Surprises of Cadiz- English

Five researched destinations, four hours of sleep, three hours of sitting on trains, two jackets and a one-way ticket later Cadiz awaited. With only five destinations in mind to visit it seemed like it would be a very short day-trip. There might even be time to explore a little in Seville. Nine hours later the hunt for a way back to Huelva was on. But that is another story.

Cadiz had much more to offer than the five simple simple destinations. The cathedral, Plaza de Flores, Tower of Tavira, Santa Catalina Castle and Plaza de España were great. But there was much  more to do than simply look at these attractions. And among all of the things to do, some were better than others. Some were better than expected.

Of all the destinations, Plaza de Flores was the most disappointing. Only about two vendors had flowers on display to sell. And their weren't many people there; it was no Puerta de Sol, Madrid for sure.

Plaza de España was better, but still, compared to the other things to see, comes fairly low on the list. Of course the history of this area makes it better. The monument and eternal flame are also improving factors.

According to infocadiz.com, the monument is a memorial to the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Construction of the monument was completed in 1929.

A surprise can be found at the Tower of Tavira. Descriptions talk about the 180 degree panoramic view of the city. The entry fee is five euros for most visitors which seems a little high just to climb some stairs to see the city from above. However, there is a little more to this location.

Before visiting the roof of the building visitors get a live tour of the entire city from above. But don't worry, there are no planes involved. Visitors don't even have to leave the building. It is called "Cámara Oscura," or "Camera Obscura."

If a person stands in the sunlight with a piece of white paper and then places a magnifying glass between the sun and an image it will be projected onto that paper. This worked similarly. On the roof is a tower which has a mirror and a lens. The guide directed visitors into a dark room with a bowl-shaped white screen. She proceeded to explain how it worked and then opened the shutter for the first view of the city from above. (Unfortunately photos and video are not allowed within this room.)

By turning the mirror with a rope the guide is able to show the entire city. Another rope allowed her to raise and lower the screen which focused the image. The higher the screen was, the further away visitors can see. She did a 180 degree tour of the city, explaining different locations. Not only was the information interesting, but some parts were comical and there is no doubt it was a great way to practice listening to a language. The guide spoke very clearly and at a fair pace. The "tour" lasts about 5-10 minutes and then guests climb some more stairs to the roof.

A sign on the roof states the height is about 45 meters above sea level and visitors climb about 173 stairs to get there. And the view was great. The tower was well worth the four euros (student price).

Geocaching provided knowledge about another location which was a local park. Genoves park is in the northern part of the city. Within its gates are playground for kids and several educational sights. There are plants from different areas of the world, each labeled with their name and species, and what I refer to as the "Jurassic Park." In this part there were several species of geese and ducks along with statues of dinosaurs. It provided several photo opportunities, along with the geocache hidden within the park.

Of course, a day of walking around any city might leave one hungry. As with any city in Spain, there are plenty of places to eat, from restaurants to cafe-bars. Cadiz was no different with examples of each. One restaurant was next to the beach and several other attractions which made it very convenient. At lunch time there was nothing special happening but it seemed that there may be flamenco shows at times. Nonetheless, the food tasted great. Two coca-colas and two tapas (pork chops and shrimp omelet) which also came with a roll, only cost about 12 euros and fed two people.

Art was everywhere along the ocean in the northern part of the city. Iron-work lined the sidewalks. One of the preplanned destinations, Santa Catalina Castle, was also dedicated to art. The old castle, in the shape of a star, has several exhibits within. Entry to the castle is free and visitors can walk around the walls, imagining being a guard. Several styles of art are available to look at in the various buildings inside, along with the metalwork outside.

Within sight from this castle is another. San Sebastian Castle, was one of those surprises. It had a lot to offer and was perhaps one of the best locations in this day-trip. A stone wall extends out into the ocean, with beach on both sides. Further out is water, or rock when the tide has receded. Although the castle itself was closed, the fun doesn't stop with the walk out to it. Their were stairs off the wall which offered an opportunity to explore below the castle and wall. As the tide was out at that time, visitors could walk all the way around the castle.

