Alcalá Week 9

What my half of the room usually looks like :/

Bah it's already been 2 months since I arrived in Spain! Nothing too noteworthy to write about this week, I got a cold (AGAIN) so I have been trying to recuperate. Lately I've been thinking about things I will/won't miss about Spain --

WILL:

• chorizo and calimocho (sausauge-y type meat and wine/coke combo)
• going to Nivola (the campus bar) on Wednesdays when it's Packed
• grocery shopping at Mercadona- may seem odd, but there's no grocery store on the Madison campus! Plus I like picking out new food to try
• Taking the bus 25 minutes to school every morning- I have to get up earlier, but I find it relaxing
• Spaniards gratuitous use of 'joder', 'hostia' and other swears (as in every other word- no joke) also, 'hostia' literally means holy communion (like in Church)
• 'tía/tío' which roughly translates to girl/dude but is used much more commonly here among friends. I think it is cute. Again, the literal translation gives you no sense of its use, cause these words mean aunt/uncle!
• shopping! and how well Spaniards dress in general
  
• my residencia! I like living fairly independently, surrounded by other students and with 6 other girls! There's always someone around :)

The majority of my roommates sitting around the tv, aka a typical day
From left- Sofia (who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English and reads this blog-- Hi Sofia!), Miriam, Sandra, Ines, Sara

If only one of them had a cigarette in hand then my Spanish study abroad experience would truly be captured

WON'T:

• no oven OR dishwasher in the kitchen
• pop can sizes that are significantly smaller than America's (I'm always thirsty afterwards!)
• non-existence of spices, food is so bland without A1 Sauce :(
  
• reeking of cigarettes whenever I go out

I'm not sure if I will or won't miss "terribly dubbed movies"- the same 5 voice actors dub EVERY SINGLE ONE... but they are easy to understand since they talk slower and I usually already know the plot!
If I write a list of things I miss about America it will just turn into a grocery list for the day I return, so I'll spare you. (Oh, and I assume "family and friends" are a given- don't worry you guys rank above food-- maybe)

Update***

Since I am having a hard time uploading videos onto this blog, I created a youtube channel. Just click on the link at the bottom of the post to see the flamenco video and an additional video of my residencia!

http://www.youtube.com/user/felkerlaura

Alcalá Week 8

My new haircut in Real Alcazár!

• This past weekend was a group trip to Andalucía, one of Spain's autonomous regions covering most of the south. The forecast called for rain and unfortunately it turned out to be correct, but that was the only damper on these otherwise amazing cities!

• Our first stop was Córdoba to see La Mezquita- a mosque converted into a Cathedral, but it looks more like a church was plopped into the middle of the building. When the Catholic monarchs kicked out the Moors out of Spain in 1492, many mosques were outright destroyed, so it was actually quite lucky that this particular one was only modified, because the mosque portion is impressive! Double red and white striped arches are held up by 857 individually made pillars that are not quite the same height. My favorite part was a wall of bricks, each inscribed with a different Arabic signature- the creators of the pillars!

Some of the arches, I tried to capture how extensive they are!

The decoration was so intricate!

• The cathedral is kinda lame in comparison... it sneaks up on you since it's only open on one side and very narrow. The ceiling is vaulted and domed (as opposed to the flat ceiling style of the mosque portion), with a huge organ and over the top art behind the altar.
  

Gonna go with "meh" on this one

The ceiling was pretty cool and I bet that organ is LOUD

• We got back onto the bus after only a few hours in Córdoba so that we could get to Sevilla before the day's end. Sevilla is the capitol of Andalucía and the home of the Don Juan and Carmen legends (the former being a womanizer who repented later in life by joining the monastery and the latter a sexually independent woman killed by her scorned husband in a cigar factory--> both true stories, I believe)

• We awoke Saturday morning to a constant drizzle! The Real Alcazár was our first stop, I am learning that many cities have "alcazáres" which I choose to make synonymous with "royal christian hangout". This particular one was built in the imitation of Moorish style, a design my tour guide called "kitschy"- but I liked it! One major difference is that the Muslim religion prohibits the representation of animals or humans in its designs (so you focus on God), but the Christians slapped the lion symbol of Castile-Leon on everything they could get their hands on. All the architecture was very elaborate and intertwining and a very nice shade of royal blue.

