Me encanta Grecia!

28 April 2009

So last weekend was my big trip to Greece with Jackie! It was a pretty long day of traveling on Friday to get to Athens, but Jackie was waiting for me when I got there (with a sign with my name on it haha) and we headed to the bus station to catch the bus to Monemvasia. The plan was that we would head to Monemvasia (a small town in the southern part of Greece, where my cousin’s wife Georgia has family) and stay there from Friday to Monday, then head back to Athens Monday night and see the sights there for a day before flying out Tuesday afternoon. Well, we were unaware that the bus from the airport takes about an hour, and because of this we missed the last bus to Monemvasia by about 4 minutes. It was very stressful and we weren’t sure what to do. We decided to head to the hostel we had booked for Monday night and try to switch the reservation. This was a little difficult because we didn’t know exactly where the hostel was and didn’t have a map or a phone number. The phrase “It’s all Greek to me” finally made a lot of sense when we were trying to read signs haha. Luckily everyone we asked for directions was very nice and we eventually got to our hostel. We were able to get a room no problem, so we dropped off our stuff and walked around. We did some shopping, got some ice cream, and then walked up to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. They were closed for the night, but they looked very beautiful all lit up and it was really cool to just walk around. The area around our hostel was very cute, lots of people out in cafes and restaurants, very full of life.

The next morning, Saturday, we got up early and headed over to the bus station to make sure we wouldn’t miss it this time! We got on the bus at 10 am for a 5 and a half hour bus ride through Greece. It was very long and stopped at pretty much every little town along the route, but luckily the countryside and the coastline were gorgeous and entertained us for most of the trip. Sometimes it seemed a lot like Spain, with the olive groves, orange trees, etc, but other times it was very different, like all of the mountains along the coast. And it was definitely a big change for Jackie from the flat Netherlands! We finally arrived in Monemvasia, about an hour after I had told Georgia’s cousin Lary to meet us (oops) and he took us to Georgia’s grandmother’s (yia-yia) house. Lary spoke English very well but yia-yia not so much. It was interesting trying to communicate because Jackie and I literally did not know a word of Greek when we arrived (I now know maybe 6 or 7 haha). I also don’t think she completely understood the gluten-free thing, even with the explanation I printed out in Greek, but I did not have a problem eating – the first afternoon, a delicious and HUGE meal of chicken and potatoes and salad was waiting for us – the two of us probably ate enough food for a family of 4 or 5 but it was amazing. That evening we just walked around the little town and sat down by the water – it is the cutest little town (only about 700 people live there in the winter!) and out in the water, connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land, is this huge rock island that has lots of ruins on it, as well as a very small, old town. That night a few of yia-yia’s friends (or cousins?) came over after dinner, which was fun. They are all very sweet old ladies, and one of them actually spoke a decent amount of English, which was a nice change and we were able to talk a little more – I felt bad not saying a lot during lunch with yia-yia but there’s only so much you can say with such a big language barrier – hand gestures only work part of the time, haha. She did show us a lot of pictures though, I enjoyed that a lot.

Sunday morning we got up and went to a Greek mass with yia-yia. Jackie and I were very confused and just tried to follow along by standing up/sitting down and crossing ourselves (3 times) whenever the people around us did. It was a beautiful service though, pretty much all singing, and we found out later that it’s all in Ancient Greek so a lot of the townspeople don’t even understand it! Later, we called Lary to take us on a hike up to the castle and ruins on top of the island (this will make more sense once you see the pictures, if I can ever get them uploaded!). He took us on his motorcycle over to the gate of the town and then we walked through the lower town and up along the path to the upper old town, with a beautiful old church and lots of ruins. Finally we made it to the very top and were greeted by the most incredible view of the town below, and of the mountains and sea in the distance. It was unreal being up so high and having such an amazing view of everything surrounding us – it might be one of my favorite views from this semester. We took a lot of pictures and relaxed up there for awhile, before heading back down to the town. Then Lary showed us the one access point from the town down into the sea, called the portello. There’s even a ladder to go swimming, which we planned to do the following day. Then we went back to yia-yia’s for lunch, which was my favorite Greek food – LAMB! It was so delicious, accompanied by some really yummy rice. Once again we were stuffed but it was so good. Later we walked along the coast, trying to find a good place to swim. There aren’t really any sandy beaches (apparently to Greeks, anywhere you can swim is a beach!) but we found this spot along the rocks to jump in and swim around. The water was cold and very salty, but it was exciting to swim in the Mediterranean! We hung out on the rocks for awhile, took some more gorgeous pictures (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the rock and of the town!). Later that night, we did a little shopping in the town and got some ice cream, once again just sitting down by the water and enjoying being in Greece.

Monday we awoke to not so nice weather, but we still went out walking around. We decided to venture up to the lower old town, even though it was much too cold and the sea was way too rough to swim. But we had a good time exploring the old ruins in the town and doing a little more shopping/browsing in the cute little shops. Then we got some tea in a cute café overlooking the sea and of course, took a bunch more pictures. That night we walked around “downtown” again and headed in for an early, last night in Greece because we had to get up very early in the morning.

