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| first night..la primera noche.. |
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| Daniella, Anne y yo |
lunes, 22 de noviembre de 2010
Costa de Almería ~ Almería Coast
In October, I went hiking with a couple friends for three days along the coast. We wanted to be spontaneous, so the only planning we did before we left was calculate the kilometers between little towns on the coast to have an idea of how far we could reasonably make it in a day. We hiked some 12 kilometers each day, right along the coast, packing a simple lunch of bread, salchichon (sausage), and Lindt chocolate : ). When we arrived to our destination town each evening, we searched for the cheapest spot to spend the night. Our record was 13 Euro apiece. The weather was beautiful!
Danza africana
Esto es de hace un mes…
Hoy fui a mi segunda clase de danza africana. Alucinante. De la gran variedad de clases que se ofrecían como actividades fuera de la escuela (como pintura, encuadernación, rutas subterráneas por Granada) fue danza africana que más me interesaba, así que decidí probar este campo de baile que es completamente nuevo para mí a ver cómo era. En la primera clase, la instructora era una española, pero esta vez, los instructores eran dos hombres africanos (senegalenses), que trajeron una mezcla de tambores, que llegan hasta las rodillas en altura, para crear la música. Son hermanos y ambos tienen rastas gruesas. Mientras que uno se dedica solamente a tocar los tambores, el otro (que se llama Dali..puedes ver unas fotos en http://www.myspace.com/dalidanza, si quieres) pasa la mayor parte de la clase enseñándonos a bailar, aunque de vez en cuando se sienta al lado de su hermano y tocan juntos mientras bailamos. El hermano que toca más los tambores tiene la sonrisa más increíble –si pudieras imaginar toda la alegría que el baile y la música pueden inspirar captada en una expresión, sería la sonrisa de este hombre—. Absolutamente brillante. La coreografía era bien rápida y divertida, e involucraba todo el cuerpo. Ojalá que pudieras ver a mi instructor bailando; es increíble como su cuerpo y su alma se mueven con el ritmo de los tambores, creando una energía radiante e irresistible. Me hace querer ir a África.
Hoy fui a mi segunda clase de danza africana. Alucinante. De la gran variedad de clases que se ofrecían como actividades fuera de la escuela (como pintura, encuadernación, rutas subterráneas por Granada) fue danza africana que más me interesaba, así que decidí probar este campo de baile que es completamente nuevo para mí a ver cómo era. En la primera clase, la instructora era una española, pero esta vez, los instructores eran dos hombres africanos (senegalenses), que trajeron una mezcla de tambores, que llegan hasta las rodillas en altura, para crear la música. Son hermanos y ambos tienen rastas gruesas. Mientras que uno se dedica solamente a tocar los tambores, el otro (que se llama Dali..puedes ver unas fotos en http://www.myspace.com/dalidanza, si quieres) pasa la mayor parte de la clase enseñándonos a bailar, aunque de vez en cuando se sienta al lado de su hermano y tocan juntos mientras bailamos. El hermano que toca más los tambores tiene la sonrisa más increíble –si pudieras imaginar toda la alegría que el baile y la música pueden inspirar captada en una expresión, sería la sonrisa de este hombre—. Absolutamente brillante. La coreografía era bien rápida y divertida, e involucraba todo el cuerpo. Ojalá que pudieras ver a mi instructor bailando; es increíble como su cuerpo y su alma se mueven con el ritmo de los tambores, creando una energía radiante e irresistible. Me hace querer ir a África.
African Dance Class
This is from about a month ago…
Today I had my second “danza africana” class. Amazing. Of the wide variety of interesting classes that were offered as extra-curricular activities (painting, bookbinding, subterranean routes through Granada) danza africana piqued my interest the most, so I decided to take a plunge into this sphere of dance that is completely new to me and see what it was like. In the first class, we had a Spanish woman as our instructor, but this time our teachers were two African men who brought a variety of knee-high drums that they played to provide the music. They are brothers and both of them wear their hair in thick dreadlocks that fall past their shoulders. One of them only played the drums, while the other (Dali is his name..you can check out http://www.myspace.com/dalidanza if you want to see a couple pics) spent the majority of the time teaching us new choreography, although he occasionally played the drums along with his brother. The principal drum player had the most incredible smile; if you could capture in an expression all the joy that music and dance can inspire it would be his smile. Absolutely “brillante”. The choreography was fast-paced and so much fun. I wish you could see my instructor dancing; it’s simply incredible how his body and spirit move with the beats of the drum, creating an irresistible, radiant energy. It makes me want to go to Africa.
