This is it!

If you've ever come to the end of a chapter in life and realized that everything you're doing is the "last" something, you know how I feel. Last classes, last weekend, last runs at the park, last post-dinner TV sessions with my host family....last days in Spain. ¡Hay que aprovechar! (Seize the day!)

It's been a pretty exciting week. The other day when I was running at the park I ran into some surprising entertainment (pun intended). I thought I heard something like a band playing, which actually turned out to be a  small brass band casually playing along the side of the trail. Then I saw a guy in the distance balancing on something that looked like a tightrope, which turned out to be a guy actually practicing his tightrope walking on a rope tied between two trees. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, as I've come across flocks of sheep and flute-playing tai chai masters at the park before too. My expectations for running scenery are going to be quite high when I get home!

Speaking of seeing cool things, I saw my first Spanish Ibex yesterday! My brother told me to keep my eyes open for them before I came, and up to this point the closest I had gotten to seeing one was almost stepping in some feces. We were on the bus home from the excursion for my environment class, trying to avoid nodding off as the professor insisted on lecturing us (via the excessively loud microphone system on the bus) the entire time (no joke - we would happen to pass a truck on the road, and he would say, "look to your right and observe the truck that is transporting some kind of material for something somewhere". He was also fond of singing to us when he wasn't talking.) Anyway, I was keeping my eyes open for wildlife - my brothers would be so proud of me - and I saw the ibex grazing on the hillside. When we're traveling as a family at home and someone spots a deer, they immediately point and shout "deer!" so the rest of the car can partake in the glory of seeing the deer. I really wanted to shout "ibex!" and share the moment with my fellow (at this point, sleeping) classmates, but I don't think they would have appreciated it quite as much.

On Wednesday our group went to see a flamenco show at Cueva la Rocío, apparently where Michelle Obama went when she visited Granada. It was very, very touristy but still an enjoyable experience. The cave was probably ten feet wide and about fifty feet long. We sat along the sides and the dancers danced in the center, so it was very up close and personal. Just a side note -as your friend and  a student of Spanish culture I am going to give you a piece of advice for if/when you see flamenco: never try to clap along. Ever. I'm serious. Unless you are familiar with the rhythm patterns, you will not be able to keep up. It's a beautiful, dramatic style of music that contains three crucial elements: the dancer ("bailaor"), the singer ("cantaor"), and the guitar player ("tocaor"). Check it out on youtube - Sara Baras is one of the more popular dancers (and just try to clap along...I dare you).

Entrance to Cueva la Rocío in the Sacromonte neighborhood of Granada

To add to the greatness of the week, we went to the beach at Salobreña on Sunday. The water (Mediterranean Sea) was very calm, very clear, and very cold - perfect for swimming! It's been on the hot side lately, somewhere around the mid-90s. Because of the heat, my host family made gazpacho, a refreshing dish typically served in the super hot summers. It's kind of like a cold tomato soup, but it has other vegetables in it too. I made it at home last summer when we had lots of garden vegetables, and it tasted pretty similar to the gazpacho my host family made! They served it to us as an appetizer, not a main meal, so it was in a glass. I was waiting for a spoon to eat it with until I saw my host mom take a drink of hers. Then I realized that we didn't need spoons - oops! It was one of those "aha!"moments you have in your head but keep it to yourself because it's kind of embarrassing. In any event, the gazpacho was delicious!

