Everyday life in Granada

Posted by: Ashton
We are in our third week of classes now and have gotten into a normal living routine. I have four classes on Monday/Wednesday (Grammar, Economics of Spain & Latin America, Civilization & Culture of Spain, and Oral & Written Production) and one class on Tuesday/Thursday (Spanish literature). I am done by lunch time which is my goal every semester and so I am very happy with my schedule. I really like all of my teachers and have been enjoying the classes too. The only problem is that with all of the thinking that I have to do in class, I get very hungry. I usually pack and apple, Magdalena and a juice box for snack but I am still ravenously hungry by 2 or 3 pm when we get back to the apartment for lunch!

Lyndsey, Nick and I all joined the public library so that we can check out books and American movies dubbed over with ridiculous-sounding Spanish voices. So far I’ve seen Pride and Prejudice, Dirty Dancing and While You Were Sleeping. I ran out of time and had to return Cinderella Man without watching it 

I’ve also joined a gym which is an interesting experience every time I go. I take spinning, pilates, and yoga classes and after the first classes I’ve been able to listen to the instructor instead of constantly watching the people around me. I also use the cardio equiptment and weight machines but of course all of that is different than what I’m used to. To add to my confusion they have half of the weights in kilograms and the others in pounds. Basically I stick out pretty bad as the confused American girl.

Last weekend Victoria had two French girls stay in the other bedroom. They were visiting with their high school Spanish class I think. Although they knew practically zero Spanish. I was in the shower when they arrived and when I got out I could hear Victoria talking their ears off and asking them question after question to which they replied with silence. Lyndsey and I decided to intervene but unfortunately my limited French failed me and we had to resort to translating via Lyndsey’s computer. We definitely helped the situation and I think the girls and Victoria were grateful. Friendly banter was not exactly convenient but the girls were very nice and they added a little excitement to the apartment.

Here we gooo (to the tune of NSYNC)

posted by: Lyndsey


Don't worry everyone, I haven't fallen off one of the many cliffs in Granada (which you'll hear about below), or out my window while trying to fix the blinds (you'll hear about that later if you're lucky..) Ashton has just been a LITTLE more uh, enthusiastic (i.e. on the ball) with the blog.

So here goes...

"Dale limosna, mujer,
que no hay in la vida nada,
como la pena de ser ciego en Granada."

This is a little lyric written by a Mexican poet and ambassador to Spain named Francisco Alarcon de Icaza. It means 'give him alms, woman, for in this life there is nothing in life like the pain of being blind in Granada'. Random, right? I thought so too...this little poem is super famous in Granada and I didn't really see the significance at first..UNTIL we went on tours of the Arabic Albacin and Sacromonte neighborhoods the other week.




The Albaicin is an old Arabic neighborhood up in the hills of Granada. I thought that three years at Clemson would have prepared me for the 'hills of Granada', but I practically needed a rope and a belay to make it up those hilly roads..real talk. Once we got up there though, it had the most beautiful view of the city. All the streets were cobblestoned, and all the houses were whitewashed so there was a summery uniformity to everything.





Further up, the Albaicin neighborhood turned into the Sacromonte neighborhood. This is known to be the land of the hippies and gypsies of Spain..(your kind of place Maria!) They live in these crazy cave houses up in the hills. You know the gypsies because they creep around and when you're least expecting it jump in front of you and wave a random leaf of some sort in your face, begging you to let them read your fortune. If for some crazy reason you accept, they want your money. It's pretty invading! You know the hippies because they travel around in packs, usually have long dreads, or some sort of dread mullet (i don't make this stuff up), and have big dogs that follow them around. They beg on the streets and sell jewelry.



A lot of flamenco cave shows take place in the Sacromonte, and the residents have learned to create random tourist traps since it's a pretty well-known tourist area. (e.g. a random Sacromontian approached our group on the tour and wanted us to come to his (her?) cave-turned-random-museum-of-some-sort. Two out of 30 of us went in (I didn't..you had to pay), and all that was in there was random framed pictures.

