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!