My Family in Granada - Sam Ozminkowski

In the US I'm fortunate to live with a loving family in a big, spacious house in the suburbs. While my apartment here in Granada isn't quite as big as my house in the US, it's an excellent place to call home. My family here consists of my host mother, my host brothers (Alex, 10 and Javier, 15), 

and their dog, Julie (pronounced like Chulie).

The family, like most families with teenage boys, doesn't do a lot together. We do eat lunch and dinner together every day, though. My host mother is a wonderful cook. My host brothers both like to play Playstation. Alex prefers to play Grand Theft Auto V while Javier prefers to play FIFA. The entire family likes to watch TV together in the evenings, especially when MasterChef or MasterChef Junior is on.

This is the door that leads to my apartment building,

and here, on the second floor, is the door that leads to my apartment.

The apartment has three bedrooms, as well as a kitchen and living room. The family spends most of their time either in their bedrooms or in the living room. We generally eat in the living room. This is my bedroom,

and this is the kitchen.

Finally, this is the family room, the most popular room in the house.

Cordoba and Sevilla - Sam Ozminkowski

This weekend's trip to Sevilla and Cordoba was a lot of fun. On Saturday we traveled to Cordoba where we saw the Mezquita, an old mosque that was converted into a church but mostly preserved.

It was beautiful. I was quite impressed by the fact that they were able to convert it into a church while keeping much of its original beauty. We also walked around the city of Cordoba for a few hours before travelling to Sevilla. On Sunday morning we began with a visit to the Plaza de España. Which was originally built for a World's Fair in 1914. Unfortunately, that world's fair didn't happen because of another world event: a World's War. Luckily, in 1929 the plaza got the fair it deserved. FUN FACT: the plaza was used to film Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

After the plaza, we visited the Alcazar of Sevilla.

I was impressed to find out that it is the oldest royal palace still in use today. It had especially beautiful gardens, and I was interested to learn that it was used to film parts of the HBO series Game of Thrones. After lunch we went to the cathedral in Sevilla.
It is the largest cathedral in Spain, and it was huge! We were able to climb the cathedral's tower, which instead of stairs has 35 ramps, where we had a breathtaking view of Sevilla. One thing that really impressed me about the cathedral in is that it only took 70 years to build! It was also interesting to learn that Christopher Columbus is buried inside the cathedral in Sevilla. FUN FACT: C. Columbus' body has decomposed so greatly that only about 200 grams of it remains.

El Fin de Semana en Córdoba y Sevilla

What a weekend! It is mind blowing to think that we visited Cordoba and Sevilla in only two days, since it seemed like such a long trip filled with many activities. Although it was a bit tiring to walk around the two cities, the amazing views and history that I garnered made everything worth it.

Cordoba:

At first sight, I already knew Cordoba would be interesting. The city was filled with historical buildings and places that outlined the culture of the city. Our first stop, the Mezquita, was by far my favorite part of the trip.

I thought the Mezquita would be very similar in architecture to the cathedral in Granada- but I was wrong. The Mezquita was a brilliant mix of Muslim and Catholic influences that somehow worked in harmony. The Catholic part of the cathedral was beautiful, especially the ceilings which were designed in a “Baroque” style.

 However, my favorite part was the Muslim part of the Cathedral. When entering, the abundance of arches and columns were overwhelming. The columns were purposefully different colors of pinks and blacks, in order to look like rays of sunlight spreading out from the “Mihrab.” The Mihrab was lavishly decorated with golden color and calligraphy that emphasized the importance of the most holy part of the building. I loved seeing the Muslim influences in the Mezquita, since I had never visited a mosque before, and it was a fantastic experience. The extent of detailing and time it took to build the cathedral is amazing to think about, and I am so blessed to be able to experience the beauty of its architecture and history with my own eyes.

           

After the Cathedral visit, I was able to explore more of Cordoba with my classmates, and even other CEA students from all over the United States. Jorge brought us to his favorite restaurant in the city, which was situated in a grand plaza that had live music playing. I managed to try a variety of dishes like porkchops in herb sauce, “salmorejo,” and even “rabo de toro” (which was delicious, and very similar to pot roast in my opinion). Afterwards, we boarded the bus for a few more hours, and arrived in Sevilla!

Nuevos Amigos

Sevilla:

            Sevilla was a much larger city than Granada and Cordoba. All the buildings seemed much more spaced out, and there were a lot more parks and greenery that appeared in the city. Also, I was surprised at how casual people dressed, and how there were so many people running and working out in the city- which was a nice change from the constant dressy atmosphere in Granada.

            In Sevilla, our first guided tour was of the Plaza de Espana. The plaza was absolutely gorgeous; the building stretched over the entire plaza, and there were ponds, fountains, and murals that served as decoration. I loved how the plaza had a mural for each province, that outlined a significant aspect of that province specifically. In the United States, there is a similar concept in Washington DC (World War II memorial) where all the states are engraved in blocks around a fountain- however, there are no murals. Around the plaza, there were a variety of vendors selling fans, souvenirs, and clothes. My favorite vendors were two people dressed in traditional Native American clothing, trying to sell CDs. They played pan flutes in harmony- and it sounded absolutely amazing.

            Afterwards, we visited the Reales Alcazares- which reminded me so much of the Alhambra. The same beautiful designs decorated the walls and ceiling- there was one aspect that stood out the most to me. The ceiling of the biggest room was so beautiful. It was a large dome, consisting of mirrors and different colored materials; it looked like a giant kaleidoscope. I wish that the picture looked just like the real thing, since it was truly a fantastic work of art. We then walked through the gardens of the Reales Alcazares, and visited the pool filled with fish.

            After lunch (at a delicious Mexican restaurant where I tried my first enchilada) we went to the Sevilla Cathedral. It was so interesting to see how different cathedrals varied in design and style, since this cathedral was gothic architecture. The ceilings were so high, and the amount of stained glass images was unreal. Seeing the tomb of Christopher Columbus was amazing, and a bit creepy. (I was told that there was only 200 grams worth of his body left in existence, which is a strange way to think about him) His tomb is so grandiose and unique- with four people carrying the tomb, it definitely shows how important he was to shaping history.

            Lastly, we took the journey up 35 flights of ramps to the top of the watchtower. The view was fantastic, since the city was so flat, we could see stretches of buildings for miles. It really showed how large Sevilla was, and it was a bit saddening to see that we only explored such a small fraction of it in a day. I would love to go back one day and see more of the city myself.

            This weekend trip to Cordoba and Sevilla was unforgettable- it is incredible to see how Granada differs from these cities, since each has unique characteristics that make them special! Vamos Espana!