The Spanish Plague and the Half Way Point

So as most of you know, I'm pretty healthy. When everyone else catches the flu, I sit idly by and thank God that it isn't me. The last time I had a cold was right before I came here, and it also marked the first and only time I've ever called off work or missed ANYTHING in my adult life due to illness. For the first two months here, I watched my roommate go from one sickness to another. Cold, cough, sore throat... We were constantly at the pharmacy!

Well the weather has been really nice here (upper 60s and occasionally the low 70s already). My roommate began leaving our window open when we went to bed for a little fresh air. This was great for the first couple of weeks when the temperatures were as stated above. However this past weekend through yesterday, we've had a bit of a cold spell, where it has dropped down to the 40s and 50s. Consequently, I woke up Sunday morning shivering, as half the blankets on my bed had been discarded due to the past warmth. I knew this wasn't good, but alas, by the time the cold woke me up, it was morning already and I had endured the cold all night.

[I would like to interject here that anyone with any knowledge of medicine and bacteria might point out that a cold just doesn't float in one's window. This is true, but once said cold window weakens one's immune system, it isn't a stretch of the imagination for anyone who has ridden a Metro to conclude that there are more than enough germs there to catch the aforementioned cold.]

I started to feel funny yesterday, so for the first time since arriving here, I didn't go with my roommate to our Monday night sangria night, where we meet with other internationals (Americans and Russians) to talk only in Spanish. I stayed home and went to bed super-early. Well by the middle of the night the cold and fever set in, and I slept miserably. I kept drinking water to flush it out, but it was no use. Then as if things couldn't get any worse, the electricity in our building was off when I woke up this morning. The scheduled maintenance was supposed to be for tonight, but unsurprisingly, the signs posted up were incorrect. So after patiently waiting for the electricity to return, I got ready and made my way to breakfast. With a full-blown cold and diminished taste buds, you can imagine my dismay to find that this was the morning (she only does it once a month) that my host mom decided to buy us large pastries for breakfast instead of our usual bread and chocolate. So after eating a pastry I couldn't taste and swallowing some more liquids, I headed to class.

Class of course was miserable. I was sick and feverish, but at the same time, attendance was taken in 3 out of my 4 classes today, so it would have been death to skip. At slightly after 2, I rushed home to eat a little lunch, because although my stomach doesn't hurt in any way, I also don't have an appetite.

Now for the worst news of all: This afternoon my study abroad group was visiting the interior of the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace, which is Spain's equivalent of the White House. Complete with stately rooms and apparently the most gorgeous interior that can meet the eyes, the Palacio Real is one place you can't leave Madrid without seeing. But since I had endured sickness and fever in my classes all day, I literally found it difficult to stand up for my Metro ride home. It was at this point that I made the decision to stay home and rest rather than attempting to hold myself up for a two hour visit to the palace. Having made this decision, I planned to stay here and take a nap and possibly not wake up until morning. Well as you can see by the presence of this post, it failed.

This brings me to a very scary conclusion: It's very possible that I have contracted the Spanish plague. You know, like the bubonic plague, only worse. I will keep you updated on my condition, but in the meantime I feel like death. That's all there is to it.


But on the bright side: Today marks the half way point in my trip! In exactly 67 days, I will be gracing all of you with my presence once again. I anticipate that each of you are excited in your own way, because I for one can't even describe how excited I am. Granted I have a few things left to look forward to: Morocco, Salamanca, Segovia, visit from Lydia and Scott, Barcelona (?), and who knows what else. Nonetheless, 67 days :)

A Commentary on the Consequences of Nearly-Free Education

As my title suggests, the following is NOT for the incredibly liberal or egalitarian-minded, although if all such people had the opportunity to see and experience first hand what I have for the past two months, they too might thank God and America for the system we are so blessed to have. With that, I will continue with what I will forthrightly call a very conservative and ANTI-egalitarian commentary on the quality (or lack thereof) and style of education at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Let me begin by saying that the University of Complutense is the best university in Spain. So whereas in the U.S. I attend a university ranked in the 40s, in Spain I am attending the very best. So it is not without a great degree of disappointment and sadness that I have come to the following conclusions:

