Tarjetas de Residencia

We’re officially temporary residents of Spain! We picked up our residency cards today, after filling out many forms, making many trips to a government office in Sevilla and waiting many days. Having these cards is necessary because we only have 3-month visas and the card is valid until July. My tarjeta (card) includes my basic info and describes me as, “Familiar de Estudiante,” family of a student.

I feel more and more a “resident” here in Sevilla. One day, on the street, I gave someone directions in Spanish. I have my favorite shops and bars. I go often to a church in our neighborhood – just to stand with the handful of people in the quiet courtyard, look up at the simple cross on the wall, breathe a few prayers and cross myself.

This week also treated me to more-than-the-usual number of social opportunities with Spaniards. I had intercambios on Tuesday and Wednesday. My intercambio partners were charming, but my Spanish skills seem to be in a free-fall. Last night, Brad and I met over a dozen researchers (working at the archive with him) at a bar near the Murillo gardens. Some of them spoke English, but I tried to tune into their Spanish conversations. As I chatted with a nutty girl named Magdalena, I asked, “Puedo hablo en español sin verbos?” That’s an (incorrect) way of saying, “Can I speak in Spanish without verbs?” She laughed and said, “Yeah, It will be like a telegraph! Food [stop] very good [stop] bar nearby [stop].”

Brad got to spend time with one of his favorite Spaniards, Profesora Manyé, this week and I tagged along. Profesora Manyé (de Barcelona) was Brad’s undergraduate advisor and she was visiting Sevilla with a gaggle of Furman students doing a study abroad in Madrid. We met Profesora Manyé, her husband, Wayne (de Maine), and their 2 girls at their hotel in town – the same hotel Brad stayed in 6 years ago when he did study abroad. After going out for coffee with them, I volunteered to babysit the girls while Brad took Manyé and Wayne out for tapas.


Brad enjoying some sherry with his Profesora

After tapas, they returned to herd the students off to the late flamenco show in Santa Cruz. Manyé had invited Brad and me to go with her and about 20 students to the show. Before departing the hotel, Manyé introduced Brad and me to the tired, but curious students. Little did they know that Manyé was going to giving a energetic talk that could have been titled, Brad: A Brief History. Brad is very fortunate to have a great supporter and friend in Manyé. I was delighted to spend an evening with her family. At one point, her 4-year-old, who is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalán (a language spoken around Barcelona), asked me, “Do you speak inglés?” I said, “Yes, and un poco español.”

Viajes con los Padres

Introducción

Mom and Dad continue to entertain and baffle me with their questions and comments about everything. (That is, if I don’t already know what they’re going to say – they are sooo predictable.) During their time in Spain, Brad and I fielded some of the most off-the-wall, silly and simply crazy questions from them. We also were audience to some of the most painful and obscenely incorrect pronunciations of Spanish words by Dad. (Here’s the beginners course in Spanish pronunciation: fajita and quesadilla.) So, without further ado, I will tell of our adventures without mentioning any choice comments from my parents. Just use your imagination.

Cordoba

Our first stop on our tour of southern Spain was Cordoba, a lovely city just up the river from Sevilla. Cordoba used to be a very powerful caliphate that controlled the western half of the Islamic world. The most notable thing in Cordoba is the Mezquita (mosque). Building began on the mosque in the 700s and it is massive. At one time, 50,000 believers would pray, facing towards Mecca, in the mosque.

Inside the Mezquita

Even though, over the course of history, Spain has thrown out the Muslims (Moors) and Jews, they now celebrate these incredible cultures. Just like the Jewish Quarter in Sevilla (Santa Cruz), the Jewish quarter in Cordoba is beautiful and located right in the heart of the city. While in Cordoba, We visited one of only 3 surviving synogauges in Spain. (We saw another synagogue in Toledo in September.) We also visited the Moorish baths – a spot that, hundreds of years ago, was central to Moorish social life.

The Spainards obviously realized the importance and beauty of the huge Mezquita in Cordoba, so they didn’t tear it down. But, they did build a Catholic cathedral in the middle of it. I don’t know if that’s horrible or really cool. To be honest, in my opinion, it’s cool. I love those places of worship that have been used by different faiths over the centuries. I think that St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul are both examples of multi-purpose houses of worship. Every major faith has so much to offer the world.

