February 15

Even though today is a cold, rainy/snowy day in Madrid, I'm having a wonderful day! I woke up at 7 am this morning to get ready for class, and then I had class. I am really liking all of my classes actually! My first class is about the artwork at the Prado art museum. We're starting around year 1600 and going to the most recent work. Even though it is pretty early, the professor is very easy to understand and is making the subject of art history very interesting for me :) My classes are all going to fit in together very well... the art history class brings in a lot of Spanish history (especially the monarchy) and religious topics. On Thursday, I start a class about the Bible and its use in western literature. I am also in a class on Islam in Spain, in which we have so far been talking about Islam as a religion and how the muslims conquered Spain in the 8th century. I think that these all tie together very well... as well as in a lot of the travels that I have been doing! 

This past weekend, I went to Marrakech (Morocco) and Granada. Both were absolutely amazing... this was my favorite trip so far! I am so glad that I went. There were 6 of us from my program. Wednesday morning, we flew to Marrakech, which is an old city in the interior of Morocco. The hostel that we stayed at was essentially a family's house and some rooms that they rented out - it was decorated so nicely and we got served a free breakfast. On Wednesday, we just kind of got our bearings straight and walked around the city. Our hostel was just inside the wall of the Medina, the old city walls. It was such a contrast - inside the Medina is just crazy and busy... lots of winding little lanes, street vendors, people hanging out together, donkeys with their carts. Outside the Medina was an area that essentially felt like Ixtapa, Mexico - beautiful, but built up recently and mostly for tourists. The Djema el-Fna is Marrakech's large flea market. It was just amazing - and I'm saying that in the sense that it amazed me how big it was, how much was going on, how much attention we got, etc. There was so much commotion everywhere - very exciting, but almost stressful. Even on the trip from the airport to our hostel, I was almost laughing because I was so happy to see everybody - more bicycles or scooters than cars, weaving in and out of each other, yelling at each other. The whole two days was just filled with new everything... sights, sounds and smells!

There were two really new experiences for me: 1. being in a non-Christian country, and 2. not being able to speak the people's language. Both were pretty refreshing. There were beautiful mosques all over the place... I wasn't sure if I would feel out of place for not wearing a headscarf, but I would say that under half of the Moroccan women wore them, so I felt fine. We had also been learning about the Berbers and Arabs coming into the Iberian peninsula, so it was really neat to see Marrakech (an old Berber town on the edge of a mountain range) and learn about its specific history in that epoch. At no point was I worried about my safety - the only thing was the cat-calls and people constantly saying "Hello! Sorry!" - the only English words most people knew. As far as the language, Moroccans typically speak French and/or Arabic - it seemed like most people speak both. It was quite frustrating not being able to communicate with people - it was hard to even walk into a restaurant and have somebody show us on a map where we were. This really made me realize how far I've come with my Spanish.. and got me really excited to come back to Spain to keep working on it :) I feel pretty good with how much I've improved - not necessarily my grammar, but being able to understand (some of) what people are saying even when its a mile a minute and slurred. 

We were in Marrakech for a 2 days and 1 night, and then Thursday night we took an overnight train to Tangers, which is up on the coast at the Strait of Gibraltar. We then took a ferry across to Algericas, Spain. How crazy is it that I saw the Rock of Gibraltar and the Pillars of Hercules... and even that I was on the Mediterranean Sea!? Late Friday night we arrived in Granada, still in Andalucia (southern Spain). It was rainy and in the 40's, but Granada was still absolutely beautiful. Granada is home to La Alhambra, the last Muslim palace/fortress in Spain. Again, I've learned a lot about Granada in previous classes and in my class on Islam, because it is where the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel finished the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. Because of this, there is a lot of historical stuff to see there. We of course toured the Alhambra (if you don't know much about it, you should google it! amazing) and also walked around the old Islamic quarter of town (from after the reconquest). We also went to the Royal Chapel, where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried. All of this was just crazy... to think that I was actually standing in the room where Columbus proposed his trip to India to Isabel! Everything that happened in 1492 in Spain happened in Granada (and because of the taking of the Alhambra) - the expulsion of the Jews and the unification of the Spanish language with its first grammar book.  

It all made for a wonderful time in Granada - it is too bad it wasn't nicer weather, but I loved it. Now that I have visited a number of other Spanish cities (Sevilla, Salamanca, Toledo, Granada), I can appreciate even more that I chose to study in Madrid. I know I've said this before, but I just love how it is a "living city". I feel like I am able to join the city, to be a part of it, instead of just be a tourist. I'm so happy I chose to come here! I have a pretty chill week ahead of me - just class! Tomorrow, I am getting together with Julia, my intercambio. She finishes her exams tomorrow, so I'm excited to be able to spend more time with her! Most of my friends have moved out of their home stays into their apartments (I move out in 2 weeks). Tomorrow night, we're going to a friend's house and he is going to make tacos for us - I have been missing my Chipotle! I'm also going to start "teaching" English to my Señora's grandsons who are moving to Dallas in a couple months... they're pretty young, so this will essentially be playing with them and just speaking English. I feel pretty lucky to be able to get to know my señora's family like this, and I am looking forward to have this connection with her still even when I move into my other apartment. I am going to go make dinner with her right now (even though we just finished our tea and afternoon snack).. but I am so happy to be able to share the details of my trip with you guys! I still need to get pictures together, and will do that when I have time this week. Hope everybody had a wonderful Valentines Day! Love, Bonnie