Granada Graffiti

As I have mentioned before on this blog there is some amszing graffiti in Granada. About a decade ago the city was fighting against the graffiti artists when they realized that many of them are actually really quite talented. There are still many people who go out and scrawl stupid ugly things on walls, but there is also a great deal of city sanctioned graffiti. There are about five graffiti artists that do most of the sanctioned, good work. I am going to post a sampling, but it will take a few postings to get all the photos up so keep scrolling down.

Translation: Rap for pleasure

Translation aid: nos = Us, usa = he uses, abusa = he abuses...

Translation: Hero in the street! Fascist in bed?

Granada Graffiti, cont.

Granada Graffiti, cont.

Home

Ok, so I am home now. I realize that there are so many postings I promised and never got around to doing. In the next few days, before I start working, I will be posting more about the Alhambra, graffiti, the beach party, Valencia, and so much more. So keep checking in even though I am home!

Barcelona!!!!!!

Ok, I have not been to Barcelona in over five years so if you were hoping for some nice photos based on the title of this post I am sorry. It is a beautiful city though and everyone ought to see it at some point. Moving on....Last night Futbol Club Barcelona won the Champions League Final in Paris again Arsenal and it was the most amazing football match I have ever seen. I never really cared one way or another about football until recently, but one of the Barcelona players made me fall in love the with game (baseball is still better though). The guy on the Barcelona team is named Ronaldinho, he's Brazilian, and widely regarded by authorities on the subject as the best footballer in the world right now. He is amazing to watch. When he has the ball it's like magic. There is this amazing slow quality in the way he plays, but really he is very fast and he has this smile nearly constantly that makes him appear like a little boy just so in love with the game, totally uncorrupted by fame and money and whatever, that's all just about the love of playing ball. Anyway, I love watching him play and Barcelona is a great team with many other wonderful players as well. I have been watching the Champions League games since I first got here and last night was the payoff when my favorite team won in a very dramatic game:

About ten minutes into the game the keeper from Arsenal got a red card, which for those of you who don't know much about football means he got ejected. When a player gets a red card they are not replaced on the field and the team goes down a player. Clearly you cannot play without a keeper so the keeper left and the second string keeper came in and another player had to leave the game. So Arsenal, already the underdog by nearly everyone's estimation in this game, was playing with only 10 men while Barcelona had 11. Nonetheless Arsenal made it hard going for Barcelona and scored in the 37th minute. It was not until after minute 70 that Eto'o finally got Barcelona's first goal. It was really nerving to watch. Because it's the final if there is a tie at the end they have shoot outs until someone wins. That would have been rather exciting, but I was hoping for another Barcelona goal to avoid that whole scene. A few minutes later, really kinda down to the wire, this little (he's a teenager I believe) Italian guy Belletti comes in for Barcelona. Within minutes he's gotten a second goal for Barcelona through the knees of Arsenal's keeper, who's is from Spain. At this point all of us Barcelona fans were feeling better, but it only takes a few seconds for a goal to be scored and Arsenal still could have tied it up, requiring a shoot out. When finally the game was over the bar I was in went completely crazy. It's an Irish bar and on one side where the British Isles folk, cheering for Arsenal. On the other side were the Spanish and assorted internationals cheering for Barcelona. I was in the middle, sitting on the same stool as always at the bar so I could chat with my friend who tends bar there. I was worried the (very) drunk Irish pick a fight (wouldn't be the first time) and I would get caught in the middle, but in the end they were all very quite and mad and pretty much just left after the game.

Today I very content following the Barcelona game, with the new friend I made yesterday, my allergies are a bit better, and it's only around 34 degrees out today. Yesterday it got up to 44 (111F) in the sun. That's brutal.

