Hey! Thanks for checking out the last blog post on my fall semester in Barcelona.. It's been a lot of fun for me to put these how-do-you-dos together, and it's also been a good excuse for keeping a chronicle of my trip that I can look back on. I'm humbled that y'all have checked out "Una Estancia en el Extranjero" over 2,000 times from over a dozen countries. If you've found the updates even mildly entertaining, then I can quite happily say that my blog has served its purpose.
So this last post I'm writing from the good 'ol USA; I arrived back home late last night, after experiencing my own share of the weather mess that has plagued Europe this past week. As the columnist mentions, the whole European airport freeze seems a bit absurd: "It snows in winter. This shattering discovery has now cast Britain and France into chaos for a week, with London’s dysfunctional Heathrow airport leading British claims to be officially designated a third-world nation." In my case, Brussels hadn't quite figured out how to obtain enough de-icing fluid for their planes, so my Tuesday departure for the U.S. was delayed for two more days.. Although the really frustrating part for me wasn't even the two-day delay, but just trying to figure out what was going on after my flight was cancelled. The Continental window at Barcelona's airport is conveniently open for three whole hours a day, and amidst the chaos of many other people trying to figure out what was going on with their flights, it took me five hours - of phone calls, waiting, and communication with three different airlines - to get my flight re-booked. I'm still not sure I understand what happened, because Continental was blaming Brussels Airlines, Brussels was blaming Continental, and United Airlines (which, just to make things interesting, has sort-of merged with Continental) was thrown in the mix somewhere along the way. But the good news is that my re-routed flight took me through Madrid, which meant that yesterday I was able to avoid the disaster areas of London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Brussels..
But enough of the travel situation. In this adéu to Barcelona, I figured I'd make a list of things I'll miss about that singular city and its myriad charms (the rankings have no bearing on their value, btw):
#1 - Carlos the Security Guard. Always cheerful, he would often greet me by name as I left my student residencia.
#2 - GBU. Grupos Bíblicos Universitários, a Christian group at the Autònoma, my university in Spain. Great, scripture-loving people.
#3 - Pick-up soccer games. Playing with Spaniards is always fun, as they're very skilled passers who teach you how to make the ball do the work.
#4 - Gaudí. The man, the legend. And the architect! I'll definitely miss seeing his zany but awesome creations, like the Pedrera, the Sagrada Família, and Parc Güell.
#5 - CASB. That's my study abroad program, the Consortium for Advanced Studies in Barcelona. While it's dubious how advanced the studies were, the other CASBers were definitely some advanced friends by the end of the trip.
#6 - ICB. The International Church of Barcelona. I loved my Sundays and Wednesdays with ICB, and will definitely remember it fondly. A great place of healing, rest, companionship, and prayer.
#7 - Café con leche.. That's coffee with milk (and tons of sugar if you're a real Spaniard!), a simple but delicious hot drink that's common all over the country. I love how they whip the hot milk and how the little circle of milk sits cheerfully on the top of the drink with the richly-colored ring of coffee around it.. Lovely.
#8 - Bocadillos. Some of my friends got sick of these very typical Spanish sandwiches, but I feel like I could keep eating them forever. Some of my favorites were: bocadillo de tortilla de patatas (bocadillo with potato tortilla), bocadillo de queso (cheese bocadillo), and bocadillo francesa (egg omelette).. All, of course, with abundant tomato spread on the bread.
#9 - Mis amigos. Thanks so much to all my great friends in Barcelona.. Whether you're American, Spanish, Catalan, Hungarian, Ghanaian, Indian, Swedish, English... You guys made my stay as awesome as it was.
#10 - FC Barcelona. Thank you for incredible soccer and for inspiring the passionate fan base that made watching your games so much fun.
Of course, there are many more things I will miss & cherish about Barcelona but these 10 came to mind first.
Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, at least as far as my involvement as an internauta in the blogosphere goes. I'll be heading to Panama next semester, which will be fascinating and exciting but in a different way. My time in Panama will be total immersion in tropical biology, whereas this fall has been more of a "spiritual, cultural, political exchange thing". I'll consider posting every so often about my experiences with Panamanian flora & fauna, but I definitely won't be doing the same weekly updates.
With that, thanks for reading. All that's left then is to wish you a Merry Christmas and joyful New Year!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
¡La penúltima! - 16
Welcome to the penultimate update blog post on my semester in Barcelona! (FYI: "Penultimate" means next-to-last and happens to be one of my dad's all-time favorite words.) While it's a bit sad to be so close to the end, it's also okay because going back to the US means (a) being home and (b) that CHRISTMAS is upon us. And (c) the end of blog posts will be a welcome relief to those who got bored with my updates around Week 2 - take heart, we're nearing the finish!
Ok, first order of business - just got back from Barca's 5-0 pummeling of Real Sociedad.. It was so great. The only other Barca game I've attended in person at Camp Nou was a disappointing 2-0 loss to Hércules (their only loss in 15 Liga games this year!), so I was ready to see some goals and a win. My boys played with style and finesse and definitely impressed with goals by Messi (2), Villa, Bojan & Iniesta. Highlights here. Note: If you're ever going to watch the highlights of a fútbol game in your life, watch them for this game. All five goals are just wonderful. (I love when the announcer in the highlights says, after the first goal: "It's taken to a level that Einstein would shake his head at! This is astonishing, heavenly football!!.. There aren't compliments enough in the world to throw at their feet!" Granted, he's a bit extravagant with his words, but - guys - this Barca outfit is possibly one of the best teams ever assembled.) Right now Barca is SO easy to watch; the team, as a unit, is such a well-oiled machine and they play soccer beautifully, as it should be played. Sorry if I sound sappy, but it's true. I feel so lucky to be in Barcelona when they're in this kind of form.
The whole crowd chanting "ME-SSI! ME-SSI! ME-SSI" after his 2nd scintillating goal of the night.
Andalucía - Part 2: As promised, here's what went down in Córdoba & Granada last week -
So Córdoba was small but really cool. The highlight of the city - and the reason we went - is the Mezquita-Catedral that dominates the old district. The place was formerly the Great Mosque of Córdoba, considered one of the biggest achievements of the Umayyad Caliphate (that's the 5th-largest empire in history, folks). When the Catholic Spanish took over the mosque during the Reconquista, the mosque became a Catholic Church.. Actually, if the story is told properly, over an even longer time scope, the site was pagan-Christian-Muslim-Christian!
Now that I've summarized the fist paragraph of the "Cathedral-Mosque of Córdoba" Wikipedia page, I'll talk about my own, original impressions ;). Walking around inside the Mezquita was kind of wild - inside, it's this huge, kind of dark, and very ornate behemoth. There are "candy-cane" arches EVERYWHERE and loads and loads of little chapels that line the sides of the big open areas in the center. There's also an impressive, but gaudy, cathedral in the center of the Mezquita, where I had a nice little pray, and various interesting pieces of art and decorative items throughout. Here's what the arches looked like:
After checking out the mosque, my buddy and I walked around town and ended up at the Córdoba Zoo, which was free for Spanish Constitution Day. Overall, the zoo was pretty sad because it had really small enclosures for most of the animals, but I was really happy that I got to touch an elephant's trunk! Ahhh it was so cool. Basically the gap between the elephant's enclosure and the sidewalk wasn't that big, so the elephant would reach out its trunk to investigate the ground near where the visitors are. Being a naturalist (i.e. lover of nature, not a streaker) at heart, I had to reach my hand wayy out when it was investigating with its trunk, and I guess it took a liking to me, because it reached its trunk waayyy out towards me and our respective members touched in the middle - so so cool. Sorry to leave you hanging, but I don't have the pic of the pachyderm "moment" yet - I'll put it up when I get it from my friend! Oh, and the weather was absurd: within 8 hrs in Córdoba, we hit the gamut - sunny, rainy, partly cloudy, torrential downpour, drizzling.. insane.
Granada: Really really cool city. I loved it. Awesome.
Reason #1 - The Alhambra. The Alhambra is this amazing, 14th-century Moorish palacial complex complete with extensive gardens, towers, fountains, and gorgeous Islamic art. I actually went to see it twice during my stay, and just loved it. As many of you know, Islamic art almost always uses geometric shapes and figures rather than images of people or animals. It's almost like a class assignment: "See what you can come up with when you're limited to just geometric shapes" and the results are just stunning. I also really liked how the Alhambra makes use of light.. An example below:
Examples of some cool geometric patterns in the Alhambra
Reason #2 - Granada does this sweet thing where, in practically every bar you go to, if you order a drink you get a free tapa (the term can refer to any kind of appetizer-sized food item). So, for as little as 5 euros, you can get three drinks and three appetizers, which is more or less a sizable meal! So cool. And there's often a huge menu of tapas to pick from, so it's always interesting to try different things. Even as a vegetarian, I found plenty to choose from.
Two tapas.
Reason #3 - In general, Granada is just really walkable and fun to mosey around. The sun cooperated (unlike in Sevilla) and shone pretty much the whole time we were there, making sightseeing a blast. There are some great teterías, or tea houses, in the city, which was ace for me. And zillions of little shops that sold all kinds of interesting items.
And that's about it. The Andalucía trip was the last of my travels before going home, so basically now it's just work work work until school papers and finals are done.. One week + 2 days and I'll be homeward bound!
Ok, first order of business - just got back from Barca's 5-0 pummeling of Real Sociedad.. It was so great. The only other Barca game I've attended in person at Camp Nou was a disappointing 2-0 loss to Hércules (their only loss in 15 Liga games this year!), so I was ready to see some goals and a win. My boys played with style and finesse and definitely impressed with goals by Messi (2), Villa, Bojan & Iniesta. Highlights here. Note: If you're ever going to watch the highlights of a fútbol game in your life, watch them for this game. All five goals are just wonderful. (I love when the announcer in the highlights says, after the first goal: "It's taken to a level that Einstein would shake his head at! This is astonishing, heavenly football!!.. There aren't compliments enough in the world to throw at their feet!" Granted, he's a bit extravagant with his words, but - guys - this Barca outfit is possibly one of the best teams ever assembled.) Right now Barca is SO easy to watch; the team, as a unit, is such a well-oiled machine and they play soccer beautifully, as it should be played. Sorry if I sound sappy, but it's true. I feel so lucky to be in Barcelona when they're in this kind of form.
The whole crowd chanting "ME-SSI! ME-SSI! ME-SSI" after his 2nd scintillating goal of the night.
Andalucía - Part 2: As promised, here's what went down in Córdoba & Granada last week -
So Córdoba was small but really cool. The highlight of the city - and the reason we went - is the Mezquita-Catedral that dominates the old district. The place was formerly the Great Mosque of Córdoba, considered one of the biggest achievements of the Umayyad Caliphate (that's the 5th-largest empire in history, folks). When the Catholic Spanish took over the mosque during the Reconquista, the mosque became a Catholic Church.. Actually, if the story is told properly, over an even longer time scope, the site was pagan-Christian-Muslim-Christian!
Now that I've summarized the fist paragraph of the "Cathedral-Mosque of Córdoba" Wikipedia page, I'll talk about my own, original impressions ;). Walking around inside the Mezquita was kind of wild - inside, it's this huge, kind of dark, and very ornate behemoth. There are "candy-cane" arches EVERYWHERE and loads and loads of little chapels that line the sides of the big open areas in the center. There's also an impressive, but gaudy, cathedral in the center of the Mezquita, where I had a nice little pray, and various interesting pieces of art and decorative items throughout. Here's what the arches looked like:
After checking out the mosque, my buddy and I walked around town and ended up at the Córdoba Zoo, which was free for Spanish Constitution Day. Overall, the zoo was pretty sad because it had really small enclosures for most of the animals, but I was really happy that I got to touch an elephant's trunk! Ahhh it was so cool. Basically the gap between the elephant's enclosure and the sidewalk wasn't that big, so the elephant would reach out its trunk to investigate the ground near where the visitors are. Being a naturalist (i.e. lover of nature, not a streaker) at heart, I had to reach my hand wayy out when it was investigating with its trunk, and I guess it took a liking to me, because it reached its trunk waayyy out towards me and our respective members touched in the middle - so so cool. Sorry to leave you hanging, but I don't have the pic of the pachyderm "moment" yet - I'll put it up when I get it from my friend! Oh, and the weather was absurd: within 8 hrs in Córdoba, we hit the gamut - sunny, rainy, partly cloudy, torrential downpour, drizzling.. insane.
