EXCURSION TO ANDALUCIA: SEVILLE I

By Joshua Berlinger

Tufts University

The highlight of our first day in Seville was the Alcázar, no question.  The sun seemed to perfectly peek out as we were about to enter, causing all of us to take off our jackets and carry them around 
our shoulders, waists, or whatever we could.  From the moment we stepped into the gardens from the side entrance, it was breathtaking.  
One could feel the tranquil energy as we walked towards the structure.  The seemingly incongruous dirt paths were lined with orange trees, typical of the Moorish influence of Southern Spain.  The moment we saw the structure was like a scene from a movie.  The sun peeked through, and everyone stood in awe for a second, before all the cameras burst out and everyone rushed to get as many pictures as possible.  We made our way through the first plaza, which was lined with beautiful Moorish tiles, and walked up to what looked like the protective walls, and walked up the stairs and started our walk around  the structure.  We then entered the old castle, whose tiles and structure seemed dominated by Arabic influence, almost to the point  where the castle would have seemed more fitting to be located in Morocco, not Seville.  We then explored the bath structure located under the palace as our final stop, which was absolutely stunning.
Next, we had a quick lunch, and then went kayaking for our “surprise activity.”  Fortunately, the good weather stayed long enough for that too.  Although we got a little wet, it felt awesome to get some exercise and take in the good weather.  I personally love kayaking, and was ecstatic when I heard we were going to get the chance to do some.  We didn’t see a ton of the city, but all in all, it was a fantastic experience.

EXCURSION TO ANDALUCIA: CORDOBA

By Sarah Assemany

Wofford College

The first day of our Cordoba and Sevilla adventure was extremely fun!  We all boarded the bus early that morning and started our journey to Cordoba.  The bus ride was fun in itself because the whole CIEE group hadn´t been together since orientation.  Every person in our group has a great personality so it was great to catch up with everyone!  Once we arrived in Cordoba we stopped at the hotel to drop off our things, and then we headed to lunch.  We had an authentic southern meal for Lunch with many different dishes.  One of our plates was pork, french fries, and a fried egg.  The way the eat the dish is by breaking the egg yoke and missing everything together, including the french fries.  Now, I am slightly particular about my food, and I don´t usually like different foods to touch each other on the plate, but this was actually really tasty!  After lunch we headed to La Mezquita. 

I learned that La Mezquita was originally a mosque in Cordoba, and it was one of the most beautiful mosques in the world.  Then, when the Catholics took control in Spain, they demolished all non-Catholic establishments.  However, they couldn’t bring themselves to destroy La Mezquita, so instead they just took control over it and used it as a Catholic Cathedral.  For this reason, the people that live in Cordoba refer to La Mezquita as the Cathedral, but almost everyone else in the world knows the religious site as La Mezquita.  It is enormous.  I had seen pictures before I came to Spain, but I did not realize how gigantic it really is.  I can’t really describe it; you have to see it to believe it!  Isn’t it crazy that one religion can totally dominate another?  I know it has happened a lot throughout history, but I still think it’s weird to imagine

Finally, that night we went to a Flamenco dance performance.  Our program had already seen a small Flamenco performance consisting of two female dancers during our orientation, but this was a real Flamenco performance with many dancers both male and female.  There were many different choreographed numbers with various beautiful costumes.  They also had a live band and singers throughout the entire show as well.  Flamenco is both a style of dance and music.  During intermission we actually got to talk to the band.  Our first day of our excursion also happened to be my 21st birthday, and everyone told the band members that it was my birthday.  So, right before the last song and dance of the show, the head singer had me stand up in the audience while everyone sang Happy Birthday to me!  I was nervous that my birthday would be kind of depressing since I would be away from home and missing my friends and family, but our experience in Cordoba that day was much more memorable than anything I would have done in South Carolina!  Not many people can say that they went to La Mezquita and watched a live Flamenco performance on their 21st birthday!   

