Mi España: Montañas y Queso

I knew it would be difficult to keep this project going for such a long time. Well, it didn’t turn out to be so hard because I just didn’t update for the past 2 ½ months. For something to be difficult you have to make an attempt, it’s really easy to just not do something.Whoops! At least I did keep updating for more than half of the trip.

I am sitting in the airport (Madrid, Barajas), about to catch a flight to London and then one to Chicago. It has been incredible. I am sad to leave and I am thinking about how to take what I have learned these last six months with me into the rest of my life. I hope that this blog and this project may help me with that goal. I am going to catch up in four or five posts. I think I can cover May in two posts, June in two as well, and do one more to wrap up. We’ll have to see where the writing takes me, as I am thinking about it now I am realizing that I may be able to make six or seven sizable posts J

I woke up this morning before 4:00AM, am about to catch a flight to London and then another one to Chicago. When I get into Chicago it will be 1:00pm there and 8:00pm in Madrid. I’m hoping to sleep on the plane to help me get through this very long day. But, I am also hoping to work on this post a bit.

The last time I updated, at the end of April, my mom was about to arrive. I spent most of her trip working on projects for school. It made me sad not to spend more time showing her around, but in the end I’m glad that I took care of my responsibilities.

The first weekend she was with me we went to a nearby town, Trujillo (the birthplace of Pizarro, conquistador of Peru) for the Feria de Queso (the cheese fair!). It was raining. We jammed ourselves underneath the awnings of the booths with hundreds of people trying hundreds of delectable cheeses. Most of the cheese was from Extremadura, although there was some from other regions, including Portugal (one of my favorites). I bought three different kinds of cheese (two from Extremadura and one from Portugal) and one quesada   (cheesecake), all of which were quite delicious.

The next weekend I decided to take my mom to see el valle del Ambroz and Hervás, where I had spent part of semana santa. It’s really beautiful and there are lots of places to explore. It’s also really different from central and southern Extremadura because it is in the foothills (there they call it the skirts) of a big mountain range. The architecture is different, the culture is different, the weather and the landscapes are dramatically different.

After spending one day calmly exploring Hervás and the Ambroz I wanted to move over to the next portion of the mountain range, las Hurdes. I knew that las Hurdes were interesting because they had been quite isolated up until very recently, maybe  25 years ago or so. Las Hurdes are a relatively small section of mountain in a range that extends across quite a few provinces of three of the autonomous communities (what we would call states) in western Spain and continues into Portugal.

Las Hurdes are a comarca that is known for its honey. I must explain comarcas because it is an important concept in small town Spain and something that has shaped Spain for many centuries. Nowadays I would define a comarca as a region of production. For example, where we see comarcas most often is on wine bottle labels which always say the comarca of origin. I believe that the comarcas  were originally created as small kingdoms, ruled as tiny states, functioning as a political and economic entity (as always, dear friends, I invite correction).

Each comarca is known for what it produces. For example, in my last post I wrote about los Ibores which are known for their goat cheese. Clearly el Jerte is know for its cherries. Every place in Spain is part of a comarca and each comarca is proud of what it produces.

In Extremadura they have a strong, creamy cheese known as torta. I know of two types, the torta del Casar and the torta de la Serena. Casar and Serena are two principal cheese producing comarcas in Extremadura. El Casar is in the Province of Cáceres and la Serena is in the province of Badajoz. I’m sure that there are other tortas and I’m hopeful that it is still made in some kitchens in towns so small that I’ve never heard of them.

I hope I’ve been clear explaining comarcas. Now, back to las Hurdes in the first week of May. It had rained most of April, so spring was at its peak. Being well used to adventuring by this time, we woke up early, ate breakfast and left for las Hurdes knowing that we would find things to do.  It was a beautiful drive across the plain at the foot of the mountains and then we started to climb up into las Hurdes. I want to mention that on the way there we pulled over to look at some prehistoric rock carvings that were pretty neat. I found the tourist office in a town called Camino Morisco where I was thoroughly informed about all of the nearby towns, hikes, and points of interest.

We drove to the first place that sounded appealing and were immediately impressed by the beauty of this tiny town at the end of the road up in a corner of the mountains. The town was Ovejuela, a word that was quite difficult for me to pronounce, so I repeated it dozens of times until I could say it easily.  

It was a precious little town that, although it now has one bed and breakfast, is still very much based on a traditional lifestyle. That is to say to the rhythm of daily life has probably not changed much in Ovejuela in several hundred years. I do however suspect that Ovejuela and most of the surrounding towns are experiencing a lack of young people. Because the area is so far removed from the modern bustle, young people tend to move to bigger towns to find work.

It is true that historically speaking, with few exceptions, dwellings were constructed with the materials found in the vicinity. It is pretty easy to see what was available in las Hurdes: slate and wood. I could see that Ovejuela still utilizes many of its building in the traditional way: the lower floor is used for livestock (goats in this case) and the upper levels are the living quarters.  

We walked through the town to get to the beginning of a trail. We took a wrong turn and an older couple ended up guiding us back to where we needed to be. Many of the women of the town were out sweeping the streets because the men had taken the goats out to the mountains and goats always leave  a mess every place they go. The people who walked us to were the trail started told us that we probably would not be able to make it to see the waterfall which was our goal, because the stream was too high to cross without getting wet.