Tuesday morning we got up and said goodbye to yia-yia, and headed down to catch the bus at 5:15 am. Both Jackie and I were very sick for about the first hour of the 6 hour bus ride, but we made it to Athens and headed to the airport. Jackie’s plane left at 3 but my departure wasn’t until 5, so it was a very long wait for me seeing we got to the airport around noon. My plane ended up being delayed so I had to wait even longer, but I finally left for Madrid and got a decent amount of sleep on the plane (I love window seats and sleep masks). We even got fed on the plane (yay for not cheap airlines!) and unlike on the way to Athens, I could actually eat this meal, even though it didn’t taste very good. Finally arrived in Madrid and had to wait another hour for my flight to Sevilla, where I arrived around 11. I had to wait for my bag that I had checked, and then wait 30 min for the bus before I finally got back into Sevilla. I then waited for the bus back home for about 25 minutes, along with a bunch of women dressed up in beautiful flamenco dresses for feria, until we realized that bus wasn’t running. So finally I got on a different bus and made it home around 1 am – about 20 hours of traveling! It was a very long day but very worth it for a trip to Greece – overall I had a ton of fun and loved Monemvasia. It is such a beautiful place, the people are so nice, and it was very relaxing. A big thank you to Georgia for helping me stay with her family, it definitely made the trip a lot more special and much more authentically Greek.

Pictures will be coming soon, along with another update later this week about Feria! (the big April Fair here in Sevilla)

Athens and Monemvasia

more Monemvasia

Toro, Toro!

22 April 2009

Well, I can officially say I’ve been to Spain now because I’ve seen a bullfight. API bought the tickets, which was nice because my seat cost 35 euro, and it was one of the cheaper seats! It was so hot sitting in the arena – I can see why the shaded seats cost so much money, but I think it would be worth it! At least I’m getting a nice tan. Before the fight, I didn’t think I would like it but I didn’t really know what to expect. It was strange to see everyone gathering and buying drinks and finding their seats like it was a normal sporting event, a baseball or football game.

At first the toreros and other guys march around the stadium. Then the let the bull out and it runs around the arena. There are a bunch of men with pink and yellow capes that taunt the bull and try to tire him out. Then men on horseback called picadors enter the stadium and attract the bulls attention, then they stab him with a spear in its back when it attacks. This is my least favorite part, I could hardly watch it. The horses have a lot of armor so they’re not hurt when the bull attacks, but it just seems unfair to the bull. Then these other guys called banderilleros come out and their job is to attract the bull, jump in front of his horns and stab these little flag things into its back, and twist away before getting gored by the horns. I didn’t like watching them hurt the bull, plus the first bull (there are 6 total, 3 matadors that each fight 2 different bulls) ended up catching one of the banderilleros between his horns and tossing him around in the air. I was horrified because I thought he had gotten gored by one of the horns, it was so scary. Then the matador fights the bull alone, doing different series of moves with the red cape to tire out the bull. Finally he takes a sword and stabs the bull in the neck/back. Then him and a few other guys tire the bull out until it finally dies. The worst part is the guy who goes over to the bull after its fallen to the ground and stabs him in the head with a dagger and twists it around until the bull stops twitching. Then, the bull is dragged from the arena by horses and its meat is sold as food – apparently the best part is the tail. At the end of the 6 bulls, the crowd waves white handkerchiefs for which torero they like best. The winner parades around the arena and if they did particularly well, they get presented with the ears and tail of the bull. Our winner got one ear, which I guess is still pretty good – Luis Bolívar, 24 years old from Colombia. Another was from France and one was from Sevilla

My personal opinion…I’m still not entirely decided. At first I was horrified. I was sick to my stomach watching the bull get tortured and ganged up upon and falling down. I definitely don’t like how painful it looks for the bull, I felt so bad for the poor animal. However I’m not against bull fighting because I think it is a part of the culture and I would have appreciated it more if I knew what technique was good or understood a little more about what was going on. It is really neat to see how the toreros (the main bull fighters) move the cape and their bodies; it really almost is like dancing with the bull. I don’t understand how you could be so calm with an angry bull charging at you! It makes me feel a little better for the bulls knowing that the first like 5 yeards of their life they are treated really well – huge pastures, best food – they are pampered because it’s an honor to be a bull fighting bull. And they do sell the meat after, so they aren’t wasting 6 bulls every night, it’s just really hard for me to watch the animals suffer so much, all for the entertainment of people. I’m glad I went though, just to experience it, and see the cultural side of bull fighting, although I don’t think I’ll ever go to another one! Enjoy the pictures – I’m heading to Greece tomorrow and then it’s Feria (April Fair) here in Sevilla, so as usual, expect more pictures and updates soon! <3

Plaza de Toros

video - more to come soon!

another video

close up video

don't watch this one if you didn't like the other ones...

NO8DO

21 Abril

A funny story from yesterday: I’m just sitting in my room, getting ready to leave for class when I hear someone come rushing in the house. So I go to see what’s going on and it’s Carmen’s daughter, Ruth. She is running frantically around the apartment, says hello to me (2 kisses, obviously) and then tells me that she ripped her pants and is on her way to the doctor’s office! And they were ripped like all the way up the butt of the pants. She’s trying to get into Carmen’s bedroom where she has extra clothes but the door is locked. So she goes into Karen’s room, takes the glass out of the window that goes from Karen’s room to the terrace, takes out the screen, hops up onto Karen’s desk (in heels) and climbs through the window! She breaks into Carmen’s room from the terrace, changes into a new pair of pants, and proceeds to climb back through Karen’s window, breaking a plant on the way. She just kept saying how crazy, this is something that only happens in Spain, I can’t believe this is happening. It was sooo funny! I wish Ruth visited more often because she has so much energy and is just so full of life!

