Hola, bienvenidos a Espana

Yes, you guessed it we’re going to Spain to learn about flamenco dancing. But first, I have to show you around.

Barcelona was amazing and the thing I remember most about it was the architecture, by Gaudi.

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My favorite Gaudi building was the Casa Batlo:

    The house was designed in 1904. It was amazing!! I loved the colors, on and inside the house, because they blended in with each other very well. The architecture was very different from what you usually see in day to day life. The walls inside and outside are not completely straight. Some are almost bent in two and some have just a a small curve. The stairs were also very unusual: they were like icicles dripping down onto the floor. I’m very into architecture now and I was probably influenced by Gaudi and Barcelona.

(http://www.casabatllo.es/es/marca/)

 

 

 

The Sagrada Familia was good too:

    I didn’t like it as much as Casa Batlo, but it was definitely more famous and crowded. Sagrada Familia is a church that Gaudi made the plans for. They started building it during his lifetime, but when he died, it still wasn’t finished. When I visited it, it was almost done, from my perspective at least. As you can see in the photo, they only need to finish the top of the towers. The whole building looks like dripping icicles (only the outside) and on the inside (as you saw in the photos above) it is a white wall and a white roof with flowers carved into it. There are also white columns that divide into a few thinner tangled columns, like upside down trees with their roots.

 

 

 

 

If you like Gaudi, I think you’ll like this video: http://faithtap.com/2211/man-carves-sculpture-inside-caves/

Speak to God or dance away

I’m now going to talk about Whirling Dervishes that I saw in Turkey. The “dancers” are actually Islamic monks who  have been trained to do this since they were 5 years old. They try to connect to God by spinning around and around. At first it was a ceremony only for the monks, but now it’s also a tourist attraction. To start, watch this video of the ceremony (this video is rather long so take a peek starting from 1min45).

Since you’re not allowed to take videos during the performance, I had to get this video from Youtube (from Chaîne de pavdb092).

Known to the West as Whirling Dervishes, the members of the Mevlevi Order (named for their founder Mevlana) from Konya, Turkey lived in what we might call cloisters or monasteries – what to them was a Mevlevihane. From the 14th to the 20th century, they influenced classical poetry, calligraphy, the visual arts, and music. Orthodox Muslims rejected music saying it hurt the listener’s religious life, so the Mevlud (Whirling Dervish) music was the only one to develop.

All in all, Whirling Dervishes isn’t my favorite dance. It is just OK but it is an interesting and cultural experience.

Fairy Myths

 The Leprechaun

The most famous of all fairy creatures is the leprechaun. He is the national Irish fairy and lives only in Ireland. The name leprechaun is derived from leath bhrogan (Gaelic), which means shoemaker. Leprechauns are tricky little people; if you turn your back to them just for a second they’ll vanish. Pouf! At the end of a rainbow the leprechaun hides his gold hoping no one will find it. Also if you catch a leprechaun he will give you his pot of gold to be free, or (in the movie of Darby O’Gill and the Little People) you demand three wishes. In any case they will try to trick you out of it because they don’t want to part with their gold or give a human three wishes. If you make three wishes never make the fourth even if the leprechaun tells you you can. It’s a trick, because if you make your fourth wish, you won’t get any of them granted at all. And the most important thing to remember about a leprechaun is: NEVER TRUST HIM!

  The Banshee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another one of Ireland’s mythical creatures is the Banshee. She is used to warn the member of the family that is about to die. Though she can only do that for 5 old Irish families: the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors, the O’Gradys and the Kavanaghs. The Banshee can appear disguised in several forms. As a human she could be  a young woman called Badhbh, a stately matron called Macha, a raddled old hag called Mor-Rioghain and or a washer woman called Bean-nighe. As an animal she could be a hooded crow, a stoat, a hare or a weasel. The Banshee is usually not seen, but you can hear her mourning call as she warns the dying person. Her wail is said to be so loud and high pitched that it breaks glass and pierces everybody’s ear drums. People also say her cry is half a wail of a woman, half the cry of an owl.

 

Information taken from: http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/leprechaun.html. Click for more details.

Leprechaun photo taken from http://wallpager.com/angry-leprechaun-wallpaper-hq/angry-leprechaun-wallpaper-hq-2/

Banshee photo taken from http://monster.wikia.com/wiki/Banshee