Sevilla Overview

My time in Sevilla was incredible. I learned so much about the city itself, I met amazing people from school and from Sevilla, about the history of Spain, and about my own Spanish heritage. I enjoyed it so much I'm already planning my next trip to Sevilla. I'm hoping to get there in the fall with my family and show them around the areas I called home for a few weeks. I took as many pictures as I could to show everyone and here are a few of them. Everything from the Giralda to the Bullring, this is SEVILLA in a nutshell. ENJOY!

Franco and King Juan Carlos

Francisco Franco was born on December 4, 1892 in Galicia, Spain and came from a Spanish Naval family. Franco was supposed to enter the navy like the men in his family before him, but because of the Spanish-American War the Naval Academy was closed and so he decided to enter the Spanish Army. He entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo in 1907 and finished in 1910. During his time in the Army he fought in many wars in Morocco and in 1917 became the youngest Major in the Army and later on in 1925 he was promoted to Colonel then in 1926 promoted to General becoming the youngest in Spain. At this time Franco became a very important General in the Army and was marked as the monarchical officer. With the fall of the monarchy in 1933 although he was very important to the monarchy, he didn’t take any official stand, but did have a lot of influence in the events that led to the Spanish Civil War. The war began in July 1936 and officially ended in April of 1939 with Franco’s victory. Franco’s reign lasted from 1939 until his death in November of 1974, but in 1969 he designated Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon as his successor. By 1973 Franco had surrendered his position as Prime Minister. In 1974 Franco fell ill and Juan Carlos took over as Head of State and a year later Francisco Franco died on November 20, 1975.

Since Franco the role of the monarch has become less totalitarian. In 1978 a new constitution was created describing what the monarch’s role is and what rights the people have. The King is known as the Father of the Nation but ultimately constitutional sovereignty is really given to the people. The King is Head of State and swears an oath to carry out his constitutional duties, abide by the constitution itself, and the laws of state. Also, the King swears an oath to respect the rights of Spanish citizens and of the self governing communities. The Prince of Asturias also takes this oath when he is of age along with another oath of loyalty to the monarch. The constitution of 1978 also confirms the title of the monarch as King of Spain officially. Some duties the King may grant are military and civil orders and awards of distinction. The most distinguished order the king my award is the Order of Charles III to citizens who have brought distinguished service to the nation and the highest military award is the Laureate cross of Saint Ferdinand.

The role of the King with the government is also defined by the constitution. The government consists of the President and the ministers of state. The government directs everything from domestic policy to the defense of the nation. The leaders of government will create laws and any other aspects of government and then will hold a general election. The king will consult with the president and speakers of government so they may inform him of the goings on of the state, but will not interfere much with the decisions that are made, unless they infringe on the rights of the people.

Although the King of Spain isn´t the only power in the country the people of Spain love and admire their monarcy. Their very proud and respectful of their royal family and are very interested in their lives. I believe that when the monarcy was reinstated, it marked a time of much needed healing for Spain as a country.

Morocco: Northern Riff

This weekend we visited Morocco! I can't even begin to explain how amazing the 3 cities we went to were. We went to Tetuan, Tangier, and Chefchoaen. I took SO many pictures and here are few from each of our stops. I can't wait to go back there again.

History of Flamenco

Andalucía is located in the southern part of Spain
and its capital city is Sevilla. The name Andalucía comes from the Arabic word Al-Andalus. During the time of Moorish reign Andalucía was the center power for the Arab nation. Besides Arab influences the region has also been influenced by the Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and of course Christians.

Due to all the different peoples and civilizations that have called Andalucía home, it has become a melting pot for arts and culture. One of the most recognizable artistic features Andalucía has is that of the art of Flamenco. Flamenco was first mentioned in writing around the 18^th century, but most probably created long before then.

