Ronda

Heyllo Everyone,

So to be honest, I’ve fallen a bit behind on what I would like to put in my blog. I’m sorry, but you know how these things go, there’s always something interesting to do. That might be a small white lie, sometimes I’m just lazy.

So before I went mountain walking in the Sierra Nevada, I went to this place called Rhondo. It’s a small mountain village/town about two hours maybe from Granada. It is one of the prettiest places I have been. It reminded me a lot of New Zealand (the part of New Zealand that was filmed for the Lord of the Rings) (and yes, I know I’m a geek : P ). When we were there, Jorge (pronounced Jor-hay), the person in charge of our program at CLM (centro de lenguas modernas, mi escuela en Granada), showed us to a large mural on the side of the one of the buildings that was a map and picture of the town. Then he led us over this bridge to a place where it was very picturesque. We could see down this ravine to the tiny stream/river than ran below. And because of the river and all the rain the entire sides of the ravine were bright green. Alongside the ravine you could see all these terraces and little walking plazas that were the backyards or behind people’s house or part of restaurants. When you looked down towards the other part of the town (further down the mountain) you could see two more bridges. I don’t really know how to explain it, it was incredibly pretty.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. So after Jorge showed us the picture, he led us to the plaza de los toros. Or plaza of the bulls. We got to go inside and we got to lead ourselves through the center, which is the bull ring. It’s a large circle, like huge (think rodeo size circle or circus), and the surrounding it were the seats for the stadium. This was one of the first sunny days we had in Espana, so we all stood in the sunlight on the yellow sand. It was awesome. Then we walked around a bit more and found the places where the bulls were kept, tiny little walled off areas about the size of a bull. We also saw some horses. Then we went back and ate lunch in the seats of the stadium. It was our first day of bagged lunches, so we all sat around and compared what we got.

Some of the food was a bit strange:
1. foot long sub with olive oil and cheese
2. chicken and cheese on normal size bocadillo (sandwich) bread
3. juice con leche (milk)
4. oranges about the size of two of my fists
5. an apple that was smaller than my fist

Afterwards we all dispersed to walk around the town for about an hour. Another girl, Monica, and I (originally that said me and Monica, but I fixed it for those who appreciate correct grammar) walked around to one of the lower bridges and managed to find our way across the ravine and walked along the terraces along the side. It was really awesome, like I don’t know how to explain how pretty this place was—and the pictures don’t really do it justice. After we did that, me and Monica split up and I walked along these gardens along one of the other cliffs. By garden or park, I mean there was a bunch of plants that were fenced off, some statues, some fountains, etc. Its really pretty, but there is no grass (which is important later, when I feel grass starved). I found a place where a some peacocks were kept in a cage and I saw some ducks, that I didn’t recognize. It’s strange to not recognize the types of plants and birds that are here.

Also plant wise, I saw aloe and cactus plants, which was amazingly awesome.

P.S. Before we went to the town of Rhonda, we stopped by a megalithic (I think, I mailed the brochure thingie home to my grandparents) tomb and religious house. And do you know how they made them? Its ridiculous and amazing all at the same time. They first dug out the place where they wanted the building, then they pulled gigantic stones for the wall. Made the wall and the pillars inside. Filled in the cracks with mud (and mind you, they were sculpting the stone pieces to fit together as well as possible). Then they filled in the pit. Then they dragged stones across the top to make the roof. Then the dug the pit out again. So, please get this straight, they dug the pit, filled in the pit, dug the pit again. And this isn’t like a tiny pit, its like 30 by 50 feet at least. And then inside this place is a well that reaches down for about forever. Just thought you might find that interesting or maybe the amount of work that includes might blow your mind.

P.S.S. We also saw a church. I don’t remember what it was called. But I’ve seen a lot of churches since then. It was really pretty though. I also wonder about the fact that a lot of Catholic churches are very ornate and covered in gold. But it was pretty. I got some pictures of the shrines along the walls, and I saw some of the clothes that the priests and etc used to wear (I think). Also in the middle was an organ and huge sheets of music, which I thought was cool.

here are the links to the photos.
megolithic thing: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167088&id=536555856&l=167b770698
church: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167079&id=536555856&l=47d358de68
plaza de los toros: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167080&id=536555856&l=21c092a449
town of ronda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165219&id=536555856&l=d00e7a30b7
driving on the way to rhonda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167092&id=536555856&l=d99fb3efe7