Oh no, I have gotten behind on blogging. I will try to remember all the great details from the past few weeks and to be more prompt with my next few posts!
La Ciudad del Saber: The City of KnowledgeTwo Fridays ago IES offered a trip to the town Alcalá de Henares. Not many students went, which was nice. They were celebrating La Semana de Cervantes, or the week of Cervantes, which was a huge midieval festival. They are famous for their University, and for being the home of Cervantes! They also have some interesting Jewish history, and I saw the street where most of the Jews used to live. Actually, when we went into Cervantes' house, I realized he lived on the same street as the Jews used to live (Calle Mayor) and remembered one teacher telling our class about the theory that Cervantes was Jewish. I talked to my friend Currie, another student on the trip, about this theory, and he said his Spanish teacher in high school is from Alcalá, and is positive that Cervantes was Jewish. I asked Yolanda, an IES staff member who was with us for the day, if she thinks Cervantes was Jewish. She gasped and said, "Absolutamente no! Él fue un católico perfecto." (Absolutely not! He was a perfect Catholic.) Many people in Spain still have a mentality that any important figure in their history must have been Catholic. Although there are many influential historical figures in Spanish history who were Catholic, this mentality overall is incorrect, as Spain used to be dominated by Muslims and Jews before the explusion in 1492.
Me and Don Quijote chillin outside Cervantes' HouseAlcalá was a very cute town. The midieval festival was almost a chochkee overload, though! I bought a very cool bracelet that Papa Bill really liked.
Me and the Cheese Man
No, there can never be too many postres.
Me and Clare in the Bedouin tent drinking tea
Many peppers
Currie, Me, and Dan
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