This semester I am studying abroad in Trujillo, Spain with the faculty led College of Charleston
program. My class and I were lucky enough to take a week long trip through Andalucia, making
a few stops along the way. One of my favorite stops was in Cordoba at the Medina Azahara. This
is a World Heritage Site and it certainly is a site to see! It’s also the largest archaeological site in
Spain. My classmates and I spent the afternoon wandering through a maze of ruins from a
perplexing city. It was a beautiful Fall day and walking through the Medina was an exciting
learning experience! We discovered that this was a city that Abd-al Rahman III had built near the
capital of Cordoba around 900 AD. The ruins seemed to go on and on in the most beautiful ways.
We passed terraces, walls, and remnants of houses. We also learned that the Medina displayed
new decorative techniques and working systems for its time. After our time at the Medina in
Cordoba, we moved onto Granada and Sevilla. The highlight of my time in Sevilla was attending
a Flamenco show with my class. Flamenco is an emotional music and dance performance
associated with Gypsies in Southern Spain. I’ve never seen anything like it! My classmates and I
sat in the audience in amazement as the actors emotionally sang, danced, clapped, and played
their instruments with such intensity. Afterwards, our professor took some of us to another local
location that showcased Flamenco. It was such a treat getting to learn and experience more of
this beautiful art through a more local eye in Sevilla. Overall, our time throughout Andalucia was
beautiful and full of so many new experiences! We saw sites, ate food, and encountered people
that we would never have gotten the opportunity to had we been Stateside. I was so grateful for
this time and looked forward to returning “home” to Trujillo afterwards!