Orientation Trip: Andalucía

Hola todos. I've been back in Madrid since last Sunday night, but wanted to post about the trip. The whole thing was a good idea -- we got to see a ton in Spain, almost free (or rather, pre-paid); and it was helpful to get to know everyone else (all the new students, plus the ones left over from last semester, who're staying for the year).

By the way, I went the whole 9 days without internet. It wasn't too hard because we were so busy and it was only limitedly available, but still! I'm proud of myself.

*'s mark all the pictures.

First, we went to Córdoba, about four hours from Madrid. (We had a bus, driver, and tour guide to ourselves.) I liked this city a lot, but can't really explain why. It's pretty small, and it was fun to walk around in. Joslyn and I stopped in a cafe for chocolate-con-churros, and had a nice conversation with the lady who worked there. She was really friendly and conversational, which is always the best. Later, some Americans from Kentucky came in and could barely order, they spoke so little Spanish. Something for us to feel triumphant about. :)

Of course, we then went to the Mezquita Catedral*, which is an old mosque with a cathedral (built later) inside. It was a pretty interesting/strange sight.

Our next stop was Sevilla. We walked a lot. This post isn't going to have a lot of details, partly because there are so many of them, but mostly because I can't remember half of them. Lots of walking tours, etc. I do remember, though, that we went to the Plaza de España*, which is one of the locations they used to film Star Wars: Episode II, haha.

On the way to Ronda we stopped at a place called Arcos de la Frontera, which is a little pueblo high up so that we had to climb a bunch of stone stairs to get there. But it was worth it -- the view* was awesome, and the town itself was endearing.

I don't have much to say about Ronda, except that it was a collective favorite and it had, by far, the best hotel of the ones we stayed at during the trip. As usual, we walked around a lot; I bought a bag and we probably stopped for coffee or ho cho or something.

Oh, one thing that made the trip infinitely more fun: our director, Luis, brought along his family for the trip -- his wife and, more importantly, two sons, who're 4 and 6 years old. They're two of the most outgoing little kids I've ever met, and it was great having them there/being ecstatic when they'd stand still to talk to you for more than two minutes.

Then Granada. We saw the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabel, which was pretty cool, considering they both expelled the Moors from Granada and sent Cristopher Columbus off on his little trip in the year 1492. We went up and saw a view of the Alhambra that, supposedly, Bill Clinton called the most beautiful he'd ever seen in his life. And then, of course, we went to the place itself. And everything that comes with it: the gardens of Generalife, the forts that go around, the unfinished palace of Carlos V (nearby), and the mosque. Everything was stunning. Other kinds of architecture can't really compare.

Finally, our last stop: Nerja, where we stayed put for a few days to chill by the beach and have our classes. Our hotel was so close to the sea that you couldn't even see the beach out the window; it just looked out on water. All the other residents (really, all) were old British couples on holiday, which was funny and a little comforting.

Re: the classes -- we had them for three days, four each day: Language, Conversation, Civilization, and Flamenco. They weren't bad at all; the teachers (two of whom teach here) were all good and the classes pretty interesting. It took me the first two days to get the hang of the Sevillana (the dance we learned in Flamenco) but by the third it was fun and we danced more at our celebration dinner. :)

And, of course, FOOD. I think I'll probably spend the most money in Spain on chocolate-con-churros, really thick hot chocolate with... churros, sweet fried bread. On the trip we had at least one group meal each day, and they were usually huge and pretty good. For the meals we had free, we ate a lot of tapas, which vary, of course, by type and restaurant. One day, though, we went to a Döner Kebap (kababs with bread and french fries) place, and I'm obsessed. Fortunately, there are lots of them in Madrid.

Here are the rest of my photos, if you're interested:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003084&l=15d04&id=1310460117
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003086&l=4d3a9&id=1310460117
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003087&l=1b866&id=1310460117

Ahh ok I'm done. For next time, classes.

Snow!

It snowed here this morning. That's rare enough in Madrid, but it apparently it hasn't snowed like this in 40 years! Earlier we saw some people -- grown men included -- tossing snowballs in the street; everyone's in awe. Pretty cool. We'll decide it's a good sign.

For a more detailed, boring narrative:

We arrived yesterday morning, Madrid time, all exhausted. (My flight was long but I sat next to some nice chatty Españoles from Toledo.) We had pretty much all day to chill with our host [families] and explore our neighborhoods. My "roommate" Joslyn -- we have our own rooms -- and I only have one host-person, una señora named Pilar. They're both very nice, the apartment is roomy, the food's great, etc.

This morning at the Hamilton Center there was more time to get to know other people in the program, along with a bunch of general info sessions by the family of directors (who are all awesome). Later, some of us went shopping in Sol; I bought a converter to finally use my computer (yesss).

We all look like tourists, big-time. Oh well.

The transition to speaking Spanish all the time is a little rough, mostly because it just leaves both ends of the conversation feeling incompetent. That'll get better, at least somewhat (I hope).

Tomorrow, we leave for a week-long orientation traveling through the south. So far, so good!

Bienvenidos.

I leave tomorrow! Crazy.

We'll see how diligent I can be with this. Comments are motivating :)