Today I walked home from class with a couple friends. Shortly before meeting them I purchased a pastry and orange juice to hold me over until lunch (Spaniards are not to big on breakfast). While waiting to cross the street, an older man approached, and proceeded to wait directly to my left. In Spanish with a thick accent, he explained (I will translate as best I can) “Juice is not good, it is only sugar and water. Here in Spain wine is better. Only wine, never juice.” I laughed and told him thanks for the help. It was 10 in the morning.

Much has happened since my last post. During this past week, we finished orientation and, and got better acquainted with the city. Although the language/vocabulary/grammar portions of orientation could drag on, IES did a great job of incorporating daily paseos (walks) into orientation, so everyday we saw more parts of the city, and began to get some kind of navigational foundation. While on the subject of navigation, I want to point out that there are some distinct differences here in Spain. In the US, I feel like most people have some basic concept of North, South, etc., and we incorporate it into how we give directions. Here in Spain, that is not the case, like, at all. They navigate mostly by landmarks, and when you do not have a firm grasp on the language, let alone the use of landmarks which you have never heard of, navigation can be difficult. Anyway, I digress. Over the course of the week we were able to gain a better understanding of the city, and outside of class, learn more about good tapas bars, discotecas, and just broadening social horizons in general. The best paseo that was organized during our orientation was a walk up to the Alhambra, Granada’s most famous monument, and a true Spanish national treasure. There were some parts we did not enter because you have to pay, but we did get to see some great architecture, some impressive grounds, and breathtaking views. Hopefully I can return soon, for either the full tour or just to enjoy the walk and the grounds again.

I have gotten to know many of the Americans in my program, and a few of the younger IES employees have been fun too. One in particular, my buddy Dario, has been really fun. He knows all the fun spots around the city, loves soccer (which i enjoy discussing and learning about), shares my enthusiasm for hip hop, and is just a good dude. I am hoping that through our friendship, I can meet more Spaniards and get some local knowledge about Granada that only comes from experts.

This past weekend, IES organized another excellent excursion for us. We departed early in the morning in three charter buses, and headed primarily west for Sevilla. We arrived in around noon, and I can honestly say I was blown away by what I saw. We began in the old palaces of Sevilla, which were the homes of both Muslim and Christian rulers. It was truly the most ornate architecture I have ever seen. The arches and walls were covered in tile and engraved patterns. I have never seen such a combination or art and architecture before, and I think I will be tested to find a site such as this again. Garden after garden, plaza after plaza, and arch after arch, we were continually astounded by the Islamic architecture that was once the norm through out Al Andulus. From there we continued to the Cathedral of Sevilla. Plain and simple the most impressive building I have seen. Huge vaulted ceilings. Shrines with articulately decorated altars which you had to arch your neck to take in. One of the other fascinating things about the cathedral was the combination of Christian and Islamic architecture. Much of the actual cathedral was built according to Christian traditions; laid out like a cross, the vaulted ceilings, and the many flying buttresses on the exterior portion of the cathedral (Mr. MIller I see you!). Other buildings, however, were clearly part of the Great Mosque of Sevilla, none more obvious than the enormous bell tower which must have been one of the largest Minarets around back in the day. In some ways, the seamless transition from Islam to Christianity in these buildings is comical. It is very much as if some Christian authority said “Well, this tower is really cool, but we can’t be singing from that bad boy anymore…I know! Let’s throw some bells in there, and put a statue of the virgin Mary on top. Perfect. Man I’m good.” Really though, thats what it seems like. As a group we were fortunate enough to ascend the tower and get a truly incredible view in all directions. I believe it was 35 or so stories up. I could not help contemplating how those architects and builders way back when figured that stuff out and actually built it. Like, no cranes, no electricity, no power tools, nothing. Horses, block and tackle, some labor that was probably pretty expendable, and livestock. Blows my mind right now writing about it. Our evening consisted of a rented bike ride along the Guadalquivir river, which runs through the center of Sevilla, and tapas at a great bar. Got some lovely sandwiches for pretty cheap.

