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Los monos no son monos... son feisimos

Buenos días-- finally in the most literally sense: IT'S SUNNY!! Nobody here can believe that it's been more than 20 days straight of lluvia lluvia lluvia!

These past few days have definitely been full of ups and downs, in terms of trips, weather... I'll rewind.

El viernes por la mañana (Friday morning), we got up nice and early para coger el autobús (catch the bus) to our meeting place for the Córdoba trip-- one of the 4 trips we take with our program. Surprisingly, the bus was NOT as full as I thought it might be. I guess as the weeks go by, people are planning trips for these weekends and don't think it's worth sacrificing a full weekend for a day trip. As for us, we are always ready to aprovecharnos de (take advantage of) these opportunities-- especially because they're included in the package por supuesto.

The bus left promptly at 8:30, and the ride was only about dos horas (2 hours). I'm not going to lie, or sugarcoat anything here-- when we pulled up, I was taken aback by how plain the city looked. And I don't like comparing cities in that way, because each one is distinto (distinct) and radiates something special. But everything there just seemed very plain, washed out... oh yeah, and the rivers looked like pure running barro (mud). I guess it didn't help that it was rainy and miserable weather, either.

The first thing we did when we got there was visit the Great Mosque (Mezquita). I was really looking forward to this because it was a huge topic covered in our Art History class, so it definitely had meaning. To give you a little bit of history, the Mezquita was initially built in the place of an old Christian Visigoth Iglesia (Church) [San Vicente], and was ultimately considered the most important sanctuary of Western Islam when Córdoba was actually the capital of Al-Andalus-- you would never know that now. After Córdoba fell during the Spanish Reconquista (Reconquest), the Mezquita was finally turned into a church. The architecture is very impressive, and the mihrab, or prayer niche, is stunning. Traditionally, the mihrab indicates the direction of Mecca, and thus the direction the people must face when they pray. This particular mihrab, however, points south (versus east-southeast). The tour guide said there were multiple explanations out there as to why it isn't facing the traditional direction, but they all seem to have escaped me...

Also unique to the Mezquita are the rows upon rows of superimposed red and white arches that look like they could stretch on into infinity-- definitely take a look at these pictures, it's like being in a maze or a forest almost. We learned in class that the architectural design of these arches represents a flat out negación (denial) of the principals of pass and weight, such that it doesn't respect gravity-- instead, there is an immense, weighty bulk at the top of the arches, as opposed to the bottom, drawing your eye to the visual information on top. It seems like the architects were just rebels all around!

After seeing the Mezquita, we took a short walking tour around the "heart" of this small city. We walked through a few different patios (courtyards) that had once been residential and were later converted into more public property. A long time ago, families would open their private patios for a special festival, where they would serve food and decorate their property (mainly with flowers) in hopes of winning the big patio contest.

Our next stop on the tour was within the small Jewish Quarter to see the Córdoba Synagogue... well, what remained at least. We walked right into the tiny little courtyard and entered right into the main prayer room, which was no more than 20ft x 20 ft. We could see that there was another level (the women's gallery), but we weren't allowed up. I was kind of ticked off that the guide didn't talk too much about it-- the one and only synagogue in all of Andalusia! I raised my hand because I was curious about where the Jews of Córdoba go to pray, considering this synagogue is no longer utilized for prayer. She kind of laughed-- "No hay Judíos que viven en Córdoba" (there are no Jews here). All righty then... Outside the courtyard is a statue of Maimonides, one of the most renown Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, who happened to have been born in Córdoba.

The final stop-- or should I say pause-- was at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs). Although it had once been a primary residence of Ferdinand and Isabella, it didn't warrant much explanation from the guide who rushed us right through the palace and out to the Moorish influenced gardens.

From then on, we had free time-- demasiado (too much) considering how little there was to do with the 4 hours they were giving us. We walked around a lot and it luckily stopped raining, so we plopped down and had our bocadillos (sandwiches) that Vicki prepared. The rest of the day was literally about figuring out how to navigate the winding roads, which all managed to somehow create one big circle we couldn't break out of. By complete chance, we wound up back in the heart of the Jewish Quarter and found ourselves in front of La Casa de Sefarad (The House of Sepharad-- House of Memories). This exhibition is completely dedicated to the Judeo-Spanish (Sephardic) culture and has a handful of salas (rooms) to explore: The Domestic Life Room, The Women from Al-Andalus Room (SO cool), The Jewish Quarter of Cordoba Room, The Celebrations and Holidays Room, and the Sephardic Music Room. I guess my biggest revelation was that the "Hamsa" is a symbol shared in both Muslim and Jewish cultures, except the Muslims call it the "Hand of Fatima."

The rest of the day really just dragged on... Our biggest problem was that we still had sooooo much time left-- no fun in the rain. When it was finally time to go, we put our headphones in and passed out the remainder of the way home.

