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Tuesday 20th ,June 2006 I can't beleive it's Summer already! Hi again everyone, I bet you thought I dropped off the face of the planet. Well, actually, I just couldn't access my blog for a few months, but now I can again, so things are peachy. I finished the craziest semester of my life (so far) and actually got pretty good grades all things considered. I quit one of my three jobs, and the other ends this month, so I really only have one job to worry about, phew! Oh, and I took a lot of fun classes this past Spring term, like Kama Karate and Cooking, and a couple of amazing religion classes. All in all the last few months that you haven't heard anything from me have gone from super stressful to less, to more, and now is exam week for Spring, so the stress is back up, but only for the next few days, and then I'm out of school for summer! Yes!
And, I'm going to Spain for the rest of summer, YES! I'm leaving the 11th of July, and depending on how things go there, I might be staying for a while... But I'm sure you'll be hearing abou that soon!
Love and Hugs to Everyone,
Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 11:50 AM
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Friday 17th ,February 2006 Wow So, pretty much this semester is crazy. I have lots of art classes which require me to do tons of projects, and I'm also working 2 jobs.... I don't know what I was thinking... and maybe that's why I did it. I am learning about myself, about what I can handle, and how to make wiser compromises to still be able to get everything done.... Or at least I was until this boy from Spain came for a very unexpected, but not unwelcome, visit for a week. I really was completely surprised... mostly because I have no time to think about anything but what I'm doing next. We had a good time, and went on a date, for the first time ever, and I'm really glad he came.
So now I'm getting back into a somewhat routine and getting used to working really hard again. It's interesting to learn all over again that I really have to stay healthy and get enough sleep or I won't be able to get anything done. If I don't stay on top of my work it will drag me down and get me sick too. It's so interesting....
Hope you are all having a good new year, and that it's gotten off to a good start for you.
Love and Hugs, Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 02:49 AM
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Sunday 18th ,December 2005 School's OUT for Christmas!!! Can you believe that I'm already done with the last semester ever before I start my major???? Neither can I! I'm so excited to see my Mom and all my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins this coming weekend. I'm driving down to Arizona all day Friday. I actually have to work all week before that... I want to get as close to 40 hours as possible, which means working about 9 hrs a day, with a 1/2 hour break for lunch. I really wont have anything else to do since Provo is being emptied of 3/4 of its populace as we speak... write, that is. So I'm just going to occupy my self with lots of work and look forward to next week, when I don't have to work at all!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight, or good morning, as the case may be...
Love and Lots of Happy Holiday Hugs, Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 02:52 PM
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Sunday 11th ,December 2005 Almost Done! Hello all! Can you believe another semester has come and gone already? It was hard to imagine at the beginning, but now... now that I'm about to start my major classes finally... now that I really have to focus and pass so I can graduate, it's almost scary. For the next 4 days I'll be doing nothing but working and studying and taking exams, with occasional sleeping and eating thrown in. French will probably be my hardest exam, but I actually got a 93% on my last test, so maybe I am making some progress ;) I am planning to go down to Arizona, for the first time in about 4 years, to celebrate Christmas with my Mom and Aunts, Uncles and lots of cousins and their new babies. I can't believe that they all are having kids, but they are, and I'm really excited to meet all the littl'uns.
Wish me luck on my exams. I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Rachel
P.S. Pour quelqu'un d'Espagne qui lit cet message, j'espere l'ete avec impatience, et je me souviens de toi et Paris de temps en temps. bb RPN Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 06:32 PM
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Tuesday 25th ,October 2005 The Struggle of Mid-Way (through the semster) Yup, that's right, I'm already halfway done with my semester here at the Y in Utah. I'm already done with my first French class (101) and now I'm on to the harder second half, but I think I'm doing pretty good still, and I cross my fingers that I got an A for 101. Halfway also means I just went through mid-term exams. I did really well on my dance mid-term, but i ran out of time on my religion mid-term and so I lost 7 points on my last essay because I didn't have time to polish or detail my ideas. I still got a 91%, but if only I'd read the directions to the first essay right the first time I wouldn't have had to go back and fix it and take time I would've used on my last essay.... oh well... Live and Learn.
