An Historic Weekend

Wow, this weekend has been busy. Sunday through Wednesday's are chill days; only tourists hang out then. Thursday is usually the start of the weekend for Sevillanos. To celebrate it, my friends and I went to La Carbonería to watch a flamenco show. Flamenco is a style of song, dance and music that originated from Andalusian Gypsies, but now it is one of Spain's cultural icon. (Andalusia is the southernmost region in Spain and Sevilla is the province's capital). Flamenco is characterized by its vigorous and rhythmic clapping and stamping of feet, which I loved. Granted La Carbonería caters to tourists, and we wouldn't know the difference between good and bad flamenco if it hit us with a car. But I thoroughly enjoyed the 15 to 20 minutes that I watched. The singer, whose eyes popped out and hands made numerous gestures to the crowd, was so passionate. And the ladies could stomp their hearts out. La Carbonería was literally hot that night. Tourists with American, English and Australian accents watched the show in awe while chugging down pitchers of beer and sangria, punch made of red wine, fruit juice, and soda water.

But the next day, we were back to business. My professor, Rafael, or Rafa for short, gave a one-and-a-half hour tour of the Archaeological Museum of Sevilla in preparation for Saturday's trip to view the Roman ruins of Itálica. The museum was originally built as part of the 1929 exhibition. Its focus is on the Romans, but there is also a prehistorical section which includes the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Later, the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Carthaginians all traded and settled in what is now the province of Sevilla. We examined everything from perfume to bracelets to Roman money called denario to mosaics that take up entire floors. We looked at skulls with holes in them as a result of trepanation, a surgery in which a part of one's brain is removed to relieve ailments. Yikes! I don't even want to visit the dentist sometimes. It's amazing what people did 2,000 years ago without the use of the technology we often take for granted today. Much of the material in the museum was discovered in Itálica, including third century mosaics and statues of the goddess Venus and the emperors Hadrian and Trajan, who were born there.

Me, outside of the Museum.

A statue of the Roman goddess "Diana." My friend, Mary Katherine, hides behind her leg.

The next day, in the wee hours of the morning (9 a.m.), we traveled to Itálica. I knew it was going to be an 'interesting' visit because my professor, Rafa, told us that we would have to imagine houses and the like because this is a city of ruins. Basically, we looked at rocks. But these rocks have been in place since 206 B.C. Of course, the Romans had every amenity (Well, the rich Romans did. Only the homes of rich Romans were conserved in Itálica.) - intricate, underground plumbing, temples, marketplaces, paved roads and elaborate baths. The baths included cold bath stations, warm bath stations and gyms in the back for people to practice war-like sports like horseback riding. A typical Roman home included several bedrooms for the family and their most important workers and a mosaic laid on the floor each bedroom. A patio with a well stood in the center of the home and the owners rented out street side stores connected to their homes. I still cannot understand how our homes last more than 100 years and theirs last 2,000. What an accomplishment! (Picture: A close-up of a mosaic in La casa de los Pájaros or The house of Birds. Archaeologists named the houses by the mosaics.)


I couldn't wait to see the amphitheater. But the batteries in my camera died, so I didn't take any photos. We entered through the gallery to see where the animals and gladiators entered the 'stage.' Lions and bears from Africa walked through a separate tunnel and were lifted in a wooden elevator to the stage to fight people in front of thousands upon thousands of spectators. Rafa told us the gladiators weren't the gladiators we see in films; they were fat, ordinary people who used their blubber to protect their internal organs from cuts. And the government used the spectacles, which were free and included food, to appease the citizens whenever they weren't happy with the leadership. I wish Bush would pay for me to see the L.A. Lakers play the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anyhoo, I was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the amphitheater when we climbed to the stage. The pit in the center is at least two or three stories deep. The tiers of seats are even higher, and that's after much of the stadium has deteriorated. I can only imagine the amphitheater in its full state. Pictures: (1) Me, making a mockery of a statue of Emperor Hadrian in what would have been a temple.

Soon after, we hopped on the bus to go to Matalascañas in Huelva, another city in the Andalusian province that lies west of Sevilla. Some of my friends laid on the beach, some of us jumped right into the cold waters and some of us swam to 'the rock.' The rock is one of the remaining parts of a second century watch tower/lighthouse that fell. Our program director, Ángeles, told us neither to go toward nor jump off the rock because it's dangerous. Well, about 15 of us didn't heed her advice and have the scrapes to prove it. As I walked down the beach, I noticed that the entire family loves the beach. Wrinkled, hefty women in their bikinis proudly walked along side their toddler grandchildren, who were naked or only wore bottoms. And restaurants reside next to tanning beach-goers. So it was nothing, to go buy ice cream or calamari. Overall, it was a great day. Getting beach sand-pedicures and being wiped out by a few waves was a great ending to an historic weekend.