Blogs from Extremadura, Spain, Europe - page 6

Queridos amigos, The first week of classes is finished but the homework is not. The professors are wonderful and understand that some of us still need the Spanish spoken clearly and slowly. This weekend I will go to Valencia de Alcánteres a small pueblo not far from Cáceres where Téresa (my mom here in Spain) grew up. She says that we will stay in the old house (that could mean centuries old, I don´t know) on her family´s farm. I am excited to see the orange trees and olive trees and the cold cellar. Ciao, Clair... read more

Queridos amigos, I am in the midst of packing mayhem as I leave for Caceres, Spain tomorrow (I will study at the Universidad de Extremadura through an Iowa State program). The end of packing is in sight and it shouldn't be long before I can close the suitcases. I think getting to Spain will be less intense than last-minute packing. Although, I will have to find my way through customs, baggage claim, and airport transportation before arriving at meeting point Cafeteria Neptuno. This entry is a bit of a test drive (I have no previous blogging experience) and please let me know that you see it, enjoy it, or if it be the case, think otherwise. My next entry should find me in Spain--and using a Spanish keyboard, so, until then, ciao! Clair... read more

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 ... read more

We had to leave at 8 o’ clock this morning! These early mornings are gonna kill me. I don’t even get up for school that early! We drove like 4 hours before we reached our destination. What disgusting weather. When we got off the bus it was only drizzling. By the time we got to the ruins it was pouring. I wanted to quit life. It was so miserable. My umbrella kept flipping inside out and by the time we finished visiting the Roman Ruins we were all soaked. We were supposed to go to some other places, but since the weather was so bad, we didn’t get to see anything else. It was really disappointing. I bet it was beautiful. This trip was different because Margaret wasn’t with us. We had this guy named Fernando ... read more

It's raining, it's pouring... why are we not surprised?! Today is officially the first day of Autumn, although we've already had the central heating on for a week. Still, on Monday I'm off to sunny Spain!! The town I'm going to is called Trujillo, in the region of Extremadura. Not many people have heard of Extremadura, but it's the region which borders Portugal and is north of Andalucia (where they have lots of flamenco dancing). Basically, south of Madrid, but north of Sevilla. Oh, go and look it up in an atlas... According to the official town website, which may be slightly biased, Trujillo is the most beautiful and unspoilt of all the conquistador towns. Several famous explorers, including Francisco Pizarro (who discovered Peru), came from Trujillo, and the lovely houses they built on their return ... read more