Úbeda

Úbeda was a little nugget of a town. The center of the town is filled with Renaisance architecture. The edges of town offer incredible views of olive groves as far as the eye can see.

Los Olivos

Dad chose Úbeda partly because of the beautiful parador there. The Spanish government owns paradors all over Spain – these are typically old castles, mansions, monastaries, that have been converted into grand hotels. I truly felt like royalty in our unbelivable room.

Either I took some shrinking pills, or our room was HUGE

Other treats in Úbeda included: yummy salmorejo (a cold tomato soup that I love), stray but cute dogs, great pottery shops and the nice slow pace of the town.

Granada

According to Brad, our word “pomegranate” is a corruption of the French phrase "apple of Granada" – pomegranates and depictions of them are everywhere in this city

What is the most visited site in all of Spain? The Alhambra in Granada. And it’s beautiful in the Fall. The Alhambra is one of those spots that is impossible to sufficiently describe in words. If I was playing word association and someone said “Alhambra,” I would say, “mystery, reflection, awe.”

Over the centuries, the Alhambra has been used as a Moorish palace, soldiers’ barracks, a fortress, a prison and a home for gypsies and Washington Irving. Granada was the last kingdom in Spain to be taken by the Christians (specifically Isabel and Ferdinand) in 1492. With a fortress like the Alhambra, I can see why it took them 10 years to conquer Granada. The military towers of the old fortress were not what drew me in, though – it was the gardens, Generalife.

Generalife

The Alhambra is a fountain-lovers dream. There are pools of water so still that facades of the palace are reflected perfectly in the water; there are rushing streams of water that flow down the banisters on either side of an outdoor staircase; there are tiny bubbling fountains that send trickles of water to connected pools in hidden parts of the garden. The most famous fountain in the Alhambra is in the “Court of Lions” in the Nasrid Palace. Unfortunately, the lions have been removed for a 7-year restoration.

The 4-level banister fountain

I won’t try to continue with my insufficient descriptions.

View from the Alhambra; all you can say is, “Ah, Granada . . .”

While in Granada, Brad and I went to the chapel of the Granada Cathedral because that’s where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried! Yes, the Isabel who decided to let Columbus make that crazy voyage in 1492. For a colonial Mexican historian, this visit was pretty awesome. Queen Isabel was quite religious. Some of the scenes carved on the main altarpiece in the chapel are of her favorite saints. We also got to see her personal Bible, which is an exquisite illuminated manuscript. Oh, and her collection of religious paintings by some of the most famous Dutch and Italian painters of her time are there too. Isabel and Ferdinand are known as the “Reyes Catholicos” (Catholic monarchs) and it was they who expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492 (with the Alhambra Decree.)

Ronda

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Ronda. Brad and I already knew we loved Ronda from previous short visits, but this time was especially nice. Thanksgiving dinner was yummy even though we didn’t have turkey and dressing. (I haven’t seen turkey anywhere since we’ve lived in Spain.) Ronda is built on a deep gorge and we had a great view over the cliff from our table.

View of the valley below Ronda

Our little hotel in Ronda is a converted mansion with adorable rooms and super friendly staff. They even had a mini movie theatre and a little wine cellar/bodega.

Our bed

We happened to meet some Americans – more importantly, Southerners – at the hotel. They were good friends with the owners of the hotel and they’ve been visiting Ronda for years. One couple even owns a little house in Ronda. The other couple lives in Mexico, in one of the most charming colonial silver towns in the center of the country. When they found out that Brad spends a lot of time in Mexico City, they insisted that we contact them next time we’re there.

After lunch, we ran into our new friends again, and they introduced us to their Spanish friend, who owns a local cafe, and his son, who is a matador. (That’s when Mom got those 2 kisses on the cheek.) Pretty cool to meet a matador in the city most famous for bullfighting in all of Spain.

As I’ve said before, Spain is full of surprises. I’m so glad that Mom and Dad got to experience that first-hand. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!

Otro té, por favor

In the courtyard of orange trees outside the Mezquita (mosque) in Cordoba

We just deposited Mom and Dad in a taxi and told the driver, “aeropuerto.” I must jot down some of our adventures now before I forget all the wonderful things we did. Our visit with Mom and Dad was excellent – we really had an Andalucían bonanza. I am so proud of Mom and Dad for many things: for taking a much-needed and deserved vacation to Europe, for truly adhering to the Spanish schedule, for trying tons of Spanish cuisine, for exploring new cities, and for speaking “Spanish.”

