My,My,Hey,Hey.......I returned to Valencia Sunday night after a wonderful five days in Spain's largest autonomous community-Andalucia. The eleven hour bus ride was actually quite enjoyable as it allotted me time to get reacquainted with the timeless music of Neil Young/CSN&Y. I had forgotten that Stills sings a part of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes in spanish, so that was neat to rediscover. In any case, our first stop along the way was the city of Granada, in the eastern part of the region. It was by far my favorite visit to date. For one, it is significantly smaller than other cities that we have visited thus far, which allowed me to have some time to myself, something I very much value from time to time. Further, it stays dark until about 8:00 in the morning here, so when I would head out the door for a run in the morning, the lights of houses on the distant hills and mountains made for a pleasurable view. La Sierra Nevada is close by and when I saw a man walk by with a pair of skiis it brought back memories of old ski trips with good friends:) Jargon aside, however, on the first day of our visit, we had the opportunity to see la Alhambra, an enormous Arab community with the majority of buildings dating to siglos XIII-XV. It was quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen. Gardens and palaces filled the compound, and a confluence of religious influences permeate the architecture. Additionally, the views from above are simply incredible. I can only imagine what la Alhambra will look like in a few months, once the flowers are in full bloom. In our second city, Cordoba, we witnessed a cathedral inside of a mosque, which although sounds like an oxymoron, does indeed exist. Of course the Arabs were there first, as is the case in countless tales, but the cathedral dates from about siglo XVI or so. We did not spend too much time in Cordoba before heading on to our penultimate stop of Sevilla. Sevilla ranks number two on my list of coolest cities. The highlight there would have to be la Giralda, a giant bell tower, which again used to be the minaret for the arabs. We had the opportunity to climb to the top of the towers, which was constructed with not stairs but ramps inside so that the horses could climb during the construction phase. Further, the building served as a lighthouse during the "discovery" of America period, when great amounts of silver were brought from the Americas to Sevilla via el rio Guadalquivir. Once at the top, we enjoyed views of the plaza de toros of Sevilla, new bridges that were constructed for the expo held there in 1992 (same year as Olympics in BCN), and the "big river." The cathedral along side la Giralda is immense. I believe it made it into the record books for its size, and inside there is a tomb which contains some of the remains of Columbus, or so a professor at the university of Granada claims. Among other fun things in Sevilla was the flamenco show, a dance that began in Sevilla. I have never attended a flamenco show nor any dance show for that matter, and although I did not know what to expect at first, I must admit that I was into it by the end. It began with two musicians, one singer and one guitar player, who looked a little like Joey from Full House but with the swagger and facial expressions of John Mayer when he performs. Nonetheless, both poured their hearts into the music, which made it very enjoyable to watch and listen to. The real entertainment came, however, with the dancers. First up was a woman who was absolutely incredible. I am still intrigued by how loud she could snap without really moving her hand. I later tried myself, and it did not look nearly as graceful nor sound as cool. As for the foot motion, I was in the first row and my eyes stayed fixed on her feet. She was able to go so fast. Absolutely incredible. Later a male dancer came on, and he was even more amazing. Even the musicians were stomping along with him haha and when I looked at the people sitting across the way, their heads were either bobbing or glued in one position as they too were beyond impressed. I think the show costs about 15 euros, but it is well worth every one. Before leaving Andalucia, we stopped in Italica, a small city known for its Roman ruins. We were not blessed with good weather, however, and only witnessed the amphitheatre famous for its gladiatores during the Roman times. On the way home, we stopped in for lunch at a small restaurant that was televising the Australian Open, which was exciting to watch. There was a group of fans cheering Rafa on to victory, which made it all the more exciting. After eating, we hit the roads once again and set foot in Valencia around 10pm. All is well here. We have one more week of orientation classes and have our final exam next saturday on valentine's day. Classes for the univeristy of valencia will commence next tuesday, so i am doing some last minute class shopping. I hope that all is well for everyone at home. Until next time..........