I also realized recently just how much I love teaching English to Pedro and Maria. They are so much fun and I can tell they enjoy their lessons, for the most part. I get so excited to see how much they’ve improved – Pedro can actually understand when I try to tell him something and he is reading much better. He’s even started speaking more English, when he knows the words, and will bring up things to talk about. And Maria started off not really understanding anything, and now she can understand when I give her simple instructions and she is great at remembering vocab. And they are both so fast at all the word games I bring them! Some of these things I think would be difficult for me in Spanish, like word scrambles, and they do so well. I just love when they do something right, like when Pedro understands a story we read or when Maria can name all the animals in a picture. I was talking to their parents this afternoon and was almost in tears – they were asking me if I was going to come back to Spain and that I had to come back to Sevilla and call them when I did and that they will cry when I leave and they’re sad I’m not here for longer – they are the nicest family and I’m incredibly glad I got the chance to meet them and help their children, they have made my experience here in Spain so much better. I really hope I am able to stay in touch with them and maybe actually visit them if (or when!) I come back to Sevilla in the future. Maybe they will even come to the US and I can show them around! I just couldn’t imagine never seeing them again – as it is, the kids will be so different and so much older if I do see them again, Claudia and Marta probably won’t even remember me a because they’re only 4 and 5 years old.

I really can’t imagine never seeing Sevilla again; it will always have a special place in my heart. I am never planning on getting a tattoo, but if I did, NO8DO would be in the running, it means no me dejado (Sevilla will never leave me) and you can find it all over the place in Sevilla. I love living in this city (Although it was very hot today and it’s still only May!). I just think it’s the most beautiful city and the people are so interesting and nice, even just random sevillanos on the bus or in the streets. Sometimes I love riding the bus just to people watch and listen to random conversations. If only I didn’t have so many projects to do, I would love to just go out to the park or the royal gardens and just enjoy the weather and the culture. I was pretty stressed yesterday and then I walked outside to go to class and saw the clearest blue sky, not one cloud, and the warm sun and I don’t know how anyone could be stressed or sad with such beautiful weather. I was just content riding the bus and being in Spain – I’m trying not to get used to the beautiful sights here, and every time I see an orange tree, or a beautiful building, or a park to think wow, look at where I’m living right now. And to realize that I won’t be here for much longer so I need to take it in now, and remember this forever.

The Dragon City: Barcelona

19 Abril 2009

Last weekend, API went on a trip to Barcelona. We left pretty early Friday morning so I was tired but it was nice having it all organized for us. When we first got to the hotel, our rooms weren’t ready so instead of taking a nap like we had planned to, SJ and I wandered around the city. We went to a street that has 2 famous buildings by architect Antonio Gaudi. One is called La Casa Milá, aka La Pedrera because it is made of out stone. The other one is one of my favorite buildings. It’s called Casa Batlló and it’s meant to look like dragon skin because the patron saint of Barcelona is St. George, who is said to have killed a dragon. The colors on the building are beautiful and it’s so detailed – also, there are hardly any corners, all of the windows and doors have rounded edges, it is very cool and very unique. That night we had a bus tour around Barcelona with API to see some of the most famous sights. We went to Parque Guell (also by Gaudi) which was very pretty – all the mosaics on the main plaza are made from recycled pottery and tiles – he couldn’t use the regular mosaic style because of the curved surface. It was also cool to visit here because America’s Next Top Model had the final runway show there a few years ago and I remember watching it! We also went to the top of one of the hills that overlooks the city to take some pictures of the city and of the port but unfortunately it was raining pretty hard. We also saw the Olympic stadium and the Barcelona Fútbol Club Stadium. Then we visited La Sagrada Familia, a huge church that was designed and begun by Gaudi but he died before he could finish. It is still very far from being done but it is incredible to look at. One side represents the passion of Christ, and it’s a very modern style that you have to interpret the figures and symbols to understand the full meaning. The other side represents the birth of Jesus – it’s straight forward, right from the bible, and is very detailed and beautiful. So far there are 8 towers but 10 more have to be built – 12 for each apostle, 4 for the authors of the gospel, 1 for jesus and another for Mary. (The Sagrada Familia means Holy Family). However construction is very slow because it’s funded entirely on donations! Also, a lot of Gaudi’s original plans were lost during the Spanish civil war so it’s been difficult to continue like he had planned it. This was very cool to see though because it’s another thing I had learned a lot about in my high school Spanish class and seeing it in person was pretty unreal. That night, SJ and I walked around the city near our hotel and just enjoyed being in Barcelona.