LS HOUSING IN MADRID

By Joshua Berlinger
Tufts University

The legal studies apartment has been absolutely wonderful.  The apartment is very spacious for Spain, with a large living room/den, and a kitchen that is interestingly divided with a wall between the stove, dishwasher/sink area and where we store food.  My room is located right off the kitchen, which I have gotten used to.  I traded a smaller room for a private bathroom, which I love.  Sarah and Charlotte, my roommates, both have big rooms on the other side of the apartment, next to Sabela’s, the apartment RA.  Although we have very different schedules, we try and have dinner together a couple times a week.  At first, the conversation was pretty simple.  Our Spanish wasn’t as progressed and we weren’t as comfortable with each other.  But our dinners together are some of my favorite times.  I really feel Spanish, we sit at the table for a longer time than normal over David’s delicious food and a bottle of Tinto de Verano, and just chat, laugh, and have a good time together.  Sarah, Charlotte, and I have gotten extremely close living together.  We’re all starting to notice our weird idiosyncrasies come out in front of each other.  All in all, its been a perfect balance of independence and guidance.  We basically all live on our own, but still get plenty of food prepared for us and still have someone to ask about advice about the city

AT THE NATIONAL COURT

Por Charlotte Greene

Case Western Reverse University

The legal language class went to see a hearing at the Audiencia Nacional (National Court).  We witnessed the trial of a woman, Maria Jesus Arriaga, accused of participating in a terrorist car bombing in 1985 in Pamplona.  She had been charged with transporting the terrorists who carried out the attacks.  I was extremely curious to see what an ETA trial would be like.  I had assumed there would be strong anti-terrorist sentiment, similar to that in the United States.  In reality, all parties remained extremely respectful and understanding the to the accused.  One of the most interesting parts was the testimony of a witness.  This witness had previously testified that the accused was guilty and helped sentence her to 30 years in jail.  The witness had rescinded her previous testimony, and was now proclaiming the innocence of Arriaga.  The witness claimed she had been coerced into her previous false testimony.  I wondered how long ago the witness decided to change her mind or what prompted her to come forward with the truth.  I saw the witness speaking with the family of the accused and they seemed friendly which came as a surprise to me.  It seemed as if the family of the accused had been fighting for a very long time to free Arriaga. 

                The Audiencia Nacional was not quite what I had expected.  I had expected it to be more similar to trials in the United States.  The most noticeable difference was in the behavior of the lawyers.  The lawyers did not stand and argue their cases; they questioned the witness from a seat on the same level as that of the judges.  Another difference was the dress.  Judges in Spain wear old fashioned robes with lacy sleeves.  It seemed odd to me because although the dress was very formal, the trial overall seemed much less formal than those in the United States.  Also, all of the family of the accused, visitors and members of the media sat behind a glass wall in a separate room- we were actually not in the same room as the trial.  The trial was certainly different but I found it followed a similar format as those in the United States.  Overall, I enjoyed visiting the Audencia Nacional and seeing what a legal proceeding is like in Spain.

LAST DAY IN BRUSSELS

Text by Joshua Berlinger

Tufts University

Before we made our way home, we made sure to stop at two more important sights.  The plan was to stop at St. Michael’s Cathedral and town hall.  The cathedral was absolutely stunning.  The size and intricacies of the architecture were just overwhelming, and it was not too crowded as Sunday mass had already let out.  Below the cathedral were also the remainders of old ruins, which added something very interesting to what seemed like a very stereotypical older European cathedral on the inside (although nonetheless beautiful).  After going to city hall, we were told that it was closed and the website had misinformed us of the dates, so we went to the Erasmus house.  The house actually belonged to a friend of his, and he spent his summers there.  The paintings and architecture of the house were beautiful, but the garden was a bit depressing because all the plants had not grown in yet.  The groundskeeper said that by summer, it would look beautiful.  However, the potential was very much visible to us.  After, we hopped back to the hotel, got on the bus, and went home after a long but extremely informative and enjoyable trip.

