Things have been low-key for me here. I´ve been going to my volunteer workplace but right now things are slow. They say that next week there are some things going on, so I´ll see how that goes. I´ve also been doing some other work to keep me busy. I read a book in Spanish, and right now I´m working on translating a very easy version of the Grapes of Wrath into Spanish - it´s a long project. My 2nd host sister is the one who made the suggestion...she knows some French and an itty bit of English, and she translates books for practice. Tomorrow there´s an orientation for international students, and then my course starts in about 2 weeks.
I was at the pueblo again this past weekend. My 2nd host sister and I went for a walk and she showed me around. There is a huge river, lots of trees, and blackberry bushes! I felt like I was at a private national park, without tourists. It´s a really beautiful place. She said there are still lots of places she wants to show me. One night my host parents were out in the fields until almost midnight and we ate dinner really late. At 1:30 my host sister said we would be going out soon and asked if I wanted to change...I was shocked about leaving the house so late, but I guess some events don´t even start until 1 oclock. And it was a family outing - not just my host sisters, but my host parents too. There was this huge fiesta about 15 minutes away in another pueblo, with a live group singing rock and popular Spanish songs, carnival games, bouncy houses, and food and drinks. There were lots of people when we got there, and still a good amount when we left at 4. My host sisters said that the fiestas usually last until morning and that they usually stay later, but that night my host dad wasn´t feeling great. Wow!
I´m surprised at how much I´ve been missing food from back home. I´d kill for thai food from mix bowl, frozen yogurt, or pizza. One night I dreamed that my mom and I were at the grocery store and they had four types of hamburger patties to sample - and the samples weren´t just pieces, but whole patties! And the other day I was daydreaming that my roommate called me to say she was on her way to mix bowl and if I wanted anything, and I said "yeah! chow mein and thai tea boba!" When I came back to reality I was really disappointed. It´s sad that my family cooks with so much oil and hardly ever eat sweets, but at least I can buy chocolate.
There have been a few things here that I´ve liked a lot though. One time we had this thing called an empanada - it was in a big box, like a sheet cake, cut into squares. It´s basically two layers of egg bread (reminded me a bit of challah, except thinner) filled in between with tuna, cooked onions, and tomate paste I think. Like a spanish style tuna sandwich. And the one dessert I´ve seen them make is a special birthday cake that is REALLY good. It´s a lot like cheesecake, except all it is is a cookie crumb crust, "nata" which means cream, and plain yogurt (I think), with cinnamon on top. I didn´t see the whole thing being made, but I did see the pot of cream on the stove, so maybe they heat the cream with the yogurt so it thickens? And it´s not baked, but refrigerated until solid. I want to try and get the recipe.
Everything at the pueblo is freshly grown/raised - green beans, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, chickens - and they hardly need to buy anything. I still can´t believe that the chicken I eat is all freshly killed...it´s more chewy than store-bought. I was thinking about how sad it is that they kill the chickens, but they´ve been doing it for years and to them it´s totally ordinary. Then I was also thinking about how chicken is prepared for grocery stores in the states - how they live in teeny cages and are injected with hormones - and I realized that the chickens here on the farm have a better life. They grow up with family and are not crammed into cages. Plus I can handle the extra chewiness, it´s more natural than hormones. My host mom joked that by the end of the semester I´ll kill one, but I don´t think so haha...maybe I´ll just try to hold one. I like watching the chickens wander around pecking at stuff, and then I get sad when I remember that soon they will have their necks pulled, but at least they can enjoy themselves until then.
