Study Abroad 2005...

My last trip for this Europe tour was to Barcelona. The capital of Cataluna, this city is huge, touristy, and very prideful of its Catalan roots and individuality, so much so that they have thier own language (it sounds like Portugues, gramatically Spanish, phonetically French).

After my last dinner with my family in Spain and a exchanging gifts (which made Carmen cry, and the kids ecstatic, i love giving gifts!) I headed out to enjoy my last night in Cordoba at the popular local bar, Bar Fija, but we all call it Bamjez cause the scribbly writing on the outside looks like that is what its called. Everyone in the program made it out and it was just a big end of the program celebration for everyone. It was nice to spend the last night with everyone, and even the people who get on my nerves, or who im not as close to were good company. The night wrapped up and i was home by 4am, just in time for a little shut-eye before catchin my morning train to Madrid. What a sight i was.....I had a ridiculous amount of luggage and getting it on and off a train was almost funny, except that I had to lug it around. Not for long though, i dropped it in the lockers in the Madrid airport and headed off for my last hurrah in Barcelona.

When i got there, i was expecting to meet Ashly, my roommate from freshman year who is in Germany for the year, but in a big mess of snow and flight delays she didnt get in until the next day and ending up staying one day later than planned. Cody and Chris also joined us on sunday on thier way out and we took advantage of what Barcelona had to offer.

The first day i wandered the streets of the Barri Gotic (Gothic neighborhood) with the Cathedral, and small christmas market. It was here i learned who Carga Tio was. Carga Tio is a log with a face on one end, legs proping him up in the front and a santa hat, then draped over his back is a blanket. His name, literally "Pooing Uncle" is sort of self expanatory. The tradition (only in Cataluna) is that the kids put food in front of Carga Tio in the days leading up to Christmas, and the log is supposed to grow. Then, when he is big enough, the kids take to hitting him with a stick until he poops out the gifts... a little graphic i know, strange, i know, but interesting. From there, made my way toward the port and harbor and beach and the locals hangout of Barceloneta. It was a gorgeous day, a little chilly but the Mediterranean looked amazing. From there it was time for food and rest. Later that day, Brian, the friend of a friend Ashely and i were staying with was having a little birthday celebration where I ran into 2 other students studying here from my freshman dorm...small world! The night ended many hours later and then it was off for more sightseeing.

Ashley and I met Chris and Cody Sunday morning and made our way towards Park Guell (pronounced Guey). This park was designed by modernist architect Antoni Gaudi and is one the many Barcelonan examples of his ceramic mosaic, curves and arches and other untraditional work. To give you an idea, the place has a gate to enter and on either side are two small houses designed by Gaudi that look like gingerbread houses. The park is amazing and if you hike to the top you can see all of Barcelona, the small windy streets of the Barri Gotic, and the perfectly right-angled blocks in the more modern sector. Then it was back down to other Gaudi wonders. The Sagrada Familia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Familia, is the unfinished cathedral of Gaudi. All the plans are drawn but he died before its completion and work is ongoing. When it is finished it will be the tallest cathedral in the world with around 15 spires. Currently it is the only cathedral in the world under construction. It has a zillion things going on on the outside. Statues, scenes, mosaic, colors, nature, stories, you name it, its there. We didnt go inside and opted in stead to head down to La Pedrera, Gaudi's house and Casa Batllo, another gorgeous and differend building of Gaudi's. The architecture is different than anything i have ever seen and just fun to look at!

Next we walked down to Las Ramblas where we spent most of the rest of our time in Barcelona. This area, between Plaza Cataluna and the port is the eating, shopping, people watching, Starbucks-ing center of the city and we managed to entertain ourselves for the rest of the day and the following. We hit up an amazing Basque tapas, the best in Spain, and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of Spain. Although Barcelona is a bit quicker paced than the rest of Spain we managed to take it easy and not spend any less than a couple hours somewhere everytime we sat down (whether that be coffee, dinner, or this great little medieval tavern/bar type place called L'Oveja Negra or Black Sheep).

