Flamenco Dance

 On the outside of the old city in Granada, up on the hillside overlooking the Alhambra, there is a region known as the sacramonte. It is a cavernous region where the gypsies, having helped in the reconquest with their knowledge of metalwork, moved afterward because they did not want to integrate into mainstream society with its requirements and expectations of taxes and servitude to the crown. Instead, they preferred their relative independence and so stayed in caves outside of the walled old city. Now these caves are characteristic of the gypsies (though very few still live there) and of course their unique style of dance, the Flamenco. Here I am with a group of students and tourists in one of the caves waiting for the beginning of a flamenco show. It was amazing to go back to the origins and see the characteristic Spanish dance while sitting across from the symbol of the Spanish reconquest.

Our first flamenco dancer.

One of the few male flamenco dancers that performed for us in our little cave.

The Baths

 In the Muslim tradition, cleanliness is essential. They have hammam baths in Morocco where once a week the women and men go (in separate sides) for a deep cleaning. For about 15 dirham (about $1.80) they get in, and then will either scrub themselves down with a pumice-type stone, or lie on the ground where someone else will scrub them down, removing the top layers of skin. My friends who went said that their skin came off like pencil shavings, but they felt great afterward. There are three rooms with three different temperatures, and traditionally they would progress from one to the other throughout the process. Here is an Arab bath in Granada which would have been very busy until the Christians conquered in 1492. This is one of the rooms with the original pillars, remarkably relatively untouched by the Christian kings. Apparently when they conquered the city, they demolished most of the baths (they saw little reason for cleanliness, and felt them immoral because of the public bathing habits), but kept this one, added a sort of wading pool, and it became more like a private spa for the royal family. Now we can go and get a feel for what life may have been like in Arab Spain.

 This is a detailed picture of one of the capitols of the pillars in the Arab bath. They are amazing, and very unique, each one slightly different, and all of them very old.

In line with their tradition of cleanliness, and maybe the origin of their physical cleanliness habits, they also have a strong tradition of spiritual purification. This is a fountain found in part of the great mosque in Casablanca, but similar rooms were in all of the mosques that I visited. Before prayers they will (would) gather and from the water off of this locus flower fountain they would "wash" their body: their eyes, mouth, nose, ears, arms, etc. in a symbolic fashion as part of the purification process before approaching God, or Allah.
 

This is a Turkish bath, an alternative to the Hammam baths. This one was in the Great Mosque, and instead of laying and scrubbing, they would sit in hot water as long as they comfortably could, and then go and sit on a heated bench around the outside. Once cooled, they would go back into the water, repeating the process as often as they like.

The Alhambra

WOW. This beautiful place was a Muslim palace/fortress on the hill where the kings lived until, as the last Muslim stronghold, they were conquered in 1492 by the Catholic kings, Fernando and Isabella. It is very large, with three or four general areas, including the towers, gardens, and actual palace. It stands on the hill overlooking the city, and it wonderfully represents the mixing of histories and cultures, because as the Christians reconquered, they found it so breathtaking that they moved in, and over the course of a hundred years or more they made many changes and modifications to bring it more in line with their tastes. Now you can visit this jewel of the ancient world, and everybody should (and they mostly do, the only place where I saw a comparable amount of tourists to the Alhambra was the Prado in Madrid).
 

Here we were taking a break (one of many), and I just noticed the magnificence of overlooking the outer wall, divided by a moat, and broken up by the periodic defensive guard towers. This is a great example of how it was not just a royal palace, but also a fortress to ward off invaders. These are the two friends who accompanied me through Sevilla (the second time) and Granada.

This is from one of the fortress towers, overlooking the city. It is a spectacular view! The Alhambra was made famous by Washington Irving, an American romantic writer who stayed here for a year in the mid to late 19th century. The audio guides are written in his reflective poetic style, so here I am, contemplating the "melancholy decadence" that this place were to suffer if not for the noble heritage and idyllic elements of water and lush vegetation found in the gardens and courtyards (it was hard to strike this pose among the breathtaking beauty and vistas of the area).
 

After a long 4.5 hour tour through the Alhambra, I noticed that my long slender audio guide had a striking resemblance to Skywalker's characteristic weapon. So...

Sevilla and Beyond

After returning to Spain, I went through the Cathedral in Sevilla, where you can see (as in this picture) Columbus's burial place. He was in the Dominican Republic, but later moved to Cuba, and when it was clear that they would win their independence in 1898, Spain brought his remains back to the motherland. Here they rest in a symbolic monument for all to see, you just have to visit Sevilla.
 

