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Kicking Travel Into High Gear

Tonight I head out for six days in Morocco! While I haven’t done a ton of homework on the country before heading out, I know I’m in for a lot of firsts:

  • First time in Africa
  • First time in a (currently) Arab nation
  • First time in a country whose primary and secondary languages are completely foreign to me (oof)
  • CAMELS!

I’m going with a large group from my study abroad program – everything is pre-organized and we’ll be herded around for most of the trip, unlike our Spanish excursions. I see this as a good thing for my first trip. I’m really looking forward to Moroccan food as well.

This week was my midterms week, and I have 9 weeks left here in Europe. In those 9 weeks, I plan to be hitting:

  • Morocco
  • The Alpujarras (once or twice more)
  • Amsterdam (with 8-hour layover in Liverpool, England)
  • Prague
  • Valencia
  • Barcelona (perhaps a night in Ibiza?)
  • Madrid

I only have three unplanned weekends left, and I’m already tempted to book one more trip – London? Bruges? Brussels? All I know is that from here out, time is going to zoom by.

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For Broken Strings: New Acoustic EP by Josiah Thiemann

forbrokenstrings

My buddy Josiah is taking the Fort Collins music scene from all angles – he is at once a solo acoustic performer and a drummer in heavy metal band Split Second. (A year ago we got to share the stage in Deliver Me Seven). His new acoustic EP, For Broken Strings (warning: iTunes link), just came out for $3.96.

As always, Josiah’s songwriting comes through as the genuine article: his lyrics are meaningful, unpretentious and contemplative. In  For Broken Strings, he delivers them in the context of acoustic guitars, light percussion, and strings. The title track gradually builds from subtlety to catchy pop-punk.

I suggest you check it out – it’s a steal at under four bucks – and pass along the word to your friends if you like it too.

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Sevilla & Córdoba (with pics)

Just got back from a weekend in Sevilla with a quick stop in Córdoba. Sevilla was absolutely amazing – a few times larger than Granada. Like Madrid, it’s full of monuments at every turn. We went around all the usual touristy stops – my mind was blown by the Cathedral’s tower. It was constructed by Muslims and then converted into the cathedral’s bell tower. Since the call to prayer used to be given from the top of the tower five times a day, they elected to use ramps instead of stairs and ride up by horse or donkey. The ramps are still there, and you have to go up around 35 of them to reach the top, where an amazing view of Sevilla awaits.

We made an afternoon stop in Córdoba yesterday, as well. I was sick – second time in a week. After spending an hour and a half looking for a pharmacy that’s open on Sundays during siesta. Ran into about 15 closed ones (Spain has pharmacies everywhere) before finally finding a 24/7 one. Then had a tour of the Mosque/Cathedral, which was an amazingly cavernous building.

I’m now glad to be back in Granada- getting sick on the last day while still traveling is a real pain.

Now for pictures!

Sevilla

Córdoba

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Suit-Your-Own-Talent Meme

Most MySpace-style quiz “answer a million pointless questions and pass them on” things are pretty uninteresting, and the recent rash of “25 Random Facts About Me” on Facebook is starting to get out of control! But recently my friend Alan posted a really interesting meme on his blog, which had great results. So now it’s my turn to jump in.

HERE’S THE DEAL:

The first three people to comment on this blog post (on my actual blog, NOT on Facebook) will receive the following from me:

  1. An original photo
  2. A short (EP-length) music mix

Both the photo and the mix will be made with you in mind – I have no idea what they’ll be, but they will consist of things that remind me of you in one way or another. I’ll post the results here for all to see, but also will e-mail you a higher-quality version of it all. (Please give me a bit of time, too, as I want to put some thought into it all).

The only thing I ask in return is that you do the same thing on your blog / Facebook / whatever for 3 more people, but change whatever the creation is to something that suits your own artistic tastes: it can be a song, poem, mashup, photo, interpretive dance, ketchup stain in the image of you friend… whatever.

Sound good? Good. Fire away!

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Random Cultural Observations

Some things I’ve noticed in my first month or so in Spain:

  • I didn’t realize how much of a fixed routine Americans seem to require. Everyone seems to talk about how Spaniards are good about mixing work with leisure, but I didn’t realize how subconscious it all would be. I don’t notice it so much in how Spaniards act as I do in how I act differently from them. I keep trying to establish some kind of fixed daily routine here, and I find such routines to be less helpful here than they are in the US. Aside from school, I’m pretty free to improvise on most days. Going out for tapas isn’t restricted to the weekend, and loafing around can happen whenever. Plenty of hard work can happen too, it’s not “lazier” here really, it’s just approached with a different mindset.
  • Linguistically, Spaniards exaggerate much less. (Rather, they exaggerate less.) When I speak in English, I tend to say something is very easy, very fun, much faster, etc. Here, modifiers like “much,” “more” and “very” are reserved for descriptions of truly exceptional qualities.
  • Since Spain only emerged from its nationalist dictatorship about thirty years ago, there’s a huge generational gap in attitudes here. The older set is generally more politically and socially conservative, no longer influenced by Franco but more than anything influenced by the still state-funded Catholic church. Younger generations (I’d say under 40 to 50) seem to vary more in their views; some keep their traditional values, and many others have quickly moved to a more “European” lifestyle.
    Overall, there seems to be a big cultural separation here between “traditional” and “modern” lives, and while they coexist, they seem to be pretty scared of each other as well. I haven’t been here long enough to really appreciate the nuances of it, but I’ve definitely noticed some similar deficiencies in understanding in the States as well.
  • If my professors are to believed, the 1980s were a sort of “golden age” for Spanish pop music. While I can understand the claim (huge artistic outpouring after the downfall of authoritarian dictatorship), I simply cannot accept that the 1980s was a good decade for music, anywhere. I’m a pretty understanding guy, but drum machines and cheesy synths are where I have to draw the line.