So, I have not written in a while and during those weeks of silence I have toured amazing places, learned incredible facts, seen unheralded sights and taken tests. One of those does not belong and I am sure that you can guess. Last week, I had midterms and the DELE or Diploma Espanol como Lengua Extranjera fluency exam. It was tough. But, in the midst of studying I also visited Madrid and Barcelona. They are the two largest cities in Spain and each has a distinct feel that I, as someone who has spent three months in Spain, found surprisingly un-Spanish. I loved both of them, to be sure, but they were unlike anything I have known in the rest of Spain.

The Madrid trip was with our program and so we lived like kings, well compared to the paupers we usually travel as. Also, the program directors are both incredible people who help us with everything and know just where to take us and what to see. The city of Madrid was so busy; people everywhere! Being the Capital for 500 years, it has all the required beautiful parks, monuments, museums (I have an illicit picture of Velazquez's Las Meninas from the Prado). Along with this trip we visited El Escorial, The Valley of the Fallen, Segovia and Toledo.

This is San Lorenzo, in the Plaza outside of El Escorial. Built as a palace, retreat, monastery and mausoleum by Felipe II in the 1500s it is the largest building in Spain. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, which was fine because the architecture mirrors the personality of the King, said and rigid. He was a devout Catholic but the death of 5 wives and something like 12 children weighed on him, as it would anyone. The one bright spot, and one of the coolest rooms I have ever been in was the library. The ceiling is a bright Fresco by Lucas Jordan, who could paint with both hands. All of the books face outward and are coated in real gold, this preserves the pages and also adds to the enlightened feel of the room. This library has the most extensive collection of ancient Arabic writing in the world and behind that of the Vatican, the second most of Greek and Latin. Some of the most important books include St. Theresa of Avila's journal, a bible printed with glue and gold flakes in place of ink and the first book written in Gallego that is also the best collection of written music from the middle ages.

In the mountains above El Escorial is the monument to the dead of the Spanish Civil War called the Valley of the Fallen. It is a basilica dug out of a mountain and so in place of light from windows the inside is dark, yet powerful nonetheless as huge sculptures of angels line the walls of the cathedral that is longer than St. Peter's. It was built by political prisoners as a last "in your face" by Franco who made sure every symbol represented his victory over the heathen republican fighters. Above the basilica is a 125 m cross with statues of the four Evangelists at the base. They are so big that a person would be shorter than their noses. Outside, situated on the edge of the mountain is a parade ground. Right now, there is a lot of dissidence towards the monument as any Spainards older than thirty lived during the oppressive regime. I do think, however, that as Spain becomes more personally removed from Franco this sight will be truly celebrated as an engineering and architectural masterpiece. It is the same way that most people can overlook the thousands of deaths that it took to build the pyramids and Great Wall of China.

The cross is more than a football field tall.

Segovia is more than 2400 years old and it hardly looks its age. The aquaduct is impressive, more than 135 stairs from the bottom to the top. The Cathedral is impressive; I have to be careful that I am not callous towards huge, beautiful cathedrals after visiting so many. It is impressive that people spent so much time, money and effort to build these tributes to God. It is something that happened then and today would be scoffed at as a HUGE waste of money.

The castle is excactly what I would expect from one; Walt Disney agreed and modeled Snow White's after it. My favorite part of Segovia was, however, the view from the castle to the mountains..... Notice that is a grain elevator and not a castle or Cathedral. Just like home.

The next weekend I went to Barcelona. It is the Capital of the Autonomous Community, much like a State, Cataluna. But, unlike a state, Cataluna has its own language and history that it is so proud of it wants complete independence from Spain. Also, Barcelona is a port city and so it was full of tourists and I heard more English than Spanish. Even the signs are in Catalan and English, but not Spanish. I met a lot friends from Gonzaga-in-Florence there and that was really fun. My friend Matt and I attended an FC Barcelona game. It was a great game and it marked the first time I have been cold in Spain.

In front of the Stadium.