Salobreña

Well, friends, our time (virtually) together is coming to a close. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for vicariously experiencing my adventures this semester. It has occurred to me that my blog title is somewhat deceiving (not the "adventures" part, I hope) because my travels have definitely not been limited to Spain. Looking back, "Adventures in Spain - and Beyond!" would have been more appropriate. I hope that you and I both will continue the "beyond" part of our adventures in life - the possibilities are endless!

cha-cha flamenco

Yesterday in one of my classes we were talking about Flamenco, a stereotypical Spanish dance that involves a lot of energetic stomping, skirt swishing, and intense concentration.  Out of curiosity (or desire to humiliate us), our professor asked us for an example of a traditional American dance that we would all know. Had we known that he was going to actually blast the song and make us get up and dance, we would have tried to come up with a less embarrassing example of our culture than the Cha-Cha Slide. So we all stood up against our will and did the "sliiiide to the left. sliiiide to the right. one hop this time (hop)....clap your hands now y'all" and felt seriously ashamed  of our culture's lack of culture. To be fair, Flamenco is a beautiful work of art that no everyone here can dance, play, or sing. However, the juxtaposition of these two musical styles was thoroughly entertaining.

       
Just to clarify the common misconception that all of Spain is home to Flamenco: the dance originated in the gypsy culture of Andalucía, the southernmost of the seventeen autonomous communities (like states or provinces) in Spain where Granada is located; because it is such a tourist attraction, it can be found all over Spain now. There are many cultural dances that take a back seat when Flamenco is around, which is a shame because the country is more diverse than you can imagine. For instance, if you were to see a traditional music show in the northwest of Spain, the bagpipes and kilts just might make you think you were in Scotland. And in Pais Vasco (north-central Spain) they have, as my professor calls it, a very "curious" dance in which there is a series of dancers who take turns jumping on a glass of wine without spilling it.

photo copyright belongs to:  http://performingarts.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/royal-scots-dragoons-with-bagpipes-marching.jpg?w=300&h=300

If you couldn't tell, our professors are fond of reminding us that many Spanish stereotypes are somewhat or entirely false. Another good one is bullfighting. In reality, the majority of Spaniards are opposed to what some would call this "barbaric massacre of an art form", and in Catalunya (the autonomous community in the north in which Barcelona is located) bullfighting has officially been banned. But in cities like Pamplona they take a different approach. Instead of fighting the bulls, they run away from them. Literally. In the annual event called the "Running of the Bulls", a group of about a dozen bulls is set loose on a sectioned-off (thank goodness) street in the city where a bunch of crazy people are waiting. The bulls run down the street typically towards the plaza where the bullfighting ring is located, and the people run away from them and try to avoid getting stampeded or gored. Sounds to me like a wonderfully charming idea.

photo copyright belongs to: http://www.filmapia.com/sites/default/files/filmapia/pub/place/running_of_the_bulls.jpg

Speaking of cool things in Spain that you might not be aware of, Spanish is not the only language used here. There's also Catalán, Gallego, Euskera, and a variety of others spoken in smaller ethnic groups throughout the country!

largest (known) stalagmite in the world

Well, the excursions continue-this past weekend in Nerja we visited the caves that house the largest stalagmite in the world! The caves were discovered in the 1950s by some kids who were outside playing and just happened to stumble across them. Pretty sweet. On Friday, I have an excursion with my Environment class to an undisclosed location. I think it will be fun, though - it sounded promising when, in a completely serious manner, our professor reminded us to bring our hiking sticks/walking poles. Because I obviously packed that in the one suitcase I brought with me here.

Seriously, though. I can't believe the semester's almost over. Like good ol' Don Quijote says, "the wild winds of fortune will carry me onward, oh whithersoever they blow" (yes, whithersoever is one word). ¡Vamos, adelante!

Is this real life?

The theme of my semester seems to be disbelief; "is this real life?" is a common thought that I have when I'm traveling, reflecting, or just walking around. For instance, I just went to Rome for four days and had an absolutely amazing time. Then I returned to Granada on Tuesday, went to class on Wednesday, and today I have one class and then it's the celebration for Día de la Cruz (Day of the Cross) this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we leave for Nerja, a coastal city in Spain, where we are staying for two days for (cough, cough) academic excursions. Where was I....oh yes. Rome!


