Dia de Virgen Aungustias

Each city in Spain has a Patron Saint and this past Sunday just so happened to be La Virgen de Maria Aungustias, the Patron Saint of Granada. Typically Spaniards are named after a Saint, which is why almost everyone shares the same five names (Maria, Fernando, Antonio etc.) Each Saint has a particular day designated towards them. On this day, all those who are named after them celebrate the festivities as a second birthday of sorts. Because Saint Aungustias is the patron saint of Granada there is a huge festival and parade each year. Ellen and I decided to see what all of the fuss was about and participate.

It was unlike anything we had ever seen. Downtown Granada was absolutely packed! There were vendors everywhere selling balloons and sweets. However, unlike the States with their deep fried twinkies, there were booths with nuts, grapes and spices. The balconies of building were decorated with Spanish flags… this was very unusual. Because Spain is so divided and shows patriotism towards each individual region and even has a president for each region, Spaniards very rarely show patriotism towards their Country and do not feel a connection to it. Apparently Saint festivities allow boundaries to be forgotten.

It was strange being out in an extremely public and religious festival. Rather than big cartoon balloons walking down the street or clowns with bicycles, there were military men marching to the beat of the band, congressmen and women dressed in traditional sixteenth century court attire, adorning the crest of Granada… and leading the procession wasn’t Santa Clause, but a statue of Saint Aungustias in a throne with Jesus on her lap being carried by a group of men beneath her. To be honest, it was a bit creepy and we weren’t sure how we felt about it. As the statue passed us a man from the crowd yelled “Viva Saint Aungustias” and everyone replied with “viva!” We had absolutely no clue why that was the traditional statement everyone knew.

We decided to ditch the crowds and get a cup of coffee at one of the plazas off the main street and it turned out to be the place where most of the families had gone during the parade. I can see why you wouldn’t want to worry about your three year old in the masses outside. Spaniards don’t look out for one another, they love to trample people in general… they do not move out of the way under any circumstances. The parade was at six oclock rather than the morning like the parades at home, so I wasn’t surprised when we heard “fireworks,” but the fireworks went off before it even got dark. And rather than fireworks they were just loud shots that made brief sparks in the sky. It was very unusual. I am glad we went to see what it was like, but I can’t say I would rush out any time soon. I think I like our Thanksgiving Day parade a little better ;)

Intercambio Fun

Last night we met up with our intercambio buddies again. We met Alejandro and Fernando and their friends for tea. We went to a nice little place overlooking the Alhambra. I satisfied my need for Chai tea and had Chai Chino te... the real stuff! It wasn't a mix of sugar and flavorings but a tea pot brewed with real cinnamon and spices! It was fantastic :)

We went to a little Chocolate festival. The best idea any city has ever had! An entire festival devoted to chocolate :) Alejandro was very excited to buy a cocoa seed, so that he can plant a cocoa plant in his backyard. The pod itself was much bigger than I was expecting. Ellen and I opted for a crepe with melted milk chocolate... yummm.

They were very excited to take us to this unusual place for dinner. They couldn't stop talking about how good it was and how much we would love it. By the time we got there they had hyped it up and I was pretty excited. We turned the corner and it was a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place :)I had to do my best to act very excited. They couldn't believe we had them everywhere in the states. It was a gold mine to them. The pizza was very good :)

It has been so nice to hang out with locals that live here. Especially because they are a little bit older and more mature... it is a nice break from some of the crazy american students!

Intercambio

Last night we went to our first intercambio event. Intercambios are an exchange between Spanish speaking and English speaking individuals. So people in Granada who are learning English sign up to meet people, like us, who are here studying Spanish. The idea is you go out for tapas or a walk, or whatever it is you like to do and both of you get to practice your Spanish and English skills.

I was pretty nervous about going, but I am very glad I did. My Spanish is no where near the levels of a large majority of the students in our program, and I feared that I would feel overwhelmed and intimidated, but it turned out to be a great experience. I am so glad I went. David, one of our directors, arranged for a group of 80 of us, 40 americans and 40 spaniards, to go out for Arabic tea at a Teteria and mingle for the evening and hopefully make contacts to meet up with in the future. We had "pakistani" tea, which tastes a bit like chai and is very spicey, and arabic, sweet pastries. It was a very cool atmosphere.