And so the much awaited GIBRALTAR trip had finally come... and, SORPRESA (SURPRISE)!! IT WAS MONSOON-ING LIKE WE'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED!! We bought the tickets through, non-refundable through DiscoverSevilla's excursions, so we were going [and now here I am with the worst cold of my life.. oh, hindsight...] It was nice to meet up with some Cornell people who were visiting from Madrid, so we were NOT low on entertainment by any means... pictures will be up soon.

They chartered 3 coach buses, and we were there in around 3 hours. The dreaded second we stepped off the bus to walk through customs and to the mini-bus tour area left me sin paraguas (without an umbrella) because it blew inside out due to viento muy fuerte (strong wind)... We we all in the same position thought, totalmente mojados (completely soaking wet) within 5 minutes of being there... great way to start off a full day! Believe it or not, though, we were in very high spirits at the time!

So the first thing we did was break off into smaller groups for our bus-tour of the Rock of Gibraltar with un hombre que hablaba muy malo inglés (a guide who spoke the worst English)... which is weird because it is a British colony and they do speak English there. We spent most of the tour just looking out the window and venturing guesses about what the sites must have represented. At one point, they had us get OFF the bus and take in the view of Europa Point, which you couldn't see anyway through the monsoon! After snapping like 3 pictures, we boarded the bus, sopping wet, again. We didn't really stop again until llegamos (we arrived) at St. Michael's Cave. We got to explore around-- kind of the same feel as that show, Legends of Hidden Temple. At the end of that tour, we were confronted by our amigos (friends) that we were so DESPERATELY awaiting: LOS MONOSSSSSS!!!!!! And were those monkeys friendly! These guys had no shame, running all over the place and sqwaking. Some lucky fans on our trip were even climbed on-- yes, the monkeys sat on people's heads and shoulders, modeling for the cameras. The cute little ones were swinging from everything, whereas the fatter ones just kind of plopped down in one spot for their photo shoots. It may have been raining, but valía la pena (it was worth it) to hang out with them for a little! Por fin (Finally), they had us get back on the bus to take us to the main Apes Den, where most of the monkey action took place. The second el conductor (the bus driver) opened the door, the mother of all monkeys ran on the bus and stole someone's lunch bag right out of their backpack and ran! It sat outside and, in front of everyone, tore right through it for a great feast. Well, they warned us about that... It was a lot of fun for the short time we were there.

After the excitement, we were left about 2.5-3 hours to explore the city... which we didn't really take advantage of because the rain just hadn't relented. Instead, our group made camp at a Subway "restaurant" we found-- how original-- and just ate and caught up. We were more than ready to leave when the time came, and so we boarded the buses-- really damp and uncomfortable-- and made the journey back to Sevilla.

Once again, we experienced the perks of living with such a great family when we came home. Ana was waiting for us anxiously-- it had been a full week since we'd seen her because she was in Paris, trabajando (working), and then we were away! She made us some hot tea and heated up a greaaaat dinner. We warmed up, talked our heads off, and were sent to bed-- "Niñas, NO salgáis!" (our orders: DO NOT GO OUT). Yes, Ana.

Laura and I woke up Sunday morning with the worst colds: Teníamos tos, escalofríos (we had coughs, chills), that throat drippy-thing... the works. We were really happy about having a lazy Sunday to just relax... we also had midterms to prepare for, anyway. The History of Art test was all essay prep-- we had the questions in advance, which was helpful. We got to write one at home, and prepare to write 3 in class-- piece of cake. We surprisingly spent more time reviewing than we ever thought we would-- 6 full hours! I'm sure no other student put in that kind of time, but one thing siempre (always) seems to lead to another with us.

On Monday afternoon, I had a nice heart-to-heart with Ana... It was really concerning her that I was still sniffling so she knocked on the door and entered with a box of tissues and a thing of her famous "ibuprofeno." It was definitely a more philosophical conversation, reminiscent of talks with Grandma Vivie, about how "la vida es tan corta" (life is so short)... to short to be anything but happy... She talked a lot about how she was forced to be resilient at a very young age-- she married Manolo when he was very much in limbo about his negocios (business), in terms of getting it together about whether to leave the family business or stick it out. She had two children, and had miscarried once, by the time she was 23. They moved around a handful of times, during which she miscarried 3 more times, but the family continued to grow regardless. She opened up about how hard it was to have been "tirando al suelo" (thrown to the ground/dirt), without enough support to really do all they wanted to do, and to have had to bury another child, but she said she just couldn't ever give up. I guess she knew I was upset about some things going on, and her point was that if she could endure all that she had, then I needed to re-evaluate and put things into perspective. She mentioned that she had thought about writing a book, and that the only way she would know how to write is from the perspective of a genuine optimista (optimist). Our conversation ended with a huge hug and kiss, and a command to go eat my dinner because "la sopa va a enfriarse!" (my soup was going to get cold).

The actual Art test on Tuesday turned out to be fine-- Laura and I were OVER-PREPARED. One again, the teacher came over to our desks, individually, to tell us that she had started to read over our take-home essays, and that we "light up her life." That was verbatim. You know, it finally feels good to hear that from a teacher though-- it doesn't have to be so dramatic, I get that, but I'm just not used to having my essays actually appreciated-- let alone ones I actually devote weeks to at real school.