(By the way, I am writng this on the airplane. I can see on our computerized flight path that we are now over North America and I did get some sleep. I really dislike such long flights. This one is about eight hours long and we're about 5 hours in to it. I’m sitting next to a little boy [less than two I would say] who is taking it a lot rougher than I am though.)

We did not get to the waterfall, but we did take an extremely beautiful hike. We found the stream too high to cross, so we turned back but not before we heard a man singing to his goats. The whole experience was magical for us, the whole day was.

From there we hiked back down and on our way out of town we found a spot with stone picnic tables where we enjoyed some incredible local artisan bread and cheese.  It started to rain as we proceeded on to our next destination: a medieval bridge and monastery.

History tells us that the monastery (a now abandoned Franciscan monastery) was founded in the spot that Saint Francis requested that one be founded when he passed through the area 800 years ago. I imagine that he must have left some people behind him to build a center of life in this mountain valley. It was surrounded by some of the most majestic cork trees that I have seen. I love to be in places that have been carefully and diligently cultivated for centuries. I could see that this place had produced a lot of food over hundreds of years.

        

We had one more goal for the day, to actually manage to see on of the waterfalls of the area. It appeared to be just up the road on the map, but turned out to be quite far because of the shape of the mountains. We climbed and climbed and wound around until we were almost on top of the ridge that seperates las Hurdes from the next comarca, la Sierra de Gata.  

The waterfall was sooo tall! It must have been hundreds of meters tall, or maybe a thousand feet. You can see that it is tall in the photos, but keep in mind that we were far away from it, too. There were tons of vultures that nest there. I tried to take pictures of them but that’s one way you can tell how far away we were, because the huge birds are just specks in the photos.

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           I finished writing while on the airplane but did not have internet connection to post it.

            
           I am back. It’s really nice to be back and really strange to be communicating so effortlessly. I loved speaking Spanish because I was constantly learning. Guess you can’t have it both ways- learn a lot and not have to work hard.

            

           All of the things that I didn’t remember about the U.S. surprised me, as well as how many little habits of mine had changed.   

            I’ll be writing a lot more in the coming month but for now I will get this posted. I am going to be busy in Chicago until the end of the month. I will plan on having this blog  finished in the second or third week of August.

           

           It’s good to be home J Thank you all for coming along with me on my adventures. Un beso.

P.S. Here's a link to the latest photo album. http://s1172.photobucket.com/albums/r571/AnaBen/        I'm trying to get all of the photos labeled... poco a poco.

Cómo vuela el tiempo!!

My gosh! My schedule is so packed with exciting things that I may not be able to organize the last few weeks into a orderly timeline. I will try to create some structure to follow and keep each section brief so that I manage to catch up to the present.

Semana Santa-
The week leading up to Easter (Pascua) is one of the most important in Catholic countries such as Spain and Portugal. All the churches celebrate by marching through the streets in huge and elaborate processions. There are different traditions in each town. The processions recount, retell the story of the passion of Christ and the traditions have developed over hundreds (in some cases a thousand) years.

After going hiking during the first part of Semana Santa I returned to Cáceres and moved into a new apartment. I saw two processions on Holy Thursday, the pictures of which can be found at the link in my previous post. I loved the procession of the Cristo Negro. During the other processions they had bands, the people made noise, and everything was bright, shiny, and sumptuous. When the Cristo Negro procession approached us everyone fell silent. Hundreds of silent Spaniards together in the street is a spectacle in itself. That is to say, it is highly unusual. For me the silence brought about a higher level of concentration on the procession. It brought me more deeply into the spirit of the event. I was touched by the emotion and the meaning of remembering the suffering Christ.

Guadalupe, Los Íbores y Las Villuercas-
I had wanted to visit Guadalupe since I got to Extremadura and found out about it. History has a way of piling into layers that there is always more to learn and there are always more connections to be made. La Virgen de Guadalupe is the patron saint of Extremadura. The monastery and cathedral were constructed over many centuries and are one of the most important religious sites of Spain.

I am really interested in the beauty and complexity that was born by the mixture of Islamic and Christian art over the last thousand years in the Iberian Peninsula. It is known as Mudéjar and can also be found in the Americas, but nowhere else in the world. The cloister (central patio of a monastery) at Guadalupe, is one of the most impressive examples of mudéjar architecture in the peninsula. I loved it.

I spent the weekend in Guadalupe and explored the surrounding mountains, las Villuercas, and drove through many of the neighboring towns in an area called los Íbores. The area has a rather high altitude where goats do well (while sheep thrive in the lower altitudes).  The area is known for its tasty goat cheese. I have some in my fridge. I love goats and was happy to see them. I also saw lots of deer, a fox, and a majestic eagle flew right over me. I drove to the top of the highest peak, which was at about the same elevation as Abiquiu (1,600 meters).

Excursión con mis cursos-
After getting back from that trip I left almost immediately for another one! I traveled in the bus with all of the 2nd and 3rd year students who are studying the History of Spanish Art and Heritage at the University of Extremadura. All of my courses are 2nd year classes in that degree program. We traveled with  five professors of the program. We went to five cities in 3 days. I had never been to 4 of the cities. We also visited many stunning and fascinating sites in rural areas in between the cities.

We visited Zamora, San Pedro de la Nave, Santa María de Moruela, León, Oviedo, Toro, and Salamanca. The experience was invaluable to me. I have spent the last two and a half months studying Spanish art and architecture. It has been quite difficult for me because I had never studied either subject, Spanish or otherwise, formally in school. During the trip I was able to engage with the subject in a way that I had not been able to in class or when traveling to places by myself.

