The (other) Festival of Lights

I went to this festival.  It's called Las Fallas.  It was awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word).

Imagine spending the entire year working on a huge piece of art full of color and well thought out themes and social commentary, building it to be the height of a small building, putting it out on display, winning a prize for it, and then...lighting it on fire.

That's right.  During Las Fallas, people build these incredible structures that cost tons of money only to light them on fire throughout the city, alongside incredible light shows, professional fireworks, and some not-so-professional fireworks.  The booming pops created the sense that we were in a war zone, but filled with joy.  Can you picture it?  It's a hard one, I know.

Las Fallas takes place in a Southern city on the coast of Spain called Valencia.  The festival lasts for a while and includes street food, vendors, minor explosives, and of course, the works of art which are called Las Fallas.  On the last day of the festival, the fallas are burned--and the whole country takes the day off.  It also happens to take place on the Spanish Father's Day, which is "St. Joseph's Day" according to the Catholic Church.  I do not know if the two events are related.

Honestly, I'm still not really sure what the point of Las Fallas is.  It was, however, one of the most fun and crazy things I've done here.  My friends and I wandered around the city finding fallas along the way, eventually ending up at the city center where the biggest, grandest, most awarded fallas stood.  The one to the left was called Paris.  Each falla had various scenes going on all around its three-dimensional self.  It was truly a sight to see.  It felt almost sad to burn them, but also undeniably exhilarating--and I didn't even have a part in building them.  I didn't even know what they were going to look like.  Let's just say that I was probably one of the least directly connected, in-the-know people there and yet the whole spectacle wrapped me in its embrace, enchanting me with parades and music and colors and lights and streets where 5 year old children played with fire.  A little dangerous, a lot never gonna happen in the U.S.  It belongs in Spain.

Watching the huge fire, which was preempted by our favorite songs (Ay se tu pego and Waka Waka) and accompanied by Spanish Opera, was insane.  The firefighters presence was certainly comforting and certainly necessary.  After all the burning was complete, the city looked like a wasteland.  The leftover flames fighting for their last breaths, the smiling people covered in ash, and the tired tourists boarding the busses back to Madrid at 3 AM.

Las Fallas was an adventure.  It was an event in every sense of the word.  It was exactly what I needed to get me out of the mid-semester slump I had been in that weekend.

The memory will be burned in my mind forever.

Hey cool, I'm spontaneous

Trip planning is stressful.
I know, I know, I get to travel through Europe for 5 months.  My life is so hard.
Really though, booking flights, finding hostels with the most conflicting reviews ever, and making sight seeing plans can get overwhelming.

You wanna know what's less overwhelming?
Packing a bag, including both a sweater and a swimsuit, showing up at the train station, and picking a place on the departure list.

And that is exactly what I did.

Some tips about spontaneous traveling:
-Be prepared for any type of weather
-Pack light
-Go straight to the tourist office when you arrive at your destination
-Do not arrive after the tourist office is closed

Here's why:

We decided on Sevilla based on the raving reviews of the city from some people I know who studied abroad there and the advice of some people at the train station.  After about 2 1/2 hours on the train, we stepped off the train into the Sevilla sunshine and found the tourist office.  Best decision ever.  She booked us a hostel, circled top locations on the map, and told us which bus to take.  We ended up in the hostel next door somehow, but it worked out well.  It was the afternoon by then, so we just walked around and explored.  There's no metro in Sevilla, but the city is completely accessible on foot.  We passed several big tourist spots that were closed, and made a note to go back the next day.  The main thing that struck me about the city though was certainly its beauty--the more I saw, the more beautiful it became.  My pictures do not do it justice by any means.
That night, we had a delicious tapas dinner (I know you're shocked) and found a rooftop bar at a hotel looking over the lit up Cathedral in the center of the city.  Hello dreamworld.  Then we met up with my friend from Cal (and New Jew and Kadima), Simone, who is studying abroad in Sevilla for the semester.  She took us around to some fun student spots and gave us a middle of the night, impressively thorough tour of the Jewish quarter; I would expect nothing less.  It continues to amaze me how few Jews there can be in a country with so much Jewish history.  After a long day, we headed back to the hostel to rest up for another.