I guess another accomplishment was finally buying a phone for the Magic Jack-- I had blown the other one out of the wall because it was cordless and way to powerful for the converter. Laura spotted a great little one, so lo compré (I bought it) without thinking twice. I've made some calls home, as you know mom and dad (and co.), and the connection is so clear! It was also nice to hear Grandma Natalie's voice-- I'm used to her weekly phone calls at school, and I realized how much I miss chatting. Won't be an issue anymore!

Some Vicki humor... I'm not complaining that she sometimes stares at Laura and me when we eat. I'm not complaining that she randomly interjects with weird fun facts and random English phrases. I'm not even complaining that she called me out when she heard me say "SHIT!" the other day ("No no no! We only say honey words!")-- I think she meant like sweet, or good (?) words. What we are kind of exhausted about is the cereal and milk situation... she randomly switched up the leche de soja (soy milk) brand that was working for us, to a brand that tastes like lentils and upsets my stomach to no avail. We tried hinting to her that maybe we can go back to the old brand and she got really confused. A few boxes later, when we really just stopped eating it, she got the picture and we're back to the better brand.

The other thing was the cereal... She started out buying us corn flakes, which are fine, but when she specifically asked if we had un pedido (a request) for something different, we told her we would love Special K. She even put it out there that they sell the cereal with chocolate bits! And we got SO excited-- the way to convey to people that we REALLLYYY want something here is to over-exaggerate facial expressions and go onnnn and on about how bueniiiisimo something is. And she was FEEDING off of that. So when she came home a few days later with 3 more boxes of plain, icky corn flakes, we were confused. We've had a few talks about how we would looove to try the chocolate cereal, and she seemed to get it... but then didn't buy it again. All right... it's fine. NO disappointment is the new motto. She has been nothing but incredible to us when it comes to cleaning up the room, packing us lunch for trips, and guardando la comida (saving me left over comida) when I come home late from my Monday/Wednesday classes. And I find it endearing that she never recognizes when a piece of fruit has truly spoiled-- "No no no. Está bien... solo tiene golpes!" (No no no. It's fine... it's just bruised)-- she says this as she picks the banana out of the garbage, rotting to the point that it is juicing in different colors. Man oh man.

Mmmm other than that, I think you're pretty much caught up! We FINALLY had a sunny day and I went out and had a photo shoot in the park and near the center.... Yeah, also I'm going to make a more sincere effort to acostarme (go to sleep) earlier on Sunday and Tuesday nights to avoid falling asleep in class-- which has embarrassingly happened in the 9AM a few times. Ana yelled at me after I told her I sit in la primera fila (the front row). "Oyoyoy Sarita!" I wish you could see the pursed lips and head shake she does!!! It's precious... In terms of trips, we are getting ready to go to Morocco for the weekend! It's all planned out nicely by DiscoverSevilla... we'll be visiting Tangiers, Chefchouen & Tetouan. Please pray for nice weather-- I think we deserve it!!

CIAOOOO!!!

Las aventuras de Madrid y Toledo!

HOLAAA!! We got back from our amazing viaje (trip) late Monday night, and I needed a few days before heading right to the blog. We did SO much this weekend, and I just want to let it marinate a little in my head before getting it down-- aka continuar dejando las cosas para más tarde (continue procrastinating).

Sooo las aventuras (the adventures) began early on a rainy (surprise?) Friday morning. Laura, Abby, Robin, and I booked our billetes (tickets) in advance, and it's a good thing because the bus was packed. This weekend was an Andalusian holiday, which is why we had Monday off, so it was a popular time for Sevilla to empty out. We liked that the whole system was organized: everyone had an assigned bus (there were a few) with an assigned seat, so we were all juntas (together). The actual ride wasn't so awful... it took about 6.5 hours with una parada (one stop). When we got there, the four of us made our way out to where the taxis were and hopped in. The bizarre thing was that this one guy-- NOT our driver-- swooped in and lifted our maletas (suitcases) into the trunk. And then after we got settled into the car and shut the door, he knocked on the window and screamed "PROPINA!" which means tip. And we were kind of confused and delirious at the moment... and then he physically opened the door and stuck his hand in and screamed "PROPINA" again. So we threw him a euro and went on our merry way.

Our hostel, El Pilar was only about a 10-15 drive from the bus station, located RIGHT in the heart of the city. LITERALLY a 2 minute walk from the Puerta del Sol (The Gate of the Sun) and Plaza Mayor-- two of the busiest scenes in Madrid. It's also only a 10 minute walk to the main museums, so there was no need for taxis or buses. And it was complete suerte (luck) that we even got this hostel because we had booked so last minute, but we couldn't have asked for a more convenient, fun spot to be! We checked right in, and our cuarto (room) was perfect for our purposes-- Abby and Robin shared a big bed and Laura and I had our own. The bathroom was nice and the room had wi-fi (Weeeee-feeeee). I don't remember if I told you what happened with the wi-fi in our house here, but one of the really expensive, colossal paintings hanging in Ana's den fell, conveniently chopping the wi-fi cord in half. I'm happy to report that it's back in action.