Yes, they tried to speak Spanish. This Fall, Mom audited a Spanish class at the local college, and about 8 years ago, Dad spent a week in the Dominican Republic. Needless to say, they were quite proficient. Mom could ask “How much?” and she understood numbers, so she could shop with relative ease. Dad could ask for the check at restaurants and he learned how to say “te” and “leche” within hours of his arrival. Dad drank his weight in tea everyday. I also noticed that if any Spaniard directed a question or a comment at Dad, he would simply smile, raise his eyebrows and say, “Muy buen!” As you can imagine, Mom and Dad charmed everyone they met. Including the handsome young matador we met in Ronda – he kissed Mom on both cheeks and said, “Encantado.” But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s begin in Sevilla.

Upon Mom and Dad’s arrival in Sevilla, we dove into the schedule of long, late lunches and tapas at night. We ate and ate and ate. On Brad’s b-day, we went to the cathedral and then to a Spanish cooking school for lunch. Later, we walked around the Plaza de España and we rented a “cyclobus” to cruise around the park.

At the Plaza de España . . . aren’t they cute? 34 years together and they've never had a fight!

On our cyclobus, a.k.a. a bicycle built for four

We also had to go out for tapas in Santa Cruz, tour the Alcázar, walk along the river and wander around local plazas. One night in Seville, we were strolling by a statue of the virgin near the cathedral, and we suddenly heard music. It was a Tuna!

In Spain and Latin America, Tunas are musical groups made up of guys from universities. They wander the streets in distinctive garb, strumming guitars and singing love songs and folk tunes. It just so happened that some sort of Tuna competition was going on the night we were wandering Sevilla. If I could have arranged it, I would have, because Mom was in heaven.

A Tuna

We watched 2 Tunas perform for the virgin (the statue in the square.) They sang songs about lost love, plazas in Sevilla, and Spanish pride. A couple of guys did a fancy dance that involved smacking your body with a tambourine while jumping around. Seeing the Tuna perform was a fantastic surprise.

After our days in Sevilla, it was time to hit the road in a rental car. We traveled to Cordoba, Úbeda, Granada and Ronda. It was nice for Mom and Dad to really immerse themselves in Andalucía for the duration of their trip. Travel in Spain can be overwhelming because there are so many amazing places in the country and each province has a unique personality. If you spend a week in Andalucía, you’re likely to drink sherry, see tons of Moorish architecture, countless olive groves, and pass by a toothless farmer leading a donkey through town. Dad had painstakingly researched the towns, hotels and sights on our trip. Therefore, everything was great! Details to come . . .

Oh, the places we will go . . .

Feliz Cumpleaños Brad!

Today is a special day for my cariño! Brad turns 27 today and he still looks great. I've had the pleasure of celebrating Brad's b-day with him since he turned 20 - like good cheese, he keeps getting better with age!

Since we don’t have an oven here, I couldn’t make Brad a birthday cake, but many of you know that I don’t usually bake anyway. I picked up a cake at our local bakery and we enjoyed it on Monday . . . Our friend, Allison, celebrated her 45th birthday on Monday. We cooked a delicious feast of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits! With champagne to drink of course.

The bakery gave me those candles!

We plan to celebrate today by enjoying Sevilla with my parents and eating yummy Spanish cuisine. I imagine Brad’s birthday wish is to eat lots of ham.

Happy Birthday to Brad!

J. R. R. Tolkien was here.

Brad again. Wait! Don’t go! I know I’m not as funny as Neely, but she keeps bugging me to write again. So here I am. I’ll understand if you feel the urge to nap while reading; happens to my students too.



I don’t know how many of you read/saw Lord of the Rings, but at one point, two of the little hobbits lament the fact that some of the others in their group haven’t heard of “second breakfast.” Well, the Spaniards certainly have. I have my “second breakfast” here everyday, and it is one of the great joys of living in Spain.

Now, let’s all be clear: I never skip first breakfast. But coffee and a few cookies at dawn doesn’t last long, and all that sixteenth-century handwriting really works up an appetite. And everyone knows that you can’t get lunch in Spain until 2:00 or 3:00 pm. So what do you do when you’re in the archive around 10:30 or 11:00 and you’re hungry? You go have breakfast (again).

And you’re not alone. No, no. Spain is a social place.