The next day, Saturday, we got up and took a tour of the Palau de Musica (Palacio de Musica in Spanish – everything in Barcelona is in the regional dialect, Catalan, which I hate!), which was gorgeous! (and actually not designed by gaudi!) The theater inside is so beautiful – unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures but it was amazing. So much detail in the design with a lot of influence from nature. Repeated symbolism of the rose, another St. George symbol because the blood of the dragon supposedly turned into a red rose, which is now a symbol of Catalan nationalism. In the center of the theater is a huge glass structure, like a skylight from the ceiling except that it extends down into the theater (it’s so hard to explain!). It is made of out multicolored glass and lets in enough natural light to completely illuminate the theater during the day. There were also beautiful mosaics and designs, sculptures of nature, muses from all over the world, and famous musicians. We even got to watch the dress rehearsal for some sort of acrobatic show, it was very cool! SJ and I wanted to see a show there later that night but it was very expensive, even for the bad seats so we decided not to. After, we went to the Picasso museum, second most visited museum in Spain. I really enjoyed it, I didn’t realize how much I like some of picasso’s earlier works. I also really enjoyed his series of Meninas – Velazquez, another famous Spanish artist, has a very famous painting called Las Meninas. Picasso, as a tribute to Velazquez, did a series of his interpretations of Las Meninas, which was very interesting to see, maybe my favorite part of the museum. Then we walked along Las Ramblas, a famous street in Barcelona with a lot of street performers and little stands selling souvenirs and, of all things, pets – everything from turtles and fish, to chipmunks and bunnies, to chickens and ducks. There were a lot of interesting people to see, as well as a really cool, huge outdoor food market. We also went back to La Pedrera to take a tour inside (I wanted to go into Casa Batlló but it was more than twice as expensive!). The view from the roof was very cool and the way Gaudi built everything, with unique style but at the same time great function, is amazing. For example, these cool little courtyards within La Pedrera (originally built as apartments, some people still live there but parts of it are a museum now). The courtyards provide every single room in the building with natural light, even the bathrooms. And the cool towers on top are air vents or chimneys. Later that night, we went to this cool fountain show, with lights and music, with a cool guy from Costa Rica we had met earlier. He had been living in Barcelona for a few years and was very nice and offered to show us around. We saw some really cool views of the city at night and got some dinner, then headed back to the hotel for some sleep – we were exhausted from walking the entire day!

Sunday, our last day, we got up and headed down to the Cathedral because they do traditional Catalan dancing there on Sunday afternoons. The dancing was pretty boring but we found the coolest thing ever on the way there – a group of people building human castles on the street! Usually they only practice on certain nights but because this week is St. George’s day, they were performing in the street. It was SO cool! They literally build castles, like building a human pyramid, only way taller and with a lot more people. The ones at the top are little kids, like 6 years old, wearing helmets and they climb up everyone an then to come down, they just slide down the people like it’s a firemen’s pole! I have some really cool videos that I will upload. One of them they built from the bottom up, which was really neat to watch. And the last one didn’t go exactly as planned – watch and you’ll see what I mean! That was definitely my favorite part of the trip I think because I had seen a video about them in one of my classes and was amazed by it – it was even more amazing to see it in person, just on a random street! I was so excited we happened to run into it. Later we went into Santa Maria del Mar, a very pretty church, and got some delicious gelato. Then we walked over to this park because we had heard there was a cool market – and indeed there was! It was a big Earth Day fair/hippie market with tons of interesting booths of everything from NGO’s to vegetarian and animal rights organizations, to people selling food and jewelry and clothing from around the world, to massages and yoga. It was so cool to walk around and see so many interesting people and things, SJ and I spent a long time walking around there! Then unfortunately we had to leave – there was so much more we could have seen if there was more time! Although I wouldn’t want to live in Barcelona (too big of a city, very different culture, catalan, etc) it was a very interesting place to visit and I would recommend it to anyone, I think there’s something interesting for everyone. There is a mix of people from all over the world and the modernism architecture was definitely something different from anything I’ve seen so far in Spain. It was a very fun trip overall and it was nice having most of it organized by API but at the same time, having enough free time that you can choose what you want to do.

Barcelona pictures

Videos of the human castles coming soon!

finally, a video of the human castles! I have 3 more coming, eventually

another castle video

more human castles!

finally got the last one uploaded!

Semana Santa!

12 Abril

This past week, Sevilla celebrated Semana Santa (Holy Week). Each church has 2 pasos (like floats, except they are carried by men called costaleros), usually one depicting a scene from the Passion of Christ and another one with a representation of the Virgen Mary. The pasos are beautiful, which detailed figures and decorated with candles and fresh flowers. Many people walk along with the pasos on the procession from the church, to the cathedral, then back again. They are called Nazarenos (like Nazareth) and they carry candles and wear long robes with pointed hoods (not the KKK!). Each hermandad (brotherhood that organizes the processions of the church) has their own signature colors and symbols. The more serious ones wear all black and are silent, while others have colors like purple or red. There are also people in robes carrying wooden crosses, called penitents. Some of them even go without shoes, walking barefoot on the streets for hours (some of the processions can take up to 13 hours because they move so slow!). There are also priests and other members of the clergy, holding candles and burning incense. The streets smell SO good from the incense and the fresh flowers! Behind each paso is a band, playing specific marches for either Jesus or La Virgen, although certain hermandades have no band and prefer silence or singing. The processions are held all through the week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. The most famous ones are Thursday evening into Friday morning, called the madrugada – some people stay up all night watching the procession and they have box seats in front of the cathedral that go for around 100 euro a person! Most of them take a very long time because the pasos are so heavy and the costaleros put them down every so often to rest or to switch off people. My favorite part is watching the costaleros lift the paso up again after they’ve put it down – the whole paso pops up and you feel like Jesus or Mary is going to topple over!

