Sevilla Se Ve

Check out the newest addition to Sevilla's Plaza de Encarnación, el Metropol Parasol:

This structure has been under construction since 2007 and Saturday was the grand opening of the monument.  When I walked to class on Monday, I was shocked and excited to see that the project was completed!  I walk through this plaza several times a day, so throughout my time in Sevilla I have enjoyed seeing the progress each day...last week they were taking down scaffolding, but I had no idea that it was almost ready for inauguration.  This new monument is also very intriguing to me because it is still extremely controversial.  The Metropol Parasol is gigantic with six fungal-shaped structures (although I think they look more like trees).  It is made of wood (with concrete reinforcements) and it's primary purpose was to have a modern art piece that provides shade for the large plaza.  The movement to bring some modern art into such a historic area is what originally polarized people, plus it cost a lot to invest in such a project.  I think it is pretty neat though...the lower level is a market, and above is a restaurant and a skywalk where visitors can enjoy incredible views of the city.  Also, when they were building "Las Setas," workers discovered ancient ruins!  This discovery put the project on hold, but now the archeological artifacts are now on display in the plaza as well.  I'm excited to the view from the top and maybe even have the chance to eat in the restaurant.

on the flag

on a sewer cap

NO8DO - Sevilla's motto.  This motto can be found absolutely everywhere throughout the city....on the city's flag, streets, buildings, bikes, taxis, and even Christopher Colombus' tomb!  In reality, the 8 is actually a picture of a skein of yarn, which is called a "madeja."  Therefore the motto reads "no madeja do," but sound's like "no me ha dejado"....meaning "It [Sevilla] has not abandoned me."  Pretty cool, and definitely important for the people of Sevilla.  This phrase has been around since the reign of Alfonso X.  This king was ruling Spain from Sevilla when his son, Sancho IV of Castile tried to usurp the throne.  However, the people of Seville did not like Sancho at all so they stood by their king and in return he told them "no me ha dejado."  It's significance is powerful, especially when the motto is seen everywhere you look.

I was also extremely excited on my way to class Monday to see that a new Cien Montaditos is open on Calle Alfonso XII (the street I take to CIEE)!  I have also been watching the progress of this building, and it went way faster than I anticipated...Alison and I thought this restaurant wouldn't be open for a few weeks.  So why am I so pumped about Cien Montaditos??  well, this restaurant offers 100 (cien) types of little sandwiches (montaditos), and everything on the menu is sold for 1 euro on Wednesdays!  ...including delicious tinto de verano.  So, on "Montadito Miércoles," I almost always swing by Cien with my friends during the afternoon...along with 90% of the University of Sevilla.  This restaurant is a hot conversation topic for everyone during class on Wednesdays; good thing there are now 6 location that I know throughout the city!  My favorites are the sandwiches with brie and chorizo (sausage) and the shrimp with cream cheese.