The professors lectured almost as if we were in class, but it felt much more important and understandable when we were standing inside the building that they were speaking about. I was then able to ask questions of my professors and my classmates, which clarified countless doubts and confusions that I had carried with me in the  last months.

The sheer amount of places we visited and monuments we saw was overwhelming. By the end it was difficult to process the wonders that we were seeing. But I did gain a lot of understanding about the cultures that constructed enormous cathedrals and monasteries during times without the technology and communication that we enjoy today. I was most impressed by the truly ancient churches, built more than a thousand years ago. The building were simple and beautiful. They were inspired purely by the desire to construct a space to for the community to worship. But we also saw some of the most famous cathedrals of Spain which are adored for the complex decoration and ingenious design that went into them. I saw the progression of art, culture, and technology in Spain over more than a thousand years. I am learning so much!!

Well, I have homework to work on. A few more things have happened, I'll try to get back on here soon and keep you all up to date. I hope you are enjoying my photo albums.

I have moved in with some truly amazing roommates and every day they teach me more Spanish than I hold on to. However, I am starting to miss me home, my family, and my cat. I miss the ease and comfort of communicating in my native tongue. But I know that the rest of the time will whizz by and that I will be sad to leave. This time here is so wonderful and I am so lucky, so fortunate to be here. It is interesting that I can be so happy to be here and that speaking Spanish fills me with joy, and yet I miss being home and communicating with confidence.

My mom gets here tomorrow and will stay with me for ten days. I am really excited to have her here. I'm sure that her visit will help a lot with my home-sickness.

My new photo albums can be found at - https://picasaweb.google.com/112930975039364833165

Thank you all for accompanying me on my adventures. Hasta la próxima! Un beso!

Fotos de Semana Santa

Queridos,

I have started albums on a different account because my other picasa account was maxed out. I will try to update with an explanation of this album today or tomorrow. For now I will post this link and go do some homework.

https://picasaweb.google.com/112930975039364833165/SemanaSantaCaceres

Hasta Pronto!

Portugal!

I am so delighted to have gone to Portugal. It is a country deeply tied to Spain by geography, history and language. That is to say, the two cultures are closely related. It was so interesting to be surrounded by a language so close to Spanish that I could understand most of it.
I rented a car with two Brazilian friends. We drove to Salamanca (where I am going again next week, so you should get some info about that city soon) then to Oporto, a couple of small cities along the coast south of Oporto, and Lisboa. We finished the trip with a quick stop in Évora.
I was ecstatic the entire trip because my friends kindly and patiently helped me to speak Portuguese! It took a lot of courage to try, but was such a joy to find myself communicating in another language so quickly. Positively unbelievable!!
I loved it. I love Portugal. The countryside is beautiful. It has been poorer than Spain for a long time. So although to my eyes Spain seems highly agricultural, Portugal is even more so. It has been less developed and depends heavily on the exportation of food and other materials. I see Extremadura as being similar to New Mexico in that way. Almost all of Portugal is similar to New Mexico in the same way.
I will load up a few photos before I finish my homework and put myself to bed. Tomorrow I'm renting a car again and driving to another area where I can hike around all weekend with a friend.

 Oporto

 Guilherme y Claudir en Nazaré

 Lisboa

 Yo en Nazaré

 Lisboa^     Lisboa->
y Ruinas Romanas con una Catedral detrás en Évora                                                            

I am so grateful for the time I have here. I have now passed the halfway point of my entire trip, though I'm not yet halfway through my time in Cáceres. I have the feeling that the time is about to start zooming at an insane pace. Gracias a todos. Hasta Luego.

Alburquerque

Hola, buenas tardes queridos lectores!

I am SO busy these days, it's crazy. Monday through Thursday I have class in the morning and the evening. I am making a habit of leaving town on the weekends. I spent last weekend in Portugal with friends that I met I couple of weeks ago. Next weekend I am going to Barcelona to visit an old friend. Two weekends ago I went hiking with Spanish friends that I have met during this trip.

My friend took me to visit Alburquerque (it has one more R than ours does). It is a beautiful old town, as all of the towns here are. One amazing thing about Spain is all of the layers of history piled on top of each other.
Extremadura has art and architecture dating back to pre-history (cavemen), It has a lot of Roman buildings, bridges, roads, etc. There are also many towns that were once Islamic (including Alburquerque). Although the castle you see here was built during the Spanish renaissance.
Below the castle you can see part of a wall. The wall wraps around the old city. The castle was built about 500 years ago. The city is built high on a hill, just like the old city of Cáceres. I discovered that almost 100 men left Alburquerque for the Americas during the Spanish conquest of the New World.

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My Dears,

I wrote that about a month ago and have been insanely busy and tired ever since. I have gone to Barcelona and Portugal. I have climbed a few mountains. I have bought a bicycle which I ride about 25 km a day (13 miles or so). My classes are difficult mainly because they are in Spanish. I am learning more than I could measure. My Spanish is getting better.

This weekend I climbed a mountain by myself. It was hard and I felt so tired and proud afterwards. I walked from a town in one valley, climbed the pass and descended into a town in the next valley. I will spend this afternoon posting photos for you all to see and I will try to make many small posts from now on in an attempt to keep this blog updated. I realize that I am having too many adventures to tell all about them in this blog. There just are not enough hours in the day.

