Granada: day 2

The next day, Sunday, was ALHAMBRA DAY. Unfortunately it was a little (a lot) overcast and chilly, but I was still excited. The students who are here for the whole year and have been to it before came again just because they wanted a chance to see it again. The Alhambra is actually not one single palace or fortress, but a kind of mini-city. It consisted of several palaces, workshops, and gardens to support the sultan and his harems, but only three palaces still stand. As per usual, when the christians took over, they tore down the original mesquita and built a church instead, and Carlos V decided to build a big fat renaissance palace right in the middle of it (which he never actually saw because he only came to Granada once in his life). Ironically, this is the same king who apparently was horrified at the gothic cathedral build in the middle of the mesquita of Cordoba.... We had a tour guide take us through, though I didn't get as much out of the tour as I could because I was too busy taking pictures (this happens to me a lot). We first went through the Jardines del Generalife, up to see the summer palace. Those gardens are actually quite new, but they're copies of gardens that used to exist in the Alhambra.

HEDGE DOORWAY IN THE GENERALIFE

CRAZY BUSH ROOM

You can see that the weather was kinda not so good, but I Picasa'd the pictures to make them look more like they felt (yay for the saturation option!). Past the gardens and in the summer palace is the Patio de la Acequia, which is absolutely gorgeous.

PATIO DE LA ACEQUIA

Next is the Jardin de la Sultana, which is striking because of the sheer noise of the water, and which has a 700 year old cypress tree in it where some sultan supposedly found his lover cheating on him.

JARDIN DE LA SULTANA FROM THE TOP. YOU CAN SEE JUST HOW MANY FOUNTAINS THERE ARE

Next, we walked back to the main boy of the Alhambra to go to the Palace of Carlos V and the spectacular Palacio Nazaries. I don't know if I can even really describe the Palacio Nazaries. Its described as the most brilliant Islamic building in Europe. What gets me is that the palace as it is now is not even close to what it was – its very well preserved, but when you see the intricate plasterwork that makes up all the walls you have to imagine it all painted in bright colors, and all the pictures I took of windows filled with intricate woodwork have to be imagined with colored glass filling all the holes. All the light that came in those rooms was richly colored, as were all the walls. I can't even imagine how spectacular it was.

THIS IS THE SORT OF THING THAT COVERS ALL THE WALLS

THE DELICATE COLUMNS OF THE PATIO DE LOS LEONES. THERE ARE 124 COLUMNS IN THIS PATIO ALONE. THE FOUNTAIN ITSELF IS NORMALLY SUPPORTED BY 12 MARBLE LIONS, WHICH ARE BEING RESTORED RIGHT NOW. LEGEND HAS IT THAT WATER WOULD COME OUT OF A DIFFERENT LION'S MOUTH EACH HOUR OF THE DAY

When we were done with our tour I felt like I wasn't really very done with the Alhambra yet, and luckily some friends decided to join me to go back through the Jardines del Generalife. I'm glad we did because the sun came out a bit and they were even more beautiful with a bit of light on them. There's nothing quite like that in the states – check out my pics on picasaweb (www.picasaweb.google.com/chameleon021) and maybe you'll get a better idea.....Granada was amazing.

Granada: day 1

Before I start, allow me to explain my fascination with Granada:

My parents went on a two week trip to Spain for their 15th wedding anniversary (I'm pretty sure it was the 15th). While we stayed home with my grandparents (a period I will always remember as paradise because Grandma would give us a little dessert after lunch – crazy! unheard of!), my parents were roaming the southern half of the country. When they got back, I was absolutely captivated by what they showed me and told me. I was particularly enchanted with my dad's descriptions of this exotic city Granada and it's grand palace the Alhambra – I really think that my love affair with pomegranates has a little something to do with the fact that granada is the word for pomegranate in Spanish, and my parents' description of that city just fascinated me so. There were two photographs in particular which I have had in my head for years, wanting to visit the Alhambra to see those places for myself. I found out a couple days before I left for Spain that those two pictures were actually of the baths in the Alcázar of Sevilla.......but that doesn't change the fact that ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to see this city and particularly the Alhambra.

We came in by bus on Saturday – about a 2.5 hour ride, I think – and got dropped off at a pretty swanky hotel. My friend Kristin is dating a spaniard, Pedro, who went to university in Granada, so he gave her a few suggestions as to where to go and she, Hannah, Natalia and went out to follow what we affectionately called The Pedro List. He led us well - it took us through the center of town (nice, lots of shops) and into some narrow streets filled with little stores that sold exotic-looking cloths, lamps, floor lamps, jewelry, sequined slippers with toes that curl up, and hookahs. We got a coffee at a plaza he recommended, then went past the catedral (a little hard to see because its so surrounded by other buildings) and through town to look for the famous teterías (teterías being places where you get tea – Granada is famous for having tons due to the arab influence in the city).

