#things to do in granada spain

[zxzsax]

Granada : Discovering the Beauty of Spain's Moorish Gem

If you’re looking for a city in Spain that’s brimming with history, culture, and natural beauty, Granada should definitely be at the top of your list. Located in the southern region of Andalusia, Granada is a city that’s steeped in history and known for its Moorish architecture, stunning views, and vibrant culture. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Granada such a unique and…

[fromchaostocosmos]

Why Are Goyim Obsessed With Bad People Being The Fault of The Jews?

How many times have we seen the speculation that certain truly horrific historical people must Jewish based the stringing of threads. Or the that said horrific people are horrific because of the Jews.

How many times have seen Hitler was actually a Jew conspiracy or that Hitler only became the way he did because he denied entry to art school by Jews conspiracy?

Not just with historical figures we all have seen how often it gets mentioned that Roy Cohen, Jew, and they sure do make a point to highlight that Jew part was behind Donald Trump being who he is.

Think about Henry Kissinger and how much him Jewish gets highlighted when talking his influence on Presidents Ford and Nixon, even though he hated being Jewish.

And of course we can not forget the all time go to Christopher Columbus as the secret Jew.

And now that is being reported to be in fact true. Just look at how everyone is reporting it.

Only that is not the case.

The documentary Columbus DNA. His True Origin, broadcast on Spain’s National Holiday suggests that the explorer was not Genoese and Christian but Spanish and Jewish. The absolute protagonist of the documentary, forensic scientist José Antonio Lorente, has not yet published any scientific study to back his claims. The documentary is presented in the style of a reality show in which Lorente systematically discounts other theories, including that Columbus was Castilian, Portuguese, Galician, Mallorcan or a Cagot. It culminates with a scene in which only one possibility remains, the one put forward by architect Francesc Albardaner, author of the book La catalanitat de Colom (or, The Catalonian Origins of Columbus).

But geneticist Antonio Alonso, former chief of the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, is not convinced: “Unfortunately, from the scientific point of view, no assessment can be made after watching the documentary, since it does not provide any data on what has been analyzed. My conclusion is that the documentary Columbus DNA does not show the DNA of Columbus at any given moment and scientists do not know what analysis has been undertaken.”

Forensic anthropologist Miguel Botella, also from the University of Granada, remembers that day in 2003 when he waited for the box containing the supposed bones of Christopher Columbus to be opened. “Everyone expected to be greeted by an intact Columbus, but there were only 150 grams of bone fragments,” he says with a smile. The largest would have been about four centimeters in length.

Lorente then said that he was going to analyze the DNA of the three alleged members of the Columbus family with the help of prestigious geneticists, such as Ángel Carracedo from the University of Santiago de Compostela; and Mark Stoneking, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, one of the world’s most prestigious centers for the analysis of ancient DNA. Carracedo recalls that the DNA that reached him was tremendously degraded, and he too distanced himself from the project. Moreover, he refuses to comment on Lorente’s new results until there is a serious scientific study published in a specialized journal. The response of the Max Planck Institute geneticist to questions from EL PAÍS were similar: “I am sorry, my group stopped working on this in 2005 and I have not heard anything about the most recent results,” said Stoneking.

According to geneticist Antonio Alonso, “It is not the done thing for data that the scientific community has not yet endorsed to be presented to society, as it puts the data itself at risk as well as the proposed theory.” Alonso is also surprised by the absence of experts from the U.S. and Australia in the film whose contribution Lorente describes as essential. “Here there is too much protagonism from only one scientist. Neither the Granada team nor the collaborating ancient DNA laboratories in California and Adelaide, which are said to be of great importance in the success of the analyses, appear in the film,” he points out. Recently retired, Alonso is one of Spain’s leading experts in forensic genetics. He worked on the identification of the victims of Madrid’s 11-M terror attacks; on the investigation of dozens of reports of alleged baby thefts; on the recognition of Spanish Civil War victims and even on the attempts to find the remains of the writer Miguel de Cervantes. He claims that the documentary Columbus DNA does not speak to him as a scientist. “We do not know which DNA regions were analyzed, nor the technology used in the analysis, nor the results obtained, which makes it impossible to make a correct assessment of the findings,” he says.

Alonso explains that there are clusters of genetic variants called haplotypes or haplogroups that tend to be inherited together and may be characteristic of certain family lineages, but he adds that they often coincide with those of other groups in historically Jewish or non-Jewish populations. “In any case, having a genealogy, a haplogroup or a haplotype of Jewish or Sephardic ancestry does not call into question Columbus’ birthplace in Genoa as stated by historical sources, nor does it tell us anything about the religious beliefs professed by the generations of relatives close to Columbus,” he says.

Rodrigo Barquera is a Mexican expert in archeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Barquera has conducted DNA studies of human remains prior to the arrival of Europeans in America, such as those of children sacrificed by the Maya at Chichén-Itzá in Mexico. The researcher is very critical of the fact the data have been presented via a documentary, and without the backing of a serious scientific article reviewed by independent experts, especially given the enormous interest in the figure of Christopher Columbus and his origins. “Normally, the article is sent to a scientific journal,” he says. “The journal assigns an editor and at least three independent reviewers who rate the paper and decide if it is scientifically valid. If it is, it is published, and then the rest of the scientific community can say whether they agree or not. Putting it on a screen, removed from this process and with all the media focus on it, makes it difficult for the scientific community to say anything about it.”

Antonio Salas heads the Population Genetics in Biomedicine team at Santiago de Compostela’s Health Investigation Institute. “The documentary promised to focus on DNA analysis, as suggested by its title Columbus DNA: His True Origins,” he says. “However, the genetic information it offers is very limited. Only at the end is it mentioned that the only thing that was recovered from the presumed remains of Christopher Columbus was a partial profile of the Y chromosome. The problem is that the Y chromosome represents only a tiny fraction of our DNA and our ancestry.” “The documentary rushes to a conclusion that Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew originally from the Spanish Levant. This hypothesis is, to say the least, surprising: there is no Y chromosome that can be uniquely defined as Sephardic-Jewish,” argues Salas. “Even if all of an individual’s DNA were recovered, it would still be impossible to reach definitive conclusions about his or her exact geographic origin.

So when science seems to much more aligned with Columbus not being why then is everyone reporting him as Jewish. And why do goyim keep blaming every evil deed, every action, every evil choice and every evil person on Jews?

[not-magdi]

hii bestie 🩷 could you write a smut of sub gavi after he scored against cyprus? 🫶🏻

(Hi! It's my first time writing something like that and I know I need to improve a few things but I hope you like it!)

Reward

Summary: The request from above

Words: 1.2k

Warnings: well smut

A/N

My first request! To whoever requested that thank you so much <3!

Today was Spain's last game before the regular football season continues. You sadly couldn't come and support your boy, as you didn't have time today to travel to Granada with Pablo.  

He was a little disappointed at first. Because he really wanted you to come and watch him play, as it was the last game he would play for Spain for a while. 

But after you promised to reward him if they won. His mood changed in mere seconds. The mischievous glint in his eyes after you told him he could do anything to you had your knees weak.

"Oh, Amor... I hope you can handle your promise." 

And with that, he left, leaving you all hot and longing. Oh, how you begged that Spain would win today. You needed Pablo so desperately. 

Now you were sitting on your couch, a fluffy blanket draped over your legs and a glass of wine in your hand. It took 18 minutes to know you were in for a long night. 

1:0, Spain 'Gavi 

Seeing your boy celebrate his goal, the slight blush covering his cheeks, and his hair sticking to his sweaty forehead did things to you. Things that made you bolder than you should be.   

