Three weeks in. It´s gone by so fast.
So, the highlights:
Portugal! I went to Lisbon the weekend before last with two friends via a travel agency that caters to foreign students (read, makes sure you experience the night life). Lisboa is gorgeous, this city on the sea. The streets are all narrow and there are trolleys and outdoor cafes everywhere. Think San Fransico with more history and less Chinatown. Actually, don´t think San Fransico. Think of your ideal seaside city, with the best views and cobblestoned, hilly streets and big catholic churches, smelling like chestnuts everywhere. That´s Lisbon. And yes, I swam in the Atlantic ocean in October, because I am a landlocked desert child and I freak out wheneverI see water. It´s a natural reaction for us desert folk.
Last weekend I went on an excursion with ISA to Grananda, Spain. The Alhambra. Flamenco. And this religious procession that I´m pretty sure was for the Virgin Mary except that among all the Catholic stuff were all these stars of David, which the last time I checked is a Jewish thing. The only answer we could kind of come up with after asking several people was ¨gypsies.¨ Ah yes. Gypsies. That explains everything, thank you. In fact I think that will be my new excuse to throwing together any culture I want. Gypsie, sorry. And people will be like, ooh, ok. Right?
But unusual religious processions aside (which was really fun, actually), I enjoyed Granada a lot. It is probably the best place around here to see how all of the cultures that have come to Spain have converged in their history and religion. One room in the Alhambra will be totally Arab with the other one is most definitely trying to be Catholic. There are narrow streets lined with tea shops and hookah bars and arabic vendors, while on the next street over there is a gypsie procession going on, while at the Cathedral down the street you can see the tomb of Juana la loca and her mean husband. Flamenco is unlike any other type of dance I´ve ever seen, beautiful in its somber, regal, yet very raw form. I would recommend seeing it as we saw it, in a hole-in-the-wall tavern with low, rounded ceilings and one room big enough to accomadate (very intimately) 50 people. To see flamenco on a stage is not nearly as moving as being close enough to feel the guitar and the stomping and clapping and the singing.
What I´m loving about Spain is that I´ve never gotten to see history or cultural intertwining like this before. Everything goes back so much further than we´re used to in the states.
As for my life in the city, all is well, finally calming down. I´ve been running through El Parque Retiro the past couple of mornings (read, 9:30 AM, which is an ungodly hour for Spanairds and no one is really around) and enjoying the quiet Spanish mornings. Last week I took a ten hour course on teaching English and am about to begin the internship portion of the class, where I´ll be taking on some Spanish students to teach English to. After my internship is over, I´ll be getting paid (¡in Euro!) to continue teaching. Should be interesting.
Meeting Spaniards is proving to be really hard. Just like anywhere else, everyone sort of already has their own group and would rather not go out of their way to talk to foreigners who can only halfway understand them. Then again, I haven´t really had time to make a huge effort on my part either. I did meet a lot of very cool Mexicans on the trip to Portugal, though, and found that their accents were much easier for me to understand than the Spanish accent. Spanish español sounds much different than the stuff they teach us in the states (if what they do in the states can be considered teaching a language, which is hard to judge).
The upcoming weekend is the first weekend since I´ve been here where I´ll be in Madrid. I plan on actually exploring the city, finally.
Hope that covers everything. ¡Hasta luego, chicos!
No comments:
Post a Comment