Barcelona, Espanya

Moving out of Andalucía, I got to know the city of Barcelona, Spain this weekend with my friends Dominque, Andrea, and Drew.  The trip was packed with activities and was a huge success in my book.  It was neat to experience Barcelona because this city is extremely different from Sevilla.  First of all, it is in the northeast region of Spain known as País Catalunya (country of Catalonia).  Although Spain is clearly one country, there are 3 specific regions that consider themselves somewhat independent.  Catalunya has its own language, history, and culture.  It's own language?? yep, the primary language in Barcelona is Catalan.  Catalan is a form of the Spanish language with a French influence...some words and spelling are shockingly different from the Spanish I know - Castellano.  (so, when we got in the cab at the airport we had to clarify that we spoke Castellano, not just Spanish...however, most people know Spanish and a large population can speak English as well).  The second difference is that Barcelona is a big city.  Sevilla may have a large population, but it doesn't feel that way.  Barcelona had more of a Chicago/New York type feel with its tall buildings and metro system.  We had a lot to see in Barcelona in a short amount of time, and were able to get it all done with the help of my friends' friend, Lauren.
    First off, we had a perfect hostel location on a Passeig de Grácia.  This street has 2 Gaudí houses, tons of high name stores (Tiffany's, Chanel, etc) and led straight to the main center of the city - Plaza Catalunya.  First thing Friday morning, we walked to the plaza to meet Lauren.  This central square divides the old and new Barcelona, has several large statues dedicated to the history of the city, and is surrounded by tall buildings including a massive Corte Inglés (this is a popular departments store that sells everything you could possibly need - like a combo of Macy's and Super K-Mart...Sevilla has 6).  On the opposite side of the plaza starts Las Ramblas.  Ramblas is a boulevard that has wall to wall shopping and is packed with pedestrians.  A few blocks down las Ramblas is a huge market that I loved, La Boquería.  This market has been an important part of Barcelona since Medieval times.  You could find pretty much any type of fresh food you might want - fruits, dried fruits, candies, veggies, olives, and lots of fish.  If we hadn't just eaten breakfast I would have definitely opted for eating the quarter of the pineapple that they had sliced up and were selling - the outside of it functioned as the bowl.
   Next we hopped on the metro for our next destination: La Sagrada Familia.  In one word, La Sagrada Familia is incredible.  It is Antoni Gaudí's remarkable cathedral that is still in the making.  Gaudí was born in Barcelona and made the entire city his art project.  When you think of Barcelona, you think of this architect.  Nature is one of his primary inspirations and this is apparent in all of his work.  The construction of La Sagrada Familia is fascinating.  Construction started in 1883, and although Gaudí dedicated the last years of his life solely to this work, it was only a quarter complete by his death in 1926 (he actually lived on site for more than a decade and is buried here).  Private funds and the Spanish Civil War are a couple of the reasons for the slow progress (many of his original blueprints were destroyed during the war!).  Additionally, it has been challenging for other architects to take over this larger than life project.  From the outside, it is very obvious which parts are newer and what designs are from Gaudí's original plan.  Walking out of the metro station, the view was breathtaking.  The amount of detail and symbolism in this one cathedral is unreal.  I probably took around 50 pictures (but I suggest you look at some google pics of this cathedral too, because it was hard for me to capture it).  The side most often seen, with the four towers rising above the city, depicts the Nativity of Christ.  This is the only part that was finished during his life and is a combination of Gothic-style symbolism, images from nature, and Modernista asymmetry.  The opposite side depicts the Passion of Christ.  There are parts that show the Last Supper as well as the Resurrection.  This side is controversial because it fits the original formulation, but the style is very distinct from that of the front.  Moving inside, I was stunned.  Gaudí intended the inside to be like walking through a patch of trees.  The windows and vaults capture the sunlight to illuminate the interior.  The galleries can hold about 1,000 singers and the acoustics here are brilliant.  Finally, the colors of the stained glass and alter stand out perfectly from the white interior.  Although the Sagrada Familia is already amazing, there is much work to be done...I think the estimated date isn't for 30 more years.  An interesting quote from Gaudí himself regarding the construction of this cathedral was: "my client is in no hurry" - his client being God

       Jumping on the metro again, we traveled to another Gaudí masterpiece: Parc Guell.  This 30-acre garden was intended to be the centerpiece for a high-income gated community...although the housing development never went through, the architect lived in one of the two houses in the park.  The main selling point here is the beautiful mosaics.  At the entrance are two houses that resembled gingerbread houses to me.  There is a famous mosaic dragon fountain that is located on the stairs leading to the main terrace that has a magnificent view of the city (you can see Sagrada Familia as well as the beach) and more mosaic designs.  We took our time strolling through the paths of Parc Guell and taking lots of pictures.  There were architectural pieces throughout the park as well that were constructed entirely of stones that looked like mosaics too, only of the same color and not ceramic.

    Moving to the exact opposite side of the city, we got to enjoy the beach of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea!  Although it was chilly and windy, we sat on the grass to give our legs a much needed break.  The waves rolling into shore were rough, but on a calmer day you could definitely go swimming in the sea.  Later, at the hostel we met up with our friends Natalie and Courtney who had flown in that afternoon.  Squeezing one more tourist attraction into the night, we went to see illuminated Magic Fountains on Montjuic.  This was a light and water show set to music in front of Barcelona's Plaza de Espanya.  Together, we ate dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant, La Rosa Negra...I have been craaaaaving some Mexican, so this meal was phenomenal.  That night, we went out to a bar, Shoko, that was right on the beach where we had been earlier - part of it was inside/underground, and part was covered, but open to the beach-front.  

