should be packing up, 12:56 am, granada. april 1st

Okay, I really wasn't that sleep deprived in the morning; it didn't take too much effort to get out of bed. The wake up call was an abrupt reminder that yup, this is Spain! It was a recording saying "es la hora que despiertase" or something similar (meaning it's time to wake up). After getting dressed to the music of a growling stomach, we headed up to breakfast. It was a buffet style of pastries, cut fruit, eggs, and meat/cheese. I had a couple heaping platefuls of pretty good sliced fruit.

Immediately after breakfast, we left on the bus to visit La Alhambra and Los Gardines de Generalife (same location). I loved taking pictures here; yesterday morning I took 126 good pictures, and that's before attending the Flamenco show tonight (and probably tripping over my own feet learning how to dance) Since it was built for the Arab kings, you can see all types of Arabic influence. For example, the number 7 is everywhere (7th heaven is the closest you can get to 8th heaven, reserved solely for Allah (God)) in the architecture. It might be the sum of the digits of the number of wood pieces, or simply in millions of carvings around the entire palace.  The one thing that didn't quite go our way today was the weather; it started raining pretty hard as we left the fourth palace. Rain doesn't really bother me, but I didn't want to ruin my J1 camera! I loved seeing the reflection pools in the gardens, as well as seeing the entire city of Granada from our altitude. It really made me realize how small we were, with the entire city below us and looking straight at the Sierra Nevadas.
Reflection pool at La Alhambra (palace of the king)
Arches from the Sultan's first wife's room
Courtyard for the sultan
Group photo on top of the exterior of La Alhambra
Generalife


After we left Generalife, our bus dropped us downtown so we could explore and hunt for lunch. After purchasing umbrellas, we decided to make our way through the Arab markets in search of the cathedral. After all, it was Easter Sunday. The cobblestone streets are horrible at water drainage; there was standing water everywhere! My wallabies and jeans were soaked when we got back to the hotel. The vendors at the Arab markets weren't very kind, but at least we weren't accused of falsely stealing anything. Also, we have yet to encounter gypsies. Inside the cathedral, it was filled with the scent of incense. To a born and bred Baptist, that smell is just horrible. We didn't stay long, but long enough for me to understand the "preacher" (priest?) was talking about the resurrection and how Jesus rose to save us from our sins. It sounded so much more beautiful in Spanish, just saying.

To relieve our grumbling and growling grumpy stomachs, our next stop was to find something to eat. One day soon, Kimia said that she wants churros for lunch instead of a sit down meal. If you want fried sticks of refined carbs coated in sugar and dipped into very thick sugary hot chocolate I'm not going to stop you. I'm just going to order salmon and veggies, like I did for lunch today. The paella here was served differently-- the shrimp was on top of a pile of rice, calamari and mussels shaped like a 6" cake pan. Mrs. Piner, Alex, and Fernando ordered it, so even though I didn't order it, I still had a large helping to help finish up plates. What can I say, this runner appetite still exists even though it's been two days without doing any vigorous exercise :( I think I'm going to go crazy if I can't run in Seville.
My delicious salmon. Haters gonna hate

Since we were free until 6:30 pm, us students decided to explore Granada by foot some more and go shopping. I bought a couple postcards and a magazine, and Arden got some more ice cream (how she was still hungry after lunch was beyond me), but nothing else since most of the good non-food stores were closed being it was Sunday and Easter Sunday at that. My magazine, although not Runner's World Espana is pretty interesting from the Spanish culture perspective, reviewing recent Spanish races. One day when I come back to Spain, I'm going to race here. Like I've said, if only we were in Madrid on the 28th of April for Rock and Roll Madrid Marathon and Half Marathon. I suspect at least one of my favorite Spanish bands would be there: Maldita Nerea, La Fuga, El Sueno de Morfeo, El Pescao.... Did I mention that I missed the end of La Fuga's tour when they were in Granada LAST WEEK?! End rant. Oh, but we stopped at a chocolate factory that sold flavors from biscuits to tiramisu to lemon... crazy. And they had free samples that the group definitely put a hurting on. No, Dad, I didn't buy any for you. Sorry.
ir de compras con mis chicas! (shopping with my girls)

