Holy Fallas

When I met Rosa in Ithaca last fall, Spain was just a distant dream. To be honest, I am not ever sure if I knew where Granada was, but when I heard that Rosa was from Spain, I just had to get to know her better. So being the loser I am, I chased her down after class and insisted that she tell me everything about Spain. As we got to know each other better, it was decided that I had to come visit her in Valencia when (if) I was in Spain. She told me that the best time to come was during “Las Fallas”. When I asked her what that was, she laughed and said she really couldn’t explain it. And after seeing it for myself, I completely understand her reaction.

To start with the very basics, Las Fallas is a festival that is held in Valencia every year, and it basically involves burning wooden monuments, explosions, fireworks, day drinking, and maybe some religion? As hard as I tried (ask Rosa, I really tried) to understand the celebration, I just really couldn’t grasp it, and I am struggling to find words to describe it.

So my understanding is that, every year, neighborhoods get together to construct a “falla” which is a big, colorful, wooden thing, that actually takes a lot of time, effort, and money to make. Then, they place the “falla” in, near, around, in some space, maybe? by their neighborhood. Then, they all get dressed up in these really elaborate costumes, the little kids are SO cute, and they hire a band, and they parade around in the streets having a generally wonderful time. At some point, they take a walk to put flowers in front of the cathedral. Then on the last night, they set their beautiful falla on fire, and I’m told that they often cry as they watch it burn.

While I think this is kind of strange, I follow the basic idea behind this part of Fallas. But what I don’t really understand is everything else that goes on. There are masses of people drinking on the streets (not exaggerating MASSES) and buying food from vendors, and explosions in the streets. Everyday at 2, everyone heads over to the center of Valencia (old, young, drunk, sober, EVERYONE and their mother-THOUSANDS of people), and listen to about 5 minutes of the loudest explosions I have ever heard, then casually get on with their day. Little kids are constantly running around BLOWING things up like its no big deal, while their parents laugh over their café con leche. On multiple occasions I was convinced that I was going to die.

I’m certain that I did a horrible job explaining the madness that is las fallas, but take my word for it; it was without a doubt, one of the strangest things that I have ever witnessed. The more I tried to figure it all out in my head, the more confusing it got, and by the end, I decided that it was something I should just enjoy and not question.

Besides having a wonderfully confusing time doing falla-y things, I had the best time with Rosa, catching up, exploring the city, and eating bañuelos (kinda like a donut that you dip in chocolate. Yum.) I feel in love with Rosa’s apartment, the palm trees, the SUNSHINE, the people, and the food. Rosa could not have treated me better, and saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things in the world. I am truly blessed to have met her, and love her for putting up with “Las Fallas” for me.

Fun Facts:

-I spent 10 hours on a bus getting back to Granada from Valencia. I could have flown to Baltimore in less time.

-I made it to and from Valencia without losing anything or falling. I think I deserve a reward.

-At my internship, one of the ladies was celebrating her birthday, and I found out that in Spain, it’s normal to eat birthday cake at 10:30 in the morning. They call it second breakfast, and I am SO not complaining.

-It has been rainier this year than in the last 40 year. And I was told it NEVER rains in Granada. What a lie.

-I had midterms this week (see Uncle John, I do work too)

-I had mushrooms this week, and after years of hating them, don’t think they are that bad.

-I am going to Italy in 3 days.

-Tomorrow is supposed to be 67 and sunny 

I think I am the luckiest girl in the entire world. Sending love and warm weather your way, I’ll post again after Spring Break!

Me Caes Bien

Every week or so, I discover a new Spanish phrase that I just can’t get enough of. The first one that I loved was “esta para mojar pan”, which basically means danggg boyy you are looking good (but literally it means to be for wetting bread—I don’t know its tricky to translate, but trust me, it’s a good thing). This week, I learned “me caes bien” which is equally as weird to translate. It literally means “you fall on me well”, and it is what you say to someone you get along well with, or you like. And I think it is wonderful. I keep trying to use it with things besides people, but I am told it doesn’t work like that; Spanish is weird sometimes.

