Alright, so apparently my weekends will be pretty much amazing for most of my semester here, at least if I go by the last two. Anyway, this past weekend was maybe not as fun as the weekend before but it was so much more beautiful that it all equals out.
Friday we left bright and early for Gibraltar, which was about a 4 hour drive maybe? I can't remember exactly. I think I fell asleep through a good portion of the bus ride. Anyway, we arrived at the border of Spain and the United Kingdom (yes, the UK. Gibraltar is controlled by Great Britain). We passed through passport control with the guy in the booth giving nothing more than a glance at our passports...apparently Gibraltar isn't particularly a target for anyone violent, which is good to here. Our group of just over 20 students and our director Wayne (who, it turns out, is actually a pretty chill guy) took a roundabout route to the cable car station for the Rock. No, not Alcatraz. That's a different Rock. This Rock is one of the Pillars of Hercules and the European side of the Straits of Gibraltar. We took the cable car up to the top, getting a fantastic view of the town of Gibraltar, as well as the bay and the Straits. While our cable car was pulling into the summit station, we had the living daylights frightened out of us by two slightly suicidal monkeys who dashed across the spot and up the stairs. I'd like to say only the girls jumped out of their skins, but I'd be lying.
The Rock of Gibraltar provides one of the most unbelievable views I have ever witnessed...and I've been on top of the Alps. Okay, so that was probably better, but this was very different, and I wasn't bundled up. Anyway, playing around the monkeys (they had a lot of signs that said don't play WITH the monkeys as they would bite or steal your food...saw that happen too), and just jumping around the summit of the Rock was pretty cool. There were some ruins apart from the cable car station that were pretty fun to walk and climb around in, providing some damn good shots of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. I even climbed up on a 9' wall to take a picture of Gibraltar and the coast of Africa...I think it was Morocco, but I can't be sure. Anyway, that is something that must be seen with one's own eyes to believe...or just look at my pictures once I get back. My little group decided to hike down the Rock for the hell of it and it turned out to be a good choice. Coming around a bend we came upon some old British artillery pieces, though I couldn't tell ya from what era. They looked like big naval guns dug into the hillside, and we took some very fun pictures with them. We also may or may not have scribbled on one of the guns with names and the year and whatnot :P Finding our way off the Rock, we joined up with some classmates in a restaurant called Piccadilly's and I finally had a meal I could truly enjoy: a ham panini and garlic bread. Scrumptious! You can't imagine how much I miss real sandwiches. Sheesh.
We only spent the afternoon in Gibraltar, seeing as how it is only a small town and our hotel was actually several hours away, so we jumped back on the bus (my group was slightly tardy to the meeting place...oops) and headed Northeast to some small pueblo en Malaga. The hotel was pretty baller, and it was just up the street from the beach. So we threw down our stuff in the hotel (and were promptly shocked by our room...it was huge! I didn't think European hotels made them like that, minus suites for presidents and movie stars and whatnot) and prepared to go out for the night. Anyway, that plan turned out to be a bust, so about half of us went down the beach and walked along the edge of the water 'til we came to the jetty marking the end of the beach. I figured it'd be fun to walk to the end of the jetty (mind you, barefoot and in the dark down to the end of an all rock jetty) and I guess my adventurous spirit convinced the people with me to come to. They all made it out without injury and all agreed it was worth it once we all sat down. I felt as nimble as a mountain goat hopping from rock to rock without worry while everyone else was very careful and timid. We called it a night shortly thereafter.
Saturday morning we went to the caves of Nerja which were very beautiful. Made me understand the beauty of Nature versus that of Man, and I may have decided that there was no architecture created by Man that could rival that of Mother Nature. Las cuevas de Nerja (the caves) also contain the largest naturally-formed central column in the world. No kidding, they have a plaque saying it's in the Guinness Book. It was astounding. My pictures couldn't do anything near justice to the immenseness of that column, or to any of the rock formations in the caves really. But alas, c'est la vie. You shoot what you can, and hope it comes out alright (which probably would have happened if I had realized that I could take better pictures by changing the aspect ratio on my camera...but NOOOOoooo I didn't find that out 'til Ronda on Sunday). After the caves, the bus took us into the pueblo of Nerja to the Balcon de Europa. This is an absolutely gorgeous place set on some cliffs overlooking some magnificent beaches and looking over the Mediterranean. I took a lot of pictures there too. Couldn't help myself, so most of the pictures might look a lot alike :) After, we returned to our hotel and most of us hit the ocean again. There was a big grouping of rocks about 200m out from shore so most of us decided to swim out to it. Initially, it was only 4 of us, and we had some difficulty with our first assessment of how to scale the rocks (I bashed my knee and one of the girls had a finger snapped by something...). The second group had much more success, so I got a good deal of exercise swimming back out and climbing up. The rock was very nice actually, and we all got a pretty fun picture from it. Check it out on Facebook. We concluded the evening with some pool time to wash off the sand, then drinking, dinner at a local cafeteria (I had a delectable pizza margharita) and then a few hours of Asshole with a side of more drinking (Be warned: That game can get slightly vicious if played while drinking. I kept becoming the Asshole on dumb rules too...) Some people decided to go out but I was feeling slightly unhappy about the card game so I decided to pass out in my room.
Woke up very well rested Sunday morning, and our group caught the bus to our next destination: Ronda. Now, Ronda is another small pueblo, but one with some very BIG attractions. That's both literal and figurative. In fact, the big attraction is a man-made bridge that spans over a GIGANTIC gorge at least 1000 feet deep. And it's man-made all the way from the bottom, brick by brick all the way up. I have no idea how anyone can figure out how to do that kind of construction when I used to have so much trouble with my Legos. But the fact is it was a marvelous sight to behold. Plus, the absolutely magnificent landscapes shots I was able to take helped a lot. I spent my time in Ronda with my friends Dino and Kathryn, and before descending into the gorge (Dino took a lot of convincing from Kathryn and me) we sat down at a lovely little Churreria (a churro joint). Now, this was my first authentic Spanish churro, and it was delectable! Imagine a funnel cake without the sugar, and now imagine every piece being ripped off dipped in thick amazing hot chocolate. That's what I got to eat. Probably lost a year off my life for every bite I took, but I consider those years well-wasted. After our heavenly churro experience, we had to do a bit of searching to find the gap in the wall (Stardust allusion anyone?) to descend. Fortunately, it didn't take us too long, and we were on our way into the gorge. The winding path was pretty and afforded us some breathtaking views of the landscape, but it wasn't until we were about halfway down that we got some truly wonderful shots of the bridge. Plus, I got to talk to a kind German woman to take a picture for us, so I considered it a successful descent. One of us (probably Dino) checked a watch and realized we had to head back to the bus, so we regretfully turned our backs to the views and climbed back up, though I think there was at least one more picture taken along the way. We picked up some postcards back in town, met up with our group, and headed back to the bus. Of course, our director Wayne didn't know Ronda, so we ended up getting lost and taking a few wrong turns, but we made it to the bus more or less on time, and returned to Sevilla content with a successful and beautiful weekend.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
What a Wonderfully Welcome Weekend
First things first. Damn that was a great weekend!
Okay, now that that's out, here's how it went down. Saturday the whole program went to Cordoba, a very old Spanish city (possibly built by the Romans?) north of Sevilla. After that, some of us went to a Sevilla FC football match (and I mean real football, not the pansy American kind). Finally, on Sunday, a group of us caught a bus to the coast and spent the day in the beachtown of Cadiz.
But what kind of post would this be without details?
