Hey gang
My abilities to post as of late has been quite limited. Along with being busy, my internet access as of late has been nothing short of minimal. Here's what's been going on lately...
Last week was "Semana Santa," or Holy Week. Fortunately, it was also our Spring Break. Students from the group traveled around, some to Egypt, others to Italy, some north to England, and even Scandinavia. I had the privilege to hang out in Segovia with my host family and do "homework." At least I convinced myself I would get more done than I actually did, but it's all in good fun! All week long there were processions and other events related to the story of the Passion of Christ. Small parades with people dressed with what can be best described as all too similar to dress of the KKK. Long pointy hats with masks and poncho-esque suits. Contrary to ideologies of the Klan, these folks marched to the beat of a group of drums and accompaniment of horns while carrying or rolling these huge "floats" with statues of Jesus or the Virgin Mary for example. When I thought the amount of strange, new things I would encounter throughout the week was maximized, Segovia was greeted with snow. Not just any snow though...the biggest snowflakes I've seen in my life. And being from Minnesota, I thought I've seen it all. Consequently, the processions on Good Friday were canceled. Since then, I'm almost sure that the weather back home has trumped the weather here. Can't win them all, I guess.
Classes end next Wednesday. My to-do list still appears endless at the moment, thus the title of this post. Three presentations, four papers, finishing a book, and some other smaller oddball assignments, in addition to "wrapping up" my life here...basically all before next Thursday. It's a lot to grasp...but I'm hoping for the best. I took an exam this morning, and felt pretty good about it.
Excited to come home? Yea, kind of. It's really a bittersweet feeling. I've had the time of my life here...and it's hard for me to say that I won't come back someday. I think I can classify this as the coolest thing I've done with my life thus far. How many more defining moments like that will I encounter? Who knows.
I'm excited to get back to family, friends, routine, work, and summer! But I know that after about a week of being home, I'm going to miss this place plenty.
We'll see how many more posts I can squeeze in before my return home. I think that now, I'll go ponder all that I have left to take care of, and probably go look at baseball stats and whatnot instead. I'll end on that note...
Go Twins!!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Picture Update
La Catedral, Toledo
Valle de los Caidos
Valle de los Caidos
El Escorial
El Escorial
La Mezquita, Cordoba
La Catedral, Sevilla
La Alhambra, Granada
Monday, March 23, 2009
Dub this...
I may have previously mentioned that there is a lot of English influence in Spain, and likely the rest of the world. Entertainment is a heavy hitter here, and they air a lot of English movies. For example, the other night, James Bond: Casino Royale was on. Despite the fact that I'd never seen it in English, it was still a really good movie. My favorite part about watching movies or actors I know is the dub-over to Spanish dialogue. Terminator 2 was on the other day. Knowing what Arnold REALLY sounds like...the dub-over sounds simply hilarious!!! At the very least, Arnold on helium. Good times, good times.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Odds and Ends...
It's weekend time. Clearly the highlight of my week, and I'm sure many of you readers can relate. Here's what's been going on as of late over here.
Last weekend we went to Toledo...beautiful city! We went to the cathedral...which like many of the others, was very unique. We hung out for a while in the great weather, toured a couple museums including one that contained works of "El Greco" and came back to Segovia for the evening. By the way, for about the last two weeks, we've been plagued with great weather, averaging around 75 degrees every day, sunny, NO clouds and even a little sunburn! I'm knocking on wood right now...don't want this to end. It's funny though too, how much we were told to prepare for the rain. Let's hope we don't have to utilize any of the rain gear, keep the sun coming!!
Yesterday we had class canceled because it was a holiday, maybe the Spanish version of "Father's day" or something, I'm not quite sure. All I know is, no class was involved with my day. Sadly, a lot of the stores and whatnot were closed. But we planned ahead and took off on a bus for about 20 minutes to "Valcein" which was more of a mountain climbing operation...but it was really cool. A fair amount of our group had departed the evening before to Valencia for a festival called "Las Fallas," so we went with about 14 people. It was awesome! Also, due to the heavy absence of traveling students, some class was canceled today too!
It may or may not be a lonely weekend here in Segovia, a lot of people are traveling this weekend because it's one of our last open weekends of the program. I will likely utilize it to rest up, get some homework done, maybe some light reading, (yeah right...) rest up more, and do a couple fantasy baseball drafts.
