History Weekend

This past weekend Lourdes (secretary/art/music teacher) drove me to Extremadura, the autonomous community on the border between Spain and Portugal. We picked up her boyfriend, Luis, in Llerena and drove to Mérida where he works as a fireman. He had to work from 8 pm Friday until 8 am Saturday so she and I spent the night at a hotel. Our hotel was called El Alfarero (the potter). Sinks and mirrors were made out of ceramic (by the father of a firefighter who is friends with Luis). The shower was awesome....sort of. It had a hydro-massage feature and shot water out from all sides. The man told us how to work it, but we still had to use the in-room instruction guide.....and we soaked the floor.

Friday night we wandered Mérida, which is an old Roman town. There are ruins everywhere. We walked down to the main shopping street and immediately noticed one building was higher above the street (it was raised on stilts) that the one next to it. The stilts were to protect the ruins of the ancient Roman road which now sits below the modern road and buildings. Every time someone tries to build something in Mérida, more ruins are discovered (according to Lourdes).

We wandered through an old arch called the Arco Trajano, and headed toward the Puente Romano (Roman Bridge). The Roman bridge, and newer bridges, have a walking path running down the middle of the river below them. We walked around this area snapping pictures. Luis got Lourdes a digital SLR for Christmas, so I'm showing her how to use certain features.

Saturday morning, Luis picked us up and took us to his co-worker's cafe where we had breakfast before visiting one of the two aqueducts in Mérida. Next, we hit the road.

Once in Trujillo, it was clear that we had left Rome behind and traveled into the more-recent past, the era of castles and fortified cities (with buildings constructed as early as the 13th century). In the Plaza Mayor, we were greeted by Fernando Pizzaro, or at least an American-made statue of the Incan conquerer. The town was putting up tents in the plaza for an upcoming cheese festival.

We went into a church located on the plaza, Iglesía San Martín. It was interesting because of all the crypts in the floor of the main part of the church. Gothic in style, it was built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Many palaces are also built around the main plaza. One of these had its family crest carved into the corner of the building (it could be seen from two sides).

We walked uphill to the fortified portion of the city. Entering through an arch, we noticed the change in roadway (paved to cobble stones). Once inside, we went to the Iglesía de Santa María la Mayor.

This church was probably the most interesting one of the weekend. Lourdes and I climbed up the bell tower to see a great view of the city and surrounding hills. We were the only ones up there at the time, unless you count the pigeons, and could take all the pictures we wanted. I had never been in a bell tower where I could stand right below the bells. Usually, there are swarms of people or the bells are higher.

While we were inside the church, Luis discovered the an old convent and hollowed-out church (it had no roof). The convent had been turned into a museum explaining the history of the conquest of America. Many of the conquistadors came from Trujillo and surrounding towns.

Next we went to the Castle, which wasn't nearly as impressive as the one in Jaen. Inside this castle, we could view the underground cistern, where water was stored. We climbed the wall and took pictures from above. We were also able to visit the chapel, newly redone), where a statue of the town's patron virgin looks down on the town from a glass window.

Leaving the older part of the city, we walked past an open-air cistern called an Alberca. Then, we headed down the hill and had lunch at a "famous" restaurant. For 15 euros you basically get a family-style all-you-can-eat meal. Before you order, they bring a tortilla (egg omlet with potatoes), bowl of salad and a plate of chorizo - they also bring a bottle of wine. I would have been fine with just the salad and the toritlla for lunch, but these were only the appetizers. We also got a first and second corse, then dessert. Everything is served in big bowls and you can ask for more of anything you might want (if you have the space). The food was good, but I couldn't eat it all, especially not for lunch.

After our meal, we walked around a bit then headed to Caceres. Lourdes and Luis were staying in a hotel in Caceres, while I stayed at a Pension (cheap-o hotel) on the main plaza. Again, we were met with a tented plaza because of an upcoming celebration, though this one was going to be musical.

After napping, we entered the old part of the city through the Arco de la Estrella (Star Arch). The arch in the fortification wall was constructed at an angle. When you walk through it, you can look up and see that it isn't straight. Our first stop was the Concatedral de Santa María, the biggest church in the Monumental City. Each year the people of the town bring a statue of their virgin down from the mountain and she sits in this church for two weeks. We happened to arrive in Caceres at the beginning of that time, so the church was decorated and full of people. Outside the church, people rubbed the feet on a bronze for good luck.

