For once in my life…

I am content.

I am at peace.

I am thankful to God for my life and the people in it more so now than ever before. 

I am not worried for the future; it is in God’s hands.

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.'"

John 11:25-26

Exámenes y viajes…

   So I’ve been learning the hard way that taking a trip the weekend before two tests isn’t the smartest idea….and I did it twice. My first trip to Granada preceded my test in El mundo árabe en el mundo hispánico on Muslim Art and Architecture (you’d think Granada would be able to help me study for this test, but all I really did was fountain watch all weekend) and my test of Cultura Española.  I kind of studied…a little. Thankfully, I did pretty well on both of these exams. Last weekend was my trip to Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla with my group; right before my two grammar tests (one in French and one in Spanish). I’ll have those results next week…

   Aside from pretending to worry about the upcoming tests my weekend in Andalusia was amazing. In Cordoba we had some free time to walk around before visiting the Mezquita (Mosque) and Cathedral, so two other girls and I took a walk around the city’s winding streets and found the Archeology Museum and decided to take a look. We got in for free :) It was a small museum relating the history of Cordoba from ancient times up to the Christian conquest of Al Andalus. Like everything in Andalusia, it would have been nice to see before I took that test, but I can appreciate it just as much, especially having the background information from that class. Visiting the Mezquita was nice, although I wish my camera took better pictures. I didn’t find there to be anything special about the Cathedral other than it was built in a Mezquita.  I’m pretty sure that Mezquita has an example of every time of arc I learned about in class, so it was cool finding them and pointing them out. Also, the Mezquita today is significantly larger than the original because of numerous additions by various Caliphs. If you know a little bit about the history you can easily find where one area ends and the other begins. 

 Alminar

 A mix of Arab and Christian design

 Almazor's addition of blue marble and 4 different types of arcs

 Orange trees and the Mezquita/Catedral

     Granada was a visit to the Alhambra, oh and the Cathedral and Royal tombs; but more importantly the Alhambra….which was incredible.  Sure, today it’s just some tourist attraction where you can’t go everywhere or take flash photography, and it’s pretty, but smaller than you expected; but then you stop and think, people lived here. Then you start to imagine palace life in the Alhambra without all the crowds or distractions of modern technology and think how amazing it must have been to take a walk through all of those gardens every day of your life. There’s something enchanting about that place and you don’t blame the Arabs for thinking it was paradise, because maybe it is…Enough of my sentimental side, the Alhambra was pretty cool, not only because of its charm and its gardens, but because I got to see everything I learned about in class first hand. 

 Patio de los Arrayanes

 Cúpula de Mocárabes

La Alcazaba

 That big thing in the middle is the Cathedral

 Jardines del Generalife

 El pasamanos de agua

 Puerta de  Justicia

    On to Sevilla…We didn’t learn much about Sevilla in class, but once you’ve learned the basics of Arab art and architecture it’s pretty easy to apply to everything else.  Along with climbing all over the ruins of Peru and Mexico, I can add to my list climbing the Giralda of Sevilla to my list, which is essentially a huge tower with a great view. Thank God there wasn’t stairs; the guy who used to go to the top of the tower every day to call people to pray did it on horseback so they decided ramps would be a better idea. I agree. The Cathedral was pretty; it used a lot more marble than the others I’ve seen in Spain. However, I’d have to say the most amazing thing about Sevilla was spending time with Liz Boss; who is having a wonderful time there enjoying walks along the river and in all of the beautiful and fragrant gardens. Liz took me in a huge circle around the city, seeing some of its important sites, such as Plaza de España and El Torre de Oro, as well as some of its less known areas, such as the winding back streets that lead us to a whole in the wall Flamenco show. I don’t regret not studying in Sevilla, because I love Salamanca, but I would like to spend more time there someday.

Gardens

 Ducky!

 La Giralda from a distance...

 Close up!

 Christopher Columbus is burried here... and about 5 other places around the world.

 Salamanca!!!

 Plaza de España con Liz : )

    I think this is all for now, I get to spend my weekend preparing presentations for my French and Culture classes next week and enjoying Salamanca.