We were able to fit a lot into four days in the city: pizza, pasta, gelato, the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and beautiful walks around town. The Vatican Museum is an immensely impressive collection of art that ranges from busts of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses to mummies to Rafael and Michaelangelo to Christian Modern Art. Supposedly, if you spend one minute in front of every piece in the museum you would be there for thirteen years! The last stop on the tour was the Sistine Chapel. It's beautiful, of course - an absolutely amazing work of art - but when you've just walked through hallways and rooms that are literally covered with frescos it's not exactly a surprise to see the chapel filled with art too. St. Peter's Basilica  is definitely the most awesome church I have ever been in (and I've been in lots and lots of churches). It's magnificent. There are letters bordering the upper walls inside that say "TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM. TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM" ("...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven..."). Each letter stands a full 2 meters tall, or 6'6". The Chapel of the Pieta just inside the narthex houses Michaelangelo's famous Pieta, a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus after his death. I could go on and on about the awesomeness of the basilica...it's just so cool. When we were there on Saturday I tried really hard to figure out the mass schedule for Sunday. I asked several Italian guards who spoke broken English, and I got several different answers regarding timing. Then one of them mentioned that there was a special mass with the Pope at some point in the day, and based on a general consensus of my polling I derived the time of this mass: 9am. At this point I was on a mission. Another guard mentioned a ticket that I needed to have if I wanted to get in, and sent me outside to the "bronze doors" to ask about it. When I got outside I asked the post office (yes, there's a post office inside St. Peter's Square right outside the basilica) and they told me I had to go back inside to the "bronze doors" to get my free ticket, which meant waiting in line again to get back in. So I did. Then I asked at the infamous bronze doors and they told me there were no more tickets left. Ay caramba. But don't worry, the story is just getting started.


play-by-play action: 
On Sunday morning I leave our hostel at 6:30am and arrive at St. Peter's Square at 7am, just in time to start lining up. At this point, based on the extremely clear information I had received the day before, I am thinking that there is mass a 8am. Since I don't have a ticket for the special mass at 9am (I think), I figure I would at least get in for the earlier mass and then maybe hang around outside afterwards. My friends told me the day before that I should look for ticket scalpers to try to get in. Not sure that works for church, but at least it was a thoughtful idea. 
So, I'm standing in line and it's almost 8am. There's a large Italian family gathering in line right in front of me, and I see that they all have tickets. I ask one of the guys if he knows if there are any more tickets anywhere, and he replies "Family only." Based on his few others words of English, it becomes apparent to me that there will be priests being ordained during this mass and that his tickets are for the family of these to-be-priests. Which doesn't offer me any hopeful prospects. A little after 8am the line starts moving to go through the metal detectors and enter the church, and I still don't have a ticket. 
I'm almost to the metal detectors when I turn to my left and see a little nun dressed in her habit standing there clutching a ticket. So I decide I have nothing to lose. I ask her about the ticket, but she doesn't appear to understand English or Spanish. Then she motions for me to stay still, turns around and signals to a friend located slightly farther back in the line. The friend (also a nun, I assume) doesn't say a word, but reaches into her bag, pulls out an extra ticket, and passes it up. This is my ticket. I say "Grazie, grazie" (thank you, thank you), pretty much the only Italian I know (and I'm not even sure this nun was Italian) and almost start to cry. They are letting people in without tickets, but they had to stand along the sides of the church where you can't see anything, behind walls that blocked off the center. But thanks to my new best friend I now have a ticket, so I get a complementary missalette and an excellent seat. I suppose ticket scalping for mass with the Pope works within the economy of God's love.
That is the story of how I got to go to mass with Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. 


Anything else I talk about now will be overshadowed by the fact that I somehow went to mass with the Pope, so I'm just going to leave you with some pictures and say that my last trip outside of Spain for the semester was a phenomenal one. I can't believe this was real life!

St. Peter's Basilica

Michaelangelo's Pieta

Pope Benedict XVI

Papal Blessing in St. Peter's Square

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps (under all the people)

Colosseum