Greguerías and wind....

Coca - castle wall

Castle at Coca

Susana & me - aqueduct in Segovia

El Alcázar - Segovia

The throne room - El Alcázar

Greguerías are a form of literature, I guess you could say, that were part of the "vanguardista" period. Basically they are analogies - no form or structure, just pure creativity. We have studied them this week in Literature class, and I must say that my classmates are quite creative. Things like: "Salamanca is... the seat of wisdom." I myself am not that creative, or my mind just does not work that way, one of the two. Today, we have crazy wind here and I have been wondering all day what kind of "greguería" I can come up with for the wind. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

So this past weekend we went on our last excursión, this time to the city of Segovia and town of Coca. By far the best excursión of this trip. Legend has it that Segovia came to be in the year 1076 B.C. Who knows, but it was for sure Romanized right before the time of Christ. Segovia is famous for its aqueduct and castle. The aqueduct was built in the second half of the first and beginning of the second centuries A.D. It still carries water - amazing! The castle, called the Alcázar, was the favorite residence of the Kings of Castile in the middle ages.

In Coca we toured another castle, but this one was a fortress, not a residence. There was a stark difference. Much of the Coca fortress has been reconstructed, but we toured the old part of the castle, which was still all orginal. I decided that I greatly prefer touring castles. :)

This week is our last full week of classes; next Tuesday we begin exams, again. It seems like we just had exams. The time here is flying by, and we are all getting excited to go home, I think. I have a couple new experiences left before heading home, though: tomorrow I am going horseback riding, I think; Friday some friends and I are heading to Portugal for the weekend. I am really looking forward to Portugal - another country to visit! :) We are renting a car and not finding a hotel until we get there. For all those who know me well, you can imagine how much of a stretch this will be for me. =)

Well, now I need to do my homework. We have had homework every night - such a strange feeling...