Cordoba was an absolutely gorgeous city. Situated closer to the source of the Guadalquivir River that also runs through Sevilla, Cordoba flanks the river with its majestic and predominately Islamic and Judeo architecture (ignoring the modern stuff like cranes and Burger Kings). We first went to an old decomissioned synagogue (do you decomission something like a temple? Or does it just stop getting used?) I doffed my cap, and almost felt awkward walking in without a yamalcha. San Fernando started talking about the history of that particular synagogue (none of which I particularly remember) and then went into the architecture. It's really cool, because there were 15 windows in the upper walls (none in the East Wall, I never did find out why) and 3 of them in the West Wall were closed up. The remaining 12 open windows signify the 12 Tribes of Israel. I really thought that was cool. Took a bunch of pictures that should explain the rest, if I can remember when I post them...
After that, we strolled through some quaint Spanish alleyways, took a quick stop in a small plaza filled with the scent of fresh flowers, and then moved on to the Mezquita (mosque in Spanish). This is the Mezquita mayor (Major Mosque...kinda like how most Italian cities have their own Duomos? Similar deal) and it was serious. Somewhere around 1,000 years old, this place had been added to several times by various Muslim rulers and Christian kings. Now it's practically the size of the Vatican, but I would wager prettier. The Mezquita had been converted from a mosque to a cathedral after the Christians retook Cordoba under the reign of Fernando III, aka San Fernando (no relation to our guide and teacher). I took an absurd amount of pictures while I was there, and there are no words to describe the simple magnificence of that temple. But what the hell, I'll give it a shot. When we entered, directly in front of us was a 20' tall altar with paintings of Jesus and Mary. But that wasn't the impressive bit. Fully entering into the original portion of la Mezquita, you stare out at hundreds of archs, all held aloft by marble columns with different heads. Even the feet of the columns were different, some higher or lower, or with different designs, but every one of the archs was the same. They were beautiful and they ran the length and breadth of the entire building. We continued around that amazing place with its alternating red and grey marble columns, finding the original Islamic decorations either subverted for Christian use or redone. There was relatively little of the original decor, but the ceiling in certain parts was. Let me tell you, apart from a ceiling painted by Michaelangelo, I have never seen anything like it. And it was merely designed and carved and lightly gilded, not painted. Easily the most beautiful ceiling I've ever seen (and I'm talking about a ceiling here, imagine the rest of this place). The Christian portions of the Mezquita were equally as beautiful, though more brazen and pompous in its beauty. Whereas the original Islamic portions had mind-boggling geometric designs, flowing scripts and simple beauty in their choice of marble columns and archs, the Christian additions were carved and sculpted and gilded and ornate to the extreme. The domes were done in pure white marble with carvings everywhere of angels and cherubs etc. There was just too much to take in with the naked eye. Good thing I had my camera.
The craziest part about that place was how it made me feel. Now don't go jumping to conclusions that I had some crazy religious experience...This was something more terretrial, closer to the earth and stone of that place. Brushing a pillar, I'd feel a little shiver go down my back. Holding my hand to one (which, after the first time, I did everytime we paused) my heartrate jacked up, my breath came fast, and I felt like I wasn't quite locked into that Time anymore...like if I concentrated really hard, I'd be able to open my eyes and see the Mezquita as it was 500, 800, 1000 years ago, people and all. I even knelt down to touch the floor and I nearly fell over from that sensation. It was the weirdest thing, and I felt it even as I left, even as I became surrounded with the trappings of modernity again. That overwhelming sense of history...of life, power, hope, dreams, faith, awe...as if every sensation of all the people who have passed through there was somehow gathered and collected between the tall stone arches. It took at least 20 minutes and at least a quarter mile of distance before I felt that feeling subside...and I was both thankful and disappointed when I later returned and sat next to the outer wall.
Anyway, after we left the Mezquita we were given a few hours of free time, to do with what we would. Some of us went exploring, some of us went looking for food (myself included), some went shopping. Most of us generally stayed around the Mezquita for until it was time to find the bus, mainly because Cordoba is a veritable warren of small alleys and sidestreets that anyone inexperienced with the city would quickly lose themselves in. My little group decided to try picking up some souvenirs, I picked up some postcards, Chris got a shotglass, and that was about it. We returned the bus to happily nap on en route home.
Saturday night, although not as majestic, was equally superb. We returned to Sevilla and those of us headed to the Sevilla FC match decided to hold 8pm Drinking Club a little early, in order to prepare for the game. So we drank a little, talked a little, then headed off to dinner. We were initially going to this place called Wok, an all-you-can-eat buffet for 12 euro, but it was closed (false advertising bastards). So we finally ended up at a little Chinese place across the street from our building where the food was cheap but rightfully so. Not the most pleasant Chinese food experience. After that, we retired to the park again before the game for a bit, then headed out into Nervion to the stadium. Got there, I ducked into the Team Shop, bought myself a killer shirt and a scarf for mi hermano to give him when I get back, we all got our tickets and then spent the next 15 minutes searching around the Visitor's Section of the stands for our seats (apparently true Sevillan fans splurge more than 35 euro for seats...though we wouldn't). The game was a victory for Sevilla, though they scared the crap out of us when they went down 2-0 in the first twenty minutes (all because Konko got beat twice on the same lousy move. Pitiful). The final score was 4-3 and we happily marched home victorious.
Sunday morning came very early for some of us, especially after the very long day before. Chris and I got up at 8 and hurried our butts down to the bus station. Fortunately, it's only about a 15 minute walk, so we were in good shape. Loaded up on the bus, and half of us promptly fell asleep again. When we woke, we were in sunny beautiful Cadiz. For your North Carolina people, the Myrtle Beach of Spain (least that's how we figured it...). We got there relatively early, so we managed to snag some decent spots on the beach. What we didn't know was that it was also the one-day-only Aero Festival de Cadiz, their big yearly (I'm guessing) air show. Now I won't say it wasn't impressive (it was, very much so) but most of us just wanted the absurdly loud jets to shut up and go away so we could go back to lounging peacefully on the strand and in the warm water. We spent all day there, filling our hours with some beach futbol, lunch in a local restaurant, or just jamming out to a mini-iPod speaker system. A very relaxing and lovely day was had by all, until we left. We got on the bus, which was quite full, and some people sat down in whatever seats were available and some people began freaking out about not sitting in their assigned seats (all of them women...not to make any judgements, just an observation). Of course, in the end, I was the guy led off the bus without a seat. Then again, I actually had the best end of the deal. I was put on the very next bus which was fairly empty, so I got to stretch out across my seats, and we ended up getting back to Sevilla before the other bus.
Overall, not too bad a weekend for any of us, though some of us had to use siesta yesterday to do some serious catching up on sleep. This coming weekend a group of us are headed to Gibraltar, and I'm very excited about that trip too.
For everyone back home keeping up with this, I miss and love you all. For all my Carolina readers, know that I miss you too, and I keep getting pangs of homesickness for our beautiful campus. Despite the beauty in Spain, there is no place more beautiful than Carolina with my friends.
Okay, now that that's out, here's how it went down. Saturday the whole program went to Cordoba, a very old Spanish city (possibly built by the Romans?) north of Sevilla. After that, some of us went to a Sevilla FC football match (and I mean real football, not the pansy American kind). Finally, on Sunday, a group of us caught a bus to the coast and spent the day in the beachtown of Cadiz.
But what kind of post would this be without details?
