You put the nada in Granada

So my past weekend was well spent in the city of Granada. When I traveled to Spain in 2006 my first, and only, impression of Spain was Madrid. I really loved the city and everything it had to offer. So come one week ago when I arrived in the dead of night to Cordoba I must say that I had left Spain the way that I had remembered it. And to top it all off, Madrid ISN'T the best that Spain has. Every Spaniard I've meet and talked to says usually says one thing about Madrid: "It's ok.....but not the best thing here. I would much rather chose (Enter Spanish city here)" So if Madrid is not the best thing about Spain, imagine how great all the other cities are. Granada is a good example.
Granada is really miles beyond Madrid. The city is divided into the old part and the new part (much like any city) but this one has a definite distinction. A huge Spanish flag marks the meeting point between the two worlds, and it is quite symbolic, I think, of the whole country of Spain. The old part has everything one would think of in the romantic, Carmenesque ideal of Spain. We were entertained by gypsies, walked along narrow pathways, and saw so many Arabic shops that the smell of incense is permanently lodged in my clothing. It was great!
The entire first day we were in Granada was spent in the Alhambra, a huge Arabic palace for the last Caliph (or some other Arabic ruling name) that ruled Arabic Granada. The weather, first of all, was perfect: 20 degrees (celisus) and not a cloud in the sky. We had to wake up at 6am to be able to enter the palace, but it was well worth the groggy bus ride. Every room was elaborately decorated, and every courtyard was cool and refreshing, with long reflection pools and water fountains galore.
After we explored the palace, we then went to the gardens. In these gardens was a mini-palace where the wife of the sultan-guy lived. It was so nice, and cool, and refreshing, and....oh so much more. Describing it really wouldn't do it justice, and by myself it would be a crime. The rest of the day, as short as that was, was spent in near the caterderal (which is MASSIVE) and walking along this street that was completely decked out in Arabic souveniers. Bejeweled boxes and palestinian scarfs as far as the eye could see!
The next day we spent in the old part of the city, huffing and puffing up the mountain side, climbing the "spanish steps" as laurie called them. we were entertained, only for a short time, by some gypsies, who still live in caves high up in the mountain. We spent the afternoon in a nice bar, where I drank my new favorite drink of red wine with lemon, and later explored the inside of the catederal (did I say it was MASSIVE?). We took a well deserved bus ride back to Cordoba, on which a couple wanted to show the entire bus how much they loved each other, and came back to a heaping bowl of Arroz con leche (rich with milk). It was the perfect welcome home treat, and we fell asleep watching movies on television, with two of the travelers not understanding a single word of said movies.
All in all, if Madrid is the worst thing that Spain has to offer, then I'm excited to see what else Spain has in store.

Iberian the Country Spain (think about it for a second)

So the last week or so has been spent most pleasantly in Spain. It was an uneventful, yet tiring, journey, and we were greeted with cheek kisses and open arms. Living with Yaiza and her parents make me appreciate good food again, and not just having pasta, sandwiches, and schnitzel in a heavy rotation. And the food is quite good. Like REALLY good. I would attempt to describe it, but that wouldn't do it any justice. The temperature here is like spring at home. The days are around 60-70 degrees, and the nights get down to about freezing. But it is nice to go walking outside in a light jacket, with a cloudless, deep blue sky, and warm sun.
The people in Cordoba, the city in which I'm staying, couldn't be anymore different than the people in Klagenfurt. That could be for the fact that there is a much larger younger population, but I think some of it is cultural. The people are much more liberal minded here, and I don't have to walk out of Yaiza's house to see it. She laughs and jokes with her parents about anything. For example, one of the families friend showed us an email that was to teach the definition of the trocken (dry) versus feucht (wet). To illustrate it however, the email used naked pictures of women. And her parents were laughing along with the rest of us. PLUS, there are hippies here! It feels a little like home, to see so many people in dreadlocks and wearing hippie clothing walking around.
The city here is really elaborate and interesting. The streets are narrow, and there are Roman ruins to be found everyhwere. Actually there is some street called something like "the handkerchief street", because it is wide enough to stretch a handkerchief from one wall to the other. There are signs of Arabic, Jewish, and Christian influence. You can see the majority of the Arabic influence in the architecture, and in the people as well. The skin tone and hair color all seem to derive from Arabic ancestry. AND, last night we went to an Arabic tea house, and had some delicious tea and smoked some tasty hookah.
Today we head off to Granada, to spend two days there, in the flat of one of Yaiza's friends. Other stops in store for our stay are Sevilla and hopefully Africa(Tangier, Morocco)!!!