1. There is an utter disregard and disrespect for this "best" university in Spain. A large part of my frustrations with this country began in the first weeks when I noticed graffiti EVERYWHERE... Defacing public monuments, buildings, and especially all over the university. Whereas at OSU students "chalk" campus with notices of meetings, clubs, and political preferences, Spanish students PAINT sidewalks, university buildings, etc. with their protestations. It's free speech taken to an absolutely ridiculous level. And this phenomenon is not just a European thing in general. In fact, when I visited Prague, I had to specifically go to the Lennon wall to see graffiti, as the Czech authorities don't mess around when it comes to defacing their monuments and heritage. Spain could learn something from the supposedly more "backward" Eastern bloc.

2. For a country with a) recycling bins EVERYWHERE and b) bans on many U.S. made cosmetics due to supposedly lax American standards regarding their composition and chemicals therein (see recent news article regarding former beauty queen applauding EU standards on safer cosmetics), Spain doesn't seem to give a damn about smoking, or for that matter what people do with their cigarette butts when finished with them. Day after day, I step through hoards of cigarette butts, pop and beer bottles (as yes, beer is served in the university cafeteria), trash, and other gross-ness just to enter my building at the University. If someone finishes their coffee or beer or cigarette, they just throw it down because, and I quote, "It gives the cleaning people a job to do." (Translated from Spanish, of course.) So students trash the exterior and interior of the buildings, often smoking beneath very clearly marked "No Smoking" signs, because, eh, who really cares if the University is nice or not? Certainly not a bunch of rag-tag students going there practically for free... Which brings me to:

3. How can students be expected to have respect for their University (the BEST university in Spain) when they pay less than 2000 euros a year for their education? and:

4. What incentive do students have to succeed when the only goal in the Spanish education system is to "pass"? Grades are posted on the doors at the end of each semester with very vague terms next to each student's name... Terms like "sobresaliente" if a student did particularly well or "aprobado" if they did a little less well. Because unlike in the U.S. where a grad school looks at one's transcript to determine how hard a student worked, often taking into consideration the graduate area of focus and whether a bad grade in an irrelevant area matters, in Spain the end goal is a degree and not any levels of differentiation therein. In such a system, there is no incentive to work harder, because in the end, nobody will ever know whether you had "aprobado" or worse in all of your classes.


I had been voicing the above frustrations for the past two months to everyone who will listen (and many, like my roommate, who listened by default of sharing a room with me), but it wasn't until today when I decided to share it with the world. The event (because of course something must of set me off on this course, haha) began this morning upon arriving at the aforementioned BEST university in Spain. After stepping carefully through the cigarette butts and empty bottles and making my way to the stairs of my building, a bunch of those rag-tag students already alluded to blocked my path, shouting that today there was a "Huelga" (strike) and therefore "No hay clases." They shoved a pamphlet in my hand and insisted that today there were no classes. I asked, timidly, "And for the foreigners?" And they said for them too. Well unlike the Spainards, I am paying a good deal of money to go to the BEST university in Spain, so I attempted to shove my way through the picket line, past their shouts that "No puedes pasar!"

Once safely inside, I found the building to be eerily empty but in complete chaos at the same time. Students were leading chants and had completely plastered signs of protest against Plan Bolonia throughout the halls. While waiting to enter a class, I watched in horror as a delinquent pulled the fire alarm and in even greater astonishment as a university official did NOTHING to stop or apprehend him. Where the hell is the accountability in this system? Where are the cops?
Amusingly, I later learned from one of my professors (who, unlike the rag-tag students, supports Plan Bolonia, which I will get to shortly), that cops are not permitted to enter University buildings. Not permitted to enter?! What about my safety?! Apparently it's up to the rector, or dean, of the University to maintain order. Right.
Their means of "maintaining order" next manifested itself in bolting, literally, the side door shut so that the rag-tags couldn't enter and disrupt classes at that entrance. In the event of an actual fire, we would have burned to death as the nearest fire entrance was literally bolted shut. It would have been like the textile factory in New England prior to workplace reforms. Fantastic.

So after a university-wide strike against Plan Bolonia, I decided to educate myself on the plan and enumerate its purpose for each of you.

