Las Cruces de Mayo

Andrea has a friend named Angel who lives in Lebrija, a pueblo outside of Sevilla. They have their own festival called Las Cruces de Mayo, so we decided to check it out. Lebrija is definitely smaller and quieter than Sevilla, but it has it's own charm. Angel's house was quaint too. His family has a patio, where we danced some sevillanas and ate our dinner. Angel's second cousin, Isabel, and his friend, Consol, also came by. They happen to study English, so we spoke in a mix of English and Spanish. They also taught us some useful expressions, such as “Los pilotos se han encendido” (aka “you're nipping”).

During the festival, the lebrijanos dance the Sevillanas in little patios. It's similar to the casetas in the Feria, but everything's outside and has a very folkoric feel. One person after another sings the sevillanas. Angel's and Isabel brought their own instruments with them. One of the instruments was a caña, which is a large wooden stick which you hit between your thumb and index finger. The other instrument was an almirez, which is basically a mortar, and you use the pestal to hit it. It sounds like a bell. I've gotten better at playing these instruments, but I just clapped along most of the time.

The cruces (the crosses, but basically refers to the sites of the festivities) are beautifully decorated with flowers and religious images. The lebrijanos have their own verison of the sevillanas (called the sevillanas corraleras). The music is slightly faster and the dance has a slight bounce to it.

At the first cruz, I danced quite a few times, especially with Andrea:


(Notice the bouncy couple in the back)
It's not easy to hear when the music starts, since the singing isn't very clear and not every instrument joins in at the same time. At one point, some guy asked me to dance, which was fun. The next cruz was almost empty, and one of the men was literally begging us to stay, have a few drinks, and dance a bit. After I danced, some guy yells, how is it possible that “la china” (the Chinese girl – aka me) dances the sevillanas like a sevillana? There was kind of an awkward silence, and everyone was staring at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for the music to start again. Then someone starts singing a sevillana about the “la china,” and I wasn't sure to take it as a joke or be offended. The last cruz we went to was filled with a ton of people. It was difficult to dance on the patio. At this point, it was about 4 o'clock in the morning so people were already drunk. Somehow I got passed from one random person to another to dance the sevillanas, and before I knew it, they wanted to take pictures with me.

I guess whenever I feel crappy about my dancing, I should just head to some random pueblo and dance the sevillanas.

La Feria

Just wanted to greet you all "in person" :)


(Excuse my awkwardness)
The Feria (this year, from April 28th to May 3rd) is a basically a week of festivities for the sevillanos. The women dress up like gitanas (gypsies) and people move around in horse-drawn carriages (or mount the horses themselves). It's a spectacular explosion of color. In the fair grounds, many casetas (tents) are set up, where the people eat, drink, and dance the sevillanas. Many of the casetas are private, so you would have to know someone to get in. Luckily, Andrea and I know are friends with some sevillanos, so we managed to get in to some casetas.

Here's a quick tour of the fairgrounds:


(Excuse my fast panning)
The rebujito (a mix of alcohol with Sprite) is a popular drink during the Feria. Apparently, it's very refreshing, so it's easy to consume a lot without even realizing it. But given my extremely low alcohol tolerance, it only took me two cups to start feeling the effects. The heat rose up to my face, and it got to the point where I couldn't see anything except the color red. It was quite scary actually. I collapsed at one point, and the next thing I knew I'm sitting in a chair, and some lady is telling me to open my legs, as she attempts to stick my head in between my legs. Eventually I regained my vision and the lady told me not to worry, that she'll take care of me. I really appreciated her kindness. After drinking some water, I was on the move again.

As my host father has told us, the Feria is something that's very sevillana, something's that hard for foreigners to understand. But Andrea and I didn't just watch the Feria, we participated in it, especially since we were dressed in our trajes de flamenca. We also know how to dance the sevillanas, which made it more fun. Since it's obvious that I'm not from around here (you know, being Asian and all), a lot of people were confused that I could dance the sevilllanas. Then when they asked me where I learned it, they were even more surprised that I learned the sevillanas in the United States. I'm actually am kind of glad that I do know the sevillanas, because I felt more accepted into the culture.

Semana Santa

Semana Santa (Holy Week) this year lasted from Palm Sunday, April 5, to Easter Sunday, April 12. For a week, the hermandades (brotherhoods) in Sevilla parade though the streets, carrying the floats of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. After about 6 hours of their procession, they enter the church again. The penitentes are dressed in KKK-like tunics, so it probably seems disturbing, out of context. Some carry candles, some bear crosses on their shoulder. Their identities are supposed to be anonymous, their penitence only known by God. In truth, though, the Semana Santa is more of a cultural tradition, rather than a religious one.

