Early Adventures

In these past few days, I’ve kept pretty busy. In most of my free time, I’ve been studying as much as I can or working on something. I did end up going sightseeing a day later than I expected and it was fantastic. Pablo and I walked through the oldest part of Zaragoza where the streets are narrow alleys with a lot of old world character. They opened up onto a large plaza where The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar stood. It was a gorgeous structure to behold where apparently, because Mary of the Pillar is the patron saint of Spain and Latin America, huge numbers of Spanish speakers come on pilgrimages. Across the square from the Basilica is La Seo, a cathedral that looks Catholic made from the front, but on the side has intricate Muslim designs revealing it to be a former mosque. Finally on my trip, I saw the old Roman wall that surrounded Zaragoza when it was called Cesar Augusta. During all of this, Pablo, who clearly has a love for information, was narrating and informing me on the history of Zaragoza. Fortunately, there’s plenty more to see in that square, so I’ll have to go back some time, but that I’m saving for another day.

Before this tour, I finally met my Rotary. They have their meetings in an old hotel. This was mostly a meet and greet for me with a little information on what they do. They all seemed very nice and excited to meet me. Oh, and before I forget, my presentation to them on the US and Cedar Rapids is next week, I’m glad I made a script already.

The day before the meeting, I ended up going to the pool with Gonzalo and his friends. Although I could understand next to nothing, it was fun to hang out and listen to them chat. Although I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, we did end up playing some soccer, which, in a weird way, was actually a good thing. Even though I was terrible at it, they appreciated my effort and it became a way to get to know each other without much speaking.

Yesterday, I went to Calatayud again. This time they were having a festival where I got to see various bits of their economy with farming, cheese making, meat, etc. I did also have my first beer, but don’t worry, it was non alcoholic and tasted like death. I was also able to see a traditional Spanish Catholic event in their cavernous church where they offered flowers and fruit to Mother Mary. It was both an exhausting and very interesting day.