Granada: Really really cool city. I loved it. Awesome.
Reason #1 - The Alhambra. The Alhambra is this amazing, 14th-century Moorish palacial complex complete with extensive gardens, towers, fountains, and gorgeous Islamic art. I actually went to see it twice during my stay, and just loved it. As many of you know, Islamic art almost always uses geometric shapes and figures rather than images of people or animals. It's almost like a class assignment: "See what you can come up with when you're limited to just geometric shapes" and the results are just stunning. I also really liked how the Alhambra makes use of light.. An example below:
Examples of some cool geometric patterns in the Alhambra
Reason #2 - Granada does this sweet thing where, in practically every bar you go to, if you order a drink you get a free tapa (the term can refer to any kind of appetizer-sized food item). So, for as little as 5 euros, you can get three drinks and three appetizers, which is more or less a sizable meal! So cool. And there's often a huge menu of tapas to pick from, so it's always interesting to try different things. Even as a vegetarian, I found plenty to choose from.
Two tapas.
Reason #3 - In general, Granada is just really walkable and fun to mosey around. The sun cooperated (unlike in Sevilla) and shone pretty much the whole time we were there, making sightseeing a blast. There are some great teterías, or tea houses, in the city, which was ace for me. And zillions of little shops that sold all kinds of interesting items.
And that's about it. The Andalucía trip was the last of my travels before going home, so basically now it's just work work work until school papers and finals are done.. One week + 2 days and I'll be homeward bound!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Andando por Andalucía (Parte 1) - 15
Howdy from the south of Spain! I’m in the middle of that endearing thing that Spainiards do called a puente – a bridge between two holidays (fiestas) that they decide to go ahead and make an even longer holiday. In this case, Monday was Día de la Constitución, Tuesday (today) was the puente, and Wednesday is the Día de la Inmaculada Concepción. So far, I’ve been in Sevilla and Córdoba, and just got into Granada last tonight. Here’s how things have been so far.
Getting to Sevilla: Bear with me, but this is a whole story in itself. For the first time in my life, I went to the airport and left it without having flown anywhere. It turns out that I didn’t actually have a ticket for my Ryanair flight – a major bummer to say the least. I think what happened is that, back in October, I tried to buy my plane ticket and got a page that looked like a confirmation notification (it even said “Payment Due – 0.00 EUR”) that wasn’t a confirmation…! Of course, it’s totally my fault for not checking my flight details more carefully, but the point is that 9am Friday morning rolled around and I was without a flight in a crowded airport full of Spaniards trying to get around the country for puente. I won’t bore you with the details, but after lots of effort I finally ascertained that neither another flight (180 EUR) nor a train (250 EUR) were feasible, so luckily I found a 15-hr bus ride that charged much more reasonable fare..
Of course – having located the bus ticket – I wasn’t able to buy it by phone (you can only buy a ticket over the phone 2 days in advance), so the guy kindly directed me to their great website (that they seem very proud of).. which was having problems for the day and wouldn’t let me buy the ticket. By the time I realized that I needed to bite the bullet and go to the bus station in person, the first bus was full, so I settled for one that left five hours later. All things considered, it worked out well, and I was able do some reading on the way, but by the end of the experience I was quite frustrated with the Spanish way of doing things. As you might be aware from some of my posts, things (and by “things,” I mean government, education, transit, food, EVERYTHING) just don’t work nearly as efficiently or smoothly here as they do in the US. The note I wrote to myself after my travel experience: “NOTHING WORKS IN SPAIN YET THEY ACT LIKE THINGS DO. EMAIL, PLANES, TRAINS, PHONES, WEBSITES - THE WHOLE COUNTRY. CALL ME A SPOILED AMERICAN BUT THE WAY THINGS ARE HERE IS A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY.”
I will stop complaining now. So Sevilla itself! It’s a really cool town, very mellow and peaceful. It’s much much smaller than Barcelona; you can go almost anywhere in Sevilla within 30 min. walking, whereas in Barca the Metro is a key part of getting around. There are also ORANGE TREES everywhere in Sevilla, which is beyond cool. And the oranges are currently in season. Of course, against my friends’ admonitions, I had to eat a couple of the fruits – very sour but edible. My buddy and I also made some fresh orange juice out of some oranges we picked, which was delicious with a bit (actually a lot) of sugar added to it. We also saw a cool little flamenco show at a bar one night. I’m sure I don’t know enough to appreciate all the intricacies of this typically Spanish dance & musical art form, but nevertheless I was fascinated by the various components that make up flamenco. There were 2 clappers, a guitar player, and a woman dancing. Basically the guitar player strums a light series of chords in a certain rhythym, the clappers add complementary emphases or syncopations, and the dancing is sort of the artistic focal point that the musical background supports. It’s a really cool tradition, and the beat often crescendoes to a frenzy that eventually culminates in a final flair by the dancer that always seems to correspond perfectly to the stopping of the music. Impressive and interesting.
A definite highlight of my time in Sevilla was church on Sunday. Of course, Catholic churches in Spain far outnumber their evangelical counterparts, so it was a bit difficult to find a good place; but, with the help of the clerk at my hostel, I found the location of a church called the Iglesia Cristiana Evangelica that sounded like it was worth a shot. When I arrived at the spot for the 11 am service, drenched and cold from the morning downpour, it was so nice to be ushered into a warm, welcoming, and authentically Andalucian Christian community. The first lady I talked to asked if it was my first time at the church, and when I said that it was, she pleasantly and sincerely said “¡Hallelujah!”, gave me a program, and planted the traditional two kisses on my cheeks. After this auspicious start, I felt right at home! The feeling continued as the praise band led us in a number of Spanish worship songs, punctuated by prayers. A couple of the songs I recognized as Spanish translations of songs I know well in English, and in general the format was very similar to my churches both in Princeton and Barcelona. And then the sermon was great! The pastor was charismatic and engaging; he often interacted with specific members of the congregation and sprinkled his talk with jokes.
I think my favorite part of his talk went something like this: “Si no tienes suficiente comunión con Dios, haz tres cosas: Uno – Ora! Dos – Ora! Tres – Ora!!! Una iglesia que ora puede cambiar el mundo.” The translation is: “If you don’t have enough communion with God, do three things: One – Pray! Two – Pray! Three – Pray!!! A church that prays can change the world.” Simple but powerful words.
It was also neat to meet another American study abroad student in the sea of Spaniards.. The girl I met goes to Brown and actually knew some of my Brown friends who I was in Sevilla with, so she played tour guide for us for an hour or two as we checked out the Alcazar and the city a bit. The Alcazar is a palace with tons of Arabic influence and beautiul gardens, as well as a sweet hedge maze! After we split ways, our group hit up the Catedral de Sevilla, which was huge and ornate. I got to see Christopher Columbus’ tomb, which was especially interesting since I’ve been reading his memoirs about traveling to the Americas for my Literatura Hispanoamericana class. It’s funny because there are so many ridiculously wrought churches and cathedrals in Spain that you almost get numb to their amazing architecture and start taking them for granted. I’m trying to avoid that as much as possible, because I know there will come a point when I’m like “Oh yea, that was incredible” and wish I could see it again.
The only real downside to our stay in Sevilla was that it rained – a lot. But, still a great trip so far and looking forward to the remaining travel in Andalucia the next couple of days. Will relate my stays in Córdoba and Granada next week! And I'll upload some photos then too.
Getting to Sevilla: Bear with me, but this is a whole story in itself. For the first time in my life, I went to the airport and left it without having flown anywhere. It turns out that I didn’t actually have a ticket for my Ryanair flight – a major bummer to say the least. I think what happened is that, back in October, I tried to buy my plane ticket and got a page that looked like a confirmation notification (it even said “Payment Due – 0.00 EUR”) that wasn’t a confirmation…! Of course, it’s totally my fault for not checking my flight details more carefully, but the point is that 9am Friday morning rolled around and I was without a flight in a crowded airport full of Spaniards trying to get around the country for puente. I won’t bore you with the details, but after lots of effort I finally ascertained that neither another flight (180 EUR) nor a train (250 EUR) were feasible, so luckily I found a 15-hr bus ride that charged much more reasonable fare..
Of course – having located the bus ticket – I wasn’t able to buy it by phone (you can only buy a ticket over the phone 2 days in advance), so the guy kindly directed me to their great website (that they seem very proud of).. which was having problems for the day and wouldn’t let me buy the ticket. By the time I realized that I needed to bite the bullet and go to the bus station in person, the first bus was full, so I settled for one that left five hours later. All things considered, it worked out well, and I was able do some reading on the way, but by the end of the experience I was quite frustrated with the Spanish way of doing things. As you might be aware from some of my posts, things (and by “things,” I mean government, education, transit, food, EVERYTHING) just don’t work nearly as efficiently or smoothly here as they do in the US. The note I wrote to myself after my travel experience: “NOTHING WORKS IN SPAIN YET THEY ACT LIKE THINGS DO. EMAIL, PLANES, TRAINS, PHONES, WEBSITES - THE WHOLE COUNTRY. CALL ME A SPOILED AMERICAN BUT THE WAY THINGS ARE HERE IS A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY.”
I will stop complaining now. So Sevilla itself! It’s a really cool town, very mellow and peaceful. It’s much much smaller than Barcelona; you can go almost anywhere in Sevilla within 30 min. walking, whereas in Barca the Metro is a key part of getting around. There are also ORANGE TREES everywhere in Sevilla, which is beyond cool. And the oranges are currently in season. Of course, against my friends’ admonitions, I had to eat a couple of the fruits – very sour but edible. My buddy and I also made some fresh orange juice out of some oranges we picked, which was delicious with a bit (actually a lot) of sugar added to it. We also saw a cool little flamenco show at a bar one night. I’m sure I don’t know enough to appreciate all the intricacies of this typically Spanish dance & musical art form, but nevertheless I was fascinated by the various components that make up flamenco. There were 2 clappers, a guitar player, and a woman dancing. Basically the guitar player strums a light series of chords in a certain rhythym, the clappers add complementary emphases or syncopations, and the dancing is sort of the artistic focal point that the musical background supports. It’s a really cool tradition, and the beat often crescendoes to a frenzy that eventually culminates in a final flair by the dancer that always seems to correspond perfectly to the stopping of the music. Impressive and interesting.
A definite highlight of my time in Sevilla was church on Sunday. Of course, Catholic churches in Spain far outnumber their evangelical counterparts, so it was a bit difficult to find a good place; but, with the help of the clerk at my hostel, I found the location of a church called the Iglesia Cristiana Evangelica that sounded like it was worth a shot. When I arrived at the spot for the 11 am service, drenched and cold from the morning downpour, it was so nice to be ushered into a warm, welcoming, and authentically Andalucian Christian community. The first lady I talked to asked if it was my first time at the church, and when I said that it was, she pleasantly and sincerely said “¡Hallelujah!”, gave me a program, and planted the traditional two kisses on my cheeks. After this auspicious start, I felt right at home! The feeling continued as the praise band led us in a number of Spanish worship songs, punctuated by prayers. A couple of the songs I recognized as Spanish translations of songs I know well in English, and in general the format was very similar to my churches both in Princeton and Barcelona. And then the sermon was great! The pastor was charismatic and engaging; he often interacted with specific members of the congregation and sprinkled his talk with jokes.