As soon as we stepped outside, my cell phone rang. This is rare. My cell phone NEVER rings. No one calls me because phone calls here are more expensive than text messages. I knew immediately that it was my mom calling me to tell me that she had received the sweatshirt I sent her. She lost a zip-up hoodie in Serbia and I found a replacement in Córdoba when I was on my way back from our weeklong trip. I sent it, along with her knitting needles, home with Erin's boyfriend who mailed them for me. She was surprised and thrilled, which was basically the reaction I was hoping for...

Back in Caceres, we walked around passing the Plaza San Jorge and Casa del Sol (one of the old palaces with an interesting, decorative facade). Then we went to the Casa de Veletas where we saw a small exhibition of historical objects found in the city and another underground cistern. This time we had to wait in line to enter the cistern, which had islamic-influenced arches.

We walked around the Judería, the oldest part of the Monumental City, where the Jews used to live. It was interesting for me to see street signs, like Calle San Antonio (Saint Anthony St.), with a Star of David in the corner.

Our map showed a tower we could climb, so we set off to find it. It took a while, then wound up to be really short because the city is crowned, so the sides, where the walls and tower are, lie below and look up at the churches and palaces. Slightly disappointed, we set off in search of another underground cistern, this one located inside a small museum with audio-visual representations of the Holy Week processions.

We were getting tired so we headed to a parador for a caffeine break. A parador is a Spanish hotel in an old castle or historic building. There is a whole chain of them (all over the country) and people can visit the cafe and see the building without having to pay for a room. Back outside we went to a building called the Casa de los Monos (House of Monkeys), to see the monkey statue on its facade, and another church, Iglesía San Mateo.

We left the old city and went into modern Caceres where we visited a park-lined street where people often hang out. Instead of relaxing, we checked out a sculpture exhibition on the sidewalk. A local artist had sculpted enormous statues of women's heads with different hairstyles, some made of the same metal as the sculpture and some made of wires and cables.

After a dinner of grilled fish and a gigantic salad, we got frozen yogurt. First we picked toppings, then the yogurt was added to the cup, then more toppings. The yogurts were not flavored (they were all natural flavor), but I mixed mine up with the toppings to create a coconut-dark chocolate-blackberry-raspberry yogurt.

The next morning we drove to Mérida where we went back in time to the Roman era. First we went to the amphitheater and theater, which are both on the same piece of land. The theater is really well-preserved and it was awe-inspiring to imagine shows performed there. The amphitheater was not so interesting; it was a big arena like the mini-Colosseum.

We purchased tickets which allowed us to enter other ruins in addition to these, so we headed to Casa Mitreo and the Area Funeraria de los Columbarios. Casa Mitreo is the ruins of a Roman villa where extremely rich people lived. They had two floors to their house (the lower one was used as bedrooms in the summer months) and incredible mosaics. One was of celestial gods. They were well-preserved and we could get a good sense for how these people lived.

The Area Funeraria de los Columbarios was an area where funeral stones were placed. We could see some above-ground crypts, but it wasn't that interesting.

Next we visited the Alcazaba, a fort-like structure on the river. We wandered down a dark staircase to yet another underground cistern (that's four!, but whose keeping track?). Then we walked through an old villa and chapel and up to the wall where we took some pictures with the two bridges in the background (Roman and new).

We walked up a main street passing the Templo de Diana (Diana's Temple) and Foro Municipal (Municipal Forum), checking out the ruins along the way.

We made it to the National Museum of Roman Art 20 minutes before it was scheduled to close (Sundays are free). Inside we saw original statues (the ones at the theater were copies) and mosaics that had been discovered in the town.

After lunch (I had grilled veggies!!!) we stopped at another parador for caffeine. This one was in an old convent. Once the monuments opened again (everything closes for siesta), we headed to the Crypt of Santa Eulalia. She's the patron saint for the city and the crypt was actually the entire basement of a church in her name. We could see tons of crypts and the bases of the columns that held up the church, but we couldn't enter the church because it's only open during mass.

Our final stop in Mérida was the Roman Circus (and a glance at another aqueduct across the street). This circus was much more preserved than it's Roman counterpart (the one in Rome). The side walls could be seen, as could the center island area. Inside we watched a video simulation of what it would have been like to see a race during the Roman era.