The Bologna Process was signed into law in 1999 by education ministers throughout the European Union in an effort to initiate public university reform, especially with regard to funding. It involves the adaptation of a more standard system of degrees and credits, and promotes the mobility of students, teachers, and researchers throughout the entire system of signatory states.

***Let me interject here with the first potential problem here in Spain: a more standard system of degrees and credits might actually provide incentive to do more than just "pass," especially if a student has hopes of moving beyond the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree to the masters and doctorate. Heaven forbid the system become more standardized and actually institute QUALIFICATIONS that must be met!!***

And now moving along to what I have seen as the problem all along: Funding.

The Plan Bolonia proposes a new system of university funding whereby the university, rather than the state, will become increasingly more responsible for its own funding. It's important to note here that this does "not mean an absolute decline in public spending but that the university system shifts from public to having a mixed system of financing." Obviously for this to take place, students will actually need to take some ownership for their education in terms of, dare I say the inimical word, LOANS!!

"Con el sistema de préstamos, los estudiantes se hacen más conscientes del coste de su educación, tienen más incentivos para exigir una enseñanza de calidad, y deben esforzarse en los estudios y en el trabajo, para poder devolver la financiación recibida. De hecho, cabe pensar que la gratuidad de la enseñanza superior no sólo no promueve el esfuerzo de los estudiantes, sino que tiende a crear problemas de selección adversa, atrayendo a la Universidad a estudiantes que no tienen posibilidades de completar los estudios; especialmente si existe un sistema de becas que proporcione ingresos además de cubrir las tasas."

Informe Universidad 2000, cp.5 Financiación, pg.270

Basically the above paragraph says that with the loan system, students become more aware of the cost of their education, have more incentive to demand quality education, and must apply themselves in school and at work in order to repay funding. It goes on to say that the current system of free higher education fails to promote the efforts of students and attracts students who have no chance of completing the studies (like the rag-tags I have before described.)



Now there are a lot of pros and cons with Bolonia, so I cannot definitively say whether or not the plan is entirely good or bad, but I can say that if these students were paying for their education what we pay in the U.S., they wouldn't be striking and purposely wasting away both their money and their education. This isn't high school. "Snow days" in the real world of college and work cost money and lots of it. But when education is free, why not get a group of rag-tags together to strike and leave the professors alone in their classrooms? After all, it's one day less of homework and note-taking.



So the bottom line of all of this is my absolute rejection of the egalitarian notion of free (or nearly free) education. In theory it sounds very pretty: Let everyone have access (this is the key word) to higher education and the chance at a better life. In reality, it doesn't work so nicely.

Which brings me to a key point. Although our colleges and universities cost a dozen times more a year, the quality doesn't even compare. As I stated before, the best university in Spain can't compare to OSU, and OSU isn't even one of the top 10 schools in the U.S. That basically means that we have a ridiculous number of universities with better facilities and more opportunities for students, beyond the realm of public protests and free speech, than anything in Spain. Though I am on scholarship, those without that luxury are not denied ACCESS. Take my sister, for instance. She may be in debt up to her eyeballs, but by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, recognizing that her job requires a degree that for her can only be obtained through debt, she works hard to meet specific QUALIFICATIONS, like passing the Praxis, and will one day see the result of her hard work in the form of a teaching job.

But for those naysayers, or for those unwilling to work hard and take some ownership for their education, we have the more egalitarian Spanish education system for you or your children to enter....
I, for my part, can't wait to return to OSU with a whole new appreciation for the American system of higher education, to stretch out on our pretty Oval, free of cigarettes and bottles, and to sit in class with students who, like me, actually enjoy learning and who take the good [quality of education] with the bad [higher costs].


So folks, that wraps up, for now, my treatise on the quality of higher education in Spain. As this is a ridiculously long post, I plan to return to it as a work in progress, constantly editing and fine-tuning my observations (as I haven't the energy to do so now). Judge not, as the egalitarian image of the EU portrayed by many liberals is just that - egalitarian. It points to free education as the goal, but neglects (whether by ignorance or avoidance, I cannot say) to point out the bad, unintended but real consequences therein.

If I have the [mis]fortune of experiencing firsthand the Spanish health care system while I am here, you may expect a blog on my observations there as well, as my inclination is that it will be much the same... (Considering you are free to drink and smoke there as well).