Anyway, it was creepy walking around in that area, because there was nobody really around, either because it was in the middle of siesta, or everyone was down in the center of the city. So it was just us, and all the neglect and poverty of the area (worn-down houses, cluttered yards, trash) was pretty obvious. That was juxtaposed, though, with the absolute GEORGEOUSNESS of the surroundings, with the view of the mountains and the city. Thinking about the poverty of the people that live in such a richly beautiful and cultural area is kind of where I started to understand that poem. (Or maybe I just spent one too many days in Zaidman's class in high school..) But it also reminds me of how rich life in Christ is, juxtaposed with the mess that we lay in front of Him. A life without the love of Christ really is living blind to the beauty He adds to us.





That's all I got for now!

Church in Spain!

Posted by: Ashton

The first week we were here we found a church! It’s called Iglesia Evangelista Bautista de Granada and it’s only about 15 minutes from our house. That means it’s about the closest thing to us! The people there are very friendly and there’s a large youth group. There are also a lot of Americans students who go to church there since Protestant churches are hard to come by in Spain. We heard the pastor speak the first week and then last week and this week there were visiting pastors. We understood most of the sermon today but last week we had no idea what was going on due to his very strange accent. We went out to eat with the youth last week which was quite an ordeal. After 45 minutes of getting everyone together and deciding where to go we ended up at the mall where some people went to Burger King and some of us went to a Schwarma place. Schwarma is very popular here and I really enjoy the falafels. Every time we pass a Burger King it is totally packed with a line out the door, which is why we chose not to go there. They really like Burger King here! I really enjoy the worship time at church. It reminds me of how it was in Mexico with everyone singing their hearts out. I love that they are uninhibited and that they boldly worship. We are very thankful that God has blessed us with this church for the time that we are here.

Nuestra Madre Adoptiva y el Apartemento

Posted by: Ashton

Victoria has turned out to be superguay.  When we arrived in Granada and first saw her we were worried because she was the oldest woman in the group of everybody’s Senora’s.  We thought she might be grumpy or really strict and set in her ways but she was turned out to be wonderful.  I have eaten everything she has set in front of me and enjoyed it.  She even buys me orange juice now since I told her that’s what I like to drink in the morning!  She is really into recycling (paper, plastic, aluminum, oil) and preserving the environment.  We have been instructed to get in the shower, get wet, turn off the water, lather up, and then turn on the water to rinse off.  This is quite an adjustment for us since as Lyndsey perfectly described it, “showers are more of an experience in the U.S. rather than just a necessary way to get clean.”  Well, we’re getting a little different experience here in Spain J  Victoria also wears pink gloves to clean just like I do!  Speaking of cleaning…we don’t have to do ANY.  She prepares all the meals, washes the dishes, and washes our clothes.  She even peels Lyndsey’s oranges because she struggles so much to do it.  She taught me a new orange peeling system and I’m getting pretty good at it.  Basically she takes very good care of us and talks to us a lot too.  February 1^st was her birthday and so two of her sons, her daughter, their spouses, and ALL of her grandchildren came over for cake and coffee.  This apartment is big for Spain standards (4 bedroom, 2 bath) but it was not big enough for all those children running around and screaming in Spanish.  I had to escape to my room one time because I was so overwhelmed by the noise and number of people.  Large groups of loud Spanish-speaking people can really give you a headache!  There ended up being 4 types of dessert (cheesecake, flan, almond pound cake?, and an apple torte) as well as coffee and tea.  Of course I tried one of each but I wasn’t particularly fond of the flan or the Spanish cheesecake.  The whole affair was quite an experience but Victoria, Lyndsey, and I audibly breathed a sigh of relief once everyone had left and the last person closed the door.  Then we laughed about it!  I took some pictures of the apartment to share with whoever’s interested (which is probably only my mom J).

 The entrance to our apartment
 Living Room
Dinette
 Kitchen

 The awesome all you can eat fruit basket
 The laundry nook :/ There are NO dryers in Spain
 Bathroom
 Lyndsey in her (big) room
 My room


 Literally ALL the clothes I have in Spain

 The amazing view from my window

Tapas...Yum! Beer? Not so much

We went to D’Cuadros last week because they had been recommended for their tapas.  In Granada and some other places in Spain you get a free appetizer (tapa) with every drink that you order.  When the server asked our friend Ryan what he wanted to drink he said cerveza.  Well the server ended up bringing each of us a beer.  Needless to say Ryan got his share of beer that night!  We had tortellini and  empanadas and they were really good.  I got thirsty and ordered a coke so we got some amazing shrimp too!  Just an example of the many miscommunications occurring over here! 

