Después de Sevilla: Ronda hasta ahora

Okay Wow where to begin. First was Ronda which was the city we went to the day after Sevilla. Here are two links to photo albums my friends have made. I am not sure whether you guys will be able to see them or not as they are on facebook but hopefully you can. The first one is strictly sevilla and ronda. and the second one includes pictures from those places as well as a bunch more.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=585775447&aid=271656

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1191846765&aid=193124

anyway ronda is an amazing place. its a city way up on a cliff that served as an important location during the reconquista etc. as it was extremely difficult to attack and whoever had control of it had a nice vantage point of the surrounding areas.  also got to visit a bull-fighting stadium (plaza de toros) while we were in ronda which was very cool to see.  Can't say that I am a fan of bull-fights but the stadium itself was cool and it was fun to learn about the history there.

after seeing the stadium I spent most of my day in ronda laying in the park and enjoying the weather because it was gorgeous out.

Once back to Granada that saturday my life can be split up into a few pretty distinct categories: Classes, Soccer, Skiing/Stitches and scott and kevin visiting.

We are now in our third week of classes here and I am definitely enjoying most of them quite a bit.  I have a spanish grammar course four days a week with a guy named antonio who is probably one of the nicest people i have ever met.  He actually does not stop smiling the entire time we are in class its pretty impressive. Then I have an Islamic Civilization course 2 days a week with a professor who is pretty intense but is teaching us a lot.  Next and Islamic Art and Architecture course two days a week and although I don't claim to have a great deal of interest in art and architecture, we get to go on a "visit" for one of the classes each week which have all been very fun...we basically go to a few new historic places in the city each week and our teacher lectures about the architecture and history of each which has been cool because im learning loads about the city itself and the different buildings, plazas, etc. My teachers for both of those classes are fluent in arabic and both on a mission to teach us a lot about the arab world, the islamic world and the difference between the two. Its the first time in awhile where I've been learning about a subject of which I have essentially zero prior knowledge and it has been really interesting (especially the islamic civilization class).  Then I have a class called Spain and the European Union with the head of the Economics department at the university of granada and although it moves rather slowly because there is a lot of variance in the level of spanish abilities in the class it has also been pretty cool to learn about how the EU functions and how it came to be.  Also, there is a chance we may get to visit Brussels to visit the parliament of the EU for two days and sit in on a session or two.  Finally, I have a class called images of women in mediterranean film which to be perfectly honest has been a bit of a struggle so far.  the main problem is that the teacher is a lot more enthusiastic about film in general than every person in the class and he expects a little too much of us in my opinion.  But it has been pretty decent overall and aside from that class I am loving the rest of them. Learning plenty, but not at all bogged down with work (significantly less reading than I am used to having to do)

Okay next quick block is soccer...my friend Tyler here (who is the goalkeeper at Kenyon College) and I met a guy through a mutual spanish friend and he happens to play for a seventh division spanish team about 15 minutes outside of Granada.  Its a club called FC Monachil, they have a team as high as the third division Spanish League and although unfortunately it is apparently too late in their season for us to sign up and actually play in any games, we are able to train with them during the week and have been trying to go at least 2 of the 3 days they have practice.  The level is pretty good overall but nothing great.  I haven't seen a game, so its possible they work harder on game days but my impression is that they all have great skills with the ball at their feet but do not tend to do as well in the other aspects of the game (moving off the ball, defending etc.) Amherst would absolutely beat them without a doubt, but its been a blast playing with them and practicing my spanish with the guys....its much easier to pick up spanish when speaking with native speakers rather than listening in class and talking with americans who are also trying to learn the language.