This morning Chris and Cody left and are on their way home home! Im off to Madrid for my last night in Spain, Ashley's going back to Germany and things are pretty much wrapped up for me. Not sure exactly what my feeling are yet about leaving, still working those out but i have some good ole alone time tonight in Madrid to figure those out.

I couldnt leave Andalucia without seeing its biggest and most colorful city, Sevilla. Plus, it was nice to have a travel day to myself. My pace, my sights, my pictures, that whole selfish do what i want while i can thing. Whatever, ill call it a mental health day! So up and off to Sevilla this morning. Got in at 11am and walked past the huge line at the 2nd largest cathedral in Europe and decided i would hit that place up later. I passed by a Starbucks (!!!!) and had to stop before winding my way through the Barrio Santa Cruz and the Judería of Sevilla, through the crowded shopping streets (bummer, i know...hehe!) and on down to the Río Guadalquivir. Córdoba and Sevilla share the same river but in Sevilla its gorgeous and here we refer to it as the cesspool, swamp, marsh, or something of the sort. So, i crossed the bridge and took a stroll on the ribera (riverbank) and took it all in. It was gorgeous and sunny and the reflection on the water and off the buildings was just so "postcard"-esk. I crossed back over to the other side and headed to the ....ooppps sorry gotta run! more later, oh yeah and ill finish berlin too!

ok, i swear ill finish it now!

So i crossed back over the river and went to the Bull Ring. This ring, along with the one in Ronda are the sights of the first bull fighting schools, and have seen some famous Correderos (bull fighters) like Manolette, killed in the ring. You had to take a tour to see the inside so i bought my ticket and we entered the stadium through one of the (not prinicple) doors of the ring and into the stands. There are 4 doors into the actual ring, one for the nobility the only green section in the otherwise yellow ring, one for the bulls, one for the horses, and one to the infirmary where they take the wounded fighters. We didnt actually get to step in the ring but you get a good idea of what it would look like full. There is the sun section (cheap) and the shade section or "sombra" where the more wealthy people could afford to sit. We walked down below the seats into the museum where you could see the head of the bull of the mother of the bull that killed Manolette (talk about superstitions). We saw other garb of the past fighters and some vintage posters of past fights before glancing at the infirmary and its operating table, and the horse stalls. The tour was pretty short, but it was cool to see all the parts of the ring.

Then it was back through the cute neighborhoods and colorful streets, Sevilla is so colorful, and back to the Cathedral. This thing is huge. Second largest in Europe, and you can tell. Its Gothic which means that they tried to build the ceilings as high as they could in stone and arches with the rosette stained glass windows. It took more than a century to construct and has tons of Chapels, a treasury, multiple altars and choir bay, a ginormous organ and tons of people. The most amazing thing is that its huge, there is cool stuff inside but its pretty boring to write about so you can read my travel book when i get back to get all the info. Then if was up the Giralda, the minaret left from when that was the sight of the mosque during Muslim rule of Spain. You can climb up the 35 levels of ramps and get a great view of the city. They build ramps so that the bell ringers could ride thier horses up to ring the bells for prayer (as is the use of the Minaret). Ok, so after a hefty portion of time there, i headed back out into the gorgeous sun and towards the Plaza de España. Unlike most other plazas this one is a semi-circle, with a huge fountain in the middle and ceramic tile fountains around the perimeter with different themes of and about Spain on each on. There wasnt much going on in the Plaza but to imagine it full of people during the Feria (Sevilla's main event that takes place in Spring).

It was time for another Starbucks break, considering i dont have one in Córdoba and have thus been starved of this ridiculous addiction before wandering around a little more. It was almost 4 and about time to catch the train back to reality so i made my way back through the bustling streets of Sevilla and onto the rickety train to Córdoba (really, it was a rocky ride). Made it back safe though and luckily still had some sun to enjoy here in Córdoba. Sevilla is gorgeous. It has all the small town charm of Córdoba but more color, Starbucks, more lively and a gorgeous river! For all those wanting to study in Andalucía or even just visit, Sevilla should be top of your list!

