Unfortunately vacation period is over and this first week back seems sort of strange not seeing posters or preparations for Holy Week and seeing as how their Holy Week is like our Christmas, if not bigger, life seems a little out of balance. I´m having that feeling you have after Christmas when you´re sort of bummed its over but realize that any longer and you might get sick of it. I cannot say it was a relaxing vacation due to the fact we ran/walked everywhere and the city was overcrowded with people, so it´s probably good it was only a week. It was nice to come back to school and see my classmates and hear about their adventures, to get back into the swing of school (cannot believe I´m admitting that, but coming back after this break is unlike any other spring break, I was looking forward to progressing in our courses) however it also meant time for mother to leave. While I´ve said this whole semester I was not homesick I think I may have a little delayed homesickness now that I´ve been reminded of how nice it is to be with your family and I am incredibly fortunate to have a close relationship with my mother than I am always ready to spend time with her. We had a marvelous time together and I had a ball showing her all my favorite places, shopping, running through the city, dodging in and out of people as we tried to get up close for a procession, grabbing ice cream whenever we felt like it and of course just talking and being together. But as I have come to realize you cannot have it all. When you decide to explore the world, take new risks and commit to new adventures, you cannot keep everything the same and that most likely means your family. So while I miss her now, I´m confident that in the next few days when I embark to Cordoba and Sevilla and the following week to Morocco, I will be reminded of the wonderful benefits of traveling and being independent and I am so lucky to know that my family, especially my parents, will always be there for me and Austin will always be my home to return to. Already this afternoon I felt better after going to community service and playing games with the five and six year olds, knowing that here I am in Spain getting to be a friend to some kids on the other side of the world who I feel I´ve been their "maestra" for years.
Oh where to start... Sunday I picked my mom up from the Granada airport and since she arrived in the afternoon the main street had already shut down to prepare for the processions. So I thought we could easily just plow through the thousands of people that already congregated, while I was right, it was a bit more complicated than I thought. I felt a little awkward, two Americans lugging two suitcases down the middle of the main avenue with hundreds of other people around us giving us the odd glare here and there. So after a good forty-five minutes that should only have taken fifteen we arrived at our little apartment we rented for the week. We had decided that staying somewhere where we could cook would be a little more cost effective and healthy for us, while we hardly ate out for meals, we did counteract that healthy food we cooked with many homemade donuts-called roscos fritos which are only made during Holy Week, so of course we had to get our fill, and they were unlike any American donut I had tasted.....Fortunately pastries are super cheap here, which is sort of a bad thing when you actually live here, like me, (the easiest way to gain some pounds) and ser goloso (a person with a sweet tooth, guilty again..) But for the week I think my mom was able to live knowing she only had eight days to eat all the homemade donuts she wanted and I gladly joined in on her vacation mentality. Sorry for the sweet tooth sidetrack, that´s how my mind works though honestly... we arrived at our adorable apartment and after only giving her time to basically change shoes and drop her luggage off we headed out. There were processions in the city going on and I had been told that if it rains they either don´t leave or go back to their church, so you really have to try to catch them early when there´s a chance of rain. Fortunately its pretty easy to find where a procession is happening because of the masses of people speed walking in the same direction, the marcha-the music that accompanies the processions- is also an obvious indicator. After pushing through a crowd of people and jumping on some chairs we saw our first procession. I know my mom was tired and I was so proud of her that she kept going as I raced her through all he side streets I´ve come to know in order to get the best view. While there was a light drizzle on and off on Palm Sunday, it was incredible and even more so than what you see in clips on the internet.
There are two floats called pasos in every procession and they belong to a cofradÃa which literally means brotherhood in Spanish but refers to the church-community which organizes the procession. Each procession leaves from its church at a certain time and processes anywhere from four to seven hours through the city, always through the Cathedral and always returns to the church it left from. The procession is lead by men and women wearing an ominous outfit that resembles the KKK, but is nothing like them. These men and women are called penetentes or capirotes and the coned hats they wear go back to the time of the Spanish inquisition where the executors would wear the cone before an execution. Now, these hats symbolize the responsibility we have for Christ´s death and also to symbolize that as Christians we are all sinners, requiring the salvation of Christ. While at first I couldn´t get over the costume, as an American, but as the week went on I was able to adjust to their tradition and found it neat since after all we create meaning in whatever we chose. So following the cone headed people are altar servers, little ones too which are by far the cuttest thing I´ve seen. Following them is the paso, each procession has a float for that particular day, so on Good Friday each procession had Christ on the Cross, but along with the specific paso is one for the Virgin Mary and these are beyond beautiful. Many of them are made of real gold or silver which means, if it rains they cannot leave and because many of them are decades old, the oldest I think was from the 1920s. Following the paso is a band which plays for the entirety of the procession and the music they play is called marcha and are only woodwind instruments and drums. Honestly this was my most favorite part of the processions, the music just makes the procession more emotional and adds to the solemnity or
Palm Sunday procession on Reyes Catolica with the Virgin Mary.
celebration of the day. Following las bandas are women dressed in all black with lace veils, carrying candles which represent the old tradition of mourning. The one thing which baffled me was that many of these women, young and old, wear heeled shoes for the entirety of the procession. If you´ve been to Europe you´ll remember that most of the streets are cobblestone, meaning I´ve almost sprained my ankle more than a dozen times. (Actually when it´s raining its even worse since the stones become really slippery, my mom and I had several instances where I almost wiped out three times in the span of five minutes wearing flats and was obviously very frustrated. While hysterically laughing at me she said my language over here was rather amusing... Needless to say these streets are not feet friendly). So both my mother and I could not get over the heels of these women.
Capirotes
These three women lead the procession of the Gypsies, but there are also two lines of women following each procession.
Monday was Holy Monday and I still don´t think I understand the significance of Holy Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday since in the U.S. and everywhere else its Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday that we celebrate, but I´m thinking it just adds to the festivities. Monday morning mom and I got up early and walked up to the generalife of the Alhambra since it was packed and if you want to actually get into the Alhambra you have to book your tickets weeks ahead. But I honestly think walking in the area around the royal palace is much prettier than the inside of the structure itself. After walking for a good three hours through the Alhambra and then showing her my school in the Albaicin we were tired and hungry. So of course we went to my favorite cafe and bakery in the Albaicin and indulged in some roscos fritos with cafe con leche, I´m telling you, absolutely the most perfect afternoon!