Until next time..:)

Prague

For those Harry Potter fans out there, Prague is the city for you. The neo-Gothic architecture is among the most beautiful I have ever seen and I literally can't get enough of it. Every time I walk by a church with gargoyles, over Charles Bridge, or past dark brick structures, I expect Harry or a number of witches to fly down from the naves and whiz by my head. Instead, pigeons typically perform the aforementioned act. At any rate, this is definitely one of the most amazing countries I have ever visited. Though it is becoming a more and more popular tourist city, Prague - unlike Western Europe - has retained so much more of its "Old Europe" and medieval feel.

I arrived in Prague late Thursday night and managed to get all the way from the airport to my hostel without paying anything. Though unfortunate, the Czech Republic doesn't have a very efficient system of transportation set up, in that everyone just hops on the bus or walks through the gates into the metro. The system of inserting one's transportation card appears to be optional. (ha). At any rate, I arrived to the main square in Old Prague and after many wrong turns, arrived safely at my hostel.

My first day's adventures took me to see the Astronomical Clock, Tyn Church, Charles Bridge, St. Nicolas Church and Prague Castle - the largest castle in the world. St. Nicolas Church was absolutely breathtaking. The pink and white marble, gold accents, and painted ceilings were unlike anything I've ever seen. From there I spent nearly 5 hours in Prague Castle, with the highlights being St. Vitus's Cathedral and Golden Lane.

Day Two brought me to Petrin Tower, which was built in 1891 based on the model of the Eiffel Tower. The tower itself is only 60m high, but when you take into account the mountain of a hill you climb to get there, it stands about as high as the Eiffel Tower. Then today I walked around all quarters of the city (Prague 1, 2 and 3), seeing the Jerusalem Synagogue, Henry and Powder Tower, and eating a typical street kielbasa. I even sent a few postcards, though I am not holding my breath on any of them actually arriving. The lady at the post office told me to stick them in the orange box outside and upon locating said boxes, there were 3 and each had 2 slots. Rather than taking a number and waiting again, I randomly selected one orange slot, so please - if you receive a postcard from Prague, do let me know, as I will be amazed.

After all of these activities, I decided to pay an arm and a leg in Czech crowns to see the Old Jewish Cemetery. Stones there date back to the early 15th century with a few old relics from the 14th century that were excavated from an earlier cemetery located beneath the New Town section of Prague. The stones are literally crammed in the cemetery and it's estimated that there are as many as 12,000 people buried there, a feat accomplished by stacking the graves one on top of the other, as many as twelve deep.

A note on food and spirits:
My first day's meal was a leg of lamb and spinach potatoes surrounded by roasted tomatoes. Delicious, to say the least. I topped it off with Czech's most famous beer, Pilsner. Beef goulash and pork shoulder are other very common and tasty dishes here. But above all else, I have been indulging in 2 very unusual treats: hot wine and trdlnek (or something of that nature, as its spelling varies). Hot wine is just as it sounds: red wine often flavored with spices of some sort and served hot.. The Czech equivalent of hot chocolate or coffee sold by street vendors. Trdlnek is dough flavored with sugar, cinnamon, almonds, or varying combinations therein, and roasted on a spit of some sort. It might be dipped in some sort of other sweetness, who knows. At any rate, it is literally one of the most delicious things that has ever entered my mouth.

So between hot wine, trdlnek, Gothic architecture, and gorgeous churches, I have had an amazing time. This experience has been even more interesting as I am 50% Slovak (on my mom's side). My grandparents were from Czechoslovakia, though I think, based upon the food here versus what my grandma would make, that they are more from what is now considered Slovakia. Regardless, I can't count the number of women who have stopped me on the street here, asking me for directions (or God only knows what) in Czech. After looking blankly at them, I then say in English that I don't speak Czech, to which they look blankly at me and mumble oh, and continue on their way. Even at the market today, a couple told me in Czech something about their products, and only after I didn't respond did they ask in English if I spoke Czech. Strange. Apparently I blend into the local population much better here than I do in Spain :)

I fly back to Madrid tomorrow, but hopefully I'll be able to see a few more things before I go. This trip was definitely worth every dollar/euro/Czech crown I paid, and I would come back in a heartbeat. I wish all of you could see this place, but for now these few photos will have to suffice (and for more, please see Facebook, where I have posted hundreds).
Love you all!