Outside of school I'm having a good time with church activities and callings. I am actually a Sunday School teacher during the second block. I only teach twice a month, but back-to-back weeks so that all the teachers can attend on the week they don't teach... if that makes sense. I also got a new job. A day of blisters and mowing lawns for 4 hours taught me that I was not made for grounds work. I now work at the BYU bookstore. I get to open boxes full of new books and see them before anyone else, and then put sticker after sticker after sticker on them... it's a little tedious, but I work early in the morning, so I'm not that awake and don't really get bored at all for the first 3 hours.
I also got to go on a date a few weeks ago. I went ice-skating with a friend from my ward, and then we got Chinese food. It was really fun, since it had been a long time since I last went ice-skating. My engaged roommate gave me a ton of flack about it, and finally I had to tell her “enough already!” and now she doesn't bug me... as much... anymore. Actually she's really cute and just a little too ditzy, even though she is going to be a nurse and is taking really hard science classes right now. Why do girls do that? I never understand... Love and Hugs and Best wishes, Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 07:47 PM
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Wednesday 31st ,August 2005 Back to School Here I am in Utah again! I missed my mountains, but pretty soon I'll be missing Cincinnati's big rolling hills. Classes have started up again, but I'm taking some pretty easy ones compared to last semester. I've got accelerated French every day, Piano, and Polynesian Dance every other day, and New Testament and Teachings of the Living Prophets on opposite days. It's only 5 classes, but there are 8 credits of French in there, so it's getting my main focus right now. I'm praciticing my piano an hour a day, just like it says to, and I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be. French is a new experience, and I think the hardest part will be the writing of it, not the pronounciation or the vocab, just writing it properly. We are only allowed to speak English for another 2 weeks in that class! Yikes! But actually I'm picking it up quickly... except for the spelling...
Besides school I just got a job working as a "Gardener's Helper" for BYU Grounds, so they pay me to play in the dirt and pick up a little litter, and I can deal with that. I work from 8 am to noon, so I'll have to make myself be an early riser, but I'm doing good so-far since I got here. Actually I need to get to bed so I can get up in time tomorrow! Wish me luck, cause you know I'm wishing you some!
Love and Hugs, Rachel
PS. New pics coming soon, I won a Kodak Easy Share from this game my bank had, and I've just started going picture crazy recently... enjoy! RN Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 01:48 AM
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Friday 29th ,July 2005 Winding Down Summer Time, too. Hi again folks! How are you all? I hope summer has been a lot more fun for you than it has been for me. I've worked all summer long, making some money, and spending a lot of it. I did spend it on good things though... like new glasses and new clothes that I haven't been able to buy for 2 years... and now I'm not allowed to go shopping again until next year. ;) Next week I’m taking a trip with my friend Ally, my first vacation of the summer. We’re going to Cedar Point and to visit some friends and family around northern Ohio. Considering that I haven’t seen my family for 2 years, I think I’ll be having a really good time!
Besides that, my life will pretty much be the same hum-drum-ness of work for the next 3 weeks. I leave for Utah and BYU again on August 18th. I’ll be driving out by myself because I have so much stuff that I need to bring with me… I won’t really be able to fit another person or any more stuff. Currently I am trying to finish-up craft projects that I started years ago and that now really need to be done to be worth keeping. Wish me luck!
Love and Hugs, Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 01:32 PM
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Saturday 2nd ,April 2005 Heading down the Home Stretch So… things here in Provo are pretty much winding down. There are only 2 weeks left til the end of the semester. I have 4 exams out of 9 out of the way, and now I only have morning classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Really there is nothing much I have to focus on except getting homework done and end of year assignments and extra credit turned in on time… oh yeah, and finding a job. I’m headed back home to Cincinnati this summer to see and visit with all my friends and family back there, and to work my bum off to make some money, and maybe have some fun too. Besides that there’s really not much to tell, except that I realize I haven’t written anything about my trip at the end of the program in Spain…. And there is plenty to tell…
I went to Paris at 4 on the last day of the program. It was ok because classes had gotten done with the week before. I found my way through the airport and onto the train with relative ease, even though people don’t really speak a lot of English… or just don’t want to. But I made it to the friend’s house I was staying at with out a lot of fuss. The metro system in Paris is great, and I used it all over the place. Saturday morning (the day after I got there) I bought some berries and mandarin oranges and yogurt, and a baguette at Paul’s (a really, really good French bread shop). Then I made a cheese sandwich and walked along the Seine until I couldn’t feel my legs anymore and headed into the Metro to warm up and ride to Le Tour Eiffel. I spent the whole afternoon wandering around the second and third decks, and I went to the museum/movie thing they have in it and learned all about it, and it’s pretty dang cool. Later I went shopping in Les Halles, which is a huge shopping center all underground! The next day I went to church in French, and it was kinda hard to follow, but it still felt like church. Later that night we went to a Christmas church special out in Versailles, and before it started we hurried and peered into the darkened gardens and grounds of the palace, which is more like a mini city. It was beautiful even in the dark; I just wish I’d had time to see it during the daylight. The next day I bought a day pass for the metro and Jorge, Shane and I toured Monmatre, Sacre Couer, L’Opera de Garnier, the Egyptian obelisk south east the end of Les Champs Elysees and later L’Arc de Triomphe at the other end, when the whole length of the street was lit up with Chrismas lights in the trees. It was a really long and fun day. We went to the Louvre for a few hours, but I missed seeing the Mona Lisa because they were closing and kicking people out right when we got to the end of the museum wing to see it… I was a little upset…. And the next day I went back to Spain, after waiting 5 hours in the airport because I was quite early getting there, and my plane was quite late.