Cordoba was an absolutely gorgeous city. Situated closer to the source of the Guadalquivir River that also runs through Sevilla, Cordoba flanks the river with its majestic and predominately Islamic and Judeo architecture (ignoring the modern stuff like cranes and Burger Kings). We first went to an old decomissioned synagogue (do you decomission something like a temple? Or does it just stop getting used?) I doffed my cap, and almost felt awkward walking in without a yamalcha. San Fernando started talking about the history of that particular synagogue (none of which I particularly remember) and then went into the architecture. It's really cool, because there were 15 windows in the upper walls (none in the East Wall, I never did find out why) and 3 of them in the West Wall were closed up. The remaining 12 open windows signify the 12 Tribes of Israel. I really thought that was cool. Took a bunch of pictures that should explain the rest, if I can remember when I post them...
After that, we strolled through some quaint Spanish alleyways, took a quick stop in a small plaza filled with the scent of fresh flowers, and then moved on to the Mezquita (mosque in Spanish). This is the Mezquita mayor (Major Mosque...kinda like how most Italian cities have their own Duomos? Similar deal) and it was serious. Somewhere around 1,000 years old, this place had been added to several times by various Muslim rulers and Christian kings. Now it's practically the size of the Vatican, but I would wager prettier. The Mezquita had been converted from a mosque to a cathedral after the Christians retook Cordoba under the reign of Fernando III, aka San Fernando (no relation to our guide and teacher). I took an absurd amount of pictures while I was there, and there are no words to describe the simple magnificence of that temple. But what the hell, I'll give it a shot. When we entered, directly in front of us was a 20' tall altar with paintings of Jesus and Mary. But that wasn't the impressive bit. Fully entering into the original portion of la Mezquita, you stare out at hundreds of archs, all held aloft by marble columns with different heads. Even the feet of the columns were different, some higher or lower, or with different designs, but every one of the archs was the same. They were beautiful and they ran the length and breadth of the entire building. We continued around that amazing place with its alternating red and grey marble columns, finding the original Islamic decorations either subverted for Christian use or redone. There was relatively little of the original decor, but the ceiling in certain parts was. Let me tell you, apart from a ceiling painted by Michaelangelo, I have never seen anything like it. And it was merely designed and carved and lightly gilded, not painted. Easily the most beautiful ceiling I've ever seen (and I'm talking about a ceiling here, imagine the rest of this place). The Christian portions of the Mezquita were equally as beautiful, though more brazen and pompous in its beauty. Whereas the original Islamic portions had mind-boggling geometric designs, flowing scripts and simple beauty in their choice of marble columns and archs, the Christian additions were carved and sculpted and gilded and ornate to the extreme. The domes were done in pure white marble with carvings everywhere of angels and cherubs etc. There was just too much to take in with the naked eye. Good thing I had my camera.
The craziest part about that place was how it made me feel. Now don't go jumping to conclusions that I had some crazy religious experience...This was something more terretrial, closer to the earth and stone of that place. Brushing a pillar, I'd feel a little shiver go down my back. Holding my hand to one (which, after the first time, I did everytime we paused) my heartrate jacked up, my breath came fast, and I felt like I wasn't quite locked into that Time anymore...like if I concentrated really hard, I'd be able to open my eyes and see the Mezquita as it was 500, 800, 1000 years ago, people and all. I even knelt down to touch the floor and I nearly fell over from that sensation. It was the weirdest thing, and I felt it even as I left, even as I became surrounded with the trappings of modernity again. That overwhelming sense of history...of life, power, hope, dreams, faith, awe...as if every sensation of all the people who have passed through there was somehow gathered and collected between the tall stone arches. It took at least 20 minutes and at least a quarter mile of distance before I felt that feeling subside...and I was both thankful and disappointed when I later returned and sat next to the outer wall.
Anyway, after we left the Mezquita we were given a few hours of free time, to do with what we would. Some of us went exploring, some of us went looking for food (myself included), some went shopping. Most of us generally stayed around the Mezquita for until it was time to find the bus, mainly because Cordoba is a veritable warren of small alleys and sidestreets that anyone inexperienced with the city would quickly lose themselves in. My little group decided to try picking up some souvenirs, I picked up some postcards, Chris got a shotglass, and that was about it. We returned the bus to happily nap on en route home.
Saturday night, although not as majestic, was equally superb. We returned to Sevilla and those of us headed to the Sevilla FC match decided to hold 8pm Drinking Club a little early, in order to prepare for the game. So we drank a little, talked a little, then headed off to dinner. We were initially going to this place called Wok, an all-you-can-eat buffet for 12 euro, but it was closed (false advertising bastards). So we finally ended up at a little Chinese place across the street from our building where the food was cheap but rightfully so. Not the most pleasant Chinese food experience. After that, we retired to the park again before the game for a bit, then headed out into Nervion to the stadium. Got there, I ducked into the Team Shop, bought myself a killer shirt and a scarf for mi hermano to give him when I get back, we all got our tickets and then spent the next 15 minutes searching around the Visitor's Section of the stands for our seats (apparently true Sevillan fans splurge more than 35 euro for seats...though we wouldn't). The game was a victory for Sevilla, though they scared the crap out of us when they went down 2-0 in the first twenty minutes (all because Konko got beat twice on the same lousy move. Pitiful). The final score was 4-3 and we happily marched home victorious.
Sunday morning came very early for some of us, especially after the very long day before. Chris and I got up at 8 and hurried our butts down to the bus station. Fortunately, it's only about a 15 minute walk, so we were in good shape. Loaded up on the bus, and half of us promptly fell asleep again. When we woke, we were in sunny beautiful Cadiz. For your North Carolina people, the Myrtle Beach of Spain (least that's how we figured it...). We got there relatively early, so we managed to snag some decent spots on the beach. What we didn't know was that it was also the one-day-only Aero Festival de Cadiz, their big yearly (I'm guessing) air show. Now I won't say it wasn't impressive (it was, very much so) but most of us just wanted the absurdly loud jets to shut up and go away so we could go back to lounging peacefully on the strand and in the warm water. We spent all day there, filling our hours with some beach futbol, lunch in a local restaurant, or just jamming out to a mini-iPod speaker system. A very relaxing and lovely day was had by all, until we left. We got on the bus, which was quite full, and some people sat down in whatever seats were available and some people began freaking out about not sitting in their assigned seats (all of them women...not to make any judgements, just an observation). Of course, in the end, I was the guy led off the bus without a seat. Then again, I actually had the best end of the deal. I was put on the very next bus which was fairly empty, so I got to stretch out across my seats, and we ended up getting back to Sevilla before the other bus.
Overall, not too bad a weekend for any of us, though some of us had to use siesta yesterday to do some serious catching up on sleep. This coming weekend a group of us are headed to Gibraltar, and I'm very excited about that trip too.
For everyone back home keeping up with this, I miss and love you all. For all my Carolina readers, know that I miss you too, and I keep getting pangs of homesickness for our beautiful campus. Despite the beauty in Spain, there is no place more beautiful than Carolina with my friends.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Bienal Flamenco
Flamenco. Everyone has heard of flamenco. Well, I had the distinct pleasure to view some on Wednesday night. That evening was the inaugural opening ceremony of Bienal Flamenco, generally a month-long Flamenco festival here in Sevilla. What this means is that nearly every bar with floor space will have, at one point or another, flamenco music playing, and if those there are very lucky, someone will bust out in some spontaneous flamenco dancing. It actually happened during the performance at one point...but I'll get to that.
Anyway, the concert was an open-air event in la Plaza de San Francisco. It was also free and starring Christina Hoyos and some serious big name guitarists, so it was packed to the gills. We got there a half hour early and barely got spots. Some friends were there an hour before us and managed to get seats but they were way off in the wings, so I think I might have had a better vantage point anyway. I was located just right of center with my friends JoAnn and Samantha, though we were quite distant and trying to peer through an ever-shifting crowd is no easy task. All of our calves got very good workouts that night.