Granada

This past weekend our group went to Granada, about five hours south of Madrid. It is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains and was the last Moorish stronghold in Spain. In fact, the city is known for the Alhambra, which in itself was a Moorish city (including citadel/palace, homes, and gardens) located on a hill in Granada. The Islamic moors controlled the "city" until 1492 when the keys to Alhambra were handed over to the Christian king. While most of the Islamic aspects of the city were preserved, there now exists some distinctly Christian aspects as well because King Carlos V felt like he needed to have his own palace right next to the Islamic one. The Alhambra was completed in the 14th century.

One distinctive feature of Alhambra is the water located throughout. Beginning in the higher gardens and continuing through the palaces, city, and lower gardens, there are numerous fountains and waterways. The Moors, having been desert nomads and hence without water, wanted to prove their wealth by the amount of water visitors would encounter upon entering Alhambra. The really cool thing is that all of these fountains are powered without the use of electricity or pumps of any kind. The water is pooled from the river higher up in the gardens and by utilizing a series of downhill waterways where the openings get smaller each time, the water is able to spray and sprout out of fountains due only to natural pressure.

Outside of Alhambra, Granada had a number of cool sites. One was the Capilla Real where the last true king and queen of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, are buried. [Granada is also home to a pretty fountain depicting Christopher Columbus asking this king and queen for money for his trip to America.] Next to Capilla Real is La Catedral, a huge and very gorgeous church that took 181 years to be built from the time the plans were first drawn up. The towers that were originally part of the plan were never completed.

Sonya and I also explored a lot of the city on our own, discovering the Monasterio de San Jeronimo, the church of San Juan de Dios (where the remains of the saint are located), the botanical garden of the University of Granada, the Puerta de Elvira (which is part of the original Moorish wall and marks the entrance to the old city - see the above "door" looking arch), and lots more. From the large hill in the Old City, we took gorgeous pictures as the sun set on the rest of Granada.

Though Granada was beautiful, my FAVORITE part of the entire experience was the Arab market. Ok let me describe how I discovered its existence. So on the very first night, Sonya and I found our way to La Catedral, which was very close to our hotel. We went in two different souvenir shops, and upon leaving the second one, right alongside the building, it was like there was a tiny door and beyond, an entire alley, connected to other alleys, FILLED with little Arab shops! Ok so granted it might have been scary had it been dark and had I been alone (it took me back to the shops in Jerusalem!!), but there were SO many cool things there! Basically I bought a lot and everyone was making fun of me and asking me how I intend to transport all of this home. Literally I will need to hire a personal cargo plane if I buy much more. haha. At any rate, Lydia, Scott, and Paula can be assured that I found their gifts there:) The even better news is that I will be going to Morocco in April, where I already have plans to buy more Arab-made things!

All in all it was a great trip. Granada has a lot of history and the old feel of city, combined with the great tapas bars, made for a very fun weekend. The four star hotel and yummy breakfasts were also nice :)

So after missing class this past Friday for Granada and feeling really guilty about it, I turned around and booked my flight and hostel for Prague in the Czech Republic. I leave this Thursday evening and return next Monday night (hence missing class on both Friday AND Monday). Regardless, I am SO excited about this trip. I've heard from so many people that Prague is gorgeous, and obviously since I am 50% Czech, this makes it even more exciting. The only downside is that a girl who was just there said it was snowing. I mean it isn't summer or anything in Madrid, but Spain is farther south than the Czech Republic, so I guess I need to pack some sweaters. This brings me to my next point.

Since it is snowing there, I have a request for all readers: Please watch the news and make sure that no Lufthansa planes go down due to ice on the wings and such craziness. And for those of you who told me not to worry after the Hudson River plane crash because everyone survived, I must point to the crash shortly thereafter where EVERYONE, including civilians on the ground, died when the wings built up with ice. That's all.