When I first got here, I only knew one person to go have second breakfast with: Rob (he also has a Fulbright and studies colonial Mexico). But then we met a professor from Virginia, and she started going with us. And then we had a breakthrough—we met a Spaniard. This Spaniard (Juan) is a grad student in the US but also a native of Sevilla. He’s very well connected. Through him, we’ve met almost everyone that’s been in the archive for any length of time at all. And we all go have second breakfast together nearly everyday.

We’re quite a diverse group. There are the three Americans that I’ve mentioned, plus two Frenchies, a Mexican or two, a Moroccan, two more Americans (Californians, if you can believe it), and a handful of Spaniards (Basques, Andaluces, Valencianos, etc.). We’re like the United Nations of the Archive. We conduct all of our official business in Castilian Spanish, but everyone reserves the right to the occasional outburst in his or her native tongue, be it French, English, Arabic, or heavily-accented Andalucian Spanish.



One of the first international disturbances in our miniature League of Nations was the choice of restaurant. It is widely known that there is a very good coffee shop around the corner, behind the archive, called La Rayuela. The toast and coffee is delicious and cheap, the service is friendly and efficient, and there are no tourists (even though, like in Lord of the Rings, most tourists have never heard of second breakfast). Why one would want to go anywhere else is beyond me. But some of the Spaniards thought that a little touristy cafe right next door to the archive would be better, even though the service is awful and they give you less food for higher prices! After a couple of days of this, the American delegation pushed (successfully) for a return to the Rayuela. Thank goodness.

The Rayuela is typical of many Spanish coffee shops. The toast that I’ve mentioned is almost the only thing that they serve. But oh, the stuff they put on top of it! You can get olive oil if you’re feeling healthy, and maybe crushed tomatoes. Or some butter and jelly. Or . . . and this is my favorite . . . HAM. Not any of that boiled stuff either (though it is available if you want it), but good ol’ cured SERRANO HAM. If you’re feeling really decadent, you can even get ham pâté. Spain is amazing.

Viva second breakfast.

El Rio

Torro de Oro (Tower of Gold) on the Rio Guadalquivir

Spending time down by the river here always makes me wistful. I love the water – I love rivers, lakes, streams, fountains and puddles. I’ve always hoped to live by the water. Happily, our apartment in Sevilla is only a few meters away from the Rio Guadalquivir.

After our siesta hour, Brad and I often go to the path along the river; he runs, I walk. At twilight, the river is beautiful. As you walk down the steps from the street level to the river, millions of glass shards littering the concrete sparkle in the sunset. The broken glass is the remnants of botellones, groups of teenagers who congregate by the river at night to drink.

The air by the river is not quite as dry as the rest of the city, and there’s always a slight breeze blowing. The water is relatively still. Large ships stopped coming this far up the Guadalquivir long ago, and the river hasn’t been dredged in ages. The only vessels you see cruising the river are occasional double level tour boats and the slender, quiet boats of rowers. Every now and then, you hear the wet flop of a fish jumping.

The walkway along the river is called “Paseo del Rey Juan Carlos I.” Juan Carlos I is the current (and quite admirable and popular) king of Spain. Many Sevillanos stroll, jog, walk their dogs and bike along the river. Many people also enjoy sitting on the banks of the river to fish, gaze at the river or make out. The city planted countless oleander bushes on the banks of the river – in between the walking path and the water. On the other side of the path, there are intervals of trees and intermittent wide sets of stairs leading up to the street.

I enjoy looking at the graffiti that adorns the tall concrete walls alongside the stairs. Graffiti is a fascinating art form because the artists are ostensibly untrained and some of the art is brilliant. Also, anyone could alter, enhance or deface the images at any time. Much of the graffiti is clearly humorous or serious social commentary or a display of bravado. A few of my favorite images are below.


Some other characters by the river include the resident riverbank cats who often dart across the path in front of you, and the armies of frenzied bats flying, just over your head, at sunset – catching mosquitoes.

The bridges over the river are famous (to me anyway) and we live within walking distance of these 3 pretty ones.

One of the bridges closet to us. It was built for the 1992 world expo in Sevilla. At night, the lights along the bridge make it look as if it’s lit with candelight.

Also built for the 1992 expo – I love this bridge because it looks like a giant harp tilted sideways.

The Triana bridge – the most iconic bridge in Sevilla. Triana is an old, picturesque neighborhood across the river.