So the show started just after 22 horas (10 PM) with a guitar solo by the honored guest guitarist. I never did find out his name, but he had some of the most impressive and certainly fastest picking I've heard performed on a guitar. And mind you, I've listened to Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. After that, an all-female choral group drew the spotlight. And this wasn't just an ordinary choral group. This group only sang in Moorish (definite Robin Hood moment). And the first song, which I was lucky enough to catch on camera though I haven't actually checked the quality of the video, was really cool. I wasn't much impressed with the songs they put on later in the show, but the first one was something else.
But these were not the highlights of the show, leastways not for me. The best parts were the three actualy flamenco dance pieces. I was very disappointed there were only 3, but I hope to increase that with visiting some flamenco bars in the near future. Anyway, the first of the three performances was that of Christina Hoyos. I believe a little background is in order, considering most of my readers probably know about as much about flamenco as I do, which is to say nearly nothing. All of this information was provided to me by a very nice professorial man who could or could not be local, I couldn't actually tell, who spoke nearly unaccented English. Christina Hoyos is 60 years old, and until only a few years ago, was the premier dancer of Sevillana Flamenco. She is famous for her hand movements, which I can say is unbelievable. It was like she didn't have bones in her wrists and they moved so quickly and smoothly. It was hypnotic. Anyway, the woman is retired, and a few years ago had her own battle with breast cancer. And she's still dancing today. Craziness! Her performance was done to a relatively slow beat for flamenco, but it was a haunting and beautiful performance.
The second performer was a definite drama king. The guy came out wearing a leather suit and red shirt/red tie. His performance, however, was sweet. It was a much faster and more violent dance than Sra. Hoyos, and I never realized that Flamenco had a tapping aspect. This guy tapped like Gene Kelly...okay, maybe not exactly like Gene Kelly, but it was still impressive. Plus when he ripped off his jacket and still proceeded to do crazy tap combinations to shouts of "Ole!" from the crowd it was a lot of fun to watch.
The final performer was more of a diva than either Sra. Hoyos or the second guy. Of course, he was very talented, so I guess he's earned it?...Naw. I had stopped by the plaza the day before the performance and watched them setup and rehearse and such and that guy just bitched and complained about lighting. Anyway, his performance was a pleasant mix of the two preceeding his. Generally slower, it had portions that were fast and violent and exciting. Not too bad for the last man on.
Overall, I'd say it was a very exciting introduction to the world of Flamenco. Apparently my senora also dances it, so I'm going to try finding someplace to take some lessons or something. If not, there's a karate place down the street and I'll take up Tai Chi. Those are similar right?
Anyway, the concert was an open-air event in la Plaza de San Francisco. It was also free and starring Christina Hoyos and some serious big name guitarists, so it was packed to the gills. We got there a half hour early and barely got spots. Some friends were there an hour before us and managed to get seats but they were way off in the wings, so I think I might have had a better vantage point anyway. I was located just right of center with my friends JoAnn and Samantha, though we were quite distant and trying to peer through an ever-shifting crowd is no easy task. All of our calves got very good workouts that night.
So the show started just after 22 horas (10 PM) with a guitar solo by the honored guest guitarist. I never did find out his name, but he had some of the most impressive and certainly fastest picking I've heard performed on a guitar. And mind you, I've listened to Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. After that, an all-female choral group drew the spotlight. And this wasn't just an ordinary choral group. This group only sang in Moorish (definite Robin Hood moment). And the first song, which I was lucky enough to catch on camera though I haven't actually checked the quality of the video, was really cool. I wasn't much impressed with the songs they put on later in the show, but the first one was something else.
But these were not the highlights of the show, leastways not for me. The best parts were the three actualy flamenco dance pieces. I was very disappointed there were only 3, but I hope to increase that with visiting some flamenco bars in the near future. Anyway, the first of the three performances was that of Christina Hoyos. I believe a little background is in order, considering most of my readers probably know about as much about flamenco as I do, which is to say nearly nothing. All of this information was provided to me by a very nice professorial man who could or could not be local, I couldn't actually tell, who spoke nearly unaccented English. Christina Hoyos is 60 years old, and until only a few years ago, was the premier dancer of Sevillana Flamenco. She is famous for her hand movements, which I can say is unbelievable. It was like she didn't have bones in her wrists and they moved so quickly and smoothly. It was hypnotic. Anyway, the woman is retired, and a few years ago had her own battle with breast cancer. And she's still dancing today. Craziness! Her performance was done to a relatively slow beat for flamenco, but it was a haunting and beautiful performance.
The second performer was a definite drama king. The guy came out wearing a leather suit and red shirt/red tie. His performance, however, was sweet. It was a much faster and more violent dance than Sra. Hoyos, and I never realized that Flamenco had a tapping aspect. This guy tapped like Gene Kelly...okay, maybe not exactly like Gene Kelly, but it was still impressive. Plus when he ripped off his jacket and still proceeded to do crazy tap combinations to shouts of "Ole!" from the crowd it was a lot of fun to watch.
The final performer was more of a diva than either Sra. Hoyos or the second guy. Of course, he was very talented, so I guess he's earned it?...Naw. I had stopped by the plaza the day before the performance and watched them setup and rehearse and such and that guy just bitched and complained about lighting. Anyway, his performance was a pleasant mix of the two preceeding his. Generally slower, it had portions that were fast and violent and exciting. Not too bad for the last man on.
Overall, I'd say it was a very exciting introduction to the world of Flamenco. Apparently my senora also dances it, so I'm going to try finding someplace to take some lessons or something. If not, there's a karate place down the street and I'll take up Tai Chi. Those are similar right?
Friday, September 5, 2008
Historical Awesomeness
OKay, so the last three days have just been chockful of good happenings and fun places. I mentioned that my program would have some excursions. One on Thursday, one Friday, and unfortunately a third one Saturday that was canceled due to rain (seriously! The day of our beach trip it rains in southern Spain. Talk about Murphey's law.)
Alright, so yesterday, our art and culture professor Fernando (adoringly referred to as ´Nando or San Fernando by some of us) took us to Real Alcázar Gardens, which happen to be the personal playground of the Spanish Royal Family. No, seriously, the public gardens are owned by the Royal Family. They kick everyone out if they´re visiting. Well, to start off with, it´s gorgeous. I mean jaw-dropping spectacular gardens. I just wish all of the fountains had been operating and flowers blooming and such, but I guess it is the end of a southern Spanish summer and they don´t have a whole lot of water, even for the royal family. Anyway, with Nando as our guide, we get in a super special secret backdoor. We just walk right under the gigantic wall covered in ivy. The gate had it´s own modern version of a portcullis and everything. So as we walked along, there were some very gigantic and impressive gates and this one cool little arch through the inner wall. Reminded me of a giant royal doggie door. This is all photographed and the pictures will hit the internet at some point in my life. When we finally entered the complex after our lovely but brief stroll through the garden (with it's very own Royal peacock), it was through an absolutely gigantic gateway. Must've been 50 or 60 feet tall. So cool! In the first hall we explored, they had some serious tapestries (I kept thinking Indiana Jones. "This is a castle is it not? It must have tapestries!") and some even cooler decorative tiling. Also, I was fascinated by the beautifully carved doors separating the halls. Probably a much more recent addition though...So in the second hall there was a large tapestry of a map of the Mediterranean and the surrounding lands. What's cool was that it was "upside-down". South was up and North was down, and this is the only map in Europe with such an orientation. What's more, there were trade routes AND winds dilineated in very clear red and black lines throughout the entire map. I think I took probably 10 pictures of the map alone. We thence proceeded into the private chapel, for personal use by the royalty and aristocracy in times of yore. Had it's own small harpsichord/piano/organ thing and a small confessional. I was really really tempted to sit in it but it was roped off :( O well. I probably would've been smoted anyway. So we leave the hall and exit onto a enormous plaza with a big wall running through it. The wall separated the personal portion of the grounds from the portion usually reserved for, well, judges and the seedier elements of society sentenced in las salas de justicia ("rooms of justice"). From there, we went into the "cooling room". It was a medium-sized domed room with a little fountain in the center and benches on the walls, the theory being that listening to water psyches you into thinking you're cooler during the sweltering hours of the day. From there, back to the square. Interesting fact, the four sides of the plaza are actually examples of four different styles of architecture, those being 1, 2, 3, and 4 (you honestly expect me to remember them with all this other cool knowledge?). We proceeded into what was the royal audience chamber, used for discussions and sentencing and diplomatic announcements, what have you. There were some very interesting paintings decorating the walls, including one big one that was basically "historical fiction" in paint. Very cool. We went into another room with some cool flags and an interesting altar thing that I can't remember anything about, but I will once I post the pictures with some captions. Continuing along our tour of Real Alcazar, we entered a portion of the building with distinct Muslim influences in the decor. Grand mozaic tilings covered the floors and walls and the sheer artwork and size was astonishing. Anyway, I'm getting a little bored writing about Real Alcazar considering I've been picking at this post for 3 days now, so I'm going to start talking about the archaeological museum.