This is how cool I am. I was talking to my Spanish mom the other day, and unintentionally responded to her with an English phrase... something along the lines of "Alright, that sounds good." After she gave me this blank stare and I realized my fault, I reflected on how pathetic I am.
That's all I've got for the moment. Thanks to everyone who reads this... I need to apologize for the lack of pictures I've got going on right now, and also, thanks for your patience. Whenever I can grab internet access, it is usually spent doing research of sorts or sending out emails or reading articles.
So, thanks. :) Much love too.
Last weekend we went to Toledo...beautiful city! We went to the cathedral...which like many of the others, was very unique. We hung out for a while in the great weather, toured a couple museums including one that contained works of "El Greco" and came back to Segovia for the evening. By the way, for about the last two weeks, we've been plagued with great weather, averaging around 75 degrees every day, sunny, NO clouds and even a little sunburn! I'm knocking on wood right now...don't want this to end. It's funny though too, how much we were told to prepare for the rain. Let's hope we don't have to utilize any of the rain gear, keep the sun coming!!
Yesterday we had class canceled because it was a holiday, maybe the Spanish version of "Father's day" or something, I'm not quite sure. All I know is, no class was involved with my day. Sadly, a lot of the stores and whatnot were closed. But we planned ahead and took off on a bus for about 20 minutes to "Valcein" which was more of a mountain climbing operation...but it was really cool. A fair amount of our group had departed the evening before to Valencia for a festival called "Las Fallas," so we went with about 14 people. It was awesome! Also, due to the heavy absence of traveling students, some class was canceled today too!
It may or may not be a lonely weekend here in Segovia, a lot of people are traveling this weekend because it's one of our last open weekends of the program. I will likely utilize it to rest up, get some homework done, maybe some light reading, (yeah right...) rest up more, and do a couple fantasy baseball drafts.
This is how cool I am. I was talking to my Spanish mom the other day, and unintentionally responded to her with an English phrase... something along the lines of "Alright, that sounds good." After she gave me this blank stare and I realized my fault, I reflected on how pathetic I am.
That's all I've got for the moment. Thanks to everyone who reads this... I need to apologize for the lack of pictures I've got going on right now, and also, thanks for your patience. Whenever I can grab internet access, it is usually spent doing research of sorts or sending out emails or reading articles.
So, thanks. :) Much love too.
Friday, March 13, 2009
I decided recently that I'm terrible at blogging. Time as of late hasn't been the best of friends. Anyway, here goes some heavy updating...
So...aside from a fairly routine daily life, things are going really well. Weather... AMAZING. Today we enjoyed 75 degree weather, clear skies... just awesome. It's dangerous weather though, because those kinds of temps only last from like 10 a.m. to 5 or 6... then it gets cold cold cold. So, despite how nice it is, it's more than necessary to carry a sweater or something. Love the weather though. :)
Last Saturday, we went on a little excursion to "El Escorial" which is this huge complex that has a basilica, library, palace, and lots of outdoor gardens and stuff. It also has some pretty neat artwork. I don't know how those folks dealt with it then, but this place was cold...and it was a really nice and sunny day when we were there. Thank goodness for heating systems and advancement of technology. I'm sure Felipe II was a good guy, but wow. He had to have been hating life during the winter. Summertime, he was all about the natural air conditioning. :) Anyway, El Escorial has this "Pantheon of the Kings" which is like this giant underground tomb of kings and their respective queens in these marble sepulchers. Kind of eerie, but really neat. Also, they had a lot of other chambers with deceased royalty... even one for babies who died young due to poor medical care. This place was cool, but after walking around for like...4 hours or something, we were all craving some bocadillo action.
Fun fact: the lunches that are packed for these little excursions are awesome. My host mom definitely hooks me up. Two sandwiches from an entire loaf of that skinny french bread, the kind that is relatively hard on the outside and really soft on the inside. Throw in two or three juice boxes, two bottles of water, an apple, banana, and a ton of treats, like cookies or brownies. Essentially, she packs lunch for me and some friends. Awesome.
