My first two weeks in Espana

Beautiful moment 1: Waiting for the plane to be de-iced at the Newark Airport for FOUR hours. Why you ask? Because I was surrounded by Spanish people. To my right a posh woman wearing a fur hat entertained herself by putting lipstick on her husband and taking fotos. In front, a playful son played tricks on his father.

Beautiful moment 2: Moving into my homestay family's apartment. I have a tulip headboard in my room!

Beautiful moment 3: Buying a cell phone with the help of a friendly semaritan who spoke English. As if cell phone plans aren't already confusing, buying one in another language is near impossible. When I heard "Do you understand?" in plain English after my long, exhausting Spanglish argument with the woman behind the Movistar Movil Telefonica counter, I felt like jumping for joy.

Beautiful moment 4: Seeing for the first time the Goya statue that I now pass everytime I take the metro.

Beautiful moment infinity: Passing the Goya statue everytime I take the metro.

Beautiful moment 5: Realizing the churches right across the street from the Goya statue are full of some of his only frescoes.

Beautiful moment 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: Visiting Segovia. It is ancient and new, with traces of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian architecture weaved throughout. I rememeber one distinctly Christian church facade with a single Mudejar window floating in the middle displaying unabashedly the convivencia "coexistance" that existed in Spain so many years ago and the clash of cultures that characterizes this country's history so well. I also visited the Castilla de los Reyes Catolicos, Fernando and Isabel, who united Castilla and Leon provinces, leading to the unifcation of the Iberian peninsula. Inside, there are ceramic blue and white tiles lining the walls in the dining room to guard from food they flung while they ate (which I just loved). The Roman acueduct dates the city back to c. 50 AD, and sits casually wedged between antique apartment buildings and shiny, new shops. I was so overwhelemed all I could do was scream "Estamos en Espana!" in the center of the plaza with my arms spread wide. People stared and laughed.

Beautiful moment 11: Visiting Alcala de Henares and touring the house where Cervantes grew up. They have some of the orginal Don Quixote manuscripts there!

Beautiful Moment 12: Getting in to an Art History class taught at the Prado covering Goya, Velasquez, and El Greco. Class starts Monday!