I thought a picture of the Alcazar would be worthwhile.
Alcazar Tuesday, Mar 10 2009
Uncategorized 11:59 pm
Segovia: To bring water to the city. Tuesday, Mar 10 2009
Uncategorized 11:56 pm
This past weekend I went to the beautiful city of Segovia (3 pictures can be seen to the left of this post, if you’re reading it before I upload more pictures). I posted most of the stories I heard as captions to pictures in my facebook album which can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019146&id=1023210219&l=ddd7a
The highlights:
-Old Roman Aqueduct built without any cement that is still in perfect condition.
-Alcazar, one of the castles that the Disney Magic Kingdom castle is framed off of.
-Granja, some really beautiful grounds, about 15 minutes outside of Segovia. It had a labyrinth. I enjoyed it.
Well, I hope those three updates were enough for now. I’m going to Barcelona this weekend and I’m sure I’ll have much more to tell you!
Very truly yours,
Virginia
Spanish Folklore: Galicia Tuesday, Mar 10 2009
Spain and Study Abroad and travel folklore, Spanish traditions 11:48 pm
So I’ve been really intrigued lately by Galician culture. Galicia is the most north western region of Spain. Before the Americas were discovered, the most western tip of Galicia was considered “the end of the world,” so there are many tales about all sorts of monsters and sea creatures living just off the shore of Galicia. Also, Galicia is home to the Tower of Hercules, according to the myth, the hero Hercules killed the giant Geryon after three days and three nights of continuous battle. Hercules then buried the head of Geryon with his weapons and ordered that a city be built on the site. The lighthouse is built on top of a skull and crossbones representing the buried head of Hercules’ enemy. Que guay.
I’ve also seen two Galician films recently, “La Lengua de Las Mariposas” and “El Bosque Animado.” Both of them were really enjoyable. “Mariposas” was about a boy growing up in the time of the Guerra Civil (Spanish civil war). It’s about the different points of view. Why people were on which side of the war and how the Church and Schools affected the war. “El Bosque Animado” was about a bunch of the folklore and traditions in Galicia. Some things:
-The 7th son in a family is thought to be werewolf
-Pueblos have witches to cure ailments when modern medicine can’t. My professor has been to a witch 3 times after trying everything doctors told him to do, and the witch cured him every time.
-If you see the Santa Comnana (the dead souls of the pueblo walking through the woods) then that means you’ll die in one year.
-If you make a promise to God and don’t carry it out, when you die, your spirit roams the earth until you find someone to fulfill the promise for you. Usually the exact promise is to walk to the Cathedral of St. James barefoot on the holy walk.
Also, in a small pueblo near the city I’m staying in, they have a woman who walks the streets every night ringing a bell and saying “Memento Morir” (Remember you will die). This is inherently supposed to be paired with “Carpe Diem” to be a little less morbid. So every night people are told to live life to it’s fullest because they may die tomorrow. Hmm.
Very truly yours,
Virginia
Society Tuesday, Mar 10 2009
Global Citizenship and Spain and Study Abroad and travel Electro House, intercambio, Penthouse 10:56 pm
It’s been a while, so I’m going to break the past week and a half down into three updates. This one is about my interaction with the Spanish Society:
Intercambio:
On Wednesdays at 6:00pm I meet with two girls to have an intercambio. This means we hang out for about an hour and speak half an hour in English, where I correct them, and half an hour in Spanish, where they correct me. I swear I have the coolest girls for my intercambio partners. First, Monica has a really dry sense of humor and is really smart and so she and I can actually talk about things. I told her that in the United States every student has to take Math, Science, Social Studies and English basically every year. I asked her what they are required to take in Spain, apparently they take Philosophy classes every year. The basic philosophers they learn about are; Marx, Nietzsche, Descartes and a Spanish philosopher, Ortega y Gasset. And there’s also Natalie, the girl who likes the same kind of music as me. Weird! I just got done making her a mix CD. So yeah, I’ll see them tomorrow. I’m quite excited.
Penthouse:
So last Thursday, my friends and I were invited to this Spanish kid’s apartment. His name is Eduardo and he hangs out with students in the residencia, so he seems pretty legit. We figured that since he’s Spanish, he’d have a bunch of Spanish friends over; we’d all get to hang out and meet new people. So Eduardo is walking about 6 of us to his apartment from the Plaza, and we get in the elevator with him, and he stuck his key in the elevator. Apparently he lived in the penthouse of the apartment building. Wow. It was a SUPER nice apartment. However, when we got there we were met with 7 other girls from the United States and, maybe, 3 guys. Two of which were from the United States. Lame. I mean, it was fun enough, my friends and I stayed a while and talked, because the other girls were in most of our classes and so they were cool to talk to, but after a while we left and met up with some other friends of ours, ones that didn’t creepily invite 15 American girls to their apartment.
Spanish Kids:
So, Zain, my link in the residencia, moved into an apartment this week. Now, I have to be friends with the Spanish kids on my own. It’s going well. Yesterday Simon played for me his favorite song, it was some Electro House song with a bad 80’s song as the primary beat. They’re good guys. Simon is from Galicia, so his nickname is Gallego. Then there’s Samuel who spends his summers in the UK so he speaks English really well. And the one who’s room they’re all always in is Javi. He’s nice, level headed, listens to good music and likes good movies.
So that’s my experience with the Spanish Society this past week.
Very truly yours,
Virginia
