¡Barcelona!: Uno

Last weekend the girls and I (also known by the UIMP as "el grupo de Denver"), took a trip to Barcelona. How does one describe Barcelona...I have no idea! Although I don't think it's somewhere I would want to live for the rest of my life, it is an unbelievable city. And for all those Shadow of the Wind fans out there (which I think is like 2), it was SO cool to see and think about while walking around the city. I really wish I would have read the book again before I left!
I've decided to post Barcelona in a few parts because I took a gazillion (yes, Dad, it IS a word) pictures. One post would not do this city justice.

Barcelona is known for a few things. First of all, they speak Catalan, which is similar to Spanish but I definitely can't understand it. The region of Cataluña (or Catalunya in Catalan) is similar to País Vasco in their desire for independence from Spain. Because they have some of the most incredible architecture in the whole country, are known for their amazing tapas, and speak their own language, the people of Cataluña are pretty proud of their region.
Geographically, Barcelona sits between a gorgeous mountain range and the Mediterranean, and is quite hot humid. Although we weren't able to make it to the ocean, we definitely felt the heat and humidity. My shoes will never smell quite the same.

The trip began with a plane ride via RyanAir (great name!) from Santander to Barcelona. Once we arrived, we took the AeroBus to the Plaza de Cataluña, which is basically the center of town.

After we settled into our hostel, we explored the city for a bit and then went out for tapas!

More to come soon!

An International Affair

As I sit here in this internet cafe up the street from my apartment, using the free "weeefeee," sipping on a perfect cafe con leche, with the strange Spanish discovery-channel-like-show playing in the background, I'm becoming a little sentimental thinking about leaving Santander. I only have a week before I leave this place that has become more of home than I would have expected. Last weekend we all took a trip to Barcelona (pictures to come!) and it was strange to feel relieved about coming "home" to Santander after such an exhausting weekend. Funny how that happens.

On an entirely different note...

One of the best parts of being in an international school getting to meet people from all over the world. As I said in an earlier post, my class is made of up students from the U.S. and around Europe.

Our professor Raquel (back row, far right), bought us these crazy antenna things as a joke and so we took some weird pictures with them. This is our embarrassed photo. Editing is brought to you by Azra from Bosnia!

From what I've experienced here at the UIMP, teachers and students are basically at the same level when it comes to "la vida social." My class in particular has had Friday night dinner-fiestas to celebrate and send off the students who leave at the end of each week...which are coordinated by none other than our professor Raquel. For example, two weeks ago we all went out to a restaurant downtown from 9:30pm-12am and then headed over the infamous Plaza de Cariño until about 2:30am. The Plaza needs some sort explanation before I can go any further. Basically, it's a lovely little plaza about the size of a basketball court in the middle of downtown surrounded by bars and clubs. Although it's a great place for kids to run around and families to munch on ice cream during the day, around midnight it becomes one of the most unbelievable places I've seen. Hundreds of college-age kids pack into this tiny space with scents of cheap alcohol, sweat, cigarettes, and urine until about 4:30 in the morning every night. Anyways, I don't know if I've ever heard of professors wanting to hang out downtown with their students, smoking, and chatting in a smelly plaza full of 20-something-year-olds until the wee hours of the morning at the University of Denver. Only in Spain. Gotta love this country!  

Azra from Bosnia and Monica from Italy. Such sweet girls!

Azra, Me, Warren from Alabama, Niki from DU, Marko from Italy, and some random French girl from UIMP.

Hangin' out with our professor Raquel at the International Festival

El Cura: the priest. 

For our "Proyecto Final" in our culture class we had to write a 5 page research paper (in Spanish of course) about something interesting we have observed in Spain that pertains to an aspect of history or culture that we had learned about in our Iberian history book. Not only did we have to do research, but we also had to interview at least 3 Spaniards about our topic. I chose to write about Catholicism in Spain and how history has played a role in the way the country views Christianity. For centuries, Spain has been a Catholic nation. This is mainly due to their various religious-based governments during the reign of the Catholic Kings and then much later during Franco's dictatorship. Spaniards have been attending mass for years simply because they had no other choice (it was actually illegal not to). Basically, almost everyone identifies as Catholic except for some of the younger generations. It's more of a cultural identity rather than a form of spirituality. 