Next time I update I´ll show some pictures of Leon and the pueblo. Take care everyone.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
My first week in Leon
My family and I flew here to Leon on the 3rd from Barcelona. My host mom is the sweetest lady. At the airport she gave me a huge hug and held my hand and talked a lot. I also met one of my host sisters, who just turned 23 a few days ago. She laughs a lot and is very friendly. Both her and her mom help me out so much and show me around. The first evening I was there my host sister and I walked around town and she took me to this apartment building where they get fresh cow´s milk! There was this man who poured my host sister 2 big jugs and kept telling people to keep the door closed. Maybe it´s illegal? Anyways at the apartment my host mom boiled the milk on the stove to kill bacteria. I couldn´t believe it! Fresh cow´s milk! I´ve been putting it in my coffee every morning. The apartment I´m in is modest and comfortable. I get my own bedroom and share a bathroom. The city of Leon is really great. Everything that I might need is nearby and everybody walks everywhere. There is a bus that I need to take however to my volunteer workplace. Twice a week I´ll be working at a place called Fundación Secretariado Gitano, where they promote gypsies´rights and teach them helpful skills to get a job, maintain a living, etc. I´ll be like an aid helping out with activities, probably with people of all ages. I think it will be a really different yet exciting experience and I start next week.
I´ve been eating some interesting food. When I traveled around with my family we ate amazing gazpacho, tortillas españolas, churros, and pastries. My host mom and sister have made pork loin, ham sandwiches, frozen pizzas with added chorizo (sausage), and ensaladilla (means small salad...cooked and mashed potato, carrot, green bean, egg, tomato, tuna, olives, and mayonnaise smooshed together...I like it actually) for example. There is some form of pork every day. And sometimes the food is dripping with oil so my stomache hurts. In general the food has been ok, but lately I´ve been missing the sandwich bar at Pitzer. I feel really pressured to eat everything on my plate because my host mom repeats a lot how she hates wasting food. Once she made arroz con leche (rice with milk, a dessert) that we ate for 3 days and I wasn´t a huge fan of it. There is always bread and tomatoes with oil and vinegar, and fruit for dessert. Every morning I eat cookies or spongy cakes called magdalenas with coffee for breakfast; lunch is between 2 and 3, and dinner is between 9 and 10. It´s a weird schedule that I´m still getting used to. My host mom and I talk a lot during breakfast, and during lunch and dinner we watch tv with my host sister (she´s been studying for exams in the mornings). I get along really well with both of them. I already know I´m going to have a hard time saying goodbye to everyone. They are so afffectionate with me, and actually everyone in general is more affectionate here...I´ve kissed a bunch of people in greeting, it´s all very new to me.
My host family consists of more than just my mom and sister. The rest of the family (host dad, grandparents, and 2nd sister) lives in a pueblo (meaning town) an hour away in another city called Zamora. My host mom and sister drive to the pueblo every weekend. The only reason why they have the apartment in Leon is because the daughters take classes at the University. We drove to the pueblo this past weekend and I met everybody else. My 2nd host sister is my age! I am really excited. She is hilarious and talkative and she is living with us in the apartment starting this week. She´s probably even more warm and affectionate than her older sister. Both of them talk clearly and I can understand them (my host mom is a little harder to understand, and my host grandparents nearly impossible). I will learn so much Spanish because of my host sisters and I know we´ll be close friends. We went out on Saturday night to meet some of their friends and I was totally lost because I didn´t understand any of their jokes or colloquialisms. They tried to include me though and I had a good time. At the pueblo my host mom washed everyone´s clothes by hand, a big job. They have a farm there, with chickens and pigs, plus they grow fruits and vegetables - like pears, grapes, and even sunflower seeds. There´s also a water well nearby. My host mom told me they kill the chickens which sort of grossed me out, but not as much as the fact that they kill a big pig for Christmas. My host mom told me that the previous student they hosted (actually they´ve hosted like 15 international students from all over!) couldn´t watch. Luckily I´ll be leaving before Christmas. But I´ve already witnessed the chicken process, it was a lovely surprise. Yesterday we were at the pueblo to pick up my 2nd host sister. She took me outside to show me the animals and I saw my host grandpa holding 2 dead chickens...I was shocked. Then he went to kill some more and I told my host sister I was freaked out and she understood so we didn´t watch, but I could still hear the squawking, it was awful. The chickens were rinsed with hot water and then my host mom, sisters, and grandma sat and pulled all the feathers. I was still in shock and standing a good distance away staring, and then they told me to sit with them. So I sat...at first I was really disgusted and felt kind of faint - I never liked dissections in biology and I hate killing even spiders - plus there were flies allll over the place. Haha but the funniest thing was that my host mom had out a package of cookies and offered me some. At first I said no I can´t, but she insisted, ugh. So I ate cookies and watched them de-feather the chickens. After they were de-feathered they were put on hangers and then my host dad torched them to singe off all the little hairs. Then they were cut open and cleaned out - the guts were thrown away and the innards were kept for later. After a final rinsing they were done. There were about 7 altogether. I can´t believe I saw all this and will be seeing more of it this semester. It wasn´t so awful, but I did feel a little sick and I definitely would not be able to watch what they do with the pigs.