Sevilla day 2 was some of the most efficient and best sight seeing I've ever experienced.  We crossed the river (is it dumb that I didn't know Sevilla had a river?) and watched some crew teams for a bit.  Then we headed over to Plaza España---literally one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous places I've ever seen.  The tile, the park, the fountain, the river.  I couldn't get enough.  We had to tear ourselves away from the beauty to go to the next stop.  We quickly grabbed a starbucks drink (yes, they're global) and encountered a huge rally/strike/manifestación.  There have been Spain-wide demonstrations going on to protest the economic situation.  I've been learning a bit about their political system and it's interesting because by American standards, the "right wing" party, which is considered center-right here, is pretty center left and the "left wing party" is socialist but really just left with a welfare state.  I feel like there shouldn't be that much to fight about.  Nevertheless, the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is high.  Moral of the story, occupy everywhere.
Ok back to sight seeing.  we made our way through the crowd to the Alcazar, an Islamic and Gothic style palace that dates back to the Middle Ages.  To go with the Sevilla theme, it was beautiful.  It was so amazing that you can still see the teals and reds on the walls.  The place felt endless, filled with rooms and gardens, and a beautiful location to sit an eat lunch in.  We decided the people who work there probably never tire of the beauty.
Last big stop of the day was the Cathedral, the third largest in the World.  I really hate to admit this, but as spectacular as this place is, all Cathedrals are starting to mesh together in my head.  There was a style (namely, Jesus) and people stuck to it.  Of course, it was great though.  The best and most unique part of this one was the tower.  After climbing up 36 (odd?) floors, we arrived at the top and were greeted by an absolutely fantastic (running out of synonyms for beautiful) view of the city.  A lit bit of souvenir shopping, and an "hasta luego" took us back to the train station.

To Madrid?  Hmm...we could go to Madrid.  Or we could go to the beach in Malaga.  Hmm...

Yup, Malaga won.  It was worth it for several reasons:

1. I am declaring here and now Malaga has some of the nicest people in the world.  We arrived after the tourist office closed (again, I advise against it) with no clue where to go.  Oops.  Luckily, a woman in a shop was soooo helpful.  She literally took 20+ minutes to tell us where to go and what to see.  As if that wasn't enough, she told us to call the store if we need anything.  I swear, if we had called crying she would've invited us to her home.  Once in the center of the city, we had some trouble finding a hostel.  Malaga's police force to the rescue.  We asked two officers for help, which quickly turned into 4 on their phones looking up places and giving us directions.  There must be no crime in Malaga.  After 2 hours, we ended up in a hotel with the best receptionist ever.  The next day, the bus driver gave us a thumbs up when it was our stop to go to the beach.
2. We got to lay on the beach in beautiful weather.  Need I say more?
3. Some some Picasso artwork in the birthplace of Picasso.
(4. I could understand the Spanish movie on the train, which really is just a personal accomplishment thing)

Overall, the spontaneous weekend trip was a raving success.  Do this at least once in your life.  I just might do it again.

Also: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/

That one time I forgot to blog

I would like to publicly apologize to the blog world for falling so behind on my blog.  This apology is really only applicable if anyone actually cares.  I think some people do, but is admitting that narcissistic?  So many big questions to ponder.

Ok, well, back to my life in Spain.  Two weekends ago I went to a Carnaval celebration in Cádiz, which is in southern Spain.  I went with an organization called European Vibe which organizes trips and parties for (mostly American) students studying abroad.  It had its plusses and minuses, but it was definitely nice to not have to plan much on my own.  After a slightly excruciating 8 hour bus ride, my friends Emily and Olivia and I, along with about 250 other college kids, arrived at our hotel.  There was a party at a local bar organized by the trip that night which was fun but not all that exciting.