Regardless, I like the idea that people just fall together well, kind of like how my life has fallen together over the last six weeks: it has fallen on me well. I am in a lovely routine of waking up just a tad earlier than I would prefer, having café con leche, going to classes, having the BEST food I have EVER eaten in my life for lunch, then going to my internship, then seeing my lovely friends. On the weekends, I have plans to travel, and when I am not traveling I am exploring and falling more in love with Granada.

I think I have this sense of calm here, and I feel like I am beginning to see what I really want out of life. I feel like I have spent the last 20 years of my life under the impression that if its okay not to be happy in the present, if it will help make you happy in the future. I struggled through four years of vigorous training under the assumption that if I practiced to the point of pain everyday that one day I would run really fast and I would be happy. I suffered through an internship, which sorry to say, I hated, under the assumption that it would look good on a resume and then I would get a job and be happy.

I think, maybe, just maybe, in our culture, there is an idea that if you suffer now, one day you will be happy, or maybe it’s just a personal problem. Or really, if I really wanted to, I could trace it back to religious ideas that involve suffering but I wont go there. But either way, I’m just SO over it. I want to be happy now. I am happy now. No, I am not dropping out of college, or moving to Spain (yet), or blowing all my money (okay I kind of am). I have not lost my mind. I have just decided that I want to be happy always and I am going to do everything in my power to make that happen.

Okay, I’m over that hippie rant. Moving on, I went to Crodoba last Friday, and it was amazing. My favorite part was visiting this old old old (think 900’s old) city that used to be amazing, but then got destroyed by a civil war and buried for years and years until one day a farmer was digging in his field and stumbled upon it- or something like that. They have currently only uncovered 10% of the city, but it was so crazy cool that I didn’t even mind that it was pouring. We also saw the mosque, which is also old and beautiful. And I will be taking a test on all of the parts of it, and could (hopefully) give you a great description of all the cool details, but I only know how to say it in Spanish, so that's awkward.

 

Fails of the week:

- It has rained more here in the last month than it did ALL year last year. Obviously.

-I was walking along the mosque with my head in the clouds, and tripped in the absolutely most dramatic way possible and landed right on my camera. Needless to say, my camera did not like that very much and is a little on the broken side. On the plus side, with a few more falls I can dedicate an entire album of pictures just for my falls.

-Brenna and I attempted to go bowling. We took the right bus the wrong way and ended up in the complete wrong place. Good times.

Wins of the week

-I had my first dream in Spanish (it was about me not being allowed into a church fair, strange but in Spanish so I’ll take it

-I had PASTA. And it was amazing.

-My days of pizza box folding finally paid off when I was told to fold filing boxes at my internship. I beasted it.

-Brenna and I went running 3 days in a row. I’m not sure if you understand how much of an accomplishment it is, but trust me it is.

-I get to see Rosa this weekend in Valencia (I am praying for no travel fails)

-I get to see Mommy in less than two weeks!!

As a summary, Spain falls on me well.

That time I went to Madrid and got stuck in a snow storm

So I went to Granada thinking “wow this is GREAT I get to miss winter and I won’t have to deal with snow”. Now, I do go to Ithaca so, over the years, I have accepted snow as a part of life. Yeah yeah yeah I get it, snow soooo pretty to watch fall. But I am not so pretty to watch fall and snow makes everything so slippery that my downward tumbles are inevitable. Regardless, I was sure that I had run away to a land far far away where snow only existed on the mountaintops in the distance. But, as luck would have it, the day I left for Madrid, Granada was under a blanket of snow (I told you the travel gods hate me). I am actually just blowing everything way out of proportion, our bus was delayed for an hour or so and we waited out the “snowstorm of the decade” in a cute little café.

By the time we (I went with a group of 11 people from my program because we didn’t have classes Thursday or Friday) got to Madrid we were a little tired so after we checked into our hostel, which was, by the way a little dirty and I’d really rather not think too much about it, we went to the Reina Sofia to leisurely stroll around. I am convinced that after two hours in the museum I saw absolutely nothing. No, that’s a lie, I saw Guernica, which is by Pablo Picasso, and pretty cool, but other than that I spent most of the time trying to figure out why the layout was so confusing. I am, as I have said repeatedly, really good at wandering around lost and confused.

