Tempus Fugit (Time flies)

¡Buenos!
So I´m back from the weekend excursion and am not far from the next one: a day trip to Salamanca this Friday.

Highlights from this weekend:
Of Granada: 1) The Alhambra, like a whole city of its own. The private quarters for the Islamic king so many years ago are incredible, filled with detail, color and fountains of water. Since the Muslims came from the desert, their idea of paradise always contains lots of water. The doorways are always shaped like a keyhole, and since their faith didn´t allow decoration with pictures, tiles mosaics and poetic writing decorate the walls instead. The overall design is incredibly intricate and beautiful. 2) La Catedral & La Capilla Real, The Cathedral and Royal Chapel, where the famous Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Ferdinand, are buried. The cathedral is huge and full of marble statues and imitation gold edging over everything. I thought the 3 foot by 2 foot books of choral music in Latin displayed there were especially cool! 3) Our nice hotel, the first non-hostel I´ve stayed in while traveling this semester, complete with a delicious breakfast, so it felt rather luxurious. 4) And, randomly checking out a nearby park dedicated to a very famous Spanish writer, Frederico García Lorca. It has a fabulous rose garden of almost every color, and Hannah and I discovered peculiar in-ground individual trampoline-type things in the excercise area of the park. Haha! We felt like kids jumping on them, but who cares! Seems like Hannah and I always find something fun when we break off on our own.

and of Córdoba: 1) our supper sampling typical foods of the region, including fried eggplant with honey, fried ham rolls, lettuce salad with tuna, tortilla de patata, fried spicy fish, salmoreja (a thick sauce of tomato-breadcrumbs-hardboiled egg-olive oil) and dessert, including a cake-like Tarta de Santiago. Yum! 2) The partially excavated city of Medinat Azahara, located just outside Córdoba. We walked through the ruins as I tried to imagine people living here however many hundreds of years ago. I found it fascinating to learn that the Arabs had figured out a system of running water for their buildings and towns, something that Christians wouldn´t dream of for many years to come. 3) The main mosque of Córdoba, which is almost as famous as the Alhambra. It has a Catholic cathedral planted right in the middle, to symbolize the domination of the Catholic faith and power over Islam when the city was conquered, which creates a strange effect when going from one part into the next. The space for the choir in that area is made entirely of beautiful dark brown wood imported from the Caribbean, as well as the main podium and the back wall decoration...that´s a long way just for some wood...

So, it was a study in Muslim and then Catholic architecture, all explained by our knowledgeable professor (he´s led this trip many times). Two Spanish students from the university came along on the trip too, so Friday night in Granada, I went out with them, plus another gal from Cáceres and an Erasmus girl from Venezuela, enjoying the chance to speak Spanish, of course, with natives. :-) It was interesting to spend a whole weekend with our program coordinator Toñi, too, because during a normal week I don´t see her very often, and never on the weekends.

Lowlights:
Long bus ride on a not-so-great bus.
Taking pictures of things I fear I won´t remember soon.
...Can´t think of much else!

So, after Salamanca, I have a week off of school for Thanksgiving vacation, so my family is coming to Spain! How exciting, right? We´ll have a whirlwind tour starting in Madrid this Saturday, then to Toledo, then to Córdoba (I have a couple recommendations since I´ve vistited it once already now) on the high speed train. From there we will visit some small southern towns then drive north to Cáceres on Thanksgiving Day. The next day they´ll return to Madrid and I´ll stay in town--overall a short trip, so "¡lo aprovechamos!" (a.k.a We´ll make good use of it, or We´ll take advantage of what we´ve got--as you seen, it´s far simpler to say in Spanish.) Hence, I probably won´t post an entry on this blog for at least another week and a half. And that will most likely be the last one, because there won´t be much time left in the program. The last day of my internship is December 4th, and I fly home on Dec. 11. Tempus fugit, as it´s said in Latin. Time flies...

Venga. (A common word/expression in Extremadura, as in "alright", or signaling ending a conversation. Learn it, then use it a lot, and you´ll sound like a true local!) Hasta luego,
Ellen P.