For lunch, we ate the bocadillos (sandwiches) that Vicki prepared us: atún y aceitunas (tuna and olives) and pollo con tomates (chicken and tomatoes). If you asked me a month ago if I ever thought eating 2 sandwiches and crackers and fruit all in one sitting was ever acceptable, I would be making vom noises. But now I'm so used to the big lunches-- loving every minute! Even though the weather wasn't ideal on Friday (cool, had rained earlier), we weren't about to malgastar tiempo (waste time). We strolled through the Puerta de Sol, noting all the great little shops and restaurants close by. There was also this funky mirror-bubblying looking structure, which we later found out was a main transportation hub. We followed the signs, which took us right to the outside of El Museo del Prado, and it's neighbor El Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. We also walked through a little market with fun crafts and artwork. Our best friend that entire trip was definitely the big directory-- we all have our own spatial-relations issues (it was harder to locate places than we thought, regardless of knowing that UD. ESTA AQUI (you are here!)). I felt like the architecture, overall, had a much more grandiose and modern effect than that of Seville. Everyone was hustling and bustling about, so I guess the buildings make the perfect backdrop. SO many people fumaban (smoked), which made walking in close quarters kind of challenging, but it's just accepted as a norm. I do draw the line at sitting near people in coffee shops that can't resist the urge.

We found a little cafe on our walk back, where we stopped for some café con leche, which is very latte-esque. Don't worry, la lactosa brought her pill. Coffee, overall, is just so much better here. It's also really rare to come across people on the move with coffee in Spain-- people like to take their sweet time-- no vale la pena la prisa (rushing isn't worth it to them). The waiters also don't hover over you waiting for la cuenta (check), so it was up to us-- like an hour later-- to flag ours down.

We had the BESTTTTT dinner experience yet, I would say-- While Madrid doesn't quite do tapas in the same style as Granada, the food was outstanding. We went to this very chic place, called 4 de Tapas and had more than enough food: tortillas (the egg/potato combination), tostadas con queso (it was more like Brie), tostadas con pollo (chicken on toast) in a raspberry sauce, and a big mix of salad and pasta. The cherry on top: it cost us about 10 euros each. After dinner, we wandered through the people-filled streets and went in and out of a few bars. We naturally gravitated to an Irish pub, but didn't stay for that long... we had an EARLY morning planned.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but our 8:30(ish) wake-up was supplemented with Dunkin Donuts! I don't feel AS bad because it was authentic café con leche! Interesting seeing how the menus differ-- I guess they don't offer a million kinds of latte flavors because that is essentially what their normal coffee is like. Anyway, we grabbed our caffeine to go (qué americano!) and got to the El Museo del Prado just as it was opening-- therefore NO LINE!!! [huge relief because it wrapped all around the plaza when we saw it yesterday afternoon]. This museum is really the largest art gallery in the world, with 4 floors and more than 8,600 paintings! It houses paintings from all different schools, including Spanish, German, Flemish, Dutch, Italian, and British. And once again, here I am being thankful for that once dreadful Art Design and Visual Thinking class I took at Cornell because I was able to appreciate the work SO much more-- I actually recognized artists and their particular obras (works) that I never would have otherwise! What resonated with me most was the work of Velazquez, a native Sevillano-- his painting, Las Meninas looked so much more amazing up close than it had in my text books. We also saw the work of Murillo, who now has an exhibit in Sevilla, Goya, Rembrandt, El Greco, and Raphael, to name a few! Seeing Goya's two paintings, The Second and Third of May, particularly after passing the 2nd of May monument in the Plaza, gave me the chills. These paintings are based on Goya's witnessing of French occupation of Spain, when Napoleon came in to seize Madrid and caused a huge rebellion in Madrid (May 2, 1808). The Third of May really grabs you emotionally (described by our art teacher as having Garra: the power to grip you), because you see the horror of the Spanish rebellion being repressed. Wow.

Después de pasar más que dos horas (after spending more than 2 hours) in the Prado, we made our way over to our next site: El Palacio Real de Madrid: The Royal Palace. The Palace was constructed in 1734, begun under the reign of Philip V and completed during the reign of Charles III. It is the official residence of the King in the city of Madrid, only utilized for official State ceremonies. The palace is decorated ornately and houses paintings by Velazquez, Goya, and others. There were SO many rooms to tour (it was very organized-- signs in English pointed you where to go and explained what we were seeing in each room). The featured rooms were the Royal Chapel, The Room of Porcelain (breathtaking), and The Dining Room (with SUCH a long table and Velazquez ceiling paintings). It was interesting that Charles III had a separate room for "dining" and "lunching," getting dressed and writing. Laura melted at the site of the world's only complete Stradivarius string quartet-- In those 10 minutes, I wish I had been as passionate about my violin. We also saw La Real Amería, the Royal Armory Museum. The pictures don't do it justice!