As to not have a repeat performance of getting lost in the museum, I decided to take a guided walking tour of the city the next morning, and that was pretty amazing. Although I saw a lot of famous/historic/once in a lifetime things, the best thing that I did was go to check out the gardens at the Prado later that night. As the sun was setting, we explored the gardens and it was like I was in Alice in Wonderland. I was so relaxed and happy and I feel like even though I had seen so many “have to see things” that morning, it was more life changing to just walk around and absorb everything that night.

The next day, we headed off to Toledo and I fell in love right away. It is a charming and quaint extremely old and historic. Our hostel was beautiful and there was a rooftop view that was like a little slice of heaven. We saw the cathedral (they started the construction in 1227!), but then a group of us spent the afternoon wandering around. We found this quiet area on the outskirts of the city and spent hours just talking about life and love and the pursuit of happiness. But really. We did. And it was great. Then I had a bacon hamburger and fries and mint chocolate chip ice cream and my life was complete.

I think the most important thing that I have learned this weekend, and in my past month in general, is that life is really not about sight seeing and taking a ton of pictures in front of really old things. Although I have taken far too many pictures, I am learning that life is not about running around to check things off a list. It is not about where you take the picture, but who you take it with. And that leads me to the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last week: my mom is coming to ITALY with me!! I burst into tears when she said she was thinking about visiting me, and I get teary just thinking about how excited I am to see her. I am absolutely not homesick here. I am in love with Granada, but I have realized how important my family and friends are, because at the end of the day, they are what makes my life so great. So I am so grateful for all of you guys, for the friends I have made here, you guys are making this the best time of my life, and my friends and family at home, who have given me the confidence to be here, I miss you guys!

Fun facts about my life:

-I have apparently been eating rabbit meat pretty consistently since I have been here, and just realized it.

-I tried pig liver and squid with ink, both interesting and probably a one time thing

-I witnessed, at 6 on a Sunday afternoon, an old lady walk into a café, take a shot of alcohol, and causally walk out. I want to be her one day.

-My host dad just taught me how to clean a fish and popped out the eyeballs as he was talking to me. I will never be the same.

-Out of all my friends, I am the only one too short to take cool wall pictures and have the cuts to prove it.

My Third Week?!

So as I’m sure most all of you dear blog readers know, I am a huge nerd. So I am going to take a moment to be totally nerdy and tell you all about how much I LOVE my classes. So be warned and skip over the next part if you really just don't care.

I don’t hate going to class, which is a good thing, but kind of a new feeling. I only have class Monday through Thursday, so I can’t complain, and Monday I only have one class. I’m also interning, and that is taking up a lot of my time, but even that is not hard at all. I am taking a Spanish Grammar class, which has the potential to be boring, but I lucked out and my teacher is, I think, the best. He told us today that we were only going to have homework a few days a week, so we don’t start to hate him.

The more times I go to my Grammar class, the more I realize how little Spanish I actually know. Apparently this is a part of culture shock, but I feel stupid. I’m also taking and Anthropology class, which I think is going to be my hardest class because I actually have to write a 15 page paper in Spanish at the end, but the professor seems nice so I’m hoping it won’t be too bad.

Then I am taking Arab world in the West and I love the subject (plus its taught in English) but the professor is weird. I’m also in Islamic art and architecture and that is going to be SO interesting. We have one class period of lecture and one where we go on field trips all over to learn about different parts of Granada. I learned all about the differences between cities in Islamic culture vs. Christian culture and it is fascinating, but I’ll try not to be TOO much of a nerd and spare you the details.

 My last class is my internship class, which is only one day a week and is a supplement to my internship. I like my internship because everyone is friendly and make me feel less stupid then I feel. So far I have just been doing paperwork, and it should be the simplest thing in the world, but it takes me so long to understand what they are trying to tell me to do. I don’t know why I am having such a hard time understanding people there because I feel like I have been doing pretty well communicating other places. I think that most of the workers are from South America, so maybe that has something to do with it. I hope that as the weeks go by, I’ll be more adjusted to the accent and actually able to communicate like a functioning human being.

I honestly think it’s a part of getting acclimated, but I think my Spanish skills are deteriorating as I’ve been here. I think its because before I was blissfully unaware of how many things I didn’t know how to say, but now everyday I struggle to get my points across. I know its something that will improve over time, but I just want to be fluent nowww haha.