Oh and I've already been stressing about how I will get all potential souvenirs home. Since I am flying and since I must tote my luggage around the city, I will be packing very lightly. That probably means I will have to control my gift-purchasing :)

Hope all is well at home. Look for another update after this weekend's trip to Prague!

El día de San Valentín & Starbucks

Today I walked in the Parque del Buen Retiro since it was 60-some degrees, sunny and absolutely gorgeous in Madrid. Between the statues, fountains, trees, benches and garden-like areas, I took plenty of pictures. It almost made me forget that it's Valentine's Day and that my Valentine is an ocean away. :)

On the way to the park, Sonya (my roommate) and I walked through the Feria del Libros, which is a permanent book fair alongside the Ministerio de Agricultura and the Museo Prado. The books range in price from 1 euro to many euros (and therefore out of price range), but there are scores of hardbacks that would look fabulous in my collection. The bad news is that the vast majority are in Spanish and the ones that aren't are quite pricey. Now while I can read Spanish (hence the reason for my trip here), doing so regularly constitutes work as opposed to reading fiction in English which constitutes pure pleasure. Therefore, while it wasn't my favorite city/country by any stretch of the imagination, I am considering a weekend trip back to London as I'm CERTAIN I could hit the jackpot with hardback books AND those of our favorite authors (since they are, after all, British). I of course prefer visiting new countries as opposed to returning to old ones, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and who knows when I might be back in Europe again to buy books closest to their origin. I'll keep everyone posted.



Having been in Spain for a month now, I have made a few observations about Spanish culture that I would like to share. The first deals with Starbucks. Before I begin though, I just want to thank God and America for this coffee establishment. Now I'll begin with my critiques. :)

The American-ness: So it is EXTREMELY rare to find anyone here that takes coffee to go. We read it in our information preparing us for this trip, and upon arriving here, it's true. There simply is no such thing as a to-go coffee mug in most families. I think my host mom would turn her head sideways and say, "No te entiendo," if I even suggested a cup of coffee for the long walk/metro ride to school. The way the study abroad people explained it to us is that it's considered rude to not eat and drink everything slowly in one place. It's "rude" to walk off with it because you are in too much of a hurry or too busy to stay.
Now as I'm sure most of you know, this is blasphemy in America. For those who drink coffee, in their cupboard can also be found numerous to-go mugs. The avid drinkers would never set foot out of the house, be it for school or work, without one such mug filled to the very brim with the remnants from their morning's fresh brew.
This brings me to the American-ness. Starbucks in Madrid offers 0.40 euro cents off when you bring in your to-go coffee mug for a refill. That's right. Buy a coffee mug, bring it with you on your way to work, and pay 0.40 cents less for your java. Let me now explain why Starbucks does not offer such a thing in America: Nobody would EVER pay full price for coffee!

So Starbucks may be trying to Americanize Spain, one coffee drinker at a time, but hey, I can't say that it's all bad. :)

Now on to the Spanishness: As I'm sure I've explained to most of you, everything about the day happens later in Spain. People wake up later, lunch is later, there is a siesta, dinner is later, and I believe I'm the only one under 40 asleep in Madrid before the Metro closes. I knew this going into this program. I knew that the odds of Starbucks being open at 6am weren't great, but what I came to discover made me curse - aloud - this particular aspect of Spanish culture.

So Friday morning I decided I would wake up a little earlier in order to take the Metro to the Gran Vía (a very large commercial area about 15 minutes from where I live here). My classes don't start on Friday until 10am, so I figured I would spend a little time at either Starbucks or Dunkin Coffee (as it is for some reason called here), reading my book before continuing on to the University. I arrived outside of Starbucks at 7:50am and at first was not dismayed by the closed doors and dark interior. I thought that by 8am, surely it would be up and running. I rounded the corner to see men carrying large crates of donuts into Dunkin Coffee and became even more convinced of their opening. Well 8am passed and still no signs of coffee brewing. The street was quite empty and I was getting impatient. I walked around a bit more and noticed on the other side of the street a knockoff Starbucks called Café & Té. I swallowed my craving for American coffee and settled into the Spanish version for some cafe con leche (as I've already explained that black coffee doesn't exist in truly Spanish establishments.) I spent the next hour or so reading my book and sipping on the incredibly tiny cafe con leche, when I noticed at 9am the doors to both Dunkin Coffee and Starbucks opening. 9am. Really? All I could do at that point was curse and grumble about how half the morning was now gone and how damn lazy everyone was to only now be getting out of bed to need their coffee.
And if you do the math, 9am doesn't even make sense. Sure everything in America happens earlier. We eat lunch earlier. But not 3 hours earlier, as one might imagine since our Starbucks opens 3 hours earlier than in Spain. Sigh.