Yesterday was Turkey day in the most untraditional sense. My turkey day festivities usually consist of NOT going to school, church, lounging, cooking/smelling whatever is cooking, maybe a movie, and then of course FOOD with all my family! Well, the program here does a Thanksgiving dinner for all us homesick Americans and I have to say, they did a pretty good job when it comes to cooking up a Thanksgiving dinner here, called La Cena de Acción de Gracias. They were right on the money with the turkey and mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (minus the marshmallows), and a pretty amazing stuffing, but after that it just wasn’t the same. There was no green bean casserole with the yummy crispy onions on top, the cranberry sauce didn’t have actual cranberries in it, there wasn’t gravy, the rolls couldn’t hold a flame to the amazing ones Grandma makes, and the pumpkin pie was more like flan with cinnamon in it. Nevertheless, the dinner was really enjoyable. In Spanish fashion, Marissa and I arrived late, to our luck, missing the cheesy poems written and read by the program director (what is it about a PhD that makes people think that anything and everything they say in front of a group of students will be recorded as the next “I Have a Dream” speech????). After that embarrassing display we ate, and took photos. Lots of photos. In a sense this was our goodbye dinner because we don’t have an official one after the program. Everyone, students and professors were all dolled up in their going our gear and the whole room was filled with energy.

Everyone was just happy to be with everyone else, in that kind of sappy forget-all-your-differences-and-just-enjoy-the-night kinda mood which made the whole experience even that much more enjoyable. Good company, good food, not so good wine made up for by good champagne, fun photos, and getting to go out with your teachers = GREAT NIGHT!

After the dinner, the hotel staff was ready to kick our lively crowd out, and, we all, including Antonio and Rafa (my history and International Relations professors) came out to the next stop, one of those whole in the wall bars you can only find once. Seeing your professors in a bar is strange enough, then realizing that your entire class essentially just put on skirts and ties and relocated to the bar….now that is interesting!

Sometime later we left the bar (into the literally freezing air, apparently some polar front has just moved into Spain) and headed towards another club. Cody, Marissa, and I, never quite made it and instead headed back to Cody´s to warm up our feet and eat, again! After that I braved the cold one more time, go get home where I plopped down on my bed around 4am and called it a night (or a morning??!!?).

It was definitely no traditional thanksgiving, but if I couldn’t be with my family yesterday then this was definitely a good way to spend it.

I hate to say it, but I have found yet another city more beautiful than Córdoba. Maybe it is because its new, and exciting, and I was with Kiki. Or maybe becuase anywhere other than what you are used to is more exciting (at least for a little while), but Salamanca is absolutely wonderful. It has all the charm of an east coast university town, minus the snow. Its gorgeous river is lined with trees changing colors, and punctuated by roman bridges which become even more picturesque at night when they illuminate them. At night the city doesnt lose any of its daytime charm. The huge gothic cathedral is lit up and can be seen from almost anywhere in the town if, and is better than the postcards when you are looking up at it from the river bank.

The town itself is filled with churches, the first university in Europe, the Cathedral, plazas, statues, a Plaza Mayor more beautiful than its predecessor in Madrid, and countless ofher buildings that fit the architectural style the monuments giving the city a coherent but not uniform feel. There is even a Zara (womens clothing store) in the shopping district built into an old church. Its amazing!

So as i walked around with my mouth gaping open at the beauty of the city, Kiki and I took in some of the tourist sights, wandered the town, frequented a local Irish pub for some good ole rugby watchin´and beer, hit up one of the packed bars for the Madrid-Barça game, ate delicious food (pancakes!!!!!!!), shopped, and enjoyed the scenery.