I stayed in a hostal by my church’s temple in Madrid for 4 days before I left Spain… and it was great. I got to know to really cool girls from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and I got to spend a few more days with my friends from Alcala before I finally had to go home. I got on the plane in Barajas Airport after a warm hug from a dear friend and a rather sad good bye. I pressed my nose against the glass of my window-side seat to look out at the last beautiful Spanish sunset I would see for a long time… and I watched until we were over the Cantabric sea and nearing England before I would finally concede that the sunset really was over and the last light of Spain was gone from my eyes… gone, but not lost, and certainly not forgotten.
That night I stepped out of the plane and into a drizzly London night. It was really nice to not have to worry about my luggage, since it was only a layover in London (A 14 hour layover!) I decided to leave the airport and ride the tube into downtown, but of course I packed my umbrella in my suitcase. I got off at Piccadilly Circus and it was raining pretty hard. I decided to visit main stations, like King’s Cross, which is where Trafalgar Square is found, and Charring Cross, and then I got back on the tube and returned to the airport. I made a quick stop at Hyde Park Corner near Buckingham Palace and it was equally as rainy there. After I got back to the airport I slept on a bench… well dozed on a bench, cause I was getting sick and really couldn’t sleep very well due to coughing. When I finally got into the area by my gate it was 6 am, and I was dead. I finally went and sat looking out the window at my plane at 9 am, when the gate was finally announced. And I woke up at 11:30, an hour and 45 minutes after my plane had left!!! I had even missed all the announcements saying they were leaving, and this was my last warning, and they were now taking my bags off the plane… and I was only 10 feet away from the door the whole time!
But it’s all ok because the nice British Airways lady helped me get on the very next flight, and I got home at the same time I would’ve anyway. And then there was fun trying to find my bags because somehow one had gotten to Cincinnati even before I did, and the second was still on the other side of the Atlantic in Heathrow airport. That bag finally arrived at the Cincinnati airport 2 nights before Christmas, and that’s when the snow hit. So, my bag spent the weekend at the airport, and I spent a very nice and quiet Christmas at home with my dad and step-mom. Then I headed out to Utah for school again… and you know the story from there.
Love and Hugs, Rachel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 05:56 PM
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Thursday 24th ,February 2005 It's been a While.... So, as a friend recently pointed out to me, it's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog. In fact, all my faithful readers have probably given up hope that I'll write again. Well, I decided it's time, and since I haven't even written in my own journal for over a month, I guess I'll do that tonight too!
School is going great this semester. I'm taking the biggest load I've ever had, but only half the classes are really hard ones, and now that I'm half-way through the semester I'm done with my first-block class. It was only PE, so not very hard, but it was at 8 am, and that made it a little bit of a trial. I'm so excited now, I'll get to sleep in til 10 on Mondays and Wednesdays... Anyway, my other classes are Anatomy, Geology, Spanish Fonetics, Ibero-American Civilization, Geography, and New Testament-2nd half. I've had 2 of my teachers before, so that makes things easier, and all of my classes are really interesting, which helps.