Today I had my second “danza africana” class. Amazing. Of the wide variety of interesting classes that were offered as extra-curricular activities (painting, bookbinding, subterranean routes through Granada) danza africana piqued my interest the most, so I decided to take a plunge into this sphere of dance that is completely new to me and see what it was like. In the first class, we had a Spanish woman as our instructor, but this time our teachers were two African men who brought a variety of knee-high drums that they played to provide the music. They are brothers and both of them wear their hair in thick dreadlocks that fall past their shoulders. One of them only played the drums, while the other (Dali is his name..you can check out http://www.myspace.com/dalidanza if you want to see a couple pics) spent the majority of the time teaching us new choreography, although he occasionally played the drums along with his brother. The principal drum player had the most incredible smile; if you could capture in an expression all the joy that music and dance can inspire it would be his smile. Absolutely “brillante”. The choreography was fast-paced and so much fun. I wish you could see my instructor dancing; it’s simply incredible how his body and spirit move with the beats of the drum, creating an irresistible, radiant energy. It makes me want to go to Africa.
viernes, 15 de octubre de 2010
Barcelona: 30 de septiembre - 3 de octubre
A few weekends ago I went to Barcelona with a couple of friends. We saw some cool places, but I think my favorite parts of the trip were the random little things that we saw/that happened to us..like one night, we were walking back to our hostel, and we saw these four guys doing pretty sweet gymnastic stunts in the street. There was a crowd of people around them and we decided to stop and watch. Well, one of the guys took me and my two friends from the crowd for one of his stunts! He had us stand in a line and told us he was going to jump over us. I mean, these guys were good gymnasts, impressive and all, but I was scared to death he wasn’t going to make it over. I was the last in the line of girls, and one of the other gymnasts said to me, "Hey, you’re kind of tall, let’s put you in the front, and..why don't all of you you tilt your heads a little to the side" (which of course made me completely at ease haha!). Thankfully, the guy made it completely over us, heads and all.
..A few photos from the trip...
..A few photos from the trip...
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Cathie, Diana y yo |
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Paella cocinada con tinta de calamar..rica paella cooked with squid ink!..yummy |
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Un hombre en la calle haciendo y vendiendo… Man in the street making and selling… |
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| ...estos. con latas ...these. with cans |
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| Me encantan los mercados.. I love markets.. |
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Ya soy adicta a estos zumos..vienen en todos los colores que puedes imaginar. Mi favorito= coco+mora. Solamente 1 euro! Quickly became addicted to these fruit juice drinks that come in every color imaginable. My favorite was coconut+blackberry. Only one euro! |
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| Yo, delante de La Sagrada Familia. Me, in front of the Sacred Family church. |
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| Crazy cool architecture |
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| Parque Guell Park Guell..looks like a real life gingerbread house |
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| We decided to trek up to this monument with crosses up on the edge of Park Guell. We climbed and climbed, and when we neared the top, we started to hear music. It wasn’t peaceful, spiritual music, like you might expect near such a monument, rather loud, hard-core rock. When we finally reached the monument itself we saw the source of the music --a 40-something-year-old man with long hair, glasses in the shape of guitars, rocking out in a skin-tight leopard print outfit with his guitar and little amp. At first I was appalled, but this guy was so excited and happy that it couldn’t help but wear off on everyone who had trekked up that hill. |
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| Park Guell..sweet mosaic wall |
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| Monumento a Colón (muy alto) Christopher Columbus Monument (super tall) |
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| burbujota!! ginormous bubble!! One of the many people scattered throughout Park Guell trying to make a dime or two. |
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| Parque Guell |
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| Parque Guell |
domingo, 12 de septiembre de 2010
más fotos!