     We just couldn't get enough of Gaudí, so on Saturday morning we went to his two houses just minutes away from our hostel.  The first, Casa Batlló, we just observed from the street.  Apparently he based this work on the popular St. Jordi legend in which a dragon is slayed, so the balconies and tile roof are meant to suggest a dragon's back.  We chose to see the inside of Casa Milá instead.  My guide book said the exterior is like melting ice-cream, and I would have to agree.  This was Gaudí's last major work before dedicating himself to La Sagrada Familia.  After admiring the patio with lots of colorful wall painting and an intricate iron railing that mirrored the balconies on the exterior, we took a look around the attic.  We kind of got lost wondering through the catenary arches of the attic looking at the different scale models of the architect's project and learning more about his passion/skills, but we discovered it was actually a circle.  After getting our bearings and finding the staircase, we headed up to the roof where we were all surprised by the artwork found here.  There were small towers with abstract faces, chimneys that looked like ice-cream cones made of a white tile mosaic, and a mosaic constructed from green bottle pieces.  We ended the visit by seeing the the apartment that showed typical room designs of people who originally lived in this apartment complex.  The layout was very pretty.
     Last tourist attraction in our jam-packed visit to Barcelona was the Picasso Museum.  On the walk there we were able to check a couple other sites off the to-see list as well.  Walking through the Gothic neighborhood we saw the Cathedral of Barcelona.  Next to it was a plaza where Columbus announced his discovery of the Indias (Nuevo Mundo) and remnants of the original Roman wall that enveloped the city.  Pablo Picasso spent his formative years (ages 14-21) living in Barcelona.  The museum has the best collection of this Spanish artist's early works.  It was interesting to see the progression of his art because the typical Picasso paintings do not start until later in his career.  Also, he did several art pieces on pottery that I liked.  One room had a collection from Picasso's Blue Period (1902-1904) where he paints what he feels: sad images from the bad Paris weather, poverty, and the suicide of his best friend.  His next periods were the Rose Period and Cubism.  My personal favorite was the room that held Picasso's paintings of Las Meninas.  Las Meninas was originally created by the Spanish painter, Diego Velásquez, of the royal court (a painting I have definitely analyzed in previous classes).  Picasso had great respect for his fellow artist, and painted more than 50 interpretations of this famous work.  He put Velázquez's realism into cubism with color or black and white, and different focal points.  (the only part I didn't like is that I couldn't take any pictures! bummer, but I bought postcards of my 3 favorite paintings in the museum)

Barrio Santa Cruz

Barrio Santa Cruz is another important component of Sevilla's history.  I have been through part of this neighborhood before, but on Wednesday I was able to explore these streets a little more and learn about its significance to the city.  First of all, one thing that is heavily emphasized both in and out of the classroom is that Andalucia is a mixture of three prominent cultures: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian.  Historically, Spain reached a climax in culture, wealth, and power when these three cultures lived together peacefully.  During these harmonious years (under the rule of Muslim Moors), Barrio Santa Cruz was a thriving Jewish Quarter (Judería).  Our guide explained the history of Sevilla's Jewish population and told us the legend of Don Juan as we weaved between houses.  Similar to Córdoba's Jewish quarter, the streets here are so narrow that no motor vehicles are allowed and it is almost uncomfortable to walk side by side with someone.  Here, the concept of street does not exist, it is merely a space between houses.  This does serve an important purpose though, the narrow streets keep the neighborhood shaded and cool during the blistering hot Sevillan summer.  Similarly, most of the houses are white washed (like many communities throughout southern Spain) to keep the houses cooler.  Also, the larger homes proudly display their family's interior courtyard so that people passing by can observe the beauty of their flowers, plants, and fountains through a wrought iron door.

     First, let me tell you about the famous legend that is said to have taken place in Barrio Santa Cruz.  A little background information: in Spanish, is you describe a guy by saying he is a "Don Juan," that means is essentially a womanizer.  Well, according to locals and the monuments here, Don Juan eternal life story occurred in these plazas.  To begin, in the first plaza there was a statue of this famous (probably fictional) 17th century citizen.  The story is that there was a bet with his best friend that he couldn't win the love of two women at once.  Needless to say, Don Juan proved him wrong.  This infuriated the friend (who was dating one of the women) and the father of the other woman, Doña Inez (who was set to marry Don Juan).  Both men attacked Don Juan and in defense he killed them and was forced to leave Spain because of it.  Suddenly the story between Juan and Inez (whose house we also saw) was one of impossible love.  Now, I'm not really sure why the Sevillanos wanted this story to be based here, but it is (and the tour guide was totally not understanding my question, so it is a mystery to me).  Another famous but real person born in Barrio Santa Cruz is Bartolomé Murillo - one of Spain's most loved painters.  I saw many of his religious-themed paintings during my visit to the Museo de Bellas Artes earlier.  It is actually very lucky that the museum even has these works.  In addition to wanting to conquer all of Europe, Napoleon was an art enthusiast.  In Italy, he took a special liking to Murillo's pieces, so while invading Andalusia, his troops also took any Murillo painting they could find.  However, the churches of Sevilla hide their art possessions for many years, which is why the Sevilla still holds a large amount of religious Murillo pieces.  Finally, the tomb of this Sevillano artist is buried somewhere beneath the brick streets of the Plaza de la Santa Cruz (our next stop).
     When the Christians took power, the originally allowed religious freedom and protection to the Jews, but were confined to only one walled neighborhood.  Parts of these walls remain today as the are situated next to the walls surrounding the gardens of Alcázar.  In this neighborhood there were four important synagogues.  One was converted to the church of Santa Maria La Blanca, but the biggest synagogue was located in Plaza de la Santa Cruz.  Keep in mind that the name of this plaza, which is essential to the name of the barrio, was not given until the Christian Reconquista.  The synagogue converted church was ultimately destroyed by Napoleon's troops and is remembered by an iron cross monument.  Continuing through the maze, we got to Plaza de los Venerables.  Now a museum, the large Baroque-style Hospital of the Venerables was once a hospital retirement home for priests.  It later became a care site for all citizens until the Hospital de la Caridad opened.  However, both are now museums because of their rich architecutre, history, and art collection - both have Velasquez pieces.  Another born and raised Sevillano painter that moved to Madrid when he was asked to paint for the royal court (an incredible honor).
     The more tragic history of la Judería took place before Alfonso 13th took throne.  Since Alfonso was not of age, there was a transition time that was very problematic.  At this time, Jewish citizens of Sevilla were very successful and financially stable because they had good jobs in the city.  One of the Catholic priests organized a group to attack the families of this neighborhood and the result was horrible.  Although Alfonso immediately punished this priest when he was able to accept the crown, the Jewish community was still enraged and organized a rebuttal.  However, one of their own daughters, Susona, committed treason that ended with countless more deaths of her community.

