Visa.........CHECK!

Proud to say that I picked up my student visa today!!! Two weeks from today I will already be in Santiago de Compostela!  so much to do so little time :-) 

Random fun facts about Santiago de Compostela

A few facts and myths about Galicia's premier city.

• Santiago de Compostela is in the A Coruna province and although not the provincial capital, is in fact the capital of the region of Galicia.

• Santiago is Galicia's most popular and visited city by foreigners, but it is not the largest. That title falls to Vigo. A Coruna also has a larger population.

• The original town of Santiago was nothing more than a monastic development that housed one dozen monks, given the role of looking after the grave of St. James after its discovery in the 9th century.

• Santiago claims to have the oldest hotel in the world, the "Hostal dos Reyes Católicos" (now a parador). It has an attractive facade and is on the same "obradoiro" square as the main cathedral.

• The exact origins of the word "Compostela" are unknown, but it is thought that they derive from the similar Latin words meaning star or light field - a reference to the images seen by a hermit above the resting place of St. James shortly before it was discovered.

• Santiago de Compostela produced the world's first recognized guidebook, the 12th century "Codex Calixtinus", which offered guidance to pilgrims, wishing to follow the "Camino de Santiago" (Way of St James) route on the holy pilgrimage to the Cathedral.

• Santiago de Compostela remains the third holiest place in Christendom and the number of holy pilgrims continues to increase annually.

• The final night of festival celebrations during the St.James fiesta, culminates in a massive concert on the "Obradoiro" square attended by Spain's royal family.

• Santiago de Compostela is at present Galicia's regional capital. It is also the regions broadcasting and legislatory center and has one of the regions two internatioinal airports. The other airport is in A Coruna and is soon to commence flights from Heathrow to Coruna via Iberia airlines.

• Santiago de Compostela has a population of approx. 89, 000 and is 250 metres above sea level. It is 630 km from Madrid.

• Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1993).

• The weather in Galicia is perhaps the only questionable element if you are considering holidaying in this region. Whilst the coastal towns and cities do enjoy plenty of sun, Santiago de Compostela has the ominous reputation of averaging over 300 rainy days per year, so it is always a good idea to take an umbrella.

Oneworld revolves around you!!

Soon enough I will have the pleasure of flying with three of the founding Oneworld Alliance members! Three countries in less than twenty four hours will be amazing, haven't done that in a while! Have to keep building my AAdvantage Miles one day I will be a millionaire (in miles of course!!!) 

Santiago de Compostela

With only 15 more days to go till my arrival in Santiago, I believe that it is essential that I blog on the city so y'all have an idea of where and what I got myself into. It is an autonomous community of Galicia, today's destination is the city's cathedral  "Way of Saint James". The cathedral borders the main plaza of the well-preserved old city. Legend has it that the remains of the apostle James were brought to Galicia for burial in 813AD. Legend has it that a bright star guided a shepherd who was watching his flock at night to the burial site in Santiago de Compostela. the shepherd quickly reported his discovery to the bishop (Teodormiro), who immediately notified King Alfonso II in Ovideo. The cathedral is built on top of the said remains of the apostle, the Catholic church was not only able to maintain their stronghold in northern Spain during the Christian crusades against the Moors, but also led to the growth and development of the city. 

Right across the square is the Pazo de Raxoi, the town hall and seat of the Galician Xunta (more on later). USC (University of Santiago de Compostela, establish in the early 16th century. The main campus is said to be seen best from an alcove in the large municipal park in the center of the city. A lot of many narrow winding streets full of historic buildings. Divided between the new town (a xona nova in Galician, la zona nueva in Spanish orensanche) and the old town (a zona vella in Galician or la zona vieja in Spanish, trade-branded aszona monumental), a mix of middle age residents and younger students running throughout the city untill the early hours of the morning can often be found. Radiating from the center of the city, the historic catherdral is surrounded by pave granite streets, tucked away in the old town, and separated from the newer part of the city by the largest of many parks throughout the city, Parque de Alameda. Whether in the old town or in the new one party-goers will oftern find themselves following their tapas by dancing the night away. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flamenco?

Flamenco a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian (southern Spain) music and dance in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part.  In recent years flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many counties - in Japan flamenco is so popular there are more academies there that in Spain! Unesco declared Flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritiage of Humanity. There three important aspects to Flamenco.

1) The Guitar  - The origins, use and technique of the flamenco guitar. they are built lighter in weight than classical guitars, which produces a "brighter" and more percussive sound more percussive sound quality. A well-made flamenco guitar responds quickly, and typically has less sustain than a classical. This is desirable

2) Baile (dance) - El flamenco is known for its emotional intensity, proud carriage, expressive use of the arms and rhythmic stamping of the feet. As with any dance form, many different styles of flamenco have developed.

3)  Cante (song) -because the dancer is front and center in a flamenco performance, foreigners often assume the dance is the most important aspect of the art form - but in fact, it is the cante which is the heart and soul of the genre. Many of the earliest flamenco songs are said to have been dark and profound in nature, concentration on events such as bloody encounters, violent death, love, and love betrayed, displacement, incarceration, sickness, and loss.