Wednesday night SJ and I met up with the family of Pedro and Maria (the kids I teach English to) so we could see a few of the pasos. There were SO many people in Sevilla, it took us so long to get there because a lot of the buses weren’t running and it’s very hard to get somewhere when there are so many pasos happening at the same time and blocking the roads! The kids’ father, José, was very nice and helpful and would bring SJ and I right up to the paso to get a good view and take some pictures. It was very overwhelming at first since we still didn’t really know what to expect from Semana Santa. And the kids were so cute and were very excited that I was there – I took a few pictures of them so everyone can see how cute they are! All the little kids collect the wax from the candles of the nazarenos and save the balls so they can add to them every year. That was very fun and a good introduction to the week because the parents were very good about explaining stuff to us – plus with the kids, we obviously weren’t out too late which was good because SJ and I were both tired from our traveling. It took us a very long time to get home though because of all the people in the streets – we couldn’t even get through on our bikes!

Thursday, SJ and I went to La Macarena, a famous church right near our house, to see the pasos before they left the church. The church itself is gorgeous and La Virgen de la Macarena was one of my favorites (definitely check out the pictures for all of these things I’m explaining, it’s much easier to understand if you see them!). It was also a lot easier to see and take pictures of them while they were sitting in the church versus being carried through the streets! Everyone is supposed to wear black on Thursday, into Friday, because that’s the night of Jesus’ death and the traditional dress of the women is so beautiful – they wear black dresses with these amazing black lace veils. I sneakily took a few pictures of them because they all looked so pretty!

Thursday night, we met up with one of SJ’s friends from Sevilla, José (another José!) so he could show us some of the pasos. One the way there we ran into a silent paso as it was returning to its church – they actually had to lower Jesus and the cross to fit it into the doorway! There were also 2 people who sang a specific type of song (I can’t remember the name) that’s actually a prayer, it was very eerie with the silence and Jesus up on the cross. When we met her friend, he knew a ton about Semana Santa and loves seeing all of the cofradias (processions) so he took us around to see a bunch of different ones. I think that’s the best way to see them – instead of sitting in one place waiting for them to come by, which takes a long time and gets very boring, it’s better to walk to see one paso and then leaving to go to another street to see a different one (there were a lot going on at once, especially Thursday night). That way you get to see a bunch of them but don’t get bored (or too cold!) sitting in one spot. José also took us into his church to see his pasos, which had already gone out on Palm Sunday. He actually let us go under one, where the costaleros carry it, which was really cool! His paso needed almost 100 men to carry it! I still can’t believe they are carried, they are so big and heavy! We used to see the costaleros practicing all the time near the Macarena – it freaked us out the first time because we had no idea what it was! José also has a palco (box seats) for La Madrugada, so he bribed the ticket guards with coffees and let us in to see the first paso! Neither SJ nor I wanted to stay up all night to see them, but it was really cool to get to see the first one, especially under the full moon!

Friday during the day Carmen (she thinks watching the pasos is super boring and hates how busy the city gets) took SJ and I to the beach in Portugal! It’s only about an hour drive and you don’t need passports or anything – when you cross the border all you see is a big sign saying Welcome to Portugal! (almost like you’re crossing a state border in the US!). Unfortunately it was very windy so it wasn’t the best beach day (I swear I still have sand in my hair!) but the beach was gorgeous and I managed to get a little sun. We also had lunch at a nice restaurant and got some ice cream and it was fun to hang out with Carmen. And now I’ve been to Portugal! I still can’t believe how easy and spontaneous it was to just drive into a completely different country!

Friday night I decided to go see another paso that Carmen had been talking about, portraying the last breath of Jesus. Apparently it is one of the oldest (and most famous) ones in Sevilla and rarely even goes out on procession because they don’t want it to be damaged by bad weather (apparently it almost always rains on Good Friday so sometimes this paso goes 6 or 7 years without making an appearance!) I went down to the Triana bridge to wait for it, which was beautiful at night, especially when they shut the streetlights off. In the background I could see not only the full moon reflecting over the river, but all of the sights Sevilla is famous for – La Giralda, La Maestranza (bull fighting ring), El Torre de Oro, and La Plaza de Espana—all lit up! It was a breathtaking sight, especially when the nazarenos began walking by with the candles. The actual paso was beautiful, Jesus was very well sculpted (As are most of the pasos) and it was very awesome in the candlelight and silence. The costaleros put the paso down right in front of me so I was able to admire it longer and take some really good pictures. Then I walked down to see La Virgen and headed back home, very glad that I went out to see it! That may have been my favorite cofradia in terms of the whole atmosphere.

Easter Sunday I got up and went to church in the morning at a little church near my house. I got there early because I thought there may be a lot of people but I was like the 6^th person in the church! It wasn’t as ornately decorated as some that I’ve seen, such as La Macarena, but it was decorated beautifully. The altar had tiles from the floor to about waste height with beautiful mosaics and there was an amazing sculpture of Jesus, as well as a saint on either side of him and an angel on each corner. There were also wonderful flowers and plants placed all around the altar. The mass was very quick because there was no music and not many people. It was obviously all in Spanish, which was interesting. I was able to understand the readings and the homily fairly well, but I was very lost on all the prayers! I alternated between making something up in Spanish, saying something in English (the right thing if I could figure it out, or just saying some sort of prayer, like the Our Father), or not saying anything at all. I did figure out El Padre, el Hijo, y el Espiritu Santo! I enjoyed it though and I’m glad I went. That afternoon SJ, Karen, and I went to see the last paso of the week, the resurrection (I wish I could remember all the names of the pasos and the hermandades – most of the sevillanos are able to name them if you describe them!). It was very hot and there were a lot of people, but it was a beautiful paso and the costaleros did an amazing job navigating it into the church – they had to turn the paso around and then walk backwards! La Virgen was also very pretty, with gorgeous lace and tons of flowers. My favorite part was when the people watching from their balconies through tons of rose petals down onto the paso as it passed by – it was a shower of red and white and it was so beautiful to watch. I would have loved to be standing underneath the balcony! Other people tossed full roses down onto her, trying to land them on the top of the paso.