While this was Tuesday afternoon´s teatime tray, we pretty much had the roscos everyday.
We were the only people walking up on the hills of the Alhambra on this grey and cool day. But it was more
peaceful!
Walking in the Albaicin.
Monday evening was spent visiting with my family and after walking the
city and grabbing some gelato we decided to head back and rest up for
another evening of processions. Wouldn't you know but the procession
decided to meet us. The
perfect end to a lovely day is rain and being trapped in a sea
of people when you can see the street of your home right in front of you
but have no way of
getting there without wings. I'm telling you, never in my life have I
been in a city with so many people all trying to see the same thing. I
would think even in Austin and other big cities there is a type
of crowd control. Nope, in Spain it's fend for yourself and just shove your way wherever you can to see the Virgin Mary. So yet again, while I
thought we could just squeeze though after 3/4ths of the way home I saw the procession that should have been going away from us was turning
back to come towards us and back to its church because of the rain.
Let me tell you, that is not a pleasant sight when there are all these
people in front of you and the streets are hardly wide enough for cars.
Needless to say my mom was almost on the verge of being terribly
nervous by the number of people trapping us in and I was just so sure if
we just pushed a little harder we could make it to the apartment. Nope.
So after the paso somehow turned around, the band as well, we flattened
ourselves against the wall and other people to wait for the procession
to return. I tell you what in Spain "personal space" is really something to laugh at. While it was about as up-close as you can get to both the
paso and band, that situation was a bit overwhelming and I think I'd take a bus full of old people than being smooshed on the street. Okay I'll admit that it was still cool seeing the procession up close and hearing the music, but being stuck in the rain, not so much fun.
Pretty darn close to the paso.
Tuesday was another busy day and after hiking an hour up to the Abby of the Sacramonte we were lucky enough to catch a tour of the abbey which would have been much more interesting had I been able to understand the tour. Don't get me wrong, seeing an Abbey build in the 16th century was impressive, but it soon becomes simply oooing and awing at wonderful pictures and religious artifacts when you're brain becomes too tired to try to translate what your Andalucian guide is saying. Have I mentioned before that Andalucians eat the ends of their words?? The don't pronounce any of their S's and generally talk in grunts with their mouths open making sounds that just sound like vowels. My mom was pretty impressed that I am able to understand them so well and it's always encouraging to hear that, but then I have days like Tuesday I think, well I guess the times I understand are just a compilation of lucky moments. It's a bit frustrating. But I'm hopeful that when I return to Texas, the TexMex will jell better in my brain. To conclude, just seeing the inside of this abbey was incredible and quite a surprise since the outside looks as if it was abandoned centuries before.
Couldn´t resist taking a picture of these dogs who we found just hanging out on the hill on our way up to the Abbey
Courtyard of the Abbey
a
The main altar of the Abbey.
Tuesday night we switched things up a bit and decided to go to a Flamenco show and dinner in the Albaicin. There are tons of restaurants here which do dinner and a show, a three course dinner to mention. Of course to continue with our week's theme of processions, after walking
down from the Albaicin we ran into one on the main road and paused to
watch. My friend Cecilia from the program met us and as soon as we left our apartment we realized the processions had already started... meaning traffic jams of people in the one street we needed to cross. So after pacing the lines of people wondering how we could get around them without running through their procession and finding no other option we did what typical tourists do and just walk in front of the procession. I feel like it's a little frowned upon since most of these people have been waiting for quite some time and it is never fun to be pushed and shoved by some tourists who think they can easily cross a sea of people. Cecilia led the way, with red cheeks, followed by mom and I and as soon as we had crossed the "Red Sea" we bolted up the hill to the Albaicin for fear we may have some angry Spanish words on our trail. After sprinting up quite a large hill we arrived sweaty and out of breath to this very nice restaurant with only water on our minds, not the typical sangria. In fact I was so thirsty for water it took me the whole two and a half hours we were there to finish my sangria. The show, company and dinner were lovely and it was my first time officially seeing Flamenco, aside from the singers at the Mirador San Nicolas. I think my mom enjoyed it and I was glad I could show her one of the most important cultural facets of Granada/Spain.
Dinner and Flamenco!
Wednesday
was a little calmer of a day and we decided to do more touristy things
in the center of Granada like visit the Cathedral. While I attend mass
there each week I have never paid the four Euros to see the museum or
the Holy Chapel where King Fernando II of Aragon and Queen Isabela
Catolica are buried. After buying more roscos for our teatime Wednesday
afternoon was spent taking a long Siesta since we were planning on
staying up until 3 am to watch the Gypsies process up to the Abbey of
the Sacramonte and through the barrios near the Albaicin. Unfortunately all I have is a youtube video of the procession since the rain spoiled the evening and suspended the procession of Los Gitanos, their procession is the most attended out of all of Granada. Those who don't attend any of the others come out for this one. At least I can say I did see it, they were able to leave their church in the afternoon and we saw the first 45 minutes of it. But it was only three hours later after our siesta we found out they had turned back and suspended the procession because there was a forecast of rain.
Cristo de los Gitanos
La Virgen de los Gitanos
While I was terribly disappointed I have decided I will come back in several years when Granada is not having a rainy spring and see this procession. The night was not a failure though. After meeting up with Cecilia and her mother at a student procession, (where her mother had to save us from some angry Spaniards after we nudged our way, politely, to the front) we went for tapas and ice cream until 1:30 since everyone had prepared to stay up till 3am.
Thursday was obviously the biggest day for us and mom and I were able
to go to mass at the Cathedral and were hit by a time warp back into
the years of traditional Spanish chauvinism when the foot washing only
consisted of twelve men. Aside from this faupaw the mass was quite
lovely and not surprisingly, not crowded. I think most people know that
today, while everyone is still Catholic and I have yet to see a
protestant church, Spain is not as religious as it used to be. The
streets this last week were more crowded than the actual churches and
immediately on Thursday when we walked out of mass, we shoved our way
through the crowds to return home. Thursday afternoon when we went to
my family's house for lunch they told us they thought the most beautiful
procession was the Silencio procession that began at midnight and went
until 4 am Friday morning. My host mom said that the only music was
that of a single drum and all the lights of the city were turned off.