It was pouring rain at this point, and I had to buy a new paraguas because I conveniently lost mine. So after a great lunch at a kebab place (our new favorite thing), Robin, Abby, and I treked on a pesar de la lluvia (in spite of the rain) to the Thyssen Museum... poor Laura's feet were not having all this walking, and she needed to be recharged for the night that lay ahead, por supuesto (DUH!) I think I would say that this museum was my personal favorite, again because I really recognized and appreciated so much of the art. It required us to really analyze the paintings on our own, because this museum didn't offer the same little plaques with explanations that we saw in the Prado. We saw 17th century Dutch painting, 18th century view painting, 19th century landscape, North American painting, Impressionism, Post Impressionism, and the early 20th century Vanguardias (Avant-garde movements). The galleries with Fauve paintings were the best-- I learned about these at Cornell, which are characterized by STRONG, brilliant color as opposed to Impressionism's more realistic values. I saw the works of this movement's leaders, including Henri Matisse and André Derain. Also on display were the works of Gaugin, Picasso, Dali, Miro, Gris, and Monet. Now that we learned in our Art History class about El Greco's "The Immaculate Conception," I can appreciate that painting more. The museum was also offering a special 45 minute tour of Monet, only, but our brains were definitely fried after taking everything else in.

We were exhausted after this long day, so we met Laura back at the hostel to rest our feet and get ready for la marcha (night life!) We had kind of a disastrous dinner experience before settling... We were really in the mood for pizza (maybe it's because we've been deprived) and probably should have known better before settling down in this sketchy restaurant. Not sure why we weren't tipped off by the blaring TVs, gambling machines, and rude waiters. Let's just say that after trying to order 3 different times and learning that they had nothing on the menu, we exchanged some words and salimos! (we left!) We FINALLY found a great little place, where we were able to happily eat our pizza and salad. When it came time to head to la discoteca (the club), we decided to go to the much-raved-about Kapital. It had an outrageous cover charge to get in, but it was totally worth the 7 stories of madness, and the club had been recommended by several different people who had been before. Our favorite thing was the MISTING MACHINE on the first floor-- every so often, the crowd got BLASTED with this cold air, meant to cool everyone off and get people screaming. And we screamed. There was also random confetti that fell from the ceiling. Había mucha gente bailando (everyone was dancing), and I'm SO glad we went!

El Domingo (On Sunday), we made our day trip to the city of Toledo, to see the sites painted by El Greco and learn more about Judaism in Spain. We made use of that bubbly-looking transportation hub and took the AVE train-- it was pretty barato (cheap) and verrrry efficient: we made it there in exactly half an hour. This was a BEAUTIFUL city. It had once served as the religious, cultural, and political capital of Spain until it was decided that Madrid served better because it is located smack in the middle of Spain. What I love most about Toledo is that it is such a natural city-- all the man-made architectural wonders that define a city like Madrid definitely do not impose on the city. Everything is rustic looking and it all feels very quaint. No wonder why El Greco had a field day with his landscape paintings. And unique to this city is its status as a "World heritage site:" the coexistence of Christian, Jewish, and Moorish cultures.

Our first stop was the Sephardim Museum, attached to El Tránsito Synagogue. I learned that the word Sefarad was used to mean Spain-- Jewish Spain, specifically. Anyway, it finally felt really good to be in a place that celebrated Judaism, even though my friends and I were probably the only Jewish people in the crowd! The actual museum had like 5 different rooms filled with aspects of history, customs, religion, and other relics of Spain's Jewish historia (history). My favorite room was called "Judaism as a way of life" or "El Judaísmo como modo de vida." There were tons of showcases devoted to the different, important stages of life: birth and BRIS (yes, there was a little video going on of one.. we walked away after we realized), Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and principal fiestas (festivals) like Passover and Purim, which was fitting because it just passed! I also liked the little make-shift Sukkah they had out back. We stood under like tools and took pictures.

Afterward, we went over to La Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca, built by Islamic architects (mudéjar style) under the Christian kingdom of Castille FOR Jewish use! While this previous synagogue (later converted into a church) is now an official museum, most of the original synagogue remains-- 5 aisles divided by 4 rows of 7 horseshoe arches (they look typically like the mudéjar arches our Art History teacher showed us in class. Throughout the museum, which was really just a little walking tour through the only open room, were paintings, drawings, and poems honoring not only Judaism, but also cultural and religious coexistence. We reallllly have a lot of tolerance, considering all we were put through.

We spent the rest of our afternoon just relaxing on una puente (a bridge) that overlooked a river and a beautiful view. By the time we got back, we headed straight for the hostel-- our feet had really had enough at that point. Our dinner plans were pretty small: we found a Cien Montaditos chain!! It's that place with 1 euro little sandwiches and potato chips. And it was PERFECT because it was nice and cheap-- the 4 tontas (idiots) kind of ran out of cash in Toledo-- I don't even want to talk about the canned salads that Laura and I ate. I doubt she even discussed it in her blog. It was also good because we needed to save room for our CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE!!! I still can't believe we had been in Spain all this time and hadn't indulged! So for 3 euros, we had insaaaane amounts of churros to dip in hot, liquid chocolate! Qué delicioso!