I really enjoyed Semana Santa in Sevilla, especially because I wasn’t really sure what to expect! I think I got a very good mix of experiences with it, from day to night, little kids, to friends, to alone – I definitely enjoyed being a part of it and I’m so glad I got to see it. I’m going to miss the smell of incense, candles, and flowers in the streets – although I won’t miss the crazy amount of people and not being able to get anywhere! I also am happy with the amount I got to see – I definitely got the full experience, in my opinion, without having to see every paso or sit somewhere for hours and hours! I can’t believe I have to go back to school tomorrow though and that I’m leaving for Barcelona on Friday – and I still have 3 projects to do before the end of the semester!

Enjoy the pictures (and videos this time!) and thanks for reading – sorry it was so long but I hope you got a decent understanding of Semana Santa here in Sevilla!

video of the costaleros lifting La Virgen

Semana Santa

El Resucitado I (video)

El Resucitado II (video)

Valencia

7 Abril

After leaving Amsterdam on Sunday I flew into Valencia for a two day solo vacation. After a little confusion, I found the hostel and checked in. The first room I was assigned, someone was sleeping on my bed so I was moved to a different room (6 girls, 3 bunk beds). Two girls from Argentina were already in there and invited me to go out with them that night. I was tired but I thought it might be fun so I joined them and we went out to a few bars that the hostel recommended (all of which were terrible!) I spoke a lot of Spanish though and did pretty well with it, although it was a little hard after being in an English/dutch speaking country for 4 days! They were very nice and I was glad I met some people to go out with.

Unfortunately they were leaving the next morning, Monday, but I walked to the city of arts and sciences. It’s a modern complex consisting of an aquarium, a science museum, a performing arts theater, and an IMAX theater. I was excited for the aquarium so I headed there first. There was a long line but I finally got in – it is supposedly Europe’s largest aquarium and it is home to more different species than any other aquarium in the world. It doesn’t look that big from above ground but most of the exhibits are below ground, like all the fish tanks and everything. There was a Mediterranean section, a Caribbean section with Sharks, a tropical coral reef section, a wetland bird section, penguins and the arctic, seals, sea lions, and dolphins. My favorite was the dolphin show – it was really cool, it made me really want to swim with dolphins and get thrown up in the air by them! It looks like the coolest thing in the world, if only I was a better swimmer and lived in a warmer place I would want to be a dolphin trainer still, like I did when I was 5 years old. I also really liked all the tanks that you can walk through – it’s so cool seeing the fish swim right above your head. It made me really want to go scuba diving somewhere warm and tropical! Later on, I went to the science museum. They had a pretty cool exhibit on biology and genetics and also a section on climate change. At this point I was pretty tired but it was raining so I headed over to a mall for about an hour and just shopped around before taking the long walk back to the hostel (my map said there was a metro line but apparently it’s still under construction which was unfortunate).

The next day, Tuesday, I got up and walked around the historical part of town, right near my hostel. First I went to this really cool open marketplace and bought some fresh fruit, there were so many different stands and tons of people, it was interesting. Then I went to the basilica, which was beautifully decorated, and accidentally attended part of a mass, then I went to the cathedral and climbed up the tower. I walked around the little square some more then decided that even though it was rather cold out, I wanted to at least see the beach. So I go to the metro stop and realize I only have a 20 euro bill. So I put it in the machine because it only says no 50’s…and nothing happens. I don’t get a ticket or change or anything, it just ate my money. So these 2 nice men try to help, I end up asking the metro conductor and he tells me to call some help number. So I call the number but I can’t hear the guy at all because I’m outside at a subway stop. Finally I figure out I need to walk to a certain station to talk to someone. So I walk all the way there and they tell me I have to go to a different stop. I finally get to the customer help office, fill out some forms, and eventually get my 20 euro back. So that was very frustrating and a waste of about an hour of my day, plus a lot of extra walking. I decide to go to this museum about Las Fallas, a very famous festival in Valencia where they build huge structures and light them on fire to commemorate the patron saint of carpenters. It starts thunderstorming and I’m glad I reached the museum just in time…and it’s closed for siesta. It starts pouring, so I run down into this parking garage near the science museum. It keeps raining and raining so I decide to go to an IMAX movie in the cool hemisphere theater. I saw a movie on the Alps, which was really cool on the massive screen and it calmed me down quite a bit since I was pretty stressed about how my day had been going. Then I went back to the museum, which was actually open, and walked around inside there. It was pretty interesting to learn about the history of such a unique festival and the see some of the figures that had been made for the parade each year. Then I decided to take a bus back to the hostel to pick up my bags but I got confused about the buses and waited for the wrong bus for like 20 minutes. What a stressful day. Finally I got my bags and walked to the train station to head to the airport. I was plenty early for my flight, unlike in Amsterdam when I almost missed my flight (they had already closed the check-in gate and had to reopen it just for me, then I got to cut half the security line). I was very glad to be back in Sevilla, although it was strange to have so many people walking around and lots of people dressed up for Semana Santa. I saw one of the processions last night and I’m planning to see more tonight – I will post more pictures and explanations later on this week!