EXHIBITS IN BRUSSELS: EUROPEANS ON AMERICANS & MAGRITTE MUSEUM

Text by Sarah Assemany
Wofford College

Our third day of our Brussels excursion was definitely an exciting one!  We started off the day by going to an Exposition on American History entitled, America: It´s our history too.  While the three of us are pretty knowledgeable on American history, the exposition was interesting because it provided a European perspective of American History.  We didn´t agree with all of the interpretations of history, but it was fun to see how Europeans view our history.  While America definitely has its own unique culture it is important to remember that the American culture and/or history is a mixture of various cultures around the world.  This trip was an enlightening one for me because it put American history into perspective for me.

Then, we went to Magritte Museum showcasing the work of Rene Margritte.  I thought that the museum was going to be extremely small since it was dedicated to solely one artist, but I was surprised to find that the museum held numerous pieces.  I couldn´t believe how much work one artist had completed in a single lifetime.  The pieces were all very fun and innovative; each piece allowed you to create your own interpretation of what the artist was trying to say.  It was definitely the kind of art I like to look at because each piece left you with a different emotion.

And, with each day in Brussels we experienced the culture through trying the local food.  Although the waistband of my pants aren’t going to feel so great these next couple of weeks, trying all of the food Belgium has to offer was definitely worth it.  If you are a chocolate lover, Brussels/Belgium is the place to be!  Brussels is known for its chocolate, waffles, and beer.  Aside, from stuffing myself with chocolate, waffles, and even chocolate waffles, I enjoyed the beauty of the city and making the most of the cultural venues that Brussels has to offer.

LAS INSTITUCIONES EUROPEAS

Nuestro primer día en Bruselas estuvo dedicado a visitar algunas de las (muchas) instituciones que la Unión Europea tiene en la capital belga.

Nada más llegar a la zona donde están situadas, nos encontramos con la Comisión Europea, un enorme edificio donde se elaboran las nuevas propuestas de ley de la UE presentadas ante el Parlamento y el Consejo. La Comisión europea es un organismo independiente de los gobiernos nacionales y actúa como brazo ejecutivo de la UE, o lo que es lo mismo, aplica las decisiones del Parlamento y del Consejo.

En nuestro viaje hacia la visita al Parlamento, nos encontramos con numerosas dificultades para acceder a los distintos caminos que conducían al mismo. Fuesémos donde fuésemos parecía tarea imposible acercarse al Parlamento Europeo. Finalmente, y tras conseguir nuestro objetivo, nos enteramos que distintos líderes europeos (incluído el Presidente español Rodríguez Zapatero) se encontraban en ese momento en Bruselas, llevando a cabo una serie de reuniones en el Consejo.

La visita al Parlamento fue muy interesante en cuanto que pudimos conocer la distribución de escaños y cómo se trabaja en un ámbito multiligüe y multicultural. Fue un privilegio poder acceder al hemiciclo parlamentario y poder concocer in situ el lugar de trabajo de los eurodiputados.

Junto al Parlamento, se encuentra el Comité de las Regiones. Allí nos esperaba Dña. María José López Francha, miembro del Comité y encargada de temas de desarrollo sostenible. Junto a ella, tuvimos el privilegio de recorrer el edificio e ir conociendo la forma de trabajo de una institución que tiene una función consultiva. Durante el recorrido pudimos acceder a a una de las secciones en las que se trataban temas de Relaciones Internacionales. Fue muy interesante observar al forma de trabajo y la conocer la composición de

de la Sección, ofreciéndosenos la oportunidad de tener acceso a una actividad, generalmente, cerrada al público. Durante nuestra visita al Comité de las Regiones, tuvimos la oportunidad de conocer a Doña Margarita Lopez Armendáriz, miembro de la Sección de Relaciones Internacionales y Presidenta de la Cámara de Comercio de la ciudad de Melilla. Con ella pudimos conocer los pormenores de trabajo en la Comisión y la dinámica política que encierra el edificio.

Junto a los edificios pudimos disfrutar de una escultura dedicada al Premio Sajarov, que reconoce la Libertad de Conciencia desde 1985 y que ha premiado, desde entonces,a personalidades tan imporantes como Nelson Mandela, Aun Sang Suu Kyi, Guillermo Fariñas, la Plataforma Basta Ya o las Naciones Unidas.