Following the trip to Madrid, I made it back to León in time for a week of football matches. Recently, León’s team, Cultura y Deportiva Leonesa, got promoted to the second division, so there is a buzz around town about the team. On match day, we walked to the stadium, bought team scarves, and watched the game in town. All around town, people wore their red and white, sang chants, struck large drums, and threw smoke bombs in support of the lions.
I think it is fascinating how the US’s football culture compares to football culture here. It felt like the whole town was amped up for the match, and it was very hard to cross through the quarters of the town since there were so many people out. Another interesting thing about Spanish culture is the siesta, or rest time, that is taken from around 3-6 in the afternoon. The town tends to calm down, and most local businesses take a break before opening back up later. This can make it hard to find a late lunch if you don’t plan well. Besides breaks, a lot of people tend to stay out late here. It is normal to go out for dinner at 9 and return home after midnight.
In León, I have made a few friends from the language center. Some other people from the US, a few from Ireland, Germany, and others from all around Europe. It is super cool to meet people from vastly different walks of life and share the connection of learning Spanish and being in León at the same time. Instead of driving across town to meet them, we just walk through the town’s different quarters and walk between narrow ancient streets and wide modern avenues. It is cool to see medieval and roman construction juxtaposed against new construction. I really enjoy seeing the gothic spires of the cathedral and basilica against the skyline.
As students in the language center, our faculty take us on trips around the province and city to help engage our cultural understanding of the area. We recently had a trip to one of Antonio Gaudí’s constructions in León: Casa Botines. It is a very distinct building in one of the central plazas in town. It was neat to be able to see how advanced the design choices were, and how the vision for the building is preserved to this day.
Because I think it is so cool, I chose to travel to Toledo, Spain with a few of my new friends from the language center. We rented a car and drove four hours south through the Spanish countryside. Toledo is a town on a hill which is encircled by valleys and rivers. It is a picturesque example of a medieval fortress and town. Historically, Toledo was famous as a stronghold and production center for strong steel used in swords. Because of this, there are many shops selling different bladed items and ceramic tiles with Moorish designs. The town was beautiful and we visited the reconstructed fortress/museum at the top of the city called the Alcázar de Toledo. It housed artifacts from neolithic, medieval, and modern times in Spanish history. I also visited a monastery, city gardens, and zip lined across a river. In all, it was a pretty awesome trip and I am glad I went with my friends.
Pictures:
Cloister inside Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes
Sunset View of Toledo