You rushed from the couch to set your plan into action, searching for Pablo's favourite lingerie in your closet. It was a navy blue lacy set that could make him putty in your hands. You only wore it on special occasions, but today, it had to get Pablo home as fast as possible. 

Putting it on, you kneeled before the big wall mirror in your hallway, trying to ensure the dimmed light highlighted your curves perfectly as you posed for a few pictures.   

After you were happy with the result, you sent Pablo your favourite photo of you.

'Your reward's waiting for you already ;)'   

Turning your attention back to the TV you saw that the game was about to end, so you went upstairs to your bedroom waiting for Pablo to get home. 

-Pablo's pov- 

The whistle signaled the end of the match, and after celebrating the win for a bit, the team went back to the changing rooms. Pablo was never so happy that a game ended, after it was clear that Spain would win, all he could think about was you.  

What you would be wearing when he comes home, where you would be waiting for him, how pretty your eyes look when they roll to the back of your head.  

Seeing that you sent him a message made his heart beat faster, opening it as fast as he could he felt all the blood drain from his face. Immediately recognizing the lingerie that you're wearing made his blood go south.

Cursing under his breath he quickly ran to the nearest bathroom stall and locked himself in it.

He wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine so he took a selfie while grabbing his bulge through his pants.

'Look what you're doing to me Amor'

Sending it to you, he rushed to the showers and tried to finish changing as fast as he could. Hurrying to say bye to his teammates, earning a few knowing looks from them, he made his way home as fast as he could, craving your touch like a starved man.

Today was Spain's last game before the regular football season continues. You sadly couldn't come and support your boy, as you didn't have time today to travel to Granada with Pablo.  

He was a little disappointed at first. Because he really wanted you to come and watch him play, as it was the last game he would play for Spain for a while. 

But after you promised to reward him if they won. His mood changed in mere seconds. The mischievous glint in his eyes after you told him he could do anything to you had your knees weak.

"Oh, Amor... I hope you can handle your promise." 

And with that, he left, leaving you all hot and longing. Oh, how you begged that Spain would win today. You needed Pablo so desperately. 

Now you were sitting on your couch, a fluffy blanket draped over your legs and a glass of wine in your hand. It took 18 minutes to know you were in for a long night. 

1:0, Spain 'Gavi 

Seeing your boy celebrate his goal, the slight blush covering his cheeks, and his hair sticking to his sweaty forehead did things to you. Things that made you bolder than you should be.   

You rushed from the couch to set your plan into action, searching for Pablo's favourite lingerie in your closet. It was a navy blue lacy set that could make him putty in your hands. You only wore it on special occasions, but today, it had to get Pablo home as fast as possible. 

Putting it on, you kneeled before the big wall mirror in your hallway, trying to ensure the dimmed light highlighted your curves perfectly as you posed for a few pictures.   

After you were happy with the result, you sent Pablo your favourite photo of you.

'Your reward's waiting for you already ;)'   

Turning your attention back to the TV you saw that the game was about to end, so you went upstairs to your bedroom waiting for Pablo to get home. 

-Pablo's pov- 

The whistle signalled the end of the match, and after celebrating the win for a bit, the team went back to the changing rooms. Pablo was never so happy that a game ended, after it was clear that Spain would win, all he could think about was you.  

What you would be wearing when he comes home, where you would be waiting for him, how pretty your eyes look when they roll to the back of your head.  

He rushed to the showers and tried to finish changing as fast as he could. Hurrying to say bye to his teammates, earning a few knowing looks from them, he made his way home as fast as he could, craving your touch like a starved man.

The moment the engine turned off, he bolted from the car, unable to bear another moment without your touch. 

-Y/N's pov-

Hearing the door close, you threw your phone to the side, waiting for your boyfriend to come through the bedroom door. 

And not even a second later, the door opened, revealing a slightly out-of-breath Pablo with a deep blush covering his cheeks. 

You smirk at his flushed face, looking down to see his dick bulging through his sweatpants. 

"You wanted me so bad you even scored a goal ... good boy." 

You wanted to try something new this time, you wanted to be the dominant one today. And seeing the reaction, he made when you called 

him a good boy made you confident for your plan to work. 

Kneeling on the bed, you grabbed him by his waistband and dragged him toward you, immediately attacking his lips with a passionate kiss.

Whining, Pablo wraps his arms around your waist, kissing you back like there is no tomorrow. 

"You gonna be my good boy today and let me do want I want? " you whisper into his ear. 

"Ahh amor ... y-yes-" Pablo moaned ou, as your lips ghosted over the 

sensitive spot on his neck. Smirking, you suck on his sweet spot earning yourself a needy whine. 

"Lay down on the bed ... naked." 

Rushing out of his clothes, Pablo lies in the middle of the bed. Taking in the sight of him sprawled out on the bed, his big innocent eyes looking at you, has your pussy dripping with arousal. 

"Shit baby, look at you ... so hard for me." 

Grabbing his leaking cock you started to jerk him off painfully slow, moaning at the sudden sensation, Pablo tries to buck his hips up to try and get a little more pleasure. 

"Aw, is my boy feeling needy today?" you purr, grabbing his dick harder.

"Y-Y/N please-." 

"Please, what baby ... what do you want?" 

"P-please fuck me." 

"You think you deserve to be fucked?" twisting your hand has him squirming on the bed, pleasure shooting up his spine. 

"Ah s-shit yes ... I've been a good boy the whole match., p-please-"

"Yeah, you've been a very good boy, haven't you? Even scored a goal ... I think you deserve a reward," you whisper in his ear, licking over the hickeys you made prior. 

Moaning, Pablo grabs the blanket beneath him, bucking his hips into your hand. 

You give Pablo a last kiss on his plump lips before you retrieve your hand from his cock. Sitting up, you climb on top of him, rubbing your dripping pussy over his aching cock. 

The feeling of his head rubbing over your clit makes your thighs twitch together. 

"Mhm ... can't wait for your cock to fill my pussy so well." 

Gasping at your words, Pablo hides his face in one of the pillows, whining loudly into it as he feels you sinking on it. 

Biting your lip to stifle the moan that wants to leave your lips, you're starting to bounce on it with a hard pace.    

The noise of skin slapping against each other and Pablo's whines are the only noises that can be heard. 

You rest your hands on his shoulders for extra support as you speed up your pace. Not able to keep quiet, you moan Pablo's name as the tip of his dick hits your G-Spot. 

"F-fuck, does that feel good baby?"

"Y-yeah f-feels so good ... don't stop, I'm coming!" 

Pressing down harder, you can feel Pablo's dick twitch, indicating he's close. Not quite there yet, you bring your fingers down to your swollen clit. 

The sight of you on top of him with your finger stroking your clit is enough for Pablo to tip over the edge. 

Gripping your hips with a bruising grip, he spills his load into your pussy. Feeling the warm liquid filling you up has you coming hard. 

As all your strength leaves you, you fall on top of Pablo, basking in the sweet afterglow of a mindblowing orgasm. 

" Should I take over now?" 

"Yeah ... being dominant is exhausting," you say, cuddling yourself deeper into his warm embrace. 

Laughing, Pablo stands up to get you a damp towel to clean you. 

You snuggled yourself back into the covers, looking forward to being taken care of again. 