Flamenco is a style of music and dance that was created by the gypsies that lived in the region of Andalucía. The origin of Flamenco is very hard to pin point. Some historians believe that the musical aspects originated during the time of the Moorish occupation dating back to 711 A.D. When the Moors came to Spain they brought their instruments too, one of those instruments is the oud, the Arabic version of a guitar. The oud changed forms after it was brought to Spain, it was combined with elements of the European lute, more strings where added, and other aspects which have now become the traditional Flamenco guitar. Historians also believe that when Spain colonized the New World they returned with many Latin American influences, such as different forms of dance. All these forms mixed together and the Flamenco dance was born.

There are three basic parts to Flamenco, toque: guitar, cante: song and baile: dance. Toque, the first part of Flamenco, is the art of playing the guitar. The traditional Flamenco guitar is made of Spanish cypress and spruce; it’s lighter in weight and smaller in size to the classical guitar. All these elements make this special guitar sound a bit sharper than the classical guitar. The traditional Flamenco guitar also has a guard on the lower half called a golpeador, which protects the body of the guitar from the rhythmic taps that the guitarist does during a song. The Flamenco guitar is the only “true” instrument used when performing Flamenco. The other instrument is the voice or the cante.

Most true lovers of Flamenco believe that the soul of Flamenco is in the songs. The performers sing with so much emotion and usually on subjects all can relate to. Although most of the flamenco songs seem to be spontaneous, these songs follow strict musical and poetic rules. Cante Flamenco can be categorized into two themes, compas or libre. Compas follows a very strict rhythmic pattern and libre follows a free rhythm. Then there are the verses called coplas, which are usually concise poems. Cantes that use compas fit one of the following four patterns: solea, seguidilla, tango, and fandango. Within the solea group there are specific cantes called romances, solea por bulerias, and alegrias.

The final and the most memorable part of Flamenco is baile or dance. Flamenco dance is known for its emotional intensity, sound, and movement. The most authentic form of Flamenco is known as Flamenco Puro. This form of Flamenco is always preformed solo and is more improvised than choreographed. The dance consists of stomping ones feet, clapping ones hands, and extending ones arms while curving the wrists around ones body all in a rhythmic movement. The women wear traditional Flamenco dresses, some with bright colors and spots, and other times with muted colors even black, depending on the cante. The men usually wear slacks with a button down shirt and keep their “look” very simple. In traditional Flamenco young people are not considered mature enough to convey the soul of Flamenco and therefore there usually not very many young dancers. A Flamenco dancer usually does not hit their peek until their early thirties and will dance until their fifties or more.

Flamenco music, songs, and dance together create a wonderful combination of Spanish tradition. One that is a must see for any person traveling to the south of Spain.

Advocacy Journalism

Advocacy journalism is a genre of journalism that intentionally expresses a biased view point for a social or political purpose. A big problem with this kind of journalism is that it is printed in legitimate newspapers and magazines, seen on trustworthy news programs, and heard on genuine news radio programs, making the general audience believe these stories to be factual.

In Europe, as in other parts of the world, seems to fall victim to these issues. There are many reasons journalist turn to this kind of writing, but here are the official five P´s of advocacy journalism:

- Proprietary Companies: these are companies that may own stock in a newspaper, magazine, news program etc. and holds the money that pays the employees and so forth, so the journalist feel forced to write what the feelings of this particular company are.

- Politics: For many countries that government has a very strong hold over what is projected over the many waves of media. For this reason the media outlets must adhere to thoughts and feelings of the government in power.

- Publicity: Most magazines or newspapers etc. thrive on publicity and printing something that will bring publicity to their business seems worth it to them.

- Public Opinion: People want to read or hear what they believe in. They want to see their opinion realized in the media outlets, so these media outlets will print what they know the public will react to, favorably or unfavorably.

- Production: This allows media outlets to put information out into the hands of the people quickly and creates information that may not be completely accurate.

Advertisers can also harm their clients’ reputation by placing ads in conflicting news outlets. The public may assume that because the company places their ads within the newspaper of a very biased story that they too believe it to be that way. Therefore as advertisers we must be very careful to search for a trustworthy media outlet that conveys a non biased opinion.

Welcome Cocktail Party

These are some shots from the Welcome to Sevilla cocktail party. It was at the Hotel Doña Maria an amazing hotel set in the center of the plaza that the Catedral and the Giralda are located.