Spain!

Hola chicos! I am officially in Spain (and have been for about a week now). Our trip started out in Madrid, passed through El Escorial and Toledo and ended with us in Granada. It’s been a whirlwind of a week and I feel like I’ve been here for years already… and yet I also feel like a definite outsider. The language barrier is definitely an issue – believe it or not, I’m not fluent yet J - and there are tons of things that are different from the US. A brief summary of the differences:

Saving energy/using utilities: Utilities are very, very expensive here. It’s what I’ve been told and from what I’ve seen so far, I believe it to be true. The lights in the house are always off unless you’re in the room, and even then, we only turn on the smallest light possible. Showers are as short as possible to save hot water. General lights (in the hallways of apartments and in hotel hallways and in bathrooms at bars) are on very short, motion-sensing timers. If you don’t move enough in one of these locations, the lights will shut off on you!

No internet and not super wired: Almost none of the people here have internet in their homes. It’s been weird – and a bit frustrating - for me not to have constant access to the internet. It’s nice also, though, because it prevents you from having to bring your work home with you at night or over the weekend! (Microsoft would not survive here). There are also very few outlets in our house.

The hours: Siesta is from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm and during these times, almost everything is closed down. Someone told me that the most crime happens during siesta because the only people out in the streets are tourists. Carrie (my roommate) and I went out the first day during siesta, but we now use the time to relax, write blog entries, nap, and study Spanish. Part of me screams that siesta is a waste of time, but I’m also coming to really appreciate it; especially since the majority of Spanish life seems to occur during the evening and at night. The streets are packed with people at night: dinner or tapas are usually eaten between 9:00 pm and midnight and after that, people go out to the bars or discotecas. The workday starts around 8:00 am and people break for breakfast and coffee at 10:00 am. Then it’s home for siesta at 2:00 pm. Life here seems to be more relaxed than in the US.

Travel: People walk EVERYWHERE here. Cars are present, but it’s a nightmare to try and drive anywhere and even worse to try and park. The streets are narrow, winding, and bumpy, so people walk to their destinations. There appears to be a comprehensive bus system, but I’ve yet to take one because walking is such fun. There is always so much to look at because the stores are packed very closely together. I swear I walk at least 5 miles a day. Walking takes longer and is a “waste of time” but people don’t seem to care: I really like this about Granada.

Community: There is definitely more of a community feel here than in the States. Everyone is out in the streets with their families and their friends, talking, laughing and enjoying themselves. We were lucky enough to be in town for the celebration of Granada’s patron saint day. As a celebration, they had a street market with vendors selling Tortas de la Virgen (large, flat pastries), toys for children, pastries, and fruit. There was also a procession where the women of the town “accompanied” the virgin. They walked through the streets barefoot and carrying lighted candles. The route took them to two different cathedrals and probably covered a good ½ mile to a mile of ground. I swear that most of the city was in the streets, buying things in the market, strolling with their families and friends, or participating in/observing the procession. It feels like such a community at all times: hardly anyone is on their cell phones or listening to headphones: they’re participating in the city and enjoying life and each other instead.

Style: The Spaniards are very, very stylish. I – and almost all of the other Americans here – stick out like sore thumbs because we dress for comfort rather than style. This is not the way it is done in Spain. Women wear heels or cute but uncomfortable-looking flats everywhere which makes little sense to me because the streets are cobblestoned, cracked, and uneven in many places. Plus, you have to walk everywhere. Flare is also very important. Every Spanish outfit has some kind of flare associated with it, be it a scarf, a large piece of jewelry, a headband, a loud shirt with a belt; there’s always something. I think I’ve seen one person in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. People dress up even more during the nighttime, but it’s generally an effortless style/look that the Spaniards adopt.

This is just my initial list of observations. More to come. Carrie and I have spent most of our time just wandering the streets and observing things. We try to blend in with the Spaniards, but there’s no hope for us yet. Besides the general wanderings, we’ve also been on a few excursions.

Here’s a brief summary of things we’ve done so far (with pictures!):

La Alhambra: It’s a walled-city fortress/palace up on the hill overlooking Granada. The grounds are absolutely beautiful! There are gardens everywhere and no part of the buildings – except for the Christian portions – were built without thought of the sun, the heat, and the beauty of the surroundings. The walls are decorated with intricate designs – anytime you see an octagon, it represents God – and the arches are all specially proportioned to alternatively block or let in sunlight depending on the time of day and the time of year. The walls are all different thicknesses as well depending on which direction they’re facing to provide more or less insulation against the heat of the day.

Fountains abound here, but they are gentle, burbling fountains that are designed to preserve the peace of the gardens. All of the decorations and tiling are placed at different heights in the different rooms depending on how they are meant to be observed and based on the function the room served. If the majority of business in a room was conducted sitting down, the tiles only reach a certain height on the wall because people are usually leaning against it while sitting. The wall designs were also arranged so that they are best seen from a seated position.