At 6:30, we were scheduled to leave for our flamenco dancing lesson. It wasn't horrible, but it was a reminder of why I wasn't the best cheerleader because although I had rhythm, I could just NOT do all those fancy hand motions (and my dancing still looked like a cheerleader imitating flamenco style to top it all off--sharp, stiff, impersonal, quick movements instead of appearing graceful and flowing) It was something different, and I enjoyed it even though I was horrible.

Dinner following was delicious! I have no idea how much heaver I'm going to come back to the states on Saturday, but I'm definitely going to be a few pounds heavier... Our appetizer was the typical sourdough bread dipped in olive oil, but the second dish was either a tortilla espanola (layered potatoes and eggs), cured Spanish ham and cheese. I had a salad with more Spanish olive oil. The main course was chicken, potatoes and veggies for most; I had sautéed veggies. For once, I was so full from lunch that I just couldn't quite eat it all (and eating dinner at 10pm didn't help my lack of appetite) While we were eating, a group of professional flamenco performers came and danced for us. Their costumes weren't the traditional attire I imagined, but their moves were on pointe. And the guy was getting it... If only the guys in the US could dance, just saying.
delicious sauteed vegetables!

Now I'm back in the room, freshly showered and feeling pretty pleased with myself for getting my pictures all uploaded to Facebook. I had written most of this entry earlier, but then my laptop decided that it had to restart in order to install some update or other at that particular second, so I lost it. Whatever. First Wi-Fi probs, then laptop probs. Nothing out of the ordinary for me. Anyways, this afternoon, we're getting on a bus to Seville, but apparently we're doing something in the morning because wakeup call is at 7 and breakfast is at 8. Hopefully they'll have more cut fruit again!!

So I guess I'll go pack up my stuff so I don't have much to do in the morning. No comments please Mom and Dad, I know I need to work on being neater for when I go off the college. And I promise I'll clean my room before I go to school on Monday; you really don't need to go in there...

the hotel los angeles, 1:43 am, sunday march 31

I can't sleep right now, nothing to blame but the time change. My laptop is showing 7:45 pm, and that's not helping my warped mind. I know I should shut off the computer and go to sleep, but I know it would be impossible.

Anyways, on the all-afternoon bus ride to Granada from Madrid, I took tons of pictures. For lunch, we stopped at a really touristy rest stop that served Spanish cuisine. Alex, Kimia and I split a huge plate of paella, and I can't wait until I can have another plate-- it was that scrumptious!!
We got back on the bus and rode another two hours until we finally reached Granada. We passed scores of olive trees (a major export of Spain) and rode up and down through the winding mountain paths of the Sierra Nevadas. Upon entering Granada, we saw the gardens of Generalife, which we will visit in the morning along with the Alhambra. Tonight we're going to attend a flamenco show and learn how to dance.. hope I don't trip over anything!
Alex's paella

Anyways, after learning that to turn on the lights in the hotel room, one must insert the room key into a holder thing, we only had time to change clothes before leaving for our 8 pm dinner. My hair straightener doesn't work with my converter, to my utter dismay. (But more importantly, the camera charger DOES!!) Allison (my freshman roommate) and I made it downstairs with time to spare. Our Parrott Academy group is one of three groups on this trip through Acis this week; the other two groups are from California. We had a short say hi, but tomorrow we should have a little more time to intermingle.

Thankfully, it seems like pat and charley will be our main form of transportation this week, for which I am eternally thankful. I brought a running outfit, but as of now I'm not quite sure I'll get to use it for a few days. I heard there's a good park in Seville that I could run through, but I need a chaperone. The restaurant was a short walk from our hotel anyways. Walking down the streets, it's hard to believe that I'm actually, FINALLY, in SPAIN!!!! I've been anticipating this trip for months!!