Barcelona also has Gaudi architecture everywhere including the unfinished La Sagrada Familia that he lived in for forty years while working on it. It seems everywhere I look in Europe there is a crane ruining a picture. But, they are just a sign that work is being done, of wanting to better the buildings and it took the under-construction masterpiece of La Sagrada Familia to show me that.

A Journey

I had the opportunity to visit Santiago de Compostela a couple of weeks ago. It is a small town with a big history. Located in the rainy, lush hills of Galacia in Northern Spain, the town and Cathedral is the end of the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile four week pilgrimage made each year by over 100,000 people. The Pilgrimage started in the 9th century when a priest discovered the bones of the Apostle James in a tomb near what would become Santiago de Compostela. Over the next centuries the route became more popular as Catholic pilgrims were given indulgences (forgiveness from sins for completion of a task) for completing the pilgrimage during holy years. The money brought into the region helped fund the Reconquisition of Spain. Are James' bones buried buried there? Maybe. Is the Pilgrimage worth it? Absolutely. The pilgrimage is not about the manmade route that the peregrinos travel or the manmade shelters they stay in. It is about the relationships that they build with the people who host them along the way and the relationships they build with fellow travelers. It is not about that the relationship that the Camino had with the funding of a war. It is about the relationship that each person who completes the journey has with God along the way. They have time to rejoice in the beauty of creation. They have time to pray during the miles and miles of walking. And they have something that so few have these days; they have time to listen for a response. The facade of the Cathedral. This part of the Church is from the 1300s.

The Shell marks the way of the Camino.

Hiking along the Camino.

My friend Scott is studying in Madrid and so we were able to meet up.

When the Sun Comes Up

A Selection of Pictures from my Breakfast Tour in Europe:

This is one of the many Chocolate Shop window displays. We walked down the street sampling each type of truffle, chocolate bar, chocolate covered nuts and bon-bons.

This is my Belgium Waffle for Breakfast. It had strawberrys and whipped cream. My one later that day had chocolate and ice cream.

In between waffles we had a full day of sightseeing in Brussels. My favorite things were the weather and this Church: the leaves were changing and it was a crisp, cool fall day. Two things we do not have a lot of in Andalucia are trees that change colors and a full day of cool weather. The Church is St. Michael's of Brussels and it was built in the 13th Century. It is very Gothic with high ceilings and lots of stained glass. Also entrance was free, which in Spain is hit or miss with churches and I do not know how I feel about charging people to go into God's house. But then also it is for the upkeep so they need money. Anyway, the Church was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful Churches... our second course of Breakfast brought us to Paris for crepes and croissants and Notre Dame du Paris.

The inside was amazing with huge stained glass. Mass was going on which again I wonder about the pros and cons of the Father's house as a market place versus the idea of worship open to all.

There was also this Tower that everyone talks about:

It was impressive and we were able to ride a bike around under it, albeit with two people as the American dollar has become so weak the bike renting centers do not accept American credit cards.

The last night we were in Paris we had dinner (breakfast can't last forever) in the Montmartre district. I had steak and french fries and salad and helado and even sampled the wine and had to approve before the waiter poured it for us.

This is the group minus Natalie, who was under the weather.