Just below the wall, near the castle is rock. The movement of the tides has eroded holes through these rocks, some reaching all the way down to the sand below. Exploring the rock below the wall provides for some fun. And of course the temptation to climb down into one of the holes may be overcoming. Some are possible to get out of by crawling on the chest under the rock and out onto the beach. Other holes can only be exited the same way as entered.

Some interesting finds around the castle included a hole which had an old pipe in it. That pipe could easily be mistaken for a sword until the visitor sees the base which is in a square piece of metal. During a walk around the grounds, wildlife is abundant. As with any beachfront area, there are seagulls. But in this area lobsters (or related animal) were also common. There was even a sea turtle (dried out unfortunately) in one of the crevices. Perhaps one of the most intriguing finds was what could just be trash washed into the rocks by the tide and lodged there to stay. But it could actually be a piece of history. The device had wheels on the outside and gears on the inside.

A walk to the south along the sea-wall will lead to the Cathedral of Cadiz. The new one is probably the most impressing, with its rounded domes and architecture. It might even be mistaken for a mosque. According to a list of attractions which included entrance prices, the museum and tour cost something like five or ten euros. But another option was just to walk through oneself for free in the old cathedral. But that is only on Sunday mornings, not Saturdays.

Another interesting trivia fact about the city is it was the setting in part of a 007 movie. From February 16-26 it will be filled with visitors and participants of El Carnaval de Cadiz.

Although at first it seems there is not a lot to do in Cadiz other than a little history and the beach, it holds surprises for visitors.

What a Crazy Schedule

Out of my entire 7 semesters at ASU, I believe that my 8th and final semester has the craziest schedule of all my semesters. I have had some poor schedules and some great schedules. This one is in between and minus one thing would probably be my best schedule.

I am taking 15 credit hours this semester. Nine hours of in class Spanish, three hours of in class Journalism and Spanish Internship. I also have a lab for the Journalism class. The Internship and Lab were both TBA on their time and place. That is understandable to some degree. The internship we schedule around our classes. The lab we would probably sign up for some number of events in the community to cover. I expected to skip my Tuesday evening class a time or two. However, when I got to the class I found something out that was not pleasing at all.

The Journalism class has most of the events assigned. It seems the entire class will be there including the teacher. If we walk in late, it is an automatic letter grade deduction. If we leave early, same thing. We were told that most meetings would be on Mondays and Tuesdays. After class I ask for an estimate of how many would be on Tuesdays. Someone else asked times. I was told most meetings began at 6 or 6:30 and most would be on Tuesdays.

The whole reason I am taking a night class (5-6:15 on T/TR) is because the class I really needed for my Spanish major met at the exact same time as Public Affairs Reporting. So the department works with me and allows me to substitute a Special Topics course for it. I am in every Spanish class that I have not already taken (other than grammar) this semester. There are no other options for classes to take. And now I find that we are required to go to a lot of meetings at the same time I am already in a class.

My plan is to let my Spanish teacher know I will be skipping and/or leaving class early frequently on Tuesdays and tell him why. Most meetings are downtown so I have to go back to my appartment to get my car and drive there.

My second option may be to talk to the instructor and department chair and see if I can substitute a class in place of public affairs.

My updated calendar for the semester is at the bottom of the blog or at the link with this post.

Change of Major?

Often college students enter without an idea what to major in. Some declare a major and decide to change it before they get too far in. Others change it a year from graduation and are delayed.

I was one of those who declared a major coming in. I was majoring in Journalism and minoring in Spanish. That is still the case, although I used a lot of electives for Spanish and have decided to double major. It means an extra semester, but who cares.

There has not been a semester where I don't think whether I am on the right path. I got from hating it one day to liking it the next and back to hating it. My internship has showed me that even in the real world, it is often the same way. I've enjoyed writing some of the softer stories. I have really enjoyed feature writing which is something I used to hate. But almost every news story I have written has had to have major modifying.

