Sonrisas y Lagrimas

Title explanation: Sonrisas y Lagrimas is actually the name in Spanish for The Sound of Music, but it literally translates to "smiles and tears," which makes this appropriate for my reflection on the last week in Spain.


The entrance way to Feria. One of my favorite photos that I've taken.

So, our last week was filled with Feria and parties (por supuesto). We kicked off the last week with a party at Feria where we had arroz (paella), danced, and drank a variety of beverages (I'm sure lots of people chose alcohol...the extreme heat told me I should pick a more hydrating beverage). All in all, it was a fun day, despite the crazy heat.

A couple of days later, we had the Lluvia de las Estrellas - a talent show of the cultural courses (Sevillanas, Coro, and Guitarra) and a big party for the families, friends, professors, and students. That day was definitely a blast! It was a little bit bittersweet, especially knowing that the semester was at an end and we'd all be leaving for whatever adventures awaited us in the summer, but it was great way to top off the semester. Despite nearly falling (perhaps dancing in 3-inch stilettos should be saved for the likes of Ginger Rogers, but my black heels just looked better with the dress) on the second Sevillana, I would like to say our performance went rather well.

Then, we said "adios" to Cordoba, once and for all, and packed all of our suitcases on a bus to Madrid. There were tears (none shed by me, though...perhaps it's my calm, collected, stoic Asian-ness?), smiles, and promises to visit one another. It was a nice (long) bus ride up to Madrid (even with the hail), and there was a rather lively game of "Never Have I Ever" going on the in the back of the bus that turned into "Somebody come up with something that Sarah has done" since 3 people got out before I even put one finger down (haha!).

I would like to return to Cordoba someday, preferably for Feria or Patios or some sort of fiesta, but before it gets above 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fiesta Time!

As I have mentioned before, Spain is well-known for going out all the time and it often seems that they party more than they work. Well, there is a very good explanation for this (which I have just learned). Spain is mainly an import country, so they don't really export a lot of goods, which means their economy is much more dependent of tourism and the general population going out all the time. It's actually better for Spain's economy for people to be out shopping, eating, drinking, etc. instead of working all the time. It all makes sense, now!

Anyway, May in Spain (especially in Andalucía and Córdoba) feels like even more of a party month. In Córdoba, the first weekend of May was Cruces de Mayo. Basically, there were a bunch of crosses around the city decorated with flowers surrounded by people getting drunk. It was an ok festival...a huge crowd of people standing around outside doing nothing but getting drunk isn't exactly what I had in mind (I expected music and dancing in addition to the druken crowd).

In the second week or so, there's the Patio contest, which my host house is a part of...and should have won, but the weird rules led to them not getting anything. I didn't quite understand when my host mother told us in a rapid frustrated manner, but I know that it's a sore subject, and refuse to ask clarification. I got the basic jist - they were robbed of first place, despite a handful of judges thinking that they deserved it. I, personally, only found one other patio to be as guay as ours, and that was our next door neighbor's patio.

After the patios, we went to a Romería. How do I describe Romería? Well, there's a religious aspect (every Romería has a specific saint and every pueblo [little country town] has a Romería) in which there's a parade that follows a float (of sorts) with a statue of the saint from a church in the center of town to a church in the middle of the town. Basically, it was a giant party where people ate paella (a really bad one that tasted like it had fake fish flavor instead of real fish flavor), drank, and danced Sevillanas. Anyone catch a pattern here - festivals with religious meanings, but everyone just gets drunk. Actually, Romería was a lot of fun, since there was more to do than just drink, and I got to dance a lot of Sevillanas. The 4-mile pilgrimage was also very beautiful as we were walking through the olive fields.

After that, there was a blues festival, which was a lot of fun. Over three days, there was a series of free (always a plus) outdoor concerts. It was a lot of fun getting together with everyone to watch the concerts and celebrate the end of classes and finals.

This past weekend, I went to Cádiz (not a traditional Spanish festival, but an AWESOME day, nonetheless). Cádiz was gorgeous, and despite the wind that blew sand at us all day, it was a fabulous day. I'm so glad I was able to go to the beach and that I went with a great group of people.

Now, we have Fería, which is a huge county faire. It makes me want to eat something fried and/or sugary that isn't particularly good for you (like fried dough or a funnel cake).

El Fin (Almost)

As classes come to an end, I've been thinking about my time here in Spain. We only have a little more than 2 weeks in Spain, and all of the Preshquitas/os are well aware of this fact. Every time someone asks if I'm excited or ready to go home, I have a conflicted response.

Honestly, I have been ready to go home for a little while. Yes, Spain is great, but it's not home. I feel like this homesickness has been brought on by the sobering reality that I am going to graduate from college next year, that I won't be back home (California) until Thanksgiving, and that someday, I will be referring to my parent's house as just that and not as my home because I will have my own place that I call home (and pay the bills for...this last one dawned on me as I took care of my summer housing and had to sign a lease for the first time).