Here and There

This is a quick update of things going on in my life:
I started the main portion of my semester today. For the last month we have been taking an intensive grammar class. We were placed in classes based on a prueba de nivel (placement test) that incorporated grammar, writing and speaking. I ended up in level 2B, the upper intermediate beginner level. There are levels 1A-5 with A and B at each level. 1A is just starting and 5 is fluent. At the end of the month, if you pass the class you move up one level. But for our classes that began today there are only two levels: Estudios Hispanicos and Lenguas y Culturas. Estudios Hispanicos is the higher level and anyone from 3B up take these classes. A few of the students from the 2B level took another Prueba de Nivel to try to move up to 3B. I took it and did not pass, but was allowed to move up because my intensivo teacher and my Cultura and Historia professor, who is also the ILACA program advisor recommended it. So thank you to both of them. I think my test in my Cultura y Historia class helped because I studied a lot for it and did well on it. It took over two hours and was one of the hardest tests of my life (maybe I should include the Prueba de Nivel tests in this category, but I flat-out do not know those answers).
Our work in grammar is leading up to an Exam called the DELE, which measures the proficiency of nonnative Spanish speakers. It is for this reason that I have flash cards with verbs and the prepositions they carry and do workbook excersises to distinguish between por and para (two words that mean for) and how to correctly use se (this is used as a pronoun, it can make a verb reflexive, or it can be impersonal).
So that is what is happening here, but luckily Studying Abroad also includes being Abroad. For this reason I just returned from a six day trip to eat breakfast in Belgium and France. We went to Brussels to find waffles and chocolate. We found both. I loved the relaxed pace of the city, the warmth of the personalities of the people and cold in the autumn air. Brussels is historic, with the Grand Place Square, known as the most beautiful square in Europe and St Michael's Cathedral, that held its first funeral of note, some king, in 1372. Brussels is also modern, with the European Parliament headquartered there. One and half hours away from Brussels on a high-speed train is the city of Paris, France.
I introduce it as an unknown, because although it needs no introduction, it deserves one if people like me have stereotyped it as just another European hub of history and culture with rude people and expensive prices. The people in France were helpful and friendly and went out of their way to help. Paris itself was beautiful and packed full of sights, marvels, parks and history. We took an amazing tour of the city that was insightful and witty and free. We went to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Aphrodite and Hammurabi's code. The Louvre was overwhelming and I usually love Art museums, but it was so big that I didn't know where to start. Since we went on a Sunday it was free, so again, thank you Paris. We saw two beautiful churches, Notre Dame, which was a surreal experience and the Sacre Couer, which was amazing and reverent. When we were in Notre Dame Mass was going on. Had we been thinking we would have tried to attend, but instead we were with the throngs of tourists taking pictures during the Homily. I have two thoughts on the idea of Mass mixing with tourists. For the tourists, it is great because worship should be open to all and they may never be exposed to it. But then again, worship needs to be sincere and for those attending Mass, it must be hard to concentrate as so much is going on around them. The Sacre Couer is located in the Montmartre District. This is on a hill so it has the best views of Paris and we got to see the City of Lights at night. We also had dinner in a square full of Parisienne cafes. I even had to taste the wine and approve of it before the waiter poured it for everyone at the table.
One day we went out to Versailles. This palace, built by Louis XIV-XVI, to demonstrate the glory of French art, culture and engineering accomplished everything it set out to do. It was Monday, so the palace was closed, but the gardens were open for free. When I say gardens I mean forests, orchards, fountains, lakes, ponds, vineyards, parks, meadows, avenues and flowers. The formal "Gardens" cover 250 acres. But the grounds, where all the trees are trimmed to have perfectly square angles cover 2000 acres. We even drove a golf cart around the grounds. I will put up pictures later.

This isn't Spain, it's Middle Earth

While in Córdoba we visited the Castle of the Christian Kings. It is the place where Christopher Colombus, Isabel and Ferdinand planned the world changing trip to India.
The interior wall and courtyard.

The tower as viewed from the garden.

This is me. Legolas and Gimli just missed being in the photo.

A statue of Fernando in the garden outside the castle.

Colombus asking for money to finance his exploration to India

This Angel watches over Córdoba.

The bridge over the River of Guadalquivir. That is the Cathedral in the background. I was going to ask that they move the crane, but I do not know the word in Spanish.

La Mezquita at Córdoba

This is the most impressive building I have ever seen. It was first built in 800 by the Muslim Caliphate. At that time Córdoba was the most important city in the Muslim world outside of Damascus.







The Mosque was built using a series of double arches to support the ceiling. Over the centuries it was added onto until it was larger than the size of a football field (that is soccer in America).






For such an important building, the builders made a huge mistake: the Mosque faces south instead of Southeast towards Mecca. Oops.

Then in the 15th century Córdoba was conquered by the Catholic kingdoms of Castilla and Aragón. In the middle of the Mosque they constructed a huge Cathedral.

Now, all the art in the Mosque and Cathedral is Christian with only some Arabic on the arches and the design itself to pay tribute to its origin.