Their place at the pueblo is also comfortable (with a kitchen, living room, 4 rooms and only 1 bathroom all along a hallway), but the town itself is old and old-fashioned. It feels nothing like the city or Europe. I´m excited about it though because for a while I thought "am I playing it safe by studying abroad in Spain when I know of people studying abroad in India and Africa and when I already know some Spanish" but everything is different at the pueblo. Everyone either lounges in their pajamas, takes naps after lunch, feeds the animals, collects water or fruit, etc. It may not be as extreme as in other countries, but it´s certainly different from Orange County or Claremont. And my Spanish is shaky - I understand a good amount but have trouble speaking it. My host sisters have been teaching me common expressions and sayings, and I´m also working hard at rolling my "r´s". I have no doubt that I´ll be practically fluent by the time I come home.
Some things haven´t been easy here. At times I feel left out when the family is together and other times I get shy because I don´t know what´s expected of me. I feel pressured to eat things I don´t like, and my host mom encourages me to buy new clothes and to dress nicer. Some stores have strange schedules. But the hardest thing right now is the fact that I´m Jewish. Soon after I met my host mom she showed me a picture of the church at the pueblo on their calendar. And this past weekend my host grandma asked me if I like Mass. When my parents were still in town they came to the apartment one night for dinner. My hosts showed a video of my host sisters´first communion, and they were laughing and pointing things out, and then my host mom asked if we were Catholic. I said we´re Jewish, and then she didn´t really say anything. I couldn´t tell if she was embarrassed or what, but I was uncomfortable. I´m not being judged or treated any differently, but I feel like I need to put my Judaism on hold. I´m too embarrassed to explain to them because I´m not sure how they view this difference, or if they know much about Judaism at all. Catholicism and Judaism have lots of differences. I´m a little sad especially because the High Holidays are about to start and I won´t be celebrating them. I´m not very religious, but at least at Pitzer I have the option of celebrating with Hillel or going home for the dinner. I feel comfortable discussing religion with friends at school. But here I can´t do those things. Maybe my host sisters are more open so eventually I´ll be able to talk to them about it, and after the High Holidays I´ll feel a little better.
All in all though, things have been fine and I´m having a great experience. My hosts are so nice and I´ve been learning a lot from them. When we are all together at the pueblo everyone jokes around a lot and I can tell that they are really close.
Anyways I miss Pitzer a lot too! I hope the semester is off to a great start for everyone and I wish all my family a Shanah Tova!