[puck-luck]

Live-blogging from the cathedral in Granada, Spain to say that the way Cole's adam's apple moves in this video is actually doing things to me (I want to bite his neck)

[spanishskulduggery]

You know possibly the funniest/most chaotic thing about the time of El Cid was the Battle of Cabra

Okay so during the time of taifas (Muslim spheres of influence in Spain), the taifas would at some points be paying tribute to the more Catholic north... these were called parias and it's not a constant thing but there were certain treaties in place between cities and city-states between the north of Spain and Al-Andalus which is the south

But make no mistake, El Cid (and many others in this time) were essentially mercenaries and would fight for the Muslims against Christians, or against the Muslims for the Christians depending on the situation even though at this point El Cid was a favorite of Alfonso VI

In fact, El Cid [whose real name was Rodrigo Díaz] got the nickname El Cid from the Muslims where it meant something like "the Lord", and the other term associated with him Campeador from the Christians which meant something like "Battlemaster"

El Cid used to serve Muslim Zaragoza against Aragon, but he also at one point besieges Muslim Valencia and takes it for Christendom

I have to mention this because some people use El Cid as like "the Christian Knight of the Reconquista" like that's a goal to have but he was a mercenary and served with Muslims, under Muslims, and had no problem attacking a Christian or Muslim city if it was his orders/if he was getting paid

So this one time King Alfonso VI of Castile/León/Galicia sends two people out to collect the parias

He sends El Cid to Seville to collect money. And he sends this other dude Count García Ordóñez (who haaaaaates El Cid) off to Granada to get money

While they're out there getting money, it turns out that Seville and Granada are about to fight each other - because the taifas, like the Christian city-states, fight with each other sometimes even though they're both Muslim taifas

So what happens is that El Cid sees it as his right to be protecting the tribute that Granada is probably going to steal if they take the city. And Count García Ordóñez joins with the Granada forces because the whole point of this money is that it's a military contract so he's upholding his end of the military treaty to help them in exchange for money

...In other words, Alfonso VI SOMEHOW sent his own men out to two different places and they end up fighting each other

Seville wins over Granada in the Battle of Cabra, and El Cid captures the Count and ransoms him along with the Christian knights because that's what mercenaries do

And Count García Ordóñez is (perhaps rightfully?) pissed that he got beaten by El Cid but also the situation was messy - and the Count complains to Alfonso VI and that's part of what leads to El Cid being exiled....... The other part being that El Cid ended up in (Mulsim) Toledo which was a vassal state of Alfonso VI which he had no real right to be there doing what he was doing, which is fair because it looks like El Cid was working both sides and possibly acting like a bandit for some of his time because, again, mercenary

But can you imagine sending two of your trusted vassals to two separate places and they end up fighting each other (in your name)? What a shit show

[jflashandclash]

You write a lot of characters from very diverse backgrounds (the Pax kids, Calex, Euna and Joey, etc) but you still manage to include details from their cultures that really show their connection to it. What kind of research do you do to be able to represent them well?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASK ANON!

*cries with relief that you're asking this instead of asking me why I'm so bad at it*

I am terrified of misrepresenting cultures. Someone I informally use as a sensitivity reader has told me that I overthink this. I screw up. A lot. Cultures can alter drastically depending on the geography and time frame. Sometimes I can't find anything on certain ethnic groups and other times I'm scared of misappropriating something. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone with how I portray something. But, I really want to have a diverse group that can connect with a lot of people, and would rather me told when I make mistakes so i can correct them, then not try.

Short answer: asking millions of questions and doing dumb amounts of research that STILL won't be enough.

Long-winded answer is below.

Where I... cheat? (Can skip to see where I don't)

Euna, Joey

I used to date a woman who is Korean, have two friends who went to teach in Korea, and live beside one of the biggest Korean immigration points in my country. Many a shopkeep has made fun of how bad my accent is when I try a little, "감사합니다," as I offer my payment with my right hand, left hand touching my elbow.

Korean culture is the only culture, so far, where I had someone speak out against how I represented a facet. I debated on altering the scene, and spoke with three cultural informants about this who said it was fine. However, it is something I am altering in the remake of the series that will ONE DAY happen.

Hiro, Yoshida

I have a friend who taught in Japan for a long time and speaks fluent Japanese. He's been an invaluable aid for both of them!

Flynn

I took Mandarin and college and had a VERY patient professor with my millions of questions. Also, I had a Cantonese friend who could give me some information about how it was for his family (different region though!)

Merry, Mercedes, Zaneera (and a little bit of Calex and Lapis)

(You don't know Zaneera yet.) This is several fold. I used to love studying religions when I was younger, so that has helped. I used to tutor and I owe a great debt to the Indian family that took me in and would have proper chai and homemade meals with me. They were not from the same district as Merry. I intentionally picked an underrepresented region for Merry, since most Indians portrayed are from Northern districts. However, I feel like I haven't been able to do proper research there and have been considering picking different districts for her parents, for fear of generalizing and misrepresenting.

My sister-in-law happens to be Pakistani Muslim and most of my brothers friends are from Pakistan or India (or... randomly proud country rednecks. His parties are, um, disjointed at times.) I absolutely adore her Amma and she's very patient answering my sheepish questions about her religion and culture. My sister-in-law also used to do a lot of work in West Africa and in Egypt.

One of my friends went to Granada, Spain, and provided information on Mercedes' hometown.

Where I flail and pray I don't screw up: The Real Research

Calex

I hit the books and newspapers and blogs a lot for Calex. He's one of the hardest ones to balance out all the facets that are nothing like my life experience. And. I got him wrong version one. Very. very. very. wrong. Embarrassingly. No one called me out, but I'll call myself out right here:

The original ethnic group he's part of was the Yoruba people. THAT ETHNIC GROUP IS MOSTLY IN NIGERIA, BENIN, AND TOGO. NOT LIBERIA. THERE ARE TWO WHOLE COUNTRIES WEDGED BETWEEN LIBERIA BEFORE YOU HIT ONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES. (In my corner of ignorant shame)

I didn't want this to happen again.

For the remake, Calex's ethnic group is now the Kpelle. I have.... loads of books on the Kpelle now. But, unfortunately, most of the research I found is decades old, and written by people who aren't always friendly to Liberia as a country. (Either Europeans or African countries that historically don't get along with their far neighbors.) So, um, I subscribe to a Liberian news blog. For Calex, I needed to research, trying to be aware of bias and bigotry...

Kpelle society

Liberian society, economy, etc

the Second Liberian Civil War

Sierre Leone's Civil War (they're neighbors)

The Ebola Out Break of 2014

Racism in Britain

Football clubs in Britain

British culture and slang (according to 2014. Gods it has changed so much already)

Mixed race and religion families in Britain

Racial theory on exoticizing and fetishization of black individuals

This involved preliminary research with, honestly, kids books to get a broad, sweeping scope of things, then digging deeper with adult books, then digging into academic articles for specific information. I'm still struggling with information about Kpelle religion. In the remake, I like to read authors who are West African that eventually settled in Britain before I write Calex's point of view. Liberian Journalists are also great for this (thank you Helene Cooper!) There's SO much more information out there today, and I'm excited to hop back into researching once I'm done with TFMO!

Ajax Pax and Axel Pax

These boys.

These gd boys.

Okay, so I went to Belize. I was really lucky and fortunate that I was in a situation where I could go. And I know I still don't have everything right. I lucked into our tour guide being Maya. No one had ever asked him questions about the modern day culture, and he was so kind with all the questions that I had. I was... gods, that person on the bus. Super obnoxious. Hand going back up as soon as he had time to breathe.