One of manyyyy

• We were allowed to explore the royal gardens on our own, which I was happy about. "Los jardines" were a series of courtyards and open parks packed with orange trees, tiles and fountains. There was also a hedge maze and an elevated walkway for a nice bird's eye view. Everything looked super green in the rain!

In the hedge maze

• Next was the Cathedral. It's the 3rd largest cathedral in the world and contains the "remains" of Christopher Columbus and one of his sons, Hernando. That's in quotes cause I guess there's less than a gram of him left and DNA testing states that there's only a 30% chance it's actually him. I feel like I've talked about churches a lot in this blog, so I'll just say that I saw artwork by Goya, Zuburán and Murillo and let the photos speak for themselves. Oh ps the Giralda (bell tower) was part of the original mosque and was used to call Muslims to prayer 5 times a day, now it chimes the time and you can see all of Sevilla from the top.

Columbus's tomb

A statue of Mary holding baby Jesus that has something to do with Semana Santa

• Ok now for my favorite part- flamenco! The dance I saw had 3 people on stage- a guitarist, a singer/clapper and a woman who danced. A lot of flamenco is stomping really fast and keeping beat with your feet and hands. The dancer was covered in sweat by the end and a look of sheer intense concentration literally never left her face. Occasionally the singer would yell "guapa! guapa!" (beautiful). It was awesome.

• Sunday we toured Maria Luisa Park, which has a lot of outdoor statues and trails to walk, plus the Plaza España! It's an elliptical plaza surrounded by a really neat building with mosaics representing all the Spanish cities. Also, a Star Wars: Attack of the Clones filmed a scene here, which is pretty cool. (Click here to watch the scene!)
  

Plaza España

These statues represent (from R to L) the 3 stages of love: infatuation, consummation and abandonment. I chose to be the fourth stage: desperation!

Alcalá Week 7

My roommate Sandra trying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the first time ever! Her conclusion? "Weird, but good"

This week was midterms so nothing too exciting happening... these bullet points are just going to be some random thoughts and stories

• Every Wednesday I have my Criminology class through the Universidad de Alcalá. There are about 20 students in the class and I am the only non-Spaniard. This past week my teacher called on me (since she knows I am American) and asked me what I thought about Spain's long standing bull fighting tradition. Not wanting to get into a complicated conversation and worried about speaking aloud in Spanish/ offending someone, I just said "a mi no me gusta" (I don't like it). I'm hoping my professor got the hint and never calls on me to convey American opinions about different cultures again!

Stairs inside the Law School where I take my class

• Our tv has not worked for the past 2 weeks but this weekend my roommate Sara's boyfriend brought us a new one! We now have 31 channels instead of only 7, which I am very excited about. I think listening to tv programs is one of the best ways to passively improve your Spanish. PS No one here cares about the Winter Olympics-- I didn't see ONE event

• I just realized I haven't put up any photos of my "residencia" (dorm, but more like an apartment). Here are some:

My street- it looks like a prison but really they're not so bad

B.2-5, home sweet home

• Interestingly, my life here is a lot like my life in Madison, only in Spanish. During the week I go to school in the morning, drink coffee/ walk around a bit/nap in the afternoon, do homework, then watch tv at night. I thought studying abroad was going to be one big whirlwind adventure but I actually I prefer it the way it is. I haven't even made many travel plans because I enjoy spending the weekends hanging out with my roommates. Living such a low key existence makes me feel more at home.

• Finally, I cut my hair- I have bangs now! Pictures soon