I´ve been eating some interesting food. When I traveled around with my family we ate amazing gazpacho, tortillas españolas, churros, and pastries. My host mom and sister have made pork loin, ham sandwiches, frozen pizzas with added chorizo (sausage), and ensaladilla (means small salad...cooked and mashed potato, carrot, green bean, egg, tomato, tuna, olives, and mayonnaise smooshed together...I like it actually) for example. There is some form of pork every day. And sometimes the food is dripping with oil so my stomache hurts. In general the food has been ok, but lately I´ve been missing the sandwich bar at Pitzer. I feel really pressured to eat everything on my plate because my host mom repeats a lot how she hates wasting food. Once she made arroz con leche (rice with milk, a dessert) that we ate for 3 days and I wasn´t a huge fan of it. There is always bread and tomatoes with oil and vinegar, and fruit for dessert. Every morning I eat cookies or spongy cakes called magdalenas with coffee for breakfast; lunch is between 2 and 3, and dinner is between 9 and 10. It´s a weird schedule that I´m still getting used to. My host mom and I talk a lot during breakfast, and during lunch and dinner we watch tv with my host sister (she´s been studying for exams in the mornings). I get along really well with both of them. I already know I´m going to have a hard time saying goodbye to everyone. They are so afffectionate with me, and actually everyone in general is more affectionate here...I´ve kissed a bunch of people in greeting, it´s all very new to me.
My host family consists of more than just my mom and sister. The rest of the family (host dad, grandparents, and 2nd sister) lives in a pueblo (meaning town) an hour away in another city called Zamora. My host mom and sister drive to the pueblo every weekend. The only reason why they have the apartment in Leon is because the daughters take classes at the University. We drove to the pueblo this past weekend and I met everybody else. My 2nd host sister is my age! I am really excited. She is hilarious and talkative and she is living with us in the apartment starting this week. She´s probably even more warm and affectionate than her older sister. Both of them talk clearly and I can understand them (my host mom is a little harder to understand, and my host grandparents nearly impossible). I will learn so much Spanish because of my host sisters and I know we´ll be close friends. We went out on Saturday night to meet some of their friends and I was totally lost because I didn´t understand any of their jokes or colloquialisms. They tried to include me though and I had a good time. At the pueblo my host mom washed everyone´s clothes by hand, a big job. They have a farm there, with chickens and pigs, plus they grow fruits and vegetables - like pears, grapes, and even sunflower seeds. There´s also a water well nearby. My host mom told me they kill the chickens which sort of grossed me out, but not as much as the fact that they kill a big pig for Christmas. My host mom told me that the previous student they hosted (actually they´ve hosted like 15 international students from all over!) couldn´t watch. Luckily I´ll be leaving before Christmas. But I´ve already witnessed the chicken process, it was a lovely surprise. Yesterday we were at the pueblo to pick up my 2nd host sister. She took me outside to show me the animals and I saw my host grandpa holding 2 dead chickens...I was shocked. Then he went to kill some more and I told my host sister I was freaked out and she understood so we didn´t watch, but I could still hear the squawking, it was awful. The chickens were rinsed with hot water and then my host mom, sisters, and grandma sat and pulled all the feathers. I was still in shock and standing a good distance away staring, and then they told me to sit with them. So I sat...at first I was really disgusted and felt kind of faint - I never liked dissections in biology and I hate killing even spiders - plus there were flies allll over the place. Haha but the funniest thing was that my host mom had out a package of cookies and offered me some. At first I said no I can´t, but she insisted, ugh. So I ate cookies and watched them de-feather the chickens. After they were de-feathered they were put on hangers and then my host dad torched them to singe off all the little hairs. Then they were cut open and cleaned out - the guts were thrown away and the innards were kept for later. After a final rinsing they were done. There were about 7 altogether. I can´t believe I saw all this and will be seeing more of it this semester. It wasn´t so awful, but I did feel a little sick and I definitely would not be able to watch what they do with the pigs.
Their place at the pueblo is also comfortable (with a kitchen, living room, 4 rooms and only 1 bathroom all along a hallway), but the town itself is old and old-fashioned. It feels nothing like the city or Europe. I´m excited about it though because for a while I thought "am I playing it safe by studying abroad in Spain when I know of people studying abroad in India and Africa and when I already know some Spanish" but everything is different at the pueblo. Everyone either lounges in their pajamas, takes naps after lunch, feeds the animals, collects water or fruit, etc. It may not be as extreme as in other countries, but it´s certainly different from Orange County or Claremont. And my Spanish is shaky - I understand a good amount but have trouble speaking it. My host sisters have been teaching me common expressions and sayings, and I´m also working hard at rolling my "r´s". I have no doubt that I´ll be practically fluent by the time I come home.
