City of Cuenca

Photos

1. Group at top of mountain in Cuenca

2. Park in Cuenca - rock shaped like a dog

3. Mel & I at Twilight movie

4. On the bridge in Cuenca with famous hanging houses behind me


10:23 pm

Hola!

I am currently enjoying the tranquility of life without electricity. We had a strong but very short 10-minute thunderstorm here, which has resulted in the termination of electricity three times now. When power is out, my family refers to it as “no luz” = no light. I call it no electricity, but since we already live without air condition, I guess light is the main thing lacking. A life of simplicity means easier adaptation when innovations fail you.


CUENCA

(video at the end of post of the city)

We went to Cuenca today; a small town two hours outside of Madrid, known for their hanging houses on the cliffs of mountains. We took a bus; however, this time each person had his own aisle of seats to lie down. However, the AC in the bus was broken and in combination with my lunch, the heat, and the curvy mountain roads, I was a bit pale and under the weather most of the afternoon.

Nonetheless, the sites of Cuenca were some of the most beautiful and unique I have seen since being here in Spain. We had a tour guide the whole day who was witty and guapo (handsome). We rode the bus to the top of the mountain and slowly made our way down on foot while seeing the remnants of walls placed around the city by Jews and Christians centuries ago, the main bridge crossing the gulley between the mountains, and a historic cathedral. There are 13 chapels in the Cathedral. It is told that if someone is to pray in seven of the chapels, that are specifically marked, all their sins will be forgiven and are guaranteed a closer passage into heaven. I may have the story slightly mistaken, but the main point is that all sins will be forgiven. Too bad we were not given time to say a few prayers.

After talking with a few young people in Spain, the general consensus is that church is something that only grandmothers attend on a weekly basis. Many people here say they are Catholic and celebrate weddings, funerals, and baptisms in the church but do not practice it otherwise. What a shame to have such exquisite cathedrals rarely visited. Catholicism has been on a very sharp decrease in Spain for 20 years now.


FREE TIME / FAMILY

We attempted the movie theatre again yesterday and successfully saw Twilight in Spanish. I was surprised at how much I understood. Not having read the books nor seen the second movie, the Eclipse (third movie) nonetheless kept my attention the entire time. I now have a passion to read the books and pray that my Edward is out there somewhere (or that Brice is secretly a vampire…) Go see it! I am going to see it a second time when I return to the states to ensure I understand all the super cheesy teenage love poetry exchanged. (photo above of Mel and I at the movies)

On Wednesday, we traveled to the local town of Colmenar to visit our conversation partners. It is about an hour from here. They showed us around their city, which included the Cathedral, a park with a view of the city, and a local tapas restaurant. The Cathedral is a historical landmark as it was the first church built with the gothic style. Also, the restaurant we visited served the largest tapas I have ever seen FREE with the purchase of any type of drink. A few people had hamburgers, others hotdogs, and I had a mixto (toasted ham and cheese sandwich). It cost 2.20 euro for a drink and tapa – great place for college students!

Additionally, this week Mel and I had political conversations with our family, teachers, and other Spanish speakers. We talked especially about the Franco era in which Spain was under a dictatorship. The dictatorship began after the Civil War, which was a war against the government. Franco was one of the only generals left at the conclusion of the war and thus took over the country. Despite Franco having died in the 1970s and the reinstitution of the government to a republic monarchy, some people still have fear when saying anything negative about his reign.

This week I fulfilled my churros craving as I woke up early one morning and met friends at the local Churro Chocolateria at 7:30 before we walked to class. It was delicious and rich. No more for me! However, we are walking quite a bit since we no longer have a private bus taking us to and from school. Mel and I walk about 45 minutes to school every morning and use the public transportation on the way home, as it is the hottest part of the day.

I believe July will fly by even quicker than June. Now I feel very comfortable with the city and enjoy the people in our group, my family, and the culture here. I have a few things written down that I would like to do before I leave in three weeks. Wish me luck! Also, we are on a mission to find somewhere to celebrate July 4 in Spain without receiving looks of disgust and confusion from the locals.

Here in Spain, or at least my house, they do not flush the toilet every time they use it in order to save money on water.

Tomorrow we head to a water park, if the thunderstorms do not continue.

We are still without power. I am going to get ready for bed and finally get more than 8 hours of sleep – wahoooo!!

Hasta luego!
Kristina

P.S. I really like the name Kristina and will be sad when I drop a syllable on my return to the states.