     Continuing on in our tour, we walked through a short tunnel that lead us to a red colored wall that I recognized as surrounding the Alcázar gardens.  Here we saw a pretty fountain named Agua de Sevilla.  This is important because it is where the water from the Roman aqueducts came.  Only the royal palace and very wealthy citizens had the privilege of drinking this water.  Also, I have seen parts of the original aqueducts still preserved and scattered randomly about Sevilla (like in Nervión).  Walking through the Patio de Banderas we had an incredible view of the Cathedral and Giralda - I take so many pictures of these two sites, but they never get old.  This is where someone visiting the royal home would enter with a horse parade and flags of their country were flown.  Our last stop is a hidden gem in Sevilla.  Just one block in from the crowded streets surrounding the cathedral is Plaza Santa Marta.  This plaza is incredibly quiet and peaceful with a single monument of a cross.

Andalucía

With all this talk about Andalucía, or southern Spain, I wanted to put a map in my blog so that you can see exactly where in Spain I have been traveling to.

Cádiz y Senderismo (parte II)

Playa de la Caleta

    I traveled to the city of Cádiz for the second time on Saturday.  This time though, it was a day trip with CIEE and the streets weren't flooded with people dressed up costumes like during Carnaval.  This city in southern Spain is actually an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and is situated only 18 kilometers from Africa (we could faintly see the mountains of the African coast when looking across the water).  Cádiz is about 3,000 years old (one of the oldest cities in Europe) and is crucial to the history of Spain.  In the 1700s the king declared Cádiz as the primary port for Spain.  Pirates were no longer an issue, so ships coming from the colonies/America didn't need to take the Guadalquivir into Sevilla.  With this influx of colonial products and the development of a tobacco factory, the city experienced a golden age and wealth.  Later in history, this island location was a key protection factor during the Napoleonic Wars.  Originally, there was a wall that circled the island, making it almost impossible to invade.  This is important because as Napoleon's army progressively conquered the country, they were never successful in Cádiz.  Quick fact about Napoleon: during the Peninsular War, Napoleon had convinced Spain to join him in invading Portugal, and in return he would leave Spain alone...Spain quickly found out that was a lie.  After taking Madrid, Napoleon locked away the Spanish king, Charles IV.  Luckily, the Spanish government remained unified by moving their base to Cádiz.  It was then here that in 1812 the parliament proclaimed the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812.  Although it was never fully in effect, the 1812 Constitution influenced the one that Spain has today.

Parque Genovés

    Okay, enough history, but the reason I bring up this piece of history is that the Constitution was announced and read to the public on March 19th, 1812 in Plaza de San Antonio.  Not only did I walk through this plaza, but the date was March 19th, so there were several tributes and activities going on in Cádiz related to this.  For example, there were a couple small bands that were marching around the city, a person dressed up as Napoleon, and street decorations.  I thought it was quite hilarious that there were people in costumes roaming the streets of Cádiz because my host parents have given me the impression that people of Cádiz are always happy and it's very normal for them to wear a costume any day of the week (probably not exactly true).  These residents are known for their witty humor though.