Maya people are treated as second or third class citizens in Belize. Their culture was being eradicated by some of the prostheliziation happening in the area. (Okay, hear me out: modern day Catholics often don't mind melding with other religions. Check out Vodou Catholicism as a great example of this. Not all, but most Protestant religions will often stomp out localized religions when they come in. Around the time that Axel and Pax leave Belize, Protestantism is stepping in and knocking out things like the Deer Dance. Fortunately, Maya cultural groups are fighting back against this and preserving it.) Their beautiful ancient dig sites are also often plowed over and dug up to make new, fancy tourism spots for rich, predominatelywhite travelers. This is actually where some of Santiago and Frasco's character development comes in.

The only original documents I could find on Mopan Maya were in Spanish. So, uh, I started trying to learn Spanish to learn Mopan Maya. So, with the boys, I looked into....

Belizean Creole

Mopan Maya society and culture

Ancient Maya history and rituals

culture and history of Belize, how their tourism industry affects that culture

Spanish

Latin American and Caribbean drug trade (Santiago)

Racism against Indigenous populations, both in Belize and here.

Catholic school systems in Belize

Circus/performance culture, busking, and homelessness.

I also tried to consider how people interact with their culture when they've been separated from it. Being from Belize means a lot to the Pax boys' identities. However, Pax tends to lean more towards identifying as a California kid and a Camp Othrys rebel. Axel, on the other hand, feels very nostalgic for Belize and is reminded of his connection to Maya mythology every time he looks in a mirror or checks his nails. Claws. Nail-claws. Because Pax was younger when he was removed from his home culture, there is a real chance he'll start to lose the ability to speak Mopan Maya if Axel doesn't drill it into him. I have a lot of friends who can understand their home language, but lose the ability to speak it if they don't practice enough. Pax could already be falling into this.

Axel

Okay so look.

You hear, like, two things about Axel's mother. And she should be WAY BIGGER and WAY MORE OF A BADASS.

...... I couldn't find any research on her ethnic group. *hangs head in shame* I've been considering altering her culture of origin to be from somewhere that I can have more research and give her a fuller character design. I've had a wonderful person who is very patient with my book-babbling suggest Maori, since they're very open about sharing their culture.

For all of this Research

I started my research in 2014, TEN YEARS AGO, and did the majority of it about 7-6 years ago. There are SO MANY MORE RESOURCES NOW! *DROOLS* and BLOGS and YOUTUBE CHANNELS! I'm all about verifying resources, but I'm so excited by how much research is out there and how much ethnic groups are getting to share their own cultures and instead of being talked about by those outside of it. My original degree was in cultural anthropology, so this is a passion of mine. Once I'm done with TFMO, I'm really excited to dive back into the newer resources--maybe getting to alter and fix up somethings for the next version of the series!

.... I hope this long-winded rant helped >>''''' Thank you for reading all of it if you made it this far!

[janjmoz]

Granada - day 2

Happy St George day, the day in Spain for giving books and roses. I have to admit we had completely forgotten but we got a lovely message from Marjolein this morning.

Before I launch into our day I should preface by saying this is about our 5th time in Granada. It is a city we love and are quite familiar with so we’re not doing the tourist must dos. However if you’re ever in this part of Spain I would highly recommend a visit.

We indulged Jose with another churros breakfast, well we’re on holiday. A bit later we headed out for a very welcome massage. Jose found a Thai massage place that had great reviews. It was a lovely mix of relaxing, stretching and remedial massage - perfect. When we walked out I was almost walking normally.

We then headed to a cafe I had spied on the way that did gluten free cakes. We both indulged in a slice of cheesecake with a peanut butter and chocolate topping (not Nigella but still very nice).

After that we went for a bit of a walk, did a bit of shopping and then found somewhere for lunch. Lunch was delicious- it’s a good thing we head back to L’Escala tomorrow, at this rate I’ll have regained the weight I lost on the Camino.

After lunch we headed back to our apartment for a shower to wash off the massage oil and a bit of a chill before heading out again for our last wander and drink in Granada. We’ve had some great vermut while we’ve been here.

Back to the apartment to pack and then chill with nibbles and a bottle of wine in front of the tv. It won’t be a late night as we have an early start in the morning. The holiday is definitely coming to a close 🥲

[hahahax30]

Visenya at 13, hearing Aurelian’s full title for the first time: Ugh that’s so obnoxious, why would anyone want to be called something so ostentatious? I would never punish my son or the pages by making him have some long puffed up mama

Visenya at age 20, returning to the Spring Court for the first time in three years: Please use my son’s full title; His Exalted Highness, Crown Prince Theomore, heir to the throne of the Autumn Court and son of the Noble and Ancient House de Lioncourt

Visenya’s own title as High Queen is Her Exalted Majesty Visenya Astraea Regina of the Noble and Ancient House de Lioncourt, High Queen of the Autumn Court; which is obviously a mouthful so she shouldn’t be complaining but girl does love to brag

And yes Aurelian’s title was the same as Theomore’s back when he was Crown Prince

And yes, her naming her son Theomore is a spoiler

Please Riley, as someone who actually lives in a kingdom with a whole-ass king, I can tell you that that isn't a mouthful of a full name.

*My* King's full name (titles included) is: His majesty Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbon y Grecia (aka Felipe VI of Spain), King of Spain, Castilla, Leon, Aragon Navarra, Granada, Jerusalem, Toledo, the Two Sicilies, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Menorca, Sevilla, Sardinia, Cordoba, Murcia, Jaen, the Algarves, Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, the East and West Indies, the 'Isles and Lands of the Oceanic Sea', Hungary, Dalmatia and Croatia; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Milan, Athens, Neopatras, Limburg, Lotharingia, Luxembourg, Gelderland, Styria, Carniola, Carinthia and Württemberg; Count of Habsburg, Flanders, the Tyrol, the Rousillon, Barcelona, Artois, Hainaut, Namur, Gorizia, Ferrette, Kyburg and Goceano; Count Palatine of Borgoña; Lord of Vizcaya, Molina, Salins-les-Bains, Mechelen, Slovenia, Pordenone and Tripoli; Landgrave of Alsace; Prince of Swabia; Marquis of Oristano; Margrave of the Holy Roman Empire and Burgau; Captain General of the Armed Forces; and I'll stop now but there are MORE

Because we have a parliamentary monarchy many of those titles hold no power or are merely symbolic (literally like the king himself because he does no-thing) and are reminiscent of the time we were the Spanish empire and total pieces of shit, but I do urge you to add more titles to your ocs lol

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 3: Flashbacks

Hola a todxs! It’s Niko back with week 3 of studying abroad in Madrid. Time is STILL passing by really fast and slow at the same time, so I'll talk about it again — I’ve been here less than a month and it’s felt like half a year, but the days go by quickly. I don’t think that will stop anytime soon, but I’m here for it. More perceived time = more life lived, and I hope that my weeks don't start blending together anytime soon.

As promised in week 2, I wanted to spend this blog talking about my trip to Granada last weekend. Granada is a small Spanish town in the southern region of Spain called Andalucía. It’s got a population of around 230,000 people — nearly the exact same as my hometown of Arlington, VA, which is a suburb outside of Washington, DC. However, in place of tree lined residential neighborhoods and modern office buildings, Granada is filled with narrow cobblestone streets bordered by low, densely packed buildings and intensely intricate churches/palaces built hundreds of years ago.

That palace — La Alhambra — is the largest tourist attraction in Granada, and was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit it (also, a big shout out to Emma for hosting me, a friend of mine from high school doing her semester in Granada!!). It’s a massive Moorish palace on a hill that overlooks the entire city. The Moors, who were North African Muslims, conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. La Alhambra was slowly built between the years 1238 and 1358, during the reigns of Ibn al-Aḥmar and his successors. 