On the drive from Sevilla to Cordoba, we saw a large and interesting structure up on a hill in the middle of a small town. So, we stopped and climbed up to this lookout in the courtyard of an ancient church. On the way we passed an archeological museum, in this tiny town of Osuna, that had roman remnants, Visigoth panels, Arabic coins, but what I thought was the most interesting was their collection of pre-roman Iberian sculptures. I love a land where just driving from one city to another, you can stop to rest and find the remains of civilizations that border on pre-history. In our country, the historical monuments begin popping up in the 18th century, not the fifth and sixth century BC!

Morocco

This is the great mosque of Casa Blanca begun in the late 80's and finished in the early 90's. It is an enormous structure, inside and out, and they explained that it is the third largest mosque in the Muslim world (second to one in Damascus and Baghdad I think), but it has the largest minaret in the Muslim world. Inside it was huge, open and cool, with very intricate decoration that closely resembles much of the Muslim architecture that we had been observing throughout Andalusia and Morocco. In other words, they still use much of the same designs that they have for the last several hundred to a thousand years. I was awed by their structure.
 




After the mountains and Chefchaouen, we came down into the capital city of Rabat, and urban and much more westernized center. While there, among all of the interesting academic discussions and visits, for lunch we went out to visit an organic farm. Here you see a tent that the nomadic tribes of Northern Morocco would use to protect them from the heat and sun, which covered us while we ate (though it was still pretty hot). Among other things, this shelter shows the mixture of cultures within morocco: urban/rural/nomadic etc.

 In the afternoon we took a walking tour of the old city (the Medina) with some college students at the university of Rabat. It is a beautiful part of the the city, right along this river that you see and where it empties into the see. We went up along the wall that is on the left and looked out over the Atlantic, passed an ancient minaret, and rested in the cool sea breeze. Here you see the mouth of the river and in the distance the ocean; this was a refuge for pirates in the 19th century and before, pillaging European vessels and then coming in here to dock, take stock of their booty, and hide from retaliation

After a long day out in the rural villages of the Rif mountain range in northern Morocco, we returned to our small hotel where our guide had arranged for some local musicians to come and visit us. One of them read poetry, and the other two played their traditional instruments and sang traditional music. It was very soothing, very pleasant, and meant a lot more when I got to see them than when I just heard the music playing in the background somewhere or over the radio. The man in the middle leads a music school there, and the young man nearest to me is an up-and-coming musician, and the lead singer in this group, around Morocco, so we were honored to have him sing for us. It was really a great end to a grueling day.

Medina

In the old part of the city, the "Medina," they have these streets of shops, little nooks where venders hang, display and sale their wares. It was incredibly crowded, and busy, and we walked for some time through here, all the while locals were passing by and jostling us as we were going slower than they as they bustled to get their work done. Many here watched with a weary eye, wondering what we (who obviously did not belong) were doing there, and as I tried to take pictures, they shied back and shook me away, obviously not wanting to appear in any foreign photos. I took this more neutral one later. it was amazing.

 

One day we went into the back country to see local farms and agricultural cooperatives. While there, we saw these schools, segregated between boys and girls, where they teach practical skills: wood and metal working for the boys, sewing and needlepoint for the girls. These were students who could not or did not go to the normal public schools for whatever reason,

Eating in Morocco

 We were invited to a traditional dinner in Morocco, twice, in which we ate as they did, with our hands. they brought out large wheels of bread, and we each tore off a piece, then we tore off little bite-size pieces that we dipped in a common dish of food. For the second course they brought out meet, that we had to pinch off between the bread and our fingers, which was very messy, but it is a sign of respect that we are willing to share a common bowl this way. Then we had a third course of chicken, and finally a fourth course of seasonal fruit. Finally, since we were all dirty, they brought out this pan and a bar of soap, and we washed up right there over the table, pouring the water over our hands into the basin to rinse. It was an interesting experience, and a style of eating that I saw repeated over and over again.

Africa and Morocco

 

Here I am on the ferry crossing the strait of Gibraltar. That "rock" in the background is the Rock of Gibraltar, a British possession (and city), and one of the two pillars of Hercules marking the end of the peninsula and the beginning of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic (symbolically). The tradition states that Hercules had to venture this way on one of his tasks, and this is where he stepped foot on the peninsula.

 

I have now reached Africa and Morocco. This me getting off at the port and onto my fourth continent. Here in Morocco is the other pillar of Hercules (I took a picture but it did not turn out).

Our first night in Morocco we stayed in a small city outside of Tangier. As you can see from this view from my window, it was beautiful, with all of the buildings painted white with blue trim. I learned that they put limestone in water, boil it and break it down and then use that to paint their house white, and they add colors to make it blue. The entire coastal part of the city was like this, it was marvelous. Also, our hotel was right on the beach of the Mediterranean, so after I checked in I went out and took a dip. Now I have swam in the Mediterranean on two different continents!