So, to my surprise, my mother was all for staying out to see it and
after three cups of coffee we were ready. Around ten we decided to head
to a plaza where we could see the ending of one procession and see the
beginning of the Silencio. Again, never in my life have I been so close
to so many people. Despite sitting on the dirty pavement and then
standing for two hours it was worth seeing the procession and the
streets of Granada pitch black. It was amazing but the people actually became quiet when the procession passed. You could hear noise from other
parts of the city but nothing like normal. For me this was the most
moving paso because it was a simple and stark reminder of the
solemnity and meaning of Holy Week for me, keeping in mind the night
before Christ was crucified and his hours spent in the Garden of
Olives.
Mom and I waiting for two hours on the streets of Granada for the Silencio procession to begin: at midnight!
I don't think there has been a Holy Week as physically and emotionally
moving for me as this one, particularly because of the amount of walking
we did, at the end of the day we were actually in a little pain. After
somehow managing to push through the crowds of people and being trapped
on the opposite side of our apartment we sat on some benches to wait
out the procession that was now in our barrio. Somehow we hobbled home
together and after standing/walking for probably six hours we plopped on
the couch and decided we deserved to eat our last roscos fritos at 2
am.
Enjoying our roscos fritos at 2 am.
Good Friday we spent visiting churches since this is the only day of the year that all the churches open their doors for the faithful to come pray. At 1pm we were able to go to a nearby church and hear the passion/attend mass. Yet again, not very crowded considering it was Good Friday, but Spaniards are Spaniards I suppose. While Holy Week here is beautiful and unlike anything else in the world, it is quite a contradiction seeing as how the people mostly attend the processions and party instead of meditating on the real purpose of the week. Maybe they do, who am I to judge right? Just thought it was interesting and actually my host family said that many Spaniards think the same thing.
A band taking advantage of a day full of tourists, with their dog.
The Basilica San Juan de Dios: Mass on Good Friday
Friday night of course included more processions as well as more roscos and of course a little souvenir shopping for my mother. Friday we spent several more hours waiting for some processions and unfortunately the first one we waited for never left because of a chance of rain, however it never rained. So while the news slowly began to spread to the lines of people on the street, mom and I picked a Spanish family who seemed to know where they were going and appeared to be running to catch another procession. Who better to follow than people from the city? As this family of four trotted through the streets to catch another procession, they unknowingly had two Americans on their tail. I was a little worried they would catch on and ask us what we were doing, but nope, we successfully followed them until they lead us to a procession. Unfortunately they stopped sooner than I wanted to, so we had to find our own spot to plop down and wait for the procession to pass. After another two hours of waiting, since immediately after the first procession (as we were getting ready to walk back home) another one appeared, so instead of trying to be salmon swimming upstream, we stood for another half hour and saw the second one. Friday was our earliest night, we actually made it back by 10 and had our bowl of lentil soup and put or feet up.
Arches of the Mosque-Cathedral
Saturday we headed to Cordoba for the weekend on the invitation of Professor Felix and his family to share an Easter meal with them on Saturday. Fortunately it was the first full day of sunshine in the region and our day of visiting the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba and the Roman Bridge and many other places was accompanied by beautiful weather. We had the most lovely lunch with Felix's parents who are friends of my dear friends in Wooster, the older couple who I hope to live with next year, and it was so surreal for me that I was sitting here in Spain sharing a meal with people connected to friends back in little Wooster.
When you think about it the world really is a small place.
Saturday evening mom and I were fortunate to wander over the Cathedral and see if they were having a typical Easter vigil and they were! So she and I got to celebrate the Easter vigil at one of the most famous Mosque/Cathedrals in the world! It was a beautiful mass and was rather surreal thinking we were actually celebrating mass in such a place. I think the highlight of the mass were the baptism and thank goodness they were comical because at midnight in a dark, cold church one tends to start nodding off. I have never in my life seen something so traditional, surprising and somehow comical and absurd at the same time. These two babies, both obviously under a year, were literally stripped naked and dunked into the holy water for their baptism. The first poor child began screaming as soon as they took his clothes off because of how cold the church was, contrastingly the second child seemed to enjoy the whole process and when he priest saw that he was content having his lower half dunked into the baptismal font, he swung him around and splashed his head with water as well. The kid didn't make one sound, but of course the entire church was laughing and looking at each other in awe that this was actually happening. I'm sure many of those people had never seen this type of baptism either. Monday I asked my professor about it and he said it is very rare that churches do this, even back in the times of Franco baptisms were done as we see them now, so I suppose "to each his own". Around 12:30 we wandered the streets of Cordoba trying to find our way back to our hotel, and after only two wrong turns and several contemplations in the street we made it back safe and sound. Easter morning we unfortunately woke up to rain and our day was rather a dreary Resurrection Sunday. However after returning to Granada and unpacking, we were ready to celebrate our Easter appropriately and seeing as how our roscos fritos are only sold during Semana Santa as a "Semana Santa treat" we walked half an hour, to four different bakeries, and eventually found some to savor for the next two days. While it wasn't a typical Easter Sunday for me, I enjoyed it all the same, and actually this was the first time in two years I have spend Easter with my mother. While two years is really not much, for me after spending my first 18 years at home, these last two away at college and away for certain special days makes it feel like more than two years. So it was quite a nice Easter! Our last day together was Monday and we joined my family for lunch and took care of last minute Granada sites and sounds and prepared for mom's return in the morning. I can gladly say she returned safely and I think is rather jet lagged, but enjoyed her trip as I did.
On the Puente Romano
Cordoba!
View of the Cathedral from just some random street.
This weekend I return to Cordoba with my program, at an early 8:30 am on
Friday morning and then Saturday and Sunday we head to Sevilla. Yet
again, we embark on another "drop off" where no professor or Spaniard
accompanies us..... so I'm sure we will have fun! No, we will I'm sure
see the sights we need to see, but I'm starting to really love these
program drop offs. While we are technically adults, I don't think any
of us feel like it, so we manage to have a little more fun/do things our
way when unaccompanied by a real adult :)
Semana Santa will stay with me for the rest of my life and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I was fortunate to share with my mother. I cannot say how many times this country continues to surprise me with new cultural discoveries and vocabulary words. I tell you what, Semana Santa needs its own dictionary with all the different words they use for each small part of the processions and many other details that entail Holy Week. I'm sure next week I will have several new experiences to report on and am looking forward to yet another weekend adventure.