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| yo y Anne en Granada |
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| Danielle y yo en Granada |
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| Cathie y yo en la playa Salobreña |
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| this sweet park in Granada hat hardly anyone knows about |
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| castillita en dicho parque |
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| Ronda |
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| Plaza de Toros (Bullring) - Ronda |
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| Ronda |
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| yo en mi balconcito :) |
Bienvenidos a mi blog! ..Rendezvous at Ronda
Hola friends and family!
I’m writing you from my little balcony that overlooks a hillside sprinkled with houses and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Granada, Spain..my home for the next four months!
I arrived in Spain at the end of August and have been settling into a new rhythm in Granada for the past two weeks. I live with a host family: my parents, María and Federico, and their youngest daughter, Zorayda. I also have a roommate, Whitney, and we share a tiny but comfortable room on the fifth floor of this apartment building. Almost everyone here lives in apartments, not houses. Oh and I can’t forget about Lluvia, our tiny little dog that always has a small green clip holding her long hair out of her eyes.
School is just a twenty minute walk from here, and the route is lovely. On my way I cross the Río Genil (Genil River), pass by the Fuente de las Granadas (Fountain of Pomegranates), then weave through a collection of narrow, colorful streets up the hill to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (Center of Modern Languages), which is where my classes are. For the month of September, I have “Intensivo” every day, which is the intensive course that has so far focused on grammar. Then in October I’ll begin a completely new set of classes, but I won’t find out which ones until a little later. I’m really hoping to take Italian! All of the classes here are taught in Spanish, and I think it’d be so cool to learn another language while being taught in my second language. And I just think Italian is really cool. :)
Today was one of my favorite days so far. Excursions to various cities in Spain are integrated into the program here, and today we had an excursion to Ronda, which is about three hours away by bus. We visited the famous Plaza de Toros (Bullring) there. It’s one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Even though I will probably be cowering in fear with my eyes shut most of the time, I’m hoping to see a Corrida de Toros (Bullfight) sometime while in Spain. After the Plaza de Toros, we crossed the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) which connects the precipices which separate the modern half of the city from the old half.
My favorite parts of our rendezvous to Ronda were lunch and our free time. We ate lunch in this nice restaurant that overlooked the countryside. The first course was a salad topped with goat cheese baked with honey. Delicious. Then some tasty, tender chicken and veggies followed by tri-colored/flavored ice cream. Chocolate, vanilla, and some unidentifiable flavor that was also delectable. In our free time, we went exploring and found this cool castle-like wall at the edge of the city that had stairs leading up to a landing from which the view of the city and surrounding land was really beautiful.
One more story before I go. Last night we went to a free guitar concert at the Palacio Quinta Alegre. The concert was outside, under the stars, and the guitarist played flamenco music. He was incredible. His fingers flew, his right hand strumming and plucking intricate rhythms while his left hand danced effortlessly up and down the neck of the guitar.
I don’t know how often I’ll write on here, but as you can see, I’m trying to write sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in English. Now that I’ve written a little intro, my next posts will probably be a lot shorter. I’m hoping that this blog will be a good way to share my adventures. : ) Ciao!
I’m writing you from my little balcony that overlooks a hillside sprinkled with houses and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Granada, Spain..my home for the next four months!
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| view from my balconcito (little balcony) |
I arrived in Spain at the end of August and have been settling into a new rhythm in Granada for the past two weeks. I live with a host family: my parents, María and Federico, and their youngest daughter, Zorayda. I also have a roommate, Whitney, and we share a tiny but comfortable room on the fifth floor of this apartment building. Almost everyone here lives in apartments, not houses. Oh and I can’t forget about Lluvia, our tiny little dog that always has a small green clip holding her long hair out of her eyes.
