To Iberia And Beyond

Andalusia and Sighing when Leaving Granada

It is said that the last Moorish ruler of Spain was forced out of Granada in 1492 to the Catholic Kings he sighed looking back on the city he loved so much. I can't blame him. Melanie and I spent 8 days in Andalusia traveling around and we have both fallen in love with Granada.

We went to Cadiz, Tarifa, Tanger, Algeciras, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba, Seville but Granada was by far our favorite. Maybe it's because when we got there we saw the city's first ever anti-bullfighting protest and of course we participated (more on my opinion in a bit). And it was the last day of the citywide week-long festival. It also happened to be World Naked Bike Ride Day, so obviously Granada is an amazing city. But more than just protests for just causes and public nudity, Granada had something to it that is calling me back. We spent most of our time just walking around the city, not seeing anything in particular, just soaking it in. It was very hot while we were there, the type of heat that makes you understand why a siesta is more than just a nap but a practical necessity.

While in Granada we participated in the slow march of the anti-bullfight protest as we worked our way from the center of town to the bullring. I was enlisted to help carry the GIANT coffin (I guess it was bull sized) and Melanie stayed with the group of students yelling "not with our taxes" and "abolition". There was also a very good, mainly shirtless drum corps helping us make some noise and get noticed. We checked the local, regional and a national paper the next day and the regional one had one column mentioning it and an awful picture that was just a blurry close up on the coffin (but none of the carriers were in it). They said 200 people were there and confirmed that it was the first ever in Granada.

We also chilled out in two tea shops enjoying iced Moroccan-style tea while lounging on pillows and keeping out of the sun. The whole world is better when you make tea drinking a process and you just rest in the shade. It's something like the opposite of the cozy feeling knowing that wrapped up in your bed you are the only warm thing in the world. Sitting in a darken tea shop in Granada with a fan lazily spinning and listening to birds chirping makes you think that you are in the only cool place there is.

I never once used the word "fresquita" (a little fresh and cool temperature-wise) before going to Andalusia, while there it was said at least four times a day. Yes the Cathedrals of Granada and Seville are beautiful works of art with centuries of history and the tombs of The Catholic Kings and Columbus (respectively), but one of the most important reasons you go in them is because they are "fresquita." When it is 40 degrees Celsius outside on a normal day, "fresquita" is your best friend.

A very surprising thing about the tombs of Isabella and Ferdinand in comparison to Columbus's is that his is far cooler than theirs. The supposedly greatest kings in Spain's history, the kings who unified the nation and conquered it all, the kings who financed the trip to the Americas got what seems to me to be a pretty standard tomb. Yes it's in the center of the Cathedral in Granada to put their stamp on the place of their final great victory, but it was just a big stone sepulcher, nothing too special (although seeing the crown of Isabella was pretty cool, I mean come on, it's a crown!). But Columbus's was amazing. It was a giant metallic tomb being carried by four larger-than-life-sized bronze statues with stone faces in royal regalia. Each of the statues had the symbol of one of the four kingdoms of Spain: Aragon, Castille, Navarra and Leon. Here is the Wiki picture:

 

I think the reason I loved Granada so much was that it is proud of all of its heritage. The thing that bugs me a lot about Spain some times is how it's Muslim past is treated. I get the feeling that Spain views its historical arc in terms of Catholicism (hence why they call the Catholic conquering of Spain the Reconquest) which puts its 700-year Muslim history on the side just to be called on when talking about architecture or language. But Granada seems to have embraced its past in a very positive way. The biggest and grandest thing to see in Granada is The Alhambra, which was the palace and gardens of the Sultans. I got the impression that there is a strong sense of ownership of the Alhambra, as a large point of pride in Granada and I loved that. Maybe it is because while the Muslims built the palaces and planted the gardens, it is the responsibility of modern Granada to maintain and care for them. Maybe it is this shared act of love of that beautiful place that makes Granada so special.

When I look back at Granada I will always remember taking a siesta with Melanie in the shade of a small tree in the corner of a little plaza siting next to a fountain. Perfect.

The other cities were great too. The tourism department of Cadiz has got their act together. They have painted several different walking tour paths in the city with different themes (military, religion, political, etc) and there are informational panels along the way. Much like the Freedom Trail in Boston but painted on. Cadiz is known for being the oldest city in Western Europe (in your face Athens!) and it is right on the Ocean with a great port. The cruise liners at dock were gigantic. We were staring at one for a while and then Melanie said "wait, that's a BOAT?" and then became very impressed. The first things we saw in the city when we arrived was a massive boat and then a plaza and memorial dedicated to journalists. Cadiz has a special place in my heart now. The only damper in my time there was that I lost my Jewish Star/Hamsa necklace that I bought in Jerusalem a year and a half ago in the Atlantic. Sigh.

From Cadiz we went to Tarifa, the southern most point of continental Europe. You can see Africa easily from Tarifa. YOU CAN SEE AFRICA! When the bus was rounding the corner and we got our first view of the city in the distance Melanie pointed to the mountains further out and said that that was Africa. I didn't believe her. You can see another continent from Tarifa! Africa! From Spain!