My time here is half over. It has been so incredible and I am sure it will continue to be. I miss my family and friends. But I will keep on making the most of what is an important time in my life. This trip is changing me. I love you all. Much gratitude.

Burn, Old Man Winter!!

Dearest Beloved Readers, thank you for following me on my journey. It is amazing how easy it is connect in real time with people on the other side of the globe!

I will start this post with a story about a celebration I happened upon this week, and then get organized by explaining my life in Cáceres, some exciting events, and my plans for the future.

On Friday morning I caught the bus down to the university to hand in some paperwork and get registered for some more classes. I walked back to town, a few kilometers distance, since it was a beautiful sunny day. I walked through the old city to get home. As I started to enter the old city, I walked right into a swarm, a river, of small children all dressed in traditional Spanish peasant clothing. They were so cute! I would guess that the crowds that I walked through were between the ages of 5-7.

When I got to the Plaza Mayor there were several other groups of children all dressed up. Each group had a banner with the name of their school. I asked someone what was going on. They told me that this was a festival of the flag. I didn't understand but I decided to stay.

I found a spot where I could watch and tried to take some pictures, though my camera's batteries were dying. An older gentleman came to stand next to me. I asked him how soon the festivities would start and we started to converse about the celebration. I learned that they were going to bring a straw man in on a donkey and burn him. The festival was started by the women of the town years ago. In February the woman had to wash the clothes in cold water and started the festival to make the warm weather and the rains come for a plentiful harvest. So, the little girls were dressed as those washerwomen.

 It is a festival of spring, celebrated to end the winter and to bring to good weather so that they would have food for their families. It was also a day that the women could take a break from their work. I struggled to get a few pictures with my dying camera. Here you can barely see the donkey carrying the straw man-

This year they had several straw men because each school had made one. They set them all up together and lit them on fire. They burnt quite well. The last photo that I could coax out of my camera was towards the beginning of the burning, but you can see the flames-

Before the burning I had an enjoyable conversation with the older gentleman about Cáceres, Extremadura, festivals happening in the region this spring, and places that I ought to visit. It turned out that he was actually Italian, his wife was from Cáceres, and he had retired here. He was at the festival to see his granddaughter, who was one of the school girls.

I love Cáceres. It's a small city, 95,000 inhabitants, and the center of the city is quite walkable. For example, I live on one end of the city, and can walk to to the other end in about half an hour. I have not taken many photos yet, but I will take a class about the history of the old city. So, I will take a lot of pictures then, and will be able to explain the pictures well.

My classes started last week. I am taking three full university courses. All of them are History of Spanish Art, together they will cover Spanish Art for the last 1,000 years. The classes are "Spanish Art in the Lower Middle Ages", "HispanoIslamic Art", and "The Renaissance in Spain". I am also taking a Spanish for Foreigners class, and I will take two short courses to fill the credits I need. The first one is Baile Flamenco, and the second is called "Know your City" (Conoce tu Ciudad), in which I will study the history of Cáceres and we will take several excursions around the city.

At first the classes were extremely difficult for me. I had to take notes on lectures given at a university level in Spanish! But, by the end of the first week I was catching almost everything. I am sure it will continue to get easier for me and that I am going to learn a ton. What an adventure! It feels a bit strange to attend classes in Spanish, but I am gaining confidence daily.

I started classes at a private Flamenco academy. I love it. I also went to a nearby city this weekend for the Carnaval festival.  It was intense. The streets were packed with people wearing costumes. I spent the day with other international students from my university. I am very happy to be making friends. They are from all over the world- Brazil, Turkey, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, France, Gabon. Our shared language is Spanish. I delights me to communicate with people from so many places. It reminds me of how similar people are all over the world. I have been thinking about how language separates us, and how easy it is to communicate and connect with people.

I have a room in an apartment with a Spanish girl, Silvia, and an Irish girl, Jade. They are sweet and I am happy to live with them. They both work, so we don't spend too much time together. But, as I mentioned in my last post, all of Cáceres shuts down every day between 2pm-5pm. So, we come home each day at that time to eat lunch a relax together. It's lovely.

I have gotten to know most of the major grocery stores, though I do a lot of my shopping at smaller shops. I have a butcher (carnicería) that I prefer as well as a frutería where I buy my produce. Bit by bit I am creating a life here. I have been in Cáceres more than two weeks now, and I have four and a half months left. El tiempo pasa volando!

I need to wrap up now so that I can go buy a bicycle before the shops close for siesta. Then I have Spanish class tonight. Tomorrow I hope to ride my new bike out to a wildlife park that is about 20 kilometers from town. I also have Flamenco class tomorrow evening.

I will try to upload some more photos to my albums this week.

Os cuidad mucho, hasta pronto! Take good care!

Photos

This link will take you to my photo albums. The link will not change as I update the albums. If I run out of space on this website, I will have to move to another site and will share that link as well.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108130257872901649119

Waiting to Settle In

And... I'M IN CÁCERES!!! I'm so delighted to be here, at last! But, I intend to share my final impressions of Switzerland before leaving it behind. So, this post will bring us all up to date.