Ellen and I sat down with two of the Spanish men in the group that were in their mid twenties, Fernando and Alejandro, and clicked right away. They are friends from English classes they have taken over the past 7 years and speak English very well, I was truly impressed. Everyone else in the group appeared to be on a blind date with young Spaniards hoping to meet American women, but Fern and Alejandro genuinely just wanted to practice their English... we were so thankful!

After tea we went out for tapas with a smaller group of Spaniards and other students from our group and had a great time getting to know them and practicing our Spanish. Fern actually lives near us and loves to run along the river, which is perfect. We decided we could have "walk and talk" meetings to practice. He even showed us a shortcut on the way home that takes half the amount of time! It was great :) Alejandro lives up by the old moorish portion of the city and happens to know a lot of really great Flamenco bars, so he is going to take Ellen and I to see something authentic Flamenco! Yay! By the end of the night, I was proud of myself for going and putting myself out there, not knowing a large amount of Spanish. They were excellent people to practice with. Because they too are trying to understand your language, it made the whole experience so much more relaxing and comfortable. It helped knowing they would make mistakes too and want to learn more about what we had to say. Overall a great experience and I can't wait to meet more people. This is a picture of me and Ellen with Fernando at the Tapas bar we went to, Alejandro had already left by this point.

Universidad de Granada

I went on a small guided tour of the University today with a small number of students from our program. Christian, one of our program directors, walked us all around the city. It was a very enlightening tour, as he told us all about the history of the university and the university systems in Europe in general. Unlike universities in the States, colleges are not built on campuses, but are instead spread throughout the city in various buildings. Depending upon the subject you are studying you are placed within a different building. It could take you up to 45 minutes to walk to other side of "campus" in the city.

Christian explained to us that, unlike the States, public schools are preferred over private and a degree from a public school is considered to be superior. The public schooling system is very inexpensive, about 1000 euros per school year! During Franco's dictatorship, parents felt that it was very important to send their children to college to educate them as much as possible. Families felt that if their kids were educated they might not fall in to Franco's ways or have a better understanding of other political systems and ways of life outside of Spain. So, as you can imagine, roughly 85% of individuals around the age of 40 have a college degree. The influx in individuals with degrees has placed an economic strain on Spain. Recently, a plumber was making almost 5x as much money as a doctor or lawyer, simply because there were too many of them and not enough jobs to support them with. According to Christian this has begun to even out, but it is still very difficult to find jobs. He told us that often times the street sweepers and trash men are actually people with degrees that could not find a job anywhere else. The younger generations have increasingly invested their time in vocational jobs outside of high school, because they no longer see the importance of getting a further education. Perhaps this explains why our 20 year old "brother" doesn't seem very motivated on a daily basis.

Back to the University itself... There are 80,000 students in the University itself. European countries have a program called Erasmus, which allows any student to apply to pay full tuition to their home university and then attend another somewhere else in Europe. The idea is that you're paying for another visiting student as they are paying for you elsewhere. The University of Granada for whatever reason has the largest number of Erasmus students each year, making it a huge school, but also very diverse. There are only two colleges in Andalucia, southern Spain, which helps to explain the size itself. However, the two universities have pilot schools in other cities that are part of the university itself.

The first building was built in 1533 and establishes UGR as one of the oldest colleges in Europe. They are currently renovating this building. The university buildings themselves look nothing like schools. Because they are randomly selected buildings throughout the city, they can be anything, an old hotel, an old house, you name it. Because they are all so different the architecture and style is unique to each building, I love this about them. Better even still, it doesn't feel like you're in a school at all. This is a picture of one of the school buildings. This is actually inside the building, most of them have center courtyards to gather in between classes. Granada loves white buildings with yellow trim... it's everywhere!

Musica

We were shocked... and a little disappointed, to find out that most European countries listen to American music :( We had hoped that we would be experiencing a different musical culture, but for the most part it is the same music from home. Don't get me wrong, there are Spanish artists, they just aren't played for the most part.

we have heard everything from oldies, to hip hop, to country music since we have been here. While we were out at the discoteca the other night, they played "Aint no Mountain High Enough," "RESPECT," Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and a whole slew of 90s music. It was a lot of fun to be out dancing and listening to this music, but I'm still not prepared to hear it in those settings.

