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.