Where has the Time Gone!

It is already December and I cannot believe my study abroad experience is almost over! It is amazing how fast this experience has gone by... Need to switch gears and focus on what lies ahead. I have finals coming up, thereafter a trip to Barcelona, then a week later I fly home. Admittedly I am a bit nervous about finals. Testing here is so different from back home.  Each exam is approx. 3 hours long. The exams are cumulative and represent your grade. Also the extended testing period takes 4 weeks: 2 weeks before the Christmas holidays and 2 weeks in January after the holidays. I am sooooo lucky to have all my exams scheduled during the first week.  I have to get studying though so wish me luck. I will be camping out at the local library since it is less distracting than studying at the residence hall. Wish they were open longer hours however.  After finals I visit Barcelona which has been on my bucket list since my 16th birthday European cruise. We only had one day in port so I will finally have time to really get to know this amazing city. Kind of feel like I have to jam pack everything I haven’t done yet into the next few weeks.  I will keep you posted but it is going to be a busy month! Chao for now!

Granada

There is a famous and hugely popular Spanish song about Granada. Now After my visit, I understand what all the singing is about-Granada is absolutely spectacular!! 

     This past weekend I finally visited a region in the south of Spain, Granada! Granada is the capital of the province of Granada and in the community of Andalusia, Spain. It is located at the end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Granada is special because its culture and architecture is marked by a strong Arabic influence. Granada is the location of the famous Alhambra, a palace or fortress built for the last Muslin emirs in Spain in the year 889. Unlike my other journeys, I booked this trip through a student tour group called "Be Madrid." The trip was only 70 Euros and it included transportation to Granada,one night in a hotel plus breakfast, guided tours and entry tickets to the Alhambra. Thus, in the company of Yesenia,one of my study abroad friends, We met the tour group very early Saturday morning at La Plaza de Toros in Madrid. We boarded a huge tour bus and 5 hours later we arrived in magnificent Granada. After a quick pit stop at our  beautiful 4 star hotel (What a surprise!)  we set off to explore. Since we had a little bit of free time before our first tour, my friend and I decided we were going to grab something to eat. To our surprise a lot of the bars and restaurants were closed. We kept wandering around until we saw this quaint cafeteria. We walked in to find there were only a few patrons. We were hungry and looking for something quick. We ordered a simple grilled chicken sandwich with cheese, tomato and lettuce.  This sandwich was amazing! I wish I remembered the location and name of the place but the sandwich was simply out of this world! After this great lunch, we walked back to the hotel to start our tour. 

 

     Our very informative tour guide led us step by step into the heart of the old Moorish part of the city. After passing through the  "puerta" or door from the new city to the olde city center, the landscape instantly changed.  The streets became narrow and steep;while the houses turned into village styled white stone haciendas. It looked like the Granada my mother had described to me from memory. We continued to climb deeper and deeper into the town until we came to a plaza on top of a hill that overlooked the magnificent Alhambra. This view truly allowed you to appreciate the majesty and gorgeous detail of this historical structure. This was the last tour of the day and we had free time until later when we planned on hitting the town.  Because I had a Spanish final that coming Tuesday, Yesenia and I grabbed a quick dinner to go and returned to the hotel. While she napped, I studied for my exam and ate dinner. Later that night Yesenia and I socialized with the locals and our tour mates went at a discoteca called El Camborio. This discoteca sat high atop a mountain; inside a glass wall backdrop over looked the Alhambra.  We danced the night away with the best view ever! 

      The following day we woke up at 9 am and headed downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was beyond belief and included everything from fruit to crepes, pancakes, churros, eggs and chocolate croissants. It was so delicious. I hadn’t had a single pancake the entire time I was in Spain so yes I gorged a little. After breakfast we boarded the bus to visit  the Alhambra. As soon as we arrived we didn’t waste any time, exploring every nook and cranny we could find. The Alhambra was like a little royal village. Within its walls there were different palaces, villas and gardens where Arabic royals of the past lived. For me, the gardens in the Court of the Lions were the most impressive part. Arabic architecture is extremely colorful, beautiful and intricate. I can only imagine how beautiful the Alhambra must be  during the spring when all the flowers are in bloom!! After visiting the Alhambra we walked back to the town center for a late lunch. Today we feasted on churrasco steak prior to boarding the bus and heading back to Madrid. A little studying, a little talking and a little sleeping made the 5 hours go quickly.

     Granada is an utterly beautiful place with unique architecture and friendly citizens. I am so glad I had a chance to personally experience it!! Enjoy the pictures and chao for now. More studying awaits. 

