A blog version of Jillian Spencer's updates on her travels to friends, family, and other interested parties.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sagunto, February 25
Last Thursday, I had the wonderful luck to go to Valencia with the school to learn more about its history. Before entering the museum we were there to see, MUVIM, the history teacher showed us an archeological park of the ruins of Valencia and also the old powerful silk company that competed with China back in its heyday before they discovered that mandarins were a better choice. The mandarins they grow today right outside my school are actually Chinese mandarins grafted onto the local Spanish variety to make them sweet. The local ones are really bitter, though they carry many medicinal benefits. Also, we saw the Valencia public library, which is a spectacular building, a former hospital of Renaissance architecture. My eyes popped out to see so many wonderful books in one place.
In the basement of MUVIM, they have a section of the old Arab wall on display. The history teacher explained how the Arab walls were made by building two walls of wood, and then stuffing the space between them with rocks and their version of cement. The circular street around the older section of town is actually the imprint of the old city wall. The MUVIM building itself is interesting in its proportions, as it was constructed according to the Golden Ratio so that everyone inside it would feel at ease. Sadly, cameras were not allowed inside, so I will do my best to describe the experience that is MUVIM.
The visit began with a silent hooded monk beckoning us to follow him through exhibits of the doubts of scholars copying texts in the Middle Ages, the advent of the printing press, and how this changed the world. His last part was a choice of three doors reflecting the changing picture of God the Renaissance brought, along with the place of man in the universe--a shaking of his faith.
Our next guide was a very polite woman in colonial costume, who curtsied to us and led us through the Enlightenment and the revolutions that followed it. Many students recoiled at the horrors of slavery and the guillotine in the French Revolution. To contrast that, she led us into a well-furnished roccocco room and served us Valor chocolates with a polite flourish. The reproduction of the period furniture was absolutely magnificent.
In place of her, we got a labcoated scientist, who led us through the scientific developments of the twentieth century, then through a room of many screens. It started with the sound of a human heartbeat, but then changed to display several montages at once of the many bloody wars of that time. It was enough to turn anyone's stomach--the Holocaust, Vietnam, Rwanda. . . it ended poignantly with the explosion of the atomic bomb, too massive in its its destruction to contemplate. At the end of our visit, they showed us a montage of the hope for the future, how we have the potential to overcome the wounds and wars of previous generations.
We spent the rest of our time in Valencia visiting a cute candy shop and a really big, really cheap book store. I savored these few moments of fun, because the next day I had a project due that kept me up late into the night to finish, a newscast. I might've finished it sooner if my friend Jenny hadn't have sprained her wrist on the stairs and come to me for help, but I don't begrudge her that, naturally. The project turned out fine, and we had a good time looking at each other's newscasts in class. I have taped a few (not my own, sorry) if anyone cares to see them on the webpage.
Sabbath afternoon, a nice big group of us went up to the castle of Sagunto to look around a bit, because some of the new students hadn't seen it yet. Although I had been before, it was still fun to climb new things, get new angles, and to see, heh, a recently married couple taking photos, still in their wedding clothes. This week has been very relaxed, and thanks to a good deal of the school leaving to go skiing, my teachers cancelled class today and we went to the Sagunto market instead. I got a pair of flamenco shoes for only twelve euros. Afterwards, our teacher had us over for lunch, all twelve of us that remained, and it was a wonderful meal, very relaxing.
As for now, I'm gearing up for the end of the quarter, buckling down on end-of-quarter projects and getting my reading for class done. I can hardly believe this quarter has gone by so fast. I hope that life is treating you all well, and that you enjoy yourselves wherever you are.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Andorra and Barcelona, February 10-13
I'd like to start by saying Happy Valentine's, a bit belatedly, to all my beloved JJ readers. Circumstances involving cleaning for the coming of an accreditation committee made it impossible for me to write an episode at my usual time, but know that the sentiment is no less heartfelt, if late.
Coming to the small country of Andorra on the border of Spain and France, we had some free time before our spa visit (yes, spa!!!) to sample the local cheeses and the wonderfully thick drinking chocolate. This was warm and delicious, as it began to snow. The spa was marvelous. . . lights and fountains and all kinds of hot and cold pools composed Caldea, this marvel the school brought us to visit. It's kind of neat to swim in warm water outside while it's snowing. I particularly loved, too, the Turkish sauna with all of its warm, wet steam--and the feeling of the freezing cold water afterward. I also loved the black light room--I wish I could find an excuse to install something like it at home.
Andorra was covered in a thick blanquet of beautiful white snow the next morning. We all took pictures and had snow fights while waiting for the chains to be put on the bus so that we could leave for Barcelona. Fortunately, we didn't have to go the entire way in chains. Unfortunately, Montserrat was closed off from a landslide, so my classmates couldn't see it. I felt really grateful for having gone with my parents.