Granada Cathedral

The other week I took a tour of the Granada Cathedral and the Royal Chapel, which is next door. It is the third largest Cathedral in Spain (beware when asking which is the largest because depending on regional alliances people will get in heated debates/fights over whether Toledo or Sevilla has the largest in Spain). The Cathedral was charged by Isabel la Catolica and in the style of the reconquest was built on top of the foundation of the largest Mosque, which was torn down for the Cathedral to be built. The Cathedral was never finished and is missing a cupola and a tower, but is none the less a rather imposing building. I like it inside much more than on the outside because it has a tremendous amount of light. Apparently some call it the Cathedral of Light, La Catedral de Luz. As you'll see in the photo there is a huge amount of natural light inside. The main Cathedral, just like all of the others in Granada, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary so there are some great paintings of scenes from her life. Because they are currenlty doing restoration work on the Cathedral the paintings have been moved to ground level so we got a very good view of them. I have included one photo.

Next door is the Royal Chapel. Isabel and Ferdinan as well as their daughter Juana, who followed them to the thorn are buried there. There is also Felipe el Hermoso (Handsome) buried there. He was the Flemish husband of Juana and son of Maximilian of Austria and supposedly the reason Juana went insane - she is known as Juana la Loca. There is a good movie made about their relationship if you want to see it: Spanish title Juana la Loca, American title: Mad Love. Anyway, there is also the grandson of the Spanish kings who had come to Granada after his mother, their oldest daughter, died. He later died as a child and is buried with the rest of the family. The Chapel is very different and I have very few photos because none can be taken inside and there not much to the outside. But inside there is a little treasure trove. There are crowns and vestaments, but the gem is this amazing Boteccelli of Jesus in the garden with his three sleeping disciples. It's truly amazing to see. there are many other fabulous paintings from the Flemish school, but that one really grabs me everytime I see it.

Well, I guess that's it about that. I could write much more, but most of you who read this are not as obsessed with churches as I am so onto the photos:

Asking for Hugs.

Here in Spain people kiss each other a lot. When you run into a friend you kiss them twice, once on each cheek. When you meet someone for the first time, same thing. Basically there is a lot of kissing of cheeks going on. I like this, it's more intimate than the cold American handshake. BUT(!!!!!), people here don't hug each other. I don't know about all people back at home, but my friends and I hug each other. I get hugged a lot in the States and hugs are very important to me. Here I have to ask people to hug me when I am feeling down. And you cannot ask just anyone because most men here would understand because hugging is not part of their cultural baggage, to use an anthropological term. The other day, when I really needed a hug because life wasn't going so great, I had to go in search of one of the only men I know from the States, who I barely know, but assumed would understand or at least not judge me. He gave me a great hug and I went home happy, but I think the number one thing, that isn't a friend or relation, I miss from the States is hugs. Even more than baseball, martinis, saag paneer, or my mom's cooking I miss hugs.

So all of you back home get ready and practice because when I come home I want lots and lots of hugs.

Missing People

Well obviously I really miss my family and friends back home in the States, but recently there were to two important additions to that category. My dear friends Mary and Stephanie returned to the US after spending three months here in Granada with me. They were not the first friends I made, but the most important, and in the past week and half my life in Granada has gotten much worse for them not being here. Now when I go to my favorite I take January's Atlantic Monthly (I am finally almost done with it) and read it because there is no one to come with me. This makes the owner/bartender Freddie make fun of me. I have no one to go dancing with either and while dancing is not something to do all that often it is an important activity from time to time. The good news about Mary and Stephanie is that I pretty darn sure they are my newest friends for life, unless of course Stephanie becomes a Scientologist, but seriously they are amazing and while I miss them a lot I am sure I will see them again.

This is us back during Semana Santa: Steph, myself, and Mary.

Things I Miss From Home!

First of all there is the all too obvious family and friends, but the less obvious included:

1. BASEBALL. The fact that it is baseball season and I cannot watch the games, listen to them, or even follow them online is killing me.

2. Food stuffs: Indian food (Saag Paneer!), Chicago Style Pizza, Dirty Vodka Martinis, Dr. Pepper and Peanut M&Ms, Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Thai food, feta cheese, my father's fried spinach with mustard seeds, my mother's dairy and wheat free quiches, fresh baked cookies made by my mother and sister, and cooking for myself. Why is it that we always miss food the most?

3. The list of random things: UsWeekly magazine, comfortable mattresses, the Drug Policy Reform movement, NPR on Saturday mornings, clothes dryers, Blues music.