Week 14: Ronda and Gibraltar -- 4/23 to 4/24/16

This past weekend I went to Ronda and Gibraltar with my ISA group! It was definitely an interesting excursion with so many great view points around both cities (well city and territory). Gibraltar was a little weird because we crossed over into the territory of the United Kingdom: we had to use pounds, most people spoke English and Spanish, etc. It was definitely an interesting spot to visit, and extremely small--only one mile by three miles!

For this post, since I am so busy finishing work before the long weekend we have, I will let the pictures speak for themselves! However, I will not post until next week on Wednesday as I will be traveling tomorrow to Lagos, Portugal for our five day weekend. I am expecting to take so many pictures so prepare yourselves!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend!

View of part of the gorge in Ronda from one of the three bridges 

Aqueduct that was used to bring water to the ancient Arab baths
where people would go to relax, wash themselves, socialize,
and conduct business meetings.

One view of the outskirts of the city and 

View of the main town area situated on a cliff

"Gorge"ous view 

El Puente Nueva, the iconic image of Ronda

We ended up stopping in Fuengirola, a beach town on the southern coast of Spain for the night! 

Famous Mosque in Gibraltar on the rock

Beacon of Beauty

View of Africa! 

Here are some pictures from the cave we went to in Gibraltar, which was also a concert space. The constant light show was a little bit much, but it did turn out some cool pictures.

And of course, monkeys!

Also yesterday I was able to participate in a cooking class with a retired Spanish chef! We learned how to make Paella, and it was delicious. We ate well that night, and finished off the great dinner with homemade strawberry ice cream!

Hope you all enjoyed! More to come in about a week after I get back from Portugal!!

Week 13 (Part 2): Flamenco workshop and FC Granada game -- 4/19 to4/22/16

This week the Center for Modern Languages, where I am taking classes, held a Flamenco workshop where a trio came, showed us some of the different styles of Flamenco (there are upwards of fifty different forms), and talked with us about the dance, voice, and guitar parts of Flamenco. I was lucky enough to have already studied some of the forms in my music class, so it was interesting to see what I had learned being played out!

Flamenco is said to have come about from the gitano, gypsy, community in Andalusia region of Spain. It has many routes traced back to Northern Africa (the vocal parts sound at points like a muslim call to prayer), and also to India. There are three main parts: cante (voice), baile (dance), toque (guitar). Also the hand clapping, finger snapping, and castañuelas (percusive instrument held in one hand) are quite important. All of the different forms of flamencos (palos) have unique dance styles, and some even use shawl-type pieces of cloth or fans.

It really is quite a spectacle to see, and one of the cool things about it is it has an improvisational aspect to it as well. It is all improvisation within the technique of a specific style, but for that reason every Flamenco show is unique. It is comparable in this sense to jazz as everyone is able to at some point solo, or improvise in some way.


Also this week, well last night, I went to a soccer game between FC Granada and FC Levante. FC Granada I believe was ranked 3rd to last, and Levante 2nd in La Liga BBVA -- the first league in Spain. This game was to decide who was going to be relegated into the league below, so there was a lot of tension.

Granada ended up pulling out a great 5-1 win over Levante!



Here are some pictures from the Flamenco show and the soccer game:

This weekend I am headed to Ronda and Gibraltar, so many pictures to come!

Hope you enjoyed!

Week 13: El Pueblo and Concert Photos -- 4/16 to 4/18/16

This weekend was another great one in Granada! I was able to go see my host family's town about 25 minutes outside the city which was so much fun. We were able to see their bakery, see their farm house and little farm with all the chickens and horses, ride one of the horses for a little, and have a barbecue with delicious chorizo, blood sausage, and ribs! After the barbecue Sanad, Pedro, Antonio, and I went to one of the bars to grab a coffee and hang out with some of their friends from the town. It was definitely a relaxing and fun day of seeing where my host family really comes from!

Also this weekend I decided to talk a walk and go to some places where I haven't been to in a while. I ended up walking for a good two and half hours, hitting three parks and the Albaicín for a bit! It was a good time to just walk, listen to music, and see a little bit more of the city that I am not used to seeing!

Anyway! Here are some pictures from the past couple of days!  

Some good pictures of Paco's dog (first two pictures) and two young puppies! 

Park Garcia Lorca 

Everything is small in Spain, even the rivers!

Here are some pictures from the concert too:

Group shot of Los Tintos 

Just Jammin'

My reaction to Alex breaking his second string during one of our songs... 

Moment when Alex breaks a string right at the end...

Jam session...?

Follow Me ISA Sing-a-long

Group shot (minus Shelby) with Tintos de Veranos!

All the food we raised! 

And here are some pictures from today!

Where I ended up playing guitar today too :D

Hope you guys enjoyed the post! More soon