The next day we literally soaked in the beautiful weather that Madrid had been depriving us of and laid out in bathing suits in the sun.  After a day of lounging, we dedicated some time to getting our costumes ready.  Everybody in Cádiz dresses up for Carnaval and it seems like the crazier the better, as you can see from some photos.   We reboarded the bus (ugh) to head to the center of Cádiz, where we found a city square that resembled the biggest Purim carnival or Halloween party ever.  It was super fun to hang out and meet people in the city square, but honestly, we were kinda confused about the lack of music or the lack of an event.  We walked around the area a bit, saw the beach, and met some new Cádiz friends, both Spanish and American.  Apparently there was a parade in the middle of the night but the busses had already taken us back to the hotel.  Should've done a little more research, but overall, I had a super fun night.  Unfortunately, it took another 8 hours to get back to Madrid.  Really think that we should learn how to aparate to places.

I spent all of last week and this past weekend in Madrid for the first time all month!  It was really nice to stay in one, relatively familiar place.  In the middle of the week a bunch of us went out to Ethiopian food to celebrate a friend's birthday.  Ethiopian food is one of my new favorite types of food after truly discovering it in all its glory through my ethnic dinner club back in Berkeley.  Madrid's version was good, but couldn't really compete with Berkeley.  But then again, not much food can.

We went out on Thursday night to some really cute and fun places to keep the celebrations going.  Getting to sleep in on Friday was pretty glorious, since I hadn't gotten to do that for the past 3 weeks.  Friday night I went back to Chabad with my friend Jessie.  I saw some of the same people from last time and met some really great new people.  I definitely think I'll keep going whenever I'm in Madrid on a Friday night.  It's a really nice community and a great sense of familiarity.  From there I went to the airport not to travel but to pick up my friend Caitlin who came to visit me from Milan!  It was pretty late so we headed back to my place to rest up for a long day of walking ahead.

On Saturday, we walked through El Parque Retiro (a big Central Park type place), around Sol and Gran Via (big shopping centers) and to El Palacio Real (the royal palace).  We stopped to watch a lot of the street performers including a Mariachi band and a man on a unicycle.  There was one particular guy who we saw dancing in front of two different music groups.  He was certainly in his own world.  It was exceedingly amusing.  Overall, a super fun day of exploring and picture taking.  That night, we went to a tapas place and then to a big night club called Kapital.  It was a fun experience, but definitely a bit too crowded and overwhelming for my taste.  7 stories, tons of people, and long lines.  But fun dance floors and a karaoke room, so I was happy.  Stayed out until 6 AM which isn't so weird here.  I still think it's weird.

On Sunday, we pretty much spent the day recovering.  We went with my friend Jessie to a famous tapas bar at night called El Tigre which has ridiculously huge portions for not so many euros.  It's in an area called Chueca which is super cute and is the gay neighborhood of Madrid.  Definitely a fun night spot.  Then, on Monday, I went to school and sent Caitlin off on her own to explore.  Overall, it was a really fun weekend with a best friend. :)

And now, I have to do school stuff.  I know my friends at home are going through midterm hell right now but I must say that the lack of intellectually stimulating coursework here certainly makes me appreciate Berkeley.

That used to be Muslim or Jewish...and now it's Catholic

When I was in 5th grade, my parents, brother, and I drove across the country to take Jonny to college as a result of post 9/11 flight cancellations.  It was appropriate timing for me to be driving through multiple states as a 5th grader learning US history for the first time and memorizing her state capitals (Duh, Moines).  I remember how drastically different the states were, from the scenery (Iowa and Nebraska in fact only contain corn fields) to the people (who knew that we could look so dark?).

Last weekend, my UC program took us on a 6 hour bus ride to Cordoba and then Granada in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía.  That means I got to see 2 more autonomous communities in the time it would take me to drive from LA to Berkeley.  If you had magically taken me to Spain without my knowledge and told me I was driving through the middle of California, I would have believed you.  Spain is not a tiny county and I know that if I lived in the East Coast, I could drive through multiple states in one sitting, but it just fascinates me how diverse and huge the US is compared to other places around the world.