So there you have it. Both the American-ness and the Spanishness of Starbucks in Spain. And call me capitalist, but I think impressing upon Spaniards to take their coffee to go is minor compared to forcing Americans to wait until 9am to get a good cup of joe. :)

Toledo

This past Saturday (2/7) our study abroad group visited Toledo, Spain, which as an entire city was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city is on a sort of mountain and is surrounded on three sides by the River Tajo, giving it a very moat-like feel. Up until 1492, the city had large Jewish and Muslim populations (and obviously Christian), until they were both expelled from Spain (well the Jews in 1492 and the Muslims in 1502). This unique mix was very apparent in the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca, which is decorated without icons and such (like a mosque), but was used a Catholic church, but built as a synagogue. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the inside as the monks were walking around like hawks to prevent it from happening :(

Also, Toledo, Ohio, is the sister city of Toledo, Spain, which is why one of the streets is named "Calle de Toledo de Ohio" in the first picture above. Apparently there are a lot of cities called Toledo in the U.S., but according to our tour guide, the one in Ohio is the most important because they are sister cities.

La catedral is a beautiful and HUGE church in Toledo and the second largest in all of Spain. It took nearly 300 years to complete, beginning in the 13th century. It is the last of the pictures I have posted above, and for some reason I am incapable of turning a longways picture up in this blog. I try to take sideways pics, but of such tall things it is nearly impossible. So please, to get a true sense of the glory of this building, tilt your head to the right and take it in :)

El Greco is a famous painter from Greece (obviously) who studied in Italy before living in Toledo for 30-some years. There is a church in Toledo that contains his masterpiece - The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. The painting is absolutely gorgeous, but of course no pictures because these church caretakers are like hawks about it.

In the fifth picture down, the big square building is the Alcázar, which served as a military academy in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was the site of a famous siege during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 when Republican forces attacked the defending nationalists. It took Franco's superior forces to end the siege and save those remaining inside.

For you food-lovers - Toledo is famous for it's mazapán, which is a dessert made of egg whites, almonds, and sugar. Though it is made differently depending upon the region of the world, in Toledo I had it in a layered cake form and it was absolutely delicious.
Toledo is also known for its swords due to the city's historic production of iron and other metals. I might have bought one (or two), but as I obviously would never buy such things for myself, I will not specify the extent to which this may be possible :)


In other news:
I've had 3 weeks of classes at the university and so far so good. My history of Spain professor is dying or something (actually he has just been hospitalized for like 2 weeks now for undisclosed reasons) so eventually I have to make up those classes. In the meantime I have been going to my other five classes. My art history class is really interesting and I've never taken any such class before, so I feel like everything I'm learning is entirely new (whereas in literature for instance, I've had better professors, so it is exceedingly difficult for me to pay attention to this one). But the thing I'm worried about with art history is identifying the painters/sculptors when it comes exam time. There isn't a book and some of the paintings she shows are so obscure that Wikipedia doesn't list them under an artist's page, so yeah... Not sure what to do about this situation.

My geography class is also interesting. I thought the class would be like watching paint dry, but the professor is really good about invoking bits of history into the study of each area of Spain so that we are really learning a lot under the guise of Geography.

My philosophy professor is a bit out there... So I bought the book he semi teaches from in an attempt to be able to write coherent essays when exams roll around.

Literature I've already said is painful. She teaches more about the different periods of Spanish history - Middle Ages, Renacimiento, Barroco, Ilustración - than assigning actual things to read and discuss. So far she's passed out one little packet of Moroccan letters. I bought two larger novels that we eventually are supposed to read, but even that seems a tiny amount for an entire semester.

