One of the cultural experiences most felt by any traveler is the difference in economy and money. Spain, along with 15 other nations, adopted the Euro in January 2002 to replace its previous national currency, the peseta. As a visitor to the nation, one of the first things that I have learned to pay closer attention to is the rate of exchange between the dollar and the euro. This is first interesting, because while I have heard mini news clips about the strength of the dollar, I have rarely given it the attention that I am developing now. In the past week, in fact, the dollar saw its strongest day since I have been studying in Spain and also its lowest.
Spain was actually one of the nations which most supported the change to a universal European currency. In the 90's, Spain maintained a GDP growth of over 3% average per year, and often above that. This contrasted greatly with other European nations, like Germany and France, which traditionally had much larger and stronger economies, but experienced near zero growths. The strength of Spain's economy in the last 15 year's according to many economists has legitimized them as member of the European Union (EU) and makes them now the fifth largest economy in the EU and the eighth largest in the world. In my research of the Spanish economy I was also interested to learn that Spain was only second to France in terms of reducing income levels between different social classes in Spain in the last 20 years. This of course is also a reflection and a turn from the reign of Franco and the years of hunger, portrayed in the books of Spanish literature, when the social classes experienced large gaps. Also a change from the Catholic, Franco era, in the 1970's women in the workforce in Spain was equal to the amount of women working in other European nations in the 1930's. Today, with help of the political changes and the shift to the Euro, Spain matches the EU average of women in the workforce. While their are some disadvantages, including intra-european trade, it seems that the change to the euro has been positive for Spain.

This weekend I attended a protestant church with a few other students. The experience spoke volumes of the impact of Spanish history and the relationship of the Catholic church. This room was on the bottom floor in an extra corner of an apartment building a 15-minute walk from the aqueduct. Automatically, it contrasted with the traditional Catholic church, basilica, or cathedral that I have been touring the last few weeks. The dynamics of the congregation were also different than I had anticipated. There were 40 people at highest estimate in the meeting room. All but one person appeared to be under the age of 50. Furthermore, the people looked much more like they were from Latin America rather than Spain. After a little investigation, it was clear my observations were correct. This small group of protestant worshipers were mostly young Spanish family or immigrants from Central and South America. While it has been over 30 years since the end of the Catholic reign of Fransisco Franco, his influence is still felt. The people who grew up and established their adult lives under his rule continue to practice Catholicism. Just as many of the students have mentioned that their host families do not like to speak of Franco, what is clear is that the years of Franco continue to influence Spain through the people he ruled.

Because March is the month of the Holy Bible, the sermon focused on the history of the translation of the Bible from Greek to Castillo. During the 16th Century, the Catholic kingdoms had begun to establish themselves and as a result were forcing those who did not practice Catholicism from Spain. Muslims and Jews were the mass of the emmigrants, however, the Lutheran movement which had been sweeping across Europe conflicted with the Inquisition of the Catholic Kingdom. As a result, the protestent Holy Bible was translated by a Spanish born man in Germany and England. The process toke more than 12 years, but in the end produced the first complete translation of the Holy Bible to Castillian Spanish. This history seemed appropriate and matched the small congreation I was sitting with. Catholicsm has a long and deep history in Spain that has impacted the development of religion in Spain for hundreds of years. This church spoke to the fact that just 30 years of religious freedom can not yet change the religious and polictical culture extablished over centuries.

This is of course an up close and personal picture of the Roman Aqueduct which graces Segovia's skyline. Walking past the aqueduct the other day I noticed that nearly each of the stones had a strange spot on it. They are not placed in an artistic or symmetric order and overall they did not seem to be put there for the aesthic advantage of the aqueduct. Coincidentally, one of my professors handed out an assignment with information about the aqueduct which answered my question. The spots are a result of the building technique. The Romans lifted the stone into place by use a simple pulley method with a pair of tongs that grasped each side of the large stone. The answer was very clear and made a large amount of sense.
Upon having my question answered I then made the connection of ancient building techniques compared with today. While me use a machine that can life something ten times its weight rather than a a mass of men and horses, the idea is the same. The Roman Aqueduct stands in Segovia as a result of Roman mastery and now as a symbol to Segovia's heritage. However, it does more than that. The Roman Aqueduct displays not only human ingenuity, but it ties 2000 years of human ingenuity together. One of the other students on the trip recently commented, "When I see the aqueduct I wonder when is it coming down? It can't last forever!" While the basic reality of his thought is practical and realistic, it also speaks to what the strength of the aqueduct and its inconceivable lastingness.

Walking into my friends apartment last semester, on two different occasions, I watched her pour a seemingly perfect gallon of milk down the drain. She exclaimed, as if the situation were obvious, "Yesterday was the expiration date!" I shoke my head. I believe in the ten second rule, I think that protection from germs makes you less resistant to them, and I believe that the milk is still good a few days after the expiration date. However, even I was shocked by the little carton of milk that my senora was leaving sitting out for hours. Then even more surprised when I realized it had an expiration date not just a few days, or even weeks, but a full two or three months away. It just didn't seem right! For 6 weeks now I have taken that carton of milk from the tray on our breakfast table, made the effort to keep a straight face, and then poured into a class mixed with ColoCoa to mask the different taste. Finally, this weekend I was fed up and had to do a little research: Why is the Spanish milk so different? The best answer that I could find explained that in Spain the majority of milk is Organic and/or nonpastuerized. More research told me that this meant that it would have a longer expiration date. Even in the United States UHT (unpasturized milk) is given a later expiration date. However, the two month difference is a reflection of the policy requirements for the production and the labeling of milk in Spain. While my standards would tell me this is NOT fresh milk, the expiration date is accurate to the milk in the carton. Furthermore, the variety of taste is also the difference in the production methods. If a traveler can not handle the change then they are recommended to go to the nearest Corte Ingles department store, where "fresh" milk more closely related to milk from the United States is sold.