Besides school, which is 2/3 of my life right now, I'm having fun hanging out with friends, and sleeping, and relaxing, and going out on occasional dates. Both my dates (only 2 so far this semester) were really fun, and with friends, so that made things less awkward. I've made lots of friends in my classes, and also have lots of my Spain groupies in my classes too. It's so nice to see them everyday, it reminds me of Spain and all those good times.... :)
After the program was over in Spain I went to Paris for 4 days (loved every minute.... except for the cold) and then headed home for my 19th birthday! A week later I drove out to Provo with my dad's help, just hours before the Wasatch Mountains got pounded by a ton of snow. It was awesome though, cause the next day (New Years Day) I got to go snowboarding for the very first time, and on really nice Utah powdery snow. It's much less scary to biff it when you know it's not going to hurt to hit the ground, and I did face-plant several times on my first real run down the mountain/hill. Then a week later my friend Nicole almost broke her nose going sledding, and we took her to the hospital, and thankfully nothing was broken, but we got to spend a fun afternoon in the emergency room. The coolest part was watching the life-flight helicopter take off from about 20 ft away.
Now I'm just trying to keep up with all my assignments and tests, just trying to stay ahead of the game and not get too sick. All I really need is more sleep and I'll be good, so hopefully I'll get better really soon. I hope you are all having as good a semester/winter as I am. I think of you all all the time, and hope that things are going well for you. Cross your fingers that I get a job soon... Cuase I'm flat broke. :) Thanks!
Love and Hugs, Rachel
PS. Un gran saludo a todos mis amigos en Espana! Lo siento que no tengo los llaves espanoles ahora... casi no se como escribir en maquina en espanol ahora... Espero que todo va bien para vosotros. Hasta Luego, Raquel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 02:43 PM
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Wednesday 22nd ,December 2004 Andalucia and HOME!!! Hi everyone! I'm BAAAAAAACK!
Yup, that's right. It's been almost a month since my last report. After those trips was Thanksgiving. We had dinner in our Prof.'s house and it was sooooooo good! Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 11:34 AM
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Tuesday 23rd ,November 2004 Segovia :D and Valladolid :-| Well.... Itīs been a while since weīve had weekend trips. Two weekends ago we had absolutely no scheduled trips, and I hadnīt made any plans to go with any of the groups who were going to Barcelona or London or Prague. So what did I do??? Thatīs right, I spent two lovely days sleeping in and two nights having tons of fun with the few people from our group who were still here. We went bowling and watched movies and stayed out relatively late, although it was still early for the Espaņoles. And basically I just relaxed and had a good normal stress-and-trip-free weekend. Itīs nice to have those days when you have nothing to do once in a while... but two in a row is about all I can handle... After that I start to feel useless.
So this past weekend we had a really fun trip to Segovia, to see some really old Roman churches and the Aqueduct. It was bitterly cold there, but I was prepared with my super thick winter coat and gloves and scarf and many layers of clothes. A friend warned me that it gets really cold there, so I went prepared. We had a good time walking around in the cold... and the aqueduct is soooo cool. There isnīt any mortar or anything between the stones, they just sit there perfectly placed, like they have sat for two thousand years (give or take a hundred). Until 40 years ago the main road passed underneath the aqueduct itself, but the vibrations caused by all the cars and trucks worried the conservationists that it might fall over.... so they made the road on the north side turn back away from the aqueduct and chaged the road on other side into a "zona peatonal" (only for walking). Itīs perfect because you can walk right up and touch the immense old stones and not have to worry about being run over. To get a sense of itīs size just look at the person whose standing near the base. I think I touched one of the blocks on the third level up from the ground without any trouble, but I couldnīt even hope to reach the top of the cross thatīs in front of the pillar. The aqueduct starts out really small and then reaches heights of at least 8 stories as it spans the gap between two hills. Itīs a very impressive sight, to be sure. Oh yeah, and we went to Valladolid on Saturday. It was nice. They have a castle there that a king once stayed in for 5 months... and lots of really old buildings. Oh, and there was a really cool park that had an aviary and peacocks wandering around the paths and squirrels (a rare animal in Spain) that are so use to humans theyīll crawl up your leg to get a bit of nut. Actually one did crawl up my leg, and yes I did have food for it, and no I didnīt scream. It was really cool.... actually itīs about the coolest thing I did in Valladolid. Oh, and later we went to a castle in Peņafiel. It was really misty and the castle is this white beacon on top of a very high hill... it was rather like being on a movie set the way the fog and the scenery interacted and all... I got to run around all the turrets and act like a kid for 10 minutes.
All in all it was a really good weekend. Tonight Iīm going bowling in Torrejon de Ardoz! (there is a US Air base there... for those of you who might be interested...).