This will be a short post since I really haven't done much this week except homework and seeing a Flamenco Passion for Holy Week (obviously what I am going to write about, not the homework). Although, a quick note on homework, this week was an unusually heavy week on homework and I this week was the first time since I've been here I felt slightly stressed. I'm telling you, and you won't believe it until you see it, but Spaniards are all about free time and doing what they want for the most part, work tends to come a little later in their priorities. So to have a bunch of assignments due in one week and not have time to just "chill" like Spaniards do was unusual.
Two highlights of my week: a Flamenco Passion of the Christ and today's trip to mini-Hollywood (Texas style in Spain). I am fortunate to have a contact here in Granada, from my dear friends in Ohio, who both he and his wife are professors of music and perform in various concerts around the city. Felix played in the orchestra while his wife Aurora sang/acted in the choir. The Passion was a mix of singing, acting and Flamenco, which was a little surprising at first to see Jesus come out on Palm Sunday and all of a sudden start doing Flamenco. It turned out to be a wonderful performance and very moving. If any of you have heard or seen Flamenco you know it's a very passionate, emotional, and is sung and danced from the soul. Listening to Mary wailing after Christ is beaten and then crucified was more moving than watching the film the "Passion of the Christ," which is very intense. This was also my first time to officially see Flamenco performed live and it was quite exciting and very impressive to watch and try to comprehend how someone can move their feet as fast as those dancers.
The other highlight of my week was my trip this afternoon to Almeria which is a small town about two hours south of Granada, very close to the coast, and is famous for having a park which is set up as a fake town/set where the famous western, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was filmed. I went with my Austin friend in the program and her host parents who are some of the nicest people I have met here and who's mother packed me two sandwiches for the day along with a bag of donuts. I tell you what, Spaniards are always thinking about food! The town had everything you see in the old westerns, the saloon (where we even saw a Cancan show), hospital, stables (with horses), a jail and all the other necessities seen in those movies. One of the shows was a recreation of your typical "bandit versus cowboys" with a little added Spanish humor (they're not shy about being slightly crude in public) which to my surprise didn't have a Clint Eastwood character coming in and doing the sheriffs work for him. After the show we of course had our picture taken with the vaqueros and when we told them we were from Texas he replied, "oh, authentic cowboys." I must say I think I beamed with Texas pride at that moment. The day was long and to my surprise actually made me miss Texas a little, the music, the costumes, all the old country looking things and the fact that everything was in English made me feel like I was back in fourth grade at Pioneer Farms learning about country life back in "the good ole days."
Unfortunately I have no pictures today and am too tired to try to make these two experiences sound as exciting as they were. But I needed to write today because I know that this week I will not have time to sit down and write. My mother arrives tomorrow afternoon and I am beyond excited to see her and share Semana Santa with her and cannot wait to see some of these processions! A very very short note: Semana Santa is bigger than Christmas here and the whole city shuts down this week, devoting itself to carrying out processions each day, anywhere from 5-8 hour processions that can cover up to 8 miles at a very, very slow pace. I cannot begin to explain all the vocabulary of Semana Santa or what each day represents/what types of processions take place because in every corner of the city is a different procession, at the same time. THe processions are something that the city has been working all year on and there is a serious schedule for each one saying where they will pass and what time. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and so the processions begin around 4 in the afternoon and like most days, go until midnight (men carry the floats walk in 4 hour cycles!) Hasta pronto! (until I get time to let yall know how the most important week of the year is going)
Just a short clip to give you an idea how big of deal it is.
Well each new excursion seems to beat the last one and this past weekend´s adventure to Sorvilan, a small town in the Alpujarras, has yet again topped any past experience while in Spain. To begin with, La Alpujarras is a region on the southern side of the Sierra Nevadas that divides Granada from another province called Almeria. Almost the entire region is agricultural based and consists of small towns that sadly are shrinking in numbers and rely on the tourism in the summer. Our trip to Sorvilan was to learn about the agricultural side of Andalucia and to see a different way of living than we are used to here in the city of Granada. The terrain is very mountainous and lies on the coast of Spain, let me just say that from the balcony in the house we stayed at we could see a mountain range in Morocco!!! I think knowing that we could see Africa from where we stood was the most mind boggling experience of the whole trip. Let me also preface that I had many misconceptions about our trip: I thought it was going to be mostly lectures from the couple that took us in (on agriculture and the region), meeting local town people and studying the general area. I was very very wrong! (But in the best of ways). This trip was the epitome of experiential learning.
Sorvilan
Friday our academic director, going along with her usual attitude of letting us discover everything entirely on our own, told us to be at the bus station at 1:30 and that we better make that bus because there was only one to Sorvilan. So there were seven of us girls, because there was not enough room for everyone in the program to go at once, unaccompanied by professor or guide. I think once we finally got on the bus our minds started actually realizing yet again we were left on our own and had no idea what to expect or even how we were going to get to our final destination since we didn't know who was picking us up. I at least speak for myself, I had so many questions that day! The bus ride which my family said would take an hour.... took four through the mountains. Our professors had warned us that if we got motion sick then to take some Dramamine because the road to Sorvilan was rather windy. Was that an understatement! I don't know how many of you have ever driven up Pikes Peak or any other mountain, but it's a little nerve racking when you can look over the edge and see a straight drop. Picture making a drive up a mountain, on a small, narrow road, in a greyhound bus! Even after my Dramamine I think I was too nervous to sleep, even though I knew there was nothing I could do. But somehow watching the bus driving made me feel a little more in control of the narrow road situation. The other girls laughed at me because they said every time they opened their eyes they saw me on the edge of my seat, squinting and tightening my grip at each curve. I couldn't help it, every turn on my side of the bus looked as if the driver was casually going to take us off the edge, I wanted to shout at him, "turn already!" each time he waited till the last minute. Obviously now that I am home safe and sound, I admit those bus drivers know what they're doing. Even with the little nervousness the drive was pleasant because the views were incredible. The minute we saw the ocean everyone perked up. Also I should add that we were the youngest people on the bus and every stop we only picked up more old people who seemed to immediately comment on the number of young people on this bus. To add to my humorous encounter with older people, at our last stop before Sorvilan we took a break at a bar in which all the men immediately abandoned their wives to get a drink. At the point of reloading the bus there was an older couple who were having some trouble getting up the stairs of the bus. From our seats we heardwhat I'm sure was typical "we've been married for 50 years" Spanish arguing and I could only infer that the husband was trying to hoist his wife up the stairs while he himself was having trouble balancing himself and her with his cane. For a good two minutes all we heard was him laughing at his wife and cussing while she yelled at him "hombre!" and that he should be quiet and "watch his language," that there were "people" on the bus, meaning us young ones, the only ones not from the town. When they finally showed their faces she was rather annoyed, but of course the little old man stopped and began telling us about whatever had just taken place and was of course laughing about it while the woman yelled at him from the back of the bus to be quiet and sit down. Needless to say all the men joined in his laughter while the women yelled at their spouses. Meanwhile, the seven of us just sat their laughing and agreeing at how entertaining older people can be.