NATALIA LOVIN HER COFFEE WITH A MAD HATTERESQUE ENGLISHMAN IN THE BACKGROUND

I think a small amount of history is due here: Granada is one the largest southern cities in Spain, and it was the very last arab stronghold in Spain before the Christians took the continent. The taking of Granada in 1492 (yes, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue) marks the end of arab power in the Iberian peninsula. Hence, Granada has a very strong arab influence, and its most famous feature, the Alhambra, was built by the last sultan in power there.

Granada itself is fairly hilly, being built in a valley with steep hills on the sides. In the background are snow-covered mountains – apparently you can ski out there. We went climbing up the hill to find some teterías and got distracted by the huge quantities of colorful exotic stuff too look at. I mean, those little shops were truly beautiful – if only I could bring it all home, I'd decorate my room with the little floor lamps, pretty colored glass, little silver teapots, and blankets with mirrors sewn into them.


SHINY THINGS.....

It was cold and rainy on our way back down the hill, so we decided to stop at this rather sumptuous looking tetería on the way down. We were seated at a little tiled table with a big hookah and a candle on it and given the menu of teas - I decided to go for the “Paquistani”. They brought us each our own little silver teapot, with string wrapped around the handle so we could hold them, and colorful glass teacups. My tea was AMAZING. It was made with milk, and the leaves were loose in it so I had to be careful not to get a mouthful of them. Actually, each of our teas were really (I mean, really) good. It was a great place to sit and warm up and chat.

OUR TEA TABLE

After visiting the Plaza Nuevo, which is right at the base of the hill where the river (well....stream really) runs, and hearing some really cool street music, up up up the hill we went to get to the mirador de San Nicolas. It is a plaza at the side of a church (San Nicolas, coincidentally) which has a spectacular view of the Alhambra, which is on the top of an outcropping finger of the hill. At sunset the red bricks of the Alhamba are lit up from behind, but we were not fortunate enough to experience it, since it was by this time raining lightly but steadily. We got a beer by the church (it was called La Alhambra, but it mostly just tasted like a slightly less tangy Cruz Campo* to me)

MY FIRST REAL VIEW OF THE ALHAMBRA. ITS COLD AND CLOUDY, BUT YOU CAN STILL KINDA SEE THE SNOW COVERED PEAKS IN THE BACKGROUND. ISN'T IT HUGE?

THERE WAS A LOT OF INTERESTING GRAFFITTI ALL OVER TOWN– THESE CATS WERE EVERYWHERE. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE HANGED ONE MEANS.....

*Cruz Campo is THE beer in Sevilla. Most places, its the only one you can get, and for sure if you just ask for a “beer”, thats what you will get, no questions, unless you are in a pub. I kinda don't care for it.

Flamenco

I just got back from seeing a flamenco show at Casa de la Memoria (House of Memories – sounds overly dramatic, no?). It was awesome. It was a thing organized through our program – 12 € for a pretty impressive show. I mean, thats not actually that cheap at all, but I still loved it, and I had already paid for it anyway.

The show was in the courtyard of a gorgeous old building in the city's historic barrio of Santa Cruz (I sound like an ad don't I?), with 2 rows of chairs lining 3 of the walls and a cascade of vines from above covering the fourth. They had fresh flowers and candles for decoration, and a stage in the middle of the courtyard. First, the guitarist and singer did a song, then they had the female dancer come out for a song, then a guitar solo song, and then the male dancer. I don't think I've ever seen a male flamenco dancer – its actually pretty neat – not like tap dancing or irish dancing in the least even though essentially its the same thing. Its distinctly....flamenco.....and also distinctly masculine, surprisingly. The dancer himself, however, wasn´t so much. As Hannah pointed out, he looked like some sort of love child between Fabio and Antonio Banderas - thin, dark, with curly black hair almost down to his waist.

When we left the place everyone was commenting to each other how much they liked it. I saw my (very american) friend Seth wandering out of the doorway, twirling his hands distractedly, like the dancers. He informed me that he's going to marry a flamenco dancer and that he had a man-crush on the guitarist's hands.

Today I heard two bands practicing at the bank of the river. Its kinda cool to walk along, the lights shimmering in the still water of the river, the Torre de Oro towering on the bank and the cathedral in the background, hearing spanish marches float out over the water. I expect that they're practicing for Semana Santa.

Carnaval and Cordoba (Feb 4)

Last Friday we went as a group (through MCP Sevilla) to Cordoba for the day – we drove out by bus (a bit less than 2 hours) and were shown around by tour guides. I think our tour guide thought we were a lot worse at Spanish than we are- she enunciated demasiado and she had the annoying habit of repeating certain words she had said in English. The weather was cold and windy- not a bit of sun. We went first to the famous mesquita (“mosque”- though its no longer a mosque, its a catholic church, but they still call it a mosque) which was absolutely beautiful (but freezing cold). The majority of the building is filled with columns that have white and red double arches, giving the space the feeling of a forest. It is amazing to see mosaics with verses from the Qu'ran (sp?) right next to gothic arches and the quintessentially Muslim geometric adornments surrounding Jesus on the cross.