With that said, my trip to Granada last weekend was not my first time seeing La Alhambra. As I mentioned briefly in week 0's blog, I took a trip to Spain with my 8th grade Spanish class for a week. That was 7 years ago. We hit most of the main touristic Spanish cities within that time, Granada included.

So, walking through the palace last weekend triggered a slow trickle of distant memories, fuzzy enough that I couldn’t remember details, but potent enough that I could remember how I felt. Some things had changed about the palace, many things stayed the same. I still felt the same sense of awe I did 7 years ago witnessing the incredible detail hand-carved into every surface, or seeing the palace perfectly reflected in a courtyard’s pool. The difference was that this time, I was exploring alone.

I think that during this trip, I really gained an appreciation — and curiosity — of solo travel. Although I was with my friend Emma much of the time, I felt a great deal of peace in exploring La Alhambra at my own pace. Without anyone else to turn to, I was forced to be present and attuned to my surroundings, and that enabled me to appreciate them that much more.

I think that part of that appreciation, however, was derived from the sense of independence and freedom I had existing alone in Granada. Going into college, being alone terrified me. I would step into the dining hall for lunch and wander through the common spaces, looking for a familiar face I could share a meal with. Now, I try my best to cherish the moments in which I can connect more to myself, whether that be during a meal, practicing a hobby, or exploring an ancient Moorish palace. That’s only something I've been able to move towards through consistent practice -- AKA, spending deliberate time alone. I hope to continue deepening that connection throughout this semester solo-exploring Spain and Europe, which I know is something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Aside from La Alhambra, Emma and I explored the city and its various landmarks (El Albaicin, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, the Granada Cathedral, the Monastery of San Jeronimo, the Mirador de San Miguel Alto [and an epic sunset], and even a jazz-esque show with Spanish flair from a band at a local music club). More pictures below.

On the way back home, we stopped at a rest stop for the bus, and I couldn’t help but notice how familiar it seemed. It conjured up a nostalgic feeling that could have only come from my first trip in Spain — I realized we had stopped at the same station.

For old time’s sake, I bought a Kinder Egg Sorpresa. These things were a huge deal to me in 8th grade, as they are banned in the USA for being a ‘choking hazard’.  Inside the chocolate exterior was a little plastic goat toy that will now serve as the centerpiece of our dining room table.

It’s funny to think how much of a different person I am from the 13 year old on vacation with his school friends and Spanish teachers. But it’s also comforting to know that all of these memories I carry with me explain the person I am today.

This week, I got a little more into school groove, took a rollerblading route, visited the Reina Sofia museum and went to see some amazing techno DJs over the weekend. Per usual, check out the photo captions for more info on the content this week :).

Hasta luego,

Niko Economos

Aerospace Engineering

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

[sissa-arrows]

While you are of course correct that the "Jewish Golden Age of Spain" was under Muslim rule, that isn't to say that all of Muslim rule in spain *was* the Golden Age.

In fact, most people give it as 910-1060 (+/- 50 years) when Muslim rule began in 700 (ish) and ended in 13-1400 (ish).

During those years was the Granada massacre, and Maimondes (probably one of the greatest Jewish scholars) was forced to flee the area lest he be forced to convert.

I didn’t say it was during all the period? When the regime change happened Jews were targeted and it’s fucked up but once the new regime settled they went back to having freedom of religion and could get back to Judaism.

They weren’t flourishing as much (neither were the Muslims albeit on a smaller scale) but Al Andalus was still a major pole of Jewish culture even after the Golden Age. North Africa was ruled by the same dynasty and that’s still where a lot of Jewish people chose to flee when Christian Europe was also an option showing that it wasn’t a generalized persecution but only during the Dynasty change in a specific area which was filled with internal fighting.

Again it doesn’t justify what happened in Granada at all but if one want to be historically accurate presenting all of Al Andalus as oppressive and horrible and presenting the Reconquista as some sort of rightful amazing thing all while pretending to care about Jews is fucked up. It’s not only fucked up it’s actually Islamophobic and just plainly racist as fuck because it paints Arabs as savages and whitewashes the Reconquista. Saying “while the Golden Age was during Al Andalus, some parts of it were not good at all and Jews were persecuted and the Reconquista didn’t help they just persecuted Jews even more” is accurate. Saying “Al Andalus was horrible Arab terrorism persecuting Jews and the Reconquista was good” is not only inaccurate it fits the Zionist tendency to whitewash European antisemitism and put the blame on Muslims or more precisely on Arabs. They even do it with the holocaust.

The point of my post was to show that tendency. Zionists prefer for Jewish people to be persecuted by white Christians than living in relative peace with Arabs or Muslims. Denying that it’s how Zionists see it shows a huge racist bias against Arabs and Muslims.

[megtdsullivan]

Stop 2: Granada, Spain

After a 3 hour train trip from Seville we made it to Granada! This city was a little bit faster paced and had lots of people out doing thing all the time which we liked. With not a lot of time we hit the ground running and did all we could! The spa day in the middle though was much needed and rejuvenated us to keep going. Our Airbnb was right near the center of town and so close to everything we needed.

Places we went:

Alhambra

Plaza Nueva

Albayzin Neighborhood

Hammam Granada Spa

Sacromonte museum and neighborhood

Sierra Nevada Tour

Basilica de San Juan de Dios

Night adventure tour of the city

On to the next!

[adarkrainbow]

Catherine Bernard’s Riquet with the tuft

(Note: all illustrations actually come from Perrault’s Riquet with the tuft, not Bernard’s)

As I said in my post about Charles Perrault’s Riquet with the tuft, the tale of the Academician was actually an answer to a previous fairytale written by Catherine Bernard - and reading her version of “Riquet with the tuft” helps a lot understand Perrault’s. Now, while Catherine Bernard is part of the “first fairytale tellers” of France, and was very influential in the birth of the fairy tale genre (after all, she influenced Perrault’s tales), she isn’t often talked about... It is because, unlike other writers of the “first generations”, she didn’t create a lot of fairytales - merely two. “Le prince rosier” (the rose-bush tree) and her Riquet with the tuft, both inserted in a novel called “Inès de Cordoue”. This, as you will learn by following this blog, was actually quite usual when the fairytale genre appeared: fairytales weren’t considered enough to exist “by their own” and so were often inserted as “stories-within-stories” in realistic narratives. 

Mind you, when I say Catherine Bernard wasn’t “talked much about”, I mean in terms of fairytales nowadays - outside of this, she was actually one of the famous French women of the second half of the 17th century. Also called “mademoiselle Bernard”, she was a poetess, a novelist and a playwright, and one of the first women part of the Académie Française. Much more importantly: she was the first women who got a theater play written by her (a tragédie) to be played by the Comédie Française! (If you don’t know about France at this time, this was huge, l’Académie Française was the official cultural institution of France, and the Comédie Française the most famous and respectable official theater of France). 

All that being said, let’s see what’s her take on the “Riquet” story...

