Into the wilds

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NYU's dime--which is to say my parents dime, translated through innumerable internal NYU accounts--took a bunch of us to one of Spain's least famed autonomías: Extremadura. Though its marginal status and name are somewhat justified (the land to interesting stuff ratio does not favor interesting stuff), the wilderness held certain treasures.

Notable features included, Mérida, a fairly well preserved Roman city, and Cáceres, a well preserved contemporary city. Further, there were a range of reconquista era castles and lush, agricultural vallies to be seen.

Most interesting among the sites was a museum holding a collection of artist Wolf Vostell, a German who lived in Spain and made gooey mashups of televisions, cars, and assorted machine parts. He depicts these technologies grappling with nature, and the setting itself extends this theme, placing them in a converted outpost for transhumant shepherds.

Most emblematic of NYU as an institution was our one free meal in Cáceres, which stuffed us in the course of two hours with enough food for four days, ensuring a great deal of waste and general pain on our parts.

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