Cell Phone Troubles

Posted by: Ashton

I spent the first two weeks in Spain without a cell phone.  It was weird but I learned to plan things ahead of time.  For part of that time I had a cell phone that wouldn’t work.  I had it in my backpack for some reason, turned off while I was in class one day.  Suddenly someone’s phone started ringing and vibrating.  We’re all looking around to see where it’s coming from when everyone starts pointing at my backpack.  I was like it can’t be because I have a phone that has never worked and it’s turned off.  However, when I picked up my backpack it was definitely ringing and shaking.  Once I found the phone though it was turned off! I was slightly creeped out and very confused.  Since then I have a new phone that works, but while I was taking a nap yesterday I awoke to phone ringing.  I picked up my phone but it wasn’t ringing and then I realized it was the same ring from the other day.  I jumped out of bed and dove into my dresser to find out why a broken phone without a sim card could be ringing AGAIN.  It turned out to be a daily alarm that could override the power setting.  At least it wasn’t some creepy situation like what happens in the movies!  

Toledo from Ashton's Point of View

Okay so this is out of order again and Lyndsey already wrote a little bit about it but I wanted to write about all the cool stuff we saw in Toledo from my perspective.  On our way to Granada we stopped in Toledo which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its historical importance and the presence of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic monuments that still exist today.  In most cases when one religion takes power all of the other religious monuments and architecture are destroyed.  However, this is not the case with Toledo.  One Jewish synagogue was turned into a church and therefore preserved.  Before this happened the synagogue was permitted to exist because the Jews paid taxes to the Christian monarchs.  Churches created a lot of income and they were okay with the synagogue's existence as long as they still got their money.  On one of the churches we saw there were chains hanging from the exterior.  Towards the end of the 11th century when Toledo returned to Christian rule from Islamic there were many Christian slaves released. 


As a testament to their freedom and praise to God they nailed their shackles to the outside of the church.  You can see them in the pictures above.  We went inside a monastary and there was a lot of cool architecture and artwork.

                            

Our guide told us that most of the people outside of the monastery envied the ease with which the monks lived.  They ate better, were paid more and lived more comfortable lives than the townspeople.  Because of this the sculptors would get back at them by mocking them with the marble etchings they produced in the monastary.  This picture depicts a monk

with the facial characteristics of a monkey sitting on a chamber pot!   After our guided tour we had the opportunity to go into a huge cathedral called the Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada.  We were told that it is the richest cathedral in the world.  It cost 7 euros to go in and we couldn't decide whether we wanted to pay that much for a cathedral that would probably look like every other cathedral.  I decided to go in, and I was SO glad that I did.  It was NOT just another cathedral and it was definitely worth the money.  The outside is not very impressive which I'm finding out is the case with many historical buildings, but the inside is unbelievable.  It was massive and everything was so elaborately decorated and detailed.  Gold was everywhere and there was more than you could see or take in if you spent a whole day there.  I just stood there in awe.  You couldn't take pictures inside so there are pictures of the outside below even though they don't do it justice.

       

Alpha and Omega

This post is out of order and refers to our visit to El Prado in Madrid but I thought I'd post it anyway.  While we were at El Prado our guide kept talking about the reason that so many of the paintings had religious themes was that back then God was the center of the universe.  She must have said it like 4 times and each time I wanted to shake her and say, “He WAS, IS, and always WILL BE the center of the universe.”  I’m working on a gentler approach to the European and Catholic approach to religion that I keep encountering.  Everyone’s Catholic, but not many people practice it.  With Easter, of course, being the exception.  I wonder how much peace that gives people.  It seems that hearing the Gospel and being in church on such an awesome day of the year for Believers would cause nonchristians to recognize a void, not find sufficiency.…   