Dinner was simply amazing. It was traditional Spanish fare; our appetizer was chopped potatoes, orange, tomato, fish, and onions covered in olive oil with a crusty roll to mop up the excess olive oil. For the main course, everybody else had fried chicken, french fries (in olive oil) and steamed veggies. When I filled out the dietary form weeks ago, I checked vegetarian; as a result, I was served fish and veggies covered in olive oil. I'm looking forward to other yummy, healthy meals like this one! And dessert was cut apples, oranges and kiwi in a bowl; honestly wish that bowl was just a bit bigger since it didn't take me long to eat it!
my dinner

After dinner, we had the option to either go back to the hotel or explore the streets of Granada-- of course I chose to walk around some more! This week, the week before Easter, is called Semana Santa in Spain. One tradition is watching street processions filled with anonymous repenters, which we had the opportunity to see tonight! I've seen plenty of pictures of "parades" like this, filled with clergy members wearing colored versions of a KKK uniform, with a group bearing a float of a cross. This time, I was on the front row! We got there at just the perfect time, because at that moment, the square was empty. By the time I decided to turn around from my front row spot, the square was jam-packed! One thing I hadn't seen before was the pouring of the molten wax from parade members' candles onto a child's wax ball. Apparently they try to see who has the biggest wax ball. We saw some street vendors too, but we didn't buy anything. One guy was selling coconut (coco), while another was selling baked potatoes (papas).
group photo in front of the fountain
parada de Semana Santa


We walked around a little more, and stopped at a heladera (ice cream shop). It was probably a good 40 degrees F, but a bunch of people were eating ice cream anyways. I didn't have one since I was still stuffed from dinner, but I enjoyed ordering in Spanish for some of the others!

Now that I've taken a shower and cleaned up for good, I've put my SD card in my laptop and have been trying for the last hour and a half to upload pictures to Facebook. Right now, it says 23/107 have uploaded. I honestly don't know what the problem is, but the wi-fi "va y viene" (goes and comes). I really hope it uploads while I sleep, because these words can't do the scenery here justice. This time change is awful-- this morning I woke up at what felt like 5am to it being 10am, and now it's 8 pm back home and 2 am here. (Curiously enough, the Spring-Forward time change in Spain is tonight, instead of two weeks ago like it was at home.) Hopefully my excitement for the beautiful pictures I'll take tomorrow will make my sleep deprivation manageable (but actually, if I go to sleep shortly I'd be getting about as much sleep as I would at home).

Happy Easter!!!
(oh, and my 40 acts of random kindness = complete!)

Somewhere on a bus on the way to Granada, 1:57 pm March 30.

We made it safely to Spain!! Yesterday’s airport adventures were really hectic and stressful, but soon we’ll be back on our planned schedule.

