as the plane was touching down

it's so weird to be writing in english! i've been speaking spanish with only rare english interruptions for the last day and a half, and already i'm improving a lot. right now we're on the bus, it's dark and rainy, and everyone is sleepy. in fact my should is serving as a rather uncomfortable pillow for alex right now.

yesterday i arrived at the madrid barajas airport to find that the people i was supposed to meet with to share a cab were not there, so i took a cab by myself. this wasn't a big deal, except that it was all in spanish and i really wasn't prepared for that. but it went fine. after a quick trip to the internet cafe to let my family know i was alive, i crashed in my hotel room for a 2 hour nap. when i woke up i decided to go cell phone shopping. i went to 3 different stores asking for what i needed, with my shyness slowly eroding at each store. finally i found the card i needed for my phone, and the courage i needed to actually use my spanish! the plan i got is much cheaper for me to call internationally than locally, which is good because internet is not a reliable way to communicate, at least not yet. if any of you feel like chatting my let me know and i'll send you my number, or if it's cheaper i can give you a call. just keep in mind i'm 9 hours ahead of california...

at 6 we all met for an orientation meeting, followed by dinner. alex's plane was late, but she still made dinner. the program has actually been very accommodating of vegetarians - actually letting us tell the servers and then getting the food we need, which is more than i expected. however spaniards are still trying to comprehend this whole vegetarian thing. from what i've heard, they're getting better - right now it means the only thing we can eat is egg. so far i've had tortillas, which are basically omelets with either potatoes or nothing inside. today i also got mushrooms and tomatoes, so it was a relatively balanced meal. there's wine with every meal, which i have yet to try, but we're in andalucía now so i know the sangria's coming! ;)

today we woke up, ate a quick breakfast, and hopped on the bus. the landscape was very flat and dry, but we did see some of don quijote's windmills. we also had a lesson on pronunciation and vosotros, making are spanish true to spain. santi (santiago, the director) gave a humorous, yet long, lesson. we traveled about 5 hours south of madrid to the city of córdoba. it was the first capital of spain and at one time the largest city in europe with over 1 million people (it was large then anyway).

interruption: it's snowing!

anyway, the province we're in is andalucía, the southern most province of spain. it was originally developed by the moors who invaded from africa (which is only about a 10 minute boat ride from gibralter) they settled córdoba and built a beautiful mezquita (mosque). as the city grew, each new caliphate>>>??? had to add his own addition to the mosque. it grew to be the second largest in the world, second only to the one in damascus, which was the motherland so they couldn't really outdo that one. the moors conquered the entire iberian peninsula in ridiculously short amount of time. then the catholics took hundreds of years to undo it, eventually making their way to cordoba and converting the mosque in a cathedral. but rather than undo all of the beautiful architecture, they just built their cathedral right in the center of the main hall of the mosque. as we toured through this incredible building we got to see both the Islamic and Christian influences right next to each other. it is still a functioning cathedral, with the beautiful fountains used for washing one's feet before s/he entered the mosque.

later we walked through the streets of córdoba to the sinogoga (synagog). in stark contrast to the mosque, it was a tiny box with two small apses that the Christians had added when they took over. the cobblestone streets of córdoba were very narrow with tall white buildings adorned with tiny balconies dripping with vines. it was adorable. there were also many dove fluttering around. renata, our general organizer, told me a neat story about them. she said there was a ruler in the city who insisted that all of the buildings be white. the white is to stay cool from the hot summer sun, but during this ruler's time there was a lot of disease in the city and he believed the white buildings would keep things more clean and pure, so he insisted they be repainted every year. as a result of the white habitat, many animals evolved to be lighter - including the pigeons, and thus all the doves.

now we're on our way to nerja, to spend a couple nights on the beach. i think it's a little cold to test out the mediterranian waters, but it's still going to be a neat place to stay. (in case you happen to be looking at a map, nerja is near málaga.) after that we go to granada, the place i have been looking forward to the most due to its magnificent alhambra - the citadel/palace/mosque/cathedral/fortress/gardins on a hill. i've done numerous spanish projects on the maravilla (wonder) and i can't wait to actually see it!

i haven't found out much about my host family yet, except that i have quite a long commute to the institute for school everyday. oh well, if the family is good it will be worth it. i also found out that our bing trip will be to extremadura, the south eastern province of spain, right next to portugal. but for now i'm just going to enjoy this educational vacation in andalucía!

hasta luego!