Sunday, May 5, 2013
El Reencuentro de OMAMers y Derkas
La Visita con Jane, Kelli y Cara: Roma
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| Vatican Museum, pretty cool ceilings I guess |
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| Spanish Steps |
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| Modern Architecture in Rome |
La Palma de Mallorca
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| Cuevas de Drach |
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| National Geographic style- Largest subterranean lake in the world, unbelievable stalagmites and stalactites |
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| Pirates |
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Sunday, April 7, 2013
La Ciudad Más Antigua De Europa: Cádiz
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| Old Cathedral in Cádiz |
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| Desde arriba de la Torre del Catedral Nueva |
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| Lost his marbles |
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| Look familiar? Think Die Another Day--Filmed on this beach because Cuba isn't the most friendly to outsiders. |
Friday, April 5, 2013
La Semana Santa
I
spent the end of Semana Santa here in Sevilla, watching pasos and celebrating
with my family and Taylor. Semana Santa in Sevilla is the biggest in the world.
There are people everywhere and there are processions, what we would call
parades, almost all the time. Each procession leaves from their church, walks
to the cathedral in el centro, then returns to their church. Each procession
has two pasos, or gigantic float, that they carry. One paso is el cristo, an
image of Jesus, and one is la virgen, an image of The Virgin Mary.
56
processions in total leave during Semana Santa, and they vary in length, size,
solemnity, dress, etc. My ‘brother’ here left in one of the largest, with over
2,000 people, that lasted 12 hours! 3PM- 3AM..quite the marathon.
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| Handsome Miguel before his procession |
Some
Vocab:
Capirote: the pointed or
cone shaped hood worn by the nazarenos,
symbolizing repentance and grief.
Costalero: men hidden below the paso to carry it. There are more costaleros than will fit beneath the float, and at certain times they
will change to give others a rest.
Cofradia: hermandad, or
brotherhood: members of the church who are part of the procession
Nazareno: member of the hermandad, who dresses in a robe and cone shaped hood to hide his or
her identity. Somenazarenos from particular processions are prohibited from speaking with
anyone once dressed in their gown and cap. Colors of robes and hoods depend on
the procession
Paso: float with the
Virgin Mary or Christ, the main attraction of a procesión decorated with candles and flowers and at times
depicting scenes from the bible.
Penitente: a member of the procession - nazareno without thecapirote - repenting of their sins carrying one or more crosses over
shoulder. Some have up to 4 crosses depending on the amount of repenting, and
many walk barefoot through the streets.
Torrijas: the most important: like french
toast, prepared with honey, eggs and white wine. A typical food prepared during
Semana Santa. I'll fight anyone who thinks they have a better recipe than my
mother-in-law ;)
Some
Videos:
Ahora…ha
llegado Feria!!! No puedo creer que ya hubo pasado 3 meses aquí en España.
Mientras Taylor y yo estabamos tomando un copa de vino repetidamente nos damos
cuenta..estamos en SEVILLA..en europa. Este es una vex en la vida oportunidad q
no quiero gastar ni dar por sentado. Quiero continuar aprendiendo, creciendo, y
disfrutando todo.
Saludos,
Kelsey
Friday, March 29, 2013
El Viaje a Portugal
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Monday, JANE arrived from
Rome to travel with us to Portugal. We left via bus for Lagos in the afternoon.
All of Tuesday was spent in Lagos, a beach town in Southern Portugal. We wanted
to be able to go hiking and go on a little boat tour of the caves there, but it
was raining all day, and nothing can happen in a beach town when it’s raining.
So, Wednesday we took a bus
up to Lisbon. We only had that night and until the next afternoon there, so we
went hard there, going to see their old cathedrals , el Castillo de San Jorge,
el Torre de Belém, Jeronimos Monastery, Rossio, Park of Commerce, and Pasteis
de Belém Café. But first, we had lunch, splitting fresh fish (whole) that the
owner of the restaurant had just caught that day. SO flavorful.
We hiked up to el Castillo de
San Jorge where we could see all of the city along with the ocean. The views
were breathtaking and we had some funny ‘what if’ talks of what we would do if
we lived in the castle way back when. Pasteis de Belém Café is a very famous
bakery that sells Pastel de Belém/ Pastel de Nata. They are little pastries
with cream in the middle. Unbelievable. They are little so it was the perfect
treat, not too sweet and perfect to enjoy on our walk along the beach.
That night we went to tapas
for dinner at a cool place called ‘We love wine’. There was a great guitarist
there who sang and played all night long so the ambience was amazing. We sat
and talked for quite some time, enjoying all being together again and observing
some serious wine-o’s doing there thing.
