We got into Barcelona two nights ago and everything has gone as well as anyone could have expected. Our homestay mom is amazing; she does non-profit work for orphaned children and speaks a ton of languages and owns this unbelievable apartment. There are at least four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a decent sized kitchen and living room. There are three other girls from the U.S. staying here with Adriana and me, but they're with another program so they have their own schedule so we don't see much of them. Our homestay mom, Silvia, also has a son named Jaime, but he's not around too much either. Everyone is pretty elusive, they just leave us to our business and. If we're not around at meal time she'll put food in the fridge for us to eat whenever we get around to it... And they always have three courses. We told her we wanted to go to museums tomorrow so she left us two packed lunches so we can take them along and not pay for food or have to come back to the apartment. Awesome, right? The apartment building was constructed in 1905 by a student of Gaudi's, it's beautiful. We're situated really well in the heart of the city so everything is pretty much at our fingertips.
We had a placement test at the University Friday and Monday we'll start classes based on the results of the test. We should only have classes Mon-Thurs, but of course I wanted to take the Spanish cinema class which meets every other Friday so that'll keep me from travelling every single weekend... Which is probably okay. I dropped my camera a couple of days ago and it still works but the piece that covers the lens broke off so I have to find a place to get that fixed... Basically that camera hates me. Anyway, Adriana and I are going to take a siesta before going out tonight - but not a 5 hour siesta like we took yesterday, haha. Pictures of Barcelona will be coming soon as long as this rain stops so we can actually get out and see things.
Take care,
Ashley
1.31.2009
1.28.2009
Catching Up and Toledo
I was in a huge hurry the other night but I wanted to at least give you access to my photos from Valle de los Caidos and El Escorial. A little bit about those...
Valle de los Caidos, or Valley of the Fallen, is a huge church built by Franco (the last dictator of Spain, he died 1975 and the country began the path to democracy immediately after) on a mountain. The giant cross is on top of the mountain and then the churh itself is carved into the mountain like a cave. The church and the courtyard outside of it put together were bigger than the Vatican, which mean that the Vatican would not give its official blessing. Franco later removed half of the courtyard area so it would fall within Vatican guidelines. Inside the church, where I couldn't take any pictures, are the tombs of Franco, the man who was king before Franco took over, and the burial site for 50,000 of the people who were killed in the Civil War between 1936 and 1939.
El Escorial was a royal palace that is now a monastery, school, and museum. Inside are some of the most famous pieces of art I've ever learned about and then seen in person and it blew my mind. Also, inside all of the kings, queens, and close royalty are entombed. There's a room where the bodies wait for 25 years so they're completely decomposed and then when they're only bones they get put into a giant marble coffin-like tomb and rest forever in the room for kings and queens only or in the other areas for other royalty. El Escorial also has the second most important library of religous texts in the world, second only to the Vatican. The oldest book is from the 400s, the youngest from the 1700s.
Today we were in Toledo, an unbelivable formerly fortressed city that housed Jews, Christians, and Muslims for centuries. We took a tour of San Juan de los Reyes Católicos, a cathedral built in the mid-1400s by the Catholic king and queen Ferdinand and Isabel... You know, the ones who sent Columbus looking for America. We also saw El Greco's most famous masterpiece, "El entierro del Conde de Orgaz". Like all the rest of the most amazing things I've seen so far, photos were prohibited but I can tell you that after learning about his work, standing in front of it almost brought me to tears.
Everything has been going very well, especially since I got my luggage. My roommate and I get along famously; we really have the same outlook on everything and we both seem to be here for the same reasons. I like our directors and I've been making a lot of new friends. Tomorrow we have a 9 hour bus ride from Toledo to Barcelona. When we get there we'll get to see a little of our university and then go home with our homestay families. I can't wait to get settled, stop living out of a suitcase, and get to know the people who are going to be taking care of me for the next four months. I'm also really glad I have my roommate to get through the tough transition into living with a foreign family.
Here's a link to my pictures from Toledo... This is probably how I'll have to let you see my photos for the rest of the trip because uploading photos onto the blog directly hasn't been working very well. Take care, everyone.
Ashley
Valle de los Caidos, or Valley of the Fallen, is a huge church built by Franco (the last dictator of Spain, he died 1975 and the country began the path to democracy immediately after) on a mountain. The giant cross is on top of the mountain and then the churh itself is carved into the mountain like a cave. The church and the courtyard outside of it put together were bigger than the Vatican, which mean that the Vatican would not give its official blessing. Franco later removed half of the courtyard area so it would fall within Vatican guidelines. Inside the church, where I couldn't take any pictures, are the tombs of Franco, the man who was king before Franco took over, and the burial site for 50,000 of the people who were killed in the Civil War between 1936 and 1939.