And for your musical pleasure, here is a taste of Placido Domingo, Spain's finest opera singer, singing "Granada"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajoHf-H6TfU&feature=youtu.be

El Camino a Galicia

  I have been able to make some truly amazing friends in Spain. To my great fortune, Lucia,one of those close friends, invited me to spend the weekend with her and her family in a busy coastal port town called La Coruna. I enthusiastically accepted the generous offer which would take place over "a puente" the first of two 3 day weekends I would have this semester. How could I miss an opportunity to spend more time with my lovely friend Lucia and her family and get to see another part of Spain?

La Coruna is located in the northwestern corner of Spain in a province called Galicia. Gallego is the language spoken by citizens of this region in addition to Castellano and other regional dialects. Galicia sits above northern Portugal along the Atlantic coast on the Iberian Peninsula and is best known for its seafood.

With permission from my professor, since I needed to leave early from class to make the flight, Lucia and I boarded a late Thursday afternoon Ryan Air flight to Santiago de la Compustela, a well known town in Galicia, approx. 30 minutes by car from La Coruna. I was thrilled beyond words. Here I was on an hour flight  to an area of Spain I never imagined I would get to visit.  When we arrived in Santiago it was raining on and off; just as Lucia had previously warned me. (During the winter in Galicia it rains practically every day.) From the airport,we took a local bus into the city, dropped off our luggage at Lucia’s friend’s apartment and immediately set out to explore the sights.

Santiago is a small, holy, University City. Santiago is famous for El Camino de Santiago (Way of St James), a Christian pilgrimage. Every year thousands hike "El Camino" from France into Spain in pilgrimage to St. James. Legend says that the remains of St James are buried in the Cathedral of Santiago, which  is where the el Camino pilgrimage ends. If you are interested check out an independent film called "El Camino"starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. I haven't seen it but my parents loved the film and it's beautiful portrayal of the Way of St. James. 

First stop in Santiago was park that overlooked the famous Cathedral de Santiago. From this park we were able to get the best view of the Cathedral. Afterwards, we headed into the heart of the small city to Calle Franco. Although small, the city is absolutely gorgeous with windy, narrow cobble stone streets. The Plaza in front of the cathedral is the place where many pelegrinos aka pilgrims celebrate finishing El Camino. It is a beautiful place where you cannot help but be overwhelmed with the sanctity and joy of it all; people of all ages and places walking for miles, days, weeks to complete El Camino. Inside, the cathedral is absolutely breathtaking, with an altar completely covered in gold embellishments. We explored the cathedral and went into the tomb of Saint James which is actually under the alter. It was amazing being with 2 people from Galicia who could explain to me the significance of the Cathedral and the pilgrimage. After we walked around some more, we stopped at a local café so that I could try the traditional tarta de Santiago, which by the way, is absolutely scrumptious. After a full day of exploring Santiago, Lucia and I headed to her home town of La Coruna drained.

The following day, Friday, was a national holiday in Spain. So Lucia, her family and I went to El Torre de Hercules. This tower is an ancient Roman lighthouse where legend says Hercules killed the monster Geryon. After killing him, Hercules built a lighthouse on top of Geryon’s bones. Upon arrival at the Torre I was absolutely in awe of the structure. For its age and location along the coast, I was surprised that it was still in perfect structural condition. It was 265 stairs to the top, but Lucia and I climbed away.  After several minutes of climbing we finally made it to the top. What a view! We could practically see all of La Coruna. Just as we stepped out on the balcony, it started pouring rain...typical Galicia!  The view was still beautiful even with all the wind and rain.  After the Torre, we visited a popular bar/restaurant to dry off. It is here where all the trophies of Galicia’s futbol (soccer) team called Deportivo de La Coruna are stored.                          

    Thereafter we headed back to Lucia's for a home-cooked lunch (yeah!!) and a well deserved siesta.Later that night we walked around the old part of the city and the shopping district. Luckily, it had finally stopped raining and we were able to enjoy the night without drenching rain. For la cena or dinner,  we went to Fosters which is an American style restaurant. (I highly recommend it if you are in the mood for some comfort food.)

The following day we went to the largest mall in all of Europe located in La Coruna.  Lucia was eager to show me a store only available in Spain called Primark which she is fond of. Basically, Primark is a department store akin to a higher end version of Walmart without a food section. The store was really interesting and I bought a few scarves and a sweater since winter was coming.

Each Province in Spain has different nightlife. In La Coruna it is typical to go out for a drink first, then go to the local nightclubs all of which are located in the Mall. Next, we met some friends at a local discoteca. It was a really fun night out with Lucia’s friends but unfortunately we had to call it an early night because we had to catch a flight the next day.

