De lindas mujeres, de sangre, y de sol...: Jerez de la Frontera

Going to school in Granada has been a wonderful experience for me to get out and meet new people from all over the world, but I wont deny that I miss Lawrence at times, and so when our friend Jen Gabriele (a Spanish-major graduate of LU) invited me, Brittany, and Lauren to come visit her in Jerez de la Frontera for the weekend we jumped at the chance to have a good ol' LU reunion, Spanish style, of course.

Jen is in Jerez for the year teaching English to elementary-age students through a government-based program, and so she was very excited to have some extremely grateful guests come visit her and fill up her apartment - something she doesn't get very often, since she is here on her own for the year. She was an absolutely WONDERFUL hostess and made sure to take us to the most important sites in the city - yes. all three. ; ) Jerez is certainly not one of the foremost stops for the typical tourist in Spain, but it boasts for three of the most idealistic elements of the country: flamenco, horses, and sherry. Our first day was spent walking through the streets lined with orange (fruit) trees to go see the most famous equestrian school in all of Spain. We took a tour of the grounds and sat in on a practice session for the horse shows that even the royal family frequently attends. In the evening, Jen surprised us with tickets to see a flamenco show being put on in honor of the recent news that flamenco had been named a world heritage treasure by UNESCO. The famous guest performers were two guitarists and a singer, all natives to Jerez, with the featured performer being Moraito Chico, a world-renowned gitano guitarist. We pushed ourselves forward in the crowded club room and ended up in the front row with a great view of the musicians. It was the most amazing performance I have ever seen, with a full crowd shouting "¡Olé!" while the "cantaor" singer belted out his lyrics in the typical gitano (Spanish gypsy) style that makes your head spin from the amount of emotion put into the music. I have never felt more swept away by a performance.

The next morning was a rainy start, and so we took our time lounging around, reminiscing about Lawrence and sharing stories about our experiences in Spain. In the early afternoon we took a tour of the most famous sherry bodega in the city, Tio Pepe. The tour was a combination of a train ride through the grounds and a walk through the warehouses where there are rows of sherry barrels signed by famous visitors such as Steven Spielberg, Orson Welles, Pablo Picasso, and the Spanish royal family. At the end of our tour we were treated to various samples of sherry and tapas. The light colored, dry sherries certainly have a bit of kick to them, while the darker olorosos serve as perfect deserts to any meal - and so while doing my taste-testing I probably made every facial expression imaginable.

The rest of our time in Jerez was spent enjoying each others' company while walking around the streets of the city where the homeless sing flamenco instead of asking for money and the atmosphere is that of a quiet town, not overrun with rowdy college kids or bustling crowds of tourists. Leaving on Sunday was one of the hardest goodbyes I've had since I've been here. It is amazing how comforting a familiar face can be when you are so far from home, and it is even more amazing how common bonds can create immediate friendships along the way. Jen and I had not been very familiar with each other while on the LU campus, but I left Jerez feeling a heavy weight in my chest from parting with such a wonderful friend. So thank you, Jen! We are all looking forward to repaythe visit here in Granada in the future!

Outside the indoor arena for the horse shows at the Royal Equestrian Academy of Andalusia. Sorry you wont be able to actually see any horses, but photo-taking was not allowed inside.

The palace on the grounds of the equestrian academy with the horse-show arena to the right.

The view outside the window of Jen's apartment, which meant that every tourist also stood right outside her window to get the same photo - talk about people watching....