Once upon a time, there was a rich lord of Granada [note: Given the novel the story is inserted in takes place in Spain, of course the fairytale has a Spanish flavor to it] who had only one sorrow: his only daughter, despite being very beautiful, was very stupid. Her actions ruined her grace, and despite her splendid body, she lacked a “soul”. She was named Mama, and she was too stupid to know that she was actually stupid (well, “lacking spirit” as mademoiselle Bernard puts it), but she felt that she was disdained and isolated from others, though she couldn’t tell why. One day, as she was walking alone near her house, a man so hideous he could be a monster appeared out of the ground. She was ready to flee when he talked to her, saying he had bad news to tell her, but also pleasant things to promise. He begins with the cruel part: he reveals to her that the reason don’t like is because she is lacking “in thoughts”, and because she never thinks she is far inferior to him, even though he is a monster in body. (There is a funny line where he adds “But given you empty your eyes are right now, I realized I over-estimated you when I thought my words would offend you.”) The monstrous man offers Mama to give her spirit - but to do so, she needs to love him, Riquet with the Tuft, and in one year she will have to marry him. He lets Mama think about it as long as she likes, and while waiting she just has to repeat a little magical poem to gain the thoughts and cleverness she misses (it is a little poem about love).

 The girl immediately does so, and becomes fast in thought and shining in spirit. Back at the court, she amazes everyone with her newfound spirituality, she is now surrounded by friends and lovers at her balls and promenades, soon people become jealous of her and everybody talks about her. And regularly she repeats the magical love-poem of Riquet, to keep her bright spirit... But unfortunately, while these words do create a feeling of love in her heart, it is for somebody else: for the most good-lovers of her suitors. There’s just one problem: this suitor is not rich or wealthy in any way, he is “without fortune”. The girl’s parents, realizing the mistake they made by wishing for her to have spirit, try to compensate it by teaching her all sorts of warnings about love - but it is useless to fight love in the heart of a young and pretty girl, and so Mama became madly in love with the handsome but poor suitor, Arada. 

Now, Mama had revealed to no one the true cause of her “spiritual metamorphosis” - she was so vain she refused to admit she didn’t grow a complex thought on her own. But as the year came to a close she started to despair and realize that she shouldn’t have used Riquet’s gift so much - she needed to escape her fateful wedding to the monstrous man, while also keeping the gift he had offered her...  One day, as she thought about her plan alone, she heard a great noise and songs from under the ground - songs singing the poem of love Riquet taught her. Mama, terrified, sees the ground open up before her, and Riquet with the tuft appears surrounded by men as deformed him. She could only cry before such a sight. Riquet understood what was going on, and was sad to realize she disliked him even more than before, but he told her: you can still back up. I gave you one year to think over, you can refuse my wedding proposition, as long as you return to me the gift of spirit I gave you. However, if she marries him, she will become the Queen of the Gnomes (for Riquet himself reveals to be the King of the Gnomes), and he will offer her all the treasures buried under the earth (which are his property). He concludes: “If someone is unhappy with both gold and spirit, it is that they deserve to be.”

Riquet takes Mama in his underground kingdom and his somptuous, luxury apartments, where ugly female Gnomes serve her every whim and desires. He leaves her two days to see what he has to offer to help her make her choice, and she has all sorts of gnome-entertainments - balls and theater plays - but all she can see is the grotesque appearance of everyone. Now, to flee this hideous husband, she was ready to return to stupidity... But she had a lover now, and this changed everything. She didn’t want to lose Arada, so she wanted to keep her spirit, but by doing so she condemned herself to life forever underground cut from him... 

After two days, she realized she fear too much to return to Arada in a thoughtless state, and decided to marry Riquet nonetheless, to keep her spirit. Through this wedding, Mama’s spirit became even bigger and stronger than before, but this made her regret even more the decision she took of marrying a monster that disgusted her constantly. Riquet realized the hatred of his wife, and he grew hurt - he started to curse his own curiosity that led him outside of his underground realm, he cursed all these seductive womens and his dreams of marriages, and in his bitter state he left Mama more and more alone. Without the King of the Gnomes around, Mama decided to bring Arada into her underground realm: after all, she entered, couldn’t he? She was also worried of how brutally and unexpectedly the Gnome had ravished her - fearing what people might say and claim back at the surface. Mama had a Gnome servant bring a letter to Arada, who was despaired by the disappearance of his lover, and as soon as he learned where she was, he joined her - gaining access with her help to her underground chambers. Exchanging sweet words, Arada decided to abandon the human world to live with Mama under the earth. 

Arada thus started to live with Mama hidden in Riquet’s palace - but Riquet noticed that his wife was suddenly much more joyful and happy than usual. Worse: he noticed she made an effort to dress up nicely, put on jewels and look pretty, even when she was supposed to be completely alone. He was too clever to believe she somehow had grown to like him - and he guessed a human lover must have sneaked to her. He wanted to punish her, for using the intelligence he had gifted her against him - but he couldn’t remove all of it, because she had obeyed his law and held his promise... So he decided to split the spell: she would only be intelligent at night, as she slept with him, and return to begin stupid by day, when he left her alone. 

Unfortunately for Riquet, while during the day Mama was lethargic with stupidity, by night the rush of ideas kept waking her up, and she stole a magical herb that, placed under Riquet’s nose, would make him sleep deeply as long as she liked. Like thus, she could leave her drugged husband to spend the night at her lover’s hiding place, without worrying about a thing. This went on from quite some times - she spent all her nights with her lovers, and by the morning removed the herbs, and spent her lonely, stupid days sleeping. 

But things couldn’t last forever... The magical leaves that placed Riquet to sleep also made him snore. A Gnome servant, who was half awakened half asleep, misunderstood one of the snores as an order and rushed into the bedroom of his master: seeing the herb, he thought they were bothering him, and removed them. Riquet found himself all alone. Looking for his wife, he discovered her making vows of eternal love to Arada. Riquet didn’t say anything, but took a wand and touched with it Arada, who became identical in body to Riquet. Days passing by, Mama lost the ability to distinguish between the two, and merely found herself with two husbands: she didn’t know to which she could confess her sorrows, and from which she should fear the wrath. 

Mademoiselle Bernard to conclude: “But maybe she didn’t lose that much. With time, all lovers become husbands.” THE END

As you can see, this story has a quite distinct tone. We have here a more irreverencious, humoristic, darker tale where no one is really a good guy - it is a classic “unfortunate extra-marital love story” so typical of the time. The female protagonist, Mama, is clearly designed to not be a good heroine - she is told to be vain, cunning, deceiving, and to use her intelligence for bad things... But at the same time, it is said that she only follows her heart, and that she stays true to her love despite what everybody else says. In a similar way, Arada could be seen as an antagonist, given his position in the tale, but the truth is that he is just a good-hearted man in love, and who stays true and loyal for his soul-mate, even abandoning the human world for her. 

It is a strange and bizarre tale without clear morals here, a muddle grey story where nothing is black-and-white, and whose only purpose is to explore the clash between “love” and “marriage”. We have here the traditional topos of a loveless wedding to a hideous and hated husband - but who, in a twist, is not a bad, cruel or lecherous one, as Riquet is shown to be understanding of his wife’s feeling, to be wise, to leave her a full choice to marry him or not... He only punishes her when she does break their marital bonds, and even then his punishments are not truly cruel. In fact, this breaking of the cliche and stereotypes of the romance novels reaches a culminating point with the last sentence of the tale: “All lovers become husbands”, which literaly happens as Mama finds Arada turned into a twin of Riquet. Catherine Bernard seems here to try to prove the absurdity of the very topoi romance of her time relied on, this sort of clear-cut divide between the charming, heroic, extra-marital lovers and the wicked husbands, by pointing out how one can become the other and reverse: the real thrill of Mama (and of all typical romance protagonist) is the thrill of an extra-marital relationship with a young and beautiful person. But if we imagine that their love for the dashing youths lead them to marry them... Then it means love is gone, as they are now one of those hated husbands the romance-heroine has to flee from in another man’s arms. A very superficial way of thinking that Bernard takes a great joy playing with here - especially by highlighting how everything bad that happened to Mama happened because of her vanity, her refusal to reveal where she got her intelligence from, her refusal to appear stupid in front of the man she loved (or thought she loved). The fact that, in the end, when one’s appearance is changed, she cannot distinguish between the two, actually proves that her feelings were entirely superficial, and that deep down, Riquet and Arada are the same in spirit... 