Monday morning, the alarm went off nice and early again. I wasn't really hungry for desayuno (breakfast), thanks to those churros, so we grabbed our coffee to go and headed to the Reina Sofia Museum, named for Queen Sofia of Spain. This museum was definitely dedicated to Spanish art, as opposed to the others which displayed art from various schools. My FAVORITE PART, hands down, was the room dedicated to Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica. I had seen pictures of this painting, but seeing the real thing was UNREAL. It bothered me that people were taking photos of it, when the room was lined with several guards and many reminders: "NO FOTOS!" I didn't realize it took up the entire wall, either. Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish government to paint the mural, which depicts the bombing of the Basque town of Geurnica by Italian and German war planes in support of Franco (EW) during the Spanish Civil War... talk about heart wrenching and emotion evoking. I must have stood there for at least 5 minutes (which is long to be standing in front of one painting). It is definitely an anti-war symbol to remind people of the tragedies and horrors of war. If you walked through the rest of Picasso's gallery (there were a LOT of works), you noticed this was a common theme. We were able to take a picture of his sketching of Guernica, which I thought was pretty cool. Surrealism was also a big part of the gallery, and we saw a good deal of the collections of Dali, Gris, and Miro again. Unique to this museum were the temporary exhibits of more modern art. Some of it was definitely questionably done by professionals in appearance, but we're not allowed to say that because "we can't fathom their suffering." I apologize, Thomas Schutte.

We had a nice lunch near the museum-- I love when we don't spend a lot of money for good food! After that, it was time to get our bags from the hostel (the owner kept our stuff in a room because we had to check out much earlier) and headed to the bus station. And GO FIGURE: of the 3 public buses assigned to leave Madrid on this particular day at this particular time in the 2 particular ASSIGNED seats in front of Laura and me, 2 boys I knew from home (one from Plainview, one from LI who goes to Binghamton) plop down. Estabamos contentas (we were happy) because it helped pass some of the time during the never ending bus ride back to Sevilla. We got home close to 11pm to a nice dinner left out by Vicki: tortilla de papas y espinacas (potato tortilla/omlette with spinach) and, como siempre, la fruta (as always, fruit). I swear, sometimes I actually have 5 pieces of different fruit throughout the course of the day. I hope that's OK?

SOOO, it is now Thursday night, and Laura and I decided not to go out because we have our Cordoba day trip tomorrow, which will be quite pleasant if it doesn't pour. Ana is expected to come home tonight from Paris-- she's been gone for the week doing business (she's so cool for her age), so it's been Laura and me for dinner-- AND Vicki with her tendencies to pop in and tell us stories. She kills us sometimes. Different family members have been over for la comida, though. We finally met their grandson, Iago. In one word: GUAPISIMO. He's 28 and very very handsome-- he pokes fun at us at the table, but he's really cool. He explains things to us when we look like we have no idea what's being said by the other grown ups. He told us to go back to that club, BOSS, on Friday night-- the one that doesn't traditionally let Americans in, that we managed to get into a few weeks ago. I'm glad we met him! Anyway, I have to thank Ana, again, when she gets home for letting me borrow her suitcase with wheels. It was good to have in Madrid-- SO many advantages to living with a family as opposed to living in an apartment.

Next week is midterms galore at our program's site-- the ones at La Universidad aren't for another week or 2 because we started classes later. I'm not really too worried... after our Art History teacher graded the last quiz, she specifically approached Laura and me to tell us how impressed she was with our quality of writing, and how clearly we stand out from the rest of the students. She said, coming from Stanford, that it is reassuring to know that there still exists the quality of students like us-- it frustrates her to water down the material because the rest of the students would honestly fail. So, our "studying" shall continue!

Pues, bien. I think I've rambled on enough... and I didn't spell check because I don't feel like reading it over. SOOOO enjoy, you'll have pictures soon!

Hasta luegoooooo!!!

"Como la pena de ser ciego en Granada..."

"Dale limosna mujer,
que no hay en la vida nada;
como la pena de ser
ciego en Granada" --Francisco A. de Icaza

"Give him [blind beggar] alms, my wife,

For there is nothing in life... nothing

Like the pain of being

Blind in Granada"

We had an amazing weekend in Granada with our program. Nos preocupamos por el tiempo (we were worried about the weather), initially, because the city is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which translates to COLD. Packing for the trip wasn't too bad, because we only stayed for one night-- Mom, i packed up the Lesportsac messenger bag, glad I brought it!

I'm impressed because we were out of the house by 7:40. Vicki nos preparó dos bocadillos (made us each 2 sandwiches) to take with us for lunch, because our program does not like to feed us, so we packed them away for later. We hit the road about an hour later-- I think the entire trip doesn't take more than 3 hours, but we took close to 3 and a half because paramos para un descanso (we stopped for a break) at some weird rest stop. When we pulled into our destino (destination) in Granada, it was drizzling a bit, and you could tell they had had nasty weather for a little while, now.