Some things haven´t been easy here. At times I feel left out when the family is together and other times I get shy because I don´t know what´s expected of me. I feel pressured to eat things I don´t like, and my host mom encourages me to buy new clothes and to dress nicer. Some stores have strange schedules. But the hardest thing right now is the fact that I´m Jewish. Soon after I met my host mom she showed me a picture of the church at the pueblo on their calendar. And this past weekend my host grandma asked me if I like Mass. When my parents were still in town they came to the apartment one night for dinner. My hosts showed a video of my host sisters´first communion, and they were laughing and pointing things out, and then my host mom asked if we were Catholic. I said we´re Jewish, and then she didn´t really say anything. I couldn´t tell if she was embarrassed or what, but I was uncomfortable. I´m not being judged or treated any differently, but I feel like I need to put my Judaism on hold. I´m too embarrassed to explain to them because I´m not sure how they view this difference, or if they know much about Judaism at all. Catholicism and Judaism have lots of differences. I´m a little sad especially because the High Holidays are about to start and I won´t be celebrating them. I´m not very religious, but at least at Pitzer I have the option of celebrating with Hillel or going home for the dinner. I feel comfortable discussing religion with friends at school. But here I can´t do those things. Maybe my host sisters are more open so eventually I´ll be able to talk to them about it, and after the High Holidays I´ll feel a little better.
All in all though, things have been fine and I´m having a great experience. My hosts are so nice and I´ve been learning a lot from them. When we are all together at the pueblo everyone jokes around a lot and I can tell that they are really close.
Anyways I miss Pitzer a lot too! I hope the semester is off to a great start for everyone and I wish all my family a Shanah Tova!
Monday, September 10, 2007
The final cities
I´ve fallen behind on my updates...this will be long, so I might break it up and finish tomorrow... luckily there´s an internet place right down the street from me. Oh and I gave my parents my memory card with all the pictures when they left so unfortunately I can´t put any more pictures up. But ask and maybe they can send you some.
After Seville we drove a rental car to Tarifa - a beach city from where we´d visit Gibraltar and Tangiers Morocco. On the way we stopped at a hillside town called Los Arcos. It wasn´t amazing- lots of places were closed and it was kind of boring. Tarifa reminded me of Laguna Beach, but not fancy and filled with Spanish speakers on vacation. It was a funky town but we didn´t see much of it since we mostly made day trips elsewhere. We drove to Gibraltar, which is a peninsula off of Spain and is British. It was interesting hearing both English and Spanish accents. We had English food for lunch, looked in shops, and later took an airtram ride to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, basically a really high mountain. At the top there were tons of monkeys hanging out! It was really bizarre and funny. We also saw some caves with stalactites and stalagmites. We ended up hiking down the huge rock - there were paved streets to walk on but it took forever - and we were exhausted, plus some things we wanted to see were closed. The rest of the day was a disaster - everyone was cranky, we got into Tarifa late, and there was absolutely no place to park. Aside from the English lunch and the monkeys, Gibraltar was just ok.