We arrived at Raleigh-Durham International airport at 2:15 pm yesterday, and after a few technological difficulties checking in, we sailed through security without a hitch. Once we arrived at our gate, we discovered our 5:15 flight to JFK was delayed until around 8—uh oh!! Not only were we facing hours of boredom, our connecting flight from NY to Madrid was around 9:30. There was no way we were going to make it—I heard snippets of possibly going to Heathrow, London and then to Madrid or spending the night in NYC, but thankfully neither happened. Mrs. Piner was so calm throughout it all, spending hours with the airline employees trying to figure it all out and make alternate plans. We eventually left Raleigh around 7:45, and after a brief delay on the tarmac thanks to air traffic control, we were airborne! I chatted with Alex and Kimia the whole flight. When we arrived in NYC, Henry and I promptly found a TV to watch the remaining minutes of the Kansas game. We weren’t worried about time at that moment; the flight we were going to take was at 11. However, right at the end of overtime, we learned that we had to change terminals in order to board that flight. I thank Tyler most sincerely for sending me updates of the Michigan State game as a lighthearted distraction while we were racing against the clock to attempt to salvage our itinerary. We didn’t anticipate false directions by airport staff, sprinting in the wrong direction multiple times while carrying/rolling all of our luggage (thank goodness we didn’t check any bags in!), re-entering security, Kimia’s flight vouchers getting stolen by head security, and lastly having issues with the lady when we tried to board our newly scheduled flight, but after a brief “quarrel” filled with fake crying, we boarded a half-empty AirEuropa flight to Madrid. (Mom—this was the Delta flight I told you we were going to take; AirEuropa and Delta are owned by the same group or something) After the adrenaline rush, I was thankful to have a couple of seats to myself to curl up, listen to my iPod (and all my awesome Spanish music!), and get some well-deserved sleep. We left New York shortly after midnight, and I got a few hours of choppy sleep with a seatbelt digging into my back. I woke up with sunlight brightly radiating through the airplane’s open windows with my watch reading 4:something am to a perky flight attendant asking me in Spanish if I wanted breakfast. Yikes, nothing like a culture shock to start the day! (although I went back to sleep until shortly before landing in Madrid) There was no way we were going to make the 11:45 connecting flight to Malaga after going through passport control, so we camped out in the cafeteria after exchanging money. I bought a Coke Zero for 3€, and I’m currently wondering if I brought enough cash to make it for 8 days. An Acis representative met us, and after debating whether it would be better to take a train, bus or wait for the 3pm flight to Malaga, we ended up on this nice charter bus cruising through the Spanish countryside on the way to Granada. The countryside is gorgeous, and later we should pass through the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas. We’re all feeling ragged and exhausted right now, and ready for a hot shower, but it’s just a memorable part of this adventure!  My goal is to speak as little English as possible, and so far it’s going well! The signs are all in Spanish, and I’ve spoken Spanish on the plane, at customs, in the cafeteria, and even got a talking-to in Spanish for trying to take a picture of some Spanish doughnuts (oops!). I can’t wait for tonight where after dinner, we should explore the streets of Granada and meet our other group!

*breve* historia española hasta 1898

Como todos recuerdan de historia del mundo (o tal vez no) España fue parte del imperio greco y luego el imperio romano. La influencia romana es evidente hoy en la religión (cristiana), las leyes y la lengua. El colapso del imperio Romano fue la causa de un periodo de instabilidad que duran por muchos siglos. Por un poco, las tribus nativas llegaron, pero su único efecto fue la implementación del sistema feudal. Puedes ver la influencia de tres grandes culturas histórica durante la edad media en historia española. La influencia árabe, la cristiana y la judía manifestaron en edificios antiguas como el Alcázar. (En realidad, no eran un periodo de paz; los tres grupos siempre estaban luchando por poder) Es evidente en las iglesias que antes eran mezquitas y sinagogas antes de los cristianos se convirtieron en iglesias católicos porque de sus decoraciones – los moros eran buenos conocidos por su usa del mosaico en edificios públicos. Durante la edad media, tres grupos compartían culturas en España, de resulto la énfasis cultura fue en leyendas, mitas, y Dios. ¿Sabes que Toledo era la capital de España durante la edad media? No sabía esto antes de leer la historia, pero hace razón para mí—Toledo es el lugar donde se ve las frescas originales de El Greco, y la cuidad en general es llena con historia. 1469 trajo la unificación de Castilla y Aragón con el matrimonio de Isabel y Fernando. En 1492, España fue una nación con un ejército organizado, reyes componentes con poder, agresividad religiosa y espíritu misionero. También, ha logrado unidad política, religiosa y lingüística.  El renacimiento llegó muchos cambios, como arte enfocado en el cuerpo humano, y que el conocimiento científico llegar a ser importantes (de efecto, inició la conquista de Hispanoamérica). En 1561, Felipe II movió la capital a Madrid. El siglo de oro fue después del reino de Los Hasburgs hasta casi 1700, y fue un periodo lleno de arte y cultura. Artistas como Velázquez y El Greco fue los más conocidos, mientras Cervantes escribió la famosa “Don Quijote”. Este movimiento inició las ideas barrocos en Nueva España e Hispanoamérica. La guerra de independencia española (1808-1814) fue contra los franceses, y por supuesto, los españoles ganaron. Crearon su constitución en 1812 (La Pepa), pero no podía parar el conflicto inevitable. Después de años locos en el gobierno, la orden fue restaurada en 1874 con un nuevo rey, Alfonso XII. Aunque la instabilidad continúa por años después, el monarca español demostró que era tan fuerte resistir insurrecciones. El problema fue durante este periodo de instabilidad, España perdió la lucha contra sus colonias en el nuevo mundo por su independencia. La Tradado de Paris en 1898 fue el fin official del imperio español.   