We were in kind of a rush because La Capilla Real (The Royal Chapel) of Granada was threatening to close on us, so this was where the bus dropped us off first. This was definitely an interesting site because it is a mausoleo (mausoleum) that has the actual tombs of Los Reyes Católicos (the Catholic monarchs), King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. On display were large monuments created to simulate and honor the tombs-- I think Laura and I were the only two whose ears perked up when the tour guide called our attention to the king's and queen's heads laying on the pillows: Isabella's head sunk deeper into the pillow because her head was full of heavier brains! Tanto monta... And then you could walk downstairs to a basement area and peak through a little ventana (window) and see the real things. We stared at the Gothic architecture for a little while (there were a few tours going on at once), and then we saw a really big alter piece that basically explained the history of Catholicism in Granada. Some of it was harder to appreciate because I'm just not educated enough on this religion, and a lot of the details went over my head. But the fact that everything is depicted in imágenes (images) mitigates it a little bit, especially because some of them are really profound-- they vividly display the suffering of Jesus, with blood and sad faces. We talked about a few different St. Johns, both the Baptist and the Evangelist. One was clearly portrayed as being hervido (boiled) because his ideas went against the norm. The other one was decapitated (you could see specific detail in his exposed neck) because he didn't reciprocate someone's love, and she ordered his head be served to her on a silver platter. They take everything literally. We quickly browsed through a room filled with sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and other reliquias (relics) before calling it quits.

It was definitely un alivio (a relief) to see that the rain had stopped, though it was still chilly and a little cloudy when we boarded the bus again. The bus took us to the top of St. Nicholas' viewpoint, a very high point in the city from which you can get a great panoramic view of the city and the Alhambra palace/citadel. We took some lovely scenic pictures from up top, and then walked all the way down through narrow streets and alley ways. It was kind of weird to be walking right through some people's backyards, but it all seemed really nice and rustic. The bus was waiting for us at the bottom, conveniently 5 minutes away from our lovely hostal, Atenas. We grabbed our stuff and braved the inside... which actually wasn't so bad! Laura and I shared a room with one of the Abby's and her roommate, Ashley (other Abby had already seen Granada con sus padres (with her parents) so she wasn't there). The beds took up most of the room, and the bathroom was pretty clean-- It served its purpose.

After scoping out the room, we grabbed our sandwiches (gracias a Vicki!) and then took advantage of all the tiempo libre (free time) that lay ahead. We walked up and down these little side streets with all kinds of boutiques. It was really helpful navigating the city with Ashley, because she had already been to Granada and has a photographic memory. The city, itself, is much smaller than Sevilla and seems more modern, sobre todo (over all)-- see the pictures. You can definitely feel the difference in the paces of life led by los Sevillanos in comparison with the people of Granada. The only thing that struck me as odd were the perros (dogs). And that's because they were alllll the size of wolves, were running amuck in the streets without leashes (but they somehow knew when it was a good idea to cross the street, as to evitar (avoid) being hit by a car), and all appeared to have their eyes covered with bangs. OK.

After walking our feet off, we ducked into a Moroccan tea place recommended by Ashley. The ambiente (atmosphere) was really relaxed-- hookah laced the entire room, we sat on little couchy things, and the tea came in old fashioned kettles. It was a nice break, and we ended up spending a few hours just talking. By this point, our friend Robin had joined us.

Close to 10PM, we were ready to experience la marcha (the night life) that is Granada! It is definitely heavily populated with college students all over the place, so the streets were definitely packed with students. We were so excited to go tapeando (tapa-hopping) the RIGHT way-- that is, ordering una cerveza (a beer-- or any drink, for that matter) from every restaurant and enjoying the free tapa that came with it! At our first stop, we all had bocadillos, and they served us bread with ham and aceite de oliva (olive oil). Laura and I don't eat ham, so it was kind of a problem, given how prevalent pork is, but we made do with bowls of olives, bread baskets, and boiled potatoes. We actually made it to 3 different tapas places before deciding it was time to get on with our night-- we also may or may not have convinced the camareros (bartenders) to let us come behind the bar and pretend to be cool....So, thanks to Ashley [again], we made it into the center of life and found the notorious Chupiteria, the greatest invention of a shot bar! They had 100 different shots, all 0.50 euros! We tried some good dessert flavored ones-- we are determined to find something comparable in Sevilla.