The Alhambra is hands down the most beautiful thing and impressive thing I’ve seen on this trip. I took a trillion pictures – none of which do the place justice – and you’ll have to catch me when I get back if you’d like to see them all.

Generalife: Pronounced “hen-air-all-leaf-eh”, not “general-life,” are the gardens next to the Alhambra. There is a palace here as well, but it’s not nearly as grand as the Alhambra’s palace. The gardens here are much more manicured, meaning that the architect of them was probably a European (our guide said Italian). The fountains here are loud and boisterous and the flowers make the air smell delicious. Apparently, someone was paid big bucks back in the day to plant the flowers in such away as to create the beautiful aromas.

There are beautiful views of the Alhambra from Generalife and of Granada itself.

Museo del Prado (Madrid): Lots of paintings and a few sculptures. We saw a lot of work by El Greco – some of which was very dark – and a really cool painting called Las Meminas. If you stood far enough away from Las Meminas, the painting gave an illusion that you were staring into another room and watching the scene rather than just looking at a painting.

Palacio Real (Madrid): The monarchs don’t actually live here anymore, but the majority of state business is still conducted within its walls. We saw an armory – lots of knight’s armor, swords, and shields – as well as the old pharmacy which contained lots of painted jars on shelves. The palace tour was the best part; everything in the palace is very heavily adorned with gold or other precious metals. In one room, the walls were embroidered in intricate designs rather than painted. Apparently it took over 70 years to finish the walls of this room.

Reina Sophia Museum of Art (Madrid): We saw some works of art by Dalí and Picasso including Guernika. Guernika was incredible – it’s huge! – and is so much cooler in real life than in print form. My favorite painting here was actually painted by someone I didn’t know and was called Chain Gang. It depicted a group of people trudging down the street in the rain. The artist did a wonderful job of capturing how light reflects off of water on the ground and how rain at night can make everything look really fuzzy. It was an understated painting, but very cool.

El Escorial: We went and saw an old monastery in El Escorial. The monastery is still functioning and is also a boarding school for elementary and junior high-aged kids (1000 Euro a month to send your children here). The best part of the monastery was the cathedral which was absolutely gigantic!

Toledo: An old, walled city with narrow, winding streets. Neat to see, but I don’t need to go back.

Bullfight (Granada): I only stayed to watch three bulls be killed because I didn't care to see anymore. It was a very interesting experience. There is a lot of ceremony involved with the bull fight. There are multiple "helper" matadors that help distract the bull (who is big and mean) and then un maestro matador whose job it is to kill the bull. They bring out horses (that occasionally get bashed by the bull - don't worry, they're wearing armor, though our senora says that occasionally they get goared) for no reason that I can tell and then everyone goes away except the maestro and the bull. The maestro is given six "banderillas" which are little swords with what look like towels wrapped around them. His job is to stab the bull in the back with them, two-at-a-time, when it charges him. After he's stuck the banderillas in the bull's back, he gets his cape back and tries to see how many tricks he can perform while having the bull charge at him.

After he's messed with the bull awhile and gained the crowd's admiration, he'll take a large sword and stab the bull down the spine when it charges at him. If it's done well, the sword will go right through the bull's lungs and heart and spinal cord and kill it almost instantly. If he does it wrong, the bull suffers more and all the other matadors come out and tease it more until it falls over and then they stab it in the head with a dagger. At the end, the crowd stands and cheers and waves a white handkerchief if they liked the matador.

I appreciate the tradition of this, but it is very cruel as well and I don't care to ever see it again. Apparently, the bull's meat is eaten, I just wish they didn't have to torture it so much before they kill it.

Hope all is going well for everyone at home: feel free to write me an email and let me know how things are going. It’s nice to hear from you!

Bienvenidos y hasta luego!

Hi all and welcome to my blog! I'm off to Granada, Spain on Sunday where I'll be spending the next three months or so learning to speak Spanish and exploring Spain and Europe. Right now, I'm frantically packing and preparing - hopefully I'm not forgetting anything too big - and trying to say "goodbye" to everyone I won't be seeing until Christmas.

I'll be staying with a host-family in Granada: they have a flat on the river Gentil and I'm looking forward to a few river-walks during my stay :-). It'll be a few days before I actually reach Granada and settle-in: the program will take us to Madrid, El Escorial, and Toledo before introducing us to our host-families.

Needless to say I'm both super excited - and super nervous - to leave. Not having easy cell phone access or face-to-face contact with all my friends and family for three months is going to be difficult, but I know I'm going to have an awesome time! I'll try to keep the blog updated as best I can while I'm away. In the meantime, feel free to leave me a message and I'll try to get back to you asap!

Hasta luego!