So far, the only time I have experienced Spanish music is in class. On Fridays, when most of the students are tired, our teachers play music and we have to try and dissect the lyrics and their meaning. I've enjoyed it. Ellen and I are considering buying some Spanish music on itunes to work on our listening skills :)

Comida

Churros Con Chocolate

Ellen and I finally ate the famous Churros Con Chocolate this past week. They are the typical Granada treat known worldwide and they did not disappoint. We went with two of our friends, Travis and Sherman, to “Alhambra” the most famous churros restaurant of them all. Before looking at the menu, our waiter asked us if we would each like an order of churros and we assumed that was exactly what we wanted. A few minutes passed, and our server brought out a PLATTER of churros and four large cups of chocolate. We had no idea that each order came with 4 large (about 8inches) churros and a large cup of chocolate. Needless to say, there were about 16 churros for the 4 of us to eat! Thank goodness we were with boys and their appetites.
The churros were great! They are not covered in sugar and cinnamon like churros in the States. They look like and have the same texture as onion rings, but have dough inside instead. They serve a cup of hot melted chocolate to dip them in. They were delicious, but we could have easily ordered one order and been more than satisfied. We know better now 

Tortilla Española

Tortilla Española is one of the traditional Spanish meals that we have come to love. It is a potato omelet and is made with potatoes, eggs, and onion. They cook the potatoes in a pan with olive oil for a few minutes and then add the egg and onion and pan fry for a few minutes. They serve it hot as a meal of its own, cold in sandwiches, or as small tapas. It can be pretty bland if made incorrectly, but can have A LOT of flavor if done well. This is a picture of Ellen with Her Absolute Favorite, Tortilla Espanola.

Paella

Paella is another one of the traditional Spanish meals. It is a large portion of rice mixed with any combination of things, seafood (shrimp, muscles), chicken, vegetables. It is very good, but it is difficult for me to eat it as a meal on its own. I prefer to have it along with something else, but it is normally served as its own dish. I'm sure this is a "put down" to Spanish food, but it tastes a little like RiceAroni with chicken or seafood added to it. This is a picture of the chicken Paella we had in Toledo.

Taking a break from the city life

This past weekend, I went on a hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains behind Granada with a small group from our program. We could not have asked for better weather! The weather had cooled down and it was slightly cloudy, which was perfect. In order to get to the mountains, we took a twenty minute bus ride out to the base and began our assent. A small "hippie" village is at the bast of the mountain, so we walked passed several houses while on the immediate trail. There were olive trees and grapes growing along the path... a sure sign that we were in Andalusia. However, once we left the pavement we were completely separate from civilization and it was great! I am not accustomed to living in the city and I was very happy to be out and walking around in the fresh air :)

The mountains are great for rock climbing and there were quite a few groups out and about. However, this meant that we had to do a bit of maneuvering ourselves. In a few places you had to climb the rock face, holding on to metal bars placed in the rock. We crossed over suspension bridges many times and probably had too much fun doing so.

While on our walk we passed man made aqueducts built hundreds of years ago. These aqueducts were used to take fresh water down to the city and the Alhambra. They're still running and working today :) The hundreds of fountains we saw while in the Alhambra were all running off of the aqueducts on the mountain...pretty cool.

We didn't see much wildlife while on our hike, but we did see a few mountain goats on the hillside. They were the best looking goats I have ever seen ;) We were told the streams have fish, but we didn't see any. The water was crystal clear. It was a great day for a hike :)

The weather continued to cool down throughout the weekend and we had our first taste of rain in Granada on Saturday. Ellen and I went out for a walk to buy, search, for peanut butter and got caught in the rain. Of course when we made it back across town the rain subsided, but it was refreshing nonetheless. We had a similar experience today. We decided to go out again today and once again got caught in the rain, so we had a good time tromping back through the puddles across town.

