La Catédral y Carnaval en Cádiz

Hola!  Writing to you from Sevilla.  At this point, I have gotten into a routine and am learning my way around the city.  I'm still having the time of my life learning, loving, and exploring.

Last week I went inside the Catédral de Sevilla, which I mentioned in my last post.  It is the largest Gothic cathedral and third largest church in the world.  The structure, originally built to demonstrate Seville's wealth, is beautiful and intricate.  It is also the burial site of Christopher Columbus, which we saw on our tour with Rosio.  Back in the years after the Reconquista it became a major trading center.

We toured the inside of the Cathedral and walked the Giralda tower all the way to the top.  In order to get there we had to go up 35 ramps, but once we got there, we had a panoramic, breathtaking view of the city.

On Saturday we went to Carnaval in Cádiz, our first trip outside the city since coming to Sevilla.  Carnaval in Cádiz is basically a huge party in the streets in which people dress up, sing, dance, and celebrate.  It is the third largest Carnival in the world, after Rio de Janiero and Trinidad.  (Seems like being the third largest in the world is the theme of this post!)  Traditionally, some of the music played and costumes worn in Cádiz are satirical.  It is common for people to wear costumes mocking politicians.

We went to Carnaval on a bus through a program called Discover Sevilla.  On the bus there was a costume contest and my friends and I, who were dressed up as fairies, won second place!  The ride was only about an hour and a half.  When we arrived, I immediately knew I was going to have a blast.  The streets were bursting with colorful energy.

On Sunday, after a long day of rest my apartment-mates and I went out to get tapas and ice-cream.  Tapas are small portions of food, sort of like an appetizer, but they can encompass a whole meal.  Most of the time, people order a few tapas to share or for themselves.  I have discovered my favorite tapa; patatas a la brava or patatas bravas.  I'm not even sure exactly what it is, but it is potatoes in one red and one white sauce.  It is a little spicy and very tasty.

I would love to write about this past week, but I am heading off to Madrid.  But come back next week to hear about my student teaching, walk to the gym, Plaza de Torros, and this upcoming trip.


Hasta pronto!


Elyssa

View from the top of the Giralda

The fairies

Hanging out in Cádiz

Inside the Catedral

The Cathedral

More Photos of The Cathedral and View from the Giralda to Come

First Week in Sevilla

Hola familia y amigos!

I arrived in Sevilla a little over a week ago and moved into my apartment.  I'm living with four girls from New Paltz, Ciana, Kaitlyn, Dana, and my roommate Jodeci.  My friends Jasmine and Rachel live right next door, and Jillian, Courtney, and Amanda are downstairs.  Our apartment is located in the heart of the city.  We live amongst cute little stores, cafés, restaurants, bars, markets, and twenty minutes away from the Universidad de Sevilla.  We also live right on top of a bakery which is potentially dangerous but also incredibly convenient when we want to get coffee or bread.  When we arrived, Luis took us on a tour of the university and showed us all of the places we can go to food shop and hang out.  The following day, Friday, we walked to the school where we will be taking classes for the next few months.  Also on Friday we met Rosio, one of our other advisers.  Every week she will take us on a tour of some historical landmark in Sevilla.  Last week we went to The Real Alcazar and this past Friday we went to Big Ben and Rio Latino.  The Real Alcazar, considered a World Heritage Site, is one of remaining examples of Moorish architecture.  It contains a few sections.  El Patio de las Doncellas, which means "The Courtyard of The Maiden," and contains a large reflecting pool that strongly resembles The Alhambra on its lower level.  Other sections include El Patio de las Muñeca, Patio de la Monteria, Puerta del León, Dormitorio de los Reyes Moros, y Salón de Embajadores.  When we were on that tour though, we were absolutely freezing!  Over the weekend it was the coldest in Sevilla that it had been in 55 years.  We were hit with a cold front from Siberia for the entire weekend, but luckily it passed by now.   We did explore some of the city though despite the  cold; specifically El Corté Inglés which is a huge department store.  It has everything we could possibly want, including items that can't be found anywhere else (but are absolutely necessary for Americans like myself), such as peanut butter, jelly, ketchup and pretzels.  On Saturday we went to celebrate my dear friend and roommate Ciana's birthday.  We actually went to a Japanese restaurant!  Can you believe it?  A Japanese restaurant in SPAIN!  It was delicious and we had a lovely time.  It was so fun to get dressed up and go out!  On Sunday everything was closed, so we just spent time at the bakery downstairs and hung out in the apartment.  This past weekend, we explored Spanish nightlife and did a bit of shopping.  Today we explored El Barrio de Santa Cruz and sat by the river, El Rio Quadalquivir.  We then went out for tapas and Sangria.  It was my first time ever trying Sangria and I really enjoyed it. 