view from Torre de Poniente

    On our tour of the city, we started at the Puerta Tierra, an entrance to the city that is a monument representing the protective wall around Cádiz.  The first important site was the neoclassical government building (ayuntamiento).  We learned that the city's flag depicts Hercules between two columns because of the mythical legend that here is where he separated Africa from Europe and the remnants of this separation is the Straight of Gibraltar (on the Puerta there were also two columns referencing this, but on top were the patron saints that protect the city and cathedral).  As we moved along, we passed through the medieval city, or older part that was built upon Roman ruins that date back to the time of Julius Caesar.  The city expanded in population and beauty during their golden years.  Just outside the door of the old city is the neoclassic cathedral and center plaza.  The cathedral has two towers and we were able to walk up to the top of the Torre de Poniente.  The view was awesome and we got our first look at the beaches of Cádiz! The water color was soooo pretty and I was shocked by how narrow the island actually is.  Widthwise, to get from one side to the other would probably only be an 8 minute walk.  Coming back down, we took a scenic boardwalk along the city's coast.  Passing through Parque Genovés there were lots of decorative plants and trees.  Finally, we made it to the beach!!! - Playa de la Caleta.  Since it was the first time going to the beach in Spain, everyone was anxious to get there.  It was gorgeous and I was disappointed I didn't bring my swimsuit because we had 3 hours of free time aka beach time.  I was tempted to just go in with my clothes on, but settled for sticking my feet in.  Interesting fact is that this is the beach where they filmed part of the James Bond, Die Another Day movie.  Cádiz is said to resemble Havana, Cuba in a lot of ways (although Cádiz was first).  In my picture you can see the white building that juts out into the beach area.  I asked what this was and apparently it used to be a place for rich people to come take in some fresh air and enjoy the scenery, but not be out in the sun because tan skin meant you were a poorer person that needed to manual labor outdoors (now it is a building for underwater archeology...there are many boats that were sunk in the nearby water so they look at the artifacts that remain).  

   Sunday morning rise and shine.  Courtney and I got up early to go on a hiking trip near Huelva.  The area was called Santa Olalla and the route was 14 kilometers (about 8.7 miles).  The hike started at a castle and continued on through the Spanish country-side.  The two times I've gone hiking in Spain, I've been surprised by the scenery...the rolling green hills and animals (we saw sheep, bulls, horses, and pigs) are more of what I picture as Ireland.  There were also large fields of pretty little white and yellow flowers.  Courtney and I were really hoping to see a waterfall because a different hike had one...there wasn't one in this area, but we did get to see a huge quarry where they
                                                      mine for copper.

                  

Palacio de Lebrija & Castillos Medievales

   Now that midterms are over (I think they went well, but grades are sometimes a little subjective here) and the rain has stopped (a solid week and a half of rain had us all down), I can start exploring Sevilla again.  Spring is definitely on it’s way!  …my biggest clue = allergies, haha  The past couple days have been beautiful and the orange trees that span the city are starting to blossom!  If I haven’t talked about the orange trees before, they are everywhere in Sevilla, I love it.  As you can probably guess, the oranges on these trees aren’t edible…technically they are, but just taste veryyyy bitter.  Apparently this is perfect for making a certain type of marmalade that is manufactured in England.  The Queen of England loves it and the Sevillan Orange Marmalade is sold across Europe.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m excited to in the future.

mosaic floor: remember it's made entirely of small squares

    On Thursday I visited the Palacio de Lebrija.  Our program offers various guided tours of important places in the city – they’re free and I always learn a ton.  It was fitting that I visited the palacio after going to Morocco this past weekend.  This Sevillan palacio in was similar to the Moroccan riads and palaces.  No judging a book by its cover – if you never entered through the plain wooden front door, you would have no idea how large and beautiful this house is.  It is a typical Musulman characteristic that everything important happens from the door to the inside….they did not want to seem ostentatious and there aren’t even windows to the outside (windows are typical of Christian architecture).  The primary source of light is the central patio.  The Palacio de Lebrija is said to have the some of the best floors in the world (our guide’s opinion).  This is because the woman who once owned it, the Countess of Lebrija, was an enthusiast of archeology and had multiple mosaic floors from the ruins of Itálica transported to be the floors of her home in 1914.  All of the mosaics have incredible detail, tell a story (usually a mythological one), and are constructed of tiny squares (probably 1 inch by inch).  The palace was like a museum and a majority of the artifacts were donated by the countess because she used them as her art/decoration.  The staircase leading from the summer home, or first floor made of marble (thus cooler in temperature), to the winter home, the second floor, was wrapped in tiles from an old convent.  These ceramic tiles (azulejos) are typical of Sevilla – especially Triana – because of their hand-painted geometric or scenic designs, and the color choices.  The ceramic tiles are covered in a crystal powder layer for protection, a technique that has been used since the 16^th century.