View from our Patio (Across the sea is Morocco)
Finally we arrived to Sorvilan and a sweet looking man with a dog met us at the bus station and after introductions we made our way down to his house. Keep in mind this town is situated on the side of a mountain, so it's very steep going further into the town and of course a killer going back up! We arrived to the most charming house, picture those Greek islands with their white houses, that was this town. It was absolutely breath taking the structure of the house and all seven of us had the entire upstairs/balcony to ourselves and while some had to share a bed, it was so cold that those of us not sharing a bed ended up doing so for the warmth. The view from their balcony was breathtaking as we could see the sea, and vaguely the mountains of Morocco.
Just one of the examples of the quaintness and architecture of the home.
Friday night was free and we wandered the town, not very far to wander, but we did of course find the local bar. It was very much a "men's" bar. A few of the girls wanted to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy later that evening but we were not able to buy a bottle and the bar tender informed us that Sorvilan is known for making its own, distinctive wine and unfortunately not in bottles. The three largest products of this area are wine, figs and almonds. So being ambitious, some of the girls thought it best to follow the mans advice and did not buy a bottle of wine but a box of it! The girls thought that buying twice as much for a "better" deal than the smaller box of wine was the economical thing to do. So, they purchased a 15 liter box of wine!!!! If you can picture 15 liters of any liquid I'm sure you're laughing right now. Yep, we ended up hardly making a dent in it because each night we ended up more exhausted than anticipated. So that box of wine followed us back to Granada and I'm sure we'll enjoy it for the next month. After our "economic" purchase we went back to the house and enjoyed the night stars on the patio. It was much colder than any of us anticipated and so the seven of us packed onto a twin size bed and piled blankets on and had a typical girls night under the stars!
So to say a little about our hosts, Domingo and Enrique, they are the nicest couple I have met here in Spain so far, and most people are incredibly nice, so that says a lot. They are a couple who said they have hosted students from our program for 20 years! Not only were they incredibly knowledgeable about practically everything, they were marvelous cooks. After each entree I asked for the recipes. Our first night's meal was a Portuguese soup, and then a rice and vegetable dish which was absolutely amazing, followed by an orange tart. Everything was homemade! Needless to say after our second night's meal I politely asked if they would adopt me.
The very top of the "mountain" in the background was our destination.
Saturday morning we were met with coffee and tostadas, homemade marmalade, home grown tea and honey (probably from some local hive). I think we managed to surprise them by how much bread we consumed. Once we discovered the schedule for the day we consumed even more. Our day in short consisted of four hours of hiking, totaling around twelve miles, jumping over many rivers, panting out of breath because almost the entire hike was up a mountain and quite a lot of "how many more kilometers?" That is what I mean when I say it was honest experiential learning, not just learning about the region but walking it. However I enjoyed every minute of it! The scenery was amazing, and talking with Domingo about the local agriculture and finding out that I could buy 2 kilos of figs for 5 Euros was even better. I will admit that no matter how pretty the scenery, once you've been climbing a mountain for 3 hours you get to a point that all you notice is how hard you are breathing. This was the part of our trip which Antonia simply referred to as "something special," obviously we realized why she neglected to mention anything about scaling what I consider a small mountain. Oh how I wished we had had someone following us with a camera so they could record all the "humorous" words we chose to describe our exhaustion. I think the only thing after the first three hours that kept me going was our promised picnic at the top where we would enjoy pasta salad and water! After a little over four hours we reached the top, found a clearing and passed out on a heap of gravel. Those last thirty minutes that we had to wait for Enrique to bring the food in his car was one of the longest half hours I've ever experienced. After trying to distract ourselves with songs, a little Flamenco and a quick nap the arrival of the food was even sweeter! We carried our food up to a clearing in the forest nearby and had a makeshift picnic on trash bags and pieces of cork trees. I think we were so delusional from exhaustion that I vaguely remember some monkey noises and a lot of grabbing and throwing in order to quickly distribute the food. That was by far the most rewarding picnic (it even included wine!) After walking to the bus stop and waiting in a local bar, which luckily served hot chocolate, we took the bus back to Sorvilan and everyone passed out until dinner time. I however was rather invigorated from our hike and ended up taking the dog, Lola, for a walk and exploring more views of the village. That evening, after Domingo discovered my shared love of figs, we went to a neighbors and bought some for me to take back to Granada. When I told him how I never bought them because they are so expensive in the U.S. he made it his mission to find me some. He even bought another local postre for me to try! My love of food is quite obvious, but I think even more obvious in this country. That night we went to a bodega where they make the local wine and had our own tapas and wine. It was very informal as our table was a wine barrel in what looked like an old abandoned barn. After dinner back at home, which we barely stayed awake for, we crashed rather early and did not feel bad about that 15 liters of wine sitting on the table untouched.
1300 meters above sea level! The top of our hike.