Aso, Friday afternoon Nando took my group (Group B that is) to the local archaeological museum, which I believe he said was the second biggest in the country behind the main museum in Madrid. The bottom level was closed for renovations but the first floor was filled with some pretty killer Roman artifacts. The first room had a bunch of salvaged sculptures, generally of snarling lions that looked frightening even frozen as marble. Think Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe except Aslan got frozen midroar. The next room had some very cool tools, like axes and pliers and other metallic objects I can't remember. I liked the axe heads though. They were cool. From there, we were all impressed by some more serious mozaics. These things covered entire walls of the musem. Imagine putting together a puzzle 50' x 30', knowing the general lay out, but where none of the pieces actually click together or resemble anything in particular. There were some really cool geometric patterned ones and also some with faces, including the Roman God of Wine and Spirits, can't remember the fellow's name. But remember, if you're looking at something Roman and there's a guy with grapevines around his head, it's probably this guy. Next came some seriously awesome sculptures. There were gods and emperors and warriors and philosophers, all sculpted to be biologically accurate, or as close to it. There was a sculpture of Mercury (he's the messenger God right? The Roman version of Hermes? I can't keep them straight anymore) that was some pretty sweet stuff. The muscles were flexed and even the Gluteus Maximus was raised on one side as Mercury was moving forward. I just liked his winged ankles. They were neat :) The museum tour ended with one of the first sarcophagi crafted after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. There were also a lot of really neat Christian "crosses". Before the acceptance of Christianity, worshippers couldn't openly signify Jesus Christ or God or the cross, etc. So the design became a six pointed cross, with the Greek letters alpha and omega flanking the center axis. I never really understood why God was referred to as the Alpha and Omega, but seeing as how they are the Beginning and End of the Greek alphabet, it guess the symbolism makes sense. I also took a picture of a what appeared to be jade baptismal altar, though I don't think it was actually jade, merely green.
Saturday's trip was supposed to be to the ruins of Italica and after to the beach. Unfortunately, on the most anticipated trip of our short stay thus far, wouldn't you know, it had to rain. This part of the country sees rain maybe 30 or 40 times a year, and it had to do it on our day, through most of the day. Grumblegrumblegrumble We managed to walk through the amphitheater at Italica for a while before the rain was too bad and it was impressive architecture. Like the Colisseum in Rome, the Italica amphitheater was the site of gladiator battles; man vs. man, man vs. beast, or beast vs. tasty persecuted Christian. It was several stories tall, with 3 tiers for spectators and a subterranean level for the battle participants. It could seat 25,000 spectators, nearly the entire population of Italica, which was one of the largest Roman cities on the Iberian peninsula. 30,000 people. Those Romans knew what they were about when it came to entertaining the populace. I shudder to think what they would have done had they had television. We were just leaving the amphitheater to inspect the rest of the ruins when the rain really started coming down, so we hid under some trees and then made a mad dash to the souvenir store terrace. I was wearing my rope sandals in preparation for the beach and they are the most uncomfortable and smelly things when they're sodden. They've been drying on my window sill ever since.
Though we didn't get to go to the beach, I went and saw Mamma Mia with some friends. It was, of course, dubbed over, but all the songs were in English. Overall, I liked the film, but Pierce Brosnan really needs to stop singing. I cringed everytime he opened his mouth fearing another attempt at vocal murder. Dramatic ande exaggerated? Not in the slightest.
And thus starts another week, but hopefully one in which a soccer ball and wireless router enter in, so with some luck, it will be interesting. Also, Chris and I have decided to stop frequenting BigNeb's and start exploring some more. It's time to move out of the comfort zone. Andale!
Alright, so yesterday, our art and culture professor Fernando (adoringly referred to as ´Nando or San Fernando by some of us) took us to Real Alcázar Gardens, which happen to be the personal playground of the Spanish Royal Family. No, seriously, the public gardens are owned by the Royal Family. They kick everyone out if they´re visiting. Well, to start off with, it´s gorgeous. I mean jaw-dropping spectacular gardens. I just wish all of the fountains had been operating and flowers blooming and such, but I guess it is the end of a southern Spanish summer and they don´t have a whole lot of water, even for the royal family. Anyway, with Nando as our guide, we get in a super special secret backdoor. We just walk right under the gigantic wall covered in ivy. The gate had it´s own modern version of a portcullis and everything. So as we walked along, there were some very gigantic and impressive gates and this one cool little arch through the inner wall. Reminded me of a giant royal doggie door. This is all photographed and the pictures will hit the internet at some point in my life. When we finally entered the complex after our lovely but brief stroll through the garden (with it's very own Royal peacock), it was through an absolutely gigantic gateway. Must've been 50 or 60 feet tall. So cool! In the first hall we explored, they had some serious tapestries (I kept thinking Indiana Jones. "This is a castle is it not? It must have tapestries!") and some even cooler decorative tiling. Also, I was fascinated by the beautifully carved doors separating the halls. Probably a much more recent addition though...So in the second hall there was a large tapestry of a map of the Mediterranean and the surrounding lands. What's cool was that it was "upside-down". South was up and North was down, and this is the only map in Europe with such an orientation. What's more, there were trade routes AND winds dilineated in very clear red and black lines throughout the entire map. I think I took probably 10 pictures of the map alone. We thence proceeded into the private chapel, for personal use by the royalty and aristocracy in times of yore. Had it's own small harpsichord/piano/organ thing and a small confessional. I was really really tempted to sit in it but it was roped off :( O well. I probably would've been smoted anyway. So we leave the hall and exit onto a enormous plaza with a big wall running through it. The wall separated the personal portion of the grounds from the portion usually reserved for, well, judges and the seedier elements of society sentenced in las salas de justicia ("rooms of justice"). From there, we went into the "cooling room". It was a medium-sized domed room with a little fountain in the center and benches on the walls, the theory being that listening to water psyches you into thinking you're cooler during the sweltering hours of the day. From there, back to the square. Interesting fact, the four sides of the plaza are actually examples of four different styles of architecture, those being 1, 2, 3, and 4 (you honestly expect me to remember them with all this other cool knowledge?). We proceeded into what was the royal audience chamber, used for discussions and sentencing and diplomatic announcements, what have you. There were some very interesting paintings decorating the walls, including one big one that was basically "historical fiction" in paint. Very cool. We went into another room with some cool flags and an interesting altar thing that I can't remember anything about, but I will once I post the pictures with some captions. Continuing along our tour of Real Alcazar, we entered a portion of the building with distinct Muslim influences in the decor. Grand mozaic tilings covered the floors and walls and the sheer artwork and size was astonishing. Anyway, I'm getting a little bored writing about Real Alcazar considering I've been picking at this post for 3 days now, so I'm going to start talking about the archaeological museum.