On March 1, I was diligently studying in my room, when I heard my senora calling, "Ashley! Ashley!" At first I was afraid that something was wrong because of the excited tone of her voice. As I left my room hurriedly, I saw her standing next to a window and frantically waving me over. She told me in Spanish, "Do you want a beautiful picture of Segovia?!" Of course I did! I grabbed my camera and returned to look out the window where two storks were perched on the roof of the next building. As I took the picture, Sol, my senora, explained that in Spain there is a saying that goes:

Por San Blas la cigüeña verás, y si está cerca el verano más temprano, y si no la vieres mal año esperes.

Por San Blas, una hora más.

My senora explained that the rhyme was important for the last day of February, just the day before. Similar to the English tradition of the groundhog, this predicts an early summer or remaining days of of winter depending if you see the storks.

I enjoyed the cultural experience that Sol was able to share with me and I was also surprised by the similarity in the superstition and tradition to those of American culture. Her enthusiasm reflected what it meant to Spanish culture and made me excited to learn about it. She continued by sharing with me other stories about the migration of the birds and the masses of them that could be seen later on in the year in the Plaza Mayor. This scene also reminded me of the number of storks that land every summer for a few days on the pond on my family's farm in Kentucky. Despite the differences in culture, I continue to be surprised on the number of similarities that exist between the lines. Furthermore, I hope the rhyme is right and that summer is indeed close!

Toledo

This a view of the city of Toledo. This city served as the capital for the Iberian Peninsula during the reign of the Visigoths and then later for the early Christian kings. In fact, the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI of Castillo, marked the most decisive step to the start of the Reconquest by the Christians from the Moorish Taifas. It wasn't until the 16th century that Phillip II moved the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid just 70 km to the north.

After having visited both Toledo and Madrid, I was interested to know what motivated the move the traditional sight to the seemingly limited area of Madrid. Toledo, as this picture reflects, immediately has a number of geographic advantages which Madrid does not. The city is almost majestically situated at the top of a mountain and is then surrounded on three sides by the Tagus River. Not only does this river provide water and irrigation resources to the city, but also a route of transportation for commerce and communication. During its time, Toledo was a center of large political, economic, and cultural importance. As the seat of the government, a strongly developed iron trade, and the location of each of the three major religions, Toledo was of significant value. It's conquest marked the transfer of power between the different eras of Spain. However, in the 16th century when Phillip II shifted the capital to Madrid, there was strong support to create a capital in Seville, the economic center of the age. No official decree was made and the city continued to be economically and politically dependent on the court housed there. Madrid is located away from any water source and without the geographic or traditional advantages of either Toledo or Seville. In fact, the area was only moderately built up throughout Roman, Visigoth, and Moorish rule. Nevertheless, the choice of Phillip II and tradition seems to have led to the success of the capital Spain knows today. Interestingly, Madrid was not even considered a city until the 18th century by Spanish standards, because it wasn't until that time that the region housed a cathedral. After visiting the city, I can see a striking difference between the two and can only imagine that political diligence and further tensions between Madrid and Barcelona have led to the modern capital.

Santa Maria la Blanca

This building was constructed in 1180, making it the oldest synagogue still standing in Spain. It was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile, by Islamic architects, for Jewish use. At the time, Toledo was primarily controlled by Christians and therefore, the structure as a Muslim style in christian territory reflects the style Mudejar. The arcs are in the traditional muslim style often called the Arcos de Herraduras. The consitent feature of these arcs were there horseshoe shape at the top. They were, however, artistically altered from site to site. Furthermore, the synagogue was built from basic and cheap materials charactistic to the muslim style, like brick plaster, and wood.
This architecture and artistic style is important because it reflects one of the many different time periods in Spain. At this time the peninsula was, in general, under arabic rule. Christians, Muslims, and Jews each made up a third of the people living in the peninsula and unique to this era, the three groups lived together with a relative degree of peace. This jewish synagogue built by Islams in Christian territory is a prime example of that time period. However, throughout the history of the peninsula, this period of Muslim rule exercised the greatest amount of religious tolerance. As the Reconquest from the North succeeded and the Catholic kingdoms united, muslims were forced from the peninsula. Under Christian rule, citizens of the peninsula were required to convert to christianity and remaining jews were forced from the area. Later in 1478, people were tested during the Inquistioin. During this era, the building was taken and used as a christian church. In general, the building was not changed except to accomodate the most basic worshiping practices of the parish. While at Santa Maria, our guide told us about the renovation of the doors to enter the building as the major change from group to group. Unlike the christians who situate the door directly to the alter, the jews put the doors on the side.
A large amount of the historical signifigance of this church is in its transition through Spain's history. It survived the many conquests and tranfers of power and became a center of worship for all of the major groups. Religious tolerance was limited during different times of the countries history. However, following the strictly catholic rule of Dictator Franco, the country now clings to the idea of religious freedom. The building currently serves as a musuem in which the art seemed to be a tribute to its blended history. Just as Spain has been shaped by a number of cultures, so has the Synagogue or the Iglesia de Santa Maria la Blanca.