Instead, we went to the top of Tibidabo, a mountain said to be the one where Satan tempted Jesus to worship him and be the ruler of the world. Although it is just a legend, the view of Barcelona it offers is magnificent, as is the small church with its famous statue of Jesus on top. Although that is the main tourist attraction of the church, I liked the ceramic murals inside better--they are more colorful than anything I've ever seen inside a Catholic church. The other famous attraction at the top of Tibidabo is Europe's second oldest amusement park. We didn't go in, but it was interesting to see from the outside what the old school rides look like.
That evening, my friend Jenny and I walked down to the sea, past the famous statue of Christopher Colombus to look at the famous mall there. We also poked around the free parts of Barcelona's famous aquarium, which do not include fish swimming around in tanks, but do involve a store full of adorably plushy stuffed animals I can't afford. We finished our day dining at a restaurant on La Rambla with absolutely horrible service and pricey drinks (Jenny's Coke was four euros!!!!!).
The next day was packed with visits to the many wonderful Gaudi buildings. In addition to the buildings I saw over Christmas (of which I was able to take better pictures, thanks to the perfect weather), we saw a park he designed as a highly exclusive gated community. The project was such a financial disaster that Gaudi had to buy one of the homes himself, but as a public park is is absolutely gorgeous, with ceramic tiles glittering in the sunlight and a style which blends artfully with the natural surroundings in a way I have never seen another architect do so well.
I ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with Jenny and Chelo, the teacher accompanying us on this trip. Chelo had never tried ranch dressing before, and she loved it--it was highly entertaining to watch her face when she saw the American proportions they serve there. For me, it was a way of remembering my mom and grandmother, who ate Christmas dinner there while Dad and I were at the Teatre Liceu. Afterward, I went shopping and managed to buy a really cute dress and matching shoes for less than twenty euros put together.
We saw the Picasso Museum shortly thereafter, which had a lot of his early works. I'm not a fan of cubism, but his early works are much more interesting; he seems to have dabbled in every style at some point or another. There are even a few brilliantly colored Impressionist works in that collection.
Our last day in Barcelona involved a walking tour of the Barrio Gotico, where we saw all the Roman ruins my mother had wanted to see when she was there, but we couldn't find. This included the Aqueduct (which was teasingly close to the cathedral), the temple, and the old Roman wall. I went with a group to see the interior of the cathedral. They have a very interesting Romanesque crucifix there which was on the prow of the flagship of some important battle I should remember. It is said that the Christ on it flinched when a cannonball came close to the ship. Yeah, right. Great story, at least.
We got back just in time for the Sabbath, and yeesh, we were all wiped. Sunday was spent cleaning for the AAA accreditation committee (kind of an equivalent to WASC for those of you out on the West Coast). They gave us a real gem in the student interviews when someone mentioned that the bikes provided to us to go to Sagunto are all broken and a member of the committee said, "Why don't you fix them yourselves?" At least they were impressed by our collective level of Spanish--they haven't had such luck at other ACA campuses, I've heard. We may not know how to fix bikes, but we can speak Spanish well!
Anyways, thanks for reading, once again, and happy belated Valentine's Day. Best wishes and much love to each of you.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
January in Sagunto
After the flurry of the holidays, I decided to put my nose to the grindstone for the new quarter, but not without making time for fun. At 18 credits all in Spanish, there's a grand temptation to spend all my time studying, but I've been finding ways to do it without going crazy. For one thing, I do the vast majority of it out in the school garden, where even in January the sun shines. Also, at the end of the week, when my brain is at its most tired, I go hiking up in the mountain behind the school.
My time has been punctuated with several fun trips to Valencia. The first one was to get a pair of boots from the huge sales the Spanish have after Three King's Day. The second was with the school, to the City of the Arts and Sciences to see a film, the Alps in their famous IMAX theatre, the Hemispheric. It was a gorgeous film about the Swiss Alps, though that has nothing on the beautiful white curves of the buildings outside the theater. Afterwards, we went to a mall across the street where, despite having fun trying on various pieces of clothing I'll never be able to afford with my friend Jenny, I managed to escape buying nothing but some turron ice cream and a tube of toothpaste I needed.
The last visit I took to Valencia was yesterday, actually. This time, Jenny and I had such bad cabin fever that we just left. We had some of that good, rich Valor chocolate in the shadow of the cathedral and took a stroll through the central plaza. The day was sunny, and Jenny had the patience to walk with me through all the flower stalls, nerding out over the different types sold in their brilliant array. The first scent of Fallas was in the air--in the distance, we could here explosions by fireworks companies starting to test their products for Valencia's most extravagant holiday. As we walked back to the station, I was just entranced by all the colors of Valencia--the orange trees, the scarves, the ceramic tiles. . . Paris may be considered the city of love world wide, but Valencia has a romantic charm the world's tourist agencies have yet to spoil.