At the same time, I don't want to leave Spain because there are so many things I love about it (like, how going out to eat or get a coffee is a 3 hour affair where you relax and enjoy the company of friends and family or that the workday is really split into the morning and the evening, and you spend the afternoon relaxing at home with the family).

I think, I am a lot more excited for the end of May because I'm going to embark on what I'm calling the "Heritage Tour" in which I will be visiting Northern Europe with my dad and grandma. I call it the "Heritage Tour" because we will be heading to countries where our ancestors hail from (and anyone who knows me very well knows that I really love being part Swedish...going to Sweden has been a dream of mine for a while, now...I hope I get to see the fjords [*hint hint* Dad *hint hint*].

I think the fact that I'm a) not leaving Europe right away at the end of the program and b) the end of the program means I get to see a couple of family members makes me answer "yes" to the questions about being ready to go home/excited for the end. Besides, we're staying for the fun stuff, and then it gets into June, which means ridiculous summer heat (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit pretty much all the time...ew). So, yes, I am looking forward to the end. Studying abroad in Spain has been an amazing and wonderful opportunity and chapter in my life, but I am ready to move on to the next chapters, which include the "heritage tour," a summer internship, and senior year of college.

Ay! Que calor!

It is definitely springtime here. Actually, it feels more like summer. It's quite glorious - 77 degrees Fahrenheit at 9:30 PM? Perfection. It's actually not quite so perfect when the sun is actually out. I don't know what the temperature actually is during mid-day, but I'm going to assume that it's somewhere in the 80s (maybe 90s) and it will only get hotter as we head into May. I now understand why there is a siesta where you relax in your house for a couple of hours. It's to avoid the heat. I do have to say that I prefer the sun and it's rays full of Vitamin D (as well as other not so beneficial things) to the rain and the cold.

I apologize for not updating in a while - there really hasn't been much to report on. We went to Granada and saw the Alhambra (which I remember learning about in high school and was super excited to go there). Actually, funny story - the bus arrived an hour late to take us to Granada, so our tickets that we had reserved were given to other people (since the tickets have a specific time). Somehow, through some connections that PRESHCO staff have, we managed to get almost enough tickets to tour the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a Moorish palace, and it's gorgeous. I have discovered that I prefer Islamic art to Christian art. The cathedrals that we've been to all look the same - Gothic architecture with Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, and Neo-Classical art decorating the inside. The Islamic art is also very similar in all of the places that we go to, but since it's ornate in a less-gaudy kind of way (because, let's face it, the cathedrals have a touch of gaudiness to them), it's a lot nicer to look at.

Also, in Granada, we learned that "Al" is Arabic for "the" and all of the Spanish words with "al" at the beginning are derived from Arabic. This is also why Spanish and Portuguese sound so different from other Romance languages (like Italian and French) - because of the Islamic rule in the Middle Ages and the Arabic influence on the language. I was really excited when I discovered why French and Italian are more similar to each other than to Spanish.

I have also been watching a lot of television here (a byproduct of not having a lot of schoolwork to do since everything is lecture based & we aren't responsible for hundreds of pages of reading a week). It's actually probably a good thing, since everything (well, mostly) is dubbed in Spanish, so it's another way for me to be exposed to the language instead of watching programs in English or listening to music in English. I have found that cartoons (dibujos animados) are easier to watch since the mouths don't really look too different with the dubbing, and have been watching a lot of Bob Esponja (Spongebob Squarepants). From Bob Esponja, I have learned some valuable vocabulary words, like "cangrejo" (crab), "calamardo" (Squid[ward]), "aranita" (Sandy), "fondo de bikini" (Bikini Bottom), and more. I have also discovered that Dora la Exploradora is just as annoying in Spanish as she is in English - I watched about half of an episode before deciding that I couldn't take it anymore.

Yes, so that's about it. Nothing too terribly exciting, but the May festivals are going to be starting soon (including the patio contest, so there will be tons of tourists coming to our patio & I may have to prove to tourists that I do indeed live in this house and am not trying to cut the line). Hasta luego, amigos!

Veni, Vidi, Vici

So, I'm back from Rome (I've been back for a little over a week) and settling back in to classes. Tomorrow, we head to Granada (Pomegranate) with the group.

Coming back to Córdoba was rather interesting...we had an early-ish flight out of Pisa on Tuesday morning and decided it would be best to leave Rome in the evening and spend the night in the Pisa airport. Well, it turns out that the Pisa airport COMPLETELY shuts down between the time of the last arrival and 4 AM. So, from 1 AM to 4 AM, we had to hang out outside of the airport. It turned out to be a lot of fun, despite the cold (we dug into our bags and fished out the clean clothes we had left...I even threw my towel on top of my head, and then put my hood up to create a makeshift scarf/hat). Needless to say, I was exhausted when I came back, and ended up sleeping for 16 hours (after staying up for, more or less, 30 hours). It was an amazing trip! So much fun! :D

Volcano Day!