I think my favorite part of his talk went something like this: “Si no tienes suficiente comunión con Dios, haz tres cosas: Uno – Ora! Dos – Ora! Tres – Ora!!! Una iglesia que ora puede cambiar el mundo.” The translation is: “If you don’t have enough communion with God, do three things: One – Pray! Two – Pray! Three – Pray!!! A church that prays can change the world.” Simple but powerful words.
It was also neat to meet another American study abroad student in the sea of Spaniards.. The girl I met goes to Brown and actually knew some of my Brown friends who I was in Sevilla with, so she played tour guide for us for an hour or two as we checked out the Alcazar and the city a bit. The Alcazar is a palace with tons of Arabic influence and beautiul gardens, as well as a sweet hedge maze! After we split ways, our group hit up the Catedral de Sevilla, which was huge and ornate. I got to see Christopher Columbus’ tomb, which was especially interesting since I’ve been reading his memoirs about traveling to the Americas for my Literatura Hispanoamericana class. It’s funny because there are so many ridiculously wrought churches and cathedrals in Spain that you almost get numb to their amazing architecture and start taking them for granted. I’m trying to avoid that as much as possible, because I know there will come a point when I’m like “Oh yea, that was incredible” and wish I could see it again.
The only real downside to our stay in Sevilla was that it rained – a lot. But, still a great trip so far and looking forward to the remaining travel in Andalucia the next couple of days. Will relate my stays in Córdoba and Granada next week! And I'll upload some photos then too.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Setas y Fútbol - 14
Watsup yall, hope everyone had a sedentary and supremely satisfying Thanksgiving, wherever you happened to celebrate it! For me, it was a different but also good experience to eat Thanksgiving dinner away from home for the first time in my life.. I figured since I wasn’t with my fam, I had to compensate by eating two dinners – one with my church home group and the other with the American students in my program! Everyone pitched in to make both meals a success, and we (the Americans) gave some of our international friends their first taste (haha) of a Thanksgiving celebration.
(If you’re not a soccer fan, feel free to skip the next paragraph!)
Ok before I go any further I have to say that I’m still in somewhat of a euphoric state after Barca’s 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid last night.. (A Spanish newspaper said: Los goles caen en el Camp Nou como las hojas en otoño... or "The goals fall in Camp Nou (the Barca Stadium) like leaves in autumn...") For those who watched the game, you can appreciate just how bad of a drubbing the blaugrana gave los blancos – as Mr. Kitchens famously said back in AP European History, “it was a beautiful thing.” Tic i taca – a nickname for Barca’s trademark possession-heavy attacking style – was in top form, and there were times when I wanted to cry over the elegant efficiency of FCB’s passing triangles, one-touches, and gorgeous through balls (esp. Messi’s assist on Villa’s 2nd goal – incredible). Xavi's first goal was also unreal.. Extended highlights here. It really showed the difference between a tight team with great chemistry that's played together for years and a store-bought team that has little experience gelling. Barca hasn’t lost in the last five Clásicos, and it’s particularly noteworthy that they kept up their recent dominance in a game that many (if not most) favored Madrid in… It was José Mourinho’s first loss ever (he'd been unbeaten in 19 games!) as the Madrid coach, and payback for his former days as Inter's coach, when he knocked Barca out of the semis last year en route to the Champions League title. Ok, sorry to all the non-soccer fans, I’ll stop talking about the game now!
A short video of the post-game celebration going on at Las Ramblas, the heart of Barcelona..
(Resume reading from here on..)
We’ve hit up the fútbol part of the title, but – you may be wondering – what on earth are setas?? Well, they're actually literally ON the earth. I’ll give you some hints.. they're part of a family of organisms that: can be several tons in size, are important in gastronomy because we eat their reproductive organs, can eat/process dead things and by so doing help keep us alive, can kill you, and are found everywhere from forests to the dark recesses of the inner skin folds on your toe.. Give up? I’m talking, of course, about fungi. But more specifically, setas refers to mushrooms, or the reproductive parts of many fungi. This past weekend, my program went on a trip to Berga, a small city tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees, right in the heart of prime mushroom-picking country.
Mushroom picking may sound weird to you, but it isn’t to Catalans.. Almost 2.5 million – or around 30% - of the roughly 7 million people in Catalunya go mushroom picking. Apparently it’s not only a neat way to pick your own food, but it’s also a widespread hobby because mushrooms are, for many people, a key way to connect with nature. From what I gather, mushrooms basically provide Catalans with an excuse to go wandering around hills, hiking trails, and streams that are pleasant in their own right.
Anyway, now that you have some background, our experience: I think it was the first time that most of us had gone shroom-hunting.. and it was actually kind of fun. We had a cool guide who taught us a lot.. About how mushrooms were originally used for their hallucinogenic properties and only later eaten, how only ~5 species of mushrooms are deadly, how many mushrooms release tiny seeds that disperse via air to make baby mushrooms (often asexually) all over the place.. and he even convinced me to rub a dusty, puke-colored fungal specimen on a cut I had on my knee. I don’t know how much it helped me heal, but at least I haven’t lost my leg yet! After seeing the mushrooms, we also got to visit a super-cool donkey farm/reserve for the endangered Catalan donkey. It was a really interesting, off-the-beaten path kind of excursion. Just being in the fresh (though smelly) country air was a great change from city life. And the farm had the cutest cats and dogs - the cat below, in particular, was adorable.
Catalan Donkeys!
The weekly collection of other odds & ends:
(1) I saw the new Harry Potter movie a few days ago, and really liked it – the scenery changes were cool, the plot moved along at a great pace, and Dobby the house-elf is boss. However, for the first time in my life, the movie projector stopped working in the middle of the show – twice! Only in Spain… (and no free snacks or movie tickets to compensate either!).
(2) In an attempt to celebrate the American tradition of a Thanksgiving Day pick-up football game (American version), I went to the huge Walmart-esque supermarket near where I lived to try to buy a cheap ball. When I asked where I could find a pelota para fútbol americano, the lady laughed at me and said that the enormous, two-level store didn’t sell them…
(3) Aaand finally, many Spaniards, including my Biostats professor, ask me why I'm not cold when they see me in shorts & a t-shirt in November (in my defense, it's almost always above 40 F).. Today the prof. asked me if I was the only one in the whole campus to be wearing pantalones cortos, and I told him that I thought I was the only one in the whole city to be so aptly dressed.
That's all for now; thanks for tuning in – only three weeks left..waaaa!
(If you’re not a soccer fan, feel free to skip the next paragraph!)
Ok before I go any further I have to say that I’m still in somewhat of a euphoric state after Barca’s 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid last night.. (A Spanish newspaper said: Los goles caen en el Camp Nou como las hojas en otoño... or "The goals fall in Camp Nou (the Barca Stadium) like leaves in autumn...") For those who watched the game, you can appreciate just how bad of a drubbing the blaugrana gave los blancos – as Mr. Kitchens famously said back in AP European History, “it was a beautiful thing.” Tic i taca – a nickname for Barca’s trademark possession-heavy attacking style – was in top form, and there were times when I wanted to cry over the elegant efficiency of FCB’s passing triangles, one-touches, and gorgeous through balls (esp. Messi’s assist on Villa’s 2nd goal – incredible). Xavi's first goal was also unreal.. Extended highlights here. It really showed the difference between a tight team with great chemistry that's played together for years and a store-bought team that has little experience gelling. Barca hasn’t lost in the last five Clásicos, and it’s particularly noteworthy that they kept up their recent dominance in a game that many (if not most) favored Madrid in… It was José Mourinho’s first loss ever (he'd been unbeaten in 19 games!) as the Madrid coach, and payback for his former days as Inter's coach, when he knocked Barca out of the semis last year en route to the Champions League title. Ok, sorry to all the non-soccer fans, I’ll stop talking about the game now!
A short video of the post-game celebration going on at Las Ramblas, the heart of Barcelona..
(Resume reading from here on..)
We’ve hit up the fútbol part of the title, but – you may be wondering – what on earth are setas?? Well, they're actually literally ON the earth. I’ll give you some hints.. they're part of a family of organisms that: can be several tons in size, are important in gastronomy because we eat their reproductive organs, can eat/process dead things and by so doing help keep us alive, can kill you, and are found everywhere from forests to the dark recesses of the inner skin folds on your toe.. Give up? I’m talking, of course, about fungi. But more specifically, setas refers to mushrooms, or the reproductive parts of many fungi. This past weekend, my program went on a trip to Berga, a small city tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees, right in the heart of prime mushroom-picking country.
Mushroom picking may sound weird to you, but it isn’t to Catalans.. Almost 2.5 million – or around 30% - of the roughly 7 million people in Catalunya go mushroom picking. Apparently it’s not only a neat way to pick your own food, but it’s also a widespread hobby because mushrooms are, for many people, a key way to connect with nature. From what I gather, mushrooms basically provide Catalans with an excuse to go wandering around hills, hiking trails, and streams that are pleasant in their own right.
Anyway, now that you have some background, our experience: I think it was the first time that most of us had gone shroom-hunting.. and it was actually kind of fun. We had a cool guide who taught us a lot.. About how mushrooms were originally used for their hallucinogenic properties and only later eaten, how only ~5 species of mushrooms are deadly, how many mushrooms release tiny seeds that disperse via air to make baby mushrooms (often asexually) all over the place.. and he even convinced me to rub a dusty, puke-colored fungal specimen on a cut I had on my knee. I don’t know how much it helped me heal, but at least I haven’t lost my leg yet! After seeing the mushrooms, we also got to visit a super-cool donkey farm/reserve for the endangered Catalan donkey. It was a really interesting, off-the-beaten path kind of excursion. Just being in the fresh (though smelly) country air was a great change from city life. And the farm had the cutest cats and dogs - the cat below, in particular, was adorable.
Catalan Donkeys!
The weekly collection of other odds & ends:
(1) I saw the new Harry Potter movie a few days ago, and really liked it – the scenery changes were cool, the plot moved along at a great pace, and Dobby the house-elf is boss. However, for the first time in my life, the movie projector stopped working in the middle of the show – twice! Only in Spain… (and no free snacks or movie tickets to compensate either!).
(2) In an attempt to celebrate the American tradition of a Thanksgiving Day pick-up football game (American version), I went to the huge Walmart-esque supermarket near where I lived to try to buy a cheap ball. When I asked where I could find a pelota para fútbol americano, the lady laughed at me and said that the enormous, two-level store didn’t sell them…
(3) Aaand finally, many Spaniards, including my Biostats professor, ask me why I'm not cold when they see me in shorts & a t-shirt in November (in my defense, it's almost always above 40 F).. Today the prof. asked me if I was the only one in the whole campus to be wearing pantalones cortos, and I told him that I thought I was the only one in the whole city to be so aptly dressed.
That's all for now; thanks for tuning in – only three weeks left..waaaa!
Monday, November 22, 2010
¡Raíces! - 13
So believe it or not, I’m down to just one more month in Barca, which is bizarre. I feel like I want to squeeze so much out of the last few weeks here but I also don’t want to go crazy trying to do everything.. But anyway, this last weekend rocked hard core so let’s get to it. First, some background -
As some of you know, I'm half-Hungarian (that's why I have those funny middle names!).. My dad was born in Budapest, and though he would only live in Hungary for two years before his family left the country (due to WWII), the Hungarian roots run deep and strong in his life and, by extension, in my own. I don't speak Hungarian (yet..!), but for much of my life I've heard from my dad about all things Hungary: his mini-lecture series has spanned water polo, politics, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Magyar origins, Hungarian-American relations, Nobel prizes, and myriad other topics. Largely thanks to my dad's loving communication, I've been able to grow up appreciating Hungary as a country with rich traditions, brilliant individuals, stalwart people, and well-deserved pride. While I lived in Hungary for a year as a three year-old, and later returned at the age of five, I don't have many clear recollections from those times.. So, this past weekend was almost like my first visit in some respects, and I was lucky to have my dad with me as a tour guide.