An American in Klagenfurt

Man the time here just seems to seep through my hands. It's practically Christmas and soon some people will be leaving me. Sad. Quite sad. It's been only two or three months and I feel like I've connected to these people like they were my family. A huge, international, interracial family. Don't ask me how that could realistically work. Thanksgiving was really enjoyable. Nothing compares to the family one, of course, but that fact that I got to eat turkey and sweet potatoes again made things alright. But, there was no pumpkin pie. That was a downer.
For one familiar tradition I added a foreign one. This past weekend was Krampus, in which men dress up like demons/satyrs on a bad acid trip. I don't know which one yet. BUT, the masks that these people make are incredibly detailed, and could scare the crap out of anyone. The story behind these things are that this demonic thing, the Krampus, steals bad kids from there home and takes them out to the woods and buries them alive Santa is the good guy, and comes to save the day, for those that have been good of course. Charming, huh? A little sadistic, I know, but still really COOL. Also this past weekend, I walked around in the Weihnachtsmarkt, and saw all the stuff that the people were making and selling. Pardon my redundancy, but COOL. So many things to do, see, smell, hear. Gloves, hats, ornaments, and so much more, and they all (or atleast appear to be) hand made. Awesome. Plus the snow made for some excellent diversions.
With these festivities about, I have considered the whole nationalism thing. We spend nights (the Erasmus students) comparing and contrasting traditions, and, or course, food. For example, noone outside of the US has sweet potatoes. Blasphemous, I know. But, we Americans, don't have glühwein, or Kebabs (this is also blasphemous). My mind of America has changed since I was younger, when I use to think it was cool to deride where I was from. But living here has made me grow to respect my country, and everything about it. I know, America isn't perfect, but no country is. I could list off mutiple things about multiple countries that are equivalent to the bad things America has wrong with it. People in other countries talk down of America, but half the songs on the radio are from America, half the stores in the mall are American companies, and there is a McDonalds on nearly every corner. Plus, we have great music. Austrian music, I'm sorry to say, is really bad. Either that, or they just have no musical taste. The folk music is awesome, it's just the recent music that sucks.
One last thing. I find that there is a huge gap between generations here. The older generation is the uptight, conservative one, while the younger generation is just like young generation in America. I think that is really interesting, because Austria has never really had a transitional period. In America, we had the 50's, then came the counterculture of the 60's, and then things settled down to what they are today in the 80's. Austrians never had that type of period, the 60's-70's, they just went from the 50's mentality to the 80's. That is why I think that the older people are so hestitant to accept anything different, new, because it is like they are going from A to Z, without stopping anywhere in between.

No need to point.

The people in Austria are really old fashioned. I mean this in the fact that they don't really know what to do with something that appears new or different to them. Or with something epsecially out of the ordiniary. For me, learning the rules of the biking road here was one example of this. I didn't know when I was supposed to ride on the sidewalk or in the street, if I was supposed to stop at the red light, or ride up onto the sidewalk. Stuff like this whirled around in my head as I would drive/pedal around. Then, if I did something, whatever it was, I felt like the entire city was staring at me. I did have a few bewildered looks (I think) and I did feel some eyes burning into my body. This is just one example though. Maybe I just suffer from paranoia.
I've had times where I feel people star at me only when I'm walking around. Maybe it's my clothes, or my disheveledness (People really like to look prim and proper here). Plus, I've heard many times that people have called me weird. I don't think they mean it in a bad way. I think that they think I'm just really different. I don't know how this one is. I just do what I do, and say what I say. I don't think I'm any weirder than the next person, but I do think that I just let that part of me show.

I started reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest today. Ken Kesey can write really well.

I am the ambassador

Teaching others about your own cultural experiences is one of the most rewarding parts of studying abroad. To be able to introduce someone to their first PB&J is way more important than just filling their stomach. I feel like while I'm over here, I have to get rid of everyone's negative beliefs of America, and show them the good that we have. Like really large pumpkins, and tortilla chips. And Mexican food.

Man. Some countries are missing out. How do you survive without El Carreton?!