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| "Lluvia" |
School is just a twenty minute walk from here, and the route is lovely. On my way I cross the Río Genil (Genil River), pass by the Fuente de las Granadas (Fountain of Pomegranates), then weave through a collection of narrow, colorful streets up the hill to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (Center of Modern Languages), which is where my classes are. For the month of September, I have “Intensivo” every day, which is the intensive course that has so far focused on grammar. Then in October I’ll begin a completely new set of classes, but I won’t find out which ones until a little later. I’m really hoping to take Italian! All of the classes here are taught in Spanish, and I think it’d be so cool to learn another language while being taught in my second language. And I just think Italian is really cool. :)
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| La Fuente de las Granadas (The Fountain of Pomegranates) |
Today was one of my favorite days so far. Excursions to various cities in Spain are integrated into the program here, and today we had an excursion to Ronda, which is about three hours away by bus. We visited the famous Plaza de Toros (Bullring) there. It’s one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Even though I will probably be cowering in fear with my eyes shut most of the time, I’m hoping to see a Corrida de Toros (Bullfight) sometime while in Spain. After the Plaza de Toros, we crossed the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) which connects the precipices which separate the modern half of the city from the old half.
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| La Plaza de Toros (The Bullring) - Ronda |
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| El Puente Nuevo (The New Bridge) - Ronda |
One more story before I go. Last night we went to a free guitar concert at the Palacio Quinta Alegre. The concert was outside, under the stars, and the guitarist played flamenco music. He was incredible. His fingers flew, his right hand strumming and plucking intricate rhythms while his left hand danced effortlessly up and down the neck of the guitar.
I don’t know how often I’ll write on here, but as you can see, I’m trying to write sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in English. Now that I’ve written a little intro, my next posts will probably be a lot shorter. I’m hoping that this blog will be a good way to share my adventures. : ) Ciao!
lunes, 30 de agosto de 2010
¡Ya estoy en España!
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| el equipaje |
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| bajo construcción |
Nos echamos una siestita (de 5 horas! jajaja) y fuimos a caminar por la tarde. Encontramos un lugar bueno para cenar…estaba al aire libre y todos probamos la bebida famosa de España: la sangría. Qué rica..tiene sabor más suave que el vino y es refrescante. Pasamos como tres horas cenando y charlando. No hacía nada de frio, aun cuando se hacía de noche. Regresamos al albergue alrededor de la medianoche. El domingo por la mañana, Ali, Shannon y yo nos fuimos a correr por como 40 minutos. Qué tranquila la ciudad por la mañana…
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| una fuente en Madrid |
Más tarde, nos encontramos con el otro chico de Gonzaga, Edgar, en la estación de autobuses, de donde salimos a Granada. El viaje duró 5 horas y, al llegar a Granada, tomamos taxis a nuestras casas. Mis padres, María y Federico, son muy amables e igual mi compañera de cuarto, Whitney. Ella es de la Universidad de Portland. Como la mayoría de la gente en Granada, mi familia vive en un apartamento, así que es pequeña la casa pero bonita. Vivimos en el quinto piso y mi parte favorito es el balcón de donde se puede ver la ciudad…en frente, una colina cubierta con casas de color blanco…a la derecha, las Sierra Nevada…a la izquierda también se puede ver la Alhambra, un lugar sobre el que no sé mucho, sólo que es de los musulmanes. La vamos a visitar en unas semanas. Ahora que compré un adaptador para mi ordenador, ya lo puedo usar en casa y ¡qué suerte que también tengamos el internet!
Por la mañana hoy, me desperté temprano y decidí levantarme para ver el sol naciendo en el horizonte. Al inicio, sólo brillaban las luces de las casas de la colina y lo demás estaba bastante oscuro. Pero poco a poco se levantaba el sol hasta que podía ver sus rayos de anaranjado y amarillo asomando de detrás de la colina.
Hoy fue el primer día en la escuela, tuvimos orientación. Hay como 50 estudiantes en este programa, todos estadounidenses, creo. También quiero conocer a españoles y a personas de otros países. Mark y María son nuestros directores y son muy amables. Nuestra escuela, el Centro de Lenguas Modernas, es pequeña y me recuerda un poco de la uni en México.
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| Ali, Diana, yo y Shannon |
Bueno, ya es hora de siesta, una costumbre que creo que me va a gustar mucho…zzzz.zz..zzzz..zzzzzz…. Oy! Por poco se me olvida..vamos a ir a una obra de flamenco/ballet esta noche! Estoy emocionada por verla :)
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