Valencia! June 19, 20, 21

Hola Todos!

This past weekend we went to Cuenca and Valencia to visit the Cathedrals and the beach.








In Cuenca we first saw las "Casas Colgadas" or the hanging houses. They take their name because these buildings are literally carved into the hillside which creates a beautiful background for a small town.

Afterwards we went to see the Cathedral of Cuenca.

In Valencia we saw the Cathedral, La Lonja, and La Ciudad de Las Ciencias y las Artes. I liked this last place the most because it was a gigantic complex that included an aquarium, a science museum, as well as research facilities. They are still adding on and in the future it will include office space and condos.

By now I have found it a lot easier to communicate in Spanish. One of the biggest obstacles standing in my way of learning Spanish has always been the hesitation to speak because I may not be understood. The experience in Valencia made this clear because I realized that I was willing and desperate to talk to native speakers when I had the chance. After being here for about a month I have gotten over my self-consciousness of speaking a foreign language, and by doing so was able to expand my comfort zone of foreign people, places, and new experiences.

Looking back, there were a couple occasions where my race (black) initiated a preconceived notion of me to Spaniards. There are many black immigrants in Spain and Europe in general from Africa, and so the common assumption is that every black person is African or was not very far removed from the continent. The idea of black Americans does not occur to most Spaniards because their general culture and history do not emphasize people of African decent. Once, in a restaurant I was talking with a waitress and she seemed surprised I did not know anything about my culture because I did not know Swahili or some other African languages. She could not understand that I was so far removed from Africa because of history that I could never consider myself to be African. However, it made me realize that my outward appearance says "Africa" to them. They do not see the melting pot that Americans see America as because they are so used to only seeing Americans of European decent in Europe. To many Europeans, even the current president must seem like a foreigner because he is so closely tied to Africa in name and appearance.

Sorolla Museo, My Birthday!, and Museo del Prado June 15th, 16th and 17th

Hola todos!

Tuesday we went to an art museum of Joaquín Sorolla, a famous artist from Valencia who was famous for his expressionist and impressionist artwork. The museum is actually his home in Madrid which was converted to a Museum in the late 20^th century. His subjects include the beach and the common people of Spain, represented in his mural of the different provinces of Spain.



http://museosorolla.mcu.es/

Wednesday the whole group got together to celebrate my 20th birthday! They surprised me with a cake too! Thanks guys

Afterwards, on Thursday the Civilization class visited el Meseo del Prado once more to see the work of Francisco de Goya. Goya was a court painter during the 18th and early nineteenth centuries. He painted portraits for Carlos IV and his father Carlos III. It was interesting to see the evolution of his work, especially the subjects because he ended in a drastically different place than where he started. His early years were filled with playful, youthful paintings while his later years chronicled the French invasion and other dark subjects that satirized society.

June 11th-14th Barcelona!

Hola Todos!

Today I just got back from a four-day weekend in Barcelona. We went to the beach a few days, took a Bus tour around the city and visited La Sagrada Familia Church and Parque Guell.

A little information on each:

Sagrada Familia: The Sagrada Familia is a church started in 1882 and designed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. It is designed in the Modernist tradition which Gaudi himself made famous. The Church is still under construction but will not be finished until 2026. The theme of the church is the holy family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

We took a tour of the unfinished church and then ascended the towers with amazing views of the city.

Parque Guell: This is a park also designed by Gaudi which has amazing sculpted patios and is full of color.

Overall the trip was a fun excursion, but it is definitely a city that needs more than 3 days to see.

Hasta Luego!

Brandon

June 3rd and 4th: Cooking Class and el Museo del Prado

Hola amigos!

We had a cooking class today where we learned how to make Sangria, Tortilla Española, Gazpacho, Paella and Tarta de Santiago. It was one of the best experiences of the trip because we got to learn about Spanish culture through the food. Here are some pictures:

On the 4th, I went to El Museo del Prado with my civilization class. We mainly focused on paintings by Velazquez, a famous Spanish painter we have been studying. All the art was amazing because I got to see precious art first hand and hear about it from an expert. It was great to see art in a newer and deeper way than before.