Our family stays inside most of the day on a regular basis, but was inside this evening in particular because of the rain. Ellen and I were invited to play Monopoly in Spanish and had a great time. They offered us Chupito de Chocolate while playing. Chupito in Spanish means "shot," so it was a shot of liquor, something similar to baileys, with chocolate and cherry syrup... I thought it was disgusting, but Ellen like it :) It was different that's for sure. Chupito, or no Chupito, we had a great time playing Monopoly. It was an older version and used Pesetas, their monetary standard before the euro, and was a great time for me to practice my Spanish. Our Spanish Monopoly would not have been complete without Laura, our host sister, playing and dancing to Michael Jackson. It was a sight to behold :)

Living in History

Each day here seems so different, simply because you are surrounded and immersed in history. One of our directors took a few of us on a tour of our neighborhood to fill us in on the history of the neighborhood we live in. We started our tour just outside the office doors at an old fountain. Little did we know that behind that fountain was one of the dozens of secret passageways leading outside of the Alhambra. I have walked past this fountain dozens of times by now and never would have know. Supposedly, when Napoleon had the city and the Alhambra surrounded, a soldier managed to escape outside of this secret passageway, allowing him to save the Alhambra from Napoleon and his forces. No where in the United States could I find somewhere with as much history... it is fascinating.

He walked us by one of the old houses lining the street called Casa de Tirros. It looks like many of the old buildings in the city, but has a rich history. Apparently, one of the head officials of the military in Spain during the 16th century lived in this house with his family. His son, who was to take his place fell in love with a gypsy. His father forbade him from marrying this woman, but the son persisted. The father went mad and murdered his son in the house so that he couldn't marry the gypsy. The father was so distraught after that he had all of his weapons removed from the house and plastered to the walls outside to declare his divorce from the military and violence. The house is now called Casa de Tirros, the house of the shots, and is a museum full of militaristic displays.

Walking down the street, a construction sight had been delayed at the discovery of two huge Roman pots. These pots were about the size of a cow and would have been used for baths at the time.

Located in the center of our neighborhood, is one of many large, old cathedrals. Isabella had it built during her reign, but the story as to why was fascinating. Before the catholics came in to Granada, Muslims, Jews and Christians all lived in harmony without much difficult. When the Catholics came they exiled anyone who wasn't a strict catholic; however, one day Isabella was walking the streets and heard a young girl singing a lovely song in a language she did not know and had her arrested. The young girl had been singing in Hebrew, which was forbidden and normally would have been executed because of it, but Isabella wanted to learn the song. The young girl lived the rest of her life in prison translating the song into spanish. Isabella told the jewish monks, still reciting hebrew, that no harm would come of them if they erected something to remind the people of the young girl, forever trapped in prison, crying. The church was built with a unique gargoyle placed on the front. The gargoyle was made to look like the young girls face and positioned so that whenever it rained, it would look as if the young girl was crying. In the end, the monks still won, seeing as that it hardly ever rains in Granada and the young girl is happy 350 days out of the year :)

He told us many other stories and legends that were truly fascinating. It amazes me that there is so much history surrounding me on a daily basis and makes me excited to explore the rest of the city. Our director wanted us to realize that there are so many things we'll never know unless we look for them ourselves. It was a great stroll throughout the neighborhood.

The picture is of Plaza de Isabella Catolica and shows Isabella giving Columbus the map of the world to depart on his voyage.... low and behold, the Americas :)

Typical Weekend In Granada with Morgan and Dave

Morgan and Dave visited this last weekend. They are doing Semester at Sea and came in to port in Cadiz, Spain. We went to La Alhambra and visited the old Moorish and Christian palaces with them. It is absolutely beautiful! We had a great time showing them around the Alhambra and Granada. We went to Granada 10, a popular discoteca in Granada, and had a great time. We went to the club at 2 am and left well before the locals started to arrive (they go out around 3 or 4 am!) We enjoyed the Albyzin, the old moorish portion of the city, and enjoyed its view of the Alhambra. Their hostel had a rooftop pool and view of the city which was very nice for $16 dollars a night. We sampled various kinds of Sangria and found that we like them all, imagine that.

