Day-trip to Malaga

 

I have taken only two trips out of Granada since I arrived.  One was with my group of 25 students, and the other I took by myself.

Malaga was the first trip.  Picasso's birthplace, an Arabic fortress, and the Mediterranean.  We rode in a charter bus through the Spanish hills down towards the coast, about and hour from Granada.  On the way, the skies were a perfect shade of blue, and the olive and grape vineyards patterned the hillsides.

Our first stop was Picasso's birthplace...basically a restored version of his childhood home.  I didn't know this, but his father was a b

rilliant painter who inspired Picasso's creativity.  It is said that Picasso's father gave up painting the day that he saw his young son perfectly finish one of his father's paintings.  I also didn't know that Picasso only began painting with the Cubist point-of-view later in his life.  Before Cubism (the crazy style!) he was a Realist who painted and drew numerous

 works of art (that nearly look like photos they are so accurate).

Next stop, the Alcazaba de Malaga.  A giant Arabic fortress...and when I say fortress, I mean turrets, battlements, enormous walls, multiple palaces, and huge gardens.  This fortress was AWESOME.  My friends and I ran around and became so preoccupied with our surroundings that we lost our tour-group....3 times.  Then, we lost them a fourth time and realized they had left the fortress without us .  I really could have stayed there and explored for hours, but we had to regroup...so I led my friends through the winding cobblestone streets of the fortress to the bottom (about a 5 minute run to let you know how huge it is).  Once reunited with the group, we visited the enormous cathedral of Malaga.

The catholics had a lot of money when they built this cathedral.  Seriously.  Shrines, mosaics, marble, gold, paintings, columns, two organs, towering ceilings...amazing.

The afternoon was free, and I spent it with two new friends, Mia and Victoria.  We went to a small Italian restaurant and split a pizza,  then walked along the main shopping district of 

Malaga, to the coast.  We didn't actually walk on the beach this day.  Here are some photos from the day:

Me kissing Picasso

Picasso's Birthplace

Outside the Alcazaba

The Cathedral

Me with view from Alcazaba

MB's Classes

It has been WAY too long since I have posted an update on my travels in Spain.  So much has happened in such a short span of time, and I have yet to stop and write down the stories.

I am in 5 classes taught totally in Spanish.  My professors are native Spaniards (native Andalucians, might I add) which gives their speech a uniquely accented rapidity.   Fortunately, these professors understand that their students are mostly American, so they try to slow things down (key word: try).  My first class is Islamic Culture in Spain.  I adore this class and current location in Granada allows me to walk through time and imagine the the history and Islamic culture of this ancient area.

Second class, Spanish Culture in Spain.  Thus far, I have learned all there is to know about bull-fighting...and have even watched a video of a full bull-fight from start to finish.  Maybe sometime while I am here I will be able to see a live bullfight...although, it takes a strong stomach!

Third class is Latin American Culture and Civilization.  My professor for this class has 5 dogs, and I am pretty sure her reason for being late to class every morning is that she once again....lost a dog.  This class isn't my favorite, but still holds my interests considering how closely the US is linked to Central and South America.

Fourth class is Grammar!  For those of you considering learning a new language, I do not recommend learning the grammatical structures of that language, IN that language.  It is a HUGE challenge for me to keep up with what we are studying, when I have no way to connect it to my first language.  Also, this professor is rather terrifying and is not a fan of personal-space.  Sometimes I will glance up and she is just inches away from my face evaluating my work (ugh!).

Fifth class is Oral Spanish.  The students arrange desks into a circle, and we practice speaking to each other for an hour and a half.  It's great and I have learned a ton about Spanish vernacular.

I have classes 1 and 2 on Monday and Wednesday, and the 3-5 courses on Tuesday and Thursday...no class on Friday!!!