A list of Swiss things that I did not get pictures/ found interesting/ were awesome.
-Cows: each Swiss canton (I will explain cantons later in this post) has its own specific type of cow, with which they make their own cheese. In Ticino I saw shaggy cows, they were amazing!!
- Sheep: big woolly things. I saw more sheep than cows, actually.
- Bird-life: Water birds- swans, ducks, mergansers, coots, herons, cranes, and so many more. They were everywhere. Also, raptors, I'm not sure but I think I saw eagles and hawks, lots of them.
- Other wildlife: I was told that foxes are pests there because they have so many of them. I only saw one, curled up in a clear patch of a snowfield- SO CUTE! Deer- I didn't see tons and they weren't the same as the ones that I see in the U.S., so of course I loved them because they were new to me.

-Cheese: I ate some everyday because it was the easiest way to feed myself- bread and cheese. When we went to Gruyere (to Americans who know cheese, Gruyere is just the name of a kind of cheese) I thought the whole town stank at first. Then I realized the smell was just cheese, and eventually, I got used to it. But I never really got over the smell. When I was in Geneva, looking for a place to eat, I avoided places that smelled strongly of cheese. And remember, I am a cheese maker, but this was overwhelming for me.

-Waterways: The Swiss have strict environmental regulations (they strictly regulate almost everything) which results in the most beautiful lakes and rivers that I have ever seen. The snow on the Alps provides them with enormous amounts of water which they turn into hydroelectric power with dams. Every body of water that I saw was clean and clear, and a beautiful shade of blue or green. There were also tiny streams pouring down almost every mountain or hillside that I saw, flowing into bigger and bigger rivers.
-Waterfalls: I tried but I couldn't get any good pictures of all of the waterfalls pouring down mountain and cliff sides everywhere.
-Water: Switzerland is extremely damp. The trees are covered in lush moss, as are the rocks and even the buildings. I was one happy desert lady in a very moist place.

-Logic/Efficiency: Swiss society runs so smoothly. Trains are on time. There is no trash in the streets. I did not see any slums. They have thought of everything to make things work better. Examples: Little rubber things on the door handle instead of attaching something to the wall to stop the handle from doing damage. Super efficient wall gas heaters that you can easily hang clothes on to dry, but, many also have an insert that you can pull out to make a clothes rack! Ingenious!

-Gardens!!:  The Swiss work hard to use only Swiss ingredients in there food and source locally for all products. So, farms take up a huge part of the land and you can see signs on the barns that say SuisseBio, which means that they are providing organic food for the grocery store. Besides that, so much space is used for personal gardens! Little tiny plots of land in the city, between apartment building and the train tracks, between the highway and factory. Almost everywhere there is a plot big enough for a couple small gardens, they cultivate it. Apparently, the plots are divided up and get rented fast, and it's a highly fashionable thing to spend the whole weekend or vacation in the garden. Just another reason I love Switzerland.

The weather was moderate during my time there. Often raining at the lower elevations. Winter had not really come yet to Western Europe. When I woke up before 6am on my last morning there was snow on the cars. By the time my aunt and I got to the airport it was snowing hard. Our plane sat at the gate for more than an hour while they sprayed weird orange and green stuff on it to take the snow and ice off, and to make sure that no more would stick to it. After taking off we climbed above the clouds so I didn't get to see Switzerland from the air.

By the time we made it to Spain (less than a two hour flight), it was a beautiful sunny day. On the ground it was warm in the sun, though colder than it had been when I left 12 days earlier. It seemed the winter had finally come to Spain as well.

I met with friends over the next 3 days, went to a couple more museums, and enjoyed being back in a place where I could speak the language. I am so grateful to have friends here. Friends to go out of their way to make time for me. It helps me so much, linguistically and emotionally. I have been experiencing really low confidence about my Spanish. I guess I want to speak perfect Spanish, or I feel that I should. I am so blessed and fortunate to be able to come study in Spain for this time. To be able to take this trip. But, being on my own, in a new country, can feel lonely. When I see my friends though, I feel totally at home and so happy.

I am so glad to have made it to Cáceres! Speaking of being emotionally ungrounded, I think making a life, having a routine, staying in one place where I can make friends, and having work to do for my classes, should all help a lot.

My trip here took me through Trujillo, a beautiful and old little town. I am excited to go there, to Badajoz, Albuquerque, Manzanares, Mérida, and who knows where else.

I haven't taken any pictures of Cáceres yet, and I don't know which part of town I'll live in. So, you will be getting lots of info and images of this new place. But, for now I will turn to the questions that the La Puerta students have asked and then sign off.

1- Mrs Erin asked how to finish a letter in Español.  I asked a couple people, I can ask some more, but this is the info that I got. Formally, you can finish a letter atentamente, informally you would finish it con cariño, un abrazo, un abrazo cálido, un abrazo fuerte, un beso, besitos, un beso grande. I have also ended formal letters with Gracias por haberme prestado la atención.


2- Phin asked if there are diamond mines here in Spain.
Phin, simple answer, no. There may have been some diamonds discovered in Spain at some point, but there have never been any big mines.

3- Zac wants to know if there is a gold mine.
Zac, yes, there is. But, from my own knowledge, the people from Spain who went to the Americas, went looking for riches and gold. So, that tells me that the gold mines in Spain can't be that big.

4- Anya asked if there are castles here and what they are like.
Anya, there are tons of castles. They are huge and made of enormous stones. They were built to by fortresses, so that who ever owned them could defend themselves from invaders. I will begin traveling and taking pictures of some castles for you soon.