Here are some videos, so you can witness a bit of Semana Santa:


("El Silencio" is one of the oldest and most important hermandades in Sevilla. The entire procession is very serious. Spectators are expected to maintain the silence, but you can hear a saeta in the background, a flamenco-like religious song.)

Moe in Barcelona

Barcelona

I spent the past weekend in Barcelona. Christine (from IV) was going to be there, so I thought I should meet up with her, even for just one day. My flight was not long (about 1.5 hours), but I had some difficulty with Barcelona's train system. My directions told me to just stay on the train until I got to the Arc de Triomf station, but I think I was actually supposed to change trains at one point. I got off at the Passeig de Gracia station, and then just hailed a taxi. I was supposed to meet up with Christine at 12:15 at the Plaza de Catalunya, and I was afraid that I would arrive late. I turned off my cell phone on the plane, but totally forgot my PIN number, so I couldn't access my cell phone. That meant two things: first, I couldn't call Christine, and second, I had no idea what the time was.

But among the masses in the Plaza de Catalunya, Christine managed to find me. We walked down Las Ramblas, and headed to La Boqueria, a colorful market with meat, fish, and fruits galore. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Las Ramblas, especially since it's filled with human statues -- and some pretty good ones, I must say. At La Boqueria, I met Christine's friends from London. They were eating paella at a restaurant, but I just sat down and ate my chicken bocadillo that Meli had prepared for me (yay for not having to pay). Afterwards, we took a bus headed to Montjuïc (Mount of the Jews), where the Olympic Stadium is located. We got lost along the way, so I asked someone, in Spanish, how to get to the stadium. He must have thought that I didn't get what he said, or noticed my American accent, because he responded in English.

Before actually exploring the Olympic sites, we visited the museum. It basically gave a history of the Olympics and every sport. The coolest part, though, was getting to watch clips from the past Olympic Games. I watched the women's gymnastics during the 1996 Atlanta games, and it just amazed me how young the girls appeared (when I was younger, they looked so much older). We then entered the stadium, roamed around the general plaza area, and took some pictures. Since we were on top of a hill, we had a pretty good view of the rest of Barcelona.

Christine and her friends had to leave in the evening, so we returned to the downtown area fairly early. Her friends decided to go shopping, but I didn't wanted to be tempted to spend more money. I walked with Christine for a bit and just talked. But alas, I had to say goodbye to her, and I headed off to get some food. I headed to Maoz Falafel, where they give you an empty pita with falafels, and you can fill it up with whatever toppings you want – buffet style. After my filling meal, I decided to just explore the city. I walked up a big street that takes you to the famous Gaudi houses, Casa Batilò and Casa Milà (La Pedrera). I didn't think they looked that impressive, at least during the nighttime. I guess I expected something much bigger, something that didn't suddenly appear among the rows of typical apartment buildings. I kept walking up the street, expecting to somehow reach Parc Guëll, which didn't happen (only later did I realize that Parc Guëll is on top of another high hill). My feet ached, so I gave up and headed back to my hostel.

The next day, I explored the Citadel Park (Parc de la Ciutella), which is a large, lovely park. It's probably the most green space I had seen in all of Barcelona. I also heard some bits of Catalán – but out of context (that is, Barcelona), I'd probably have problems identifying it. I then tried to find the harbor and the beaches, but only found the port for the boats. Next, I explored the Cathedral and roamed around Barri Gòtic (the Gothic Barrio), which is basically the remains of Roman Barcelona. To me, it was a sharp contrast to the modern vision I had of Barcelona. The old Roman quarter was very quaint, filled with little shops and cafés, while colorful laundry, from the apartments above, swayed in the wind.

I read that the Picasso museum gets busy during the early hours, so I decided to kill some time by visiting Casa Batilò and Casa Milà again. Personally, I think these buildings look better during the daylight hours (especially when you can see the colors and intricate details). I only took pictures from the outside, since I didn't feel like paying to go in. I'm much more self-conscious when I'm taking pictures with Moe, so I tried to be as discrete about it as much as possible.