Amor y Besos, Raquel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 06:04 AM
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Wednesday 3rd ,November 2004 Travel Pictures Really good Spain pictures website, check it out! (by the way, I live in the Communidad de Madrid) Have fun! Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 07:58 AM
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Weekend Trips Near and Far Hey, here I am again, with more news from Spain! The past couple of weeks havenīt been terribly interesting, just lots of homework and reading.... so I decided to hold off on writing about our trips, cuase I thought Iīd keep the boredom to a limit for all our sakes... So two weekends ago our BYU group traveled around the north-ish part of Madrid on Friday, visiting El Escorial, Valle de los Caidos and Manzanares el Real. Saturday we went to The Tyhssen Museum and the Archealogical Museum of Spain in Madrid. Then this past weekend we went to Burgos, Santo Domingo de Silos(relatively small) and Covarrubias(very very small)... Out of all the places weīve gone the past 2 weeks, Burgos and Sto. Domingo were my favorites, then the Archealogiocal museum, and then El Escorial... though itīs kind of morbid.
So chronologically... We started very early on Friday morning to get to El Escorial by 9 am, through all the crazy Madrid traffic. We took a tour of about half the building, and then wandered the rest (that we could enter) by ourselves. Here are some pictures (also these) I found on the web, so you can see what I saw. The gardens are very elegant, but it was rather cold and rainy the day we visited. I loved all the decor, all the frescoes and artwork all over the place. The whole building in built in the shape of a grill (escorial) because Felipe II built it to honor San Lorenzo (de El Escorial). Next we went to Valle de los Caidos, a huge monument not far from El Escorial, commisioned by Franco after his victory in the Spanish Civil War to honor those who had fallen (los caidos). On top of the monument, which is set back into an artificial hill made with huge rocks is an enormous cross, the biggest in the world I think. It is a good place to visit if you want to get an idea of the irony/ illogical/ insanity and sick-feeling that Francoīs dictatorship gave most Spaniards. Compared to El Escorial the monument was nearly empty of people, and bare... it reminded me of Lord of the Rings... the ring-wraiths that is... The word is just plain oppresive. Oh, but I here there is a huge crowd of Nationalists on the anniversary of Francoīs death (heīs buried there). On to happier things, like quaint little castles. Manzanares el Real is a pretty tiny castle on the side of a lake just north of Madrid. The best part of the tour was the view from the top of the walls. No pictures are allowed inside the castle, just on the top (outside) level. But we had lots of fun walking around and through the towers. It mostly made up for Valle de los Caidos. Our trip to the Tyssen was too short for me to really say much, but I loved the paintings there that are of 1800s American country sides. They reminded me of home... *sniff*. The museum of Archealogy was awesome. They have tons of Roman and Muslim artifacts and architecture... logically... and they had a special exhibit of King Tut and they actually recreated the burial chamber in one of the rooms in the exhibit. It was awesome, as was the mummyīs hand and the canopic jars and the sarcofagus and all the art pieces they had. I really want to go to Egypt now!
But on to Burgos... and last weekend. Burgos is a very nice city about 3 hours north of Madrid... and itīs biggest claims to fame are the Cathedral (of course) and Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, "El Cid."(just read the first paragraph). The statue in the plaza just next to our hotel shows El Cid on his horse, Babieca, charging after "some recalcitrant muslims" with his sword, Tizona, hel high, pointing the way. The cathedral is the only one in the world (according to our guide) that has 3 octagonal windows (skylights really) in the center dome of three of itīs chapels. It is also the only Gothic Cathedral from the 13th century (I think) with two identical towers, and there is a really cool German made clock inside that has a wooden figure of a man on top that opens his mouth when it strikes 1 and 5. Other than those 2 things there isnīt really a ton to see in Burgos, especially when itīs cold and nearly snowing. Although there was a very fun club we went to late Friday night...
In Santo Domingo de Silos we got to hear, in-person, the group that had a number one hit on the US charts a few years back. Gregorian Chant is a very cool thing to experience in person, and especially in a cathedral like the Monastery has with such amazing acoustics. I felt like I was inside the music..... it was just soothing and beautiful and enchanting all at once. The tour of the monastery took us around the inner courtyard, looking at the architecture, and then into the apothecary room where the monks cooked, distilled liquor and other things, and practiced a little alchemy now and then. Medicine in the 13th century scares me to death... Covarrubias was basically a very very very small town on the side of a river, but I got a very quaint and rustic vibe from the place. Life seemed so much slower there, and none of the cares of the world are on the shoulders of those citizens. Sometimes I miss living in a little mountain town...
