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Show the Spanish Wildcats ALCAZAR DE SEGOVIA fascinated the Spanish Wildcats as they toured the country during spring quarter. The castle was one of the settings used for the movie Camelot. (Signpost photo: Necia Palmer) PLAZA DE TOROS in Valencia provided the age-old traditional corrida for the "amusement" of the traveling WSC students and faculty. Some were not quite sure if they liked the spectacle or not. Text: Necia Palmer or the first few days of our Spanish expedition, it was a common scene for the Wildcats to find themselves searching for correct phrases, pesetas, and warm weather. There were times when the native inhabitants must have thought we were certainly "the brilliant sort" as we wandered around, looking rather lost. For the adventurous in the party, the cuisine of the country offered quite an experience, as did other aspects of the Spanish culture. For example, many of us were young adults. And what do young adults like to do? Party! The typical evening for the Spanish young adults begins when dinner is over around 10 or 11 p.m. Then, dressed in the latest fashions of Europe, they begin "bar-hopping" where they meet friends, talk, drink and watch music videos. No one wants to be the first one to show up at the discotheque, so they don't get hopping until around 2 a.m. In Vigo, on the Northern Atlantic coast of Spain, and in the capital city of Madrid, one whole street was lined with these discos. The streets come alive at night with the Spanish youth as they visited each one. To top it off, after the regular hours end around 4 a.m., other discos will open from 5-7 a.m. to "get you started off for the day." TV is a blast, but not necessarily for the $." J programming. It includes many Spanish-dubbed American shows such as "Hot Pursuit," "Dallas" and "Highway to Heaven," with special three-to-five minute specials on the historical sites and national monuments of the country. One of the first places we visited was a place called Avila. This was an 800-year-old fortress built at the time of the Catholic kings to protect the people from the unrest of the country. Because peace returned to the land, this walled city was not destroyed by the pillages of man. Time has left its mark in the form of smoothed rock, worn stairs, and the smell of ages. Yet these ancient buildings are still in use. The people are another experience. They are as diversified as the terrain. In the North where it is a bit cooler and the people live a more agriculturally-related life, somberness and peace are reflected in their faces. Yet as one travels South to warmer climates, the people seem to warm up also. They are a much more festive people. But then, wouldn't you be if you had the Mediterranean for your swimming pool? Viva Espana! You'll never be forgotten and fond memories will always be treasured. At the same time, "Hello Utah!" My, you were missed! Along with the hot showers, water pressure, low rates (phone, electricity and heating) and last, but not least, English-speaking, true blue Americans and their flag, it's wonderful to be "Born in the USA!" Text: Dr. Gordon T. Allred "So far this has hardly been the Spain of the travelogues," I wrote, "or certainly the one of our romantic expectations. At present, the sky is actually spewing sleet, and my son John and I are huddled here in our cheerless little room, trying to stave off the cold with four layers of clothing and by dint of frequent exercise. Five minutes of rigorous calisthentics keeps us reasonably warm for nearly ten minutes afterward. Viva Espana!" The above observation was penned April 20 in Salamanca -part of my combined journalletter home. It reflects quite accurately, I believe, the feelings of many Weber State students and teachers participating in this quarter's Studies Abroad Program in "Sunny Spain" where ". . . the rain falls mainly on the plain." Less than two weeks later, however, the winter of our discontent was but a faintly lingering complaint. The Grand Tour of the Spanish Wildcats was off and running, the sun had resurrected itself, and the landscape was an ever-revolving panoply of green and gold. By now, my journalletters had definitely become more optimistic, even euphoric, as we basked upon the beaches of Costa del Sol in the days immediately following. This was not, I must stress, because said beaches were "topless," and will refrain from comment on the matter except to suggest that geography and anatomy in that general locale are inseparable. One simply cannot observe the former and be oblivious to the latter, although admittedly, the reverse may hold true in certain cases. No, optimism was growing because Spain had suddenly begun to meet, even transcend, our most idyllic preconceptions. Already, her mighty cathedrals and palaces, her art museums, ancient ruins, red-tile roofs, unravelling landscapes dotted with yellow gorse and lupine, with oak, olive, orange and lemon trees, grazing bulls . . . had begun to homogenize in a kind of grandeur that was too much to contain. Surely Espana is a land of remarkable contrasts geographically, with vistas ranging hourly from the near Alpine to pastoral sweeps, resurgent seas to rich agricultural belts like those of California . . . from badlands of Nebraska to the tropical lushness of Hawaii. It is a country still afflicted with profound economic variation ranging from the fantastic splendor of Granada's Al Hambra to countless little hovels, their tile roofs turning to a decadent verdigris and collapsing under their own weight. Indeed, to the tumbleweed existence of the gypsies, some of whom still dwell in caves or fashion homes of transparent plastic beneath the arch of a Roman bridge built in the time of Christ. Perhaps nowhere are the contrasts in Spanish temperament more starkly defined or profoundly symbolized, however, than in the corrida (bullfight) and in the related words sol y sombra. The latter mean sunlight and shadow (or shade) and literally describe the ring at its traditional opening hour -5:30 in the afternoon. But these words also underscore the contrast in the art and pageantry of the event its brilliant costuming and air of festivity -with the grim act of killing. One may deplore the corrida or adore it, but it cannot be disregarded by those who wish to comprehend the mind of Spain, or to grasp somewhat better, perhaps, that sol y sombra within the hearts of everyone. ' l , "3 v" i . n " ' i r-" ' . P r r 3 ' 1 fl t?C I' |