After the Museum, we went to a Real Madrid Basketball game. It felt like even more energy in the stadium than for the soccer game if that's possible, not to mention we were sitting very close to the fanatic section who kept the energy up the whole game. I had a blast cheering for the home team.

Hasta el próxima dia!

Brandon

June 5,6 Toledo and Córdoba

Buenos Dias!

This week we took a class trip to the city of Toledo to visit its Cathedral, synagogues, and other sights around the city. The city is about two hours South of Madrid. We left at 8:30 from Madrid, and the first thing we did before exploring the city was to drive to the other side of the mountain to get some beautiful panoramas of the city.

Next we walked through the old city gates and made our way to the Cathedral. We stopped in the city's main plaza where there were already some decorations up for Corpus Christi, a feast holiday throughout Spain.

A little background on Toledo:

The city has been inhabited since prehistoric times by humans and is surrounded on three sides by a river. At a time Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in harmony under Muslim rule, then for a little while after the christian reconquest until they were forced to either convert or leave. For this reason, there are many buildings with Muslim influences which were taken over by Christians after their expulsion, and various places of worship that had been converted to other types of buildings or churches, but have recently been changed back and preserved for historical purposes. It was the capital of Spain for some time until 1561 when it was changed to Madrid.

While there we visited the Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes which was commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabel during their reign.

We also visited San Tomé a church which houses the work of El Greco, a famous Pre-Renaissance artist.

The next day I took a quick day trip to Córdoba to visit The Cathedral also known as La Mezquita de Córdoba. It was an old Muslim Mosque until it was converted to a cathedral after the reconquest. Here are some pictures.

Hasta Luego!

Brandon

May 30th Granada and Alhambra

Hola!

Today we had a free weekend so a couple people from the group went to Southern Spain, Andalucia, to the city of Granada to see Alhambra and the Generalife. I decided to use the traveling time as an opportunity to take my first train ride. It was interesting and I did happen to see a couple castles and old rustic buildings in the distance, but mostly just endless rows of olive trees, one of Spain’s largest exports. I ended up taking a bus back at 1:30 am to Madrid.

When I got off the train in Granada, the first thing I saw was the Orange trees that lined the streets. Later that day I found out the oranges are extremely sour! The weather was warm, but after the long uphill walk we finally reached Alhambra to see the most stunning architecture I had seen in my life.

A little bit about the place:

Alhambra-- This is a Muslim palace built when the Moors controlled Spain before 1400. It is a masterpiece of art because all of the decoration has to do with geometric shape and color, as well as calligraphy, because, as Muslims, they could not depict animate objects in art. Beside the castle there is also an ancient fortress which was the Moorish stronghold during times of war. After The Spanish Reconquest, the Alhambra was converted to a Christian palace; however they left much of the building unaltered because it was so beautiful. There are still some remnants of the Christian kings, but they have been removed in recent times to bring the building back to its original beauty.

Generalife—The Generalife is a garden built a little bit after the Alhambra in the before the 15th century. Its name means “the architects garden” because its design rivals those of the surrounding buildings. Water flows throughout the garden with a plethora of flowers trees and vines. With all the vegetation and water, it was the idea of a Muslim paradise.

Hasta Luego!

Brandon

May 27th and 29th Fuente Ovejuna y Ballet Folklórico de Cuba

Hola Que Tal!

This past week I went to two cultural showcases, one Wednesday and one Friday. The first was a play, Fuente Ovejuna, by renowned Spanish playwright Lope de Vega and the second was a dance showcase entitled ballet folklórico de Cuba. A little about each

Fuente Ovejuna--This play was written in the 1600's about the time of the Reyes Católicos (1400's) and is about a village whose duke takes advantage of his power by abusing the women of the town. I could not take pictures of the play, but I did get some pictures of the theater, which was fairly modern, but had a great personality. Over all it was a great experience.

Ballet--When I first saw the word ballet I assumed it would be something like the nutcracker or Swan Lake. Boy was I wrong. The dance showcased all of the cultural dances of Cuba, starting from slave dances and working its way to the present with Cuban Salsa. It was the best dance show I have seen in my life. Here is one pic I found on the internet of the spectacle.

Hasta Luego!

Brandon