Now the fairy tell ends. As charming and lovely as Sevilla was at night, I had a generally bad time at night. The first factor was that we ran into a lot of American students, many of which seemed generally more standoffish than those in Granada (later i noticed this standoffishness extended in part to the locals as well). At the bar we were at, we all agreed that there was a noted tension in the air, and I felt on edge for the duration of our stay. In fact, we only stayed because they were slinging Heinekens for 1 euro; hard to pass up. After that, we made our way to a club where I witnessed one of the more outlandish episodes in recent memory. At this particular club, the bouncers were checking to make sure people were dressed well. I had some decent clothes, so I was allowed to enter. My friend, who was dressed much like I was, however, was not granted entrance because of the sneakers he was wearing. This began a 45 minute fiasco which involved another friend giving up his topsiders and passing them to Mr. Sneakers, and then going back into the club barefoot, some heated exchanges with the bouncers, and multiple shoe swap attempts, misunderstandings, and linguistic conundrums. Fortunately, he was able to leave with some friends, and I decided to enter the club. The layout was impressive. Three floors, each one progressively more loud, crazily lit, and generally insane. Unfortunately my friend and I found it difficult to work in with the club goers. At one point, my buddy got something going with a 28 year old Irish school teacher. I was proud of him, but as I continued my endeavors to meet some of the people at the club, it eventually became clear that I was not a fortunate. The night ended in a very appropriate fashion. My friend briefly left the club to get in touch with the Irish girl. While I waited at a booth, two Spanish dudes approached me with mock excitement, indicating for high fives. I granted their request, only to be surprised by a brief bite on the shoulder from the second Spaniard. As my mind raced to process what had happened, the peculiar Sevillanos had disappeared, and I was left grasping for answers. When my friend returned, he informed me that upon calling his new friend from the Emerald Isle, he ran out of minutes on his phone, thus essentially ending his night. The icing on the cake was the self righteous American girl at the coat check who lectured us on how we were giving Americans a bad name, and ruining what I gathered to be her attempt to smooth over any rough patches that could possibly exist in Spanish American relations. This made me laugh, and then we left. Awesome.

The next day we hopped on our beloved charter buses, and headed for Ronda. Upon arriving, we discovered it was, in comparison to Sevilla, little more than a village. Never the less, Ronda had a lot to offer. We were informed that Ronda has a rich tradition of bullfighting, and we got a full tour of the city’s bullfighting ring, or Plaza del Toros. This was very impressive, and the combination of our tour guides’ knowledge and the small museum at Plaza del Toros gave us an in depth look at Spain’s famous blood sport. Ronda also offered incredible terrain geological features. A huge gorge ran through the middle of the town, with a bridge traversing it. Once again, this bridge made me think a lot about how such incredible feats of engineering and architecture were possible back in the day. Staring into the depths of this gorge, or out onto the vast landscapes beyond was probably the most relaxing experience of the weekend trip if not my entire trip thus far.

We returned to Granada Saturday evening very tired, but like good college students, we still all managed to go out that night. Woohoo! The next day was Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday. We went to a sports bar that evening and began watching soccer, and as the night progressed, more and more Americans began to trickle in, until finally, at 12:30 am Monday morning, the game started. This has probably been the most difficult time adjustment for me this far, and it was hard to miss the Super Bowl, but I had my first day of class the next morning, which began 5 hours from when I left the bar…In the 3rd quarter! That was a bummer, and as the highlights demonstrated, it appears that I missed a close game.

I am going to end this post here, I meant to finish it a long time ago, but so far this week, the news has been a bit more bland. I have started classes, some fascinating some not so much, and due to the toll I have demanded from my body and my immune system, I am now fighting off nasty bit of sickness. But I cannot complain. This malady was born out of my own irresponsibility, and in some ways, it is probably the most effective tool for learning how to pace myself through a week that I have encountered while in Spain. No matter, I am in Spain, and this place is more Plvs Vltra (which my keen linguistic skills inform me translates to something along the lines of Mo Betta) than I ever could have imagined.