On campus, I've been enjoying several other diversions. The day after the inauguration, which I watched streaming on the internet, I had the pleasure of doing commentary on the local Adventist radio station. They were looking for an American perspective on it, and I was the only student they could get on such short notice. . . it felt good to be back in a studio. It feels like I spent a fifth of my time at PUC in Fischer Hall, and there's something nice and cozy about the sound equipment.
One Saturday night Jenny and I got bored and decided to do a photo shoot of our own. We dressed up and, working in glorious monochrome, had the time of our lives. Entertaining, and free to do. Despite the fact that my film collection disappeared during vacation, I have had no problem filling and enjoying my time. I've even been more faithful with worship attendance as a result. This last week was Week of Prayer, featuring Jonathan Dolcet, a former rock star who is now a pastor. His theme was, of course, music, and it was fascinating. I actually really enjoyed this Week of Prayer, which surprised me after last quarter's.
As for now, on Tuesday we're leaving for our tour to Barcelona and the small country of Andorra on the border between Spain and France. We'll be back on Friday, but it will be a nice reprieve from our classroom studies to get some more hands-on learning. That, then, will be the next episode of Jillian's Journeys; until then, I wish all of you an absolutely fantastic week.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Pucol, January 1-5
My train for Pucol left at about the same time as my parents, and I watched them until mine left. My friends Jonny and Lidia (who taught me Spanish my senior year at Pleasant Hill) picked me up, and we had lunch, where I met Jonny's parents for the first time. I really was impressed by how beautiful the entire family is. I helped his mother make the dinner for Nochevieja, the Spanish celebration of New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, I was a little too tired to eat well. I managed to stay awake to play some pool and eat the twelve grapes at midnight that correspond to the chimes of the Puerto del Sol clock in Madrid, at least. I actually breathed a sigh of relief as 2008 ended, once and for all--in a variety of ways, it had not treated me well.
After a very late breakfast the next morning, we went for a walk at the Pucol community beach. It was so lovely; somehow I had managed to live the previous three months with the sea out my window without actually visiting the beach. Sad. We ate after we came back--and I was once again flummoxed by how hard it was to keep up with how much my hosts ate. In the evening, we watched movies, one of them in English to give me a break. It felt good, because even though I appreciated the amazing amount of Spanish practice I was getting (Jonny's family was very patient with my many speaking errors), it just feels nice to hear something in your native language every now and then. A charm that transcends culture and language, though, was in watching Lidia's baby girl Sofia look at the world with her big, beautiful brown eyes, discovering it for the first time.
Lidia and I had a bit of an adventure the next day, taking us to various parts of Puerto de Sagunto in a frustrating attempt to accomplish things that refused to be accomplished. Although Lidia apologized for the frustrating morning, I was fine, because it was an excuse to spend more time with Sofia. We had a nice, generous lunch at the house of Lidia's parents, who invite me over on Sabbath from time to time. Afterwards, Lidia's mother gave me a huge pannatonni that kept me fed for about two weeks after I got back to the school. After dinner back in Pucol, I was lulled to sleep by the warm fire and peaceful harp music playing in the background. . . it was wonderful.
For Sabbath, I enjoyed making some mandarin juice for breakfast before heading to church. I enjoyed Sofia's Sabbath school class; it was cute. After a very, very long church service, we had lunch at the house of some of Jonny's parents' friends. It was lavish with food typical of Madrid. It was so good, so filling, that I couldn't eat for the rest of the day of socializing. Eventually, my head hurt so much from processing so many conversations in Spanish at once that I went back to Pucol with Jonny and Lidia to defrag my brain with a film or two in English.
I had enjoyed my time so much there that I found myself almost unconsciously trying to stretch out breakfast so as not to leave too soon. I enjoyed the crepes Jonny's mother had made very much, as well as the rich chocolate. I kissed Lidia, Sofia, and Jonny goodbye, and they drove off into the rain. Jonny's parents took me to the school, but it wasn't open yet, so they called Ana Fernandez, one of my teachers. She let me stay in her house until the dorm opened, even served me a good lunch of tortilla espanola. Then, I returned to a dorm that was empty save for my friend Tristinn and I to await the coming of the next quarter.
First, though, we had the fun of attending the parade in Sagunto for Three King's Day, also known as Epiphany. How fun! Not only was there music, lights, and all manners of marching, but also candy and small gifts thrown out to the crowd. The children were almost more fun to watch than the parade, for all their bright smiles and how their parents held them up so they could see better. Three King's Day is the gift-giving holidy here in Spain, not Christmas, so it was fun to watch how that worked.
What I learned from the people I stayed with over New Year's until returning to the dorm was what good hospitality looks like. I am incredibly grateful to them for that, and can only hope to be able to show the same kindness to others who will need it of me later on.
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