Starting at the top....

The first two photos are from the gardens. They were a lovely mix of Arab architecture and flowers which I´m sure looked nice in the spring. They were not in bloom when I was there, but there was plenty of color from the oranges.

The next two are photos from atop the Giralda. It is a tower which was used for the Muslim people to pray in five times a day. It is very tall and consits of a ramp rather than stairs. That is because the people would use horses to climb the tower, and aparently that is much easier to do via ramp than stairs. We could see the city clear through the horizons. It was an experience different from the Eifel Tower, for there appeared more clutter from the heights of the Giralda.

I ate my sandwich by the river in the next photo. The sun was warm there and I liked the colorful sight.

The following two photos are from the streets. The street sign says Vida which means Life. The second photo is a perfect example of the narrow winding streets cluttered with apartments. Philly row homes seem spacious in comparison.

The final two photos were taken by the Alcazar. It was a Palace built with many influences and a mixture of cultures. Very beautiful indeed, not to mention the addition of classical guitar serenading the walking tour.

Sevilla

This weekend I am sending my friends all around the world. One to Prague, one to Milan, one to Paris, one to Dublin, one to Granada, and one to Berlin. I have waved farewell and will keep an eye on Madrid for them in their absences. This is quite an unusual time of life. I have planned for myself, endless exhibitions and activities around Madrid for I have only two weekends left. Leaving Madrid doesn´t worry me for I feel ready to work hard in school again and see my friends and family. I am sure I will be out of shape for the busy north east. No siestas or coffee breaks in between classes. My host mother always encourages me to take a nap. I am forming the habits of a 65 year old woman at the age of 20. Yes, I think I will be out of shape for the north east.

Last weekend I took a trip to Sevilla. I was glad it was my last trip with API because travelling with 30+ young, foreigners is not fun. But, Sevilla was beautiful. It is in southern Spain and therefore has a heavy Arab influence in the architecture and culture. Despite the cold weather, the terrain looked tropical and exotic. Orange trees lined the narrow streets packed with houses and shops. Oranges fell like autumn leaves on to the street, into the gutters, onto cafe table tops- it was the most distinct part of the scenery. Like the fear of birds flying overhead, I was sure that an orange would fall on my head at some point, but it never did. I ate two but they were as sour as lemons, unfortunate because my first thought when I saw them was that I wouldn’t have to pay for meals during the visit.

One of the best meals I had was at a tappas bar. Some say that tappa´s originated in Sevilla, but others say they did not, so it depends where you ask. However, we ate dinner one night at the oldest tappas bar in Spain. It was opened in the 1670’s and the ambiance was very fun. The tables were large barrels turned upright with boards across the top. They looked almost like a giant spools of thread. The counter tops were used to keep the bill tabs with chalk and legs of cured ham were (as usual) dangling from every free space on the ceiling. At first, the waiter was frustrated with our indecisiveness and poor Spanish because Spaniards seemingly know what they want before they walk in the door and ordering is a fast process. Soon though he warmed up and suggested his favorite drinks and tappas. Espinaca y garbanzas was my favorite which is a stewed mix of spinach and chick peas eaten with bread or crackers.

The next day we went on a walking tour for Sevilla is not very large and saw The Alcazar, The Cathedral, which is the third largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the Giralda. The tour felt like a whirlwind of centuries and styles. We walked through five centuries, three religions, and three regional influences. It is hard to process so much so quickly, but it was beautiful. Again, this was prime practice for my art history class. I really enjoyed seeing the reality of what I had learned in class. The trip was excellent and I hold many precious memories from it. I will post more photos when I have a better internet connection. The computer uploads pictures very slowly and I have run out of time.

As usual, I told Carmen all that I saw and did with an excitement that disregards verb tenses and articles. When I told Carmen how much I liked espinaca y garbanzas, she cooked it for dinner the next day! She is a great cook and I have been eating well, which I can’t say for all my friends staying with host families. She and I had coffee this morning chatting about this and that. She told me the other day that I was the tidiest student she has ever had and that she has not met any Americans like me. What a nice compliment, especially because she has been hosting students for over ten years. She still gets frustrated at me when I forget to lock the door or shut off the lights, but we are getting along well, perhaps because our habits are melding.

I am off to the Archeological Museum. I’ve heard it has artifacts that will help me study for my history exam which is one week away. I am shocked that it is already time for finals, but I feel like I have learned a lot. However, I am in a full year program for only one semester, so I will know everything about Spain up until the Catholic Kings. Spain does not stop there, but I do. I find that very funny.

a little bit wiser now.

I have been to Paris. I have eaten my weight in crepes, watched the afternoon go by from a street cafe, toured the Louvre, I have had a great time.

It was a unique experience, and I have a great desire to return and see it all again for a longer period of time. A hazy sky and constant mist back dropped the entire weekend, which added to the mystery of Parisian life. Even potentially bad qualities of the trip helped to make the experience well rounded.

We arrived after dark and one of the first sights we could see was the Eiffel Tower glowing bright blue right outside our hotel. I was surprised to see it blue, and in my opinion, it was rather tacky. I had made an end goal to see it before the night was through, but still had not had dinner. Considering the trip consisted with about 30 other students in my program, it was hard to manage little things such as dinner. Cafes are small and unaccommodating for such large groups, so it was easiest to quietly shy away from the group. A few girls and I found a crepe stand and victoriusly ate our first French crepes while testing out our few French phrases with the chef. He wasn´t impressed, but amused.