But I'll continue since the bus ride probably wasn't the most exciting part of this trip.

We arrived in Cordoba, gasped at the beautiful views of the old, small city, put our stuff down at Hotel Maimonidies, and went out to eat some delicious traditional tapas.  [Quick Jewish side-note: the group I was with was having trouble remembering the name of the hotel.  Don't worry.  I couldn't forget.]  After lunch, the touring began.  We went to La Mezquita Catedral, which literally means the mosque cathedral.  This was the main mosque that used to be used when Cordoba was a Muslim city.  It has since been converted into a Catholic cathedral--that is Spain's way after all-- but still maintains the original architecture of the mosque with some add ons.  Thus, it was a nice change of pace from the other gaudy churches I've seen so far (did you get the pun? did I ruin it by saying that?).  After that, we walked around the city with our tour guide, visiting the charming calleja de las flores (street of flowers) and the Jewish quarter.  Lo and behold, the namesake of our hotel, ladies and gentlemen.  A statue of Maimonidies and a little history about him from our tour guide.  Found some Judaism in Spain.  Win.


That night, I once again ate some delicious tapas and then went to a flamenco show, which was possibly one of my favorite things I've done in Spain so far.  As an Israeli dancer, I was really excited to get to see another type of cultural dance.  It was absolutely incredibly.  I want the dresses and the castanets and the ability to move my feet that quickly.  Who knew that some parts of flamenco dance involved something that sort of resembles tap?  Oh and the live guitar and singer?  Get better.
I'm signing up for a class.  I need one of those dresses.  Here is a video, which I'm pretty sure is at the same venue as my show, so you can share in the fabulousness that is flamenco music and dancing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iepNs3AOfco&feature=related

The next day, we got back on the bus, our new home on wheels for the weekend, and drove to Granada.  Granada is also a beautiful city-didn't feel as "small towny" as Cordoba but still couldn't compete with the cosmopolitan glory that is Madrid.  First sight seeing stop was the Alhambra.  This place is absolutely incredible.  You must go.  It was an Arab palace for the Khalifs dating back to the 9th century and is built above the city.  It had a similar architectural feel to the Mezquita in Cordoba, but was much more grand.  The palace seemed endless and it just kept getting more beautiful.  Then you see the views of the city and you just can't believe someone actually lived here once.  After the fantastic but tiring tour, we walked back down to the city and I went to an Arab-style tea house on a street that reminded me of the Arab shuk in Jerusalem.  After a much needed nap, we had dinner at the hotel and then ventured out for a night at the town.  My friends and I went to a night club that had a view of the Alhambra.  Lit up.  It was close to magical.

On the last day of our weekend whirlwind, we hiked up to see yet another gorgeous view of the entire city.  They seemed to be endless.  Our last stop was a church where King Ferdanand and Queen Isabella are buried.  It was pretty cool and pretty eerie.

Finally, back to the bus for another 6 hours of sleep.  I returned to Madrid with a lot of homework and a midterm to get ready for.  Once this week winds up, I'll be off to Cadiz and then the weekend after that, I'll finally be staying in Madrid.  Traveling is great but I sort of miss my new city!

Love you all.
Un abrazo! (hug)

Also, per usual, check out my other blog (cus the cool kids have 2): http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/21/tapas-no-sangria-no-chicken-noodle-soup-yes-please/

                                                                                                  

That awesome moment when you take your first weekend trip

I have officially been to 2 European countries!

Last weekend, I packed a backpack, hopped on a plane, and traveled to Milan and Venice, Italy.  No big deal.

First, a word about traveling in Europe.  Let's just say, Europeans don's seem to be too concerned about efficiency.  You never know how much you miss Southwest's overly organized system of boarding group and number until you are standing in one line with everyone on your flight.  Once I finally reached the front, I found myself walking out of the airport, not onto a plane.  Ok, flight boarding a la Burbank.  Well, not exactly.  I had to get on a bus which then took me to the plane.  Besides the fact that this was simply annoying at 7:00 AM, it also should be forbidden anywhere but Burbank, where dropping below 70 degrees is considered the depths of winter.  After all of this, I managed to overcome my usual inability to sleep on planes and passed out.