Enjoy the Valencia pictures and expect more soon! Thanks <3

Valencia

The Homeland!

5 Abril 2009

I can’t believe it’s already April – this semester is going by way too fast! Last weekend I went to The Netherlands to visit Jackie. She’s studying in Utrecht, which is right outside of Amsterdam. We went to Amsterdam for the first day and everything is very different than Spain, from the canals and buildings, to the streets and the people. First of all, there are more bikes than cars and bikes have the right of way! They are everywhere! Also, the way the land is – very flat and most of it below sea level – so the canals and buildings are set up very differently! I really liked it though, I love how all the buildings look lined up along the water. We walked around for a little while and then we went into the Anne Frank house. It’s the place where her and her family and 3 other people (8 total) lived for over 2 years when they were in hiding from the Nazi’s. It was really eerie to see the actual rooms where she lived in and to think about her never being able to leave those rooms except when she was taken away by the Germans. And seeing her actual journal with her handwriting…wow, it really hits you that like it’s not just a story, it really happened and people really suffered. Jackie and I both bought a copy of her journal – Jackie is going to attempt to read it in Dutch, which is really cool since that’s the language it was written in. Then we headed back to Utrecht – it was very interesting getting from the train station to the university on Jackie’s bike – I was sitting on the back of it but my huge backpack made it really off balance! We finally figured it out but it was definitely an adventure, I can’t believe we actually did it! I really wish we had a picture haha. Utrecht is such a cute little town! The canals look very different than those in Amsterdam but I relaly liked them – there are restaurants and shops and everything like…down under the streets that open on to the canals, it’s really neat. That night I met some of Jackie’s friends, who I really like, and then she showed me the campus bar. After, we headed into the town (I borrowed someone’s bike – much easier!) and we went to a few bars – it’s so nice that no one smokes inside, I could actually breathe!

Friday we slept in because we were both very tired and then we got up and walked around Utrecht. The streets are sooo cute, with so many little cafes and shops, I really liked it. And it was a gorgeous day! I was expecting it to be very cold and it was sunny and warm, everyone was outside enjoying the weather. We did some shopping for the combined birthday party we had planned for Saturday night – it was definitely interesting getting a shopping cart full of beer all the way back to her dorm! That night we went out with some of her friends to this cool African restaurant on the canal. I got a salad with ostrich! It was very good. I also had a delicious desert of ice cream with exotic fruit. The restaurant was a little on the expensive side but it was very well decorated and themed and I thought it was worth it.

Saturday we went to Keukenhof, a beautiful and huge complex of outdoor and indoor gardens – obviously featuring a lot of tulips! The flowers were gorgeous, although it wasn’t the nicest day and it’s still a little early in the season for some of the flowers to be blooming. They had a whole indoor section though with some of the prettiest tulips and flowers that I have ever seen. The colors were so brilliant, it was incredible – I wish the pictures could do them justice! It was definitely worth the bus and train rides and walking around in the cold. There was also a really cool windmill and some sort of traditional Dutch choir singing songs! I really enjoyed it and I love Jackie’s friends – they are so nice and wicked fun to hang out with! That night was our combined birthday party with an 80’s/90’s theme. Jackie and I both rocked the 80’s look with bright colored tights and shirts and, of course, side pony tails! A lot of people dressed up and the party was a lot of fun, although I was very tired from our long day!

Sunday we went for a bike ride outside of the city, in some really pretty woods and fields. It was very peaceful and I enjoy bike riding, I wish it was more widespread in the US, I think I’m going to miss it when I come home! Then we went into Utrecht and climbed the Dom Tower, the tallest tower in The Netherlands! It used to be connected to the church next to it but a big hurricane wiped out the middle part of the church so now they’re two separate buildings. It was quite a climb to the top but it had a really pretty view, the canals looked really cool from above. That night I (barely) left from Amsterdam to go to Valencia for a few days on my own – which will be my next blog entry! I really enjoyed my few days in Utrecht with Jackie – it was fun seeing something so different from what I’ve gotten used to and I lucked it with good weather, except for the day at the gardens! It was so nice to spend time with Jackie, too – lately I’ve missed everyone from home a lot, even though I do love it here in Sevilla. This week is Semana Santa (holy week) which is wolrd famous here and there are tons of people in the city, there will definitely be an entry about that soon, too! Enjoy the pictures ( I have so many pictures of flowers, I didn’t even put them all up!) and thanks for reading! <3