Back to Madrid and back to school. We watched Don Juan Tenorio performed live outdoors in Alcalá when we got home... Now itīs study, study, study time!
Love and Lots of Hugs, Raquel Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 07:55 AM
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Monday 18th ,October 2004 Fun Times in El Pais Vasco Well, now there are really, Really no more pictures... at all. I donīt have a working laptop, and now I donīt have a working cell phone or camera either. "What happened?", you ask, well first I must tell the tale of our week-long trip to the beautifully green Pais Vasco, or Basque Country.
We left Tuesday morning a week ago on our long bus ride to the North. We stopped and spent the first night in Santander, a very pretty city on the shore. It was a nice break for us to not have any set plans for the night, and we all went our separate ways, looking for interesting bits of the city. The boys first stop was the beach "swimming!", and me and my girls went on a scenic boat ride along the shore and around the bay. We all ended up at the palacio (used to be, or may still be, the summer home of the royals) to watch the sunset and play in a huge climbing tree by the cliffs. It was a very relaxed and nice evening. The next morning we left for Bilbao to see the Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa. I sort of felt like I was already in another country, because everything was written in Euskera, or Basque language. The museoa (euskera) is beautiful, but sadly they donīt let you take pictures inside. Itīs the first museum of modern art that Iīve actually like since Iīve been here.
After spending a few hours in Bilbao at the museoa we left for Gernika (Guernica in castillian spanish). We only had a few hours there too, becuase our goal was San Sebastian by 8 ish. We visited the "Junto de Gernika", which is basically the meeting house/area for community meetings that the Basques have been using for at least 3 thousand years. There was always an oak tree around which the community members met, and its descendants have been planted in the same area around the Junto for as long as meetings have been held there. Traditionally it is under that Oak (Roble in castillian) that the kings of Spain have promised and continued to ratify the independent government of El Pais Vasco, even though it is still a part of Spain. After Franco took over the Basques saw that tree as a symbol of their independence and national Basque spirit. Franco didnīt like them, they resisted his advances with at least one huge success in the elimination of the Admiral who probably would have succeeded Franco as dictator. For this symbolism of the Gernika tree as Basque pride, and other crazy reasons, Franco ordered the bombing of Gernika against the civillian population (he chose monday morning, which was and is market morning, when the greatest number of citizens would be in the center of town). The bombing was carried out by German and a few Italian airplanes. They left the main bridge into town intact so that Francoīs troops could enter, take over the city, and then cover up the fact that there was a bombing by burning everything. Franco never admitted responsibility for the destruction of Gernika, even to his death. The Museoa del Paz de Guernica (Guernica Museum of Peace) is a really amazing place to visit, as is the town. There is one church that is still standing from before the bombing, and even after over 50 years the smoke damage is easily visible. I wish we couldīve spent more time visiting that famous town. The painting: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~lanes/english/hemngway/picasso/guernica.htm
But on to San Sebastian. We got there Wednesday night and had the evening free to do whatever. On Thursday morning we had a tour on a double decker bus that took us all around the city, to some really nice photo spots, and then along the beach and back to where we started in front of our hotel. The rest of the day was free to do whatever we wanted, as long as we saw one of the two cathedrals/churches in town, and the Basque museum. We went to one of the iglesias, and then missed the museum, becuase it closed at 1:45, and we got there at 2. Instead of complaining we decided to hike up the hill that separates the two beaches, and we took some really nice photos of both sides of the hill, and the ocean and beaches below them. http://www.galenfrysinger.com/san_sabastian.htm (check out the second picture down from the top)