Sevilla

 When we first arrived, we were supposed to have our classes in a room at the University of Sevilla. However, the students were demonstrating this week, so they decided to move us. The next best place...? A 14th century monastery on the edge of the old city. I can't complain, it was beautiful.

 

On the way to the monastery we passed through this plaza (Alameda de Hercules) where they pointed out that the two pillars in the background were Roman pillars built in the second or third century. In the 16th century they moved them from the original location to the current location to decorate a now pleasant and relaxing plaza. About fifteen years ago this plaza was run down and filled with dark-life activities, but since it has become one of the most trendy places in Sevilla to hang out (with one of my favorite restaurants too!).

 

This was a ninth century Muslim castle built during the ascent of Islamic Spain. In the background you can see one of two additions by the Christian Kings after they reconquered Sevilla in the 13th Century. That one was by Don Pedro, the first to extend the palace, designed to imitate the Muslim architecture. Here history seems to mesh together, showing that it does not necessarily end, but we grow from one stage into another, preserving vestiges of the past that influence our future.

 

A really fascinating street by our hotel, Sevilla sports countless walkways that are narrower than my reach, but are still drivable if you can get your car in (or motto).

 

These are three additional pillars that the Romans built to sustain the same temple as those two that were moved to the plaza de Alameda de Hercules. Scholars suspect that the structure was either a temple of worship to the Roman gods, or a government building. The supports are about 15-20 feet below street level, because two thousand years of rubble, silt, floods, etc. have buried them, and modern Sevilla keeps on living, growing out of  what it was yesterday into what it is today. Our guide and friend, Carlos, mentioned that improving homes in this part of the city is difficult because whenever they venture into the foundations, they find ruins and remnants of this past civilization, and then the construction has to stop while they call in experts to analyze the artifacts and either excavate, or give the green light to proceed. This can take from weeks to years (if they have to excavate).

 

On the first day of the seminar we went to a little Mediterranean tapa restaurant for lunch. The director ordered three tapas for everyone, and then we got to choose our own fourth one. They were all absolutely delicious, so much so that I went back later in the week. Four tapas they were a bit expensive, but they are also several cuts above the rest, and absolutely the best I have had in Sevilla. Of those that I ate with the group, These were the most interesting looking, and they took me back when I first saw them. They are anchovies (I think they are raw) filleted over a type of sauce and guacamole. I looked at them and felt a bit less than adventurous, but since I promised long ago (in 1999) that in a new place I would try everything at least once, I had to try them, and I am glad I did. They were absolutely delicious; just wonderful! When I went back the second time, I ordered them again. How could I not? 

This is a picture of an elementary school in Sevilla that we visited. It is labeled a bilingual school because they are teaching English and Spanish, but more uniquely their children come from something like 12 different countries around the world, from China to Bolivia. They are faced with the struggle of helping them connect through their similarities, teaching to respect cultures and differences, while teaching Spanish to be able to function in society. These kids usually serve as translators and liaison for their parents who speak no Spanish, requiring them to mature faster than most kids would like to, so they try to give that innocence back a bit to the kids. Sound familiar? 

In preparation for our travel trip to Spain in the summer of 2013, I will be spending time there this summer to stake out hotspots, visit sites and plan our trip. I will be taking pictures and posting them here to log my travels. To begin the trip, I am placing pictures here from a trip I took several years ago. Follow along as I journey through Spain and Morocco this June, so you can see what we can do next year.

 The walls of Avila were built during the middle ages as a way to protect the city from the raging war of the reconquest. Christians and Muslims fought over territory and control from 718 to 1492, which lead to the construction of numerous fortresses and fortifications such as you can see here. Many of such sites have been restored and you can climb up and walk along the city or castle walls to appreciate their work or reenact their battles!

This is a shot of Granada as I looked out over the city. Off to the left you can see the tower of the Alhambra, a medieval Arabic castle and the last Muslim stronghold during the reconquest. This is the city that in 1492 marked the completion of the peninsula as a unified Spain and the Catholic country.

In 1605 Miguel de Cervantes published the first part of his novel Don Quixote, in which a crazed adventurer believes he is a knight-errant to right the world's wrongs. In the iconic chapter eight he mistakes a series of windmills on the plains of La Mancha for giants. So, charging into the melee, he pierces the mill's blade that hooks him and spins him around. Here I stand at the base of these "giants" as I marched through La Mancha, retracing a portion of Don Quixote's voyage.