Andalucia

I am exhausted, and no wonder--I have just spent the last eight days tromping through Andalucia, the southern part of Spain. This journey took myself and 28 other ACA students through the cities of Granada, Marbella, Gibraltar, Tetuan (Morocco), Algeciras, Seville, and Cordoba. To sum up such an epic trip is a daunting task, as it is to choose which of the visually stunning views to share with you in photos, but I will attempt to do so without making you read two hours worth of text.

Our first stop was Granada, a city full of college students as poor as ourselves. The benefit: lots of cheap food available to cater to the student crowd. Outside a gelato store, we saw two students entertaining themselves by dangling a spider in front of tourists as they passed by on the sidewalk below. Creative way of busting boredom, I say. Later that night (it was a really long night) we had a tour through the Arab section of town, including a glorious view of the former sultan's palace, the Alhambra on our way to a flamenco tablao. I was awed by the intensity of the performance, how these women are so confident even though in the states they would be considered past their prime. I tried to film a particularly captivating performance of a middle-aged woman with lungs of iron and swift feet, but gave up because it's the sort of thing you have to see live to understand.

The second day in Granada was exhausting, as we saw so much in so little time. . . on so little food. We saw the graves of the great Catholic kings, Fernando and Isabella, whose achievements include the reconquest of Granada, uniting Spain with their marriage, and the discovery of America. With that laundry list of achievements, no wonder they seem like some of Spain's favorite historical figures--particularly Isabella. The cathedral in Granada. . . now that was amazing. It's mostly in the baroque style, painted dazzling white with gold accents and high, vaulted ceilings. Almost more fascinating to me were the large old missals lining the perimeter of the room--all Gregorian chant written before the modern system of lines and clefs was invented.

In the afternoon, we saw the Alhambra, and yeesh, after being there, I can't believe it's not as famous as Versailles (which hopefully I'll get to see in a few weeks). The gardens alone are breathtaking, and the many fountains are real marvels of engineering--they use no pumps, just gravity and the physics of narrow and wide pipes. The palace itself defies description, and unfortunately, my camera had run out of battery by the time I got to the interior. There is so much poetry in the geometric designs of the Muslim builders, in the intricate patterns of the tiles and lovely Arab script, saying over and over again, "God is great." I can see why the building inspired the American writer Washington Irving to live there for a time to write the book, "Tales From the Alhambra." I want to read it when I get a chance.

The next day was a welcome respite, mostly bus time with stops to various places on the Costa del Sol. I had my most solid meal in the trip so far in Marbella, where they had, of all things, peanut sauce. . . I had been dying for something rich and tasty like that. Later, we stopped at Gibraltar, which is a part of England, oddly enough. What I love about Gibraltar is that the English, in order to keep Spain from taking this little city away, put an airport between the city and the rest of Spain. The upshot? When you get out of customs and find a bus, you often have to wait for an airplane to cross the runway before you can enter the city. Only in Gibraltar. . .

Tetuan, Morocco, was our destination for the next day. With our native guide, Abdul, we got to ride a camel and take a tour of the Medina, the old section of Tetuan. In the Medina, there are 1800 streets, all narrow and hard to navigate, so it is imperative to have a guide. He joked, "You will see white people like you in there. They are not from Morocco. They came as tourists years ago and never found their way out." I certainly believe it--even with a trail of breadcrumbs or something, I don't think I could ever find the herbalist, the restaurant, or the artist commune we visited ever again through the dense marketplace with live chickens, all varieties of seafood, and robe artisans. I tried to buy a robe at the commune, but in the bartering process, the vendor was being really uncooperative, to the point where he resorted to flattery--"I would pay 250 camels for you if I saw you in that robe." Despite the cultural implications of this particular piece of flattery, I did really enjoy my time in Morocco, especially at the restaurant, where they treated us to good couscous and Moroccan mint tea.

By the time we arrived in Seville, it was rainy and almost sundown, so the main highlight of the day was the interior of the cathedral there. This cathedral is very, very impressive--supposedly the third largest in the world, and it houses the body of Christopher Columbus, among others. It has a pipe organ so large there's a choir room in the middle of it. Its bell tower, once the minaret of a mosque, is a beautiful, seamless blending of the Arab and renaissance architectural styles. For Sabbath, we went to the Seville SDA Church, where the people were very amiable, and spent the afternoon walking through the Plaza de Espana, which hosted the World Fair in 1929. Incidentally, George Lucas also filmed a part of Star Wars: Episode II there. Beyond that, we saw a memorial to the great Spanish poet Becquer, which was beautiful in its form and the significance of its different statues. Later in the evening, I enjoyed more sculpture as I accidentally happened upon a plaza full of Salvador Dali statues.

Our last day in Seville, we visited the royal palace there--it is actually the oldest one in Europe still in continuous use. How continuous? The king and queen were there just ten days ago. Much of the interior celebrates the discovery of the Americas, though there is one painting that interests me in particular because it finally explained to me who in the world San Fernando is. I spent so much time in the San Fernando valley without knowing who he was, it's embarrassing. So many layers of history in each room. . . and then the gardens were lovely as well, with peacocks and cats wandering through them.

Our teacher surprised us with a carriage tour of Seville, and it was neat to see the city from that angle. I sat up next to the driver, asking him questions, and that way learned a number of things I had missed over the last two days. Shortly thereafter, we headed out to Cordoba for our last night. Cordoba is a small town, but charming, with baskets of flowers hanging from the walls of the houses. The old section revolves around the old mosque we'd come to see, the new around a beautiful plaza of many illuminated fountains. The last morning of the trip, we toured the mosque--it was amazing, I just wish I'd been more awake and healthy to enjoy it. The mosque, now a Christian cathedral, is the largest in Europe, and well-preserved except for the parts the Christians ruined by building their own things in it. King Carlos the Fifth, several hundred years ago said that ruining the perspective of the place by building in it was a bad idea, and it stays that way to this day.

It was a long trip back, and I'm tired. Going back to routine school is tough after that, especially with such a difficult English class this afternoon and difficulties in hostel reservations for Paris. . . and being sick doesn't help things at all. Adventure comes at a cost, but I'd say that it's well worth it. I hope you all are doing well, and that you have a wonderful week.