   CIEE also offers half-day trips to areas surrounding Sevilla.  Each barrio (Spanish combo of a neighborhood/suburb) on the outskirts of the city in considered Sevilla, but has it’s own name.  This morning I went to 2 of the larger barrios about a half-hour away to see their medieval castles.  First barrio = Alcalá.  For the 1992 World Expo in Sevilla, they built a mosaic dragon into one of their bridges.  The theme of this is based on a legend that Hércules brought a dragon egg to Alcalá and when it hatched, this dragon protected the city and the castle.  Just up the hill from this bridge sits the castle built during Muslim rule.  In the 700 years that Spain was under Muslim reign, the capital city was moved from Córdoba to Sevilla, and finally Granada (remember La Alhambra).  Therefore, the castle importantly located to guard the capital city from invasions from the south.  It’s construction was permitted by the same individual who ordered the Giralda (part of the Cátedral de Sevilla), and it’s towers have the same form as the Torre de Oro (the same architectural forms that are today found in Northern Africa, since many Muslims fled to Morocco after the Christian Reconquista).  Alvero is a material found in the hills here and was used to construct the castle.  It is only found in 2 places in the world, Sevilla and oddly China, but gives the castle a unique yellow color (a color that many houses nearby imitate).  Before we moved on to the next barrio, we had to try some of Alcalá’s notorious bread.  It is known simply for the designs/braids on each loaf, and everyday the breadmakers bring their products to the city and sell them in the Plaza de Pan (apparently close to my classes so I will have to check it out someday).

     Second barrio = Utrera.  Like most Spanish cities, Utrera has a patron saint, the Virgen de Consolación (virgin of consolation).  Our first stop was the sanctuary dedicated to her.  This is where many come to pray for someone to recover from illness.  A room around the corner from the main alter is dedicated to depicting stories of miraculous recoveries that have occurred after someone has prayed to the Virgen de Consolación for their loved one.  Next we got to enjoy the center of town.  We had coffee and some of the sweet pastries that Utrera is known for.  The guides all stocked up on mostachones because this type of traditional sweet pastry is representative of Utrera and isn’t sold in the city of Sevilla.  It had a good cinnamon sugar taste and is kind of like biscotti.  Another thing this town is known for is their talented flamenco singers (cantaores).  Finally, we finished off the visit by seeing the castle of Utrera – near the center and much smaller.  My favorite part was climbing up the tower and looking out over the city.

   After getting back to Sevilla, I met up with Alison and Courtney to hang out by the river (a popular activity for both Americans and Spaniards).  On our way we discovered a food fair that we were pretty excited about.  It's a temporary fair that has stands featuring food from all over the world - our choice was to get some guacamole from the Mexico stand. 
    One final thing that I want to write about in this blog is a brief preview to Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Semana Santa is the week before Easter Sunday and it is one of the most important times in Sevilla.  It is also world renowned, so there are tons of tourists traveling here to catch a glimpse of the pasos that are carried through the streets.  A paso is like a float, except carried by men instead of a vehicle.  Each represents a biblical scene and is incredibly heavy...the average paso weighs more than 4,000 pounds!  As you can imagine, it takes a lot of man-power to carry the pasos through the streets to the final destination of the Catédral.  The point of this preview to Semana Santa is that the preparations have begun in Sevilla.  On Friday night I saw a practice run of the procession near my street.  Usually there are between 30-40 men holding up the paso (in a very small space) and they practice carrying the foundation of the float with big rocks or cement blocks on top to resemble the actual weight.  

Marrakech, Marruecos

I went to North Africa!  On Friday, my friends Alison, Courtney, and I went to the Sevilla airport with the destination of Marrakech, Morocco.  Alison's parents were staying in Marrakech after visiting her in Sevilla and generously offered that we could stay with them in a riad.  For starters, Moroccan riad's are somewhat similar to a bed and breakfast (I will explain more in a bit).  After going through customs, we were greeted at the airport by Alison's father and their guide, Mohammed.  Our sightseeing began as soon as we got into the shuttle.  Common modes of transportation besides walking are open-bed trucks, motos (mix between a moped and a motorcycle), bikes, and donkeys....all of these were on the road with absolutely no traffic rules.  There were also camels!  Courtney and I were so excited to see camels because we have been joking about riding camels in Morocco for a long time.  To be correct though, these animals are actually called dromedaries because they only have one hump whereas camels have two.  The area of the city we stayed in is known as the Medina, or the old city.  After getting out of the shuttle and making our way through a maze of streets, we made it to the riad.  We were very thankful that we had gotten picked up because the route would have been impossible to navigate on our own.  Also, I was very thankful that Alison's family invited us to stay with them because unless we had gone with an organized group travel company, I would not have gone to Morocco.
    On to our stay, one of the typical aspects of Moroccan houses is that they focus all of their money and efforts on making the inside of the house beautiful and the exterior is very plain.  What I mean is, we walked up to a normal looking wooden door on a wall lining the street - nothing to be impressed about - and were amazed by what was inside.  By definition, a riad is a typical Moroccan house or palace with a garden or courtyard in the center.  Our garden had an orange and a lemon tree, many flowers, a small fountain, a tiled wall with water running down it, and decorative pool!  The pool's actual purpose is to cool people off in the scorching hot summer.  We joked about jumping in, but the water was like ice and we didn't bring swimming suits (otherwise I probably would have).  After getting a tour of the house, we sat down for a delicious Moroccan meal that was made by the riad's cooks: salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado), meatballs (beef!  unheard of in Spain), and a confusingly great desert.  The desert looked like a big pie and we could smell the cinnamon, but when we cut into it there was chicken and hard boiled eggs on the inside.  The most peculiar part, everything tasted sweet and cinammony...we never really figured it out, but it was definitely good.  At lunch we also met Alison's parents friends who were staying there as well.  This couple and Alison's parents were very nice and we had a lot of good laughs together.  No time for rest or for the constant rain (annoying) to get us down on this trip, we were only going to be in Marrakech for 24 hours.