After lunch my friends Mike and Brittney wanted to go swimming in the ocean, but I didnīt have my swimsuit. When we got to the beach and they saw how big the waves were they changed their minds and decided it would be safer to go wading with me along the edge, instead of swimming. So we were just walking slowly along, letting the surf come up over our feet, but not much more, becuase we had our bags with us, and were carrying our shoes too. I was just following Mike, who was just following the edge of the surf, not really paying attention to where we were going, becuase afterall itīs just water. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were at the beach on the other side of the hill from our hotel, and that that beach is more conducive to surfing, whereas La Concha is more for swimming. So we were just ambling along when out of nowhere the two good sized waves in front of us converge ( in constructive interference for all you science minded people) into one huge wave that was taller than Mike, and heīs 6ī 8" at least. We were still kind of back from the water when Brittney and I turned and started to run. Actually Iīd started to run as soon as I saw the waves converge, but itīs very difficult to run up-hill in sand when you are weighed down by 3 layers of clothes and a heavy purse with your shoes hanging on it. Well Mike and Brittney turned and stood their ground and the wave came to about their stomachs, but it didnīt knock them over. However I was still running away when the wave caught up to me, still at about 2-3 feet in height. I bit it, hard. There was no hope. The wave knocked me down and rolled me over about 4 times before I could tell which way was up and try to save myself. Mike and Brittney say itīs the funniest thing theyīve seen the whole semester, and I laughed a little. But when you are that wet and covered in sand and without shoes because they too were soaked itīs rather difficult to laugh a lot. Mostly I just stood there looking cold, wet and miserable, and covered in sand. I wasnīt and Iīm still not really upset, becuase what good would it do me? I canīt change the fact that salt water is incredibly corrosive and now my camera and cell phone are dead. And I canīt change the fact that I got really really wet and had to walk home ( to the hotel) for about 2 miles wearing what felt like cold, wet sand paper for pants. So really, it was quite funny to imagine myself rolling like a log down the beach in the water, looking helpless because I couldnīt tell which way was up. I really was quite the pitiful site, and Mike to pictures to show everyone, so hopefully Iīll have those up soon. But as of now I have no more digital camera and no more cell phone. Amazingly my 6 euro watch still works, probably thanks to itīs stainless steel back. If you want to keep in contact with me Iīll be axiously awaiting your E-mails! Hope you all had a better week than I did cause it was raining all day in France, and I forgot my umbrella too.....
Love and Hugs, Raquel
P.S. Donīt miss my pictures from September! They are up on the "Lots of Pictures" link, up there to the left. Muah -- RPN Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 06:35 AM
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Friday 8th ,October 2004 Visiting Cuenca and The Reina Sofia No more Pictures! Yup, thatīs right, I canīt put up any more pictures online from Spain because my Laptop is pretty much busted. Iīm still able to send the pics to my dad on the memory card, but thatīll take a lot longer. At least youīll be able to look at all my pictures soon. My Dad got my CD of my first month in Spain this week, so they should be up on my pictures link any day .... or even minute now.... But yeah, say a little prayer for my computer, and for my Dad when heīs trying to figure out how it lost itīs mind and if we can recover it.
But, on to happier subjects! Last Friday we went to Cuenca, a little-ish city west of the Madrid area. It is really cool because it has part of the Museum of abstract art in a "casa colgada". That means a haning house. Yup, hanging. Although itīs not like they are suspended in mid air. The city was first built on top of a huge precipice and there wasnīt a lot of room up there on top, so they built a few houses hanging over the edge slightly, about 8 feet. They have amazing views of the surrounding valley and the lower(and newer) part of the city. The cathedral was also really cool. Some people say it is ugly, but thatīs just becuase the art it houses is very eclectic. And the stained glass windows are nothing like the León cathedral. They were abstract, with lines of different colors going horizontally, and random yellow circles here and there. Youīll see in the pictures that I send my dad next... But they were really cool.
On Saturday morning we took a trip to the Reina Sofia museum of Abstract art in Madrid. The coolest parts were the rooms dedicated to Salvador Dali, Robert Capa (photos of the Guerra Civil) and Pablo Picasso. The focus of our visit was that very famous painting "Guernika". It is about 8 feet tall (from where I stood) and probably 12-16 feet long, but if you really want to know you can google it. Suffice it to say that it is quite large and impressive, and also very expressive. Wow, yeah, just wow. I thought Iīd seen it in books and understood it, but there are some things you just have to experience in person. All my Love and Hugs, Rachel
P.S. You are missing out on the Medieval fair here. Itīs the week of Cervantes and tomorrow through Tuesday there will be a medeival fair in the Plaza. There is something unique about going to a Medieval fair in a town that actually live through the Middle ages and the Reniassance, I guess thereīs just a unique atmosphere. Hope you all have a good weekend too. Tomorrow morning weīre going to Ávila! Posted by Rachel NewberryPosted : 01:37 PM
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Wednesday 29th ,September 2004 |