TAYT, here's some swords from Toledo for you

Santiago de Compostela

I'm sitting in my hotel room right now enjoying some lunch and warming up. We went out this morning about two kilometers and walked into Santiago de Compostela. The cathedral here is a huge Christian pilgrimage site after Rome and Jerusalem. It contains the supposed remains of the Apostle James (Spanish:Santiago) the fisherman. The story is, that a monk followed a field of stars (the Milky Way?) to a place where he discovered the tomb and remains of the Apostle James who was beheaded by Pontius Pilate after his mission. They built a church there and the pope declared that people could receive remission of their sins if they made the pilgrimage to the site. ( I think its complete remission if its a Holy Year--if St. James' day:July 25 falls on a sunday) Pilgrims walk for sometimes 3 weeks to make the journey to this cathedral in Northern Spain starting in France, some in hopes of a healing and others to receive a remission of their sins, and probably some just to do it. They have a passport book that We saw some pilgrims in the church today. There were pilgrims from Barcelona, the United States, and even CANADA!! cool eh!? The traditional pilgrim wears a big floppy hat, a robe, and carries a gourd for water and a walking stick with a shell on it (the sign of Santiago). It was rainy and cold but it didn't even matter because I was so excited to be in the church for the pilgrim mass. When we got to the plaza outside of the church we admired the 18th century facade. Its a beautiful baroque style and with all the rain here in northern Spain its all dark and covered in wet green moss. Once we got inside we looked up at the Pórtico de Gloria--a sculpted doorway with statues of apostles and prophets. Then we touched the pillar that holds up the statue of St. James. It's worn down and even has a hand print in it from the hundreds of millions of people that have touched it over the past 1000 years signifying the end of their pilgrimage. King Ferdinand and Isabel, Columbus, TONS of people have made the pilgrimage to this site and have touched that pillar. We got there early so we had time to walk behind the high alter over the tomb of St. James. We walked past his 13th century statue wearing a silver cape covered in jewels that the pilgrims embrace, and then went down into the crypt where his remains are kept (along with 2 of his apostles. There was a group down there having some kind of service, singing hymns with the priest The core of the building has virtually been unchanged since the 11th century! The cathedral was completely filled with people and Kristina and I found a spot beside a nun. We chatted with her before misa (mass) started. She explained many of the statues in the cathedral, the customs of the pilgrims, and what she did as a monk. It was so much fun to chat with her! Mass started and it was a special mass for all the pilgrims. The service was really nice and we were very fortunate to have been there today because they swung the massive botafumeiro. <--That is a huge incense burner that is silver and suspended from the ceiling with a big wooden pulley. It was swung above the alter by 8 priests after it was lit. The smoke filled the catheral with a really nice smell while the pipe organ belted out at full sound a majestic hymn. So the trodging through the rain and mud for a couple of hours and having escaped the experience with the only thing broken being my umbrella (completely snapped off from the wind) we were incredibly rewarded. It was quite the experience!! After we get all warmed up we are going out again to a museum and then out for seafood. Galicia has the best food in all of Spain and is definitely the most picturesque and traditional I have seen yet. Anybody up for a pilgrimage? I sure am!

Hasta Pronto

Hey, I'm just leaving to go to Avila, Porto (portugal) and Santiago de Compostela. All north of Madrid. I'll be back on Saturday.
xoxo
Jasmine

Paella

Paella is a rice dish from Valencia known all over the world. Its traditionally cooked in a shallow two-handled pan over an open fire. The rice is flavored with saffron and has about a dozen things in it, especially clams and mussels and chicken. This is one of my favorite dishes that my madre makes. Mmm, Mmmm.

My Family here in SPAIN!

The first picture here is in the kitchen with Valerie my roomie. We had just finished eating paella for lunch ( a rice dish with seafood and chicken in it....SO good!) Notice how skinny the kitchen is, and the radiator in the background. There is a radiator in everyroom. In fact in my bedroom its right beside my bed and I enjoy its company all night.
The next two pictures are of my madre (Mom) Ana and padre (Dad) Paco. So all together we're Ana, Paco, Javi, Francisca, "bah-le-rrree" and "haz-meen" !!

Feliz cumpleanos Javi!

This is Javier, or Javi as we lovingly call him. He is our Spanish brother and this is in the dining room during his 19th birthday celebration. The abuela (grandmother) is in the background. Her name is Francisca and she is the mother of Ana. We sang Feliz cumpleaños a ti and I even gave a little rendition in english. The cake was different but good. Hurray for birthdays!

GOOD MORNING! or Sweet dreams....

Good morning (for me) and sweet dreams (for you guys). Its a beautiful sunny day here in Spain and I am going to spend the day in Madrid, a fantastically exciting city! We'll probably hit up some museum, I would like to see a modern art one called the Thyssen-Bournemisa. Tonight there is a Carnival celebration in the city with a parade I believe. We will probably go check out all the rage and costumes. I here there is a great party tonight in Plaza Mayor too ( the old city square where they used to hold hearings for the Inquisition) This next week we are off to northern Spain- to Galicia, and actually some of Portugal.
Have a great sleep and great Friday. I love you all so much
Jasmine

I LOVE MULLETS!

Its honestly like taking a step back in time. Here in the Madrid area, kind of in the middle of Spain, a TON of the guy teenagers are sporting these fantastic mullets. I am going to have to get a great repertoire of mullet shots, they are everywhere and I love it.

In Madrid this Weekend

This is some pictures from my weekend. This was on Saturday and we decided to go explore in Madrid. We met a girl who is Muslim at the school and she invited us to come see the mosque in Madrid so we ended up finding it and also finding a little soccer game (futbol). Sazi told us that the mosque is the biggest in Europe! It was cool, we saw the prayer area (facing Mecca) and the place where they wash before they say their prayers and we walked across the women's prayer area. They also have a library, cafeteria, and theater in the Islamic center. It was really interesting and since I've come here I have become more and more interested in Islam and the Islamic countries and people. I have this new desire to study Arabic as my next language...

In Sevilla

This is a PRECIOUS city, just gorgeous. I got sick at this point in the trip but luckily I was able to get out and take some pictures so that I can relive it again and again. And if you have the opportunity to get to a Flamenco Tablau, GO!!! It made my trip to spain. You should have seen those heels and those skirts and my all time favorite, the CASTENETS!! It was fantastic, I couldn't get enough. I of course fell in love with Spanish guitars and the Spanish men that were dancing. We named the guys Paco, Fabio, and Scott. Our itinerary included a haircut at the Barbershop of Seville... :)

More of the ALhambra

Alhambra

In the Moorish Palace

This place makes you just half expect a sultan to show up on his magic carpet and to show you to his treasure room

Princess Jasmine

Where's Aladdin?

The ALHAMBRA in GRANADA

This part you see all lit up at night is the fortress part of the palace. WOW, we walked the twisty cobblestone streets all night and had this view among the palm trees and cactus

I'm back!

So we just went this last week to Southern Spain and WOW...there aren't words to describe the incredible places I saw down there. Of course the pictures will help you get a glimpse but realize they hardly do the places justice. And I really just need to state this disclaimer, being that I was totally sick the last few days of the trip, when we saw some pretty incredible things like the cathedral in Sevilla with Christopher Columbus' grave and then when we went to Córdoba to see the Mezquita. I'll upload for as long as I can. I honestly have about 500 pictures from this week alone~!
LOVE YOU ALL