I certainly would have played a bit more soccer had it not been for an extremely unfortunate event about two weeks ago.  The friday at the end of our first week of classes, a bunch of my friends from the program and I decided to go skiing. Great idea right! Try the Spanish Sierra Nevada...it was indeed a good idea. we got there nice and early in the morning, didn't have any trouble renting equipment of anything of the sort, got up to the top of the mountain...it was 55, put some sun screen on, put my headphones in and got ready for a great day.  But at the bottom of my third run I was cruising a little too fast and didn't have any beautiful california powder to slow me down, instead I hit a patch of ice and as I tried to slow myself down I began to fall backwards and my right ski became detached from my boot and flipped towards me and hit me in the face as my momentum was carrying me forward.  Ended up at the bottom of the mountain for the day with stitches in my face.

Also this weekend my friends from home Scott (whos abroad in Lille, France) and Kevin (who is in London) came to visit. It was a blast to have them around but a very very busy weekend.  We did go to the alhambra two days in a row which was pretty fun to be able to do.  The first day we visited the summer house of the alhambra and the second day we visited the military towers and the palaces.  I wish I had time to put up videos from the past few weeks but I will have to get to it next week.  I gotta get going for class right now and I'm leaving for Madrid tomorrow morning with some friends for the weekend.  Hope everyone is doin well back in the states. Love you guys

Finally a new post!

Okay these first couple ones are not of the actually Cathedral in Granada (which at this point I have now visited with Scott and my friend Tyler while Scotty was here this past friday) but of a church connected to the cathedral where mass (misa) is held regularly as opposed to the cathedral which I believe might only be used on Easter and Christmas. But this was a couple weeks ago and a few friends of mine and I tried to see if the cathedral was open but stumbled upon this instead.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

Next came Sevilla and Ronda. We traveled here for the Friday and Saturday following orientation (the 4th and 5th of feb.) and got to see a pretty amazing amount in one day. the first one is of the cathedral of sevilla from the outside and the last three are in the inside of the cathedral.

pretty interesting stuff construction regarding the cathedral..was started in 1401 after/during the reconquista. very quick superficial history lesson for you all.  For more than 700 years large parts of spain were ruled by various muslim groups from northern africa.  At one point, the reyes catolicos (the catholic kings) only ruled a small portion of northern spain. the reconquista or re-conquest as the spanish call it technically was about a 700 year battle for control of regions of spain as they were essentially in a constant state of warfare around the center of the country pushing each other back and then losing ground etc etc. Anyway...in the 1400s the reyes catolicos finally made some real progress and eventually had their final victory in Granada in 1492.

anyway, in 1401 after they had taken over in Sevilla again, they constructed the cathedral of sevilla on the former site of the city's mosque (reusing pieces of the mosque in order to do so) the biggest thing they kept around was a tower (originally a minaret) which the catholics converted into a bell tower and remains mostly intact although it had to be renovated after an earthquake.  Its pretty cool though we got to walk all over the cathedral and up the tower as well which was built with ramps instead of stairs so that men could get to to the top more quickly on horseback.

this next one, if you want to see what islamic architecture looks like and get a feel for what the inside of the palaces of the Alhambra in Granada look like, is a good start.  Im bummed that it is a lengthy process to upload videos because I have a bunch more I need to get up and others some of you will definitely want to see.  But anyway, this particular video is el Alcázar...originally a moorish palace.

These last three are all of the inside of the Cathedral and are pretty self explanatory in my opinion. it was an incredible plac.

Videos de La Alpujarra

El Clásico foosball (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona)

Pretty nice view from the bottom of Capileira (highest town in Spain) you see the place we initially stopped further along (pampaneira) and that is the group below me on the path. we had a pretty large group for a hike haha but it was fun.

Almost to the top of our hike. we stopped up top and had lunch which was sweet for awhile but it was FREEZING haha. when the camera goes to the right you can see the snowline up above and  the two towns (pampaneira y capileira)

This is the other side of the mountain where we hiked down after we were at the top and came up behind Pampaneira.  This side was much nicer in my opinion, sorry its only videos and not pictures, but the landscape on this side was way better with all the trees etc. plus the sky had cleared up a bit at this point.