I decided to do one of my interviews with a Catholic priest at one of the churches downtown. It was really weird experience walking into a random Catholic church in the middle of the day with my blonde hair and American self. It's a lot different than walking into a Protestant church in America. I was kind of nervous to be honest. After explaining myself to two different people at the church, they eventually introduced me to one of the priests who spoke ENGLISH! It was such an encouraging experience to listen to man, who clearly loves the Lord, speak of his concerns for his country in relation to their apathy and lack of knowledge of the Gospel. I wish I could fully explain how life-giving it was for me to just sit and listen to him. I love being reminded that there are people pursuing the Lord in other parts of the country.

"By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, 
and at night his song is within me, 
a prayer to the God of my life."
Psalm 42:8

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all you diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Psalm 103:1-5

Bicis

Two Fridays ago, some of us decided to take a bike ride to one of the peninsulas to see the other part of the UIMP campus, as well as the Palacio where the old campus used to be.  Another friend and I had already seen this side of Santander via a run, but I wanted photos! After spending about 40 minutes trying to figure out the bike rental machine and meeting some Canadian peregrinos, we headed through town, along the beach, and up the hill to Magdalena.

I’ve decided that I’m going to talk about a new word (or words) at the end of every post that I’ve learned and find fitting in explaining some part of my story here in Spain. It’s also a great learning tool for all 7 of you who read my blog =)

Bochorno: an adjective describing the weather when it is really hot and humid. Spaniards LOVE to talk about the weather and do so constantly. Every time the temperature changes just slightly, they will talk about it as if a hurricane just hit. I think they should rename Houston “Bochorno.” 

Marmota: Yep, a marmot. Why would this ever be important? Because after telling my professor that I slept 8 hours, she said, “Ay! Dormiste como una marmota!” Which basically means, “Wow! You slept like a marmot!” I had no idea that marmots were famous for their sleeping habits but apparently they are. I also had no idea that marmots were a commonly found animal in Cantabria, or in Spain for that matter.

País Vasco: Bilbao

País Vasco, or the Basque Country, is a very unique part of Spain's culture. Although they speak Spanish, they also have their own language, euskara which is entirely different from Spanish and has no real origin. Many Basques have wanted and continue to want independence from Spain. It's kind of like when Texans joke about wanting to succeed...except they actually want to. Needless to say, the Basques take a lot of pride in their land, language, culture, and food, and this past week I had the privilege of experiencing it!

After class on Wednesday, we headed to Bilbao, the capital of el País Vasco. The Guggenheim museum is the most well-known attraction in Bilbao, so naturally we headed their first. The "Goog," as we were calling it, is one of the most interesting modern forms of architecture I have ever seen. Outside the building is a ginormous flower-covered dog. I have no idea of the history behind this strange overgrown animal and no one seemed to know anything about it. I feel like it resembles so much of Spain for some reason. It's just random, weird, and doesn't make any sense. Much like a lot of things in Spain.

Sneaking an illegal picture of an interactive exhibit:

Hanging out with the perro:

Being Americans:

Exploring the city:

And last but not least, the food. El País Vasco is known for having fantastic tapas (or "pinchos" as they call them in the north), I felt like they lived up to their name. This first photo is a tostada with egg, jamón iberico, caramelized onions, and some sort of crispies on top. The second photo is of the best ice cream I have ever put in my mouth. We stumbled into this chocolate shop called Sampaka, which is some sort of cocoa bean. Let me tell you, the Sampaka bean is glorious. The ice cream basically tasted like a frozen truffle. I could have had 5 bowls.

Overall, I was big fan of Bilbao and I highly recommend that anyone visit if they're planning an excursion to northern Spain!

La Feira y Somo

Well I'm pretty behind on my posts due to the silly gastrointrítis. But after getting to skype with my mama and get some rest, I feel 100% better! Before I got sick, we got to take a little visit to another beach, Somo, to relax and get away from the crowds. It was so peaceful!

Ferry ride to Somo

During the pas few weeks here in the Santaner there has been a carnival going on next to the soccer stadium. We decided to check it out and here is what we found:

Churros. Ginormous fried sticks of dough that you dip in melted chocolate. Although America has ruined them by freezing them and feeding them to hungry crowds at baseball games, Spain is known for their homemade churros. Unfortunately, I was feeling too sick to eat one, but they looked pretty tasty!