It was a great weekend, filled with Spanish history. I had not realized how many castles are all over Spain. When driving to Llerena from Mérida, Luis pointed out some which are used as private houses. Luis and Lourdes were so nice to take me on this trip. She had lived north of Caceres when she started teaching, he lived in Caceres while at university and he works in Mérida, but hadn't seen all the touristy stuff. This meant they were great guides and generally interested in seeing this stuff too. Extremadura is interesting because it's greener than Andalucía and was home to so many conquistadors. It's also currently home to a million storks. They are all over the cities and make tons of noise when smacking their beaks. (Lourdes and I took lots of pictures of them!).

Peculiar Post

I forgot to write about this....

My great-aunt sent me a card recently and I noticed that it had two postmarks on it. The first one reads RIVA MD. Mar 31 2009 USPS. The second one is French and reads Deavuville 3-4 2009 Calvados.

So basically it takes three days for a card to get from Maryland to a small town on the Normandy coast (not far from some places I'll be visiting this summer)...and then it comes to Spain?

There was a "Par Avion" sticker on the envelope, but my Spanish address was correct. Why, then, was my card diverted to France before arriving here in Priego?

Mini Semana Santa (Holy Week)

During Semana Santa (Holy Week) groups from each church in town build floats (essentially statues of Jesus nailed to wooden platforms) that the men carry, on their necks or heads, through the town. I missed this celebration because I chose to get out of Spain and go to the Balkans. (I still view this as a good choice because the entire country gets vacation during Semana Santa, and really, who wants to deal with that?)

Because I wasn't here to see the "real thing," Lourdes took me to Aguilar, about 45 km from Priego, to see the children's version. Groups of kids carried smaller versions of the floats through the streets of this smaller-than-Priego city. The entire town comes out to watch the kids as they march. It's like the Harrington Park Memorial Day parade except here the kids are carrying a wooden platform on their backs and the adults are playing the music (two bands...).

Aguilar was cute: we went to visit Lourdes's best friend, her husband and their ten-month-old. They're awesome parents because they are extremely interested in having their son learn English, they have Baby Genius Videos!, and play music, he has a drum and a trumpet. They want him to be smart and they're starting right away. Their apartment was really nice - they just put on an addition to the kitchen, added an office and a terrace. For lunch we had roast chicken, and they even found me a coffee flavored meringue (no wheat!) for dessert.

After lunch we walked around the town some more: the main plaza is octagonal, there were many bakeries and cafes (all of which were open, even though it was Sunday!). We also visited a church with a wooden arched roof over its nave. This was interesting to see because it still had the wooden chorus at the back and one of the Semana Santa floats was in a side chapel. After seeing the church, we went up a hill to see the "castle," which was nothing more than a few rocks. The views were incredible: Lourdes and her friends had fun trying to figure out which town was which.

We didn't wind up getting back to Priego until after 8pm (almost 9 hours after we left!). It was a fun, but tiring day. It never seemed to end because they kept forgetting to show me something really important, "Oh no! We HAVE to show Rachel this church....Oh no! We HAVE to show Rachel the castle. Rachel has to see the tower! The plaza!"

Almendinilla and Alcala la Real

Saturday Lourdes and I left Priego at 10am and drove to Almedinilla to see the Villa Romana (Roman Villa) there. A few years ago, engineers were attempting to lay a new road and they discovered a house from the Roman era.

The lower parts of its walls were still intact as were some frescoes and four floor mosaics. The house was quite large and even had a sauna inside. There were some slaves quarters, but these were mostly destroyed.

We were able to visit the villa with a guide because a tour group arrived the same time we did. He explained how the people lived and how their walk-in oven worked. He helped work on the excavation and was VERY ANGRY about the new road. (He made this perfectly clear as he talked.)

After the villa, he suggested we accompany the group up to the Pueblo Ibero (Iberian town), which is only open to groups or by appointment. We agreed: Lourdes had never been there and was interested in seeing it. The Iberian people were the first people to live on the Iberian Peninsula (namesake...duh). All that remains of their town is a few houses and stores. However, these houses are the oldest surviving structures made of mud and straw. You can actually still see the straw sticking out of the walls. The town was interesting and, like everywhere in Andalucía, the views from the hilltop were spectacular.

After Almeninilla, we headed down the road (which is sort of a country route) to Alcala la Real. We knew we had gotten there too late to see the castle during its morning hours, so we grabbed a map at tourist info and walked around the town.

The only place open was a church, inside which people were dressing a statue of a virgin. The church was nice, but nothing special. We climbed up through the town to get a view of the castle, which is really more of a fortress, from it's hight.

