group of Spanish students touring the house the same time as us... so we are standing there struggling to read the Spanish using horrible accents and they are just staring at us and laughing. It's not embarrassing or anything.
After reciting my poem... we went shopping! I got some really cute black leather boots con tacones (heels!)!!!! Then we went to eat lunch because we were starving. We went to this Turkish restaurant and ate Kebabs- OMG best food I've had in all my time in Spain!!! It's basically like a Gyro, but wayyy better!! There is a restaurant near my house that serves that and I think we may go for Día de San Valentín! Then we went to the Arabic markets around the Cathedral and I found some Owl regalia, so of course, I had to buy some to decorate my apartment!! I'm so excited!! We found a place with ice cream... so we got some and then went to this park with a huge fountain and lots of sun and hung out there until we needed to meet back at the buses to return to Sevilla.
Jenny and I slept almost the entire day on Sunday because Granada was so exhausting!! When we woke up, we found that we had acquired 2 new roommates- 2 girls from Milan, Italy. They were 18 and 16 years old studying here for 2 weeks to learn Spanish with their high school. Long story short, one ended up being discompliant and by Thursday they were no longer living with us. That was crazy drama! I'm glad it's over and I don't have to deal with it anymore!
Sevillanas this week was SO HARD. There are 4 distinct Sevillanas and we have learned 3 so far... Sylvia (our teacher) decided to throw in the arms... yeah... moving the feet, legs, wrists and arms in different patterns really quickly is EXTREMELY difficult and I don't understand at all. I think she realized she was asking too much and then we went back to just the feet. That was much better.
Wednesday we were supposed to go to the Alcazar in Sevilla, but it got canceled for the 2nd time because of the rain. So, our only excursion this week was to La Rábida to see stuff concerning Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón).
La Rábida
Friday morning, we met at the Hotel Sevilla Center at 8am and took a bus for about 2 hours. We ended up being really close to the ocean and Portugal. First stop was a well that was the actual well that was used by Columbus and his crew to fill up the water barrels right before they set off on their excursion. Then we went to La Rábida, which is the monastery where Columbus stayed and made friends with the previous confessor of Queen Isabella- Columbus's request to try and find a new route to the Indies was already rejected by Queen Isabella, so he needed to get people who were in with the Queen to support his plan. This obviously worked because Columbus ended up getting his wish! In 1492 the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria sailed embarked on the voyage!
The next place we went had exact replicas of the caravels, but since it was raining, we couldn't go play on them because we could slip and fall into the water. We all went to a little cafe and had hot chocolate- best hot chocolate of my life!! After, we got back on the bus and headed to the beach! Only sad thing.. it was about 40 degrees and raining! We went and played in the sand and took pictures and some really dumb people went swimming (and I'm sure are now sick) and then we headed back to Sevilla. The weather was so bad that we were in traffic for over an hour just in Sevilla. It took 10 minutes in the morning to get out of Sevilla and over an hour to get back in to Sevilla in the afternoon. When we finally arrived, a few friends and I went straight to Nervión Plaza and got some tapas and then we went to see Tiana y el sapo (Princess and the frog)! We definitely learned how movie theaters work... you get assigned seats... so after we got kicked out of our seats in the middle of the movie by this woman toting 5 kids... she was 30 minutes late to the movie!! There is no way those kids will have any idea what's going on in the movie... but now I'm a pro and understand that you have to check where you're sitting... and you have to leave out a different door than you come in- they make sure you don't movie hop, that's for sure! After the movie, we went to H&M and looked around- found nothing and then braved the walk home in the cold rain!!
It's definitely as cold as it was when we first arrived. I definitely have no interest in doing anything but sleeping and sitting at the table in the living room with the space heater under it.
I learned the word "piropo" this week. Whenever I walk around outside the Spanish my ageish and older guys yell things at me like "hola guapa" and other things similar to this. When I told my Mamá, she told me that word and I looked it up and it means "flattering comment". It's so strange how touchy, open and forward Spanish boys are. It's very easy to meet Spanish people and I like making new friends because it's another avenue for me to practice my Spanish! I really like going on the excursions because we learn really neat stuff about Spanish history, but EVERYONE speaks in Spanish the ENTIRE time, so I feel like when we go to Portugal and the entire week for Spring break, we won't be speaking any Spanish. It's so frustrating! I'm on the brink of really starting to get Spanish and I want to practice as much as I can!!
I'm starting to think that writing this blog is slightly detrimental to my Spanish learning. For instance, I'm sitting the living room watching TV with my Mamá and talking to my Mamá in Spanish, but it's taking me a lot longer to figure out what I'm going to say and I'm making more mistakes because I'm writing my blog in English. It's amazing how the brain adapts to different languages. Earlier when I was watching the movie at the theater, I understood most of the movie and then understood a lot of what people in the mall were saying, but the second I start speaking and thinking English, my Spanish disappears!!
Well, in my first month in Spain, I have learned so much about the culture, people, and language. Sevilla is my second home and I hope to be able to return here and possibly live here again! I definitely love being an American and living in the United States, but the rich history, great food, and frugal lifestyle- not to mention the close proximity to other amazing European countries!!
I'll keep you updated- this weekend is Valentines! I'm excited about our girls night out!!
Love,
Merick :)
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