El Escorial was a royal palace that is now a monastery, school, and museum. Inside are some of the most famous pieces of art I've ever learned about and then seen in person and it blew my mind. Also, inside all of the kings, queens, and close royalty are entombed. There's a room where the bodies wait for 25 years so they're completely decomposed and then when they're only bones they get put into a giant marble coffin-like tomb and rest forever in the room for kings and queens only or in the other areas for other royalty. El Escorial also has the second most important library of religous texts in the world, second only to the Vatican. The oldest book is from the 400s, the youngest from the 1700s.
Today we were in Toledo, an unbelivable formerly fortressed city that housed Jews, Christians, and Muslims for centuries. We took a tour of San Juan de los Reyes Católicos, a cathedral built in the mid-1400s by the Catholic king and queen Ferdinand and Isabel... You know, the ones who sent Columbus looking for America. We also saw El Greco's most famous masterpiece, "El entierro del Conde de Orgaz". Like all the rest of the most amazing things I've seen so far, photos were prohibited but I can tell you that after learning about his work, standing in front of it almost brought me to tears.
Everything has been going very well, especially since I got my luggage. My roommate and I get along famously; we really have the same outlook on everything and we both seem to be here for the same reasons. I like our directors and I've been making a lot of new friends. Tomorrow we have a 9 hour bus ride from Toledo to Barcelona. When we get there we'll get to see a little of our university and then go home with our homestay families. I can't wait to get settled, stop living out of a suitcase, and get to know the people who are going to be taking care of me for the next four months. I'm also really glad I have my roommate to get through the tough transition into living with a foreign family.
Here's a link to my pictures from Toledo... This is probably how I'll have to let you see my photos for the rest of the trip because uploading photos onto the blog directly hasn't been working very well. Take care, everyone.
Ashley
1.26.2009
Madrid - Day 2
Unfortunately the photo upload feature for this blog runs extremely slowly on the shaky internet I'm using, so uploading my photos isn't going to happen from here.
First of all, I got my luggage today so all is well in that department. Today we went on a walking tour of the oldest parts of Madrid. We saw buildings that are hundreds of years old and that have been lived in by some of Spain's many kings and queens. After our tour we had a few hours of free time, so some new friends and I walked until we found a restaurant that looked inviting and had some sangria and a light lunch. So far the food has been great! After that we walked to the museum La Reina Sofia to meet the group and we saw various works by Picasso, Dali, and Miro - three of Spain's most famous painters. Tonight we have a free night to explore Madrid, but we're torn between experiencing the night-life and getting some sleep because we have to be on the bus to Toledo at 9am tomorrow. We'll have to see what the night brings!
Facebook's photo uploader is working way faster, so here's a link to my album on Facebook where all of my pictures are so far.
I may not have internet until after we get to Barcelona on the 28th, so this may be all I write for a while...
Ashley
First of all, I got my luggage today so all is well in that department. Today we went on a walking tour of the oldest parts of Madrid. We saw buildings that are hundreds of years old and that have been lived in by some of Spain's many kings and queens. After our tour we had a few hours of free time, so some new friends and I walked until we found a restaurant that looked inviting and had some sangria and a light lunch. So far the food has been great! After that we walked to the museum La Reina Sofia to meet the group and we saw various works by Picasso, Dali, and Miro - three of Spain's most famous painters. Tonight we have a free night to explore Madrid, but we're torn between experiencing the night-life and getting some sleep because we have to be on the bus to Toledo at 9am tomorrow. We'll have to see what the night brings!
Facebook's photo uploader is working way faster, so here's a link to my album on Facebook where all of my pictures are so far.
I may not have internet until after we get to Barcelona on the 28th, so this may be all I write for a while...
Ashley
1.25.2009
Madrid - Day 1
Hey all, I made it to Madrid this afternoon. Unfortunately my baggage did not. Supposedly the airline will be delivering my luggage to my hotel tomorrow morning sometime, but having it be lost caused a very hectic afternoon that involved missing the bus the the hotel and having to take a (very expensive) cab ride to catch up with the group. Luckily I ran into my roommate in the airport and she stuck with me until we figured out where we were going.
Tonight we only had a short bus tour of some of the major parts of Madrid and a group meeting. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Madrid and a trip to a museum. We'll be going to Toledo in a couple of days and then we'll be off to Barcelona, our homestay famillies, and university after that.
I would post a few of my early photos, but the internet is pretty slow and I don't have enough time to wait for them all. Look for photos in the near-ish future.
Tonight we only had a short bus tour of some of the major parts of Madrid and a group meeting. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Madrid and a trip to a museum. We'll be going to Toledo in a couple of days and then we'll be off to Barcelona, our homestay famillies, and university after that.
I would post a few of my early photos, but the internet is pretty slow and I don't have enough time to wait for them all. Look for photos in the near-ish future.
1.23.2009
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