Sunday morning we enjoyed another desayuno of tostada and coffee. Despite this month's rainy trend (in an area that never gets rain) we trekked down to the beach in order to catch the bus back to Granada. This three hour walk was something we had prepared for, I think Antonia felt she could tell us about this one beforehand because it was all downhill and she knew we wouldn't complain too much. Let's just say that at the end of our 2 1/2 hours down to the beach my whole lower body was feeling the walk from the day before and am very sore on this beautiful Monday morning. Our walk was not uneventful as we were attacked by bees at one point and immediately shot down the hill. Domingo said he thought that stretch of the trip was why it only took us 2 1/2 hours instead of the full three. Just try to imagine a bunch of girls running, some of them screaming, down a hill (yes there were arms flailing and swatting). However it was not just girls being girls, even Domingo began to run when it seemed these were unusually aggressive bees. One characteristic of this region is the large amount of "Invadiernos" which translates to Greenhouses is English. The amount of sun and mild climate of this area makes utilizing these greenhouses a profitable business. Unfortunately with any large, profit making business comes harm to the environment and actually the bees we encountered are sick and full of chemicals because when people find them in their greenhouses (which are not organic) they take the beehives up to the roads and toss their hives up there. Domingo actually said it is illegal to throw the hives so close to the road because of the danger to people and he is going to talk to his city counsel about it!
How entirely pitiful we looked once we arrived at the beach. As soon as we found a bench we all plopped down and pulled out our sandwiches which were scarfed down in minutes. To add to our already pitiful look of hungry, tired, sore and for some, hurting limbs from their bee stings, it began to rain as soon as we began our impromptu lunch. Nearly every local that drove by just stared at this scene of pitiful looking Americans. But after several hours of waiting for our bus, and a quick stop at the Mediterranean, we were on our bus back home to Granada. I can now say I have been "in" the Mediterranean, well a foot at least. It was quite a weekend and while I love Granada, being out in the "country" reminded me of the place I talk so often of when I am in the U.S., my beloved Ranch. The musty smell of the place and the peace of the town and people reminded me of country life back in Texas, so it was a nice reminder of my own beautiful homeland. Also once you've spent so much time in the city you realize how nice it is to see open spaces and simple things like grass make you smile. I hope someday to return to La Alpujarras and one day see the world travelers, Domingo and Enrique again. Words cannot even describe what a beautiful weekend it was and today I am consistently reminded of our adventures with each step I take because of the soreness in my legs and backside! Climbing mountains tends to stay with you for a few days I guess.
While my title is a little misleading since we´ve had rain every single day except Friday, I am not too bitter about it like I am in Ohio, because come on, it´s Spain! Everything here is better, even the rain. To preface my post, I am still loving this place and am so proud to say that all is still going well, no breakdowns yet and I have completely fallen in love with the idea of traveling the rest of the world after college. There is something indescribable about living in another country and while I realize not every place is as nice or comfortable as the one I´m in now, nor will I always have a program of people watching out for me, there are so many wonderful new things to learn in a foreign country that books alone cannot, cannot, cannot convey. I just wish everyone could have the opportunity to experience these new things. I have already learned so much about myself while only living here for about a month, and I know this will sound like a cliche, but I feel like I will go home a different person than the girl who first came here in February.
Well my week began Sunday with a family meal, my host mother´s sister, niece and grandniece all came over for Sunday lunch and not unlike my own family, stayed for hours just sitting and eating around the dinner table. I think they probably thought I am mute since I hardly said a word. But it is terribly intimidating trying to speak around a bunch of Spaniards when you cannot even make out the syllables or letters of their words. I´m starting to feel frustrated by the Spanish because I think I´m doing so well in school and at home, but then once I get around actual Spaniards, and they talk with their Andalusian accent of cutting off the ends of their words and talking so fast they sound like the person calling the prices at a cattle auction! Needless to say I just sat there with an empty look and enjoyed watching their passionate conversations. They did apologize for some reason about how passionate Spaniards are when they are with their family and how long they just sit talking, but I said I though it was nice and made me feel like I was at home, although I have to say my family doesn´t yell at each other about politics over lunch. Well any who, it was a nice experience and gave me more insight into my family, who I still feel I do not know too much about.
Another part of my week was saying goodbye to a guy I met here, the
Norwegian I wrote about earlier. His friends gave him a going away
party on Monday night since he was leaving Wednesday, so most of my
friends and I went to enjoy Tapas with him and a ton of his other
Erasmus and Spanish friends. I must admit I grew to like him more than I
thought I would, and I was sad to see him leave. But all good things
must come to an end and I am just thankful I got the chance to meet
someone as interesting as him.
As stated in my title, this week has been lovely despite the crazy amounts of rain we´ve had. I was told before coming, that Granada never got any rain. Well out of these nine days in March, we´ve had 7 rainy days. But I cannot complain too much because walking in the rain in Granada is so much better than walking in the rain in anywhere in the U.S. Tuesday, it poured and I of course woke up too late to take a bus to school, so on my way to school, during the light morning drizzle, my feet were soaked through. My little red shoes were no longer their normal color and they were about a whole shoe size smaller! I chose to wear those shoes because my other ones were still drying from the day before. When I actually got to school I thought "well at least it wasn´t pouring." However I spoke too soon.... Our school, like most here, have an outside gate in order to access the main door, well I thought I had saved myself just in time to escape any torrential downpour, but soon discovered that someone had locked the door. So while I was able to get into the courtyard I could not actually get into the dry building. So of course what happened? It began to pour. I stood there banging on the door to the school but of course knocked in vain because the rain was coming down so hard no one could hear me. Well, what do you think I did? Like most wet and cold people I was more than a little irritated and verbally expressed my feelings to no one at all, and could only stand there under the gutter as I banged on the door, gutters tend to pour even more water on you than the sky itself. So after standing out there, my feet and legs completely drenched one of our professors arrived to let me in. Luckily someone had started a fire in our common area and I was able to put my shoes near the fire and sit there before class. While I thought I was the most wet out of everyone, one of the guys in our program arrived after riding his bike to school! With no umbrella obviously. The minute he came in, we all pretty much broke out laughing at the lack of any inch of dryness on him. Two of our professors, being typical Spanish mothers, immediately looked him up and down and said "no no no," his state of wetness would not do. While they conversed in Spanish about what to do, and I heard them say something about getting someone else´s dry pants from around the office, I could not help but laugh. I didn´t actually think they were serious but, no they were, they ordered him to take his pants off right there and gave him a blanket to wear all day while his pants dried on the radiator. We took several pictures of it. The next day I almost found myself in a similar situation after doing my laundry. Since Spaniards line dry their clothes, from one side of the building to the other, I found myself in a jam because of the rain and had to settle with drying them inside which takes twice as long. So Thursday when I woke up and discovered none of my pants were dry, I sort of panicked. Luckily I had a pair of tights that were half dry, and a skirt, so I didn´t have to go to school without pants thank goodness. Oh, just one of the adjustments over here, not having a dryer. But it makes the experience all the more authentic don´t you think?