     Marrakech sightseeing:  the first thing we did after lunch was see a palace style riad.  Long story short, Alison's dad knew the owner of the place we were staying in and they had just recently bought this palace and were happy to show us around.  This one is actually very well known and it was incredible.  There was a very large center garden, a big pool, grand rooftop terrace, and 6 bedrooms/bathrooms.  Like most arabic architecture I have seen, there was great tiling and lots of detail in every aspect of the home.  After our tour, it was raining pretty hard, but with Mohammed's help, we made our way through the maze of suks - traditional markets.  There were scarves, jewlery, shoes, metal and wood pieces, food, and more.  We watched one of the owners carve wooden chess pieces using a bizarre contraption and his feet!  We saw another vender dying scarves.  My host parents warned me that the venders would be very very pushy, so I was at least a little prepared for how the suks would be.  I enjoyed looking at everything, but you couldn't point at anything or let your eyes linger for more than a few seconds or the shopkeepers would literally jump out at you and push their products into your face.  Other interesting shops sold arabic sweets (small, sugary pastries) and every herb/at home remedy you could imagine.

me, Courtney, & Alison in our riad

      The suks led to the Jamaa el Fna, the most famous square and market place in Marrakech.  Here you could primarily buy fresh produce or get haggled by snake charmers, women giving henna tatoos, and people with monkeys.  We also walked through the food stall area.  Honestly, I'm not a picky eater but was pretty disgusted by some of the options, sheep brain and snail soup are just a few.  Next we took shelter from the rain by sitting in a covered rooftop terrace that overlooked the market.  I got traditional mint green tea and snapped a lot of market pictures from the safety of the roof.  (if you take pictures of the venders, snakes, etc. they will demand money from you).  Mohammed is fluent in English in addition to several other languages (they speak primarily Arabic and French in Morocco) and he talked to us extensively about the history of his country.  At one point we heard, loud and clear, the call to prayer that is part of the Islamic religion.  Strict followers of Islam go to mosques to pray 5 times a day.  In the square we saw several minarets (the tall tower part of a mosque).  One looks exactly the same as La Giralda in Sevilla, and that is because it was built by the same person.  After a pizza dinner, we all went back to the riad to relax by sitting by the fireplace and playing cards.
     The next morning the sun was out, so we ate breakfast on the roof.  Everyone was heading to the airport at 11 (Alison's parents and family friends were going to Madrid for a few days before going home to the US) so we had a casual morning hanging out and enjoying our palace.
  

Carnaval

This weekend I traveled south of Sevilla on Saturday night to Cádiz for their Carnaval celebrations.  I would describe Carnaval as a mixture of Mardi Gras and Madison Halloween.  It is absolutely mandatory that you wear a costume so it was a blast to see so many people dressed up.  Some costumes are meaningful (they have to do with current events), some people go in big groups with everyone in the same costume, and some are just colorful and crazy.  I went with the colorful and wore a polka dot dress and hat, with my hair in pigtails, and bright red cheeks and lips (my host mom would not let me leave the house before I painted my cheeks red, haha).  Carnaval is a 2-week, city-wide fiesta, but Saturday night was the biggest night for people to visit from other cities.  During the evenings each night, chirigotas perform in the Teatro Falla.  The chirigotas are witty and satiric groups that train the whole year for this competition.  What happens is they all dress up in identical costumes and perform a skit with popular songs.  The lyrics are changed to address politics, news stories, everyday circumstances, and other important things that have happened throughout the year in Spain.  This week at dinner we watched some of these chirigota performances at dinner, so I felt like I was preparing for the festival all week and was very excited to go.  It ended up being just as fun as I anticipated.  There were people in all of the streets and a ton in the central plaza.  We also spoke a lot of Spanish to people who like our costumes and ran into a bunch of other kids in our Sevilla program. Other than Carnaval, this weekend was dedicated to catching up on sleep and homework.  It's very sunny today, so after lunch I am going to go for a walk and take in the good weather.