Ashton

The Beginnings of Life in Granada

Wow! I feel like it has been FOREVER since I have been able to access the internet or the world outside of Granada.  I think that our biggest complaint would be that wireless is hard to come by.  If you can find a place that has it then there will guaranteed be a cloud of smoke so thick hovering throughout the place that you CAN’T breathe.  I’m really glad that Victoria (my Senora) doesn’t allow smoking in her apartment even though it still seeps through the walls from neighboring apartments.  The cat that Victoria was supposed to have (per the bio we were sent prior to departing lovely America) doesn’t seem to exist which I am also extremely grateful for since I’m allergic to cats.  I’m not sure if she did have one and it died or if there was a misprint on her bio…either way I’m scared to ask because A. it could be a sensitive issue or B. she might think that I wish she had a cat and go out and get one.  Anyway, it’s still a mystery.  I’m happy to report that two of the things that I thought would be a big problem for me: food and good water are not a problem at all.  I drink tap water all the time…unbelievable right? Actually it is SO much better than the Clemson tap water which I have to hold my nose and chug in order to swallow without gagging!  Victoria makes me meatless meals and she doesn’t even try to “sneak” meat in as I call it through broths and such.  We go out for “postres” (desserts/pastries)  daily, eat a lot of bread and cheese but Victoria still tried to tell us that with the healthy Mediterranean diet we would NOT gain weight.  Haha! The plan tomorrow is to find out about joining a gym. Because of all the walking we do this probably wouldn’t be necessary if I didn’t eat so much.  When we arrived the directors kept talking about how we’re not used to walking in the United States and I thought “blah, blah, blah, walking is easy and I can WALK anywhere.” The truth is we spend HOURS walking everyday.  Some days like 3 and 4 hours, and the streets/sidewalks aren’t Ashton-friendly either.  Here comes a funny story…Our first day here we are handed a map and are told to be at class by 16:00.  It’s raining and Lyndsey and I are of course late and slightly lost.  I’m holding a huge map up in front of my face and running to catch up with Lyndsey when suddenly I find myself on the ground.  Lyndsey turned around just in time to see the fall and accurately described it as a belly flop.  Side note: there are solid metal cylinders about knee-height that line the sidewalks so that cars can’t jump the curb.  I think that they also strategically place one on the corners for entertainment purposes to watch map-yielding extranjeros faceplant every now and then.  Luckily, aside from a few bruises below each knee where the pole caught me I was uninjured and Lyndsey and I laughed so hard we cried all the way to class.  Those of you who have walked anywhere with me know that I need an escort to stay upright on an evenly paved street or sidewalk.  Unfortunately, in Granada I’m dealing with cobblestone and flagstone so there should be many similar stories to come J  

Yours truly,

Ashton

El Escorial

We went to visit El Escorial for a day trip while we were still staying in Madrid and it was a really great trip.  It’s a monastery, palace, library, college, and tourist attraction now.  When I set off the metal detector the girl asked me if I spoke English or Spanish and I fumbled for words because I didn’t know what to tell her.  One of us would probably struggle either way.  I guess she decided I was pretty harmless and let me go.  It just so happens that Lyndsey and I both have a strong gag reflex to gross sounds, smells, sights, whatever.  We’re standing in line for the bathroom and Lyndsey starts gagging.  I think she’s overreacting and tell her to cut it out and quit being so ridiculous when I catch a whiff of the worst thing I’ve ever smelled.  I started gagging so violently that I had to run from the premises.  Next time I guess I’ll be a little more understanding.  We had an awesome old man for a tour guide who was so knowledgeable about the building.  There were several chapels inside and Felipe II had his bedroom built with a door connecting it to the chapel.  In case he got sick in the middle of the night or something he could go to the altar and pray.  He was known to be religious to the point of obsession.  This reminded me of how thankful I am for the peace I have in my relationship with the Lord.  The coolest part of El Escorial was the kings and queens tombs.  It was a circular tomb comprised of green marble and gold.  It was built 350 years ago and all of the kings and the wife which bore the next king have been buried there.  The kings are buried on the left side of the tomb and the queens in the corresponding location on the right side of the tomb.  However, Ferdinand VII only had daughters so Elizabeth II’s casket is on the left with all the kings.  The weird thing about the tomb is that only the bones are placed in the caskets.  So adjacent to the tomb is a rotting room where the bodies stay for about 25 years until all of the flesh has rotted away.  There are currently three bodies in the rotting room.  Gross!  The other relatives of the royal family are buried in rooms along a long corridor.  Each room has an altar and how closely related you are to the king determines how close you are buried to the altar.

Ashton