It is also very, very windy there as the warmer air masses from the Mediterranean meet the cooler ones from the Atlantic. Hence Tarifa is famous for windsurfing. But as Spain is a forward-thinking country, the region also hosts more wind turbines than I have seen anywhere else. Somewhere between taxis in New York and corn in Iowa there are wind turbines in Tarifa.

From Tarifa we took a day trip to Tangers with a very touristy tour group. We got off the ferry, got on the bus and then we were taken to various spots, let off the bus and then asked to buy stuff. Melanie and I bought pastries at the market. A pound of pastries for $2, excellent. There was one that was some sort of crunchy, syrupy sesame seed covered pastry which was by far the best. It reminded me strongly of sesame chicken which was a little odd, but it was still very good. Really Tangers wasn't extremely exciting. Seeing and hearing Arabic was very cool, as was the fact that I was in Africa, but there wasn't one thing in particular to see there, just soaking it in. Fun fact, when you are in a massive group of tourists, street vendors will practically mob you with there wares. If you are alone they leave you alone. Because Melanie doesn't have a passport (oh the EU) we could only go for a day trip so it was more of a symbolic thing. My friend Allison is going to study in Fez this summer so I'm looking forward to reading a more in-depth report on the country in her blog.

From Tarifa we went to Algericas with the plan to go to Granada in the afternoon. But Aft Ang Aglay we ended up getting sunburned and missing the last bus to Granada so we took a detour to Malaga. Melanie was very unhappy with the sunburn. It was her first one ever and so she was trying to wrap her head around the idea of how people can live a life where sunburns are normal things. She was shocked at how much they hurt.

In Malaga we met up with a friend of hers who is studying there. After getting off on the wrong foot (the first thing she said to me was -translated- "Damn, dude what an accent") she gave us a night tour of the city. We climbed the mountain/fortress and looked out at the moon over the Mediterranean with boats twinkling in the distance and I decided to forgive her. She and Melanie spoke a lot of French together and I was able to get a very general gist of it.

From Malaga to Granada and then to Cordoba. I don't care what the Catholic Church says, I think building a Cathedral inside the Mosque was a cultural crime. The Church has a pamphlet where they describe how they are so great since by making the Mosque into a Cathedral they were able to preserve the Mosque. Since you know, NOT messing up the biggest Mosque in Europe is just out of the question. The whole tone of the little pamphlet really ticked me and Melanie off since it just tried to justify the fact that they ruined and horribly disrespected the site. But the Mosque is so great that even though it has been adultered by the Church it is still the most beautiful building I've ever entered. Pictures do not do it justice.

It was Monday when we were in Cordoba so everything else of touristy interest was closed, we did find the statue of Maimonides though, so a small victory. Cordoba was odd, it was like going to an amusement park that only had one amazing ride. Yes, the ride's amazing but...

From Cordoba we finished up in Seville. We had a great tour given by an American just out of college guy who had a lot of energy and love of the city. The odd thing about Seville is that besides the Cathedral there isn't much else that's tall. Seville is a city on a human scale and seeing it from above does not do it justice. The beauty in the city is in its alleyways and tree-canopied plazas. We checked out the Museum and Archives of the Americas where Melanie will probably spend a good chunk of her life as that's what she studies. We saw the neighborhood Macarena, and we both joked about the song since we are tourists. We were too beat to really explore Seville but the tour and a little of our own wandering has given me a taste and I want more.

In short, Andalusia seems like it might be more my speed than Castilla y Leon. God I miss Granada.

Oh and we slept in our tent in camp grounds for 4 of the nights. A quick point about tent buying, when one person in the relationship is about 5'3 and the other is 6'1, the shorter one should not be sent to pick up a tent with the only instruction of "the cheapest one we can get." I would love to post some of the photos of our little home next to the other tents, but my camera isn't working so I can't. I will say that the tent was an ideal size match for her. Me not so much. I also learned that there is a difference between "camping" and "roughing it". I always thought "roughing it" is what people meant when they said camping, as in no running water, no one else around, lost in the forest somewhere with bears. My camping experience

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"

Tonight is my last night in the house of Pepi. Next morning I will pack up all my stuff, mail a big box of stuff to the States and then walk across town to Melanie's where I'll be staying for the rest of my time in Salamanca, although I won't be spending much more time here anyway. Tuesday morning at 2am, Melanie and I will be catching a bus to Cadiz in Andalusia and thus will start our last big Spanish adventure. We will spend a week and a day or two there going from Cadiz, to Tarifa, from there a day jaunt into Morocco, then Granada, Cordoba and then rounding off the week in Seville. We'll come back to Salamanca for about a week and then head to her home in France. So in less than 20 days I'll have traveled more than 3,500 km. Dang

But that's there, not here, and then and not now. Now I am in Salamanca snug in my bed in my room which I may never see again. Tomorrow I say what could be an hasta luego to Pepi that could really be an adios.