The day after Gibraltar we took a 30 minute ferry boat to Tangiers, Morocco. What an experience that was. I was nervous at first, being in a place so foreign. I have a greater appreciation for the people I know who are studying abroad in developing countries - I wasn´t exactly in my comfort zone and even just one day was a little difficult. We had a tour guide with us which was definitely helpful. He reminded me a little of my high school principal - slick, distracted, and phony - but he was smart and knew his way around. I guess he was a nice guy. He had to leave a little early because he said he had an appointment and his replacement was really great. He went on and on telling us about Islam and the culture and other general stuff. In Morocco, Tangiers in the 5th largest city. Islam is the most practiced religion, 2nd is Judaism, and 3rd is Christianity. It was interesting learning a bit about the religion and culture there - for example in the markets it´s less common to see pork because, like Jews, Muslims don´t eat it (but man, in Spain it´s everywhere!). Muslims pray 5 times a day...our 2nd guide was funny, he said that it´s good because it gives less time for people to be bad, ie when would you have time to get drunk? Overall religion in Morocco is really important. We saw some interesting places there. We drove by the King´s residence, saw where the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas meet, and some of us got to ride camels. We visited the market place - it was crowded and lots of people were trying to sell things to our tour group. One guy followed my dad forever until my mom bought the bracelets he was forcing on us. People there will not take no for an answer. My mom was really into all of it though, like bargaining. Ugh one time we were in a shop with her and while she was looking at something another worker tried to sell my dad a wallet, me a purse, and my brother a hookah pipe! Lunch was really tasty, although the place was awfully touristy - the only people eating there were tour groups. I had a great lamb dish with couscous, and for dessert there were little cookies and really sweet mint tea. Probably one of the coolest places we went to was this pharmacy/spice shop recommended by our 2nd guide. The guy there showed us all these spices/oils/medicines for cooking and illnesses that were inexpensive, so we bought some. It was really neat...I´ve got this oil that you rub in your nose to help when you´re nauseous or seasick etc. I still can´t believe how crazy and new that whole experience in Morocco was, whew.
Next we drove to Granada. I wasn´t expecting much from Granada but I ended up liking it a lot. First of all, when you order drinks in a restaurant you automatically get a free tapas dish, or appetizer! The hotel receptionist was really great - he recommended good restaurants and was very friendly. Granada has a lot of Arab influence -there were Middle Eastern restaurants, tea shops, hookah lounges, etc. It was a funky, hippie-ish place and it made me miss Pitzer. We were there for 2 nights. The Alhambra, which some say is the biggest attraction in Spain, is a humongous Moorish palace and gardens site that we visited. We saw the Mezquita and Alcazar in Córdoba and Sevilla, but the Alhambra was larger and had more to see. The architecture and gardens were spectacular! We also saw where King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella and their children are buried in a nearby chapel. But Granada was a quick stop, mainly to see the Alhambra.
We then finally we flew to Barcelona. It was the hugest, most crowded city of all. It was also the most touristy - we saw the most Americans there by far. It reminded me of New York and was a ton of fun. They speak Catalan there, which I think is a lot like French and I didn´t like it much, but people get by ok using Spanish too so it was ok. There was so much to do and see and eat! We were there for 3 nights altogether but I wish we were there for a week. The second day was all about Gaudi architecture and chocolate. We visited a place called Park Güell, which was originally planned to be a housing complex site designed by Gaudi but failed. There was some really amazing architecture there. I think seeing Gaudi´s work was the best part of Barcelona. We also toured around and looked atother buildings that he designed. One, called La Pedrera, was an apartment complex that was really interesting. All the rooms in each apartment got natural sunlight and all the doorways were intricately carved. On the roof there were statues and columns and things that looked like melting ice cream cones! The place was big and curvy - easy to get lost in, in fact we were separated from my mom for a long time in there. Overall Gaudi´s work is like fantasyland/Tim Burton/Dr. Seuss - lots of melting things, asymmetry, and nature inspired designs.
We also went to a chocolate museum where there were displays of chocolate models and descriptions about the origin and history of chocolate. The visit wouldn´t have been complete without samples and gift buying. We all felt a little sick that night. So we had a Gaudi/chocolate day, and after that we had a Dali day (while in other cities we learned about religious history, in Barcelona it was all about art). We took a long train ride to a city called Figueres, where we visited the Salvador Dali museum. There was some very bizarre artwork there - one of them was a painting of the backside of a woman, but from far away it looked like Abraham Lincoln. Very twisted. He also did some sculptures and jewelry. Everything was really impressive. On our last day in Barcelona we enjoyed sweets, and of course visited the old Jewish quarter. Even though I said Barcelona was our art extravaganza, no visit would be complete without seeing an old synagogue or two. This one in Barcelona was really small and secluded, and had a collection of objects from around Europe.