Walking along the river is a beautiful way to commune with nature and escape the noisy hectic streets of the city. And a way to check out Spanish hotties who jog there.

Dos Meses en España

Things I've Learned:

• Time flies
• What rabo de toro (tail of the bull) tastes like
• A Spanish children’s song about Jesus
• How Pasa Palabra, my favorite game show, works
• A Big Mac tastes like the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten – if you haven’t eaten a real burger in months
• Approximately how much a breakfast of cafe con leche and a media tostada con tomate y aceite should cost
• The verb “quedar” can be used about 6 different ways
• The correct way to use the phrase puta madre!
• Some American movies come out in Spain long before they come out in the US
• Fried camembert is pure heaven
• I forgot to pack sweaters
• Real Betis is better than Sevilla in futbol
• It takes about a month to get Internet installed here
• 20% of the words in Spanish originated from Arabic
• Marble floors + high ceilings + no direct sunlight = cold apartment
• How much a haircut costs
• Where my favorite view of the sunset in Sevilla is
• There’s a tapas bar in Triana with killer fried eggplant
• In 1981, a failed military coup occurred in Spain
• Spaniards express emotional easily – with little prompting, they yell in anger, cry tears of sadness or happiness and they laugh a lot

Otoño

Autumn has finally arrived in Sevilla! We don’t see any leaves changing colors and we haven’t participated in any football tailgatin’, but there’s finally a briskness in the air. In Sevilla, you know it’s Fall when the cafes stop serving Tinto de Verano (“Summer Red”: red wine and tonic, on ice) and gazpacho (tomatoes are no longer in season.)

Fall is my favorite season. My favorite spot in the world to enjoy Fall is the Great Smokey Mountains – por supuesto! However, I’m really enjoying the cloudless blue skies and fresh air in Sevilla this year. And, in Spain we won’t have to miss out on that special fall holiday: Halloween. Halloween is to Spain as Cinco de Mayo is to the U.S.: a reason for people to go out drinking without knowing anything about the history of the day they’re celebrating. What’s wrong with that?

Kids don’t trick or treat here, but teenagers dress up and party. Brad and I decided to buy tickets for a party organized by my language program; it was advertised as a “Terrorifico” Halloween party on a boat. The party began around midnight and went until dawn. Brad and I didn’t last until dawn; we left the fiesta when the boat docked around 4 a.m.

One of my most restrained Halloween costumes to date, but I look creepy nonetheless, don’t you think? And, I’m rockin my new chic haircut!

Detail of the stockings

At the party, we chatted with some other students from my language program, and there were hundreds of real Spaniards there too. The DJ was great and many people were costumed and really enjoying themselves. I found myself yelling, “DONDE VIVES EN SEVILLA?” and other elementary sentences in Spanish, all night. At one point, I got the chance to ask a Swiss guy why Swiss guys are so tall. He said it was all the calcium in the chocolate they eat. Two German girls from my class were at the party and they had carved little pumpkins and brought them! One of them also had a “life”-sized skeleton balloon as her date. They are hillarious.

November 1 is Todos los Santos (All Saints Day) in Spain, another national holiday when everything is closed. Brad and I celebrated Todos los Santos by enjoying a homemade lunch at a friend’s apartment in Triana. And, we went to Isla Magica with my fun German girlfriends. At the Halloween party, they invited us to join them at Isla Magica, a theme park across the river from our neighborhood, and we jumped at the chance.

Isla Magica supposedly chronicals Spain’s conquests in the New World – through rides like roller coasters and carousels. For example, on one ride called “El Cyclón,” there’s a big Aztec head sculpture in the middle of the ride. Learning about Spanish history at an amusement park? I can get into that!

Isla Magica

Our afternoon there was especially great because it was an absolutely perfect Fall day, and my friends, Stephi and Christina are such fun. They are living in Sevilla for the year as au pairs for a Swiss family. And, they’re both certified nurses, so they’re really sweet just like all the nurses I know. After Isla Magica, we went out for some yummy tapas before they had to go home. We laughed all afternoon and evening with them.

I plan to continue enjoying Fall by spending many hours outdoors. And we’ll get to celebrate the bounty of the harvest, a.k.a. Thanksgiving, with Mom and Dad. As for what I’m missing in the U.S., John keeps me posted on college football news and I hope the rest of y’all will enjoy the fall colors for me.