obras del arte español

En el museo del Prado, tenemos la oportunidad ver arte español, y otras obras famosas europeas. Por ejemplo, he estudio artistas famosas españoles como Velázquez, El Greco y Goya. 

Velázquez, que especializó en retratos, fue famoso por su pintura “Las Meninas” que mostró una chica y sus “servicios”. La reflexión en el espejo del rey y reina fue espectáculo por esa época porque el aspecto de ilusiones de ojos fue una experimentación nueva.

"Las Meninas"

En la otra mano, muchas las obras de El Greco tuvieron un aspecto religioso. Su manera de pintura mostró humanos flacos y blancos con dedos largos. Su experimentación con luz y oscuro tan como los colores fue una manera que mezcló sus origines grecos, influencias italianas y las características de España. Uno de sus dos pinturas de la tierra fue “La vista real de Toledo”, y mostró la tierra y edificios cerca de Toledo, y mejor, es una vista que veremos por real.

“La vista real del Toledo”

Finalmente, aunque no había estudiado mucho sobre Goya, las pinturas de Goya fueron menos experimentales en tácticos que los otros. En mi opinión, la parte que diferencia Goya de los otros artistas fue su materia de pintar. Tuvo un lado oscuro, manifestado en sus pinturas de guerra y obras extrañas.  No temó enojarse a otros con sus pinturas; de resulto, pintó la primer mujer toda desnuda entre otras cosas.  

"La Familia del Rey Charles IV"

ejemplos de comida española

Agradecidamente por las chicas que quieran perder peso por el prom y la estación de trajes de baños, la comida española es sana. Es basada en la dieta mediterránea, y hay una abundancia de los mariscos, las frutas, las verduras, el pan, el arroz, el queso y la grasa sana de olives. (el vino es una parte crucial de la dieta española) No te preocupes hombres, también hay carne rojo. España es famosa por su “chorizo”; es similar a “sausage”. Quiero tratar la paella cuando estemos allí; es una mezcla de arroz, carne (prefiere los mariscos) y verduras. También, España ha ganado fama mundial por su sopa gazpacho. 

Diferente de los Estados Unidos, el desayuno es la comida menos importante. Si un español lo come, tal vez comerá un “churro”, o pan frito y cubierto en azúcar. Me encanta la idea de una “tortilla española”—huevos, papas y cebollas. El almuerzo es la más importante—es una comida larga (más de un curso), y después de comerla, tienes dos horas para relajarse. De resuelto, la mayoría salen su trabajo a 8 por la noche, y en el verano alguien podría ver los españoles comiendo al medianoche.

Y por tu información: los bares son típicamente lugares por alcohol y restaurantes también. Las tapas son similares a “los appetizers” estadounidenses, en lo que los porciones pequeñas. Es común ir de bar a bar tratando tapas diferentes hasta comiste tu cena.

 
 

la paella de mariscos

  la sopa gazpacho

un ejemplo como comer chorizo (a la parrilla, en pan, y con salsa)

tortilla española
churros