World Statistics Day!

Not so much a traveling thing, but I do think it is important you all know that today October 20th, 2010 is the FIRST World Statistics Day. It is a day to recognize the value of statistics in our modern world and also to promote efforts in bringing effective statistics to impoverished countries in the world in order to aid in their development. Hope you all enjoy your day!

Jaén

Yesterday our program took us up to Jaén for the day. We walked around the city during the morning, went to a fair during the afternoon and then at night we went to a bullfight.



So at the bullfight we, 30 Americans, are sitting by ourselves in a section of the upper deck so we didn't get to soak up the crowd at all which was a bummer. At first everyone was getting into it even though the first bull was pretty disinterested in running around, though to be honest I doubt I would either. Then you know, they kill the bull so some people got a bit teary-eyed. Most people got back into it though so that was good. The next 2 matadors were more skilled and the bulls were more aggressive so those were probably be favorites. There were, or appeared to be, a couple close calls were the matadors had to hold the bulls head down so that the wouldn't be impaled. Anyway, it was just in general a very interesting cultural event, and since bullfights are a huge controversy here in Spain, I know feel more adequately informed.

Just a catch-up on other Granada going-ons. Our program went to a flamenco show awhile ago which was really cool. My friends and I went to a medieval festival that was amazing, I didn't have my camera so I'm going to steal theirs. We've been going salsa dancing. Classes are in full swing now so we're real focused on that during the week.



This weekend we're going to Cordoba for a day trip so I'm looking forward to that.
Ciao

Barcelona

Ok, so I actually went to Barça last weekend (Sep 30-Oct 3), but I have been very internet deprived until this point so here we go.

We finally got settled in to Barcelona around 5-6pm on the 30th and we were missing about half of our travelers who were arriving later that day and the next so we decided to just walk around Barcelona. We walked up La Rambla which is kind of the main tourist street and it was just about what you would expect. So we made our way to Parc Monjüic, which is basically I giant park that has a zoo, art museum, greenery and some well-placed outdoor escalators. We just hung out near the museum since it was kind of late already. There was a really good guitar player. Anyways here is the view of Barcelona:


The next day we did the Picasso art Museum which was really cool. We got to see Picasso's take on Velasquez' Las Meninas which was really cool. After that we did a bike tour through the city which was extremely fun. We went down by the beach, the Olympic Park, the bull ring, Sagrada Familia and then a couple of the parks in Barcelona. We stopped for a drink and some tapas along the way which were nowhere near as good as Granada's, plus we actually had to pay for the food. In Granada you grow accustomed to not having to do so.


So the next day I went to the houses designed by Antoni Gaudí. I would equate him to the Spanish version of Frank Lloyd Wright, but more modern despite being around at about the same time. Those were nice and all, but you had to pay to go in so I just went to Gaudí's park, Parc Guell. Parc Guell is really just amazing. In particular I loved the viaducts in the park, but really just look:


In the end Barcelona: fun city, $$ food, cool parks, and a definite sense of a city that has been overrun by tourism, but I did thoroughly enjoy my time there.

Morocco: Tangiers/Rabat/Chefchaoen

So I'm back in Granada after four awesome days in Morocco. The people there were so amazing and nice. It was very surprising to see how open the people we met were to interact with us. So anyways here is a recap:

Day 1 - Tangiers/Rabat

Tangiers is a very interesting city. It was managed by so many countries during the colonial period and it is reflected in the cities mashed together appearance. Anyways
we went to DARNA which is a women's center. There we talked to two students. The girl was very nice and explained a lot about how she felt being a woman in an Islamic nation. The guy was a bit more traditional. He probably created the most awkward experience for me during my time in Morocco. First, when traveling in Morocco in my group of 16 two of us were guys. While we were at DARNA and this guy would talked he almost exclusively made eye contact with the two of us.

After Tangiers we drove down to Asilah but en route we stopped at the beach to ride camels! It was a short walk down the beach but was very exciting. Camels have this weird swagger and going when they stand up or sit down while you're on them your stomach just drops.



So after that, we went on to Rabat. We met our host families for the next two nights. My host family was so nice and almost all of them spoke English. The were so friendly and made us feel like we had known them for years.

Day 2 - Rabat

The next day we went and talked to another association. It was a group of guys that worked in getting young men in the city to engage in sports and academic activities. They were really awesome. We met in there house and they served amazing tea and snacks. We talked a lot about stereotypes between the Arabic world and the United States. Later we went to some roman ruins and after that a Mausoleum. After that we walked around the old city with some Moroccan students who were studying English. They were pretty shy but it was a very fun time. That night we went to a traditional Arabic bath and afterwards I never felt so clean in my life.