Aso, Friday afternoon Nando took my group (Group B that is) to the local archaeological museum, which I believe he said was the second biggest in the country behind the main museum in Madrid. The bottom level was closed for renovations but the first floor was filled with some pretty killer Roman artifacts. The first room had a bunch of salvaged sculptures, generally of snarling lions that looked frightening even frozen as marble. Think Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe except Aslan got frozen midroar. The next room had some very cool tools, like axes and pliers and other metallic objects I can't remember. I liked the axe heads though. They were cool. From there, we were all impressed by some more serious mozaics. These things covered entire walls of the musem. Imagine putting together a puzzle 50' x 30', knowing the general lay out, but where none of the pieces actually click together or resemble anything in particular. There were some really cool geometric patterned ones and also some with faces, including the Roman God of Wine and Spirits, can't remember the fellow's name. But remember, if you're looking at something Roman and there's a guy with grapevines around his head, it's probably this guy. Next came some seriously awesome sculptures. There were gods and emperors and warriors and philosophers, all sculpted to be biologically accurate, or as close to it. There was a sculpture of Mercury (he's the messenger God right? The Roman version of Hermes? I can't keep them straight anymore) that was some pretty sweet stuff. The muscles were flexed and even the Gluteus Maximus was raised on one side as Mercury was moving forward. I just liked his winged ankles. They were neat :) The museum tour ended with one of the first sarcophagi crafted after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. There were also a lot of really neat Christian "crosses". Before the acceptance of Christianity, worshippers couldn't openly signify Jesus Christ or God or the cross, etc. So the design became a six pointed cross, with the Greek letters alpha and omega flanking the center axis. I never really understood why God was referred to as the Alpha and Omega, but seeing as how they are the Beginning and End of the Greek alphabet, it guess the symbolism makes sense. I also took a picture of a what appeared to be jade baptismal altar, though I don't think it was actually jade, merely green.
Saturday's trip was supposed to be to the ruins of Italica and after to the beach. Unfortunately, on the most anticipated trip of our short stay thus far, wouldn't you know, it had to rain. This part of the country sees rain maybe 30 or 40 times a year, and it had to do it on our day, through most of the day. Grumblegrumblegrumble We managed to walk through the amphitheater at Italica for a while before the rain was too bad and it was impressive architecture. Like the Colisseum in Rome, the Italica amphitheater was the site of gladiator battles; man vs. man, man vs. beast, or beast vs. tasty persecuted Christian. It was several stories tall, with 3 tiers for spectators and a subterranean level for the battle participants. It could seat 25,000 spectators, nearly the entire population of Italica, which was one of the largest Roman cities on the Iberian peninsula. 30,000 people. Those Romans knew what they were about when it came to entertaining the populace. I shudder to think what they would have done had they had television. We were just leaving the amphitheater to inspect the rest of the ruins when the rain really started coming down, so we hid under some trees and then made a mad dash to the souvenir store terrace. I was wearing my rope sandals in preparation for the beach and they are the most uncomfortable and smelly things when they're sodden. They've been drying on my window sill ever since.
Though we didn't get to go to the beach, I went and saw Mamma Mia with some friends. It was, of course, dubbed over, but all the songs were in English. Overall, I liked the film, but Pierce Brosnan really needs to stop singing. I cringed everytime he opened his mouth fearing another attempt at vocal murder. Dramatic ande exaggerated? Not in the slightest.
And thus starts another week, but hopefully one in which a soccer ball and wireless router enter in, so with some luck, it will be interesting. Also, Chris and I have decided to stop frequenting BigNeb's and start exploring some more. It's time to move out of the comfort zone. Andale!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Start of Classes
Okay, so it´s Wednesday, and technically classes started on Monday, but I needed a few days to get a feel for the vibe. You know how it is. Anyway, I´m in the LSCS program (don´t ask me what the acronym stands for) and that´s the not-quite-so-advanced level. The kids who actually stuck with Spanish when they got to college are in the SAS program.
Anywho, for the next 3 weeks, myself and a few other students, Chris included, will be taking intensive courses in Spanish grammar and composition (bleh!) and art and culture. Seeing as how I despise grammar classes when they are taught in a language I understand, I´m not particularly looking forward to it. Although the professor is actually a rather attractive mujer, she seems almost ditzy to me, plus she just never shuts up. I mean NEVER! A whole hour and a half of blabbityblabbityblah in rapidfire Spanish is just too much for me. It also doesn´t help that my fellow students are taking advantage of their legality to go out nearly as often as they can. I just don´t have the energy, so I had to keep myself awake in class by pinching myself repeatedly today. Apparently, I have a higher pain tolerance than I thought, since it didn´t do a very good job. Fortunately, I only have that grammar class everyday until mid-October. In the meanwhile, I´ll be writing several compositions. I guess that will help me for the 10 page paper on the Inquisition I have to write for the art and culture class.
THAT class I´m actually looking forward to. There are only 3 of us in it: myself, Chris, and another LSCS student named Mary Rosser. That´s what she goes by, so don´t you dare call her plain old Mary or you might end up seeing the business end of brimstone...which takes me off on a mental Shrek moment, but alas, such is it. The professor is a rather large Sevillan named Fernando with a resonant voice. He´s been teaching us silly American exchange students for over a decade, so he speaks slowly and simply. He must speak like wildfire and use absurd language when he´s not with us to make up for it. Anyway, his resonant voice is actually a little difficult to explain at times because, since there are only 3 of us and the room is made of concrete bricks, it echoes. It gets a little aggravating at times, but nothing to bad. The material keeps us (me) focused long enough not to worry. Luckyily, I have that class all semester, and after these first three intense weeks, it drops down to twice a week. I think I might actually be disappointed when that happens.
Once these first 3 weeks are over, we start our other classes. For me, that will include "Spain and Islam", "Spain and the European Union", and another advanced Spanish class. It´s supposed to be more advanced conversation or somesuch so I hope that will actually be useful around town.
Anyway, for these first three weeks, I get done with classes before 2, head home for lunch and siesta, and have the rest of the day to myself. Over the next few days, that also includes some field trips. Tomorrow we´re going to some gardens, Friday the archaeological museum, and Saturday the beach at Itálica. I´m looking forward to Friday and Saturday the most. Should be muy divertido.
More will come after my immediate adventures, and I´m sorry to say that won´t include pictures as I accidentally left the cord that connects my camera to my computer in one of the many boxes on my floor at home. So for now, I will have to try and capture the story in words. I hope I do it justice.
Anywho, for the next 3 weeks, myself and a few other students, Chris included, will be taking intensive courses in Spanish grammar and composition (bleh!) and art and culture. Seeing as how I despise grammar classes when they are taught in a language I understand, I´m not particularly looking forward to it. Although the professor is actually a rather attractive mujer, she seems almost ditzy to me, plus she just never shuts up. I mean NEVER! A whole hour and a half of blabbityblabbityblah in rapidfire Spanish is just too much for me. It also doesn´t help that my fellow students are taking advantage of their legality to go out nearly as often as they can. I just don´t have the energy, so I had to keep myself awake in class by pinching myself repeatedly today. Apparently, I have a higher pain tolerance than I thought, since it didn´t do a very good job. Fortunately, I only have that grammar class everyday until mid-October. In the meanwhile, I´ll be writing several compositions. I guess that will help me for the 10 page paper on the Inquisition I have to write for the art and culture class.