 The last few days have been rainy, but Saturday it was perfect outside. It was sunny and probably 65. There is a park-type thing across the street from my host family’s apartment and I spent all morning lying in the sun, then my host mom and I went back after lunch and she told me all about her past love life (she is so cool). Like I said the last few days have been gross, so I stayed in and watched a movie with my host mom called Pan Negro. I think it was interesting, but I really could have interpreted it completely wrong.

 Fun foods I’ve had to eat this week:
-Fried fish- a whole fish, eyes and all, surprisingly really good
-Homemade chicken fingers and fries- really self-explanatory
-Octopus: not fired, still really good if you can get past the tentacles BUT it had OLD BAY on it (Maryland people, how cool is that?! I brought it for my host family to try and was so excited when they said they used it…so yummy)
 -A bite of a cheeseburger: I still don’t know why I like cheese here

 Fun facts:
-For Valentines day, my host mom gave me a rose and my beautiful date Carmen got me chocolates
-Getting back at 4 am is considered early
-It’s acceptable to eat a loaf of bread and peanut butter while playing trivia in a pub
-It will only rain on days I forgot my umbrella
-Going on a date in Spain is awkward too (or maybe I’m just awkward…)
-I see Chauncey and Jackson this weekend :) and am going to Madrid next weekend!
-I’ve been in Spain for THREE weeks already, when did that happen?!

 I hope everyone at home is doing well! Lots of love to everyone

Ronda and Seville

I just got back from our weekend trip to Ronda and Seville. I have included a nice little map so you can see where they are in relation to Granada. Both places are warmer than Granada because Granada is the coldest area in Andalucia, due to the mountains surrounding it. That being said, the weather in both Ronda and Seville was incredible. I honestly don’t think there are clouds here ever, just loads of sunshine.

Bright and early Friday off we went to Ronda for the morning. When we arrived, we went on a longgg walk touring the city and learning about the history of Ronda. Being the nerd that I am, I was so excited to learn about the history of Andalucía, and I learned so much this weekend, most of which I am trying really hard not to forget, because my brain is already literally packed with information.

 I think my favorite part of Ronda was going into an ancient bathhouse, which was located right inside where the oldest walls of the city were. It was where people would go to socialize and, obviously, clean themselves, which is an essential part of Islamic culture. Just being in somewhere so old is crazy, and the more I learned about it, the more I could imagine what it would be like to live there SO long ago, and it blew my mind (I know, I’m a nerd). Also, we watched a video about how the bathhouse “worked”, as in how the water was heated and distributed, and honestly, I’m so impressed with the intelligence of the system, its pretty legit.

 After we went on our walk, we had lunch overlooking everything, check out this view! With our tummy’s full, we went on to Seville.

After we arrived and dropped off everything in our awesome hotel, we went on another longgg walk (walking is a common theme here). We went to Plaza de Espana, which was beautiful. Also, for all you Star Wars lovers, I’m told it was in one of those movies. After our walk and some food, we went to see a private flamenco show, which was one of the highlights of the trips. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I don’t think they would have accurately portrayed the emotion of the dancers anyway. The dance told a story, I’m pretty sure about love and life and all the good things like that, and it was crazy impressive, and the guitar player was awesome.

 The next day, we went to the Alcazar of Seville, which is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, then to the Seville Cathedral, which is the third largest church in the world. I feel like I don’t have enough adjectives to describe how perfect everything was, and how informative it was. I learned so much about the mix of cultures and the stark differences between Christian and Islamic religions and cultures. Abd Al Rahman III, who was a Muslim ruler in the 900’s, originally built the palace and as Christians took over the city, they changed the palace over the thousands of years. Therefore, parts of the palace are REALLY OLD, and some are just OLD. Sometimes it is hard to tell which parts are from the Muslim dynasty and which parts are more recent, because some Christian rulers imitated the Muslim designs. But because they did not actually respect the culture, there are slight differences between the real and “fake” Muslim parts (parts that were constructed much later than when the Muslims built the palace) of the palace. In some areas, the imitation of the Islamic style is very accurate, but in other parts, my teacher, who was leading us around, said it was “so obviously fake” (it kinda all looked the same to me). She pointed out differences such as “fake” Arabic writing, and the depiction of gods, which would not have been displayed in Muslim religion. The tiles here, if I remember correctly, were actually constructed during the Muslim dynasty. If you look really closely, you can tell that every piece was hand cut and put in carefully, how cool is that?!