Of course, reading this full, original version also allows one to understand the strange gaps and holes in Perrault’s story. The whole passage of Riquet having an underground kitchen popping out of nowhere makes not much sense in his tale (since Riquet is there a human prince) - but it is a nod to Bernard’ version where Riquet is a gnome ruling over an underground nation. Similarly, the mention of the dashing rival opposing Riquet in Perrault’s is a leftover of Arada, a nod to the original tale that is quickly gotten rid of as the Academician rather chooses to make his story one about the power of love, with a happy ending, rather than a pathetic comedy like Bernard’s. In fact, Perrault’s ending is purposefully designed to be the reverse of Bernard, with the ugly dwarf becoming the handsome prince, instead of the reverse - and the ambiguity at the end of Bernard’s tale (Mama unable to recognize Arada from Riquet) is displaced to the princess of Perrault unable to know if Riquet was truly transformed, or if simply her look of him changed. 

To this, I’ll add some notes taken not from my mind, but from an article written by Monique Vincent, comparing the two versions of the tale:

Perrault’s story is one fundamentally optimistic. In his tale, the character of the fairy is here to soothe and balance the disasters of natural birth: to the ugly Riquet she gives spirit, and to the stupid girl she gives the power to make people beautiful. These two different characters are soul-mates made for each other, gifted with complementary gifts, that end up making the happiness of one another. But Bernard’s tale is pessimistic. There is no fairy, only Riquet can give a gift (a gift which causes his own unhappiness, and is used/abused against him), and the “marvelous” of the tale is only present in Riquet who, while just an extravagant but charming prince in Perrault’s, is here a grotesque and frightening being ruling over an underground realm of ugliness. Perrault’s protagonist are charming - the stupidity of the princess being tied to everyday things such as clumsiness, and Riquet having his cute little tuft of hair at his birth ; Bernard’s characters are self-destructive, such as Mama who keeps accumulating miseries and miseries driven by the wrong choices. 

The whole struggle of Mama is one of fatality: to keep her newfound love and reputation, she is forced to tie herself forever to somebody she does not love, but to be able to live fully and happily her live and emotions, she needs to become a betrayer and an oath-breaker. She understands and knows that there is no right way for her, and that she is doomed either way, but still drags herself and her lover into dangerous situations out of pure vanity. And Bernard’s character of Riquet is one we can only feel pity for, the same way he felt pity for Mama - as his fate is to be humiliated by a cheating wife, and to end up in self-hatred due to Mama’s constant disgust (it is noted that due to her dislike of him, he ends up cursing his own appearance). Perrault’s narrative is fast, light-hearted, talkative and “shining” with wonders ; Bernard’s narrative is a deeply human story of anxiety and emotions, taking us into the depths of the heart and the earth. This is a clear opposition of what liked to call “le merveilleux blanc” and “le merveilleux noir”, the white marvelous and the black marvelous. In fact, Perrault’s story is much closer to the traditional fairytale, where Bernard’s story is still ingrained in the logic of the novel. 

A common point in those two tales is that both explore aspects of the modern world the authors live in, but each author has its different angle. Perrault’s tale is about life in society: it is about learning to be entertaining at parties, it is how to get the art of “shining” by your conversation, it is the story of a young princess becoming the jewel of a court, and it ends with the social event that is a wedding feast. Mademoiselle Bernard rather turns herself towards the familial life: Mama is the young girl that cannot be with the one she is in love with due to her parents’ disapproval, while only being able to grow as a person through the love of someone else ; it is the story of a husband who tries to make his wife happy through riches and entertainments, but fails as she flees to find something else he cannot offer. This is the story of a girl who follows her love despite the social and familial norms, which only leads her to becoming an unhappy criminal. This is the full horror of the “black marvelous”. 

But both tale share a noticeable “twist” and “leaning” towards the real world, somehow announcing the disappearance of the world of the supernatural and the wonders, replaced by reality. In Perrault’s, it is the refutation of the fairy’s spell through psychological explanations ; in Bernard’s, it is the depressing conclusion of what looks like a banal, sad case of love affair and cheated husbands - that “all lovers become husbands”, a heavy truth that crushes the marvels of the world of the gnomes, reducing it to a mere caricature of our own world.  Bernard’s tale is a tragedy, Perrault’s a comedy. 

[I would personaly nuance that there is more humor than what Monique Vincent claims in Bernard’s story - there are several jokes cracked up here and there, the whole situation is indeed a grotesque caricature of romance stories, and the final conclusion, while pretty sad or heavy, can also be read as a sort of dark joke.]

[the-flying-trex]

hi i saw that you recently went to spain! im considering moving there for college/rest of life and i was wondering what you liked about spain?

Hi !

I go to Spain every year to see my grandparents because they live there. This year I wanted to connect more with my Spanish heritage and discover more parts of España. I started in Valencia (where my grandparents live) to Sevilla, Capileira, Granada, Madrid, San Sebastián, Orio and back to Madrid.

I like that it was fairly easy to travel to one place to another by public transportation (train and Bus). The two transportation network complements each other well which makes travels easier.

I like that Spain has a cultural heritage that is easily accessible by just sightseeing. Cities like Sevilla or Granada are open sky museums and a door to the past and history. Spain has a lot of renowned museums that are not that expensive (if your a student it’s almost every time free).

The food is so GOOD in Spain ! I really appreciate the Spaniard cuisine. They do bocadillos of pretty much anything but they are so good (my fav is the one with Sepia)! Every region has its own specialty but traditionally Spaniard cooking is all about olive oil, onions, tomatoes and sea food, fish and meat. My all time fav dish is a Paella Valenciana !

I’ve liked seeing the diversity of landscapes and colors and different climats with each region I’ve been to. The north is green and colder and the south is yellow and hot as hell but so beautiful.

I liked how the Spaniard are attached to traditions. Each region has their own festivities and traditions and I think it’s a beautiful thing.

I like the beach and the sea/ocean. For me, there is nothing better than to sit on the sand, watch the sunrise, go for a quick swim in the sea and then start the day !

I cannot tell you about living in Spain because I only went on vacation and stayed with retired people who lives a life without a worry in the world :) but I can tell you that life is sweeter in Spain than Switzerland. I feel like the people are not as stressed about life here than Swiss people. It’s not the same rhythm of life. They take their time. I feel like Spaniards are also warm and welcoming (and they know how to party!). This is only my experience in this country.

