A Very Spanish Weekend

What a wonderful weekend! After finishing up our third week of class, we were all excited to celebrate and see something other than the CLIC building.

On Friday, we went to La Carboneria to see a live flamenco show. It was amazing! The place started out empty (we should have known not to arrive early), but by 11:30 it was full of people. We enjoyed some sangria and cervezas and watched a very impressive show. In this performance, there was a guitar player, a singer, and a dancer. Flamenco is pretty passionate music - the singer looked to be in agony at times when he was playing! The dancer was unbelievable. I've never seen someone move their feet so quickly and for such a long amount of time! I absolutely loved the show - the rhythmic beat, the guitar, and the Spanish feel were so great to see in person - check out the video below!

On Saturday, seven of us took the train to Cadiz for the day. It was so nice to go someplace new and see more of Spain. Cadiz is questionably the oldest city in Europe; it's said to have been founded around 800 BC by the Phonecians. Today, it's known as "The Smiling City" and many Spaniards spend their summers on the beaches there. We walked around until finding a very crowded beach that seemed the place to be. I couldn't believe how tan most people were (or how much skin they exposed)! We relaxed in the sun for awhile, then decided to enjoy some shade, tapas, and a drink. After some more time in the sun, we walked around the city to see the cathedral, old watchtowers, and other buildings - such beautiful architecture. We happened upon an artisan market that was going on, which I loved! There is so much Moroccan/Muslim influence in Cadiz. This could be seen in the robes men were wearing, the food and spices, the music, and the jewelry that was being sold. After some more tapas, we hopped on the last train to Seville for a two hour ride back home. It was a great day!

I have one week left of class, then start Spanish classes. Although I'm looking forward to class ending, I'm sad for this chapter to be over. I've met so many great friends this month that I know I will really miss. Hopefully, we'll manage to spread ourselves out over Spain and provide a great reason for weekend trips . . .