From El Escorial, we jumped back on the bus and traveled for like, 20 minutes to another place called "Valle de los Caidos" which translates to "Valley of the Fallen." Essentially, it's this mountain with a HUGE cross on top of it(154.4 meters high), with four men at its base, representing Mateo, Marcos, Lucas, and Juan. Below the cross, inside the mountain is this Catholic "basilica," that was constructed basically by war prisoners from the Spanish Civil War, which lasted in the late 30's (1936-1939, roughly) per order of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. Ultimately, those prisoners died and were buried here. I believe, it was around 40,000 prisoners. Now, it's called a basilica. But it was more like an underground crypt. The place was really dark and kind of shady. There were these huge statues of archangels holding swords, and a lot of statues of hooded figures with the hood hiding the faces... kind of creepy. On both sides of the main alter area with a huge dome over it were these little chapel areas, with closed doors that led to the mass burial sites. Back in the main alter area is the burial spots of Franco and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, who I think was the founder of the fascist organization that helped Franco into power. There was a great view of the mountains and landscape from the outside, quite contrary to the vibe floating around on the inside. We later returned to Segovia, which was only about a 45 minute drive.
Tomorrow we're heading to Toledo for the day, so it should be cool to explore the Cathedral there and more of the history that surrounds this city, which is a lot!
On a more...personal note, I'm starting to notice more and more that I miss driving. I'm staring to miss some folks from back home. I'm starting to miss some foods too... Buffalo Wild Wings may or may not be my first stop after my arrival in Minneapolis. More than likely will be though. I miss Mountain Dew. I've become accustomed to generally drinking straight Coke or just water for meals at home, but miss the general variety of American drinks. I have, though, become quite the enthusiast of tea and coffee. I'm going to miss the first half of baseball season.. but fortunately, I'm involved with like...4 or 5 fantasy leagues, so that I KNOW that I'm keeping my American side in check.
I want to send out postcards and stuff to everyone... But it's hard to find time. Plus, for as many as I want to send out, I feel I should save the money, I could use it. Turns out, people are planning trips for spring break and trips for after the program. I'm pretty sure I'm spending our spring break, which happens to be holy week, or Semana Santa here in Spain, so that should be cool. We'll see what will happen for after the program, I have two weeks to kill... :)
That's all for now, hopefully pictures soon...:)
Take care everyone!!!
So...aside from a fairly routine daily life, things are going really well. Weather... AMAZING. Today we enjoyed 75 degree weather, clear skies... just awesome. It's dangerous weather though, because those kinds of temps only last from like 10 a.m. to 5 or 6... then it gets cold cold cold. So, despite how nice it is, it's more than necessary to carry a sweater or something. Love the weather though. :)
Last Saturday, we went on a little excursion to "El Escorial" which is this huge complex that has a basilica, library, palace, and lots of outdoor gardens and stuff. It also has some pretty neat artwork. I don't know how those folks dealt with it then, but this place was cold...and it was a really nice and sunny day when we were there. Thank goodness for heating systems and advancement of technology. I'm sure Felipe II was a good guy, but wow. He had to have been hating life during the winter. Summertime, he was all about the natural air conditioning. :) Anyway, El Escorial has this "Pantheon of the Kings" which is like this giant underground tomb of kings and their respective queens in these marble sepulchers. Kind of eerie, but really neat. Also, they had a lot of other chambers with deceased royalty... even one for babies who died young due to poor medical care. This place was cool, but after walking around for like...4 hours or something, we were all craving some bocadillo action.
Fun fact: the lunches that are packed for these little excursions are awesome. My host mom definitely hooks me up. Two sandwiches from an entire loaf of that skinny french bread, the kind that is relatively hard on the outside and really soft on the inside. Throw in two or three juice boxes, two bottles of water, an apple, banana, and a ton of treats, like cookies or brownies. Essentially, she packs lunch for me and some friends. Awesome.