We made it back to that stand two more times before the weekend was through. The rest of the evening was spend beneath the tower, chatting with friends, and watching it glow. We had a big day ahead of us, so turned in early (consiering early means before 3 am, now that I have adjusted to Madrid time).

I woke to strange curtains and bedspreads, only to remember I was in Paris, not Madrid. Not a bad discovery! We went on a bus tour early that morning of all the highlights. It helped me to get oriented with the city which was helpful to all the walking we did next.




Here is a photo of Notre Dame. I have been taking an art history class so it was exciting to point out the ´contrafuertes y bovedas y typos de arcos´to whoever cared to listen. Spanish arquitecture has plenty of French influence especially gothic style cathedrals, so I was just starting to learn about the thirteenth century gothic cathedrals. Great timing.

Afterwards, we walked the streets with the end goal of the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Before reaching the cemetery, we stoped for lunch and wandered in several shops. There was so much that I saw in those few short days that pictures are the best way to express some of what happened.














Endless sights and scents, sounds and tastes, filled my trip to Paris. I had a moment of clarity when sitting on the Eiffel Tower with my roommate Hannah sipping hot chocolate. From internal perspective, the normally geometrically precise tower looked chaotic. Its innards were an opaque spiderweb that dizzied the eye. Yet beneath us, the whirlwind of Paris looked serene and organized. I think that there is much to be learned from changing your perspective of an object, or even a person. That instance, seems to stand out as the most remarkable from the trip, but I could go on for quite a while. I will spare the tales and offer more pictures.

antes de Paris

Before the packing begins, before the passport comes out, before the itinerary is embarked upon, I wanted to write as a young woman who has never been to Paris. This will only last for one more day, so I must take advantage of it (and the internet access). Hemmingway has said that everyone has two homes; their own and Paris. Gertrude Stein heartily agreed when she said, ¨America is my country and Paris is my hometown¨. As I mingle in the land of writers and artists for the next four days, I hope to discover what these authors I admire had experienced. Countless novels and films consist of a young woman´s tour of Europe for the first time, so sometimes I feel apart of a timeless story. So now the plot thickens with Parisian excitement.

as time goes on

I´m afriad I have not much to say in the travel adventure category for I´ve been in the neighborhood for the past few weekends, but there is never a dull moment in Madrid. A hyperbole, yes, but sometimes it seems true for the streets are never vacant and I rarely see a shop closing. I am glad to be living here with the attitude that I will be leaving shortly because even the irritations are to be treasured and learned from. It really isn´t a bad perspective towards most of life because, regardless of our recognition, it is temporary after all.

The leaves change with a dull brillaince compared to home and the streets are filling with pea coats as winter slowly comes. As change comes like clockwork, the great change in the states has stirred the people here. The election has been printed in every paper and has been regularly on the news. As soon as people hear my terrible spanish accent, they normally ask me, Obama or McCain? Supported by American broadcasting, most political conversations end up being conversations of race and gender, and I have been surprised at some of the spainards responses. Many people have said they are concerned that Obama is black, but nonetheless he is very popular here. I slept soundly through election night because I had a test the next morning, but many Americans here had quite the night. There were election parties in the center of the city throughout many bars. My roommate came home in the early morning to report the outcome to me after spending the night at an Irish Pub watching the election. A risky combination, alcohol and politics, but she had a good time. That may be one of my first regrets, that I didn´t go out that night considering its historical importance. But, hopefully I will at least get a good grade on my test.

Last night, I went to see a spanish film called Solo Quiero Caminar. The poster looked artsy so I assumed some sort of drama about internal realizations, only to be startled at the fist scene of murder and sex. It was a spanish gangster film. It was very interesting though because an underlying theme was based around gender roles. In one of my classes we are talking about modern Spain and the transition into the liberal position they are in now, so this film was relevant to Spanish concerns. Conservative and traditional ideas were thrown to the wayside in this film. Although I was expecting long dramatic dialogue, café settings, and quiet music, the blood and chase scenes expressed some Spanish themes which were interesting to learn about. The sun is high today so I am about to go wander the Botanical Gardens. Hasta Luego.

el escorial

Unfortunaltely I have no pictures with me to post at present. So in compensation, a thousand words should do.

Here I go.

I went to El Escorial this past weekend only to be confoudned and amazed yet again. Not just a cultural appreciation for Spain but for people who dedicate themselves and their entire life pursuit to knowledge and the beauty that is the result. For those who don´t know, El Escorial is a monastery and school built by Philip the Second in the sixteenth century. During Philip´s reign it functioned as his retreat and public relation center, as well as a monastery, school, and burial grounds for royalty. Now it is still a monastery and school, along with guided tours for the public. I walked through shadowy and drafty hallways of granite, along with other curious tourists and could even hear the monks´ songs through the corridors. Certainly an uncommon experience for me.

We first were taken into the library which, the tour guide said, is the most ´important´ in the world. Important, I suppose, is quite subjective, but his description was that they housed books from the 5th century (I wonder though, if that was a language confusion) and the rarity of their collection is where it derives its importance. Along the ceiling was painted a mural of the seven sciences (philosophy, astronomy, theology, etc.) corresponding with the placement of the books. Certainly more esthetically pleasing then the Dewey Decimal. I had an alarmingly strong desire to stay there the rest of my life and learn along with the monks about life. I don´t think API would allow for it- maybe with a permission slip.

Indeed it was an excellent trip, and one of my favorites thus far. As November lurks only 4 days out of sight, anxiety sets in about returning to the real world. It is the Sunday night sensation, but a bit stronger. So, I will embrace all that I can in these next two months and do my best to maintain my memories and lessons!