Fútbol Aficionada

One of the things I was most excited about - fuuuuuutbol.  The soccer fans in Spain are SO passionate about their teams that I have been anxiously waiting until I could go to a game here.  Tuesday night I watched FC Sevilla take on Sporting Gijon (a team from northern Spain).  We won 3-01!!!  Everything about the game was a blast and it reminded me of a Badger game day, which I obviously love.  FC Sevilla's colors are red and white, so it was easy for me to wear the right colors, but I wanted to support the team more by buying scarf.  All soccer fans in Europe wear scarves supporting their favorite teams.  I went to the game with my interest group, which was great because we had a large group of kids and our program got us amazing seats...we sat in the first and second row!!  I thought for sure we were going to be in the nosebleed section, but instead we could almost touch the players we were so close.  Another fun thing was that the interest group leaders helped us learn the soccer lingo in Spanish.  One of the leaders was my group guide during orientation, Nacho, so my friends (who were also in the same group) and I enjoy seeing him because he is very nice and helps us translate things all the time because he speaks English too.  Nacho thought it was pretty funny that we were so animated about going to the game and he sat by us to teach us the cheers.  The atmosphere of the stadium was great - big flags, vuvuzelas (the really annoying but awesome noisemakers from the World Cup), and lots of Sevilla scarfs.  Behind one of the goals, the fan section all stands and makes lots of noise.  Most importantly there is one person who plays a drum and another that yells into a megaphone to tell the crowd which song to sing or cheer to yell.  Each European team also has their own team anthem that the stadium sings before each half.  Since Sevilla scored 3 goals we got to do lots of celebrating during the game.  There was also a penalty kick and a couple yellow cards....and lots of fake injuries, typical.  Now I need to see a Real Betis game.  Sevilla has 2 teams, FC Sevilla is in the first division, and Betis is in the second.  Most sevillanos choose who they like more and I'm pretty partial Betis.  Real Betis has more of a local squad and is more like the underdog team, even though they beat Barcelona 3-1 one of the first nights I was here!

In addition to watching soccer here, I've also been able to get out and play!  On Wednesday nights our program organizes pick-up at a complex in Triana.  I wear my cleats, but the field is completely dirt and no grass...the ball bounces and is a lot faster, but not anymore than it would in indoor.  I love being able to play here.  Last night a lot of Spaniards, who are University students, came to play which was great because it's another way for me to improve my conversation.

More cultural experiences:
    Last week I signed up for a cooking class!  Although it was a cooking class where we just watched, I got the recipe for my favorite dish, tortilla española.  It is so delicious and simple to make, basically just eggs and potatoes.  There is a trick though (which I'm afraid to try back in the states) - when it looks like the eggs are mostly cooked, you have to flip the entire dish out of the pan and slide it back onto the pan to cook the other side...I can only imagine what a mess it would be if I tried flipping it when the eggs were still runny.

    This week I took a guided walking tour of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.  I've mentioned how incredible Plaza de España in earlier blog posts, but now I know why it was constructed and what all of the surrounding gardens and buildings signify.  In 1929, Spain held a world fair with the purpose of improving relations between Spain and the countries attending, most of which were former Spanish colonies.  The Plaza de España has a lot of architectural symbols that I did not realize before.  First, the building was made in a U shape to resemble the arms of an open hug, and is facing the river where ships once sailed to the colonies from (a shape designed to improve relations).  It incorporates a mixture of architectural techniques such as neo-baroque and has 4 bridges over a Venice style river that signify the 4 Spanish crowns.  Finally, there is an area dedicated to each Spanish province with tile art to show important pictures of that province.  If you're not interested in the architectural part, you may be interested to know that this same plaza was used to film one of the palaces in Star Wars!  Throughout the park surrounding the plaza there is a pabellón (pavillion) for each country attending the expo - including countries such as the United States, Peru, Argentina, Portugal, and more.  Each pabellón has a unique style and incorporates some aspect of the country.   I like that I have walked around parque María Luisa several times but always see something new.

Finally, just because I am in Spain to "study," a quick update on my classes.  All of them are going well and I think they are all really interesting.  Not too much homework, which is fantastic, but mid-terms are coming up next week.  In Spain, almost 90% of your grade comes from the mid-term and final.  My favorite is Spanish for Health Profession because I'm learning a lot of vocabulary and Spanish that is applicable to what I want to do.  Also, Spanish Cine is awesome because we watch movies (relating to certain education themes such as the Spanish civil war) and talk about the plots.