Another eventful day of this week was my first two sessions at my community service! This was the element of the program that attracted me to chose this particular study abroad. Our professors find our interests and place us in community service centers around town in order to practice our Spanish and contribute to this wonderful community we live in. My placement is at a children´s center that is for children who have either been taken away from their parents, have an abusive family life or just many problems at home and so they come here to work on life skills and community integration. I absolutely love the organization and feel so blessed to work with this particular NGO that heads the site. While many of the students also live at the site, some just come here in order to interact with other kids in the same situation and have aid from counselors and share-vent their emotions through sports and other activities that make a kid a kid. My role on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons is to play sports with them and help with any other activities the teachers have for them. My first day, when I arrived I was not prepared to play soccer like the kids expected and they immediately called me out on the fact that my shoes were not appropriate for what they wanted to do. Let me say, they are not shy at all. One girl on Thursday asked me for money for a trip and when I told her I had none, she got a little irritated with me and made the comment that if I could wear something different than what I wore Tuesday, I had money. She was right, I had money with me, but wasn´t going to give it to her. The kids, like any other kids who experience problems at home, are itching for attention and for the most part are good kids, but everyone has their bad days. I must say I was slightly overwhelmed on Tuesday when we had to stay inside because of the rain and do other activities which caused irritation since all they wanted to do was play soccer. Therefore, they acted up, jumped on the furniture, a couple boys started to punch each other, and the majority of the time was spent taking one kid after the next outside to try to get them to behave. The poor teacher told me that they were usually much better but the rain made them act out, which of course is the same at every school for every kid. For the first hour I was with the 12 and 14 year old kids and the second hour with the little ones, around 5 and 8 years old. They were adorable on Tuesday and they all asked my name, where I was from and shook my hand the "American" way and asked me to speak English to them. One even offered me his chocolate from his snack! However, Thursday was a different situation and I suppose the rain affected them more than I thought it would. Ohhhh, it was crazy! The kids literally looked like monkeys, jumping on the chairs, running around the stage, hiding in the stage curtains and hitting each other for the heck of it. While there was a moment where the two teachers left me inside in order to discipline some boys outside, one boy began hitting another little girl and I had to pull them apart and all I could say was "no" and to "go sit down." I was trying to think of how to say "stop" in Spanish as a command but couldn´t, needless to say I went home and made a little list of words that I think will be useful at this place. Although, it was an overwhelming day (most likely because of the rain) I am still so excited to work here and I just hope that I can become a friend to some of these kids who just need someone to listen to them. Thursday I did get to play sports in the inside gym and realized that obviously sports is the way to get to know them. Along with my service experience comes another little "rain" anecdote, my walk to the community center is about half an hour from my house, so there is little point in taking the bus since over here it´s faster to walk everywhere. Well Thursday on my way back home, it of course began to rain (what´s new I know) so I thought I would be okay because I had my rain jacket and umbrella, I was SO NOT safe from the rain. While walking down the street in a torrential downpour and high winds I was yet again a little irritated from being wet and cold, when I realized that I was the only person actually walking on my side of the street. All the Spaniards had ducked up onto the steps of the doorways of stores and apartment buildings. So once I realized I should probably do the same, I was able to save my feet for a few minutes from soaking up more water than they had in the last five minutes. One Spanish woman joined me on my doorway, laughed, said something about the rain in Spanish. Well although I was terribly cold and wet, I felt better about being such a pitiful sight because I felt I had one of those "I´m doing what the Spaniards do" moments and something as sensible as ducking into a doorway to hide from the rain made me feel more part of this culture rather than just living side by side with it. I know it sounds rather cheesy, but that´s because I cannot really describe it, I just have so many moments where I feel I belong to this culture and have not experienced that feeling of being an outsider. Granada people are so welcoming and sometimes unless I actually speak, I think I pass as being Spanish (there are many American looking Spaniards, even blond haired Spaniards). Well I love those moments when I discover something new about Spanish culture - Granada and I hope I continue to have these moments up to the day I leave.
Friday, was the beginning of one of the few free weekends we have left here
in the program. From now on, our weekends are booked with excursions
since Semana Santa is only in 2 weeks and we get a whole week off from
school and the third weekend in April we go to Morocco. So a few girls
and I met up on Friday afternoon to do some shopping but ended up
getting side tracked by policemen and noise that seemed to indicate a
strike. Strikes are rather popular over here and happen often, if not
once a week. To my surprise it was not a strike but a march and small
parade for International Women´s day. I cannot begin to say how cool
it was! There was a girl´s drumming group doing an awesome routine,
jugglers, people walking on stilts, and hundreds of people following
this march with signs and banners advocating women´s rights. The energy
of the people was incredible and so many people who were out and about
like us stood to watch and clapped the parade on. We even joined the march
till the finish! All I kept thinking was only in Spain would a city be
okay with shutting down the roadways for a good hour and a half to have
a march for a day that not many people are even aware of. While I have
stated before that the whole, "let´s take a vacation whenever and for
whatever reason" is a little difficult for me to understand, moments
like those where Spaniards truly show their infinite capabilities to be
laid back are quite impressive. I just kept thinking how disruptive
this would be in the U.S and furthermore that this would NEVER happen. Here is just a quick clip of the procession in its beginning stages, it got even bigger than this by the time I saw it.
Like I have said a million times, I absolutely love Granada and honestly it´s been the mental vacation I think I´ve needed for a long time. It is absolutely impossible to worry about anything here because Spaniards never worry, so why be the only one? This coming weekend I go to Sorvilan which is a rural community in Andalucia and we are going to learn about the agricultural side of Andalucia. I am so excited! Then I cannot believe it, but we have one week until Semana Santa when all of Spain pretty much takes a vacation. Semana Santa is a huge deal here in Granada and thousands of tourists come here to watch the magnificent processions and celebrations. My mother is coming on Palm Sunday to stay for the whole week and I am very excited to see her and share all the wonderful things I have discovered about my new city!