Thursday Tay and I woke up
early from our awesome hostel, Independente Hostal, to drink our coffee at the
lookout, Miradouro de São Pedro, which was just across the street from our
hostel. That was by far the coolest hostel I have ever stayed at. Only 12 euro
a night, breakfast included, AND three story bunk beds!!
Before leaving, we explored the
different barrios of Lisbon. They were filled with bookstores, restaurants,
cafés, record shops, and art stores; each had such unique architecture and
great graffiti. We tried this typical cherry drink there called Ginjinha, from
a street vendor who was the most animated street vendor I have ever encountered,
she was lovin’ life, shouting for people to try “Ginjinha!” over and over. And
over. And over as we walked down the street.
Lisbon is very very hilly and
there are trams everywhere. It looks a lot like San Francisco because of the
hills and their Ponte 25 de abril (bridge) looks just like the Golden Gate Bridge.
El Comienzo de Semana Santa
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We were sad to leave Madrid,
but really wanted to start Semana Santa with our families for Domingo de Ramos
(Palm Sunday). I had breakfast with my family and we talked about their
different Semana Santa traditions and opinions. Then I headed out to tour a
friend from Morale, Jenna, who was passing through Sevilla from Florence, on
her way to Lagos. I loved playing tour guide and showing off the beautiful city
and all of the sites to her. They just never get old so it was great to see
everything and tell her stories while catching up.
For dinner I went to Taylor’s
home for tapas, wine, processions, and conversations. Unfortunately, it was
raining so many of the processions were cancelled, but I got to see one on Sunday
that was from Triana, so I got to get a taste of Semana Santa right off the
bat.
El Concierto: Mumford and Sons
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Lots of travels to update on!
Things have been wild and crazy these last few weeks because I decided to
switch my homestay. I was not being challenged enough linguistically and
culturally in my first home, and with two sisters (21 & 18) and a brother
(15) it is VERY different.
This week is Semana Santa,
and here in Sevilla, it is the biggest celebration in all of the world. But, we
get the week off from school (along with most workers and all other students)
so it has been a great week to travel.
First, Taylor and I went to
Madrid from Thursday- Saturday. We saw MUMFORD AND SONS who were absolutely
unbelievable. It was by far the best concert I have ever been to. And, not too
shabby..I ran into Megan Taylor!!!! Had no idea she would be there..she is
studying in Salamanca now! How wild.
The next day, Taylor and I
started the day with café in La Plaza Mayor. It’s a huge Plaza that has lots of
history and stories from the times of Franco. Next, we went to El Prado, which
holds the royal family’s collection of art. We got to see Las Meninas, Goya, El
Greco, Ribera, and, my favorite,
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch.
The museum was HUGE and so overwhelming to try to see everything.
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| Parque del Retiro |
After El Prado, we met up
with our friends from school, TJ and Saletta. TJ’s sister’s boyfriend lives in
Madrid, so him and a friend showed us around the rest of the day to The Royal
Palace, Almudena Cathedral, Parque del Retiro, el Paseo del Prado, and some
different neighborhoods.
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| Pals by the Palace |
That night, they wined and
dined us with there Spanish friends. It was so fun to be translators for TJ and
Saletta the whole time and to get to see the city through the eyes of a true Madrileño.
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| Plaza Mayor |
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
El Fin De En BarTHelona
This weekend I had the most smooth, fun-filled, culture-filled, relaxing weekend I could possibly imagine! I visited Paige in Barcelona. From the get-go, we went site seeing, visiting Park Güell, Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Las Gracías, the Born area, the Gothic Quarter, and the Cathedral. After we got to see all of that we went to the beach to drink some wine and talk about our lives abroad. It was great because we talked the whole time in Spanish.
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| Park Güell |
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| Font Magico |
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| Out of this world works of Gaudi |
http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/index.php <--Read that!
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| Hayyy cutie |
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After that, we ate at Bo Da
B, an out of this world place for sandwiches. We had passed it the day before
and there was a line all the way around the block, but luckily we got there at
12:50 and it opened at 1:00, so we were the fourth group in line! Later, we climbed up montjuic to see the '92 Olympic Stadium and the city from above..where we encountered a mob of Justin Beiber fans waiting for his concert that night. We proceeded to do the only appropriate thing and ask obsessed fans to take pictures of us looking super super excited with them. They were totally gung-ho about it, never suspecting the tiny bit of mockery there.
Saturday night was low key
because I had a 6 am flight Sunday. I went to Paige’s homestay for dinner. We
played bingo and some games with her 7 year old sister then talked with her
parents about our lives at home and here. It was fun seeing Paige’s daily life
and meeting her family, chatting and learning.
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| Arc de triomphe |
Altogether, last weekend
could not have gone more smoothly. I found the metro surprisingly easy to
navigate, and there was not a single problem the whole time..so much less
stressful to travel with just one pal!!
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