From El Escorial, we jumped back on the bus and traveled for like, 20 minutes to another place called "Valle de los Caidos" which translates to "Valley of the Fallen." Essentially, it's this mountain with a HUGE cross on top of it(154.4 meters high), with four men at its base, representing Mateo, Marcos, Lucas, and Juan. Below the cross, inside the mountain is this Catholic "basilica," that was constructed basically by war prisoners from the Spanish Civil War, which lasted in the late 30's (1936-1939, roughly) per order of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. Ultimately, those prisoners died and were buried here. I believe, it was around 40,000 prisoners. Now, it's called a basilica. But it was more like an underground crypt. The place was really dark and kind of shady. There were these huge statues of archangels holding swords, and a lot of statues of hooded figures with the hood hiding the faces... kind of creepy. On both sides of the main alter area with a huge dome over it were these little chapel areas, with closed doors that led to the mass burial sites. Back in the main alter area is the burial spots of Franco and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, who I think was the founder of the fascist organization that helped Franco into power. There was a great view of the mountains and landscape from the outside, quite contrary to the vibe floating around on the inside. We later returned to Segovia, which was only about a 45 minute drive.
Tomorrow we're heading to Toledo for the day, so it should be cool to explore the Cathedral there and more of the history that surrounds this city, which is a lot!
On a more...personal note, I'm starting to notice more and more that I miss driving. I'm staring to miss some folks from back home. I'm starting to miss some foods too... Buffalo Wild Wings may or may not be my first stop after my arrival in Minneapolis. More than likely will be though. I miss Mountain Dew. I've become accustomed to generally drinking straight Coke or just water for meals at home, but miss the general variety of American drinks. I have, though, become quite the enthusiast of tea and coffee. I'm going to miss the first half of baseball season.. but fortunately, I'm involved with like...4 or 5 fantasy leagues, so that I KNOW that I'm keeping my American side in check.
I want to send out postcards and stuff to everyone... But it's hard to find time. Plus, for as many as I want to send out, I feel I should save the money, I could use it. Turns out, people are planning trips for spring break and trips for after the program. I'm pretty sure I'm spending our spring break, which happens to be holy week, or Semana Santa here in Spain, so that should be cool. We'll see what will happen for after the program, I have two weeks to kill... :)
That's all for now, hopefully pictures soon...:)
Take care everyone!!!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Andalucia
I'm so good at blogging.
Sorry it's been a while gang. A lot has happened since my last post, and it's been hard to find the time to compose these occurrences for all to see. I'll try to give a brief overview of what's been going on, and maybe throw something together that's a little more substantial over the weekend. No promises though...
Last Tuesday evening was the last day of Carneval. Fat Tuesday to many others. The Spaniards know how to throw a country-wide party...so it was hard to avoid. There was a parade of people dressed up in costumes, some pirates, Indians, cross dressers, walking around on stilts, and even a guy balancing on a large sphere while rolling it down the street. Most of the group got some kind of costume, but I did not. Later that evening, I told my host mom of my dilemma, and she found an old wig and a mask for me to wear out that evening. The combo of those two items was simply hideous, but it made the night a little more fun (at least for as long as I wore it :]). It's fair to acknowledge how the locals took advantage of the alcohol that night. Despite our early departure for Andalucia the next day at 6:30 am, members of the group didn't shy away from the festivities.
Granada was our first stop in Andalucia, and after a decently long bus ride, we stepped off to be greeted immediately by a hoard of gypsies trying to sell rosemary plants. Their sales pitch was that these weeds, really, would bring us good luck. We were well trained by our dearest Gladys to reject the services of these ladies, and consequently, we were cursed at and ultimately damned. We all seemed to get over this fun greeting relatively quick and progressed to the hotel, which was within a hop, skip, and another hop away from the Cathedral. Upon arrival to the hotel, many partook in what could be deemed as one of the greatest siestas yet. The following day we toured “La Alhambra” which was awesome. Here, we saw some of the infamous mixtures of Muslim and Christian architecture and art, as well as some picturesque views of the city. Later, a smaller group of guys broke off and we found a really cool lookout point where we saw a panoramic view of La Alhambra and Granada. After satisfying our hunger with kebabs (not the skewered meat/vegetable things, but sandwiches), we went back for a siesta. Later we found a hookah bar and talked with some cool people there, and we went back to the same lookout point to see the city lit up in the dark. Sadly, I forgot my camera for this amazing view.
