This seminar has brought up a lot of big questions for me over the past week or so that we’ve been in Spain, and in particular, it has caused me to reflect on how a nation remembers and commemorates its past. Obviously…
Barcelona is a breath of fresh air! Don’t get me wrong-the entire trip has been a dream-but in so many ways our arrival in this city has added a skip to our aching step. To start-it’s around 20 degrees cooler with a…
“Ozymandias” By Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from an antique land Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And…
I love questions. Asking them. Hearing them. Answering them, when I can. Questioning is inherent in storytelling: who is the main character? Where is this character? What will drive the plot? But when we look at history, it is not characters, but…
A Night of Spanish Culture Are we at a concert? Are we watching a fireworks display? Watching a step performance? Of course not, but when the flamenco dancers’ shoes hit the floor, the force of it sounds just like it. They’re dancing…
As a student of Spanish since the age of 5, I have learned a great deal about the history of Spain. Growing up learning about Spain in elementary, middle, high school and as a Spanish major at Pitt with study abroad in…
The concept of memory and history is an interesting one. It’s like the old saying “if it tree falls in the woods and no one hears it – did it fall?” The Christians tried to erase the memories of both Jewish and…
Our first full-day agenda. After we figured out how to use the coffee machine at breakfast, we walked through the Old Jewish Quarter. Wandering its warren of narrow streets and sudden plazas, we got the lay of the land in anticipation of…
By Samuel Freudenberg Today was a sad day filled with adventure. We had to say goodbye to our Mishpachtonim. I will admit I cried a little. We then had a three hour car ride to our camel riding adventure, where it was…
By Megan Bulova Chocolate and Goodbyes Our original plan for today was to go to an archeological dig, however, an accident on the main road prevented us from getting there. Luckily, our guide, Tomer, had many backup plans. We spent the afternoon at Galita Chocolate…
By Eliot, James, Megan, Emma Today was surrounded by the excursions that each of us went on with our families. Although some of us stayed at the village, others participated in some really fun activities with their family. All four of our mishpachtonim…
By Eliot Herron Today we drove for an hour and a half to get to Tel Aviv. It was really hot and sunny. When we got to Tel Aviv, we went to the blind museum. The blind museum is a place where you…