This is the organ in the Cathedral. The organist sits about twenty feet above everyone.

Floral Homage to The Virgen of the Angustias

September 15th is the Day of the Matron Saint of Granada, The Virgin of the Angustias. People leave boquets of flowers at the Church of the Virgin of the Angustias. They then place the flowers on scaffolding set up at the front of the church. The inside, which is already the most ornate church I have ever been inside, is also decorated.

The buoquets for sale on the street. There were dozens of these vendors.

A up-close of the flowers.

This is the entrance to the church. The heart and ribbons over the door are made of carnations.

This is one of the steeples with the flowers in front. The church is surprisingly big and it is right in the middle of the city so it appears out of nowhere.

That is me in the corner to put the number of flowers into perspective. I do not know if you can tell but I was also eating the biggest cone of helado I found thus far in Granada. The flavors I chose were white chocolate and Ferrero Rocher.

First Day of School

Every year, the first day of school followed the same simple, yet exciting routine. Wake up uncharacteristically early, one of Shea's two days she can wake up on her own (the other being Christmas), eat a breakfast of fun cereal, dress in the newly bought first-day-of-school clothes and then take pictures outside. Unfortunately, my mom, a very worthy photo-chronicler of all important days, events and occasions could not take my picture here in Spain. So, here is my first day of school picture*
These are pictures of my school, a converted hotel so it has a great garden and the classrooms have double doors that open onto little balconies.This is the view from the bathroom.

*To be honest, the picture is not from my first day of classes

I run to you, I run to you

This is Parque Francisco Garcia Lorca, located three blocks from my apartment. It is about twenty acres of trees, grass, gardens, fountains and has many paths wondering every which way. I usually run here at about eight o'clock in the evening when it is cooling down and people are coming out. These pictures were taken at this time of night.



These are just some of the many variety of trees in the park: pine, oak, and palm.

These are some of the roses that come in every color imaginable. The rose garden is located in the center of the park.

This is the main fountain that is at the entrance to the park. It is right by the ramp that goes up about ten feet that is my only incline on the run.




Below is what the running trail looks like. They spray it down a few times a day to fight dust and cool down the air above the dirt.

This is the Museum, with the Alhambra in the background. History within history

This is from the Arab Baths. Don't worry these are the sky lights, not open holes into the deep pit we were in

This one is from 200 AD, again the Romans, look for Hercules

Today I visited the Museum of Archaeology and Geology and the Arab Baths. The Arab Baths are over 1000 years old and some of the artifacts in the museum are closer to 2000. I have included pictures from these places. I also went to the beach, but no pictures were taken as I was in the water for the entire time except for breaks to eat ice cream and lay on my towel. I had an umbrella this time as I went with locals who know the proper equipment to use. It was very fun to spend time with Jaime, Fran and their friends even though I could not always follow their conversations.

This first picture is from the Roman Occupation from c. 300 AD. The third line from the bottom talks of a native practice called Flaminica. The origins of Flamenco go way back

Falling into Soup

What brings the world together more than food? I certainly cannot think of anything. For lunch today we had crema (it wasn't sopa, the word normally used for soup because it was too liquidy) made from calabacin (zucchini) and queso. There was also water and salt. But that was it; something so simple, however was able to connect the lives of six people from 4 countries. Maybe it takes good food to do this because as Ina (from Germany) said, "It's so good I want to fall in it."

I am willing to send postcards to any member of this blogteam. I think there is a way to post a comment. Also, this is my last gripe about the sun: Today I saw one of those people painted grey (gray?) and she was supposed to be sitting still but it was so hot that she couldn't stop fanning herself to look like a statue. This was at nine o'clock at night.

This is the Mediterranean. I wish I was the guy in the background. The water was so clear and salty and blue.

This whole street was covered by these garden globes.

My helado in descending order: Creme de Leche, Chocolate, Vainilla. It is melting in an airconditioned room on a chilled plate because of the heat in Spain. I do not know where the rain is located in Spain.

More tile, this time at the house of Don Bosco, again for my Dad