After 5 hours on a bus, 30 hectic minutes in between modes of transportation and 2 ½ more hours on a train, I was in Salamanca! Kiki met me at the train station and we headed toward the center of town where all the life is! Instead if heading straight home, we made a pit stop at O´Harahs, the Irish pub in town, this was just the first of our visits to what I will now refer to as the O.H. As if it just being an Irish pub wasn’t good enough, they had my favorite weissbier on tap; Paulaner, and I took advantage of it! A few hours later, after meeting up with friends and having a merry old time, we headed over to another Salamancan favorite, a bar called Jacko´s. The night just got better from there and I learned that B-52´s are not just a band, but a rather tasty drink. Very near 4 am, we finally made it back to Kiki´s house. After hanging our clothes on the balcony (as anything you wear inside in Spain takes on that sweet stench of cigarette smoke), we climbed into bed to catch some ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz!

Friday morning we lounged a bit and ate breakfast while looking out the balcony window onto the gorgeous Río Tormes. The trees lining either side, the leaves changing colors, the reflection of the bridge in the smooth water…need I say more? We headed out to play tourist (one of my favorite games) and made our first stop at the Universidad de Salamanca. The first university in Spain, this building was opened in 1218 and still holds some of the original books, and classroom benches. We entered through the famous façade where you can spend hours trying to find the frog (carved into the top of a stone skull on one of the pillars of the decorated entrance) that will bring you good luck, called “La Ranita de Suerte” (the little frog of luck). When you enter, you find the carved stone stairwell and elaborate ceilings that adorn the building and are just one more thing of beauty. Even more impressive was stop number 2 on our tour. The Cathedral. Its gorgeous. As you walk through it, you are led through passages and up stairs as you make your way up to the upper levels where you can walk around the outside for a great view of the city and wander in and out of the various rooms, gazing at the alter, finding cracks still visible from the 10.0 Lisboa earthquake of 1755. Walking through it you can almost imagine the priests from the 18th century making their way through the passageways (the choir music playing softly on surround sound definitely doesn’t take away from the mood either). After snapping back to reality we headed down the steep stairs and out onto the streets.

Wandering through the streets lines with the tourist stores we made our way to the plaza to grab some lunch before the afternoon of shopping . The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca is always crowded with students, couples, families, kids, dogs, and cute little old couples in matching outfits sitting together. After chilling ourselves to the bone we headed back toward home. On the way we ran into Clancey (kiki´s roommate) and her and I headed out for a run near the river. As it started to get dark, the lights in the city came on and from the riverbank where we were running we could see the gorgeously lit Cathedral and Roman bridge. It was definitely an image vying for a spot as the calendar page for November. Seriously, the city is gorgeous, the epitome of fall and absolutely beautiful.

Saturday was another relaxing day. Slept late, headed out for PANCAKES!!!, which we had found the day before at a restaurant in the Plaza. Soooo yummy! But, like many other “American” foods here, it wasnt quite satisfying (as they were the sixe of a a san dollar and you only get 2) and headed to the cutest little bakery just off the plaza for some Hornazo, the typical empanada of Salamanca. Imagine a hot pocket, pizza flavored, with 3 kinds of meat (and by three kinds of meat i mean 3 different parts of the ham). It was delicious! After that, we needed to walk off our meal(s) so headed back to the shopping strip. You think i would be sick of shopping but when your legs are 8 inches too short for pants (literally, im not kidding) or your shoulders are wider than 6 inches, finding clothes that fit is pure luck, which means that after not succeeding many a times to find cute stuff, we try try try try and try again.

To break up the shopping monotany (yes shopping gets old after a while, EVEN for me!) we headed over to the local peluquería (hair dresser) for a little ‘do’. Nothing crazy or anything, dont worry, the mullet will have to wait for another time, but i now have a few tasteful streaks of Córdoba orange (removable as soon as I am tired of them because i didnt actually dye my hair, they’re extensions!). So, now, feeling a little rejuvenated by our semi-rebellious behavior (why its rebellious i dont know, its not like anyone was telling us we couldnt do that, or anything else here), we headed over to our favorite little irish pub for some RUGBY!!!!!!!!