And back to the beginning.  Monday was our first day of classes at the Universidad de Sevilla.  It is so beautiful, I still can't believe I am actually taking classes in such a stunning place.  It is filled with tall buildings of old, gothic architecture and inside it has long hallways spanning marble floors.  Right next to it is a street filled with places to eat, many of which we've been trying out during class breaks.  I had the most delicious vegetable paella this week!  I just love being able to walk to class everyday throughout the beautiful, buzzing city.  My first week of classes was really wonderful and I know that I am going to love my classes.  On Monday I tried out two classes that I wasn't positive if I was going to take, La España actual en el contexto de Relaciones Internacionales (Present-Day Spain in the Context of International Relations) and La Influencia Árabe en la Literatura Espanola (Arabic Influence on Spanish Literature.)  The first one seemed interesting, but it's at 9 am so it's a no-go.  In the latter, I found myself bored and having a difficult time understanding the professor.  At one point, he asked "¿Hay alguien judía?" Meaning, "Is anyone Jewish?"  I looked around the classroom of over 20 kids and found myself having the only hand up.  (After class a girl admitted to me that she was Jewish too, but hadn't understood the question.)  The professor looked at me, laughed, and said "Espero que no te moleste en esta clase."  (I hope I don't bother you in this class.)  I think in translation he meant he hopes to not offend me.  I am not sure what he meant by that.  I wonder if he thought I may be offended by the content of the course, which I'm sure contains negative feelings towards the Jewish people.  But then there's the possibility, and this makes me shudder to even think, but perhaps he is anti-semitic himself.  I decided not to take that class, so I guess I won't find out.  

I am taking a film class, which I know I'm going to like a lot.  The teacher's name is Luis, so now I am convinced that anyone with that name is automatically awesome.  He is so passionate about what he teaches and therefore very engaging; his enthusiasm brings such a positive energy to the room.  In our last class we talked about musical cinema.  You can imagine how happy I was about that!  I thought I might burst with excitement when he took out "West Side Story" and put it on the table right in front of me.  We ended up watching a few different versions of "Carmen", which is a really great movie.  We even watched one with Beyoncé in it!  We also watched a part of "Singing in the Rain," and get this-- "Grease!"  The version of "Grease" that we watched was nothing short of hysterical.  The dialogue began in Spanish, but then the singing was in English.  The actors tried to emulate the choreography from the original movie but failed miserably.   We had a great laugh. 


The other two classes I'm taking are Gramática Español (Spanish Grammar) and La Proyección Histórica de Las Tres Culturas:  Cristianos, Musulmanes y
Judíos (The Historical Projection of Three Cultures:  Christians,
Muslims, and Jews).  Like my other professors, the ones I have for these classes are also passionate about what they are teaching and that automatically makes the classes interesting.  I am very much enjoying them both.  I am thankful to have teachers that speak clearly and at a rate that isn't too difficult to understand.   I know I am going to get a lot out of them. 


This past weekend was my second one in Sevilla, and I already feel like it's home.  I love everything about this city; the culture, the language, the quaintness.  It really just has this charm and epitomizes the pure essence of traditional Spain in a way some that some of the bigger cities don't.  There are orange trees all around and the fruit (specifically the oranges) are the yummiest and juiciest I've ever tasted.  Walking home from school everyday, we see children in their adorable little uniforms ending their school day as well.  They are SO cute.  I saw the sweetest thing last week; a man who put his daughter, no more than 5 years old on his moped while he walked it.  Everything around me has character.  Everything is happy, everything is energetic, and everything is beautiful.  

One thing that I've noticed about the Spanish culture is that it is very slow-placed.  People don't seem to be in a rush.  They live freely and seemingly without worry.  Spaniards are very relaxed people; very different from New Yorkers (and Americans in general.)   It is normal to get together for coffee and sit around for hours talking.  Siesta, which is everyday from 3-5, consists of pure relaxation.  This way of life is particularly noticeable when we go out to restaurants.  We are used to being rushed out of restaurants in the United States.  But here, people just shmooze when they're done with their food.  

Anyway, hasta luego!  Stay tuned for another post next week.  

Elyssa

Orange Trees

University of Seville (photo taken by Jill Hauck)

Living Room of our apartment (photo taken by Ciana Cullen)

Amanda, me, and my roommate Jodeci

Courtney, Jill, and me

Coffee outside of the university during our break

In front of the river in Calle Batis

In our dresses for Ciana's birthday

Orientation

Hello, family and friends!  Welcome!  I am excited about this blog and to share my experiences with the people I love back home!