We had our first gypsy experiences while they were here. The gypsies here carry around branches at all time and offer to read your palm... then demand money in return. It is really a strange operation they have going on. The gypsies have been pushed out by a large group of Rastafarians in Granada, they are everywhere. They live in the caves behind Granada without electricity and running water. In my opinion I would much rather have the Rastas out than the gypsies, they are very friendly and cause very few problems.

We went to a local Cerveceria and watched a Spanish Futbol game on TV, it was quite an experience. The locals LOVE futbol, it was so exciting. Espana won by a long shot and it wasn't much of a game, but it was still very exciting :-

Hablando y Viviendo en Espanol

We have started taking classes at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas in Granada and it is very exciting. ( I have included a picture of our school) I have only been in Granada for a week and I find myself speaking English horribly! I am in classes four hours a day and eating, drinking, thinking Espanol.

Learning a language in a different country is so entirely different than learning in the States. There is a new motivation that inspires you to do well in class and to learn as much as possible. Each day I pick up new colloquial sayings that you learn only by living and experiencing a certain culture. I do my best to try and speak Spanish as much as possible, but it is exhausting. Never, in all my life, have I had to concentrate so hard and so much in my classes. It is hard work, but very rewarding.

The social customs are so entirely different that I am thrown a curve ball each day. In some ways people are much more affectionate, but in others very rude. For such an affectionate culture (kissing cheeks, hugging often), everyday individuals are rather rude. I have yet to decipher if this is because I am an American, or simply the way they interact. There are very few "please" and "thank yous" on the street. SImilarly, tipping is non-existent here and service reflects this clearly. Servers very rarely smile and treat you with hospitality and respect, but with hostility and annoyance. I like to think that waitresses would be polite irregardless of tips in the United States, but who knows.

Similarly, smiling at people on the street does not exist and staring takes its place. Smiling is considered flirting and can cause you trouble, but staring is completely normal and not considered rude or impolite whatsoever. It is so different to get used to.

The individuals I have met that are connected to our studies have been very helpful and polite. Our teachers are very nice and seem to negate the standard social norms, but most of them have spent time in the United States studying or teaching. I wonder if the response I receive from people will change over time during my stay here. If I'll become more accustomed to it, or I will appear more Spanish. It shall be interesting. Ellen and I are off to take a guided tour through the neighborhood our school is in. Hopefully less staring and more smiling :0)

Toledo

We left Madrid and visited Valle de los Caidos, the Valley of the Fallen. It was without a doubt one of the creepiest places I have ever been. One of our friends who had been there, told us it reminded him of the dementors from Harry Potter and he could not have been more right. The place literally sucked the life and happiness out of you and was covered with statues of cloaked figures. The monument was a large basilica and cross built as a testimony to Franco, a terrible dictator during WWII. It was built by his prisoners and hundreds of thousands of people died while building it. There were priests there that were preparing for mass, obviously followers of Franco. There was a large group of people gathering for mass within the basilica and it was so disturbing. They were clearly there to pay tribute to this horrible man and it felt so incredible wrong. It was too disturbing to be in there long, so we left. Our directors did not even enter with us because they hate it so much, but I am glad that they felt we needed to be educated about it.
After leaving the monument, we went to a much happier place, El Escorial. El Escorial is the summer palace of the kings and queens of Spain. The palace dates back as far as the 1100s. King Felipe II built the palace as his summer palace to escape the troubles of Madrid.
After visiting El Escorial we checked in to our hotel in Toledo. We went on a walking tour of Toledo and visited the various churches and cathedrals. Toledo is an absolutely beautiful city and brings a whole new meaning to “holy Toledo!”

The pictures are taken at a famous viewing point in Toledo. Our friends Nate, on the left, and Randal on the right are with us.

Madrid

Ellen and I were picked up at the airport in Madrid by two of our directors and we knew immediately that it would be a good relationship. We met up with the rest of our group at our hotel and went on a bus tour of Madrid that night. It is one of the few cities that has more trees than people, this made all the difference in the world. Madrid has parks EVERYWHERE. It made it so much nicer. The air was clean, the streets were clean and you didn’t feel like you were in a city at all. We visited the Prado museum and had a guided tour of the art. We were shown art by Francisco Goya and Vasquez. Goya’s art taught us so much about the history of Spain, just within a few hours.