The first part of my stay was actually not in Budapest, but in a nearby town where my relatives live! Basically, I'm related to them through my paternal grandfather, and they're soooo cool.. The family, in a nutshell, is: the sweet, enthusiastic English teacher and supermom; the wise, thoughtful, friendly father; the warm, open, and outgoing eldest daughter, the theologian-in-training and photographer extraordinaire (son #1); the brilliant chemist, ballroom dancer, and Hungarian Roger Federer (son #2); the vivacious, multi-lingual & spunky younger daughter; and the little, adorable toddler who doubles as the star of the house! The whole family was very welcoming while I was with them and it was so nice to finally get to know all of them on a personal level..
A highlight of my stay with the rels was going to school on Friday. As I mentioned, the mother teaches English, and she kindly asked me to speak with her classes so that they could hear a real American accent (admittedly much less precise than UK English accents, which seems to be part of the reason that all of Europe learns English by following the British model). At any rate, it was tons of fun teaching the students "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and answering their questions about my life and America in general. In return, they taught me some Hungarian words! After teaching me how to say "I love you" (Szeretlek), they dutifully taught me one of the most important words in the Hungarian language: kocsma, or "pub." Other words I added to my humble vocabulary were sör (beer), gólya (stork), szakács (chef), család (family), köszönöm szépen (thank you very much), igen (yes), and nem (no).
The school!
After the school adventure, and with a freshly bolstered vocabulary that enabled me to lovingly purchase a family of storks from a chef while drinking a beer and finding directions to the nearest pub, I was able to relax with the Hungarian family for a few hours. While there, my dad discussed the wonders of the iPad, we watched a sea turtle "boil" video, we were amused by the toddler joyfully running around to avoid having her clothes put on properly, and - alas - we said goodbye to part of the family. The other part of the family took me to a really neat Christian prayer and singing session (the whole family are really solid Christians, which is awesome) and finally the mom and dad showed me some incredible nighttime views of Budapest. Man, with the lights framing the Danube, the Royal Palace rising majestically above the city on the Buda side, and the Parliament building standing proudly on the Pest side, the city was gorgeous! Looking at the view, it's almost too easy to forget the incredible sacrifice and bravery of the Hungarians that helped clear the road to the freedom that they, and Central/Eastern Europe at large, enjoy today. It was especially touching for me to hear from the mother about her father, who was - at my age, as a pre-medical student - a Freedom Fighter in '56. He was nearly executed (many were) as a result of his role in the Revolution, and was imprisoned for six years until the "magnanimous" government let him go, and only then because of his young age and a general amnesty.
Budapest's lights by night
On Saturday, we met some family friends who live in Budapest and we visited a beautiful church - the Mátyás-templom - that featured gorgeous, multi-colored tiles (called Zsolnay tiles) manufactured in Hungary. The Matthias Church (as it's called in English) was built in the 14th century and is a jewel in the heart of Buda's Castle District (basically the digs of the old Hungarian kings). The church afforded great day-time views of the Danube and several of the eight bridges that grace the city. At dinner with some of our friends, my dad was in fine form, and seemed to greatly enjoy the fluid Hungarian discourse that he so rarely experiences in western Maryland..
Some of the Zsolnay tiles
Hungarian Parliament
The last day of my trip (stick with me, almost done) I spent with my dad. It was great fun to stay with him on Margitsziget, a park-like island in the middle of the Danube where my family and I lived for a bit in 1994. For those who don't know, Hungary is home to the largest thermal water cave system in the world, which translates to naturally-heated, hot sulfur-water baths!! While I don't fancy the taste (many people are convinced that drinking sulfur water is great for one's health), I certainly loved lounging around the warm baths in our hotel.. (The faint rotten-egg smell of the sulfur doesn't bother you after too long!) It was cool being there and thinking how, as a three-year old, I had run around the place under the watchful eye of my mother. Margitsziget is also home to a world-class water polo & swimming training facility, complete with plaques acknowledging the many Hungarian Olympic gold medal winners - including the 1956 Olympic gold, home to the famous "Blood in the Water" match, which was set against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviets. In addition to Margaret Island, we checked out the Vásárcsarnok (a popular market), the Corvinus University of Budapest, the Deák Téri Evangélikus Templom (the church where my dad was baptized), the Great Synagogue (the 2nd largest synagogue in the world), and the wonderful Vörösmarty Tér pre-holiday open-air market (which had AMAZING mulled wine). As we walked through the city, I was struck by the still-extant scars of '56, which were present in the form of bullet holes and obvious signs of combat on many buildings..
Some delicious hot wine
If you are still reading, you have my deep and sincere gratitude! Your prize? Some side notes that may be of interest:
1) Lufthansa ROCKS. After this weekend, it's got to be my favorite airline. I flew 4x with them (I had a connection flight each way) this weekend, but the many travel hours passed very pleasantly because Lufthansa had such great organization, such friendly staff, and such delightful perks. I was treated to food and drinks on every flight and was repeatedly offered extra food, had FREE coffee and tea at the Munich airport (no joke, they had free machines where you just pushed a button and got whatever you wanted), enjoyed free INTERNET at the airport, and in general experienced great overall service.. Viva Lufthansa & viva German competence.
2) I noticed that the word "super" transcends borders and languages. In Spain, it's very common to hear someone say, for example, fue super-bien (it was so good).. To my surprise, the same kind of usage is common in Hungary, where you can say "szuper" whatever. Interesting, no?
3) My study abroad program had another gastronomy session with Núria, our colorful and highly entertaining food experta.. We had a taste-testing of pineapple, cucumbers, and juice under different conditions, to see how we reacted to the same foods presented in different ways. I'm not sure how my tongue reacted to many of the treatments (e.g. blindfolded pineapple-eating vs. normal pineapple-eating) but I know for a fact that my heart and kidneys convulsed when I tried the salt-treated cucumbers! Núria put enough salt on the pepinos to kill a donkey.
4) Aaaaand finally, check out the new "God Corner" feature to the blog.. Enjoy!
As some of you know, I'm half-Hungarian (that's why I have those funny middle names!).. My dad was born in Budapest, and though he would only live in Hungary for two years before his family left the country (due to WWII), the Hungarian roots run deep and strong in his life and, by extension, in my own. I don't speak Hungarian (yet..!), but for much of my life I've heard from my dad about all things Hungary: his mini-lecture series has spanned water polo, politics, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Magyar origins, Hungarian-American relations, Nobel prizes, and myriad other topics. Largely thanks to my dad's loving communication, I've been able to grow up appreciating Hungary as a country with rich traditions, brilliant individuals, stalwart people, and well-deserved pride. While I lived in Hungary for a year as a three year-old, and later returned at the age of five, I don't have many clear recollections from those times.. So, this past weekend was almost like my first visit in some respects, and I was lucky to have my dad with me as a tour guide.
The first part of my stay was actually not in Budapest, but in a nearby town where my relatives live! Basically, I'm related to them through my paternal grandfather, and they're soooo cool.. The family, in a nutshell, is: the sweet, enthusiastic English teacher and supermom; the wise, thoughtful, friendly father; the warm, open, and outgoing eldest daughter, the theologian-in-training and photographer extraordinaire (son #1); the brilliant chemist, ballroom dancer, and Hungarian Roger Federer (son #2); the vivacious, multi-lingual & spunky younger daughter; and the little, adorable toddler who doubles as the star of the house! The whole family was very welcoming while I was with them and it was so nice to finally get to know all of them on a personal level..
A highlight of my stay with the rels was going to school on Friday. As I mentioned, the mother teaches English, and she kindly asked me to speak with her classes so that they could hear a real American accent (admittedly much less precise than UK English accents, which seems to be part of the reason that all of Europe learns English by following the British model). At any rate, it was tons of fun teaching the students "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and answering their questions about my life and America in general. In return, they taught me some Hungarian words! After teaching me how to say "I love you" (Szeretlek), they dutifully taught me one of the most important words in the Hungarian language: kocsma, or "pub." Other words I added to my humble vocabulary were sör (beer), gólya (stork), szakács (chef), család (family), köszönöm szépen (thank you very much), igen (yes), and nem (no).
The school!
After the school adventure, and with a freshly bolstered vocabulary that enabled me to lovingly purchase a family of storks from a chef while drinking a beer and finding directions to the nearest pub, I was able to relax with the Hungarian family for a few hours. While there, my dad discussed the wonders of the iPad, we watched a sea turtle "boil" video, we were amused by the toddler joyfully running around to avoid having her clothes put on properly, and - alas - we said goodbye to part of the family. The other part of the family took me to a really neat Christian prayer and singing session (the whole family are really solid Christians, which is awesome) and finally the mom and dad showed me some incredible nighttime views of Budapest. Man, with the lights framing the Danube, the Royal Palace rising majestically above the city on the Buda side, and the Parliament building standing proudly on the Pest side, the city was gorgeous! Looking at the view, it's almost too easy to forget the incredible sacrifice and bravery of the Hungarians that helped clear the road to the freedom that they, and Central/Eastern Europe at large, enjoy today. It was especially touching for me to hear from the mother about her father, who was - at my age, as a pre-medical student - a Freedom Fighter in '56. He was nearly executed (many were) as a result of his role in the Revolution, and was imprisoned for six years until the "magnanimous" government let him go, and only then because of his young age and a general amnesty.
Budapest's lights by night
On Saturday, we met some family friends who live in Budapest and we visited a beautiful church - the Mátyás-templom - that featured gorgeous, multi-colored tiles (called Zsolnay tiles) manufactured in Hungary. The Matthias Church (as it's called in English) was built in the 14th century and is a jewel in the heart of Buda's Castle District (basically the digs of the old Hungarian kings). The church afforded great day-time views of the Danube and several of the eight bridges that grace the city. At dinner with some of our friends, my dad was in fine form, and seemed to greatly enjoy the fluid Hungarian discourse that he so rarely experiences in western Maryland..
Some of the Zsolnay tiles
Hungarian Parliament
The last day of my trip (stick with me, almost done) I spent with my dad. It was great fun to stay with him on Margitsziget, a park-like island in the middle of the Danube where my family and I lived for a bit in 1994. For those who don't know, Hungary is home to the largest thermal water cave system in the world, which translates to naturally-heated, hot sulfur-water baths!! While I don't fancy the taste (many people are convinced that drinking sulfur water is great for one's health), I certainly loved lounging around the warm baths in our hotel.. (The faint rotten-egg smell of the sulfur doesn't bother you after too long!) It was cool being there and thinking how, as a three-year old, I had run around the place under the watchful eye of my mother. Margitsziget is also home to a world-class water polo & swimming training facility, complete with plaques acknowledging the many Hungarian Olympic gold medal winners - including the 1956 Olympic gold, home to the famous "Blood in the Water" match, which was set against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviets. In addition to Margaret Island, we checked out the Vásárcsarnok (a popular market), the Corvinus University of Budapest, the Deák Téri Evangélikus Templom (the church where my dad was baptized), the Great Synagogue (the 2nd largest synagogue in the world), and the wonderful Vörösmarty Tér pre-holiday open-air market (which had AMAZING mulled wine). As we walked through the city, I was struck by the still-extant scars of '56, which were present in the form of bullet holes and obvious signs of combat on many buildings..
Some delicious hot wine
If you are still reading, you have my deep and sincere gratitude! Your prize? Some side notes that may be of interest:
1) Lufthansa ROCKS. After this weekend, it's got to be my favorite airline. I flew 4x with them (I had a connection flight each way) this weekend, but the many travel hours passed very pleasantly because Lufthansa had such great organization, such friendly staff, and such delightful perks. I was treated to food and drinks on every flight and was repeatedly offered extra food, had FREE coffee and tea at the Munich airport (no joke, they had free machines where you just pushed a button and got whatever you wanted), enjoyed free INTERNET at the airport, and in general experienced great overall service.. Viva Lufthansa & viva German competence.
