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.