After visiting the Prado we visited Palacio Royal, the Royal Palace in Madrid. The Palace was over 34,000 square feet and extremely extravagant. The tour was fascinating. It is amazing how much you learn about someone simply by looking at the place in which they live. Fascinating.

Florence

Ellen and I left Cinque Terre for Florence, passing through Pisa on the train. We were glad we hadn’t set time aside for Pisa it seemed rather run down and deserted. We arrive in Florence and were immediately struck by the stench of an old city. I must admit, we did not fall in love immediately, but eventually we came to love it. The first night there we visited the Duomo in downtown Florence. We missed the lines and were truly able to enjoy it. We walked, climbed I should say, the 463 steps to the tops of the dome. The extremely narrow and steep steps were a workout in 95 degree weather, but well worth it. The dome was painted with scenes from both heaven and hell. The paintings were remarkable, but could not prepare you for the stunning panoramic view from the top. The view looked over the entire city, the river, the various churches and synagogues, piazzas, and the old village of Fiesole in the distance. It was truly remarkable!
On our full day in Florence we decided to invest on a sightseeing tour bus…and we could not have been happier about our experience. The double-decker bus took us all throughout the city and educated us on the history of the city. We were able to get on and off frequently and join back up with the tour at a later time.
One of our favorite stops was Piazza Michaelangelo. The Piazza had a bronze copy of the David, It had the best panoramic view of the city. It was situated above the Arno River. It looked over Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s oldest bridge ornamented with antique shops and gellaterias. The bus took us directly across town and to the old village of Fiesole. I decided that if I lived in Florence I would live there instead. W were no longer in a dirty, cramped city, but 9km outside in rolling hills and immense trees overlooking the city. (apparently this is where the rich people live, so I hear) Fiesole and the southern outskirts of the city gave me an entirely different outlook on the city. I am so thankful we decided to spend the money on the tour.
Unfortunately, the line to see the real David was hours long and we didn’t have the time to invest in it so we had to settle with seeing both of the copies, in Piazza Signoria and Piazza Michaelangelo. I would have loved to spend more time in the museums in Florence. It is a city rich with history and culture.

Cinque Terre

After much planning and traveling we finally arrived in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre. The little town is situated on the cliffs and was just as we had expected it to be. Beautifully terraced hillsides and vineyards provide a backdrop for the brightly colored houses, shutters and hanging clothes lines from the balconies of centuries old houses.

Ellen and I had our first experience with Italian pizza, a large slice of bread with little sauce and cheese. It wasn’t bad, but for the most part we felt that Italian food was pretty bland. We walked to the next town, Manarola, with our backpacks in the heat. The hike is called Villa dell Amore and Ellen and I quickly became an “item” amongst the many couples on the walk. This hike is the stereotypical place for honeymooners and young couples. It was beautiful. The tradition is to leave a lock with your loved one locked along the chain hand rails as symbol of your love. The walls are graffitied with couples names and art. My favorite statement was, “spread love through art.”

We arrived in Manarola and were shown to our room. We had a very private room that was almost a granny flat for one of the houses in the town. We had a balcony that overlooked the ocean and the town below us. The steep hillsides are lined with red grapes and fresh produce. We could not have asked for a more private, beautiful and reasonably priced location. We were so thankful to be spending three nights in such a wonderful place.

The people there are so trustworthy and kind. The majority of people that live there are over the age of 60 and are in fantastic shape. While Ellen and I run out of breath walking the steep hillsides, the pass us with baskets of grapes stacked on top of their heads as they make a third of fourth trip up the slopes.

Ellen and I went to a fabulous dinner in the town of Vernazza at a restaurant called Bellforte. The restaurant was perched on the cliffs, right on the water. We enjoyed local zucchini and shrimp pasta and fabulous local wine. It was delicious.

We visited the final village, Monterrosso, on our final day. It was the most “touristy” of the five villages and the largest. It had beautiful beaches lined with umbrellas and people. We visited a few museums that day and learned that the villages began during the 10th century and has been in production of wine ever since!

It was such a beautiful and pleasant experience, I hope to return some day. We could not have asked for a better welcome into our European lifestyle for the next few months.