Thanks for your question. If you have any other, don’t be a stranger and send me a dm :)

[setonhillcordoba23]

This weekend in Granada was an experience. I had a lot of fun but it took a lot of different turns for everyone. On the bus ride there, it was rainy and cold and my expectations were significantly lowered due to this. When we arrived, the rain and cold continued, but it was tolerable as a Pennsylvanian native. First, we visited another beautiful cathedral. All of the cathedrals we have seen so far have been really beautiful and share many similarities it their architecture and artwork. Later, we had some free time and I decided to go back into the city to do so shopping. I did more walking than actual shopping, but I did meet some really nice people at the shops. At a tea and spice shop, one lady was so nice to me. She let me try their chai tea (my favorite type!) and it was delicious. I also bought a tea native to Granada for my host mom (I’ve drank a lot of her tea since being here). I realized I never introduced myself to this lady nor did she to me, but she was really nice. For the most part, we communicated fully in Spanish until there was a word I didn’t know and I said it in English instead. It was nice to have a normal conversation with a native speaker and be able to communicate without many problems. Ironically, her brother in law moved to PA last year for Atlanta, so she’s a little bit familiar with the state. I met another guy while buying some sweatshirts. He was actually really nice and was impressed by my Spanish (even though I’m not sure it was good at all). He thought I might be here teaching English to younger students in a school. I didn’t really realize that was something I could do, but I am definitely interested in coming back later and doing that at some point. We talked a little about Spain and Granada and it was a nice conversation. One thing I’ve noticed is that people here seem to be generally more pleasant than in the US. To me, it seems like people here are more relaxed and genuinely enjoy having conversations, possibly due to having a differently structured day with a siesta and longer meals etc. Overall, the people in Spain seem a bit happier and less rushed compared to people in the US. One cultural difference I have noticed is the length of meals. I would consider myself a rather impatient individual and meals here last at minimum an hour. Back at home, that’s about the length of a holiday meal or a special occasion. Restaurants usually are rushing you out to serve the next party or you have to move onto to something else and eat quickly. Here, meals are an opportunity for conversation. I’m not sure if I could adjust to having hour(s) long meals at home, but it definitely has been interesting. I also have adjusted really well to the difference in meal times. I was a bit worried at first because it seems like such a long time in between meals, but the food served holds you over until the next meal. I wish we would’ve been able to spend some more time in Granada. The weather was much better Sunday and we got to visit the Alhambra. It was probably my favorite excursion of the trip so far. It was so beautiful. My favorite part was walking through the gardens and seeing all of the nature and views of the city. I definitely would love to visit Granada again in the future!

[aragarna]

For the handwritten ask: 🧁 favorite memory with a specific song/album?

How uspet would you be if I typed it, instead of writing it? (because yes, I've long reached the point where typing is faster than writing...) I do have a fun story (it's fun for me at least!) but it's a bit long.

So, depending how old you are, you may or may not remember the rise of peer-to-peer downloading. It was an amazing thing, suddenly putting all the content of the world a couple of clicks away! So we'd just very randomly search for anything that'd cross our minds. BUT we had sllllooooow internet connections and desktop computers with a full hard drive of 2GB. Still, the excitement of P2P, typing in a movie title, an actor's name, see what was available, pick one, prefencially short audio files if you didn't want to wait 2 days. Pray it wasn't porn-in-disguise... Anywho, I don't exactly remember (that was 20 years ago) but I guess somewhere between the Zorro movies, Shrek 2 and watching old Almodovar movies in Spanish class, I had a bit of a crush on Antonio Banderas (who didn't, then?). So, I suppose I typed in "antonio banderas" somewhere and here was a file of a reasonable size labeled "antoniobanderas.wav" which was, indeed, a song sang by Antonio Banderas. Cute song, sounded very Spanish to me. From what I could understand, it was a sweet love song. Morena de me corazon. Something about playing the guitar, the moon, love... I assumed he may have released an album or something (though I never found such thing back then). Happy with my discovery, I put it in my "music" folder, and it's been transfered from desktop to laptop to mp3 to iPod over the years. It was just to me "that old Banderas song" that would pop on my playlist every once in a while.

Cue, over 20 years later (a few months ago). France.tv (free TV and streaming service) informs me that they have Desperado available. Sometimes my heart is weak. I'm not a Rodriguez fan, but I was longing for my old Spanish amigo, so I'm like "well, it's Sunday, the movie is free, it'll make a good background thing while I spend too much time on Tumblr."

10 seconds. It took about 10 seconds and 3 guitar stroke for all the bells in my brain to ring. I know that song. That's THE SONG!! My god that song is from Desperado?! Desperado?! That innocent love song?

So, there. A 20 years-old mystery solved. Totally by chance.

And 2 weeks ago, during a trip to Spain, I was telling this story to my friend and because that was the only Spanish song I had on my phone and it's a bit of an earworm, it became the hymn for our trip and we've been singing in all week. And suddenly, a group starts playing and singing it in the streets of Granada, and here I am, singing along, very proud of knowing la Canción Del Mariachi!

[thatsladyfaggottoyou]

Another snippet!

Things are gonna be sparse for a week or so as my husband and I struggle to get the last of the Christmas presents made, but I thought I'd share a bit of the story we're writing about James and Camille's daughter--and there's another snippet of this coming later, too!

Back in Spain, Madeleine was only just coming into the hotel with coffee and sausage rolls as she tugged off her jacket.

"I'll never get used to how chilly it is in the morning here—" she started, the words fading as she caught sight of James, voice hitching in her throat. She set down their things, only just toeing off her shoes at the door before coming over to reach for his hands.

"James? What happened—what's wrong?" The worry bit the edges of her words, pinching them together as she slid easily into his lap to press her body to his own.

He heard her come in, he heard her speaking but his face—his body—remained still as stone. Madeleine's weight in his lap drew slow answer, the registration of her presence halted at the gate where realization stalled and stalled and stalled. His body sat still for a beat or two more before he permitted himself her presence. She was there, she was close, and he wrapped himself around her smaller frame and clung.

The words fought for the front of the line, the things he needed to explain, the reasons, the apologies. What won in the end was a phrase uttered with a softness he had not recalled he could wield.

"We need to stay in Granada."

It wasn't the certainty of his words that frightened her; it was the time it took for him to say them.

James wasn't a man of pauses and half-steps. He was certain, and quick, and sharp; the man here was all putty and terror, and she clung to him as best she could as she felt his arms crush around her.

"What's happened, James?" Madeleine asked against his chest. "Why do we need to stay? What are we waiting for?"

James took a moment to feel Madeleine against him, closing his eyes and burying his face in the soft of her hair. She was grounding, all clove and marigold, and this was needed—this was good. It took him a long moment to answer, to gather the bits of himself that felt scattered and slip them into his voice, to build slow the roll of his tone and candor even as dulled as it was by the uncertainty of what was yet to come.

Madeleine had followed him into Hell, had led him back out, and yet—and yet, this, now, felt a weight unconscionable; how could he ask her to bare it with him?

But—he wouldn't lie. Not to her. Not now, when everything was ended and they had maybe, maybe, maybe the imagination of a moment's rest. And so he spoke, clear as his throat would allow him.

"We're waiting for my daughter to find me."

Madeleine quieted.

She knew—she knew that if James had known he had a daughter, by now she would have known, too. Of all the parts of himself he still hid, he didn't hide what could implicate her. He didn't hide things that could still find him.

That meant he hadn't known.

She went over that again in her mind. He had a daughter and he hadn't known. Someone out there carried his child for nine months and he hadn't known. Somewhere out there a girl was born and raised and loved and shaped and she was in some way his and he hadn't known.

Her voice cracked when, at last, she spoke. Her body moved, pulling away only just enough to reach warm, soft hands up to cup his face between them, red-rimmed eyes meeting his own as she asked so, so quietly—as though the answer could break them both: "What do you need from me?"

She swallowed, searching his eyes as the words tumbled faster, now, from her lips. "I'm here, James—you don't have to face this alone. You never will. So whatever you need me to be—whatever you need to be able to do this—you only have to ask. I love you. We'll be alright. I love you, and I know I'll love her, too."