A Glimpse of Granada

So I’m back in Salamanca after a lovely weekend with the amazing Anna Lawrence and all of her wonderful new friends in Granada.  The weather was beautiful, way better than it has been in Salamanca. It was quite obvious I wasn’t from the area because I was the only one without a coat on despite the nearly 80 degree weather. On Friday, Anna and I went to the Arab baths where we enjoyed a cold, warm, and hot pool, a steam room, a massage, and all the Moroccan tea we could have asked for; it was amazing. After that it was comida at Anna’s house thanks to her very loving and generous señora; who calls me Elena for lack of want to learn my name and how to correctly pronounce it.  After comida came siesta, and after siesta was a long walk by Granada’s “river” with Anna, watching the moon rise and talking about life (more specifically relationships, given my new single life and her new taken one). Here are some pictures:

 The moon when we first noticed it rising from behind the hill...

 Anna and Granada's beautiful "river"

 The moon just 5 minutes later...

 La Alhambra

Puerta Elvira

 "Let no man decide for you"

La Cathedral

All in all, it was a great day. Saturday was much the same (walking around, relaxing, talking, and reflecting on life) and Sunday was the trip back home to Salamanca. Random note on my travel experiences for the weekend: I made a travel buddy. This girl who is also studying in Salamanca had the same bus to and from Madrid as me, as well as a seat right next to me both times. What also makes this crazy and cool, aside from her being super nice: Our families’ vacation in the same place in North Carolina!!! Yay Topsail Island!!!

 Without getting into too much detail my reflections from the weekend are:

“Every time God closes the door, he opens a window.”

…and…

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen  

For those of you who have been following my blog, you know this isn’t the first time this prayer has come up. This weekend, however, my thoughts focused around the line “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;” not only are there a few people in this world who I am still learning how to forgive, I realize I need to forgive myself of some things as well. I’m working on that.

More exciting news on my spiritual life, on Sunday when I got back to Salamanca, my package of Girl Scout cookies was waiting for me, with a Bible : ) Needless to say I was really excited about this package and can’t thank Sr. Mary Theresa enough for her thoughts and prayers, and the Bible. That’s it for now, I have some reading to catch up on…

A weekend walking adventure…

As there are no classes on Fridays, my weekends start with Thursday night : ) Last Thursday evening my walking adventuring started with a night time tour of the city given by my Brazilian friend from church. He knows a lot about the city and took me to a lot of really amazing and wonderful places, and all the photos I attempted to take didn’t turn out well. So, I promise to return to these places during the day for pictures. We went to a garden, which has an amazing view of the Cathedral, saw the old Roman wall, climbed an old tower (I forget the name), and visited the Cave of Salamanca; mentioned by Cervantes in El Quijote.  It was a nice nighttime walk and a good start to my weekend.

  Friday, most of my group decided to climb the Cathedral tower. The view is amazing of Salamanca, the churches architecture, and the snowcapped mountains in the distance.  After walking around the Cathedral a lot, climbing a lot of stairs, and then walking around the city, my legs were sufficiently tired. But Friday was far from the end of my weekend.

  Saturday I went to Toledo with my group. Something I did not realize before about Toledo….it’s one big hill. We walked up the hill from its Arabic style doors to the walled city to the Plaza Mayor and the Alcazar (fortified palace). From there we walked down the other side of the hill to go to the Cathedral. After walked around this MASSIVE Cathedral for a few ours, looking at some paintings, the altar, the chorus, and architecture in general, we walked back up the hill. With 2 hours of free time for lunch and shopping, I walked up and down this hill a few more times before meeting in the Plaza with the group, to walk back down the hill, pass by El Greco’s house, visit a synagogue, stop at another church with a famous painting by El Greco, see a convent, and walk over a bridge and to the bus. I think the best part of Toledo is the view of the city from the hill on the other side of the river (and I promise that’s not because I was sitting down when I saw it).

  Sunday was our day in Madrid. It started with the Reina Sofia. We saw Picasso’s “Guernica” and a few of Salvador Dali’s paintings. Then was a walk to Madrid Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, and Palacio Real. We had a two hour lunch break, during which I did nothing overly exciting; then El Prado for paintings by Goya and Velázquez. So after a very long day of walking around and standing in museums, we returned home to Salamanca.

                                                                            It's good to be home...