New Zealand vs. England kept us entertained, and every other rugby fanatic in Salamanca for the next few hours. As if rugby wasnt enough sport for one day, it wasnt too long after the rugby game that we were headed over to the any bar that had space for one of the biggest sporting events in all of Spain. The Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer match. These teams here are like the Dodgers and Giants to baseball fanatics, if you like one, you CANNOT like the other. Except here everyone is a fanatic! Its nuts, every bar was packed and we ended up standing up for the entire game (that Real was absolutely outplayed in....booo hooo!). Kiki and I had a great time yelling at the screen and laughing at the great acting scheme that goes on in professional soccer games (no one is ever really hurt but you wouldnt be able to tell by the amazing martial arts rolls and the grabbing of whatever part of your body you are faking injury with this time).

Sunday morning we got our lazy butts outta bed for a run to the local rostro, or market. Much like the one in Córdoba, the tables are piled high with socks and other cheap items. We were only able to spend a little time here before heading back so i could catch my train.

It was so nice to see Kiki again, and I just am that much more excited to have her as a roommate, and now i have one more city on my list of must-sees in Spain too!

Dont get too excited, I dont have any new adventures to talk about yet, you will have to wait until after this weekend, but it seems that i only write about the stuff i do outside of Córdoba, and never the stuff going on here. Given, its nowhere near as exciting, but its just as big a part of this whole experience as the travelling.

Boring stuff first: The Weather. Its cold here! My body thermometer is permanently registered at 65-70ºF, courtesy of beautiful San Diego, and I, as well as many of my other California friends are filling up our mornings complaining about the cold. BUT, truth be told, as much as I dont like being cold, its a nice change to have seasons.

Speaking of seasons, Christmas comes earlier here than in the States. They have no Thanksgiving to wait until as the 'official' start of the Christmas season, so now that its cold enough, we can call it Christmas time. This means that Christmas candies (Turron: nouget with different types of nuts, Mantecados: really buttery and yummy melt-in-your mouth cookies in assorted flavor, chocolate, and an unfortunate assortment of those nasty liquour candies: Marachino cherries here do not mean the deliciosly flourecent ones for the top of your sundae, they mean jellies cherry saturated with Anis (black licorice flavor) liquour native to Córdoba...gross!). Also, Christmas season means that El Corte Ingles, the 'Godfather´of Spanish shopping (aka a huge department store that has EVERYTHING!) has strung lights all over the outside of the building, and the rest of the downtown area has followed suit! They havent turned the lights on at night yet, but the lighting of the city is in just a couple weeks. Its so cute! Like small town,lets-crowd-around-the-fire-and-eat-roasted-chestnuts(which really happens if you go to Valencia)-stroll-through-the-christmas-shops-and-stare-at-the-manger-scenes in the windows(or singing christmas trees), cute!

Despite the cold, I have still managed to get out and about. I finally made my way to one of the Teterías (tea houses) here in Córdoba for some té con leche (tea brewed with milk), my favorite of the teas and infusions here. Entertaining myself at the cines (movie theatres) which are half the price of US theatres, has been interesting. American movies are better in their original voices (not dubbed) but Spanish movies are really good.

My search for warm clothes continues. I definitely didnt bring enough socks when i came, socks were most definitely at the bottom of my list of items to pack back in scorching August, and now im paying for it with frozen toes.

Um, what else is new?? I dunno, cant think of anything specific right now, i need to write stuff down thats odd/different/entertaining when i see it so i can remember to write it later. Well, in that case, we should all get back to whatever activity we were putting off by reading/writing this. Off to Salamanca this weekend to visit Kiki!!!! Making my way to a new part of Spain the central Northwest (just west of Madrid), where we will watch the biggest fútbol match of the season for Spain, Real Madrid vs. F.C. Barcelona!

Much love to all of you. Missing you more now that the holidays are closer, but always thinking about you guys, and cant wait to see you in a month!