La Segunda Parte

Alrighty the first one turned out alright, y so lets continue

This one below was an absolutely gorgeous sunset (puesta del sol) in Granada, the video doesn't do it justice but you get the general idea.

This one is one of the coolest dogs I have ever met in my life haha. we took a bus ride this morning (saturday) that took an hour and a half to a town called Pampaneira which was pretty far up the mountain where we got out and walked around I bought some postcards to send home, had a cerveza and then met this dog and he was absolutely massive haha, his head is enormous but he was real friendly.

Then we drove a little ways further up to a town called capileira (the town with the highest elevation in Spain (at least outside of the northern region by France) and hiked down, up and around to return on the backside of pampaneira.

I'm waiting for the video to load so I'll tell you a bit more about what we've been doing. its mostly non-stop cause I walk EVERYWHERE and live pretty far (casi 30 minutos) from the center where our classes are and I have to make that walk four times a day at least cause I go in the morning, back to my house for lunch and have to do it all over again.  its been a blast so far, we've been having orientation type events basically just us in our small groups (there are 115 people, 94 girls, my group is 15 people) walking around and exploring the city with our teachers and learning a little bit about the history etc.

the schedule is pretty crazy here with lunch being around 3 and then a siesta. most things are closed from around 3-5 but it varies.  I eat bfast and lunch at my spanish home with my host señora but sometimes shes not here for bfast.  then I generally meet up with a group of friends around 8:30ish and we try to find a good place to have some dinner.  Most places in Granada serve tapas when you order anything. tapas can essentially be any type of food and all the places have different kinds (usually some type of bread with meet and olives and maybe cheese, but I've had an empanada like wrap with meat in it, a burger, pasta, like miniature paninis, and fried egg with ham and cheese, etc.  basically its anything but they're served whenever you order anything at a bar/cafe restaurant its really cool. some places you can choose what you want off a list and others they just bring em for you.

a few observations: spanish people eat an amazing amount of bread and drink and absurd amount of coffee. although nobody gets coffee and walks around with it like were used to. If your having your café, your taking a break to relax and enjoy yourself for a few minutes you aren't just grabbing it to keep yourself awake while you work for another few hours. also spanish people don't look strangers in the eye when you walk by each other on the street and like give a little head nod or smile like we do...they just walk by looking down or straight ahead.also they are very hesitant to j-walk haha. i don't know why but they all seem scared to. they do it, but when they do they look nervous. 

oh also I got to play soccer last night. six students from the program inluding me played against 5 spaniards (2 involved with the program and 3 of their friends).  I was a little disappointed in the quality of the spanish guys...2 of them were pretty good but the others not so much, but the americans won the game! haha. It was a blast for sure and we have the field from 10-11PM every friday night but me and this kid Tyler (he's a goalie at Kenyon College) will be seeking some more competitive games in the near future.  

Its a pretty good group and good mix of kids. I've made a bunch of friends pretty quickly and am enjoying myself a bunch (just need to find a little more time to sleep and start working out hah).  Miss you all though.  We need to find some time to skype at somepoint.  the problem is by the time you all get home from work I am probs going to be in bed most of the time.  The best time to skype is usually in the morning for me which will be around 10:30 Pm your time. so lets find a time that works. mike and Jess, join the rest of the world and download skype (my 65 year old host mom has it) I love you all a bunch and hope things are good!

PS, I am having a really difficult time with the videos right now the page won't load them so the ones i tried to put on here might not appear but I'll get some more up soon!

Principio

Hooray. k guys sorry I've been so tired the first few days here I haven't really had the energy to get a blog going. but we got back from a trip to the sierra nevada mountains of spain today. we went to a part called la apujarra and it was gorgeous. but i've uploaded a few videos cortos para your enjoyment and so you can see a bit of where I've been and what im doing.

Here we have my first real view of Granada. This was my second day in the city and my group walked around one of the neighborhoods (barrios) called el Realejo.  The smaller homes on the left in the hills are part of a very poor neighborhood (barrio).