It's June. How did that happen? I came to Spain nearly exactly five months ago ready to realize my dream of living here. Now it has been realized, another thing to check off my life to-do list and Pepi was a large part of it. I've never considered myself as being particularly good at saying good-byes, or closing a chapter in the book of my life. I always think that you'll bump into someone sometime later or you'll rekindle a friendship even if it's been put on the shelf for a few years^. But this separation from Pepi might be the last time I see her. I tell myself that she loves to travel, that she went to the wedding of a former Hoya she hosted from eight years ago, and that I'll come back one day or she'll visit. But I know that probably won't happen.

I've been so excited to get out of Salamanca since this is just not my sort of city, I haven't been thinking about leaving Pepi. How could I have imagined a year ago that I would share such a strong connection, a sense of family with a Spanish woman who is about to become a grandmother? We'll miss each other but she'll have left a lasting mark on me. Whenever I think of Spain and whenever I cook one of her recipes, she'll be in my thoughts.

I'm just afraid that she, like a teacher who has thousands of students in their career, will forget me or I become a vague memory of just another foreigner who lived with her.

*From Semisonic

^I completely mixed metaphors there, I hope you can find it in your literary heart to forgive me

Failure in Spain: Arrogance and Low Expectations

Today marks the end of my first week of summer break in Spain. Themes of this week have been trying to find out my grades, sleeping poorly, free concerts, saying some goodbyes and some hellos, North American movies, and Melanie completing her bachelors degree.

First off I will explain what I think is an oddity of the Spanish university educational system. When you fail a final exam you are given a second chance a month later to take another exam. Maybe I don't understand the full meaning of the words "final exam" but I always assumed that it meant it was the last one. I completely understand the value of having more than one test in a semester to flatten out studying blocks and to give you more opportunities to demonstrate what you have learned, but it makes more sense to me to have one of the exams in the middle of a term, a midterm exam if you will, and one at the end, which we'll call a final, than one at the end of the term and another in the summer if you have failed the first.

I know I am not an educational expert, and that I can't even put B.A. or B.S. after my name and that the world works on the concept that the youth are people to mold and teach and not people to effect change and learn from, but I would strongly recommend changing the Spanish University system.

The current system says that failure is expected and acceptable. Having a system that mandates that every professor provides a make-up exam date assumes that many students will fail classes. This sets the bar very low and when the bar is set so low students don't really try. Professors here often make comments of "when some of you retake this class next year you'll see that..." failure is endemic in the system. Of course we all want students to do well and learn and pass classes, so the educational system here should be restructured to help that.

People get things done at the last minute and they put off work they don't have to do. If you have only one final exam at the end of the year you will likely just study the week or so before the final. If you have a midterm as well you'll study before the midterm and before the final. If you have a test at the end of each unit you will study each unit outside of class to pass the test. You will then use the tests and feedback from the professor to study for your midterm which is an aggregation of the units and concepts studied earlier and then you will use that feedback and the feedback of your future unit tests to study for your final.

I must be missing some obvious point, but I see no educational advantage to the one final exam system. With one final you enter into tests relatively unknowing of what types of questions you will face. I was told to expect tests that were detailed oriented, but I was blindsided by the level of detail asked. I barely passed my class on Sustainable Agriculture and I technically failed my exam on Forest Care, but due to one other assignment in the class and a conversation with the professor, I passed the class.

I went to every class, I took decent notes, I learned the themes and concepts, and I had come to both of the classes with a strong base in the material, yet I nearly failed both of them. How did that happen? It wasn't because of the language barrier but an arrogance thing. I didn't study as hard as I could have for those exams since I thought they would be cake walks. I contacted my Forest professor today to find out what my grade was and he took me out to grab a mid day beer* to ask me about the class. He said he was expecting me to get an 8 since he knew that I knew the stuff and he was shocked it was (and I quote) "an arrow through the heart" that I did so poorly. He showed me my exam and we went through the answers. I explained to him how I was caught off guard about the specificity of the questions and so we just went through three questions I got wrong that he said that he would feel wrong if I left Spain not knowing the correct answers. He then said that I deserve to pass and so I have now passed the class. A hollow, hollow victory.

I was talking with Melanie yesterday and she kept asking what I was angry about, which I was confused by since I didn't feel angry, just mildly frustrated but I couldn't pin point it. Now I have. I am mad that I did so poorly academically in my time in Spain in a university I consider to be generally sub par. My grades in Georgetown are far better than my grades here. How did that happen? I guess I need an academically rigorous environment and challenges to succeed. I need to feel actually challenged for me to try. That's not a good thing, but now at least I know that now.

My class that was most like my classes in the US, where something was asked of me every week, where I was asked to think about an issue and develop my own opinion, I earned the highest grade in the class. I don't say that to brag^ but to show that I can do well in a class if I feel engaged and challenged. If someone has high expectations for me, I will try to reach them. If someone has low expectations I won't even try. Is that common? If so, Spanish educational officials have a lot of thinking to do about reforming their system to engage students to think and not just memorize and regurgitate.

It's like the other day when I was playing basketball against a semi-stoned Irishman. At the end of the first 20 minutes the score was 8-2 me, but then I hit a wall, I went for longer, less planned shots, and just played poorer. In the end he won 11-9. I lost a game of one-on-one to a semi-stoned Irishman because I was arrogant and thought it would be easy.

*A beer before the 2:30pm lunch here is really common
^Ok, just a little