Spanish Quirks

-30% or more of the population smokes

-males aged 12-20 love the mullet

-lip peircings are the cool thing

-speedos are the rave (i definately bought one)

-the parties end at 8am

-nothing but toast for breakfast

-capri's

-and much more

Granada & Alhambra

On Friday (Feb 9) Brighton, Jessi, Ju, and I departed Sevilla and headed for the city of Granada. After a three-hour train ride we arrived. We set off to find our hostile while strolling through markets, a church, and a hospital along the way. When we got to our hostel we checked in and started the search for our room. The hostile was only $15 a person but it looked like a prime place to find cockroaches and convicts. Once we got in our room we were relieved to find it a lot nicer than it first appeared. Friday night was spent exploring the city a little and standing on our balcony, eating chocolate nut spread, enjoying the view of our algae filled pool (which they advertised proudly on the sign as if it was nice), and shared some precious moments of bonding together.
The next morning we ate breakfast at a quaint little restaurant (the usual toast and coffee) and headed to the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a palace/fortress/city that was built in only seven years by the Muslims in the 14th century. When the Muslims began to build the Alhambra they knew that they were inevitably going to be driven out of Spain by the Catholics and assumed that the Alhambra would be destroyed, so they used cheap materials and worked very quickly; it is absolutely amazing to see how much was built in that short of time and the detail that the still put into the buildings. When the Catholics did take over they didn’t destroy the Alhambra, but instead they added on, making it even more impressive.
The Alhambra is massive and breath taking. The palace is eloquent and full of detailed architecture, the fortress walls are bold and intimidating, the gardens are filled with bushes, fountains, ponds, and flowers, and the small houses and shops contain the usual beauty of Spanish architecture. As if the Alhambra itself was not impressive enough, the Muslims built it on the side of a hill resulting in a view of the entire city of Granada below and the majestic snow-capped Sierra Mountains above. We spent about 4 hours at the Alhambra and felt as though were in some dream for most of it.
That evening we explored Granada a little more, enjoyed sitting in a plaza and observing the people, and then rode the train back to Sevilla.
The next day (Sunday) I didn’t do anything much: went to mass in the Cathedral (beautiful), took a stroll through the Parque de Maria Luisa, stumbled upon two museums that held cultural, archeological, and historical exhibits, and went for a run. Just a nice little Sunday☺

Dance, Dance, Revolution: a night in honor of Tanner, Bas, and Nate

This past Saturday was my dancing debut in Spain. The night began with supper at 9. I had an awesome burger, which I have been craving since I arrived in Spain, and a meal in a glass, aka: a pint of Guiness (I won't be getting that again for a while). Supper was followed by an icecream cone at McDonald's, the prerequisite for any serious dancer. Around 12 we made our way to our primary destination, a salsa bar.
One of the guys I was with, Craig, has more grace and elegance on the dance floor than Emmit Smith. He began teaching some of us amatures and then I gave it a go with Ju and then Brighton. The verdict came back and I was guilty of being a stereotypical white Dutch male. Oh well. After standing on the sideline for ten minutes I decided I should practice my salsa a little more. I had already danced with the two women in our group so I surveyed the room for a new partner. I saw the perfect candidate to my right. A forty-some year old Spanish woman was standing by her female friend (not dancing) and she was shaking her hips to the music. To me this looked like an obvious sign that she wanted to dance and was trying to lure some lonely man to the dance floor. As I built up my confidence (and got shoved in the back by Brighton) I stepped ahead and in broken spanish asked if she knew how to salsa. My question was answered with laughter, a concerned look at her friend, and shower of no's. Rejection, a dagger to my pride. I blamed the beard and walked back to my friends feeling like the last kid picked in kickball.
After a pity dance from Ju and some time standing by the wall, we decided to get some hydration. Leaving the Salsa club at 1:45 we headed to the always popolar street, calle Betis. Betis is the street with most of the bars. We hung around there for a while; meeting up with some classmates, sharing stories of the night so far, and making plans of what to do next. At 2:45 we decided to head to Orange.
Orange is a dance club for people in their 20's; the music is a mix of American and Spanish pop songs booming from speakers so that your ears ring for an hour after you leave. The crowd is a little more wild than a Salsa place so there is always chance for more adventure. The group that got into Orange was Ju, Brighton, Jess, Breeanna, Blake, and myself. 3 other guys tried to get in, but they came about 15 minutes after we did and didn't come with any girls (a problem). The huge men in suits by the door let girls in gor free, and if a guy walks in with two girls (like Blake and I each did) they usually don't charge; however, without women our friends were asked to pay 20 euros each. They didn't end up dancing with us that night. Those of us who did make it in had a fun time danicing until 4 am. Blake and I had a particularly fun time as we would watch for guys trying to touch or grind up on the girls; when we forsaw this happening we would dance our way between the particular guy and our friend and make him dance with us or no one. I find this particularly entertaining, the Spanish guys don't. :) As I said, we danced until a little after 4 and then headed home. After a twenty minute walk and the usual brushing of the teeth, I layed down on my springs, which I try to call a bed, and went to sleep. The clock read 4:45, an early weekend bed time according to Spaniards.

Cordoba

This past weekend we went to Cordoba, a town just Northeat of Sevilla. The main attraction is a giant Mosque/Cathedral. For about one century Cordoba became one of the most important cities in the Muslim world when a prince moved there and built a mosque. The mosque has a buitiful courtyard, an elegant bell tower, and is famous for the hundreds of arces inside. When the Christians drove the Muslims out of Cordoba (in a very Christ-like manner I'm sure) they built a Cathedral inside the central part of the mosque. the cathedral has beautiful carvings on the ceiling, magnificent statues, and rich mahogoney benches. The combination of the Mosque and Cathedral was fascinating; to see a shared place of worship between the largest, and perhaps most historically combative, religions really makes one think of both the brokenness of man's relationships and the confusion within our world. I'm sure Justin is faced with this a lot more than I am at this point.