History was extremely interesting but then the professor fell ill and we are awaiting his return... And then my final class is a Seminar where we have three different professors teaching a topic of their choosing for 12 class sessions. After those 36 classes, we choose one professor we want to collaborate with on a research paper and attempt to track them down, work on the paper, and then get credit for the class.


As far as other tidbits of daily life, I've been doing a lot of reading. I divide my time between reading (slowly) and understanding my few books for class - literature and philosophy - and then my own reading. My Aunt Lydia sent me a care-packaged FILLED with fiction books, which I am super excited about. There are a TON of old bookstores around here and during El Rostro (the large outdoor market every Sunday in my neighborhood), there are SO many beautiful hardback books, but all in Spanish of course. I guess if I wanted to buy a lot of books for my collection I would need to study in/visit England again, but the trade-off of eating crappy meat pies and bland meat and potatoes makes that not-so-appealing. :)

Well that sums up things for this past week. I hope life at home is going well!

Lisboa, Portugal

I spent the extended weekend in Lisboa, Portugal, due to a holiday at the University on Friday (1/30). We took a bus from Madrid to Lisboa late Thursday night, arriving there around 6am. Despite the close proximity of the two countries, Portugal is one hour behind Spain. Additionally, traveling about Lisboa is not for the faint of heart, as the city is built around 7 hills. With narrow cobblestone sidewalks and often very steep streets, heels are next to impossible to wear and just keeping your balance is challenging enough.

After arriving in Lisboa, Katherine (a girl from the University) and I made our way to our hostel - called Bairro Alto Travellers - in the Bairro Alto district of the city. As the name suggests, it is built on one of the city's 7 hills, making climbs to our hostel quite a workout. Though I had doubts about staying in a hostel, I was pleasantly surprised to find it both cutely decorated and very clean. Free breakfasts were provided, along with coffee, internet, etc.

Though it rained all day Friday, we made our way to the Bélem district of the city, where you can find the Jerónimo Monastery and the Bélem Tower - both designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. Bélem Tower was built in the 16th century to commemorate Vasco da Gama's expedition. It also served as part of a defense system for the mouth of the Tagus River.

The Jerónimo Monastery also was built in the 16th century on the site of a hermitage built in 1450. Vasco da Gama spent the night at this old hermitage prior to setting sail for India in 1497. His importance and significance to Portugal's history is highlighted by the fact that his tomb is just inside the entrance to the monastery. The monastery is built in the Manueline style and despite the rain on the day of my visit, was truly a beautiful site to see.

Bélem is also home to the Bélem pastries, famous the world over. Actually, all of Lisboa had delicious pastries, and was the staple of my diet during my time there.

Friday night we experienced a bit of the nightlife in our neighborhood, since the area of Bairro Alto is known for its many bars, clubs, and Fado (Portugal's famous music) houses.

Saturday I visited the Castle of São Jorge, located at the very top of Lisboa's tallest hill. The origins of the castle are a bit hazy. The top of that hill has been occupied since at least the 2nd century BC, and perhaps as early as the 6th century BC. It was taken for Portugal from the Moors in 1147, but was nearly destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Parts of it have been rebuilt in modern times.

I also visited in Sé, or Lisbon Cathedral, built in 1147, making it the oldest church in the entire city. On Sunday (2/1), we revisited the cathedral and were surprised to find that it was the 101st anniversary of the assassination of King Carlos I. On February 1, 1908, the king was assassinated while riding in an open carriage through Lisboa. To commemorate his death, a special church service is held on that day every year in the Sé Cathedral. All of the important families and political figures in Portugal - including the Royal Family - were in attendance. Since we were sitting in the very last row, we were the first to see them enter. They were dressed entirely in mourning, with the women wearing black shawls on their heads. They stood at the back of the church RIGHT NEXT TO US before proceeding down the aisle to their royal seats.

Just prior to leaving Portugal, we had dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by the owner of our hostel. It was called Chapito and was located near the Castle of São Jorge, overlooking the city and the river. Needless to say, it was the most beautiful dinner I've ever had in my life. The food was absolutely AMAZING (I am considering going back to Portugal for this restaurant and the pastries) and the view just added to the experience.

All in all, I had an incredible time in Portugal. The city was beautiful (perhaps more so than Madrid), and I would return in a heartbeat.