So all in all the ratings are (1 best, 9 worst)...
1 Toledo
2 Sevilla
3 Barcelona
4 Granada
5 Madrid
6 Gibraltar/Morocco
7 Lisbon
8 Tarifa
9 Córdoba
Each place was so distinct, I liked them all for different reasons. Toledo was quaint but also full of character and charm, and had so much history. And Sevilla was really cultured and sophisticated. Barcelona was full of character but in a completely different sense than Toledo because it was so crowded and busy. And as far as the worst ones - Tarifa had no sights and we were really only there as a stepping stone to Gibraltar and Morocco (which I liked about the same). Córdoba was just...plain. We didn´t meet extraordinary people, and I didn´t get an overwhelming sense of charm. Maybe because we were only there for one night, but nevertheless is wasn´t fun compared to the other places. Tomorrow I will update about Leon and my host family. So far things are going well :)
After Seville we drove a rental car to Tarifa - a beach city from where we´d visit Gibraltar and Tangiers Morocco. On the way we stopped at a hillside town called Los Arcos. It wasn´t amazing- lots of places were closed and it was kind of boring. Tarifa reminded me of Laguna Beach, but not fancy and filled with Spanish speakers on vacation. It was a funky town but we didn´t see much of it since we mostly made day trips elsewhere. We drove to Gibraltar, which is a peninsula off of Spain and is British. It was interesting hearing both English and Spanish accents. We had English food for lunch, looked in shops, and later took an airtram ride to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, basically a really high mountain. At the top there were tons of monkeys hanging out! It was really bizarre and funny. We also saw some caves with stalactites and stalagmites. We ended up hiking down the huge rock - there were paved streets to walk on but it took forever - and we were exhausted, plus some things we wanted to see were closed. The rest of the day was a disaster - everyone was cranky, we got into Tarifa late, and there was absolutely no place to park. Aside from the English lunch and the monkeys, Gibraltar was just ok.
The day after Gibraltar we took a 30 minute ferry boat to Tangiers, Morocco. What an experience that was. I was nervous at first, being in a place so foreign. I have a greater appreciation for the people I know who are studying abroad in developing countries - I wasn´t exactly in my comfort zone and even just one day was a little difficult. We had a tour guide with us which was definitely helpful. He reminded me a little of my high school principal - slick, distracted, and phony - but he was smart and knew his way around. I guess he was a nice guy. He had to leave a little early because he said he had an appointment and his replacement was really great. He went on and on telling us about Islam and the culture and other general stuff. In Morocco, Tangiers in the 5th largest city. Islam is the most practiced religion, 2nd is Judaism, and 3rd is Christianity. It was interesting learning a bit about the religion and culture there - for example in the markets it´s less common to see pork because, like Jews, Muslims don´t eat it (but man, in Spain it´s everywhere!). Muslims pray 5 times a day...our 2nd guide was funny, he said that it´s good because it gives less time for people to be bad, ie when would you have time to get drunk? Overall religion in Morocco is really important. We saw some interesting places there. We drove by the King´s residence, saw where the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas meet, and some of us got to ride camels. We visited the market place - it was crowded and lots of people were trying to sell things to our tour group. One guy followed my dad forever until my mom bought the bracelets he was forcing on us. People there will not take no for an answer. My mom was really into all of it though, like bargaining. Ugh one time we were in a shop with her and while she was looking at something another worker tried to sell my dad a wallet, me a purse, and my brother a hookah pipe! Lunch was really tasty, although the place was awfully touristy - the only people eating there were tour groups. I had a great lamb dish with couscous, and for dessert there were little cookies and really sweet mint tea. Probably one of the coolest places we went to was this pharmacy/spice shop recommended by our 2nd guide. The guy there showed us all these spices/oils/medicines for cooking and illnesses that were inexpensive, so we bought some. It was really neat...I´ve got this oil that you rub in your nose to help when you´re nauseous or seasick etc. I still can´t believe how crazy and new that whole experience in Morocco was, whew.
