Granada and other adventures of this week!

Hey guys! So this time, I will try my best to be comprehensible in this blog (if you didn't read the blog before this about my horrible grammer, please do :-) ). I'm sitting yet again in an internet cafe frantically returning emails, checking schedules, looking up trips and updating my blog. Today, it is really foggy. I had to walk across a bridge over the Guadalquivir River in order to get to this cafe and while I was walking, it was so foggy I couldn't even see the end of the bridge. Even though I'm close to the mediterranean, it's still winter here, which doesn't mean snow, but it is usually cloudy, cold and rainy. If the city is this beautiful when it is constantly rainy and cloudy, I can't imagine how beautiful it will be when it gets to be spring. A guy in a cafe a couple days ago told me "Espera dos semanas, no podrá creerlo" (just wait two weeks, you won't believe it). It's even more interesting for me because I'm from Colorado where the sun is constantly shining and there is never rain. I actually had to buy an unbrella and rainboots!


I had a little bit of a hard time getting started and settled in here, but I am getting happier and seeing more of the beauty in things every single day. Everyday, I walk to school and I get to walk through the center of town where El Catedral is located. This Gothic cathedral is the third largest church in the world after The Vatican and Notre Dame in Paris. IT IS HUGE! I haven't gone inside yet, but I get to see the beautifully decorated exterior every day on my way to class; I literally walk right in front of it. Last week was my first week of class and I really enjoyed it. I'm in an intensive course of Spanish grammar, so it's 3 hours straight of grammar, but I really do love it. I like anything that will immerse me in the language. I have one more week of this intensive session before the regular session begins. The funny thing is my school, along with EVERYTHING else in Seville, does not have central heating and only has stone walls and tile floors. I don't think I have ever taken my coat off while I've been in class. One thing that I'm getting used to is constant cold. The inside of the buildings and houses here are JUST as cold as the outside. Again, I cannot wait until Spring comes but I really am finding the joy in the beautiful rainy days here and I don't mind my coat.


This weekend, I took a trip to Granada which is about a 3 hour bus ride from Sevilla. This moorish city is nessled right up against the Sierra Nevada mountains. While Sevilla is similar, Granada really is the center of Moorish Culture. The term "moorish" applies to its mixture of Christian and Muslim cultural influences. In the 1200s, this area was strictly under Muslim rule and a few centuries later, it was ruled by Catholics. Many of the churches here are actually old mosques. There is still a lot of Muslim influences here in the architecture. If you took at my pictures, you might be able to see what I am talking about. When we arrived there, we were given our rooms and settled in. My friend Steph is in my program so she was there with me, but because Kels isn't in my program, her program will go to Granada another weekend. First, we took a walk through the old barrios that were built high up into the mountain. The houses are hundred of years old and the cloudy day really brought out a beautiful side of the old buildings. From most of the places that we walked, you could look across to another mountain and see the Alhambra, which is an old palace for the Muslim leaders. During our walk, we stopped at the Cathdral of Granada, which holds the tombs of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Catholic Royalty who ruled Spain from Granada during the late 1400s and early 1500s. They were the king and queen who funded Christopher Columbus's vovage where he discovered America. After walking through the old barrios we went down to the center of town and took a break at the Teteria, which is an Arabic tea house. We were given all kinds of Arabic hot teas and little pastries. The whole house was covered in colorful fabric and gold embroidery. You could also sit on the ground on huge pillows. I really did feel like I was in Aladdin. After that, we got to walk around to the shops, which were mostly all really Arabic influenced. You could buy carpets, belly dancing outfits, jewelry, hookahs and all kinds of things. That night, I went out to a few bars and had something called a Shwarma which is an Arabic food. It's a cross between a burrito and a gyro. Let me tell you right now, this might be sad, but I think that that was the highlight of my trip. I don't think I have ever tasted something so delicious and rich. Steph and I shared one and we got in a little argument because the other one kept hogging it (okay, maybe I was just hogging it). I honestly was considering skipping the free lunch they gave us the next day just so I could get another one of those things.


The next morning, I got to visit El Alhambrah which is an ancient Moorish palace and fortress for Muslim leaders. This huge palace is built into the side of the Sierra Nevadas and overlooks the entire city of Granada. I was there for about 3 hours (again, this place is HUGE) and took maybe 120 pictures. I really can't explain it here, but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Everything from the high towers to the the large courts where kings lived and ruled to the gardens took my breath away. The sad thing is that I took so many pictures, but none of these pictures can even attempt to recreate and the sights that I saw. I put my pictures of facebook and I picked the best ones (because I don't think you guys want to look through 120 pictures, even if they are beautiful). Part of me was a little disappointed that the weather was so cold and rainy while we were at the Alhambra, but at the same time, I think that it eccentuated the scenery. I would look out at the Sierra Nevadas and Granada from the tower and see the clouds and the tints of grey, blue and green everywhere. Again, it was really cold, but I did my best to ignore it and concentrate on the sights around me. I signed up for this trip not knowing a thing about Granada, but after leaving, I am so thankful that I took it.


Now, today is Monday and I am back in Sevilla. This morning, I went to The Museum of Flamenco to do research for a paper I have in class. Flamenco is amazing and it was really cool to see its origens and how significant it is to Spanish culture. I'm going to a Flamenco bar the next chance I get. I have school tonight and later today, Steph, Kels and I are planning on getting together to research weekend and Spring break trips we want to take while we are in Europe. I'm also hoping that I will some time to read the book I'm reading, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I think is PERFECT to read while you are in a foreign country (google it, man), plus I'm addicted to it. I just finished The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I'm loving the fact that I have a lot of free time to read here. Also, things in my homestay are getting better and better, so thanks for the prayers. I have accepted the fact that my hermanos (my spanish brother and sister) don't really want to get to know me. But my señora (my spanish mother) has been so much warmer and loving to me. No, we don't talk all the time, but she has been nothing but kind and loving to me. She calls me guapa when I talk to her or when we say good bye on the phone. We talk during meals and when I run into her in the kitchen. She's really good at giving me space when I want to relax or do school work in my room and is just as nice when I want to talk to her. I'm going to start going to more activities that help me interact with more Spaniards now that the Sevillian college students are out of exams. There's not a whole bunch going on this next week that I can think about but thanks again for reading my long long blog. See you guys next week!

Love,
Michelle


P.S. There are also legit gypsies here in Sevilla. They're old women on the street who carry little ferns and will read your palm and tell your future. Do you guys thing I should do it?

here are pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2359262&l=9c159&id=10235591