The day it snowed we had a Puente (school break), so my friend and I walked up to the Sacramonte (the barrio of the Gypsies) and went to the Sacramonte Abbey.
Sacramonte Abbey, it reminded me of the Sound of Music Abbey!
In the Sacramonte there are a ton of flamenco restaurants and bars that are known for their famous Flamenco dancers and singers. There are many paintings like this one on the walls along the road.
Part of the Abbey
The view of Granada from Mount Valparaiso
La Alhambra
Time to study. I have my first exam tomorrow morning and it has been incredibly hard to motivate myself, it´s been sooo long since I had to study for anything. Other than the regular reviewing and homework we have not had any tests. I know it´s kind of mind boggling for Americans who are used to the "American academics", but the way to learn here is not though exams but rather involvement and participation. So it´s a tradeoff between formal academic learning and pushing yourself to be brave and actually participate in your learning experience. I much prefer the latter!
This morning I woke up to an unexpected surprise.... Snow! While everyone in my household is admiring the beauty and I can hear the children on the streets shouting in excitement, I am probably one of the few sitting here unimpressed. Ohio has jaded me when it comes to snowfall. It couldn't have happened though at a better time because today and tomorrow are a holiday for all of Andalusia, don't ask me why (Spaniards can find many excuses to take holidays and just relax) and actually most people here admit it's just an excuse to not go to work. So I do not have to trek up my hill to school and seeing as how I brought no shoes suited for snow, I may not be venturing out until it's melted. Actually I lucked out because today I was planning on visiting distant relatives in Sanlucar de Baromedas but after having an exhausting week I decided last minute (last night) not to go in the hopes of sleeping and being a typical Spaniard for my long weekend. Good thing too since all the stations are closed! I'm also glad to stay here because I have come to love this city more each day that it actually made me sad to think of leaving, even for the weekend.
Well it's been quite an exciting week for me socially and I have spent too many nights out late and up early. So this morning it felt incredibly good to get a needed 10 hours of sleep! I will try to spare some typical details of a young person's life in Spain, but our professors say "our group is very nocturnal" so we never lack an inlet into some party with a group of Spaniards or "Erasmus" students (students from other European countries studying here). Friday our group met up with local intercambios (University students who want to practice their English with students wanting to practice their Spanish) and one of our Professors and went for Tapas in the hopes of actually learning about the culture of Tapas instead of mindlessly eating them like we have every night since. After three drinks (and food), we were able to get the courage and ask random people at the bars about different drinks, tapas and the local culture of eating and drinking in Granada. Needless to say, there were many stupid questions asked and our professor enjoyed poking fun at us in our "relaxed" state of mind. He of course discussed the difference between American and Spanish culture and I realized that asking "what is your favorite bar, or pastry shop etc..." is a very American thing. Our professor said that the way Americans "measure" the quality of food, places and experiences is very unique to us and Spaniards don't care about the reputation of a place or how good it is, they look at many things as an experiment and enjoy it even if it wasn't that great. After Tapas (which are free with each drink you get) our Professor took us to a Reggae club and after that it's history. Our group ended up partying until 4 am and our last stop was a Salsa bar where one of the locals in our group taught me how to Salsa! I enjoyed that immensely! Saturday night, I yet again enjoyed Tapas only this time with a Law Student studying here at the University, I met him through mutual friends and found we had many common interests. Unfortunately he leaves this week to return to Norway to complete his masters in Law upon which he will begin practicing in Norway. It was a pleasant night and I learned quite a bit about the politics, social setting and views of Norwegians (it's amazing the people you meet here!) Sunday night was yet again another late, but enjoyable night at a farewell party for an Erasmus student and while it was a lot of fun, Monday morning at 9 am I was sort of regretting my decision to stay out so late. Needless to say it has been a very social week and it seems here that the party truly never ends.
Yesterday our group had a tour of the Alhambra with a professor of Art from the University of Granada (along with her very attractive son who she was trying to set up with some of the girls in the group). I must say to follow, there seems to be a rather playful and unique relationship between mother's and their sons here, it's not the "mom you embarrass me" like in the U.S., but rather they seem to be more genuinely friends and the mother seems to take the liberty of trying to set her son up with a girl she knows (most likely because they want to get their sons out of their houses, since kids here can live with their parents until they're 30!) The Alhambra was beautiful but rather cold. The outside is absolutely exquisite and perhaps it's just my impression, but the outside was prettier than the inside. The arcs and ceilings of the Moorish architecture is quite intricate and beautiful, however I enjoyed the views from the "city" itself and the vast gardens more than the Royal Palace. Like any other sight seeing day it was a rewarding, but exhausting from being on our feet for five hours and it would have been more enjoyable had it not been so cold. Each time we entered a room, we all huddled together and tried to keep moving so as not to freeze and as soon as Professor Marissa quite talking we would all rush out into the sunlight. It was a wonderful day though and the whole time I couldn't believe that it I wasn't having a quick tour of this place, I can come back whenever I want to because I live here! I think that's what surprises me everyday, the realization that I'm not just visiting but actually living here for the next three months. I can tell it's going to be very hard going back to America, not because I don't want to see my family and friends, but because life here is so captivating and charming that you don't have time to be homesick. It makes me want to spend the rest of my life seeing the world and continue having so many more wonderful adventures with diverse people. The social culture here is unique because there are so many students that in one night you can meet someone from Italy, Norway and Barcelona and find that you have many things in common with them.
La Alhambra as seen from Mirador de San Nicolas (right near my school)
Cecilia and I at Manuel de Falla Auditorium for an Independent Music Festival
A view from one of the towers of the Alhambra
Sierra Nevadas from La Alhambra
Granada: I've become so proud of this city and living here!
It has been a truly wonderful week, although I desperately need to catch up on my sleep. I have been incredibly tempted to fly to Rome one of these weekends since I find myself in the ideal part of the world while all this change in the Church is taking place. Perhaps in a couple of weeks I will look for a cheap flight and see if I can make it over there for the conclave. It's mind boggling to think so many people from Spain are able to just get on a plane and hop over to Rome! Well I hope whoever reads this is still enjoying hearing about Spain and maybe I can convince you to come visit at some point in your life, it's a wonderful country (even if I don't agree with the culture of not working much) and offers so many learning experiences.