The Picasso museum is free on Sundays (yay!). The line was fairly long, but it moved quickly. The museum mostly features works from Picasso's early career, so it was interesting to see how his works had evolved. I also got to see Picasso's versions of “Las Meninas,” which at first glance, appear to be total distortions of Velazquez's original.

I probably spent about an hour or two at the museum, but without a watch, I really had no idea. I overhead someone saying that it was almost 5 o'clock, so I thought I should visit Parc Guëll. I thought it would especially be nice to see the view of Barcelona at sunset. I hopped on a bus that took me directly to the entrance of the park. The park itself was much bigger than I had expected. It doesn't only consist of the famous circular benches and the lizard fountain; it goes up and out to another hill. I spent a good amount of time exploring the different paths and taking pictures of the scenery. For others, though, it was basically a lover's playground. I kind of wished I could have shared the experience with someone, but I enjoyed my freedom and adventure.

The next day, I visited La Sagrada Familia, a huge church constructed by Gaudi, which has been under works for a while now. It consists of three facades, of the Passion, the Nativity, and the Glory. The Nativity facade was actually completed by Gaudi, and to me, it looks quite different from the Passion one, which was made by someone else. The Nativity facade is a lot more ornate, a lot more breath-taking, but the Passion facade has some interesting symbols (such as a grid of numbers that has over 310 combinations to add up to 33 – the age in which Jesus died). The interior (the Nave) is completely under construction, but you can see that it was designed to imitate a forest. Afterwards, I went to the top, where I had a closer peak at some of the Nativity facade. But I have to admit, I'm quite scared of heights, and I had a feeling that I was going to drop my camera at any point. Luckily, I didn't.

I decided to get a haircut from a Chinese salon, since peluquerias chinas are basically non-existent in Sevilla –- and based on my experience, only Chinese hair dressers have to guts to thin out a lot of hair. It was a bit difficult to communicate with the hair dressers, since I couldn't understand their Spanish (I'm not sure if they're more accustomed to speaking in Spanish or Catalán). They spoke Mandarin, but my Mandarin really isn't that advanced, so that was out of the question. But I basically got what I wanted: lots of hair cut and thinned out.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through Las Ramblas. I also headed back to La Boqueria, where they sell cups of natural fruit juice for one euro each. They're really addictive; I tried different three flavors within one hour. I also bought a pair of earrings from a local artisan. I'm quite pleased with them, especially since they shine with many facets of color. Thanks to my natural sense of time – or better said, my sneakiness at spying on other people's watches – I made it to the Airport bus station on time for my flight.

Overall, I had a pretty good impression of Barcelona. I definitely preferred it over Madrid, but the weather could have been a factor. However, I'm not sure if I would have liked to study in Barcelona. Although many people speak Spanish, many prefer to speak Catalán, which is a separate language altogether. It's also hard to practice Spanish when people want to practice their English, or think that they're doing you a favor by speaking in English. I guess it's going to take me a while before I can pass as a good Spanish speaker.

Spanish friends

I recently joined the University of Sevilla's Intercambio Lingüístico program, in which you practice the language you are studying (in my case, Spanish) with a native speaker who wants to learn your native language. I had my first intercambio with a girl named Saray. She's a bit older than me, but she's extremely nice and really chill. She dressed quite casually, which surprised me at first, since most of the women here dress well. She is currently studying architecture, so she taught me a lot of history about the city. She took me to the Reales Atarazanas, or the historic Royal Shipyards. It's located right in the center of the city, yet I had never even passed by it before. Saray told me that we could out for tapas sometime (Score! Believe it or not, I still haven't tried the tapas here). She even introduced me to her friends, and told me that I could go out with her and her friends sometime. I didn't expect to see this type of hospitality from Spaniards, since I thought intercambios, at most, only created superficial relationships. But I could see that she was genuinely interested in getting to know people, which I appreciated. Later that night, she sent me a text message, inviting me to hang out with her friends, and that I could bring anybody. At first, I felt like turning down the offer, because I had been out all day and thought I should do something productive (you know, like homework). But Andrea, my roommate, was begging me to go, saying that it's been her dream to go out with some Spaniards. I ultimately agreed to it. We went to a few bars, just talking to Saray and her friends. Most of them know English too, so it was fun to have bilingual conversations. One of the guys is from Valencia, and said that he would cook a paella for us (Score again!). Andrea and I left around 3:00 am, which is still a bit early for them. But I'm happy that I did decide to go out and challenge my social skills.

Moe in Granada

A real update coming soon.