After grilled calamari and an awesome/bizarre salad (raw green peppers, roasted red peppers, oranges and tomatoes) for lunch, we drove up to the castle.

Inside the stone walls and gates we found the remains of a mini-city: the foundations of houses, taverns, stores, and military quarters still remain. In addition, the church and lookout towers are largely intact. The place felt somewhat like Pompeii except that it was on top of a hill overlooking lush green fields, with the snow-covered Sierra Nevada (yes, I know that's redundant) in the distance.

The church was my favorite part because it didn't have a floor. The crypts had been opened and we could see into the holes. The church had been built and reconstructed over many years; a computer screen told us which stones were from the different phases of construction.

While we were up there, it started to rain, so we headed for the car to go back to Priego. Getting out of Alcala was a pain because the map didn't say which direction the streets went. Many were tight and steep, so we didn't want to risk going down them to have to turn around. We got directions from locals, but they don't own cars and didn't know they were sending us down the hill to an intersection at which we could only turn back up the hill. We finally made it back to Priego, tired and chilly, but satisfied with our "history adventure."

Priego, what a big place...

Third-grade English is learning about cities and towns. The song accompanying the lesson goes like this:

City or country,

Where do you live?

Is your town small?

Or is your town big?

Ana and I acted out the song in the front of the classroom, spreading our hands for "big" and bringing them together for "small."

When we asked the students about Priego, huge smiles spread on their faces as they shouted, "big!"

We just looked at each other and shrugged. To these kids, Priego is huge, all they have as comparison are the little villages around it.

Jobs for Next Year

Yes, I will post about my travels. Soon. I promise.

Back to Priego means back to school. Tuesday was the first day of classes after Semana Santa (Holy Week). It was also the day the Junta de Andalucía announced teaching posts for next year. Sole and Lourdes will still be at Virgen de la Cabeza. Guillermo (the PE teacher) can move to a town near Madrid if he choses. David is being sent to Villanueva de San Juan, Sevilla - a town even smaller than Priego, with less than 1500 people, and even more isolated. These decisions are not etched in stone and the government has to solidify them in a few weeks. With regard to Lourdes, she is supposed to be marrying Luis soon. He works, as a firefighter, in another part of Spain and cannot move. She has asked to move and was denied the transfer. I thought she would have been crushed, but she's not. She almost seems relieved by this news, but she still swears she wants to marry him.

The Junta lets people know about their post via an online form. Watching everyone take turns using Lourdes's computer to check their status was like hearing about our college decisions. Everyone got really nervous right before clicking "send." After their decision popped up, they immediately moved aside to let the next person go. Everyone was so curious about their colleagues' new posts. It was great to be part of the excitement. I haven't told them, but I made my decision yesterday as well. I'm going to Israel in August. I'll be living in Tel Aviv for two years. During that time, I will be getting a Masters Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Bar Ilan University. At the same time, I'll be teaching English and taking Hebrew classes.

My brother also got a summer internship. He'll be working in the city at the New York Historical Society.

Madrid to Priego

Saying good-bye at the airport was strange because usually I'm the one getting on the plane. I don't think I've ever dropped my mother off at an airport. In Rome we were both getting onto planes and I got off the bus first (she had to continue to her terminal). Here, she went through security and I had to walk away and go get on the metro. It was strange.

I took the metro to the Reina Sofia and went to see Guernica. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the museum, which may be due to the fact that I was really tired. Guernica was interesting to see. It's by itself in a room with two guards on either side of it. They don't let you within six feet of the painting, pictures are strictly forbidden and you are not allowed to sit on the floor and look at the painting. In addition to this room, there are two rooms which house Picasso's studies and smaller works he used to create Guernica and there's another room dedicated to other artist's works in response to Guernica. In this room, I found a mobile and a stabile by Alexander Calder, one of my faves. The rest of the museum had tons of modern Spanish art. There were a few Dalí paintings, but I'd seen better ones in the US.

I left the museum, got another Starbucks cappuccino and crossed the street to Atocha (the main train station in Madrid). I got on my train and two hours later was in sunny, warm Cordoba. I had two hours to wander around Cordoba during which I went to Corte Ingles and got some salad for dinner, bought bus tickets to go back to Madrid for a long weekend and recharged my cell phone (I was out of money). Then Ana picked me up and drove me to Priego. Along the way, we watched the temperature go down five degrees (almost ten degrees in Fahrenheit), which was so depressing. It's also been rainy and gross here.....coming back is so hard.