 The cathedral was build over a mosque, so there is obviously Muslim influence. For example, the bell tower was actually part of the mosque, but it was used to call people from the town to prayer everyday. The view from the top is so crazy! Also, the inside of the church was huge and beautiful. Some people speculate that the bones of Christopher Columbus are in here, but it is highly unlikely. Interesting fact, people are actually buried in the church, if they were rich enough. It was believed that the closer you were to the alter, the closer you were to redemption. Weird, but who am I to judge...whatever their beliefs might have been, the Cathedral is breathtaking; I cannot even imagine the amount of work that was put into the construction.







 In other news, my classes start bright and early tomorrow, and I think my internship will start someday next week. After this weekend, I am actually really ready for my classes, because they should be so interesting. Also, it will be nice to get into more of a regular schedule!

Week Two!

Oh man. This week has been a bit more of a struggle. I am really embracing the siestas and I really try to go to sleep early, but its just so hard because we don’t even leave for tapas until 930 so by the time we wander around I rarely, as in I haven’t, gotten back to my room before midnight. I really have been making valiant effort, but its just so hard to say no to churros con chocolate! I think I got really thrown off my sleep patterns on Sunday because of the Super Bowl, which, thank God, I got to see. To be honest, I only really saw the first half, and then I was just too tired. But I wore my Ravens jersey and represented b-more, and got free drinks from a group of excited locals!

             I’ve made it a point to try to meet a new group of people every night, at least to talk to for a little bit. So far, I think I have met at least one new person a night. Last night I kinda cheated and am going to count the waiter at the churros place because we bonded over my inability to divide the bill properly. He told us to come back again and I told him we were going to become best of friends because the churros were so amazing. Although I do enjoy churros and tapas, I have to say that my favorite meals are still the ones cooked by my host mom for lunch. When I told her that she said that it was because she put a little bit of heart into everything she makes. Everything that I have had has been really interesting, not interesting in a bad way but really different. We have soup that I believe is made from blended vegetables, and then today we had a dish with potatoes and pumpkin. Here, people eat a lot faster than in the United States, and I am always the last one finished each course because I want to savor everything.

            This week, we have continued to have a long orientation class in the morning to practice Spanish and also to learn about the culture in Granada. Everyday we have a different assignment that involves going up to people on the street and asking them different questions. One day we had to ask people about different political leaders and their opinion of them (mostly negative). Yesterday we had to go to a market and ask people how to make different popular Spanish dishes. We also stopped by a paneria (they sell bread) and the guys working there gave us all some free bread. Today, we went to a university and asked students about their classes. I cannot get over how nice everyone here is. Although they all have their own worries and agendas, they will never hesitate to stop and help you out. No pasa nada.

            I had an interview today for my internship that starts next week.  I am going to be interning at UIM (Union Iberoamericana de Municipalistas). Basically, my understanding is that this is an organization that works with local governments in Latin America to teach them about how to better work within the governments and to promote democracy. I am not sure exactly what I will be doing, but I am excited because I feel like this is something that I could see myself working with one day. It was intimidating to have an interview in Spanish, but I think it went okay.

             I also have been taking Spanish placement tests to figure out where I should be placed. Although it’s totally nothing to be worried about, I’m glad that they are over with! And, because I’m really nerdy, I can’t wait for my classes to start. Plus, it will be nice to get into more of a routine.

            This weekend, we are taking a trip to Sevilla y Ronda, which I’m sure will be incredible. I won’t lie though; I am more excited to take a long, hot shower. Showering here is actually my least favorite thing about this entire experience. Because utilities are so expensive here, showering is not for pleasure. It’s only to get clean. So we are supposed to turn the water off a lot and such. I know I’m not only saving the environment but also saving my host family money, and I really shouldn’t complain, but I’m just saying that everyone in the good ole US of A should enjoy your showers, I know I will when I get back!