La Coruna on the northwestern coast is a  very charming city. It has the best of both worlds; a special combination of city life and shore life.  La Coruna and the Galicia region also have the best seafood I have eaten in Spain and I was so fortunate to have had an opportunity to try some treats like grilled fish and empanadas de gallego. But the very best dish I had was homemade.  Lucia's mom graciously spent time making me a galician delicacy and fabulous home cooked stew called pulpo al gallego (octopus gallego style). It was so delicious. This was by far one of the best dishes I have eaten in all of Spain. 

    Overall,  my trip to Galicia was amazing, spiritually uplifting and loads of fun filled with delicious seafood. Lucia’s family were wonderful hosts and treated me like a daughter. Mil gracias to Lucia and her wonderful family!!! On my way back to Madrid so for now chao!

La Vida en mi Uni (Parte 2)

 Lately, the majority of my posts have been about my travels throughout Spain. Rest assured however that my primary focus here is educational and I promise, I study too!

Let’s talk a little about what the Uni (university) life is like here.  I take 4 courses and work in a materials lab for credit. So far, all of my courses have been fair to med in difficulty-----except one which is disproportionately challenging, that is, Control Engineering. The engineering course material itself is not extremely difficult. What I can't seem to overcome with this course however is teaching style and schedule. The way that this particular course is taught  really confuses me.  Coming from an American University, I am used to loads of homework and a strict library schedule of 2 -3 hours minimum every day.  Here, I get no homework, just lecture, pop quizzes and periodic exams. Not having homework makes the Controls material even more difficult. While I study a lot, by Spanish standards, I have no framework, no homework to guide me.  Also, the Controls text book does not provide examples or illustrations on how to do the problems. The book only provides information about definitions and theory. I find it extremely challenging to learn in this fashion. Shockingly, this experience has made me come to appreciate the value of homework, graded or not.  Homework keeps you on your toes, requires you to practice the concepts you learned to ensure greater understanding of the course material. Additionally, tutoring is not available to students. Honestly I am not sure why?  So I am virtually on my own to learn the material. Very different from what I am use to back in the USA.

Yet, aside from Controls, my other courses have been going really great, especially my lab research. My research is focused on a medicinal putty/glue for joint replacements. The entire research team at the university is extremely friendly and helpful. They have assigned me large independent tasks, like mixing different chemicals to make cement. I truly enjoy the responsibility and work. Much to my surprise, I have found that working in a lab is extremely soothing and relaxing. I get there, set up, put on some jams and go about doing my assigned work independently pursuant to my schedule. I have also learned a lot about chemical reactions and materials engineering during this lab experience.  I hope that when I return to my home university I can continue working in a laboratory setting like this!

Another thing that I have found difficult about school here is studying during the very elongated Spanish day. Spaniards, cherish their night hours, the majority of people consider only the hours 8am to 2pm and 4pm to 8pm “work hours”.  These “work hours” are used for studying, working,  or running errands so that you can eat, socialize and relax during the rest of the hours of the day.  This schedule has thrown me for a loop. So far the only public libraries I have found in the city close at 10 pm every day and are not open on weekends at all. This makes things problematic for somebody like me who is accustomed to studying all night until midnight or later. I actually consider myself a night owl who thinks best between the hours 10 pm and 2 am. The university library at home normally closes at 2 am everyday and is open 24/7 during midterms and finals. So at home I make very good use of the library for studying, and I study a lot. While I love my residence hall here ( I will talk about my experience in my residence in a later post), it's not the best place to study because of the many (social) interruptions. Moreover, my room at the residence hall, while cozy,  is quite small with inadequate (energy saver type) lighting. Unfortunately , the longer days in Spain combined with different time schedule and limited library facilities has made my school adjustment extremely difficult. This has caused me a lot of anxiety in Controls, my most challenging class. I never imagined that libraries in the university city area would close so early. I am a creature of habit. I need my library study time! For that reason I don’t think I have adjusted well to the Uni life here but....I am still working at it!

In other news, I recently went to the Palacio Real aka the Royal Palace and formal home of the kings and queens of Spain in the Capital of Madrid.   I especially enjoyed this touristic visit because the friend who accompanied me is a native Spaniard. As such, he was able to offer me a lot of inside information about Spanish royalty and the history of the palace. The building is enormous and breathtakingly majestic.   Surprisingly, its' architecture has a lot of Roman and Greek references as well as statutes of mythological Gods and paintings of the Trojan war.  It is absolutely beautiful and is just as extravagant on the inside as the outside. I highly suggest visiting this hugely popular touristic attraction if you come to Madrid! Beware, taking pictures inside is prohibited except for in the arms room, thus I only have pictures of the exterior, but enjoy nonetheless.