5- Hezekiah asked if it is cold in Spain right now.
Hezekiah, as you probably just found out from what I wrote, it got cold this week and it is winter time. But it's about the same here as it is in New Mexico, or maybe a little warmer. But only a few degrees warmer; and I think the spring will come earlier, but we'll see!

6-Vincent inquired whether there is a place in Switzerland with a castle built on top of a waterfall like he saw in a Sherlock Holmes movie.
Vincent, I did not see one, nor could I find one on google when I looked. But maybe if you search on the internet you can find one. If you do, please send me a link or a picture or post it here in the comments on my blog.

7- Omar wants to know how it is over here, if it's nice and if it's pretty.
Omar, YES! I think it is so nice and pretty. It's really cool because most of the towns are really old, so the building and streets are made out of stones, and people have lived in them for hundreds of years. I also like it because it is different. The food is different, the language is different, the sky looks different, and the land looks different. But, the area that I am in also shares some things with New Mexico and since I think New Mexico is beautiful, of course I think it is beautiful here.

8- Mario wants to know if there are movie theaters in Switzerland.
Yes, Mario, there are. There are movie theaters in Spain, too. While I was in Madrid I saw a live theater production (like a play but it was a musical), but now that I am in Cáceres I wan to go see movies in Español hopefully about once a month. So, I'll report back to you about any differences between theaters over here from the ones back home.

9- Vincent also asked if I could bring them some Spanish coins.
Well, yes. I will bring home some money, but Spain no longer has its own money. Now most of Europe uses the same money. So I will bring home some Euros, which I will give to La Puerta.

Also, apparently Rio said that Rio Manzanares means the river of apple growers. Now, I think it means that Manzanares the place where the apple trees grow. So, awesome, I have some more research to do. It could mean both things!


Thank you kids so much for reading my blog and for asking me questions. It's nice to talk to you this way.

For anyone reading this, if you have something to add, a question or a comment, to correct a mistake, please do.

Hasta Luego, Cariños. Un Abrazo Muy Fuerte!!

Italian Swiss, Art Brut, and Skiing in the Alps

I'm back in Madrid now, so I'll do my best to wrap up my Swiss experience before this next stage becomes too exciting to allow me look back. Watch out! This one is another really long one!

I took a panoramic train over a very high and impressive pass in the Alps- Oberalpass. Well, let me start at the beginning. I began the morning, as always, in Lausanne on the shores of the lake. Lausanne is on the north side of the lake (Lac Leman, commonly known in English as Lake Geneva) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Geneva ) and looks across to the mountain peaks in France on the south shore. The train took me east, to where the Rhone river enters the lake, and proceeded up the Rhone valley. I went through beautiful farm land with vineyards going up the foothills of the surrounding mountains.

The foothills were terraced, with old stone walls separating the vineyards. As the valley narrowed and the peaks became more impressive, I was amazed by the steepness of the gardens on the mountain slopes. The train took me to Brig. The river was strong and wide, and a deep blue color. The peaks clustered around, towering over the town and covered in snow. This is a picture from the Brig train station-

I had brought some food with me- some greens, bread, cheese, and fruit. In Brig I bought a sandwich and some juice. I wanted to be prepared, I was about to take a 5 1/2 hour train ride without any major stops.

The train itself was so cool. It was very fancy inside, and many people had reserved lunch tables. Their tables were set with white table cloths and fancy wine glasses. I heard at least five languages in my train car and all of the people who worked on the train spoke at least four. There were windows above our heads so that we could see the tops of the peaks as we climbed the narrow, steep valley up to the pass.

As soon as we started to climb, the snow started to get deeper and deeper. I had learned to see the depth of the snow as a gauge of my elevation. This may seem obvious, but I'm not used to make the fast elevation changes that I had been experiencing since my arrival in Switzerland.

I wished that I had brought a pair of sunglasses. We quickly found ourselves completely surrounded by snow, with the sun refracting at all angles off the peaks through the many windows of the train car. Eventually, we climbed over Oberalpass and went through many ski areas, including Andermatt which is one of the most famous resorts in Switzerland.

The mountains were enormous and went on for hours, building up and up. There were always more peaks beyond the ones I could see. I had started the morning in a French area, as I traveled up the valley it became German, and after I started down the other side of the pass I entered a Romanisch area. I had also begun in the valley of the Rhone river, and came down in the other side of the mountains into the Rhein valley. Those are two of the most important rivers of western Europe. This means that they provide water to a large number of the farms that grow the food that is eaten here.

As we came down the east side of the mountains and entered the beginning of the Rhein valley, we went through a dramatic area where there had historically been a gigantic landslide. Over thousands of years, the river had carved a route through the soft dirt. It reminded me of New Mexico landscapes, a big surprise in this wet country.

I arrived that afternoon in Chur (pronounced Coor), once again looking at mountain peaks crowding around the town. I had been told that although Chur was in the area of Switzerland that is Romanisch, it is German speaking. But, upon arrival I saw signs in German and Italian. So, I got the feeling that this area is probably more linguistically mixed, instead of being so clearly divided as had been the German/French parts that I had visited.

I caught a bus to visit a friend's (Iren's) son, Marco, and his family in the Italian area. The busdriver spoke to the passengers in Italian and German. The bus was mainly filled with Italian speakers. We started down a valley spotted with some German and some Romanisch towns. I could tell the difference by the name of the town, and the language of the signs.