OH MY GOSH I almost forgot to talk about the MOST exciting this about my week thus far! Emily Burnett (my friend from LOGOS/God camp) is here studying in Granada too and she lives RIGHT next to me! And we have been able to meet up, and today we were talking in Spanish drinking café con leche and it was really surreal. Plus, bless her adorable little heart; she took me to the supermarket! It’s actually incredibly close to my house, I just had no idea where it was, but thanks to her, I do now! Which is good because I was craving cereal!

 I got to walk around the gardens at the Alhambra yesterday and learned a little about the history, and I went to trivia night with some friends and we totally we’re losing, but then we ended up sixth so that was pretty exciting. And I got a scarf from a little shop down an alleyway and it makes me feel really Spanish. Two people today asked me for help with directions, I obviously couldn’t help them at all, but it felt good to be asked.

Hmm, well I’m positive that there is more to tell, but this is already really longer than I meant it to be. I miss all of you guys a lot and would love to hear about your lives so PLEASE facebook message me or email me 

So I realized that I haven’t been blogging. Like at all. So I am going to attempt to highlight the last few days, but I have done SO much that it might be impossible. I guess the last time I posted I didn’t have my luggage? Well I do now, thank God, so now I am all unpacked and settled into the cutest apartment in the world, this is my view:

And I am living with the CUTEST host mom in the world. NO EXAGGERATIONS I love her. When I got off the bus to meet her, I was obviously a little scared, but she rushed forward and gave me a huge hug and kisses and told me I was going to have a great semester and that I was a lucky beautiful girl, and my nervousness melted away. We went to her apartment and then she walked me to where my classes would be (even though she was walking me again tomorrow morning) so that I would start to get an idea of where I was going (is she not the cutest) and she told me that she loves all of the girls that she hosts and gives them all a little piece of her heart and that she couldn’t be my mom but she would be the next best thing while I was here (I think I almost cried). Then she told me that I was free to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted because I was here to enjoy myself and she was here to make sure that I would!

The Alhambra!

Orientation classes started the next morning at 9. I got up at 8 for breakfast, which was milk with instant coffee stirred in, I think (actually really really really good) and toast with olive oil (also amazing but obviously). Orientation was until two. I feel like the time flew by, we only talked in Spanish and it just felt so normal. We also walked around the city for a few hours. I walk a lot here. I think probably four hours a day, not even exaggerating. Later that day, I went on another walk around a different part of the city, then we went out for tapas (yummy!). I actually am also in love with the food here. I don’t know if it’s because I am always hungry but even cheese and tuna and olives and good here (mom, don’t get too excited, I think ill still avoid cheese when I get home). Also, the views are FANTASTIC, pictures do not do them justice at all. it’s so frustrating to try to take pictures because everything looks so amazing its impossible to capture it all.

                                                                        Even though all I do is walk around Granada, I still get lost almost every time I try to go anywhere. It’s a good thing people here are so friendly or I would be in serious trouble. As I was going to meet friends for tapas last night I was kind of lost, so I asked an older man and his friend for help directing me to the plaza (plazas are everywhere with fountains and shops and tapas and bars) and he said goodbye to his friend and walked me to the plaza, while he told me about his niece who is studying in the United States. Then when I thought he couldn’t get any nicer, he told me my Spanish was good, and I almost just died right there.

This morning, we went hiking in alpujarra, which is between the Sierra Nevada’s and the Mediterranean Sea. I cannot even begin to describe how unreal it was to be hiking, and I feel like I have never done anything to awesomely amazing in my life. Just looking out over everything you feel so small and so grateful for everything, which is really a great feeling. The hike was about four hours, and I think I could have hiked for longer, that’s how pretty everything was (I’m not sure if my legs would have lasted though). At one point, we stopped to take a break, and through the mountains you could see Africa. How unreal.

 Well I guess I thought this was going to be shorter or more profound or something, but I feel like it is turning into a rant about how much I love my life, and it’s true. I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be and it feels so good. I know that every week won’t be as easy as this, like when I actually start classes (and I might do an internship!) but right now my life is pretty fantastic! Tomorrow, my first day “off”, although I don’t feel like I have had an actual day yet, we are going to a festival and then I hope that I can see the Raven’s game!