Next we drove to Granada. I wasn´t expecting much from Granada but I ended up liking it a lot. First of all, when you order drinks in a restaurant you automatically get a free tapas dish, or appetizer! The hotel receptionist was really great - he recommended good restaurants and was very friendly. Granada has a lot of Arab influence -there were Middle Eastern restaurants, tea shops, hookah lounges, etc. It was a funky, hippie-ish place and it made me miss Pitzer. We were there for 2 nights. The Alhambra, which some say is the biggest attraction in Spain, is a humongous Moorish palace and gardens site that we visited. We saw the Mezquita and Alcazar in Córdoba and Sevilla, but the Alhambra was larger and had more to see. The architecture and gardens were spectacular! We also saw where King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella and their children are buried in a nearby chapel. But Granada was a quick stop, mainly to see the Alhambra.
We then finally we flew to Barcelona. It was the hugest, most crowded city of all. It was also the most touristy - we saw the most Americans there by far. It reminded me of New York and was a ton of fun. They speak Catalan there, which I think is a lot like French and I didn´t like it much, but people get by ok using Spanish too so it was ok. There was so much to do and see and eat! We were there for 3 nights altogether but I wish we were there for a week. The second day was all about Gaudi architecture and chocolate. We visited a place called Park Güell, which was originally planned to be a housing complex site designed by Gaudi but failed. There was some really amazing architecture there. I think seeing Gaudi´s work was the best part of Barcelona. We also toured around and looked atother buildings that he designed. One, called La Pedrera, was an apartment complex that was really interesting. All the rooms in each apartment got natural sunlight and all the doorways were intricately carved. On the roof there were statues and columns and things that looked like melting ice cream cones! The place was big and curvy - easy to get lost in, in fact we were separated from my mom for a long time in there. Overall Gaudi´s work is like fantasyland/Tim Burton/Dr. Seuss - lots of melting things, asymmetry, and nature inspired designs.
We also went to a chocolate museum where there were displays of chocolate models and descriptions about the origin and history of chocolate. The visit wouldn´t have been complete without samples and gift buying. We all felt a little sick that night. So we had a Gaudi/chocolate day, and after that we had a Dali day (while in other cities we learned about religious history, in Barcelona it was all about art). We took a long train ride to a city called Figueres, where we visited the Salvador Dali museum. There was some very bizarre artwork there - one of them was a painting of the backside of a woman, but from far away it looked like Abraham Lincoln. Very twisted. He also did some sculptures and jewelry. Everything was really impressive. On our last day in Barcelona we enjoyed sweets, and of course visited the old Jewish quarter. Even though I said Barcelona was our art extravaganza, no visit would be complete without seeing an old synagogue or two. This one in Barcelona was really small and secluded, and had a collection of objects from around Europe.
So all in all the ratings are (1 best, 9 worst)...
1 Toledo
2 Sevilla
3 Barcelona
4 Granada
5 Madrid
6 Gibraltar/Morocco
7 Lisbon
8 Tarifa
9 Córdoba
Each place was so distinct, I liked them all for different reasons. Toledo was quaint but also full of character and charm, and had so much history. And Sevilla was really cultured and sophisticated. Barcelona was full of character but in a completely different sense than Toledo because it was so crowded and busy. And as far as the worst ones - Tarifa had no sights and we were really only there as a stepping stone to Gibraltar and Morocco (which I liked about the same). Córdoba was just...plain. We didn´t meet extraordinary people, and I didn´t get an overwhelming sense of charm. Maybe because we were only there for one night, but nevertheless is wasn´t fun compared to the other places. Tomorrow I will update about Leon and my host family. So far things are going well :)
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