We are just over the half way mark of the trip and I am looking around wondering where the time is going. It seems crazy that we only have a little more then a week and a half left. I don't want it to end whatsoever. I am having such a wonderful time soaking up the food, culture, sounds, sights, and music. Sometimes I forget I'm even in Spain! It feels so natural to be here. Spain was a bucket list item and now that I've checked that off its on the come back to list :)
This past week we have all been super busy! In my internship, I did a lot of the same things as the week before.
"One of the things I was able to do was a few sensory activities. In the playroom between mine and Austin's classroom they have little mason jars filled with different spices - anything from orange (naranja), thyme (tomillo), lavender (lavanda), and anise (anís). I wave one of the jars under the nose and have the children take a whiff then I watch for a reaction. It's funny to watch them react to the strong smells - I usually get a wrinkled nose or a head turned away or a laugh. The other thing I did was using the sensation of touch. Again in the playroom, they have the squishy foam tiles covered in different materials. Sometimes its felt, or beans, or beads, or buttons, or sand, or straws, or anything else super textured. I would take the child's hand and guide it across the patterns and again watch for a reaction. I did both of these activities throughout the week." - my blog from last week. I also got to help feed some of the children and go on more walks.
The school had their graduation for the senior class this past Thursday. They had a lovely party in the courtyard and the weather was warm and sunny. They had music and some of the girls put on a few dancing numbers. It was a bittersweet moment for everyone. None of my children from my classroom graduated but it was nice to watch the other students get their cap and sash. Some of the teachers where crying happy tears and the families that came all cheered when their child was called. It was a happy day but next week will be quieter for sure.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had more Spanish! Our teacher is really good and so so patient. He's encouraging and makes class a fun and safe place to be. On Wednesday we got to play the game Guess Who? You get into teams and pick on of the characters on the board. The other team has to ask descriptive questions to guess who the team has. For us.... all in Spanish! This game and describing pictures helped us get a lot of people descriptive vocabulary down. On Thursday, Cassie took us on a tour of the Bullring of Granada (Plaza de Toros de Granada). Bull fighting isn't as big as it was back in the day but they have bull fights for special events. Like next week for Corpus Christi. They were spiffing up the stadium for the big week and we got to see it in all its glory. Its so different culturally than anything back home. While we don't get to see the actual fight, its beautiful to imagine what it would be like. Three men, trained since childhood, dressed to the nines in pure silver and gold, dancing in the sunlight. A big bull, black as the night running circles around the dancing. Tension and anticipation high while people cheer. While I don't agree with part of the practices, I can see how this would be something spectacular.
On Friday, the group and I packed a light bag and headed off to the beach down in Nerja! We checked into the cutest hotel and grabbed our towels (and books cause nothing is better then sand, sun and something good to read). The beach wasn't like you'd imagine - smooth as silk pebbles and stones and water cold like the Maine ocean. After lounging around for a bit, Austin, Caleb, Maya, and I took a stroll up and down the beach. Part of it fade from pebbles to sand but mostly just little rocks. Maya and I had a blast picking up and choosing rocks to take back with us - a lot of them were white and smooth and super sparkly. The boys and Jill went into the water a little while later and got into a bit of tousle with the waves. After a few hours in the sun, we walked down the board walk and found a place to eat. I had paella for the first time! Besides the shrimp with the eyes still in it (Jillian - "oh god why is it looking at me?!") it was really good! Another thing that has been so good on this trip is Lemon (limon) Fanta - something I will miss greatly when we go back to the states.
For dinner Friday night, we drove up to Frigiliana. It's a beautiful city set up like the area of San Nicolas in Granada with all the buildings mostly white. As we were driving in, I was thinking to myself "huh that's kind of odd the city is all white. why did everyone choose the same color? they should of spiced it up." But as we walked around, I realized I was terribly wrong. Yes there was a lot of white but no two house were the same. There were doors and flowers of all the colors of the rainbow and every color in between. Everyone make sure to make their house a home and to make it their own. Shows me for judging before I could explore :)
Dinner was fantastic - there was a pretty pink sunset and music from a festival in the streets below. There was good conversation and good weather. Once it got dark, we drove back to Nerja and made a pit stop for ice cream before heading back to the hotel for the night. That morning, we headed out once more, on the road to Cordoba! A very busy day we had - first stop was an archaeological set of ancient ruins (Conjunto Arqueologico Mainat al-Zahra). At some point it was a giant palace of the Caliphs Prime Ministers of Cordoba. The ruins were beautiful though left a lot to be imagined about the original structure.
Next stop of the day - the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba and its bell tower. The Mosque-Cathedral was absolutely gorgeous. It was ginormous and long and as Mike had said "never seems to end". Part of the design comes from the old Roman aqueducts - rows and rows of arches on top of each other. The building was hushed and dark and definitely demanded respect. They had a lot of original paintings and sculptures on display. It was a Mosque at first but when the Christians took it over, they respected it so much they kept it as the holy building it was. Instead of tearing it down, the Christians added their own Cathedral in the middle of the Mosque! They did the same thing with the Mosque's bell tower. After the day of exploring we treated ourselves to more ice cream (another thing to miss back in the states - the fact that there is ice cream shops on every corner) and headed back to Granada.
Coming up this week is Corpus Christi - lots of fun adventures so stay tuned!