Day 3 - Village/Chefchaoen

We went to a small village in the morning that involved a decent hike. The people there were just very inspiring. The lived in a village of like 300 people and the mother's husband had just died two months ago, but they let us into there house and she was very sweet. She told us about how she was forced to marry at 17 and how she didn't want that for any of her children and so they got an education and several of them live abroad now. She still lives her simple life but I think the impact she had on her village by just ensuring their education helped a lot.

Later we went to Chefchaoen which was very turisty. I bought a cool Moroccan rug and scarf and we ate at a place called Casa Aladdin where I had a goat cheese salad which was just absolutely delicious.

Day 4 - Driving/Boat incident

Day four was all driving basically and then we had to catch the boat to go back to Spain. As it would have to happen, about a dozen kids in our group missed the boat because they went to the wrong dock station or what not. So then we had to wait for them in Algeciras until they caught the next boat.

Anyways! It was awesome, but now I'm back in Spain for the Nationwide strike. It doesn't seem to be having much of an impact but it is still really early today. Tomorrow I leave for Barcelona until Sunday. We are planning on doing an amazing bike ride through the city. So yeah, things are going fantastic!

Granada II: The Alhambra

So Saturday was awesome because I went back to the Alhambra. Last time I was there it was 3.5 years ago so during the spring. In the summer/fall it is a lot more green than colourful. Still pretty awesome though. Unlike last time I got to see the lions (from the Patio de los leones) up close. Anyways I will have photos from that up on facebook that you can look at.



BUT what seems far more important to me right now is that I do not have any socks. I thought nine pairs would be sufficient and it probably will be in the future, but do to me being overly nervous I didn't ask my host mom about laundry until I ran out of socks. Well, since I have no socks I'm wearing my sandals; and since I'm wearing sandals I'm wearing shorts; and since I'm wearing shorts I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt; and this altogether means that I stick out in Granada and that I can't go to CopaCabana to salsa. But my laundry is getting done and I should have socks by tonight, but needless to say the last two days have been painful.

Other news: I leave for Morocco on Thursday, we kind of just found out what we will be doing there and it sounds really exciting. It sounds like we're going to meet a lot of students there and we will have significant time to talk with them, que chévere! I have my French level test on Thursday morning and then I *hopefully* will find out when that class is going to be, and *hopefully* that will be MW so that I can go to Barcelona on Thursday with Katherine and Shayna.

Granada

Writing this Monday during siesta.

So it´s my third day in Granada and it has been awesome so far. I´ve been exploring the city a lot and it is so easy to find my way around. Yesterday we walked through the Albaicin which has an amazing view on the Alhambra near the top. The plazas are fantastic, I´m spending quite a bit of time just relaxing around in them with ice cream or what not. -side note: apparently I ate ice cream at the same place the Obamas did when they were here... what a surprise-

So my host house is one of the closest to the schools which is nice but I take a longish route to school because I get to walk up the main streets then and see the fountains and plazas that are bustling with people. We had two Italian students with us the first two days which was a nice way to transition so I wasn´t completely alone with my host family the first days. Oh, my host family is a woman and her son who must be around 30 who lives with us. She has two other kids around the same age who come over for lunch every day and her daughter speaks english and told me that if I ever need anything important that I should talk to her. Awesome!

-Today (Thursday): the rest of what I wrote is irrevelant as I have since done the things I wrote I was planning to do. Last night we went on a tour with the program through the major parts of the city which was really nice. I got to see a lot of architecture from 11th century, the Cordoban Caliphate, the Renaissance and the Barroque period.

We go to the Alhambra on Saturday for most of the day and then the next weekend we are going to Morocco so that is going to be absolutely amazing.

Anyways I need to get going to our morning meeting.

-Tom

Appleton

So I'm just chilling around tonight. I got back from Valpo this afternoon around 1:30 after the four hour drive. Valpo was productive; I applied for my degree and talked to professors about graduate school, fun stuff like that, watched Star Wars V/VI. Tonight, I was watching Nadal break Lopez early in their quarterfinal when the sound on the TV went out, so I ended up here to test this out.

I leave Friday a bit before noon, driving down to O'Hare and my flight is heading out around 5:30. Flying into the UK (country #4) in the early morn before catching another flight to Madrid and then to Granada. Landing around 5pm Sept 11th. Making my way to the hostel where I intend to allow jet lag to hit me real hard by going to sleep quickly.

I meet my host family on Sunday; hopefully it will be as enjoyable as my last trip to Spain. I may update on Saturday when I am established in my new surroundings so check me out then for the first "real post".

Hasta Pronto!