2) I noticed that the word "super" transcends borders and languages. In Spain, it's very common to hear someone say, for example, fue super-bien (it was so good).. To my surprise, the same kind of usage is common in Hungary, where you can say "szuper" whatever. Interesting, no?
3) My study abroad program had another gastronomy session with Núria, our colorful and highly entertaining food experta.. We had a taste-testing of pineapple, cucumbers, and juice under different conditions, to see how we reacted to the same foods presented in different ways. I'm not sure how my tongue reacted to many of the treatments (e.g. blindfolded pineapple-eating vs. normal pineapple-eating) but I know for a fact that my heart and kidneys convulsed when I tried the salt-treated cucumbers! Núria put enough salt on the pepinos to kill a donkey.
4) Aaaaand finally, check out the new "God Corner" feature to the blog.. Enjoy!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Madrileño por 24 horas - 12
Well howdy and welcome to week 12! This past weekend was a bit of a whirlwind; as you may be able to deduce from the title, I went to Madrid for a 24 hour tour before dressing up to join the posh sector of Barcelona society for a Tchaikovsky concert at the Palau de la Música Catalana. Here's how it all went down:
Madrid - Along with my good buddy Alexis, I left Barcelona by bus at 11:00 pm Friday night.. We got to Madrid a little after 6am the following morning, and set about exploring the city. To tell the truth, there wasn't a whole lot to see in the cold, pre-dawn streets but soon things started to pick up, and after a delicious hot chocolate/churros/tortilla española breakfast we headed to the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid's famous art museum and one of the most treasured collections of European art in the world. It was really cool because, in my early years of Spanish classes, we would always have these, like, Cultura de España sections that would often feature pictures of paintings by the Spanish greats. At the Prado I got to see the real deal versions of works I remember from so many years ago: Las Meninas (Velázquez), San Andrés y San Francisco (El Greco), Colossus (Goya), and an entire Rubens - a Flemish painter but still legit - collection were all on tap. As Alexis noted, many of the paintings take some background knowledge (which we lacked) to understand well, but it was nevertheless amazing to see these masterpieces up close.
After bouncing around great art for awhile, we checked out another of Madrid's famous attractions, El Parque del Buen Retiro (literally: Good Retreat Park). This gorgeous, huge, aptly named haven recalled memories of my first visit there in 2006, when my brother was studying abroad in Spain. The park boasts wide pathways, gads of flora, an impressive monument to King Alfonso XII rising over a calm pond, a beautiful Palacio de Cristal, and - enjoying it all - scores of runners, hundreds of happy dogs, and thousands of ambling visitors. Here's a pic w/ the pondside monument in the background:
Probably the coolest part of the Madrid trip was attending an Atlético Madrid (not to be confused w/ Madrid soccer giant Real Madrid.. no one likes them) soccer game in their home stadium, the Calderón.. We managed to get reasonably-priced tickets just 6 rows back from the pitch, affording us an incredible view of the first-half Atlético offensive action, which was in great display! Some background: Atlético's biggest star is Diego Forlán, a flashy Uruguayan striker who, you may remember, won the golden ball this past summer as the Most Outstanding player of the World Cup. Coming into this game, he hadn't scored for Atlético in 12 games.. Not trying to brag, but before the game I called that Forlán would score two goals in a breakout performance to get him back on track, and Diego didn't disappoint, notching 2 goals and an assist. The two first-half goals - the second of which was stunning, set up by a gorgeous chip from Forlán to Kun Agüero - were followed by a ridiculous curling shot by Forlán in the 70th. Almost better than the soccer was the atmosphere inside the stadium - it was nuts! There was one section that literally cheered the entire time (I'm convinced they get free tickets or something for doing that every game), and the whole place exploded after every good play and goal.. When Forlán scored, everyone chanted: "Ur-u-guay-o! Ur-u-guay-o!". Even though it wasn't Barca playing, just being in such a soccer-crazy environment was great. Really cool experience. Oh, and Atlético ended up winning, 3-0. Highlights here if you're interested (you can hear the fans' craziness in the video.. really it's worth watching).
After the game, my friend and I enjoyed a nice home-cooked meal prepared by a friend's host señora. Then we saw the Madrid night life, and I caught a 7 am bus back to Barca to wrap up the day in Madrid.. My overall impressions? I liked Madrid, but I'm really glad I chose to study abroad in Barca. Madrid is spacious, sort of peaceful, beautiful, and a bit serious, but it doesn't have the energy and vivacity that Barcelona does. Of course, I'm biased, but that's my takeaway.
Lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world - el Botín!
Other random news items: In my 1st session w/ my 2nd intercambio (to practice spanish remember), my new friend took me to a swanky private club in the heart of Barcelona.. It had a sweet library, a goldfish pond, and a nice little outside terrace - all within the heart of the city! Also, I was able to see a Tchaikovsky concert - Piano Concerto No. 1, Swan Lake & 1812 Overture performed by the Russian Symphony Orchestra - at the Palau de la Música Catalana (I talked about the Palau in my 9th update) yesterday, which was a really cool experience. Seeing the music hall in the day, on an hour-long tour, was one thing but hearing some of the best classical music in the world, played by a premier orchestra, was another thing altogether. The flying horses, elegant roses, peaceful muses, and Catalan flags that adorn the place seemed to revel in the live music.. The crowd was quite enthusiastic too; because people wouldn't stop clapping at the end, the conductor was forced to have his musicians play 3 encores! All in all, the concert was pricey but I'm glad I went.
And finally, many of you know that my brother also has a blog, called "The 52 Week Project." This week he wrote a sad but, I think, very important piece about World War II and the near-inconceivable loss of lives it engendered, particularly in China. If you haven't had enough of Kurz blogs, check it out: http://www.the52weekproject.com/ There's a strong possibility that you will find Steve's posts more interesting than mine ;)
Madrid - Along with my good buddy Alexis, I left Barcelona by bus at 11:00 pm Friday night.. We got to Madrid a little after 6am the following morning, and set about exploring the city. To tell the truth, there wasn't a whole lot to see in the cold, pre-dawn streets but soon things started to pick up, and after a delicious hot chocolate/churros/tortilla española breakfast we headed to the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid's famous art museum and one of the most treasured collections of European art in the world. It was really cool because, in my early years of Spanish classes, we would always have these, like, Cultura de España sections that would often feature pictures of paintings by the Spanish greats. At the Prado I got to see the real deal versions of works I remember from so many years ago: Las Meninas (Velázquez), San Andrés y San Francisco (El Greco), Colossus (Goya), and an entire Rubens - a Flemish painter but still legit - collection were all on tap. As Alexis noted, many of the paintings take some background knowledge (which we lacked) to understand well, but it was nevertheless amazing to see these masterpieces up close.
After bouncing around great art for awhile, we checked out another of Madrid's famous attractions, El Parque del Buen Retiro (literally: Good Retreat Park). This gorgeous, huge, aptly named haven recalled memories of my first visit there in 2006, when my brother was studying abroad in Spain. The park boasts wide pathways, gads of flora, an impressive monument to King Alfonso XII rising over a calm pond, a beautiful Palacio de Cristal, and - enjoying it all - scores of runners, hundreds of happy dogs, and thousands of ambling visitors. Here's a pic w/ the pondside monument in the background:
Probably the coolest part of the Madrid trip was attending an Atlético Madrid (not to be confused w/ Madrid soccer giant Real Madrid.. no one likes them) soccer game in their home stadium, the Calderón.. We managed to get reasonably-priced tickets just 6 rows back from the pitch, affording us an incredible view of the first-half Atlético offensive action, which was in great display! Some background: Atlético's biggest star is Diego Forlán, a flashy Uruguayan striker who, you may remember, won the golden ball this past summer as the Most Outstanding player of the World Cup. Coming into this game, he hadn't scored for Atlético in 12 games.. Not trying to brag, but before the game I called that Forlán would score two goals in a breakout performance to get him back on track, and Diego didn't disappoint, notching 2 goals and an assist. The two first-half goals - the second of which was stunning, set up by a gorgeous chip from Forlán to Kun Agüero - were followed by a ridiculous curling shot by Forlán in the 70th. Almost better than the soccer was the atmosphere inside the stadium - it was nuts! There was one section that literally cheered the entire time (I'm convinced they get free tickets or something for doing that every game), and the whole place exploded after every good play and goal.. When Forlán scored, everyone chanted: "Ur-u-guay-o! Ur-u-guay-o!". Even though it wasn't Barca playing, just being in such a soccer-crazy environment was great. Really cool experience. Oh, and Atlético ended up winning, 3-0. Highlights here if you're interested (you can hear the fans' craziness in the video.. really it's worth watching).
After the game, my friend and I enjoyed a nice home-cooked meal prepared by a friend's host señora. Then we saw the Madrid night life, and I caught a 7 am bus back to Barca to wrap up the day in Madrid.. My overall impressions? I liked Madrid, but I'm really glad I chose to study abroad in Barca. Madrid is spacious, sort of peaceful, beautiful, and a bit serious, but it doesn't have the energy and vivacity that Barcelona does. Of course, I'm biased, but that's my takeaway.
Lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world - el Botín!
Other random news items: In my 1st session w/ my 2nd intercambio (to practice spanish remember), my new friend took me to a swanky private club in the heart of Barcelona.. It had a sweet library, a goldfish pond, and a nice little outside terrace - all within the heart of the city! Also, I was able to see a Tchaikovsky concert - Piano Concerto No. 1, Swan Lake & 1812 Overture performed by the Russian Symphony Orchestra - at the Palau de la Música Catalana (I talked about the Palau in my 9th update) yesterday, which was a really cool experience. Seeing the music hall in the day, on an hour-long tour, was one thing but hearing some of the best classical music in the world, played by a premier orchestra, was another thing altogether. The flying horses, elegant roses, peaceful muses, and Catalan flags that adorn the place seemed to revel in the live music.. The crowd was quite enthusiastic too; because people wouldn't stop clapping at the end, the conductor was forced to have his musicians play 3 encores! All in all, the concert was pricey but I'm glad I went.
And finally, many of you know that my brother also has a blog, called "The 52 Week Project." This week he wrote a sad but, I think, very important piece about World War II and the near-inconceivable loss of lives it engendered, particularly in China. If you haven't had enough of Kurz blogs, check it out: http://www.the52weekproject.com/ There's a strong possibility that you will find Steve's posts more interesting than mine ;)
Monday, November 8, 2010
El Encanto Inglés - 11
Wow, so seeing that this is Week 11 just made me realize how ridiculously quickly time flies.. It has already been 2.5 months in Barca, with just about a month and a half to go. That means two things: (a) I've really got to "seize Barcelona" (that's a Miquel phrase) more than ever and (b) you've only got to stick it out for 6 more weeks before you get to stop receiving those update messages in your fb inbox..
But let's stop daydreaming and cut to the chase! This past week was cool, mainly because of a delightful trip to the UK over the weekend. It was great seeing three of my good buddies and spending a full day in both Oxford and London while being constantly bombarded by English charm (hence the name of this week's post). I think my first "welcome to England" moment was when my flight touched down in Gatwick, and the pilot said, "Well then, we're right on shejuwol, hope you're all tickety-boo!" HAH. I am definitely going to incorporate tickety-boo into my vocab from here on out. But more generally, the weekend impressed on me afresh how much more classy & proper the English are than we Americans.. Now don't get me wrong, I love a ton of things about the good ol' USA, but there's no getting around the fact that the English have got their social graces down. Plus, it just seems to me that literally ANYTHING said with an English accent automatically sounds at least 2x smarter/more interesting. If you don't believe me, think about this: Would the Planet Earth series have been nearly as resounding a success without the genius addition of Sir David Frederick Attenborough's voice? I hope I can rest my case here.