THAT class I´m actually looking forward to. There are only 3 of us in it: myself, Chris, and another LSCS student named Mary Rosser. That´s what she goes by, so don´t you dare call her plain old Mary or you might end up seeing the business end of brimstone...which takes me off on a mental Shrek moment, but alas, such is it. The professor is a rather large Sevillan named Fernando with a resonant voice. He´s been teaching us silly American exchange students for over a decade, so he speaks slowly and simply. He must speak like wildfire and use absurd language when he´s not with us to make up for it. Anyway, his resonant voice is actually a little difficult to explain at times because, since there are only 3 of us and the room is made of concrete bricks, it echoes. It gets a little aggravating at times, but nothing to bad. The material keeps us (me) focused long enough not to worry. Luckyily, I have that class all semester, and after these first three intense weeks, it drops down to twice a week. I think I might actually be disappointed when that happens.
Once these first 3 weeks are over, we start our other classes. For me, that will include "Spain and Islam", "Spain and the European Union", and another advanced Spanish class. It´s supposed to be more advanced conversation or somesuch so I hope that will actually be useful around town.
Anyway, for these first three weeks, I get done with classes before 2, head home for lunch and siesta, and have the rest of the day to myself. Over the next few days, that also includes some field trips. Tomorrow we´re going to some gardens, Friday the archaeological museum, and Saturday the beach at Itálica. I´m looking forward to Friday and Saturday the most. Should be muy divertido.
More will come after my immediate adventures, and I´m sorry to say that won´t include pictures as I accidentally left the cord that connects my camera to my computer in one of the many boxes on my floor at home. So for now, I will have to try and capture the story in words. I hope I do it justice.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sevilla: Eyes of a Wanderer
So yesterday I was feeling kinda restless and decided to do a bit of exploring after siesta (which I'm still in love with). So I left my apartment building and just went. I followed the street next to my building for a while, found some karate places and someplace with a big sign advertising "Ingles" (English) and some very quaint looking shops. I followed that road to the first serious intersection, and for a change of pace, hooked a left. Much to my great wonder and amusement, I was on the road with the futbol stadium! I walked right up to it, took a picture, and walked around with a grin on my face for a bit. It's not as big as some of our football stadiums (at least it didn't look it from the outside) but it was still fairly grand. Chris and I can't wait to attend more than our fair share of Sevilla FC games. We're excited. So anyway, that neighborhood is called Nervion (most of the Spanish words I'm using have accents, but I can't put accents in on my laptop, so just imagine them k? Thanks.) and I wandered around there for about an hour. Aside from the futbol stadium, I also discovered the movie theater. It has 20 screens and covers several floors. To add to the diversion, there's a gigantic staircase to get up to the ticket booth. Maybe they just try and make everyone sleep through the movies so they won't eat or drink anything and get the theater dirty. At the bottom of the steps was a very chic urban clothing shop where half the mannequins were only partially dressed and sporting Minnie Mouse panties or bras and such. But that's Europe, they're not all a bunch of prudes. Which makes most of us Americans uncomfortable, to say the least. Notice I said most of us. I'm immune since I got it at an early age. Nudity and skinny dipping to advertise butter? Not a problem in Germany, regardless of what age eyes are watching. But moving on, I decided to lose myself in some back alleys and such, and very nearly did get lost. Also, while waiting to cross a street, I saw a guy drive by wearing the exact same shirt as me. I couldn't help but laugh. Alas, I ended up coming out on a road I recognized, Avenida de San Francisco. I wasn't ready to go back yet, but my feet were a little sore, so I decided to grab a Sevici bici from a nearby kiosk. By the way, those things are the greatest thing ever! With kiosks all over the city, the only thing you have to worry about is making sure the bici you take off the stand isn't defective in some way (Friday night I pulled out one with the rear tire completely off it's rim and then another with the chain falling off the gears). So I rode in the opposite direction for a while, around where Chris and I did some exploring Friday afternoon. I took my time, just kinda riding in a big loop, and saw some stores, a supermarket or two, so on and so forth. Rather a nice ride, if a little sweaty. Jeans apparently weren't the best idea yesterday. Again, made a big loop and came out at the end of my street, Avenida Ramon y Cajal, and decided to walk the rest of the way. Found some nice little cervezerias that I look forward to visiting. I look forward to exploring more of the city, alone or with my friends. It's a gorgeous city and I recommend it to all travelers. Come visit!
A Night Life
Disclaimer: This blog post not suitable for those under the age of 16. May contain some sexual references and no longer underage drinking references. If you wish to protect yourself and your children, avert your eyes and continue scrolling down until you pass this post, whenever you think that might be. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
So the last few days have been pretty wild. I'm not one for much drinking and partying and going out and such, but Friday and Saturday nights were hella awesome nonetheless. So Friday night my roommate Chris and I decided to go out with the girls again. It will pretty much always be the girls since there are only 7 guys in our program, but it's a good ratio in my opinion. Anyway, so Friday night I call my friend Monika to find out what the plans are. They're at dinner someplace near el rio so Chris and I decide to go join them and then head to a bar (since we're legal here). Of course, we only got vague directions and figured we could find them anyway. Lo and behold, we were mistaken. As it turns out, Chris ended up forgetting his mobile and his map (which he considers his lifeline) so we had to turn back when we felt too lost to find where the girls were having dinner. It's just as well, because we needed that map eventually. So we rode around on the Sevici bicycles for a bit, trying to find our way, which we did after about an hour or so. So now it's 23:30 (11:30 pm for you Yankees), we're back at our apartment, the girls are at a bar, and we're still none the wiser as to where. So again, we jump on the Sevici bicis (the 'c' is pronounced like a 's' but with a lisp. It's the accent here. Try it.) We get down to the river, drop our bikes off, and cross the bridge. Here, we were directed to proceed down one block, look for a lot of construction, head that way, then turn left down an alleyway. What someone forgot to mention to us (I can't remember who actually gave us the directions...maybe Carly?) was that we were supposed to make an immediate right after the bridge onto calle Betis, which is sorta their party street I guess you could say. Anyway, we strode around Los Remedios (a neighborhood in Sevilla) for a bit, looking for some bar called BigBen that was supposedly near them, completely lost again for a solid 20/25 minutes. We finally get sick of it, call Monika again, and finally get some decent directions. After that, we found the bar without a problem. It was called Fundacion and it was actually a pretty cool place. Unfortunately, Chris and I arrived just a tad too late for the free sangria. Que lastima. Anyway, I buy the first round for me and Chris, we chat, meet some friends of the girls named Toba and David, two locals who have some serious connections. We ended up following them to this discoteca called Buddha. OFF THE HOOK! It was several levels, with a second floor terrace open to the Sevillan skyline and some pretty good beats playing inside. Plus, when we got there, we got a free round of shots. I think it was honey rum and it was delicious! So we danced and hung out there for a few hours. We met some other Americans with a different program based on some school out of the Midwest, and they turned out to be pretty cool. As it turns out, one of the girls was someone I'd met on my flight from Madrid to Sevilla, the flight that was so absurdly delayed. Funny little world. Walked home with two students from my program named Rahmin (a Peruvian with a Persian name. Huh?) and Carly and didn't end up getting in until about 4 in the AM. Overall, I gave the night a 9.