By 9am la próxima mañana (the next morning), we were all set to board the bus to the short drive over to La Alhambra. And we got SO lucky because the sun was out and everything, which really just makes everything and everyone much more pleasant-- remember the time it rained in Sevilla for 2 consecutive weeks without stopping? Right. So hacía sol (it was sunny), conveniently facilitating the 2 hour walking tour of one of the most incredible places I have ever seen-- construction of this palace/fortress (although the tour guide insisted we refer to it as un ciudadela (citadel)) was begun by the Moors in el siglo catorce (14th century), and lasted for around 250 years. The culture and architecture with La Alhambra reflects the last days of Muslim rule (Nasrid Emirate of Granada), as seen in the careful detail and tiniest arabesque calligraphy that repeats over and over in the arches and ceilings. We toured many of the chambers (I am blanking on specifics because there were just so many). The Christian conquista (conquest) of Granada was especially significant, seeing as this was the last city necessary to conquer in order to officially have united the Iberian peninsula under this rule; taking over the Alhambra sent a LOUD message to the people. Even without the tour guide's side notes, you could tell which portions had been majorly altered by the Christians.

One of my favorite parts was the Corte de Leones (the Court of the Lions). The actual fountain is being renovated, but we saw pictures in class. Our art teacher told us a little about the history, how the Mudejar style is apparent in the geometric and brick designs, embellished with ornamental tiles. The 12 bronze lions are quite the site when they complete the fountain, surrounding the exterior. According to our books, it was a reference to a "Paradise Garden," and also to the Temple of Solomon, which alludes to the wisdom of the monarch that inhabited the Alhambra at the time (Solomon the Wise). The actual courtyard was built before Sevilla's Alcázar, but reconstructed after-- we noted many similarities in designs between the two.

I also liked the section dedicated to Washington Irving, who wrote The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, which made him quite the super star. What we saw were the remains of sus muebles (his furniture) from when he actually moved into La Alhambra for literary inspiration for his Tales of La Alhambra. I'll post these pictures online as soon as I get the chance.

The final leg of the tour took us to el Palacio de Generalife, the "Garden of the Architect." Even though it is literally walking distance from La Alhambra, it was known as the summer palace/country estate for the Nasrid sultans when they needed a break from real palace life. At the time of the Muslim conquest, it became their last resort for hiding from the Christians (we got to the angle within Generalife where we could peer through a lookout point at el camino (the path) that the horses took to reach them. We walked through the Water-Garden Courtyard, with a long pool and beautiful fountains, all bordered by flowers. We walked through the Sultan's Garden, filled with Cypress árboles (trees), organized kind of like un laberinto (labyrinth). You could feel what was left of the Muslim influence, although the Christians definitely came in and made it their own. It was breath-taking.

Needless to say, we were muy consadas (very tired) by the end of this tour, but still had the rest of the day to ourselves. For lunch, we went to a Kebab place and I had my first exposure to Shawarma! It came with the big pita sandwich, french fries, and a drink for 5 euros, so we definitely went to town on that. We all got chicken, except for Abby who got falafel so we obviously sampled some of hers. And GO FIGURE we ran into other Cornell people from other programs on the streets of Granada-- only us! We spent the rest of the day shopping around, and we made it to their Corte Inglés, which looks exactly the same as ours in Sevilla. We marveled at the fact that they sell mantequilla de cacahuete (peanut butter), which you simply cannot find anywhere else, but we cringed at the fact that it sells for 6 euros. No thanks.

We slept for most of the bus ride home, and were muertas de hambre (starving) when we walked in. Except Ana and Manolo were nowhere to be found when we opened the door. Instead, we entered into Cristina's 50th birthday party! The room was filled with people smoking, eating, drinking, and laughing but naturally, the world stopped the second we opened our mouths to say "Hola." We recognized none of the faces staring back at us and quickly ran out as fast as we went in. Later on, when Vicki set us up for la cena, she mentioned that there was a muchacho (boy) at the party... he is studying in la Universidad and is from Tennessee. His name happens to be Zach. GO FREAKING FIGURE it was the same kid who pretended to be Spanish at that club and then awkwardly brought it up in class. And then he saw us walk in and make morons of ourselves. Laura jabbed me under the table and we rolled over laughing.

Although we had been non-stop moving since early viernes (Friday), we were ready to go out for the night. So we took our sweet time and did la marcha como si fuéramos sevillanas (night life as if we were from Sevilla). That is to say: go out to la discoteca at 2:30 and salir (leave) at 6. Well, we actually ended up staying out a little past 6, after contemplating the ever so popular dessert, churros con chocolate, and trying to figure out the bus system. Oh yeah, it was raining, too. By the time we walked in, it was about 7am, and we slept and slept until we heard la campana de la comida (the comida bell!)

So, it is now Tuesday night... we successfully booked our Madrid/Toledo trip for this weekend-- get there by bus, stay in a hostel. Laura and I will be traveling with our friends Abby and Robin-- qué divertido! (how fun!) I had my first examencito (quiz) experience... It pains me to even use the word, considering it was more like the teacher giving us the quiz and encouraging us to ask her to read over our answers before handing it in. Hey, I'm not complaining!

In other news, our favorite expression, "MIRA MIRA MIRA" (Deborah, you know the voice) was taken to the extreme this evening, when Vicki literally stormed into el comedor (dining room) with a huge magnifying glass, chanting, "NOW! MIRA MIRA MIRA!" We died. Once again.

All right, enough for now. Enjoy my pictures!

ADIOSSSS!

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