Alhambra, Sevilla y Cordoba

That one time in Granada... I got to stand in the same exact spot that Christopher Columbus did when he asked Queen Isabel and Kind Ferdinand for support to find a faster rout to India. In my tour of the Alhambra, I saw some jaw dropping sights and heard amazing facts about Spanish history, but the throne room of the Alhambra where Columbus himself actually pleaded his case with the oral family of Spain was the most outstanding room for me.

This is the beautifully had crafted ceiling of the throne room and my friend, Patrick, pretending to be Columbus asking for support to where the Queen and King would have sat.

This is the wall of the throne room and in this picture it may be hard to see just how many intricate designs are etched onto every inch of this enormous wall, but its ridiculous! 

So away I'm sorry that I haven't been able to post too regularly on my blog; Granada life has a way of becoming extremely exciting and busy. I have also been feeling a little under the weather lately, but am happy to say that I am back to full strength here today. Anyway, I hope to walk you through some of my adventures the past 2 and a half weeks. 

     The first and most looked-forward-too tour was that of the Alhambra, which you've already gotten a peak of. We visited it on Monday, May 19th. It is not simply a building, but I walled city on the highest part of Granada. There is so much history within those walls, it is impossible for me to even scratch the surface of it. However, I'll give you a quick run through. It originally built  as a military and royal fortress for the Muslim Sultan of Granada when Spain was primarily a muslim country. It was then conquered by the French under Napoleon's rule who used it as a military outpost. Before they left, they build a Catholic Church and destroyed all muslim buildings inside of the walls except for three that were saved: the 3 royal palaces. Long story short, Granada was then again under Muslin rule until the Spanish Catholics won back the country and made the Alhambra back into a more modern royal palace. 

These first pictures are from the Gerealife (area right outside the walls) and king's summer home (also outside the walls)

 Now we get to go inside the palaces of the Alhambra!

So wrapping up with the Alhambra, it was absolutely breath taking and is a must see for anyone visiting Spain. 

On Wednesday the 21st, my class met with a high school english class in Granada. We spend half of the time talking in spanish and half in english. It was a great experience being able to hear from some students where and what some fun things to do in Granada are as well as practice our spanish in a more realistic way than we would in class but possibly better suited to our level of understanding than at home. 

This past weekend, we took a weekend trip to Sevilla and Cordoba. These are assorted pictures from Seville where we visited the Cathedral de Sevilla, la Plaza de Espana, and Maria Lusia Park. 

 In the cathedral de Sevilla, there was the actual tomb of Christopher Columbus with his actual remains in it... CRAZY! 

Saturday night we went out to a few different bars and I ate at a place called faceburger... Not because their burgers were looking great or because their restaurant looked particularly clean but because it was called faceburger...

Sunday morning we got up early and traveled to Cordoba where we saw a Mosque that was actually turned into a cathedral. It was a giant mosque called a Mezquita built when the Spain was under Muslin control. It was huge and truly magnificent inside but sadly I do not have any pictures because my camera ran out of batteries (actually I forgot to charge my phone the night before). From the outside the entire building resembled a Mosque. It had very arabic architecture with arabic writing and symbolism everywhere. This continued into the building as well until BAM right in the center of the gigantic room is a Catholic Cathedral. Instead of knocking down the entire Mosque and building a cathedral over top of it, the catholic spaniards simply knocked down the pillars arches and anything else important to islamic practices in the center of the Mosque and put up a church. It looked very strange with the clashing architecture and colors but I guess I have to respect the person who though to save so much history by only replacing what was necessary. 

School work and tests and the official reason that I am here are join fine as well. Not much to report on other that my spanish is much better and practicing it all day every day is so helpful. 

Until next time! ¡Vamos Azul!

Ian

Church this Morning

That One Time in Granada... I went to Catholic Mass in what looked like a cathedral out of a European history book: a building many would only think was simply for show, representing a long dead a old tradition. However, church this morning was anything but dead! We barely found seats and the number of people that made their way to the mass was astounding.

Even though the entire service was in a language I cannot fully understand, it was one of the more moving experiences of my time in Granada thus far. As I sat with my cinco amigas prior to the service, I was in awe of the work of God. Worshipping in such a breathtaking church... there are not words that can describe it. My simple pictures could never do this beautiful edifice justice, but I hope that you can catch a glimpse of what I experienced.

(Monica Renee, Haile Anderson, Me, Lia Busse, Luna Archey and Kelly Hall)

Big thanks to Fernando for boosting out cuteness stat and to Luna for this great picture!

My first few days and Mi Familia!

That One Time in Granada... I accidentally agreed to doing Zumba classes. Yes, this actually happened. I have been here for about 3 days now and for the first 1 or 2 the only words in Spanish that I could say to my host family were "si" and "no." It isn't that I don't know more, it was just I froze up because I was nervous. Now that I'm much more comfortable here I can have bits and pieces of conversations! :)

My host family has been super awesome! Ana, mi madre, has shown me around Granada, taken me to her gym and shown me off to many of her friends (including her Zumba instructor). She is a great chef and is a Estética... it is like an herbal medicine and bodily health kind of occupation. She has shown me how she makes the all natural soap that she sells and cooks with all natural ingredients. I call my host father Pepé and he is a very talkative man. Right now, our conversations are more like him talking at me rather than talking with me but I know it will soon be better. I haven't had a chance to ask him what he does but he is very smart and has a private library. I also have a host brother named Hosé. He hasn't been around much because he has been at the beach for the past 2 days but he is 28, lives here with his parents (normal in Spain because of the poor economy) and works during the day however I do not know where.

The first day that I got here, Sunday, was just hanging with my family. I swam in my family's private pool (I know! Lucky right?), got a tour of the city by mi madre and set up in my room. Monday was full of orientation type stuff. My class met in at the post office, a central meeting point in the city which is at most a 30 min walk from anyones house (20 for me). We then were shown our class building and the office of the study abroad company (CEA), each about a 5 min walk from the post office. We did the boring rules and blah blah blah orientation stuff and then went on a "practical city tour." It was amazing to see all the different parts of Granada (many Muslim pockets and Catholic cathedrals).
The following day was the first day with a normal class schedule: 9:00 - 11:00 AM, break 11:00 - 11:30, and class 11:30 - 1:30. Lunch in Spain is the biggest meal of the day and families eat together so everyone goes home to eat with there family. After a short siesta time, we usually have some activity planned through CEA in the afternoon for a few hours and then lots of homework to do at night (sometimes I forget this is an 8 credit class and not vacation).

Ill post some pictures of my tours of Granada soon! Feel free to comment any questions that you have and Ill do my best to answer them ASAP:)

¡Vamos Azul!
Ian

Prior to the Time of My Life

That one time in Granada... Well, I can't quite say that yet; however, in a few short hours I will be on my way to Spain! I am a bit nervous, over packed (or under packed depending on who you ask), but most importantly EXCITED! The next six weeks will literally be the time of my life. I hope that I can keep anyone following my first attempt at a blog entertained and updated with my life over seas. I hope that in my next entry, I can introduce you all to my hosts, the López family. 

Feel free to show others my blog that may be interested in following!