Dos Semanas y Gastrointrítis

I can’t believe I’ve been here two weeks! Two weeks is longer than any vacation I’ve ever taken…which means this is real. I’m LIVING here. I’m doing life here. In a foreign country. Which unfortunately also means that I’ve had enough time to get sick. María, who is being so sweet and wonderful in trying to care of me, taught me a new word for kids who want their moms when they’re sad or sick. If only I could remember...

Here's what happened:

I had a sore throat at the beginning of this week/end of last week. That went away and I started not being able to sleep at night. I was really exhausted all this week to the point where I didn't have enough energy to go out with my friends. Friday and Saturday I'm pretty sure I had a fever...and maybe Sunday too. Sunday and Monday my stomach was hurting really badly. After trying to stomach calamari at dinner I started crying and María freaked out and asked me if I needed to go the hospital (clearly what I been trying to avoid by pretending I was fine). Bailey called our professor, she called the school, and the school sent a couple doctors to the house to see what the deal was. I was expecting some sort of old man with a wiry mustache and white lab coat to come in with a leather briefcase. Or maybe a cowboy doctor who would give me a shot of whiskey and cut off my leg by lamplight. But these guys were intense. They ran in with their giant vests and duffel bags and got to work. So after lots of gabbering in Spanish, concerns about me being pregnant (really???), and me describing things in Spanish I never thought I would have to, I was diagnosed with "gastrointrítis" and told to drink massive amounts of this gatorade-like stuff with salt.

Needless to say, it was one of the most entertaining and strange experiences of my life. I came to Spain with very few expectations but this...this was very unexpected.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been seeing:

A beautiful "little" church in the city

These are street markers for what are called "peregrinos." Peregrinos are people who take the "Camino de Santiago" which is a a walk to a Cathedral in the northwestern part of Spain that houses the tomb of "Santiago Compostella"or St. James (aka James the disciple of Jesus). Many people used to take the walk for religious purposes but now it's more of a cool journey people take to see the country and meet people from all over the world. When the peregrinos reach the cathedral they get a shell to put on their packs, signifying that they have completed the journey...hence the shell on the street marker.

Catedral de Santander

Catedral de Santander

Sitios

 Oh, how the weather has changed here in Santander! And so, I have been able to fully enjoy my time in a coastal town by napping on the beach, running to different peninsulas with my classmates and professor (which I hope to snap some photos of soon), and visiting surrounding cities and sites.

On Sunday we visited the Picos de Europa, a gorgeous mountain range and national park in Cantabria. After learning about the different wildlife and craftsmen in the area, we snapped a few photos of this incredible cordillera. Reminded me of Denver =)

Then, we headed to Potes, a medieval town similar to Santillana del Mar and equally as gorgeous, if not more so. We ate lunch at little restaurant in the town and although the food wasn’t incredible, the view made up for it:

After wandering through the town a bit, some of us stopped for some ice cream. Here in Spain, or at least in Cantabria, ice cream is more common than Starbucks in the States. And although I may not be a huge fan of what I know Spanish cusine to be, they sure know how to make their ice cream. I had the “yogur griego con miel,” which was basically this fantastic Greek yogurt ice cream with honey and pecans.  No hay palabras.

Our last stop for the day was the Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liebana. This little monastery is a part of the church that houses the “Lignum Crucis.” The “Lignum Crucis” is a supposed piece of the cross of Christ that was brought to Spain by Torbibio de Liebana? I believe it’s also the biggest piece of the cross that was found. People come from all over to touch or kiss this piece of the cross. Whether or not the piece is actually real, it was an extremely cool experience to hear (or attempt to) the priest/tour guide explain the importance of the cross with such fervor! Although I wasn’t allowed to snap any pictures of Lignum Crucis, I did get some cool pictures of the courtyard and the monastery:

 

Tuesday I started my language class at the Universidad Internacional Menedez Pelayo  (or UIMP…which sounds like “wimp” if you’re from Spain) here in Santander. My class consists of 8 other students, all of which speak at least one other language than their own...Hebrew, Greek, Italian, German, Romanian, Luxembourgish, English. You know, the usual. Oh, and there's a kid from Princeton too. What have I been doing for 20 years?