Ronda and Miscellany

So as I told my Mom I had midterms this week and I'm confident the testing process is neither unique nor worth commenting on here or in the States. I will say the level of.......competence, shall we say, of the average international student is low. The panic when faced with (gasp!) the first real schoolwork of the entire semester was palpable and laughable. Having five tests in two days proved to be a half marathon of sorts but it wasn't challenging in the normal way I'm accustomed to at Ashland. Still, and this will sound slightly perverse, it felt so good to be under some sort of academic pressure. I had been on cruise control for the two weeks prior to exams. It was also fun to write so much, which is such an integral part of the Ashbrook program I had taken it for granted. So my week was kind of normal for a change, not easy but not terribly difficult, and I felt like I was back swimming in one of my elements. It was run of the mill, if you will. Except I'm in Spain.

You know the drill, pictures, some with comments, thoughts on the city visit to Ronda afterwards.

Halfway down into the Gorge. That's Ellie, from Boston, out on the rock. Stupid blog loaded my last picture first and it's a Herculean effort to drag it all the way to the bottom so whatever. Ronda is a city on a hill, only the hill is more like an extended ridgeline. The city is ancient, predating even the Romans if I'm not mistaken.

As you may or may not be able to discern vaguely, the part of Andalucia to the south and east of Sevilla becomes increasingly mountainous. Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe behind only?...........right, Switzerland. Which always makes me laugh because all I know of Spain is very flat and maybe a few rolling hills. The mountains around Ronda actually approached the distinction mountainous. Not quite. With my semi-experienced eye I gauged it might take two hours to climb the steepest and craggiest of them from the valley floor, nothing at all on the Rockies but you have to stop comparing everything to the States. Ok, ok.

Roadside eatery. They have laid claim to the best olive oil in all of Spain. Judy says its pretty good and I concur. Have I mentioned my newfound passion for toasted bread doused in olive oil? Tis delicious, but subtly so. To the American palate accustomed to peanut butter, jam, jelly, and butter it is simply too understated.

This was taken from the oldest bridge which spans the Gorge.

The hotels are all situated right up against the steep cliffsides. I don't know what the going rates are for the nicer places but I wish I had the expendable income to have stayed a night and explored the countryside around Ronda.

This building just struck me as a convent, nestled in the trees at the bottom of the Gorge. I have no idea what it is in actuality.

Ah and here we have the famous Judy Cotter, Californian by birth and lifelong Spaniard and Sevillana by choice. I apologize for only having a picture of her backside. I'll be sure to get a better one of her before my time is done. She has helped immensely with so many aspects of our experience here. She's a little crazy, but it is a passionate, fiery crazy spurred ever onward by her love for this country and it's culture.She is what one might call the "real deal". We got a two hour presentation on bullfighting from her today which was both fascinating and so very personal; Judy fell in love with the only American ever to become a full Matador, one John Fulton. What a life they shared. I could talk on either subject at length but I'll save it for those who really want to hear about bullfighting.

Our presentation was given in a small room in the local museum which was once a?............yup, Muslim palace, later used by Ferdinand and Isabella as a country retreat. These kinds of places seem to lie about over here.

The crown jewel (debatable) of Ronda, the oldest bullring in all of Spain.

It's funny, I just realized this is almost just like being in a professional baseball stadium with the retired jerseys and club history etc. Except this spectacle is not a sport in the way we understand it.

The old bridge, el puente viejo. Wait till you see it from the bottom.

The landscape was actually reminiscent of northern New Mexcio, minus the olive trees and much more scrunched up. Everything is more tightly packed in Europe. Americans, especially from the West, sometimes take for granted the ridiculous amount of sheer space we have to move around in. In the time it would take me to drive from the Colorado border to El Paso I could easily do 2/3 or 3/4 of the whole country of Spain. That is, if the roads were straight and the speed limit was comparable.

Yeah. Words fail although Eddie came close: "What's that place in Lord of the Rings where the Elves live?
Rivendell?
Yeah."

It was easily the best city visit yet. Only Granada, which is an overnight next month, can probably top it.

So I'm doing pretty well. I still can't shake the feeling I should be doing more with myself. Maybe I'm just my mother's son, if only a little. When I step back and think though I realize how much I have gained in experience rather than just knowledge while I've been here. For example, and one could learn this fairly easily at home as well, don't book an expensive ticket without consulting all your calendars at the same time. I planned to do Rome the weekend of the Granada visit. My best option now is to pay the exorbitant fee to change dates and go later. I'll still get to do Rome for 5 days, but I'll be throwing away money for my carelessness. It wouldn't be the first time. Good thing it's actually my money for once huh? I feel my commentary has reached a sort of stagnant point so I'm going to take the easy way out and have a succession of guest blogs over the next week or so; I've become good friends with an English teacher who is here working at the ICS and she is also keeping a blog so I'd like to ask her to put some thoughts down. Said with the best possible intention, I believe her perspective would be a nice change of pace for most of ya'll, seeing as she's probably a little more your speed.  I might also get another of my peers to put some thoughts down, Eddie again if he feels up to it or someone else. I'll just have to find one capable of transcribing coherent and useful thoughts. Ok so maybe they're not SO bad; I'm probably just an elitist.

Ah, also, Eddie and I head to Alicante and more beaches on Wednesday night I think. We fly back Monday morning in time for class and then it just so happens to be Halloween Monday night AND Tuesday is a Spanish holiday of some sort. I think by now you can do the math.