Another great part about England - they rep tea. For those who don't know this about me, I LOVE tea, and so of course I had to avail myself of the stuff in the land of Twinings, Earl Grey, clotted cream, and the scone.. It's pretty sweet, b/c the English have got an excuse to drink tea at just about every point of the day: breakfast tea suits the morning, cream tea (taken with some sort of pastry or scone spread with cream & jam) takes care of the afternoon, high tea (tea complemented with little sandwich guys or cold meats) is an early evening specialty, and the optional nightcap herbal tea ensures that a 4th cup can wiggle its way into the picture. I enjoyed several cups of this magical beverage while I was there.. Didn't taste any different, but I felt so cultured.
Alright, so what did I do besides admire the English? Well, the day in Oxford was lovely.. Many Americans probably don't know this (I didn't), but Oxford actually has a pretty disunified feel to it. The University is made up of 33 largely-autonomous colleges, such as St. John's, Christ Church College (where we got to see a stained-glass toilet!), or Hertford, and so walking around the campus is really an exercise in hopping from courtyard to courtyard. The city is definitely a beautiful place to stroll, and it has a pleasant, academic, multinational feel to it.. Check it out:
can you spot the toilet? (click on pic to make it bigger)
While my friends assured me that the "miserably wet" stereotype of England is false, it - of course - had to rain quite a bit during my days in both Oxford & London.. Anyway, before we jump to London, I have to mention the Oxford Castle.. My friend Eleanor and I took a guided tour and it was so interesting. The castle is a former prison that was in use from 1071-1996 and reveals a very different side of Oxford than the academic haven for which it is widely known. In fact, for centuries Oxford was a place of incarceration and execution, and its brutal living conditions (including bedroom-sized cells that packed in 60 inmates, often ankle deep in their own filth) were infamous. Almost 200 people were executed in Oxford over the years, and there are many fascinating stories about everything from executions gone wrong to criminals who headed to their death in stylish form. Beside the castle rises a hill where people apparently used to watch hangings with great gusto, as public executions were almost like a sporting event where many, even families, gathered for recreation.
Ok, London: The big point is that it was way too big for me to get a proper feel for it. However, via the excellent tour guideship of the brilliant David Roberts, we managed to hit the National Gallery, Tate Modern, River Thames, Borough Market, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, Camden, the Natural History Museum, the VA Museum, and Trafalgar Square.. Not bad for one day! Of course, it was also ace just chatting with the friends and catching up on the present day... Aside from my height and decidedly American accent, I managed to stand out as a yankee by being the only person - literally - in the entire city to wear shorts in 35-45 degree weather. Oh well, old traditions die hard.. (although as a 5 year old, I consistently sported sweat pants throughout the summer, go figure). Finally, I made a classic U.S. mistake in booking my flight home: when I saw 7:20 on kayak.com at the end of September, I naturally assumed that 7:20 pm was a pretty normal time to fly home, and I jumped on the flight without thinking twice. Unfortunately, most people in Europe read that as 07:20 (rather than 19:20), meaning wayy early morning.. So, I stayed up until 3 am, caught a late bus to Gatwick, and left London at an obscenely early hour.
In other news: Today I learned that the only vegetarians in Spanish history have been the anarchists.. Guess they were the only crazies that would give up jamón ibérico and paella.
beastly Natural History Museum
But let's stop daydreaming and cut to the chase! This past week was cool, mainly because of a delightful trip to the UK over the weekend. It was great seeing three of my good buddies and spending a full day in both Oxford and London while being constantly bombarded by English charm (hence the name of this week's post). I think my first "welcome to England" moment was when my flight touched down in Gatwick, and the pilot said, "Well then, we're right on shejuwol, hope you're all tickety-boo!" HAH. I am definitely going to incorporate tickety-boo into my vocab from here on out. But more generally, the weekend impressed on me afresh how much more classy & proper the English are than we Americans.. Now don't get me wrong, I love a ton of things about the good ol' USA, but there's no getting around the fact that the English have got their social graces down. Plus, it just seems to me that literally ANYTHING said with an English accent automatically sounds at least 2x smarter/more interesting. If you don't believe me, think about this: Would the Planet Earth series have been nearly as resounding a success without the genius addition of Sir David Frederick Attenborough's voice? I hope I can rest my case here.
Another great part about England - they rep tea. For those who don't know this about me, I LOVE tea, and so of course I had to avail myself of the stuff in the land of Twinings, Earl Grey, clotted cream, and the scone.. It's pretty sweet, b/c the English have got an excuse to drink tea at just about every point of the day: breakfast tea suits the morning, cream tea (taken with some sort of pastry or scone spread with cream & jam) takes care of the afternoon, high tea (tea complemented with little sandwich guys or cold meats) is an early evening specialty, and the optional nightcap herbal tea ensures that a 4th cup can wiggle its way into the picture. I enjoyed several cups of this magical beverage while I was there.. Didn't taste any different, but I felt so cultured.
Alright, so what did I do besides admire the English? Well, the day in Oxford was lovely.. Many Americans probably don't know this (I didn't), but Oxford actually has a pretty disunified feel to it. The University is made up of 33 largely-autonomous colleges, such as St. John's, Christ Church College (where we got to see a stained-glass toilet!), or Hertford, and so walking around the campus is really an exercise in hopping from courtyard to courtyard. The city is definitely a beautiful place to stroll, and it has a pleasant, academic, multinational feel to it.. Check it out:
can you spot the toilet? (click on pic to make it bigger)
While my friends assured me that the "miserably wet" stereotype of England is false, it - of course - had to rain quite a bit during my days in both Oxford & London.. Anyway, before we jump to London, I have to mention the Oxford Castle.. My friend Eleanor and I took a guided tour and it was so interesting. The castle is a former prison that was in use from 1071-1996 and reveals a very different side of Oxford than the academic haven for which it is widely known. In fact, for centuries Oxford was a place of incarceration and execution, and its brutal living conditions (including bedroom-sized cells that packed in 60 inmates, often ankle deep in their own filth) were infamous. Almost 200 people were executed in Oxford over the years, and there are many fascinating stories about everything from executions gone wrong to criminals who headed to their death in stylish form. Beside the castle rises a hill where people apparently used to watch hangings with great gusto, as public executions were almost like a sporting event where many, even families, gathered for recreation.
Ok, London: The big point is that it was way too big for me to get a proper feel for it. However, via the excellent tour guideship of the brilliant David Roberts, we managed to hit the National Gallery, Tate Modern, River Thames, Borough Market, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, Camden, the Natural History Museum, the VA Museum, and Trafalgar Square.. Not bad for one day! Of course, it was also ace just chatting with the friends and catching up on the present day... Aside from my height and decidedly American accent, I managed to stand out as a yankee by being the only person - literally - in the entire city to wear shorts in 35-45 degree weather. Oh well, old traditions die hard.. (although as a 5 year old, I consistently sported sweat pants throughout the summer, go figure). Finally, I made a classic U.S. mistake in booking my flight home: when I saw 7:20 on kayak.com at the end of September, I naturally assumed that 7:20 pm was a pretty normal time to fly home, and I jumped on the flight without thinking twice. Unfortunately, most people in Europe read that as 07:20 (rather than 19:20), meaning wayy early morning.. So, I stayed up until 3 am, caught a late bus to Gatwick, and left London at an obscenely early hour.
In other news: Today I learned that the only vegetarians in Spanish history have been the anarchists.. Guess they were the only crazies that would give up jamón ibérico and paella.
beastly Natural History Museum
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sassafras: Mi perrita preciosa - 10
Hey everyone.. This week's post is going to be a bit different, due to a pretty major event in my life this past week. Just a couple of days ago, my wonderful and faithful dog of 10 years died. I don't want to be mushy or anything, but I thought it might be nice to write some kind of tribute for her, so here it goes.
When we first got Sassy from my cousin (who breeds goldens in Colorado), she was - like many puppies - playful, happy-go-lucky, and inquisitive. The thing with Sass is that she never grew out of it. Even in the last months of her life, she was always REAL goofy and silly: she had to sniff every tree on walks, investigate any new object in the house, and communicate her feelings very clearly by staring at her humans and wiggling her eyebrows as needed.
My brother reminded me yesterday that a special thing about Fras was that she literally made friends with everybody. I'm biased, but Sassy was definitely one of the most happy-go-lucky dogs I've ever met. Any visitors to the Kurz house would always be greeted by a big golden furball bounding up to them and an exuberant tail swishing everywhere.. Sassy really had a way of sashaying her tail expressively (often resulting in pup hair everywhere ha). Like a barometer, her tail would tell us how she was feeling - up meant alert, low with a wide arc meant she was up to something mischievous, and vigorous wagging meant that people were home!
Man, there are too many memories to count.. Some favorites: her habit, on hiking trips, of constantly trotting up the trail to investigate the woods, then coming back (unprompted) to check on us every few minutes and make sure all was well; her inimitable smile; her extreme self-control in waiting until she got the "OK!" to get her food every night; her ridiculous but ridiculously endearing habit of stealing socks (partly for her own pleasure and partly to tell us that she had to go outside); her exuberant pride upon fetching the morning paper for us; her way of swimming like an otter; her boisterous back-wiggling, especially on freshly-mown lawns; her self-invented version of tug-of-war, which we dubbed "Wolf"; her liquid brown eyes; her way of nuzzling her head on your hand to ask for pats...
I could go on for pages, but I won't here. The point is that Sassy was a great great dog who loved people, had a charming sense of humor, and spread good-natured cheer bountifully. She wasn't a perfect show dog, she wasn't always exquisitely behaved (although she was normally quite good), and she wasn't the strongest or fastest.. But she was unquestionably part of the family, a steady bright spot in the household - comforting, joyful, silly.
I'll wrap up by saying that as hard as it is to lose a dog like Sassafras, the circumstances of her death almost couldn't have been better.. She had lived for over a decade, was happy & comfortable right up to her death, and she had - in the past year - gotten to make field trips to Princeton & the beach, as well as numerous local outings around our hometown.. Also, oddly enough, my mom had been making a diligent effort while I've been in Barcelona to send me updates on Sassy almost every day. I'll finish up the Frassy tribute with a couple of excerpts from my Mom's daily e-mails:
"While we were watching the news tonight, Frass was extra cute. Instead of snoozing, she had all 3 of her pup toys between her paws. She busily chewed on her green dog bone stuffed toy, then focused on the green & white rope toys... I think that she feared that she would miss her meal by going out into the garage. When I walked into the dining room, Frass silently--yet very definitely--communicated her displeasure. She danced around in place, then rushed toward Dad, skidded to a halt, plopped her pottom down on the rug, and pointedly stared at him while vigorously wagging (while sitting). When we both laughed at her antics, she actually harrumped and laid down. Frass is so funny...I just went to the kitchen to eat a few Fat Free Pringles. One fell on the floor. I simply announced, 'Git it,' and Frass appeared instantly! She eagerly snarfed it up. No need for a broom and dustpan."
When we first got Sassy from my cousin (who breeds goldens in Colorado), she was - like many puppies - playful, happy-go-lucky, and inquisitive. The thing with Sass is that she never grew out of it. Even in the last months of her life, she was always REAL goofy and silly: she had to sniff every tree on walks, investigate any new object in the house, and communicate her feelings very clearly by staring at her humans and wiggling her eyebrows as needed.
My brother reminded me yesterday that a special thing about Fras was that she literally made friends with everybody. I'm biased, but Sassy was definitely one of the most happy-go-lucky dogs I've ever met. Any visitors to the Kurz house would always be greeted by a big golden furball bounding up to them and an exuberant tail swishing everywhere.. Sassy really had a way of sashaying her tail expressively (often resulting in pup hair everywhere ha). Like a barometer, her tail would tell us how she was feeling - up meant alert, low with a wide arc meant she was up to something mischievous, and vigorous wagging meant that people were home!