Entlang dem Kanal

I have to say that yesterday was probably the first day that I've been truly happy with where I'm at. Sure, it's easy to say that "Yay, I'm in Europe, everything can't be bad, boring, bombastically bewildering, burdensome, and full of alliterations," but I've felt most of that (the alliteration part mostly). The shine of the coin that is another country has now worn off, I think, so now I'm not busy scurrying around trying to get things in order, taking papers here, money there, uzw. I'm now living here, making this place my new home. Yesterday I went biking up and down the canal that jets out of the Woerthersee and leads into town. My bike, the new love of my life, and I set out, with a waterbottle stashed for easily acessible water (Ironic, huh?).
Fall has taken over and the colors are wonderful. Es gibt rot, gelb, gruen, und viele mehr Farben. The trees drape over the canal, so instead of one view of these colors, I have the reflection of them as well. I loved the slight sting of autumn air in my lungs as I pedalled faster and faster, to recieve, as my present, the cool breeze that comes with coasting. The city side of the canal is loud, noisy, and not necessarily full of people, but there are quite a few of them. I made use of bell, that's to be sure. As I was pedalling back to the suburban side, towards the Woerthersee, the contrast was impressive. The loudest sound came from the birds in the trees, and the distant shouts of children at play. While at Mario Loretto I ran into some of the Poles (Karolina, Andrej) and the Hungarians (Viktoria, her boyfriend, and Zita). We joined forces and the technicolor terror that was are bike gang was formed. We pedalled around to a dock, and laid out in the sun. It was nice laying there, while the sun warmed my body and soul. There was no humid to be found, and the water stung my toes. I was in heaven.
Mozart club was last night and walking back from there was quite the journey. It was the blind leading the blind, or, in this case, the inebriated leading the inebriated. We sang, shouted, stuttered, stammered, and make general asses of ourselves. The moonlight made up for it, and so did the patchwork of clouds that held the moon in it's place. Just lying in the street, looking up at the night sky, made me truly happy to be where I was, to be with the people I was with, and am with now. I'm truly happy to be here now, even with the ever evident feeling of shit that comes with the conservatory. Going to bed last night/this morning at 5am resulted ended one the best days. I hope to have many more magical moments like this.


Ok. Enough alliteration.

Impressions

I don't know if living here for nearly a month makes me an expert on anything....but I'll assume I am. Austrians are very interesting people. Here are several things that I've noticed since arriving...

1) Internal Clocks
People in Austria get up early and go to bed early. Zum Beispiel (for example) every store here opens generally at or before 9am. Those that are more privately owned (the "mom and pop" stores) usually close around 12. Some of the more adventerous stores open back up at 2, using the break between 12-2 as a lunch, and then go until 5, at the latest. This is not how my body works. I get up late and go to bed late, but the Austrians are completely different than that. I feel like a normal waking hour for them is near 6-7am....oy!

2) Work to live
I think that the Austrians are allergic to work. I don't mean any of this in a bad way, it is just that they seem like they would rather be outside, riding a bike, or drinking coffee than being couped up at this job of theres. Of course they are helpful and friendly, but they would much rather not work and get paid for doing so.

3) Coffee and Cigarettes
These two things are everywhere. Billions upon millions of coffeeshops line the streets in the center of the city, as well as near the uni. People usually have a coffee in the morning, then a coffee near 3-4pm, and then maybe a coffee at 10pm, if they are going out at night. Usually a cigarette goes with each of them. Zum Beispiel: I was getting breakfast this morning during the break of my German intensive course, and Clemens, an Austrian living in Uniheim, came in. We were talking and he asked me about my breakfast (jogurt, meat, cheese, and a semmel). After I showed him, I asked him what he was eating and he responded that his breakfast was "coffee and a cigarette."

4) Lost in Translation
This one is only for venting. Sometimes people ask me something in German, and I don't here them so I say "Bitte?" (like what?) and then they say the question again, only this time in English. This is annoying for me, because I'm trying to learn German here, and I guess these people assume I don't know German. It just gets annoying because when I hear what they say in English, I could just have easily understood it in German.

5) The Outdoors
People taking being outside very seriously around here. When you see people around here walking, they usually have these walking sticks. They look like ski poles. Well, that is what I thought when I first saw them. There are sidewalks everywhere, dirt paths, biking paths, etc. I can understand why people would want to be outside too. Everywhere you look it is gorgeous. The alps lay in the background, behind a gray blue mist. There are corn fields and plots of land that go on for miles. Everything is pretty, so it makes since why everyone would want to be outside.

6) Beer für Alles!
Everyone drinks beer. They aren't ashamed of it, either. It isn't something that is hidden in the background and people look upon it disdainfully. There are, again, millions of pubs in town and near the uni, many of which are connected directly with the uni. It isn't like at UNCG where they wouldn't even think of sponsoring a pub or something like that. Zum Beispiel, when we, the erasmus students, went to Ljubljana this past weekend, we had to pay 75 Euros. Part of this price was to pay for alcohol, and the informational email sent around said so. Whoa.

So those are some things I've seen.

I'm a stranger in a strange land.