It is so exciting to finally be studying in Spain, as I have been looking forward to this semester for a long time.  I was very nervous about the language coming in since I didn't take Spanish last semester, but after being immersed in the culture for a few days and being spoken to solely in Spanish by our program directors, all the years of the language are coming back to me.  Our directors Miguel and Luis are very warm and enthusiastic.  They are clearly passionate about what they do and are invested in making sure that we are comfortable, happy, and taking advantage of every opportunity presented to us. 

And now... my journey thus far:

I met up with the group at the airport in New York.  We are a tiny group, a mere 10 girls.   There are 7 from New Paltz and three of us from other SUNYs.  They are wonderful, kind, adventurous individuals, which is very comforting since we will be spending the next four months together.  We sat separately on the plane, which was a long eight hours during which I was only able to sleep for an hour and a half!  You can imagine how exhausted I was when we arrived in Madrid.  The airport there was huge and beautiful, much more like a mall than an airport.  We had a 5 hour layover there where I got breakfast and read my book because again, I couldn't sleep.  After that we took a one-hour flight to Granada on a tiny plane.  Our program directors, Miguel and Luis met us at the airport and brought us to The Carmel hotel, which was absolutely beautiful.  Upon arrival, we put our stuff in our rooms and then ate lunch.  After lunch we went right to our rooms where I took a much needed nap until dinner.  Then we went out to explore the city for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel for night of real sleep.

Monday was our first real day of exploration.  We went to the Alhambra which is a gorgeous palace in the mountains of Granada.  The Alhambra is the most Arab-influenced area of Spain, so much of the architecture and history is a reflection of the culture of the Muslim ruling back in the 1400s.  It consists of gardens, fountains with running waters, column arcades, reflecting pools, geometric patterns, and painted tiles rich in color.  Luis gave us a comprehensive tour in Spanish in which we learned all about the history of the structure.  From where we were, we were able to see the tallest mountain in all of Spain.  After that tour the bus took us to a mountainous terrain that was largely residential and had a gorgeous view of the Alhambra.  I can't believe people actually wake up to that view outside their very window!  It was really cool to have a different visual perspective of place we were just in.  I loved simply walking on the steep hillside amidst the beautiful Arab architecture while Luis continued to tell us about the area surrounding us.  The streets were filled with students, tourists, and locals, many of whom were playing and singing Flamenco music.  There was just a very exciting hum to the city.  After that we walked back to the hotel and had lunch, followed by a siesta and a tour of La Catedral de Granada.

The Catholic Monarchs ordered the construction of the Cathedral after acquiring the city in 1492.  The construction lasted 180 years and reflects both Gothic and Renaissance designs.   It was absolutely stunning, the artwork was immaculate.  The main chapel contains two kneeling effigies of the Catholic King and Queen, Isabel and Ferdinand.  It has enormous pillars and columns, high ceilings, and many pictures of Jesus on the cross.  Luis gave us another comprehensive tour, and two little Spanish ladies hopped onto it!  They were giddy and smiley, acting like little girls who stole cookies from the cookie jar without their parents knowing.  It was adorable and fun to have them there. 


After that tour Miguel and Luis took us for chocolate con churros, which is hot chocolate and churros which you dip inside.  Hot chocolate in Spain is not like it is in the US though; it is thicker, almost like a pudding, but not quite that texture.  It's delicious.


Tuesday morning we got on the bus in the morning to head to Marbella, which is in the region of Costa del Sol.  It is a city and municipality in Southern Spain that belongs to the province of Málaga.  We are staying in a beautiful resort right on the beach called Atalaya Park Hotel and Resort.  Yesterday we spent the day swimming, walking on the beach, lounging, and putting our feet in the Mediterranean.  In the evening we had a delicious dinner in the dining room.  Afterwards, all of the girls went to a Piano bar in the hotel with Miguel and Luis.  Those of you who know me (which I hope is all of you if you're reading this) will be surprised to know that I was too tired to join them and passed out at 9:30.   (I know, Mom, I haven't fallen asleep that early since fourth grade) But I'm still recovering from those sleepless travel days. 


That brings me to today, our last day in Marbella.  We spent the day walking on the beach and lounging out before lunch.  After lunch we hung out some more by the pool and then went into the city of Marbella to explore, shop, and eat tapas.  That brings me to now.  Right before my last dinner at the Atalaya, ready to go to Seville tomorrow, my home for the next four months.  I will be living in an apartment with 4 girls from New Paltz.


Now I am off to bed.  I will try to post in this blog at least once a week.  Thanks for reading!

Hasta pronto!


Elyssa

Behind me is Luis

The group at the Alhambra

Beach in Marbella