Friday morning, bus ride 1. I got up really early to make sure I could find the bus that would take me to the bus station here in Granada. Turns out it was way easier than I thought it would be. On my way to the station I'm listening to all the Spanish going on around me and I hear some familiar words. I turn and its English. Turns out there are two canadians on the bus heading to the bus station as well. They were back packing through Europe and were on their way to Madrid.
Later Friday morning, bus ride 2. This ride was uneventful because I slept though it. However, it got me to city 1, Seville. This city looks newer than Granada and has a tram which if not for a very nice spanish man yelling "cuidao" I would have been hit by (despite its slow pace). In Seville we saw the largest cathedral in the world, La Giralda, another church, the Spanish Plaza (made for the world fair many years ago), ate some Spanish churros con chocolate (and met some people from Seattle), visited the Alcazar (the oldest functioning palace in the world), a Museum about Bull Fighting, an art museum and a mall. We stayed in a hostel on friday night and we were in a six person dorm with only five people. We had an extra friend that night and he brought home is own friend.
 |
| La Giralda in Seville |
Later Saturday evening, bus ride 4 and 5. In the theoretical world were everything always makes sense when you get off a bus you wait at the other side of the street to go back in the same direction. Spaniards don't seem to understand this. My friend and I crossed the street, because we live in the theoretical world, and got on the next bus that was supposed to go to the center. After a few stops, everybody gets off the bus. Some old woman tells us that this is the last stop. We don't recognize where we are. We ask the bus driver and he kicked us off the bus. Luckily, there was a map at this bus stop. We were now further away from where we wanted to be. Some police officers were nearby so we asked them which direction was the center (to make sure we'd be walking in the right direction - we got directions from the map). The police officer's answer: "Están muy lejos." Which translates to "you're very far." There was no bus, ergo we started walking. After about 10 minutes of walking we see a bus. And this time, we know its the right bus to take. We ran after it and got on. It took me exactly where I was expecting it too.
On my way back from the bus stop i hear some drums beating, wondering what this is I started looking for the origin. What i end up seeing is a huge procession, or a parade if you will, of all these people and a HUGE float thing with Jesus on it. Now I'm extremely confused. I may not go to church all the time, but I do know most of the holidays. I break out my Spanish. The first person who I asked had no idea. The second two ladies were more than happy to share what they knew. We crossed the street together and another old woman hears them explaining it to me and jumps in. Apparently its Semana Santo or Holy Week (which I thought was around Easter) but this is for the Resurrection. This float thing I belive is called an oferta and it was very shiny and clearly heavy. it also appeared to be moving by itself until the nice old lady explained it to me. 30-40 men/boys were underneath it wearing something specical on their neck to support the weight of this thing. They would only walk about a block or two before they would switch out. But this parade thing was long.
 |
| The "Float" |
While this nice old lady was explaining this to me, a girl turned around and starting listening to me. She clearly wasn't a Spaniard or else she wouldn't care about what was going on or would already know. After the parade passed us by, the girl and I continued to talk with the old lady. She was very nice. After the lady left, I continued to talk to the girl and found out that she was in Spain for a christian NGO and had just started to learn Spanish. She invited me to tapas. I went of course, who could pass up a possible new friend?
At this tapas restaurant we had a server (there were four other people with this girl, three of which were backpacking through europe) who knew english. We were in a curious mood and started asking her questions. She had lived in Granada for three years after she graduated from college in the US. She fell in love with Granada on a study abroad program while in college. Her program was through CEGRI. She went to U of I. She lives in Bartlett. I demanded a picture.
 |
| U of I Girl from Bartlett |
As I walked back to my casa I saw the parade again and watched it a second time. This time I was an ultra creeper because I was the only one taking photos.
Sunday morning, bus ride 6. I met up with some friends to go to a beach, Nerja. We were told its really pretty. I was expecting a lot. Bus ride 7, I was so excited I couldn't sleep on this bus but I got to see the Spanish country side again. It seriously is really pretty. On this bus ride I met a guy from California. He and his family were on their way to Nerja and then continuing on to Tenerife (Canary Islands) and somwhere else. Nerja was sunny and the beach was really rocky, but I got more "morena" or tan. Bus ride 8, we were waiting for the bus back to Granada and there were two busses. Both busses were going back to Granada. At first we weren't allowed on the other bus, because out ticket wasn't for that bus. In the end, we ended up on that bus. Why? We still have no idea.
 |
| Nerja beach |
 |
| Spanish countryside from bus window |
Bus ride 9. This was the city bus again and this time I got on the right bus the first time.
What a lot of bus rides! The cathedral, parade, and beach are great! Imagine -- a girl from Bartlett. Small world.
ReplyDelete