Right smack dab in the middle of the mosque is a huge opulent baroque cathedral; other bits had been done in a very gothic style, and randomly there are a couple of places that are completely neoclassical. This type of juxtaposition is pretty common in Spain I feel – when los Reyes Catolicos re-conquered the peninsula, they didn't destroy all the mosques, but rather they just made them all into churches, adding catholic elements to the arab buildings. The mesquita de Cordoba, however, is probably the most beautiful example I've seen so far.


The rest of Cordoba seemed completely deserted, except for some other tour groups. They sell absolutely beautiful silver jewelry there (didn't buy any though) and are famed for their good food, including salmoreja (a cold tomato-based soup similar in concept but distinctly different from gazpacho) and robo de toro (or something like that, I can't remember exactly, the point is that it's cow tail). We putzed around the city the rest of the day (I saw a huge stork nest on the
tip top of the steeple of a decrepit church, kinda cool) and then headed home.


Saturday night basically our entire program went to Cadiz for Carnaval. I almost didn't go at all (partying all night didn't really seem to be worth the 25 euros) but several people (Spanish people, adult people) said it was really worth going, that it was the most famous carnaval celebration in Spain, so I went. I've never seen so many people in costumes in my life. We saw cows, pirates, chickens, princesses (only male ones though), knights, gypsies, nuns, and several groups of people dressed in white body suits carrying large red circles, which is a reference to a tv station ad (Cuatro). I saw a pair dressed in overalls, one in red and one in green, and when I yelled out “Mario y Luigi!” they started singing the Mario music in unison – pretty funny. :-) We were approached by tons of well meaning (but definitely drunk) spaniards. Spanish is hard to understand when they're slurring their words.

Jeff and I are the responsible ones, keeping track of where we are.

A lot of people have pictures of drunken spaniards all making about the same face as this guy. The look on my face is pure terror.

I felt pretty safe though- the whole thing was very good natured, and I didn't see any fights. Hannah went as a pirate; I went as Mother Nature.

Hannah has her ¨Lewis and Clark pouch¨, como siempre jaja.

I also learned a silly song from the drunken spaniards in Cadiz, and now I have it stuck in my head. Huge groups would just start singing it and dancing about:

Alcohol
alcohol
alcohol, alcohol, alcohol
hemos venido
a eborracharnos
el resultado nos da igual

Alcohol
alcohol
alcohol, alcohol, alcohol
we've come
to get drunk
we don't care about the outcome [of the (soccer) game]

*disclaimer: this song is not meant to express the opinions of the writer of this blog

Quick review of Spanish History

Quick, basic, overly simplified review of Spanish history:

1. Romans (1^st century though 4^th century)

2. Muslims (~5^th century, more in the south of Spain than in the north, where there were christian kingdoms)

3. Christians (They took the last Muslim city, Granada, in 1492, and united Spain under one crown instead of the several small kingdoms that there had been before)

There's a lot more to it, but understanding those three influences really helps in understanding why the country is the way it is. For example, if you look at a map of Sevilla, it has the completely disorganized mesh of streets that (for example) Cairo has, because it was originally founded by the moors. The mudejar style, a mix of arab and christian styles, is something you see quite a lot, even in buildings that are quite new. Keep in mind here that when referring to Spanish stuff, I'm using “Muslim” and “Arab” pretty much interchangeably, because in Spain (at least when talking about the past) they're synonymous.

Overview of my program

So, I thought I´d write a short overview of what exactly I´m doing in Spain, for those who don´t know:

I´m in Spain for the semster (through June) through a program called MCP Sevilla, a joint program between U of M, Cornell, and Penn. There are 40-odd students, only about eight of which are boys. We spent the month of January taking culture and grammar classes, along with a discussion, here at the MCP Sevilla program center (the ¨center¨). Now we´re starting with new classes for the actual semester - my first classes with the center are today, and my other three classes (I have five total) start next week. I´ll be taking a latin dancing class too, which starts the week after.

All of us are living with host families, though many of the families are single women. Most students have roomates too - mine is Hannah Gluckstein, who happened to actually go to both middle and high school with me, though we didn´t really know each other. My family is really nice- we really lucked out. The parents are probably in their 50s (Meli, short for Emilia, and Ernesto) and they have four kids: Ana, Ernesto, Maria, y Rosa. Ana and Ernesto don´t live at home anymore- they´re in their late 20s. I share a room with Hannah, then Maria and Rosa share a room, and our new american host sisters Britney and Raquel share another room (they´ll be here through May). Ernesto (the elder, though the son is actually studying to be a cook too) loves to cook, so we eat like kings at that house, which is fortunate because a lot of people take exchange students just for the money, and try to save money by not feeding them too much. That is definitely not the case here. They definitely don´t seem like they´re doing it for the money- maybe its a bonus, but they seem to really like having all the kids around.

Sevilla is a city in the south of Spain straddling the river Guadalquivir. The weather here is pleasant, though it can get quite chilly at night, and apparently it will get unbearably hot in a month or two. I´m really having a nice time - I miss my family and I (sorta) miss engineering and I definitely miss Francis, but I´m learning a lot, and I´m glad I came. :)

Puente de Isabel II, which I cross a couple times every day