Next day, we took off for Sevilla. Up to this point, our group had been perpetually late whenever we were supposed to be boarding the bus, due primarily to a couple people, consequently delaying our departure about twenty minutes (on average). This time, we actually got it right, everyone was there on time, and Gladys agreed to buy us ice cream. I wish I got ice cream every time I do everything I’m supposed to do anyway. SO, we arrived and got paella for lunch, and it was delicious. We walked around with Gladys for about two and a half hours to find out that there was no real destination. Later that evening, we went to a flamenco performance, which was probably one of the coolest things that Sevilla had to offer. The next day we toured the Cathedral and took a boat tour on a river by night. We were supposed to tour the Alcazar of Sevilla, but it was during this time that everyone got to watch Gladys on the verge of a nervous breakdown because we missed our reservation. Turns out the place was closed for the day for a local holiday...unbeknownst to dear Gladys. It was still great nonetheless. We wound up catching a tour before our departure the next morning, where we stopped in Cordoba at the “Cathedral” that is better known as “La Mezquita” before returning to Segovia.
Throughout the duration of much of this Andalucian adventure, I had somewhat of a cold, so that kind of put a drain on some fun and replaced it with constant fatigue, but I still enjoyed all that we did. It was a long trip, and again, it was good to return home.
Good for now.
Sorry it's been a while gang. A lot has happened since my last post, and it's been hard to find the time to compose these occurrences for all to see. I'll try to give a brief overview of what's been going on, and maybe throw something together that's a little more substantial over the weekend. No promises though...
Last Tuesday evening was the last day of Carneval. Fat Tuesday to many others. The Spaniards know how to throw a country-wide party...so it was hard to avoid. There was a parade of people dressed up in costumes, some pirates, Indians, cross dressers, walking around on stilts, and even a guy balancing on a large sphere while rolling it down the street. Most of the group got some kind of costume, but I did not. Later that evening, I told my host mom of my dilemma, and she found an old wig and a mask for me to wear out that evening. The combo of those two items was simply hideous, but it made the night a little more fun (at least for as long as I wore it :]). It's fair to acknowledge how the locals took advantage of the alcohol that night. Despite our early departure for Andalucia the next day at 6:30 am, members of the group didn't shy away from the festivities.
Granada was our first stop in Andalucia, and after a decently long bus ride, we stepped off to be greeted immediately by a hoard of gypsies trying to sell rosemary plants. Their sales pitch was that these weeds, really, would bring us good luck. We were well trained by our dearest Gladys to reject the services of these ladies, and consequently, we were cursed at and ultimately damned. We all seemed to get over this fun greeting relatively quick and progressed to the hotel, which was within a hop, skip, and another hop away from the Cathedral. Upon arrival to the hotel, many partook in what could be deemed as one of the greatest siestas yet. The following day we toured “La Alhambra” which was awesome. Here, we saw some of the infamous mixtures of Muslim and Christian architecture and art, as well as some picturesque views of the city. Later, a smaller group of guys broke off and we found a really cool lookout point where we saw a panoramic view of La Alhambra and Granada. After satisfying our hunger with kebabs (not the skewered meat/vegetable things, but sandwiches), we went back for a siesta. Later we found a hookah bar and talked with some cool people there, and we went back to the same lookout point to see the city lit up in the dark. Sadly, I forgot my camera for this amazing view.
Next day, we took off for Sevilla. Up to this point, our group had been perpetually late whenever we were supposed to be boarding the bus, due primarily to a couple people, consequently delaying our departure about twenty minutes (on average). This time, we actually got it right, everyone was there on time, and Gladys agreed to buy us ice cream. I wish I got ice cream every time I do everything I’m supposed to do anyway. SO, we arrived and got paella for lunch, and it was delicious. We walked around with Gladys for about two and a half hours to find out that there was no real destination. Later that evening, we went to a flamenco performance, which was probably one of the coolest things that Sevilla had to offer. The next day we toured the Cathedral and took a boat tour on a river by night. We were supposed to tour the Alcazar of Sevilla, but it was during this time that everyone got to watch Gladys on the verge of a nervous breakdown because we missed our reservation. Turns out the place was closed for the day for a local holiday...unbeknownst to dear Gladys. It was still great nonetheless. We wound up catching a tour before our departure the next morning, where we stopped in Cordoba at the “Cathedral” that is better known as “La Mezquita” before returning to Segovia.
Throughout the duration of much of this Andalucian adventure, I had somewhat of a cold, so that kind of put a drain on some fun and replaced it with constant fatigue, but I still enjoyed all that we did. It was a long trip, and again, it was good to return home.
Good for now.
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