Classes are going well thus far. Midterms are this upcoming week, which is somewhat intimidating. I can't believe the time's flown so fast! On the one hand, I feel more settled now. I know how long it takes me to get to school every morning, I know which bus to take to the university, and I know how to budget my money to eat cheaply and still afford gelato on a regular basis. It's a good thing we walk so much here, because between the amount of food my señora makes, the pastelerías, and gelato, it's a wonder I haven't ballooned. I do love the food here, though. Admittedly the concept of cooking everything with olive oil is still a bit odd to me, and sometimes vegetables are salted more than I'm used to. Or maybe it's just that you actually taste the salt. But I love the fresh-baked bread every day. My host mother makes a point of telling me every day what I'm eating and where it's from. We've had paella twice, as well as gazpacho, the Spanish tortilla (like a frittata with potatoes), and the cocido, which is essentially like a stew consumed in steps: first the broth with really fine noodles, then the chickpeas, potatoes and cabbage, then the meat. We eat a lot of fish, especially fried fish, with which they like mayonnaise. We also eat a fair amount of pasta.
I should probably backtrack and explain that this is all the midday meal, or la comida. Traditionally it's served in three courses: the salad (or vegetables, or pasta, or potato salad, or soup), then the meat, then the postre, which is usually fruit and not pastry. Although my señora has made tiramisu, which was incredibly delicious. Needless to say, this is a lot of food, and I take full advantage of the sleepiness it causes with the siesta. Dinner is usually much lighter, though, and traditionally more in the form of tapas, single servings of food you get in bars. In Granada, you get a free tapa with your drink. This applies even to sodas or fruit juice. (Also, Daddy, practically every bar's sign has a Coca-Cola logo on it.) Breakfast is light, too, just coffee and a tostada (toast) or a pastry for the Spanish, although I eat fruit and yogurt as well. I love the food here. Before I came this semester, people would ask what I was looking forward to, and I would answer, "the food." I wasn't kidding.
Going back to classes, my IES program classes are all going fairly well. My professors are wonderful, especially for the Lorca literature class and the Islamic Civilization class. I'm certainly learning a lot about the Spanish culture and how it evolved, as well as Islamic history, which I'd been curious about for a while. Flamenco class is great. We're actually learning choreography, which we'll perform at the end of the semester. It's both easier and more difficult than you'd think. Our teacher is a professional, and every time she demonstrates for us we're all in awe. I still don't have a voice teacher, but I'm practicing again, and I'm managing to integrate music somehow into almost every class. We have a research paper due in every section, anywhere from five to fifteen pages long, and for most of them I'm pulling in a music element: the influence of musical forms in Lorca's poetry, music within Islam, etc. I'm realizing more and more how much music and singing really is a part of my identity. I'd never thought of myself as an "arts" major or realized just how different studying music is, but here I'm clinging to every practice opportunity I get. Which is why I'm glad I have choir. It's challenging singing in a different environment (and sightreading in fixed-do solfege!), but the music is what's important. It doesn't hurt that everyone is there because they want to sing. Pure and simple.
I'm also three weeks into my class at the University of Granada. It's History of Musical Styles, an elective for the department of Art History (Musicology is a possible carrera). There are two professors, one younger and infinitely more monotonous, one older and probably mostly supervising, but far more engaging. I know that the traditional Spanish teaching style is more lecture-based and less interactive, but it gets difficult to pay attention sometimes. Which is a problem when I don't know a lot of the vocabulary. I'm also still trying to work through the Andalucian accent, which means almost all s's are dropped, and so taking notes can be difficult. The good part is that most of the material is a review, which lets me concentrate on identifying vocabulary. Plus I'm finally starting to meet other Spanish students, which was the whole point of a University class. So that's going well.
It's getting late, so I'll leave this for now. Next time: Córdoba, Tarifa, and Africa!
A few preview photos:
La mezquita (the mosque) de Córdoba
Gardens of the Alcázar
Sunset at Tarifa