I have heard that some of editors at my school newspapers did not like my writing but I won't take them seriously. They're just students themselves. Others say they like it. My plan is to talk to the editor on Wednesday and ask him if he feels I have improved much since starting. If his answer is no, or just a little, I feel I should reconsider where I am heading. It may involve talking to more than one person.

I may end up being one of those people that change their majors late in the game, but lucky for me, I have a second major to fall back on. I may continue both and have a communications background, but maybe this is God's telling me that Journalism isn't the field he has in store for me. I guess I will find out soon.

Backup Copy

***Update***

After going tot he lab, I found a few files in the trash. I saved them and then opened it on my computer. It worked! That meant that I had to redesign my cover because it was not there, but at least my spread was safe!

I was thinking last night that I needed to come up with a topic for another blog. I thought about it and had every intention of writing about the international community here at Arkansas State University. I guess now I have a topic for the future.

The picture above is a rough draft of my front cover design for my News Design class. I like it. There are some changes I need to make like changing some text, font colors and positions. (Click the image to see the whole image.)

The problem is, I have one copy on my flash drive that is a .indd file which is for Adobe CS4. I have it on my laptop and used it to make the files.

The project is the front design, and a two-page spread. I spent probably five hours or more on my spread and probably three to four hours on my cover design.

When I went to class on Wednesday I did not take my laptop because of the coming rain. I opened the wrong file on the MAC which has only CS3. I did not try to save the file. But when I went back to my computer my file crashes InDesign every time. I have deleted the recovery file and it still crashes. The Recovery file itself crashes it. Yet I can start a new document.

Both my spread and cover are in the same .indd file. To make things worse, for some reason the PDF version of my spread is not even working properly. It shows one picture but no text and none of the other images. I went to a lab today to look at my files on the server only to find I had one copy of the .indd file there and it causes the same problem. My next hope is at 1P.M during open lab in the classroom I have been working. I hope that I may have deleted some .indd files from the server and they might remain in the trash. I've got my fingers crossed. If I am lucky, maybe I won't have to spend the next day redoing a project that I am practically already done with.

The moral of this story: Listen to your instructors. Most of the time they advise you to have a copy of your own, the copy on the computer, and another copy backed up on your personal computer, another flash drive, or an external hard drive. You should have three copies. And now I am a believer. I understand why.

Fieldtrip

The sun was out, and a light breeze blew, but no for long. Soon the group of ten students and one adviser were on the road. The drive was long. The smace was limited. But aproximately eleven hours later we all arived safely in Austin, Texas for the National College Journalism Convention.

Thursday and Friday we were required to attend five session. Saturday we only had to attend three. But the nights were ours for the taking. What kind of trouble could we get into?

Thursday a few of us went out and took pictures for an hour or two during the day. Later we had dinner. Some students went to the local clubs. Phrases like "Keep Austin Weird," and "Live Music Capitol" are all over the place. Other's of us came back to the hotel and enjoyed a quiet (or not so quiet) evening of homework.

The rooms do not have free internet. That makes so much sense! Anyone can walk in off the street and get free internet in the lobby. But if you are a paying guest at the hotel who wants to use the internet from the comfort of your own room, where it is not loud, you have to pay. But it is all good.

Friday we went to the state capitol building. It is about eight or ten blocks from the Hilton where we stayed. We went inside and looked around. We took pictures in and out. Some of the more interesting things were after leaving the capitol.

We were able to take pictures of people. Outside the building three people held signs for passing motorists to read. They dealt with global warming to the war. We passed at least four people who were wearing costumes. Did I miss that memo?

The sessions have been informative. Probably my most informative, but not boring session was on interviewing. I know that it is an area where I need to improve. I want to become a better interviewer.

All in all this has been a very educational and fun experience. I am glad I came. Most departments offer some kind of field trip at some time. If you are given the opportunity to go on one, take it. You learn so much more with the 'hands on' experiences than you do in the classroom.