After about 2 hours, I arrived in Milan and was reunited with one of my high school best friends, Caitlin.  Before we left, we casually (read: freaked out and super excitedly) chatted about meeting up in Europe.  Now, the day had come and those seemingly impossible ideas became reality (wow, I'm dramatic today).  I went to her beautiful homestay with her and then went off to see some sites.  We went to Il Duomo, a huge beautiful church in the center of the city (I'm realizing there are a lot of those on this side of the world...).

We ate a delicious Italian lunch (rissoto for me) followed by incredible Italian gelato (despite the freezing weather), and then headed to the high fashion district.  I think my cousin Jamie would appreciate the 1,000 euro shoes I tried on the most.  It was ridiculous and super fun.

Later that night, after a delicious dinner from Caitlin's host mom, we went out with some of her friends from the program.  The freezing cold seemed to be keeping people away because nothing was very crowded, a slight change of pace from Madrid, but it was still a fun night with fun people.

The next morning, we woke up and rushed off to the train station to head to Venice.  What a beautiful city.  We talk a "water bus," a boat that went around the city making stops like a bus, to where our hostel was.  I don't know how we managed to find it in those impossible, tiny, dead end, roads, but we did.  The hostel was sort of like a hostel-level bed and breakfast with only a couple rooms and a very friendly host.  We had a private room and shared a bathroom with 2 German girls.  Our host gave us a map but told us that Venice is better without one.

We made it to the center of the city, San Marco Square, and were greeted with the Carnavale celebrations.  People in crazy masks and crazy costumes everywhere in site.  There was music and celebrations and people selling souvenirs in carts.  We were awed by the site of the Palace and weirded out by the wine fountain that looked like it was pouring out blood.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the campinele since it reminded me of Berkeley.  We wandered a little bit out of the super touristy area to find lunch with some of Caitlin's other friends.  After that, we decided that the only way to really enjoy the festivities were to get masks of our own.

After a little debate due to the extremely cold weather, we decided that we couldn't leave Venice without going on a gondola.  So, as bundled up as possible and with masks to keep our eyes from the wind, we boarded the famous boats and got a little tour of the city via water.  Yay for being super big tourists.  I really wanted to wander the city for hours and get out of the hustle and bustle of San Marco Square but it was really just to cold to be outside for that long, so we went back to the hostel to relax a bit.  Later that night, following a dinner at a restaurant only serving us, we went in search of some nightlife-none to be found.  I guess the daytime events of Carnavale are enough festivities for one 24 hour period.  Nevertheless, us group of Americans studying abroad (some in Milan, some in Florence, and me) had a fun night walking around and chatting.

After waking up at a ridiculously early time and taking the train back to Milan, Caitlin and I were too exhausted to do much more exploring, so we just hung out at her homestay before I had to go back to Madrid.  Overall, it was a good trip, but I feel like the cold weather kept me from getting a full experience.

I guess it's just an excuse to go back one day...sigh.

To check out all of my pictures from the trip, click here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2517588314031.96618.1682940053&type=3

To check out my latest Global Jewish Voice blog post and read about my experience on a Friday night at Chabad, click here: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/12/judaism-something-to-hide/

a-e-i-o-u

Somehow, I ended up bragging about my niece and nephews today.  I really don't know how it happened.  It's not like every single topic that comes up somehow relates to something about my family.

oh you want to work in politics? my brother...
ya I'm a social welfare major, I take after my sisters and sister-in-law...
oh you went to a Jewish school?  Camp?  I bet I know it!  My parents...
your mom's work building just got a leed certification?  My brother-in-law...
pre-med huh? My other brother-in-law...
Oh you're talking about kids?  I have 3 nephews and a niece...

