Jan 8th 2008
Yesterday I visited the amazing hillside city of Ronda. A 2 hour bus ride away, Ronda is a small village that has buildings dating 4000 years BEFORE Christ. That’s some old stone! We walked all around the city on the cobblestone and crossed the bridge into old town. To look down on the first bridge of Ronda we were looking in a gorge that was lined with boulders and trees. It was breathtaking. The bridge is where the citizens of Ronda used to collect taxes before people could enter the city. After wards we walked through the town, to the arab baths and the old beautiful parks. We also saw the bull ring, and walked town into the area where they fight. I didn’t like that nearly as much because I always feel so badly for the bulls. Our tour guide kept claiming over and over that the bulls were only existed to fight. That was their sole purpose. I try not to think about it. Other then that it was beautiful. I had tapas at a bar with Lily from S. Carolina, Liz from Massachusetts/Maine and Gabby from Minnesota. I had Frocaccia bread with tuna and roasted red peppers and another with jamon iberico and solmorejo. When I returned home last night after dinner my senora and I were talking about the house and I asked about the other areas and she told me she wanted to show me something. So all of a sudden we are walking toward these beautiful stairs with tiles that are ancient on them. She told me that each square was worth 20 euros. There had to have been over 100 tiles. The stairs spiraled upward to a little metal door that opened up to the roof of the castle. I walked out in utter awe of the view. The cathedral of Seville was spread out before my eyes, illuminated in the night. Its stones glowed gold and cast shadows off of all the ornamentations.
Today in class we began learning about the Franco era and the time leading up to it. The Guerra civil of espana or the civil war of spain that lasted from 1936-1939 was a time of great chaos and trouble. It is interesting to learn Spain’s history because I have never been taught that before. I have to write a 6 page paper in Spanish on a theme from the class, I haven’t decided what yet. Tonite im going to the museum then shopping because the biggest sales of the year are this month in Spain. Adio para ahora

Blog three
We went on another viaje today to Gibraltar. I didn’t know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. The view from the top of the rock was amazing as was being within a foot of the monkeys. We also visited a cave that was the incredible. The stalagmites were formed from dripping and running water and it was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was beautiful. Another interesting thing about Gibraltar is that it is British territory so the citizens mostly have British accents but many of them speak Spanish as well. the combination of the two is quite interesting. After eating at a café with Jessica, who enjoyed her first ever fish and chips we went shopping along the cobblestone streets of the small town. At a local discount shop where I found the most amazing jacket and dress, we met a woman who had a very different accent then anything I’ve ever heard. She spoke English, and told us that she had grown up in Jamaica, moved to Miami and then to Gibraltar with her husband. Both their parents were originally from India. This combination of background gave her a unique way of speaking. I also wondered to myself if she had been part of an arranged marriage… but didn’t ask, obviously. I finally found a straightener which makes me feel a little better about myself, but doesn’t do much good because of the humidity here. Since sevilla is situatied between two rivers, the humidity level is very high. Later tonite I am meeting with the girls to go to club Buddah for some dancing. Hasta luego!