In traditional flamenco, young people are not considered to have the emotional maturity to adequately convey the "duende" (soul) of the genre. Therefore unlike other forms, where dancers turn professional early to take advantage of you and strength, many flamenco dancers do not hit peak util their thirties and will continue to perform in their fifties and beyond.

Flamenco is played somewhat differently from classical guitar. Players use different posture, strumming patterns, and techniques. Flamenco guitarists are known as tocaores (from an Andalusian pronunciation ottocadores, "players") and flamenco guitar technique is know as toque.

History Lesson!!!

Back facade of the cathedral

The area of Santiago de Compostela was occupied by the Suebi (group of Germanic people) in the early 400s, during the initial collapse of the Roman Empire, and attributed to the bishopric of Ira Flavia (Celtiberia port) in the 6th century partition usually know as Parochiale Suevorum. In 585 the whole settlement together with the rest of Suebi Kingsom was annexed by Leovigild into the Visgothic kingdom of Spain. as the sixth province of the realm. Raided from 711 to 739 by the Arabs, the bishopric of Ira was incorporated into the Kingdom of Austruias, some 50 years later before the discovery of some remains attributed to Saint James the Greater, and their acceptance as such by Pop and Charlemagne during the reign of Alfonoso II of Asturisas. Around the place of the discovery emerged a new settlement and center of pilgrimage, called "Compstella" from 10th century on. This settlement, notably under the impulse of bishop Diego Gelmirez, would become one of the main centers of Christian pilgrimage, second only to Rome and Jerusalem.

Santiago de Compstela was captured and sacked by the French during the Napoleonic Wars; as a result, the remains attributed to the apostle were lost for near century, hidden inside a cist in the basements of the cathedral of the city!

As suggested already, it is probably impossibly to know whose bones were actually found and precisely when and how. Perhaps it does not matter. What the history of the pilgrimage requires, but  what the meagre sources fail to reveal, is how the local galicial cult associated with the saint was transformed into an international cult drawing pilgrms from distant parts of the world.

The 1000+ year old pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compstela is know in English as the " Way of St. James" and in Spanish as the "Camino de Santiago". Over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the city each year from points all over Europe and other parts of the world. The pilgrimage has been the subject of many and television programs, notably Brian Sewell's The Naked Pilgrim produced for UK's Five. The pilgrimage has also been the subject of several paintings by artist Brian Whelan.

The Scallop Shell, emblem of St. James worn by pilgrims.

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compstlea is the Jewel in Galicia historic, cultural, and medieval crown. Santiago is this Spanish region's most famous and illustrious city and it holds a vast medieval district with many monuments and buildings of not just Spanish, but international importance. it is quite rightly regarded as tone of the world's great cities. The city of Santiago de Compostela has World Heritage status and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Many of these travelers have an interest in exploring and experiencing this historic town's culture, its unique buildings, and architecture, along with its many districts and quarters. All of which have a historic reference. The greater city of Santiago de Compostela has a population of 100,000 people and it remains a prosperous commercial center. 

Santiago's original settlement dates back to the ninth century, as a does the beginnings of one of the most spectacular cathedrals in the world. The city is also the resting place of the apostle Saint James who's connection with both the Cathedral and town has led to Santiago's significance as the third most important place in Christendom. The Cathedral itself is the final destination for thousands of Christian’s pilgrims who walk the "Way of St. James (Camino de Satiago)" pilgrimage across Galicia in order to reach this impressive city and visit the tomb of the saint himself. The cathedral though is far from Santiago de Compostela's only outstanding architectural icon. The old town is full of dazzling examples of Goth, Neo-Classical, Romanesque, and Baroque design and nearly all are on a grand or monumental scale. 

It is also important to note that the region of Galicia is heavy influence by Celtic Culture. Galicia is the Ireland of Spain. More on that Later :-) 

Introduction - Hello Everyone!

Though I have never done this, I will begin blogging in order to keep everyone updated about my highly anticipated trip to Spain. Obviously I’m going to miss everyone, but I am beyond excited and grateful to get this chance.

Most especially I’m excited to spend more time with highly educated and well rounded individuals who are also coming: Meghan, Elizabeth, and Josh. We have been spending a lot of time "hanging out", adjusting to a level of mutual comfort where we can safely rip on each other without any hard feelings. A lot of this bonding occurs due to mutual frustration with the level of organization and communication within the program. Granted, this is no fault of the college’s or the current program coordinators; they have a lot of picking up to do after the last Study Abroad coordinator left.

Now that we have our Visa appointments, our plane tickets, and our letters of acceptance to la Universidad, the pressure is off a little bit; the four of us have a relaxed a smidgen about things working out. Things never seem quite real until you’re there. In the meantime, I have this blog! :) 


P.S. 


Watch the video it is awesome! It shows/speaks about the immigration from southern/western Africa to Spain!