Today, a girl on my program and I were talking about how funny it is to skype with our respective nieces and nephews.  The funniest part about it is how they don't think the fact that I'm sitting in a room thousands of miles away and chatting face to face is unusual.  Now, I get that my generation isn't so fascinated by it either, but believe me, we appreciate that we have the world (wide web) at our fingertips when our parents (or for some of us, our siblings) couldn't even imagine it.  But for the little ones, it will never even be a question.

In all of this thought about the small people in my life, I started thinking about how my oldest nephew, Yonah, is starting to read.  And you know what, reading is really difficult.  I mean, come on English, why do the vowels make a different sound in every word?  Spanish makes much more sense.  Each vowel only makes one sound, no matter what other letters surround it.

Grand question: Do Spanish children have an easier time reading than American children?
I have no answer.

In some ways, the two languages are so similar.  Sometimes when I'm not sure of a word, I actually just take a guess by adding an "o" to the English version and it's correct (and sometimes it's super embarrassing).  But when it comes to vowel sounds, I really just don't know what the creators of the English language were thinking.

This brings me to a funny (and slightly suggestive) story.  Today in my Spanish Language class, we were discussing the subjunctive tense.  We were translating some simple sentences into English to reinforce the point that we need to use the infinitive after a verb.  The example was:
"I want you to help me tonight."
Our professor asked if the sentence would make sense if we took out the word "to."  Of course the answer is no, but one student brought up the point that if you replace "to" with a comma, it would make some sort of sense.  Our immature selves got the better of us and we giggled a little.  Our professor, however, was confused.  You see, to her, the word "comma" sounds like "cama" which means bed.  Funny coincidence.  This caused even more laughter.  Clearly, college students are real adults...

The joy of language barriers.

Let's help out my nephew, and the rest of the world, and take a cue from Spanish, perhaps?

(Thanks for indulging me in this stream-of-consciousness, completely random post.  More about the daily life of an American in Europe soon)

When it all becomes normal

I've been in Madrid for about 3 weeks now.  

3 weeks...I guess that's a pretty significant amount of time.  After all, a session at camp is 3 weeks, and kids come out of that transformed with new best friends.  

Here in Madrid, 3 weeks seems to be the marker of when things here seem, well, normal.  It's like an alarm clock set to awake me from the confusion on the metro, the embarrassment of asking for directions-and then asking the person to repeat them, the fear of feeling dumb for getting lost on my way from the train to campus.  

Instead, 3 weeks in and I'm on a great sleeping schedule, I have a rough idea of where I'm going most of the time, I know what to expect for dinner,  I say "I'm going home" when I'm going back to my host family's apartment, and, although my Spanish is still far from perfect, I don't hesitate to speak or understand.  

Is 3 actually the magic number?  The magic number that brings you to a sense of normalcy?  

Perhaps, because looking back at this week, I find nothing to report that is over the top exciting.  I woke up every day and went to class.  Classes are still pretty cool.  Starting to get homework which is less than ideal, but still nothing compared to Berkeley.  It's still so difficult to bring myself to do it though.  

Maybe there's a disease called abroad-itis: symptoms include: the complete lack of academic motivation, obsessively making travel plans, going out too much.  I don't think there's a cure.

One of my biggest symptoms is certainly making travel plans.  Here's what's on the itinerary so far:

Milan and Venice

Cordoba and Granada

Cadiz, Spain

I am beyond excited.  And again, this is normal.  

But of course, it's not.  

As I continue my life here in Madrid, life at home continues too.  Because of the amazing technological tool that is skype (skype creators, I am forever in debt to you), I have been able to keep up with life at home and in Berkeley.  Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away this week.  She lived a great, long life and we will all remember her with a smile on our faces forever.  I wish I could have been home with my family.  Luckily, this 3 week mark also means that there are friends here to look out for you, to care.  

So life goes on.  You learn to feel normal within an experience which is of course, anything but.  It's incredible and special and awesome and crazy---and it's feeling good.