We climbed to the top of another pass and started down into the Italian area of Ticino. It was a dramatic descent into a narrow valley. We spent a lot of the trip in tunnels of various lengths and crossing bridges back and forth across the steep valley.

The bus was full of Italian Swiss soldiers who were speaking a Swiss Italian dialect that I could understand pretty well. I was so happy to be in a place that I could understand some of the language even if I couldn't speak it. The bus ride ended at the train station in Bellinzona where I caught a train to Locarno.

Marco's wife, Sarah, picked me up at the train station and took me to their house. It was dark, but I could see from their windows that Locarno sits on a lake with mountains around it. I had a wonderful time talking with Marco and Sarah until bedtime and was excited for the morning so that I could see the view in the daylight.

It was so beautiful to see the sun rise light up the mountains and the boats crossing the lake early in the morning. I got to meet Iren's grandkids, who were great. Sarah took me into the center of Locarno where I walked around until it was time to get on the train home. I saw several old castles that were built there to defend the area during its past.

Ticino (the Italian area of Switzerland) had buildings with brighter colors that I had seen yet. They also had tons of great Italian food.

The next day was Saturday. I stayed in Lausanne for the first time that week. I walked to an incredible museum- the Musee de Art Brut- http://www.artbrut.ch/ . Art Brut is 'rough' art, instead of 'fine' art. But, after having spent a bunch of time in 'fine' art museums recently, I didn't see that much difference. Art Brut is made by people who are in difficult circumstances. People who are deaf-mute, have autism or down's syndrome, are in prisons or asylums, are homeless, or have been through some traumatic experiences.

It was so incredible and emotional. Much of the work was the most detailed that I have seen in my life. Each artist's work was accompanied by a plaque with their biography. Each one's work was so different. Many of the artists had to make do with almost no materials to create some of the most detailed, honest, sincere work I have ever seen. Much of it was made out of found objects, pieces of paper sewn together, and colors made from plants or other things.

The museum was four floors high. I got tired before I had seen all of it, but I had to stay to see every piece that they had. I am so glad that I got to go see this museum. There was a a group of young people with disabilities there who were very excited by the museum. The whole experience just delighted me.

That night my family made an amazing birthday dinner for me, even though the next day was my birthday. I had suggested that we do it a day early since we were going skiing on my birthday and I knew we'd be beat after a day on the slopes.

Sunday morning we left early for the mountains. I have never seen a ski area so huge. Really it was three different ski areas at the bottom that all met at the top. Or, how else could I explain it? It spanned several peaks, with many lifts going this and that direction. Before getting down to the bottom we had to watch the signs to make sure that we were headed towards the lift where our car was parked. We took three lifts to arrive at the highest point that we got to. At that point we got above the clouds that had been over us the rest of the time. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, the valley blanketed in clouds and the peaks rising above them all around us.

I had rented skis. I had not skied since I was 12, that is to say, in 15 years! So the morning was hard for me. But, I was so happy by the end of the day that I had remembered how to ski! I really enjoyed my birthday, and in style. Skiing in the Alps! The conditions were great and the setting was stunning.

I'll do one more post tomorrow, wrapping up with Switzerland and answering the questions that the La Puerta students have asked.

Thank you!! Hugs!

Catch Up!

Oh Dear! This is my first long-term blog. I am quickly finding out that a travel blog must be kept up with or there will be huge gaps.--- ( La Puerta- this post will be a long one so it may have to be broken up into parts)

So, I spent a week in Madrid. I met with friends on a couple of (lovely) occasions, which helped a lot with Spanish ability.

I also walked a LOT, taking pictures all the while. I went back to the river park. On my way down to it I saw a small flock of parrots. These are released pets that have established a population around the river.

I took a ton more picture of the river and the things around it. It is a beautiful park that was built two years ago, so it's brand new. There are tons of amazing bridges- old and new. 

It was a quite week for me. I mainly cooked a big breakfast and a big dinner for myself at home each day- to save money and eat right. One of the most exciting things I did all week was go to the Prado Museum.   http://www.museodelprado.es/en  I had spent  many days there as teenager, and loved it at the time. I forgot how much I enjoy seeing in person the pieces that form the foundation of what we call fine art. These works have been studied by millions of people and they were an inspiration to the artists that came after them.

Art was a huge part of my education, I looked at the collected works of all of the most famous European painters from the 1400's to the 1900's. It is always so impressive to see these paintings in person. They show the development of European culture and the greatest historical events of each painter's life. Of course, the majority of the pieces in the Prado have to do with Christian imagery and symbolism, but that is just as interesting as the technique.

I have tickets to go to the other two big museums in Madrid, but they won't expire any time soon so I think I'll go to one before I go to Cáceres and one another time. BUT, now I am in Switzerland (where I have also gone to a couple museums).


WOW!! I had not thought too much about what Switzerland would be like. I just thought about spending time with my family. My uncle and cousin live in Lausanne. My uncle suggested that I get a Swiss Pass so that I could have unlimited train and boat rides, as well as museum admittance. It was a great idea.