So after a couple (two to be exact) days of living in Klagenfurt alot seems to have happened. Either UNCG or Uni Klagenfurt have really messed things up because applying for this konse is really difficult. I was supposed to take an entrance examination yesterday, but since I arrived here yesterday, and had no idea that I was supposed to take said exam, I had to hunt down the konse and get things straightened out. After walking through the maze that is the Innerstadt (downtown) Klagenfurt, I was able to at last reach my destination. The secretary was a total bitch. She was very condescending, and looked at me as if I had no reason to be there. Needless to say, I was angry. I was, however, able to set up an exam and will hopefully get into this school. If not, I don't know what I am to do.
These two days have also been filled with alot of smiling and nodding. I thought that I was able to understand the German language somewhat well, but it appears that that is a no. I pick up pieces, and can sometimes makeout one or two sentences, but after that it is really hard. I know that this will get better the longer I say, but for now it is hard goings. I've had to run around all day getting info set up, trying to set up a bank account, getting my phone, being able to register for classes... alot of busy paper work type of things that are just bothersome. When all this calms down, I'll be able to enjoy my surroundings a little bit better.
The city of Klagenfurt is beautiful. It is small, yet large. The uni is in the outskirts, and so the living out here is very suburban, and low key. But the city (only a 5-10 min bus ride) is completely opposite. It is like a mix between Salzburg and the old part of Wien. Alot of side streets, alot of shops, alot of PEOPLE, and alot of places to eat. I was walking around midday and every scent of food drug me in an opposite direction (that is what happens to someone who hasn't eaten very much in two days). I really enjoy the city, and I will have plenty of places to see and explore.

Greensboro Lights

The lights in Greensboro are entirely disgusting. As I was driving home last night, the fog made this more apparent. Imagine a puke filled sky, hovering over your driving wheel. Wouldn't that make you feel charming? These orange lights can be seen from everywhere, there is no escaping them. When they mix with the white lights, and the navy sky, it just becomes this horrific mess. I've become use to the clear, starry nights of the country (One of the good things that comes from living out in the middle of nowhere).
When I was younger, I use to loath living out here. I thought it was backwards, reclusive, and entirely boring. My views have greatly changed since then, and I completely appreciate living out here. My parents have built up this miniature farm, so it is nice to walk a couple of feet and meet my goats and llamas. Being able to walk along rolling countryside is really fun, except when I have to get off into the knee high grass to let an angry motorist past. Alot of these people aren't backwards, they just enjoy pursuing a job where they use there hand, and don't sit behind a desk all day. It takes a different kind of intelligence to be able to run a successful farm, and to be able to grow, and maintain, miles of produce. Hopefully I'll see more of this when I'm abroad.

Flour galore!

Making bread is an invested task. I began at 1pm and now it is 5pm and I've just put the loaves in the oven. I must say, the smell of baking bread is completely worth the time.

Boredom and Anticipation

Ok. Here's the deal. I thought that I would create this online investment more for the posterity of my mind, than to bore you, or your loved ones, with endless chit-chat of what is to come for me. I want to document my ups, downs, ins, and outs of the time I spend in Austria and hopefully get something out of it later. And for you, a fascinating read will be a reward.

Well the past couple of months have crept slowly by. Time is a sloth, and my life it the tree is crawls across. After months of running through the maze that is international bureacracy, I can see my piece of cheese. What is it? It the chance of spending close to 10 months in another land, Austria. (by the by it's Austria, not Germany. Don't call it Germany) Speaking a foreign language. Trying to study, survive, and make friends. What a walk in the park, right? It's like Picasso painting Guernica after learning to sketch still lifes. It's like Beethoven composing his 9th symphony after realizing, "Hey, I think I like this whole music thing." It's like the Beatles writing Sgt. Pepper after playing a few short shows in the Ratkeller. What am I thinking, you might ask. Why would you give up any, and everything just to go and live far away, in a land of strudel and beer? Well, the answer is....because I want to. Superficially enough, it all started out with me wanting to be in Austria during winter. To walk down the tight narrow roads at Christmas time, looking into the warm, frost covered windows at freshly baked goods, or hand-made ornaments, or just to see who or what is in there. I want to experience all parts of being in the old world, year round.

I've always had an interest in foreign lands. Last year, when I went with people to the outer banks, I spent an entire night questioning two Polish people all about everything. I couldn't stop. My mind couldn't stop, and since the rest of my body was inebriated, nothing was holding it back. The same thing happened when I traveled to Vienna this past spring break. I questioned our driver, whose name I have long forgotten, about anything and everything of his life, as we drove down the twisting roads from our alcoholic brothel up on high. A little intrusive, I know, but I just couldn't stop. I wanted to know as much about his as possible. I think that because people speak a different language than us, we tend to forget that they are human. Well, atleast I think so. Watching the olympics, I've come to realize that all these people are they same. They have fear, happiness, fright, and every other emotion as they take up their pole for vaulting, put on their shoes for running, or put the tight plastic cap to begin swimming. They think and act like you and I, just in a different language. Wierd.

Well. I'm going to watch the olympics.