Man, there are too many memories to count.. Some favorites: her habit, on hiking trips, of constantly trotting up the trail to investigate the woods, then coming back (unprompted) to check on us every few minutes and make sure all was well; her inimitable smile; her extreme self-control in waiting until she got the "OK!" to get her food every night; her ridiculous but ridiculously endearing habit of stealing socks (partly for her own pleasure and partly to tell us that she had to go outside); her exuberant pride upon fetching the morning paper for us; her way of swimming like an otter; her boisterous back-wiggling, especially on freshly-mown lawns; her self-invented version of tug-of-war, which we dubbed "Wolf"; her liquid brown eyes; her way of nuzzling her head on your hand to ask for pats...
I could go on for pages, but I won't here. The point is that Sassy was a great great dog who loved people, had a charming sense of humor, and spread good-natured cheer bountifully. She wasn't a perfect show dog, she wasn't always exquisitely behaved (although she was normally quite good), and she wasn't the strongest or fastest.. But she was unquestionably part of the family, a steady bright spot in the household - comforting, joyful, silly.
I'll wrap up by saying that as hard as it is to lose a dog like Sassafras, the circumstances of her death almost couldn't have been better.. She had lived for over a decade, was happy & comfortable right up to her death, and she had - in the past year - gotten to make field trips to Princeton & the beach, as well as numerous local outings around our hometown.. Also, oddly enough, my mom had been making a diligent effort while I've been in Barcelona to send me updates on Sassy almost every day. I'll finish up the Frassy tribute with a couple of excerpts from my Mom's daily e-mails:
"While we were watching the news tonight, Frass was extra cute. Instead of snoozing, she had all 3 of her pup toys between her paws. She busily chewed on her green dog bone stuffed toy, then focused on the green & white rope toys... I think that she feared that she would miss her meal by going out into the garage. When I walked into the dining room, Frass silently--yet very definitely--communicated her displeasure. She danced around in place, then rushed toward Dad, skidded to a halt, plopped her pottom down on the rug, and pointedly stared at him while vigorously wagging (while sitting). When we both laughed at her antics, she actually harrumped and laid down. Frass is so funny...I just went to the kitchen to eat a few Fat Free Pringles. One fell on the floor. I simply announced, 'Git it,' and Frass appeared instantly! She eagerly snarfed it up. No need for a broom and dustpan."
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Montañas, Música y Mamá - 9
Watsup everybody.. Another week of odds & ends has left me to write about myriad musings; meanwhile, may my musings aMeliorate midterm messyness.
Montañas: This past week I got to see Montserrat, an awesome monastery way up a mountain. The place is known for its nuns, its cathedral, its views, and its hiking. All impressed (except for the nuns, whom I didn't get to chill with). The highlight for me was probably the views.. We literally saw a whole ocean of clouds beneath us, with a gorgeous ring of mountains on all sides framing it. The hike we did was short but still really nice, and again presented us with some unreal vistas. In the cathedral, we got to catch a performance by the boy's choir - beautiful voices. Here's a pic of Montserrat:
Palau de la Música Catalana: Basically an incredibly wrought and achingly beautiful monument to music. The actual auditorium in particular was incredible: it repped spear-wielding women on wild horses, muses playing a host of instruments, a gorgeous 3,000 piece stained-glass tear drop/bowl/chandelier, and so much more. Visit if you ever get the chance. Alas, we couldn't take pictures inside the Palau.. But here's one I sniped from google images:
Bioestadística ridiculousness: I just found out today, more than a month into the class, that there are weekly problem sessions led by the teacher. No wonder I had no idea what I was doing..
Intercambio: This is where one person's language skillz help another person and vice versa. For example, if I were to talk to Legolas, he would teach me Elvish and I would teach him to not be a pretty boy. In this case, however, I was doing a more boring English-Spanish intercambio. I learned that Spanish guys, on average, stay at home until the age of 35-37.. For the females, it's 29. Kinda crazy when you think about the US norms, but my intercambiadora told me that it's because most jóvenes don't have the dinero to afford moving out. And the economy is really bad here. Also, I've learned that Catalan people are very nice, you just have to make the first move. Kind of like a male bird of paradise (upon seeing how receptive his wife is to his jiggle).
Oh, and the Mamá part.. She made sure my 'belly number' - i.e. how hungry I am - never dropped below a respectable 3.
Montañas: This past week I got to see Montserrat, an awesome monastery way up a mountain. The place is known for its nuns, its cathedral, its views, and its hiking. All impressed (except for the nuns, whom I didn't get to chill with). The highlight for me was probably the views.. We literally saw a whole ocean of clouds beneath us, with a gorgeous ring of mountains on all sides framing it. The hike we did was short but still really nice, and again presented us with some unreal vistas. In the cathedral, we got to catch a performance by the boy's choir - beautiful voices. Here's a pic of Montserrat:
Palau de la Música Catalana: Basically an incredibly wrought and achingly beautiful monument to music. The actual auditorium in particular was incredible: it repped spear-wielding women on wild horses, muses playing a host of instruments, a gorgeous 3,000 piece stained-glass tear drop/bowl/chandelier, and so much more. Visit if you ever get the chance. Alas, we couldn't take pictures inside the Palau.. But here's one I sniped from google images:
Bioestadística ridiculousness: I just found out today, more than a month into the class, that there are weekly problem sessions led by the teacher. No wonder I had no idea what I was doing..
Intercambio: This is where one person's language skillz help another person and vice versa. For example, if I were to talk to Legolas, he would teach me Elvish and I would teach him to not be a pretty boy. In this case, however, I was doing a more boring English-Spanish intercambio. I learned that Spanish guys, on average, stay at home until the age of 35-37.. For the females, it's 29. Kinda crazy when you think about the US norms, but my intercambiadora told me that it's because most jóvenes don't have the dinero to afford moving out. And the economy is really bad here. Also, I've learned that Catalan people are very nice, you just have to make the first move. Kind of like a male bird of paradise (upon seeing how receptive his wife is to his jiggle).
Oh, and the Mamá part.. She made sure my 'belly number' - i.e. how hungry I am - never dropped below a respectable 3.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Un poquito de todo - 8
Welcome to week 8 of the blog. If you're still checking out these updates, you are a great friend, you are willing to do anything to procrastinate, or you are my mom.
This week's theme will be a bit different from those of the last several weeks.. Rather than focusing on one central event or trip, I'll be sampling a number of odds & ends. Here we go!
Cheese Festival – Ok so for the first 3+ hours sitting in a cramped bus, I was sort of starting to regret my program’s visit to La Seu d’Urgell (this little town in the Pyrenees). But, once we got into the mountains we were treated to some stunning views of peaks, valleys, woods, rocks, and rivers.. Here’s a good example of the scenery:
Then, the cheese festival and sprawling market that covered the majority of the town were sweet... I tried a couple dozen kinds of cheese from around the region.. especially enjoyed queso fresco and some type of goat cheese. The other vendors around town sold everything from olives to boots to tea, and it was great fun to mosey around.. All in all, the town really made me feel like I wasn’t the tourist that I TOTALLY AM!
Sagrada Familia – Yesterday I finally got to see the inside of this famous church. It was pretty ridiculous – the sweeping spires, towering pillars, and singularly Gaudí forms that we saw inside the sanctuary were absorbing to say the least. However, the elevator trip up into one of the spires was the coolest part.. We got some incredible views of the city, and were able to see the fruit bowls and other architectural details close up. Word on the street is that building is scheduled for a 2026 completion date (construction began in 1882); knowing Spain, anything could happen, but I’ve already resolved to check out the finished product at some point in the future.
Ice Skating – I went for the first time in at least 8 years.. At first, my legs were a little wobbly, but then I started to get more comfortable and had a lot of fun. The hour & change of skating left me with some blisters on my ankles, but it was worth it.
FC Barca – Back on track with a 2-1 comeback win over Valencia! Heyoo.. We’re still a point behind Real Madrid, but I’m feeling good about our prospects after that big win.
Language & Culture – Spanish professors rep MAD pit stains. They are also often late for class. Sometimes they don’t show up to class and no one knows why, but it’s just accepted as normal. I learned today that bien isn’t a suitable answer to every question; sometimes, an intelligent response is required when the teacher calls on you. Aaand my Spanish is pretty fickle: occasionally I feel like a total n00b, and then sometimes it’s like “Hey I’m bilingual son!”
George Muller – You probably haven’t heard of him, but this guy is straight baller. I just finished his autobiography this week.. In a nutshell, it was a collection of his diary entries that chronicle the amazing work God did through Muller’s orphanage ministry. Over the course of 24 years, and by relying solely on prayer and faith, Muller and his team established 117 schools, cared for 10,000 orphans, received more than 50,000 specific responses to prayer, distributed 285,407 Bibles, and were entrusted with the equivalent of 90 million pounds in today's British currency. And the crazy thing is that he/they never asked for donations or solicited funds for the work.. Over and over, he and his team would have literally no money, or no coal, or no bread (despite being in charge of hundreds of orphans), and Muller would pray.. and then money or food or whatever would come in just when it was really needed. He relied completely on God for both his ministry’s means (all their money came voluntary gifts) and direction in his life.. he trusted God just like a child would his dad. It’s the most inspirational book I’ve ever read, and I def recommend giving it a shot. You can find it here.
MY familia (tios y padres) is in town for the week, which has been a blast.
My momma is visiting and I love her.
Cheese Festival – Ok so for the first 3+ hours sitting in a cramped bus, I was sort of starting to regret my program’s visit to La Seu d’Urgell (this little town in the Pyrenees). But, once we got into the mountains we were treated to some stunning views of peaks, valleys, woods, rocks, and rivers.. Here’s a good example of the scenery:
Then, the cheese festival and sprawling market that covered the majority of the town were sweet... I tried a couple dozen kinds of cheese from around the region.. especially enjoyed queso fresco and some type of goat cheese. The other vendors around town sold everything from olives to boots to tea, and it was great fun to mosey around.. All in all, the town really made me feel like I wasn’t the tourist that I TOTALLY AM!
Sagrada Familia – Yesterday I finally got to see the inside of this famous church. It was pretty ridiculous – the sweeping spires, towering pillars, and singularly Gaudí forms that we saw inside the sanctuary were absorbing to say the least. However, the elevator trip up into one of the spires was the coolest part.. We got some incredible views of the city, and were able to see the fruit bowls and other architectural details close up. Word on the street is that building is scheduled for a 2026 completion date (construction began in 1882); knowing Spain, anything could happen, but I’ve already resolved to check out the finished product at some point in the future.
Ice Skating – I went for the first time in at least 8 years.. At first, my legs were a little wobbly, but then I started to get more comfortable and had a lot of fun. The hour & change of skating left me with some blisters on my ankles, but it was worth it.
FC Barca – Back on track with a 2-1 comeback win over Valencia! Heyoo.. We’re still a point behind Real Madrid, but I’m feeling good about our prospects after that big win.
Language & Culture – Spanish professors rep MAD pit stains. They are also often late for class. Sometimes they don’t show up to class and no one knows why, but it’s just accepted as normal. I learned today that bien isn’t a suitable answer to every question; sometimes, an intelligent response is required when the teacher calls on you. Aaand my Spanish is pretty fickle: occasionally I feel like a total n00b, and then sometimes it’s like “Hey I’m bilingual son!”