My aunt and I flew in on Friday night. My cousin had a ski race on Saturday, so I spent the day walking around Lausanne with my aunt and along the lake front by myself. The lake is the largest in Europe- not on the surface, but in terms of quantity of water because it is so deep. It is on the edge of the Alps and part of the lake front is owned by France. So that when I stand on the balcony and look across the lake the mountains I see on the other side are in France.->

It was so strange to suddenly be surrounded by by French. Imagine my surprise when my family and I took a drive into the mountains the next day, and the language changed to German! The change did not happen gradually and we did not drive far. The mountains town are pretty close together. We were driving through towns with French names and French signs and then a few kilometers up the road, we were in towns with German names and German signs.

I have experienced this acutely while on the trains. I get on the train in Lausanne every morning, surrounded by people speaking French. As we get into German areas, and people get on and off the train, the language being spoken on the train changes and I get off in a town where everyone speaks German! The first couple of days my mind just reeled. I said that Switzerland is the land of a thousand languages. Because there is also an Italian side (I'm going there tomorrow), and a Romansch side (which I will pass through tomorrow). But, besides the four official languages of the country, most people speak English, and there are a ton of immigrants in Switzerland, so I often hear Russian, Portuguese and Arabic, to name a few. Not to mention all of the tourists speaking Japanese and Korean. As I said, my mind reeled.

Switzerland is so beautiful. I have taken hundreds of pictures, which I hope to get up in my picasa account soon. https://picasaweb.google.com/108130257872901649119/SuisseSchweiz . This week I have been leaving for the train station between 7-8am everyday and getting home between 6-7pm. So, with time to shower, visit with my family, and eat some dinner- I have not had much time to spend uploading photos. I have already been working on this blog post for three days.

On Monday I rode the panoramic, sightseeing train through the Alps. It was spellbinding, a truly wonderful experience. Yesterday, Tuesday, I went to Basel, an old city on the Rhine ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine ), and ate lunch overlooking the river. It really impressed me as a huge and powerful waterway, it is the widest, fastest flowing river I have ever seen.

I also went to the Kunstmuseum of fine art in Basel. It covered 500 years of painters and sculptures who are native to this general area- German, French, and Italian. I really enjoy getting to see the way artists represent the cultural growth of these areas that I am getting to know. I see the people around as being connected to the land, language, food, agriculture, and architecture; and I can see the progress of all of these things in the paintings.

Today I rode a boat around a big lake. The lake is surrounded by high peaks; but the clouds were in all day so though I knew they were there, I could not see them. Nevertheless, it was really pleasant and I did take a bunch of photos.

Tomorrow I am going on another panoramic scenic train route. (For La Puerta- and I am going to visit Iren's son and family!!!) I will go through the Romansch area and arrive in the Italian part. Across a lake from Italy, in fact. I will take tons of pictures. I am not sure what I will do on Friday, maybe go to Milan!

I hope I take some more time to reflect on my time in Switzerland before I move on to all things Spanish. One thing I have learned (one of a great meany things) is that Switzerland has tons of beautiful lakes high in the mountains, surrounded by peaks. I am so happy to find myself in such magnificent scenery.

Thank you all. Please comment and ask questions. As I said this is my first real blog, so I will learn how to improve  with your feedback.

Much love, peace, and happiness. Be well~ A.B.

Los Principios

My arrival was smooth and easy. My aunt picked me up at the airport, took me to her apartment and left for work. I spent an hour or two eating and unpacking before I left to go buy a phone and a map. Then I came back to the house and slept for an hour, for although it was 2pm here, it was 7am in NM.

Then I went walking. I had a destination in mind- the plaza where I have spent the most time in Madrid. But, somehow, when out on the street I just started walking. I looked at my map occasionally, finding where I was again and again. Yet never walking in the direction I intended. It was a fun way to get lost. Eventually I asked someone how to get to Plaza del Sol (the center of Spain) and he helped me mightily.

By the time the sun was going down I had made it my plazita (Plaza Santa Ana) to a renowned restaurant where I had spent many hours as a teenager. They recognized me, greeted me enthusiastically and served me some warm hake (merluza) and a cold beer (a small serving is called a caña). After the merluza I still felt hungry so I asked for another caña and some croquetas. Finishing my meal, I was completely stuffed, I walked home slowly and without using my map.

I had decided to spend the next day reading in a park I didn't know. Not any specific park, just any one that I was not familiar with. Looking at my map in the morning I found to my surprise and delight that the river running through Madrid is the Rio Manzanares! (A brief note: One of the students at La Puerta and a good friend of mine is named Rio Manzanares)

Leaving the house just before noon, I made a bee-line through the park, down the hill to the river. I forgot until I arrived there that water and bridges are two of my favorite things to photograph! I strolled and snapped shots until my camera battery died. At which point I sat by an awesome bridge, reading and wishing I could photograph it. I think I may have to spend another whole day by the river, and I may have to go back to that bridge. It had three points of contact with the bank (ribera), it was Y shaped!

After walking through parts of town I had never seen, I eventually made it home to put some more layers on to protect against the cold before going out to meet a friend, Jose. I rode the metro down to see him, back to Plaza del Sol. We walked to a small restaurant that I had eaten at with him one of the last evenings we spent together nine years ago.

It was so enjoyable to see him, to talk of our friends and family, and to be speaking Spanish. He told me my Spanish is really bad. Nobody I know in Madrid has much time for me right now, so I'm going to have to work hard to have conversations (beyond asking for the check) everyday. I am not going to worry, I have a long time to learn a lot. But, I must be proactive about the time I have and improving my skills daily, at least at the start (a principio).