Saturday is another funny story. That morning, the whole program was supposed to meet at the hotel where we stayed the first night for a kind of tour around the city, more of a scavenger hunt kind of event. Well, Chris and I missed it. It seems that I remembered I had an alarm set, just that it was set to only go off on weekdays and not the weekends. Because honestly, who wants to wake up at 9am on a Saturday? Seriously, come on! We didn't actually wake up til 13:30 (subtract 12 to get 1:30) and we both felt a little guilty about that. O well, shit happens. Chris went out exploring a bit and I laid in bed reading for most of the day. At least that night went off without a hitch, and without getting lost. A good portion of the group met at Burger King (seriously, we have a Burger King just down the street, but I've been too afraid to try the food) before heading out. We decided to head to Calle Betis again, which turned out to be a very good idea. We were initially going to this place called Rio Grande, a fancy schmancy riverside club/bar/discoteca thing, but we got there around 12:10 and we were barred entry. No one gets in after 12 or without a flyer. Needless to say, we didn't have a single flyer, let alone 22. So we continued on, looking for someplace inviting. We actually found the bar BigBen (spelled BIGNEB...trying to be cool with the whole backwards letters and such), and saw they had some pretty sweet specials. So the group, all 22 of us, packed in and started drinking. I had some beers and my very first lemon drop (which actually wasn't too bad...maybe I've misjudged tequila). So I had a pretty fair buzz going when we decided to ditch BigNeb and continue on. We walked a little further down the street and went into this discoteca, I never caught the name, and I seriously felt like I'd been teleported to a slightly classier but equally sketchy version of Players in Chapel Hill. At first, I wasn't feeling too comfortable, but when some people started dancing, I really stopped caring. There are some pictures of me on Facebook looking awfully retarded but alas, that's what happens when I dance. So sue me. I danced for a good while again, tried to get some wallflowers in our group to dance too (they wouldn't, though myself and several of the girls tried) and overall had a good time. We abandoned that place and went back to BigNeb's for a last round before calling it a night and then I walked a big group of girls home. I try to be a gentleman. I was informed it earned me brownie points, but really, when can I cash those in? I'm pretty sure I have a pretty fair amount by now, all things considered. I'd like to collect on my prizes, whatever they might be. Brownies are acceptable.
But yes, the night life here is pretty crazy. We went home a little after 3 and everything was still going strong. Apparently Chris is used to this stuff, but I think 3 nights of going out will be the death of me before September is over. I'll have to learn to pace myself. I can do that.
Oh, just so no one gets the wrong idea, I have yet to actually get drunk while I'm here. Buzzed yet, but not drunk. So yea, I'm not going crazy being able to legally drink, no worries.
So the last few days have been pretty wild. I'm not one for much drinking and partying and going out and such, but Friday and Saturday nights were hella awesome nonetheless. So Friday night my roommate Chris and I decided to go out with the girls again. It will pretty much always be the girls since there are only 7 guys in our program, but it's a good ratio in my opinion. Anyway, so Friday night I call my friend Monika to find out what the plans are. They're at dinner someplace near el rio so Chris and I decide to go join them and then head to a bar (since we're legal here). Of course, we only got vague directions and figured we could find them anyway. Lo and behold, we were mistaken. As it turns out, Chris ended up forgetting his mobile and his map (which he considers his lifeline) so we had to turn back when we felt too lost to find where the girls were having dinner. It's just as well, because we needed that map eventually. So we rode around on the Sevici bicycles for a bit, trying to find our way, which we did after about an hour or so. So now it's 23:30 (11:30 pm for you Yankees), we're back at our apartment, the girls are at a bar, and we're still none the wiser as to where. So again, we jump on the Sevici bicis (the 'c' is pronounced like a 's' but with a lisp. It's the accent here. Try it.) We get down to the river, drop our bikes off, and cross the bridge. Here, we were directed to proceed down one block, look for a lot of construction, head that way, then turn left down an alleyway. What someone forgot to mention to us (I can't remember who actually gave us the directions...maybe Carly?) was that we were supposed to make an immediate right after the bridge onto calle Betis, which is sorta their party street I guess you could say. Anyway, we strode around Los Remedios (a neighborhood in Sevilla) for a bit, looking for some bar called BigBen that was supposedly near them, completely lost again for a solid 20/25 minutes. We finally get sick of it, call Monika again, and finally get some decent directions. After that, we found the bar without a problem. It was called Fundacion and it was actually a pretty cool place. Unfortunately, Chris and I arrived just a tad too late for the free sangria. Que lastima. Anyway, I buy the first round for me and Chris, we chat, meet some friends of the girls named Toba and David, two locals who have some serious connections. We ended up following them to this discoteca called Buddha. OFF THE HOOK! It was several levels, with a second floor terrace open to the Sevillan skyline and some pretty good beats playing inside. Plus, when we got there, we got a free round of shots. I think it was honey rum and it was delicious! So we danced and hung out there for a few hours. We met some other Americans with a different program based on some school out of the Midwest, and they turned out to be pretty cool. As it turns out, one of the girls was someone I'd met on my flight from Madrid to Sevilla, the flight that was so absurdly delayed. Funny little world. Walked home with two students from my program named Rahmin (a Peruvian with a Persian name. Huh?) and Carly and didn't end up getting in until about 4 in the AM. Overall, I gave the night a 9.
Saturday is another funny story. That morning, the whole program was supposed to meet at the hotel where we stayed the first night for a kind of tour around the city, more of a scavenger hunt kind of event. Well, Chris and I missed it. It seems that I remembered I had an alarm set, just that it was set to only go off on weekdays and not the weekends. Because honestly, who wants to wake up at 9am on a Saturday? Seriously, come on! We didn't actually wake up til 13:30 (subtract 12 to get 1:30) and we both felt a little guilty about that. O well, shit happens. Chris went out exploring a bit and I laid in bed reading for most of the day. At least that night went off without a hitch, and without getting lost. A good portion of the group met at Burger King (seriously, we have a Burger King just down the street, but I've been too afraid to try the food) before heading out. We decided to head to Calle Betis again, which turned out to be a very good idea. We were initially going to this place called Rio Grande, a fancy schmancy riverside club/bar/discoteca thing, but we got there around 12:10 and we were barred entry. No one gets in after 12 or without a flyer. Needless to say, we didn't have a single flyer, let alone 22. So we continued on, looking for someplace inviting. We actually found the bar BigBen (spelled BIGNEB...trying to be cool with the whole backwards letters and such), and saw they had some pretty sweet specials. So the group, all 22 of us, packed in and started drinking. I had some beers and my very first lemon drop (which actually wasn't too bad...maybe I've misjudged tequila). So I had a pretty fair buzz going when we decided to ditch BigNeb and continue on. We walked a little further down the street and went into this discoteca, I never caught the name, and I seriously felt like I'd been teleported to a slightly classier but equally sketchy version of Players in Chapel Hill. At first, I wasn't feeling too comfortable, but when some people started dancing, I really stopped caring. There are some pictures of me on Facebook looking awfully retarded but alas, that's what happens when I dance. So sue me. I danced for a good while again, tried to get some wallflowers in our group to dance too (they wouldn't, though myself and several of the girls tried) and overall had a good time. We abandoned that place and went back to BigNeb's for a last round before calling it a night and then I walked a big group of girls home. I try to be a gentleman. I was informed it earned me brownie points, but really, when can I cash those in? I'm pretty sure I have a pretty fair amount by now, all things considered. I'd like to collect on my prizes, whatever they might be. Brownies are acceptable.
But yes, the night life here is pretty crazy. We went home a little after 3 and everything was still going strong. Apparently Chris is used to this stuff, but I think 3 nights of going out will be the death of me before September is over. I'll have to learn to pace myself. I can do that.
Oh, just so no one gets the wrong idea, I have yet to actually get drunk while I'm here. Buzzed yet, but not drunk. So yea, I'm not going crazy being able to legally drink, no worries.
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