George Muller – You probably haven’t heard of him, but this guy is straight baller. I just finished his autobiography this week.. In a nutshell, it was a collection of his diary entries that chronicle the amazing work God did through Muller’s orphanage ministry. Over the course of 24 years, and by relying solely on prayer and faith, Muller and his team established 117 schools, cared for 10,000 orphans, received more than 50,000 specific responses to prayer, distributed 285,407 Bibles, and were entrusted with the equivalent of 90 million pounds in today's British currency. And the crazy thing is that he/they never asked for donations or solicited funds for the work.. Over and over, he and his team would have literally no money, or no coal, or no bread (despite being in charge of hundreds of orphans), and Muller would pray.. and then money or food or whatever would come in just when it was really needed. He relied completely on God for both his ministry’s means (all their money came voluntary gifts) and direction in his life.. he trusted God just like a child would his dad. It’s the most inspirational book I’ve ever read, and I def recommend giving it a shot. You can find it here.
MY familia (tios y padres) is in town for the week, which has been a blast.
My momma is visiting and I love her.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Amsterdam: Lo bueno y lo malo - 7
Hey everyone. First, because you're reading this, I want to thank you for sticking with the update blog for 7 weeks - cheers.
Second, this week's blog is going to incorporate my still-fresh impressions from a weekend in Amsterdam.. As you can tell by the title, we're going to hit up both the positives and negatives of the city. Let's start with the good stuff:
Lo Bueno: Amsterdam has an amazing feel to it.. Its cool, New England-esque air, oft-cloudy skies, and abundant water set the scene for the profusion of trams, buses, bikers, boats, motorcycles, and pedestrians that crowd the place. Unlike any other large city I've ever visited, Amsterdam has a sweet relaxed busyness to it.. Maybe it's the canals, or maybe it's the people, but there's a tranquility in the air that seems to make even the day-to-day grind agreeable.
The architecture reflects this laid back feel.. Buildings often have a striking pattern (see below) that attract the eye. You would think that these kinds of buildings stand out unnecessarily, but they don't because free-wheeling architectural expression is the norm. Also, Dutch is quite a fun language; I sometimes felt like bouncing when I heard a proper Dutch conversation. I'd be remiss if I forgot the food.. expensive but very good. Stroopwaffels (thin waffles with syrup inside.. delicious, esp. w/ chocolate) were a highlight, with vlaamse frites (Dutch fries) coming in second. As far as culture, I really enjoyed the museum scene, especially the Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum.
A cool building:
At the Rijks, it was cool to see paintings of both Prince William I (famous for liberating the Netherlands from Spanish rule) and Prince William III. Both Williams were Princes of Orange, but - contrary to popular belief - Princeton does not get its orange color or its name from either William. However, Nassau Hall is named after Prince William III's lineage, which was the House of Nassau.. I liked the inscription in a painting of William III's birthday celebration: 'To the health of the Nassau line, in one hand a rapier, in the other hand the glass...' (still represented on campus by the fencing team and eating clubs!) On another painting, I appreciated an inscription that said: "This still life was painted after the crash of 1637, when so many people were ruined by speculating in tulip bulbs." Gotta watch out for those tulip bulbs.
Also, it was super baller to see the tomb of the most famous admiral in Dutch history, Michiel de Ruyter (the Raider..basically he pwned the English and French), great ancestor of a kid in my program, Stan DeRuijter.. Here's them both at the old guy's tomb:
Lo Malo: It didn't really come as a surprise, but nevertheless the worldliness of Amsterdam stood out as a negative.. I'm not even speaking so much about the coffeshops and pot as much as the proliferation of sex shops, condomeries, "private galleries," and streets lined with prostitutes advertising themselves in lingerie. I mean, yea it's sort of funny at first but then you keep seeing these things over and over and realize that a bunch of people come to Amsterdam just for the things of the flesh. Here's a typical pic:
The bright spot of the weekend that helped me a lot in thinking about the Amsterdam culture was a church service at Crossroads International Church, suggested to me by a friend in my home group here in Barcelona. The music was great, and the lyrics of one song in particular stood out to me: "Nothing this world could offer could compare to you..." Unfortunately, I can't remember the title of the song but the lyrics revisit a theme I've come to appreciate many times in my walk with God.. namely that we - humans - are made BY God and thus made to be truly satisfied only by a relationship with God.. nothing else will fill the hole that's inside each of us. As usual, C.S. Lewis expresses the point beautifully:
"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased..." AND "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this earth can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
Also, I really liked the sermon at Crossroads. The pastor talked about Ephesians 5:15-21. I especially liked this bit: "15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit..."
It's such a counter-cultural message to not get drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit, but that's why it's so beautiful. The pastor also made a metaphor I heard once in a Driscoll sermon. They both alluded to the Holy Spirit being like a wind that blows constantly and is always able to guide and empower us. However, as we are steering ourselves through life, we don't always have our sails up to catch and be directed by the Spirit to go after the things of God. The pastor talked about how people forget that the Holy Spirit is God and that He can play a huge role in our lives - if we let Him - as the Counselor that Jesus left us.
Anyway, that's what has been on my heart lately. I hope that some of you will be encouraged by Ephesians 5 and remember to be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. Hasta pronto
Second, this week's blog is going to incorporate my still-fresh impressions from a weekend in Amsterdam.. As you can tell by the title, we're going to hit up both the positives and negatives of the city. Let's start with the good stuff:
Lo Bueno: Amsterdam has an amazing feel to it.. Its cool, New England-esque air, oft-cloudy skies, and abundant water set the scene for the profusion of trams, buses, bikers, boats, motorcycles, and pedestrians that crowd the place. Unlike any other large city I've ever visited, Amsterdam has a sweet relaxed busyness to it.. Maybe it's the canals, or maybe it's the people, but there's a tranquility in the air that seems to make even the day-to-day grind agreeable.
The architecture reflects this laid back feel.. Buildings often have a striking pattern (see below) that attract the eye. You would think that these kinds of buildings stand out unnecessarily, but they don't because free-wheeling architectural expression is the norm. Also, Dutch is quite a fun language; I sometimes felt like bouncing when I heard a proper Dutch conversation. I'd be remiss if I forgot the food.. expensive but very good. Stroopwaffels (thin waffles with syrup inside.. delicious, esp. w/ chocolate) were a highlight, with vlaamse frites (Dutch fries) coming in second. As far as culture, I really enjoyed the museum scene, especially the Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum.
A cool building:
At the Rijks, it was cool to see paintings of both Prince William I (famous for liberating the Netherlands from Spanish rule) and Prince William III. Both Williams were Princes of Orange, but - contrary to popular belief - Princeton does not get its orange color or its name from either William. However, Nassau Hall is named after Prince William III's lineage, which was the House of Nassau.. I liked the inscription in a painting of William III's birthday celebration: 'To the health of the Nassau line, in one hand a rapier, in the other hand the glass...' (still represented on campus by the fencing team and eating clubs!) On another painting, I appreciated an inscription that said: "This still life was painted after the crash of 1637, when so many people were ruined by speculating in tulip bulbs." Gotta watch out for those tulip bulbs.
Also, it was super baller to see the tomb of the most famous admiral in Dutch history, Michiel de Ruyter (the Raider..basically he pwned the English and French), great ancestor of a kid in my program, Stan DeRuijter.. Here's them both at the old guy's tomb:
Lo Malo: It didn't really come as a surprise, but nevertheless the worldliness of Amsterdam stood out as a negative.. I'm not even speaking so much about the coffeshops and pot as much as the proliferation of sex shops, condomeries, "private galleries," and streets lined with prostitutes advertising themselves in lingerie. I mean, yea it's sort of funny at first but then you keep seeing these things over and over and realize that a bunch of people come to Amsterdam just for the things of the flesh. Here's a typical pic:
The bright spot of the weekend that helped me a lot in thinking about the Amsterdam culture was a church service at Crossroads International Church, suggested to me by a friend in my home group here in Barcelona. The music was great, and the lyrics of one song in particular stood out to me: "Nothing this world could offer could compare to you..." Unfortunately, I can't remember the title of the song but the lyrics revisit a theme I've come to appreciate many times in my walk with God.. namely that we - humans - are made BY God and thus made to be truly satisfied only by a relationship with God.. nothing else will fill the hole that's inside each of us. As usual, C.S. Lewis expresses the point beautifully:
"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased..." AND "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this earth can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
Also, I really liked the sermon at Crossroads. The pastor talked about Ephesians 5:15-21. I especially liked this bit: "15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit..."
It's such a counter-cultural message to not get drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit, but that's why it's so beautiful. The pastor also made a metaphor I heard once in a Driscoll sermon. They both alluded to the Holy Spirit being like a wind that blows constantly and is always able to guide and empower us. However, as we are steering ourselves through life, we don't always have our sails up to catch and be directed by the Spirit to go after the things of God. The pastor talked about how people forget that the Holy Spirit is God and that He can play a huge role in our lives - if we let Him - as the Counselor that Jesus left us.
Anyway, that's what has been on my heart lately. I hope that some of you will be encouraged by Ephesians 5 and remember to be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. Hasta pronto
Monday, October 4, 2010
La Rioja: Tierra del Vino - 6
This week, we're going to relax a bit from the craziness of La Mercè and instead slide into the smooth world of wine. As many of you know, I was very lucky to celebrate my 20th birthday in style, in La Rioja - aka Spanish wine country. La Rioja is the smallest of Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions, but is widely recognized for producing the best wines the country has to offer. Rioja wine is known for its sweet, fruity flavor paired with a gritty, earthy nature. My study abroad program put together a really nice weekend in the region that allowed us to see several bodegas, or wineries, and we got to get in a solid bit of wine tasting as well.
I really hope I don’t mess this up too badly, but here’s my understanding of the wine-making process in La Rioja: The grapes are picked, and the bad ones are sorted out. Then, the pulp is separated from the skin and the skins (piels) are pressed in a circular wooden contraption while the pulp juice ferments in great big metal vats for 13-14 days. Then the pulp juice goes through the second round of fermentation, which takes 20-30 days, after which the pulp juice and the peel juice are recombined in different ways to produce several distinct wines. Finally, the wine is aged. Typically, Rioja wines fall into four categories: Rioja (aged for 1 yr or less); Crianza (1-2 yrs); Rioja Reserva (3 yrs); and Rioja Gran Reserva (5 yrs).
Here's a pic of us trying some vino tinto (red wine) and vino blanco (white wine):
One of the vineyards we visited, Bodegas Marqués de Riscal, had a special wine cellar nick-named El Catedral, which holds their most precious collection of wines dating all the way back to 1862. Every year, they save 300-500 botellas of wine from their production to save it for posterity.. presumably so that at a really important event they can whip out that 100-odd year bottle that is – quite literally – priceless (i.e. not for sale). Word has it that they had to bring out one of the old bottles to convince a certain architect to design their hotel for them.. Before I tell you who the architect was, see if you can figure it out from the building:
(Top: Hotel @ Bodega; Bottom: Lewis Library @ Princeton)
If you guessed Frank Gehry you’d be right. It was really neat to see this building of his - a hotel on the property of the bodega - thousands of miles from the familiar Lewis Library where I often tutor and study. As you can see, he’s still got the crazy new-age look going on in this creation, but there's also a symbolic significance to the color scheme. Apparently the building evokes a bottle of wine, with the purple metal sheets representing the red wine, the gold signifying the label, and the silver acting as the cap of the bottle.
When we weren’t exploring the bodegas, we got to check out Logroño, the capital of La Rioja. This sweet little town was SO different than Barcelona – very laid back and chill.. Logroño reps quaint (and plentiful!) bars and awesome tapas too.. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the break from all the people in Barca, but I think it’s the kind of place that could get old after a while. Oh and I bought a cheap soccer ball on my bday which we played some pick-up with, and then everybody in my program signed it.. Pretty sweet memento! And, I even made a couple new friends in Logroño:
Unfortunately, I just found out today from my buddy Trent that his namesake town, Fuenmayor, is a scant 10 miles from Logroño. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to make the pilgrimage while I was in Logroño, but hopefully next time I will do.
Amsterdam this coming weekend – hah any suggestions that don’t have to do with space cakes and the red light district?
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