Amsterdam and Utrecht

Keukenhof

The City of Lights

29 Marzo

Julia and I went to Paris for the weekend and it was amazing! It started off a little tiring because we left Sevilla Thursday night, flew into one barcelona airport, took a bus into Barcelona, took a taxi to the other Barcelona airport, slept in the airport for 2 hours then got on another plane and arrived in Paris at 8 in the morning on Friday. It was good because it was cheaper than most of the other options and it got us to Paris very early but we were both exhausted! We found our hotel, which was very nice and the receptionists spoke English, which was helpful since I only know a handful of French phrases and I can count to ten. We slept got breakfast and slept for a few hours at the hotel then we got up and headed out to see Paris. The area around our hotel was very cute and very authentically French with tons of cute little markets and shops on the street. First we went to the Orsay Museum, which has a lot of impressionist stuff like Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir, etc. I liked it a lot because I haven’t seen much of this type of art since I’ve been here. We also casually ran into both the Louvre and the Eiffel tower on the way to the museum, which was very exciting! Paris is a HUGE city and it’s very beautiful – although it was WAY too cold! I have been spoiled with the warm Sevilla weather. After the museum, we went to the Arc du Triumphe. We climbed to the top and got a really nice view of the city and I realized just how big the city is – you can’t even see the end of it! After that, we went to Sacre Coeur (sorry if all of these things are spelled wrong, my French is horrible!). It is a beautiful church on top of a hill at the north of the city and you can see all of Paris from it. It was getting dark when we went up there and after we took a tour of the beautiful inside of the church, we got to see the Eiffel tower lit up and sparkling, it was awesome.

Saturday we had a very busy day of sightseeing! First we took a tour of the Opera House. We had actually run into it on Friday and not realized what it was! One of the security guys was very funny – he asked if we were American and said it’s his dream to live there because his brother lives there. So I was like oh really? Where? And he goes OBAMA! He is my brother, get it?! (he was a huge black guy!) It was so funny – we took a picture with him and he told us to send it to his brother when we got back to the states, haha. The opera house was beautiful, I was very glad we went to see it (I don’t know how else to describe it but you will see in the pictures if I ever get them all uploaded – I took way too many!) Next we went to the Louvre. I love the outside of the Louvre, the actual building used to be an old palace and the architecture is amazing. I also really like the glass pyramids. We went inside and it is SO big! It was very overwhelming but luckily Julia had her Rick Steve’s travel guide haha and he helped guide us. We saw the Mona Lisa, which was cool but it’s actually very small and everyone was way too crowded around it. We saw a lot of other famous paintings – I especially liked the Spanish art section because I’ve learned a lot about the Spanish artists in my classes. There was also a cool section in the Louvre that I never realized was there – Napolean’s apartments. They’re like some of the old rooms where Napolean used to live and theyre very ornately decorated and pretty.

Next we walked to Notre Dame, which was beautiful. The stained glass windows were incredible and the church seemed huge (although my teacher told me that the Notre Dame could fit 3 times into the Cathedral of Sevilla!) The carvings on the front of the cathedral were also amazing and actually had some cool stories behind them. Unfortunately we missed being able to go up to the top of the tower to see the gargoyles by about 2 minutes because it had closed, which was very disappointing. Next we headed to another church called Saint Chappelle. It was small but had the most beautiful stained glass I’ve ever seen. The entire church was all stained glass of incredible colors and it was overwhelming. It was raining very hard after this and was cold, which was not very much fun. However we went shopping for a little bit and then went and saw the Bastille Tower. That night, we went to the Eiffel Tower! It was GORGEOUS at night, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it! It was amazing. They actually shut off all of the lights at 8:30 because it was Earth hour, when everyone in the world was supposed to turn off their lights. It was pretty eerie to see the tower at night not lit up, but it was pretty cool that they did it. Then we went up the tower – it was really cold and windy but it was really cool. I was very scared going up to the top, it was very high and you’re it this tiny little elevator, it was scary! The view was incredible though.

Sunday, Julia and I went to Versailles! I was very excited to see it because it’s so famous and has a lot of historical significance. It was HUGE and impressive looking, both of the outside and inside. The rooms were very ornately decorated and the Hall of Mirrors was definitely worth seeing, it was awesome. (I need to find some new adjectives for these blogs!) I took a lot of pictures and enjoyed it a lot. The gardens were also amazing – they must be so beautiful in the summer when all the trees and flowers are blooming! We only saw the fountains and pools in the middle of the gardens and there was so much more forest and gardens that we couldn’t even see! And the amount of people that were visiting just that day was tremendous. When we got back to Paris, we walked around the Louvre again for a little while, and tried to find the inverted pyramid, like the epic ending of Da Vinci Code. However Tom Hanks is very deceiving because you can’t actually look down at the pyramid because it’s all fenced off. But we did see where the two pyramids meet, which was neat – it’s actually in the mall attached to the Louvre. Then we headed to get some dinner for our last night – I ate a lot of French fries on the trip and Julia had a lot of crepes! I also discovered one of my new favorite pastries that is naturally gluten-free: macarons. They are so good! Anyways, I think that’s everything we did!

I got back to Sevilla Monday morning and I’m leaving again on Thursday morning to go see Jackie in the Netherlands until Sunday and then I’m going to Valencia by myself for Monday and Tuesday since we don’t have classes next week for Semana Santa (Holy Week). In conclusion, Paris was awesome and I’m so glad I ended up going – Julia and I had a lot of fun. The Eiffel tower was definitely as amazing as it’s cracked up to be. I also really liked the Orsay Museum and the Sacre Coeur. And the stained glass in Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle was incredible. And the city is huge! I still can’t believe I got to go to so many famous places in Paris like the Arc du Triumph and the Louvre. It's definitely worth being tired and a little stressed!

As always, thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures! <3

Musee de Orsay, Arc du Triumphe, Sacre Coeur, Opera House

The Louvre, Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, and Eiffel Tower

Versailles and more of the Louvre