Ok, so to update you on what I did on Saturday and today.

Saturday, March 27: We toured pretty much all of Rome and the Vatican. I SAW THE SISTINE CHAPEL! It was so cool to stand underneath Michelangelo's frescoes! We also saw the Spanish steps (and I went on about Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Roman Holiday), the Trevi Fountain (I threw a coin in and made a wish), the Pantheon (it was way too crowded to get in, but I caught a glimpse and got to be the nerd I am and explain everything to my friends that I learned about the Pantheon in Art History last semester - be proud, Annie), and the outside of the Colosseum (we arrived too late to go in - that's our plan for tomorrow). We also finally had gelato! YUM!

At night, we had to stay out in Rome all night because the first train to Naples was before the hostel's shuttle started running. The reception told us there'd be a bar to go nearby the train station. There really wasn't. We ended up finding a chill place with comfy couches and waited there until the train station opened up.

Sunday, March 28th: Our longest day by far. It was crazy! We got on the train at quarter to six this morning and got some sleep on the 3 hour train to Naples. After that, we grabbed breakfast (an espresso based drink included) and headed to Pompeii. I have been wanting to see Pompeii since I was in 6th grade, so it was so awesome to go! I recommend a guided tour so that you can actually understand what's going on. Plus, the tour isn't too expensive and the guides are really good (and the groups are about 6-8 people, so you can actually ask questions and pay attention). I really loved Pompeii! I also couldn't help but think of the Doctor Who episode, haha!

After Pompeii, we went back to Naples to get PIZZA! We wanted to go to the original restaurant, but it was closed. At 4 in the afternoon. After walking all day (on little sleep and food), we were a little upset. We finally found a place that was open and probably a whole lot cheaper than Pizzeria Brandi. Besides, anywhere you go in Naples, the pizza is going to be great! The dough was different - a little spongier/stretchier (I can't quite explain it), but it was great. Plus, they used buffalo mozzarella and had a great balance of sauce, bread, cheese, and toppings. All in all, I love pizza from Naples, but I don't care for the city itself. The city is a little dirty and kinda sketchy and doesn't really have a lot of attractions. Although, making a stop on the way back to Rome from Pompeii for pizza is a MUST! By far, the best pizza I have ever purchased (and you know what? I've never actually purchased a Chicago pizza nor homemade pizza, so Naples can definitely receive that title). I'm still partial to Chicago and homemade pizza, but Naples is truly fantastic. I'm so torn.

Well, we finish up our tour of Italy with some more sightseeing in Rome tomorrow and leave from Pisa early Tuesday morning. I'm pretty sure we'll see some Semana Santa events in Spain, so I'll have to fill you all in on that later.

Ciao!

Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy

Ok, so I'm taking advantage of the free internet at the "Rome" hostel (it's actually about half an hour away) and Ke$ha comes on with "Tik Tok" and we all stop and sing the opening, hence the title of the post.

In case you haven't guessed, I'm in Italy now. We flew into Pisa yesterday and stayed in a fabulous little hotel (it was way cheaper than the cheapest motel in the states and the quality of a 3 star hotel or so). It was quite an adventure getting there. The first bus driver directed us to the wrong bus and the second bus driver kicked us out in the middle of freaking nowhere near Pisa. Luckily, there was an open cafe with a super nice owner who not only called us a cab, but waited 10 minutes on hold. It was really frustrating, especially since no one spoke English or even Spanish, but we survived.

This morning, we went to the tower. I refused to pay the 15€ to climb up the stairs since it seemed rather unnecessary to pay that much money to climb up a bunch of stairs. I did take the touristy picture holding up the tower, though! :)

We meant to go to Florence, but fell behind schedule, and ended up just taking a train to Rome this afternoon (thank goodness, because we didn't get into Rome until 7:45, and didn't get to the hostel (after taking the Metro) until, maybe 9 PM). Sorry, statue of David, but I'll have to come back to Italy to see you.

So, moving on to Rome. We got into the train station and ended up having to take the metro out to the suburbs (which, are supposed to be like the inner-city). The metro was a little sketch, but we found the hostel, and it's actually not so bad. Plus, we ran into another girl from our program, and some other cool people on the way. I also had pizza in Italy for the first time. The crust was thin like Chicago pizza (further proving Chicago pizza's awesomeness). It was quite delicious.

I feel like I had a K.Kelles moment today. I felt very accomplished in successfully navigating the metro of a foreign city (and in a country where I don't speak the language). I don't know why I thought of K.Kelles, but I think perhaps the phrasing I thought in my head was something similar to her phrasing.

Ok, well, there's my epic adventure of attempting to navigate public transit in Italy (one succes story and one not so successful story). Stay tuned for my adventures in Rome (including the Vatican), Pompeii (I feel like we picked Pompeii over Florence, sorry Annie), and Napels!