Que buenos son, los padres salesianos,

que buenos son, que nos llevan de excursion!!!

Je, je, eso es lo que ha tocado hoy con los alumnos de espanol. Habia organizada una exposicion fotografica en el emirato adyacente a Dubai, Sharjah, y alli hemos ido en autobus los tres profesores de espanol con los alumnos. Se trataba de una exposicion fotografica del arte arabe en el sur de Espana, asi que hemos aprovechado para meterles la leccion de historia correspondiente.

Los Emiratos Arabes lo componen 7 Emiratos. Dubai por lo visto es el mas liberal, y Sharjah de los que menos: no alcohol, en la playa no te puedes poner en banador, vamos, en plan Arabia Saudi.

Lo que viene a continuacion es lo que les he contado brevemente, pero esta en ingles. Rollo patriotico.

Salu2!

Castrol

From: Javier Castro
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 7:39 AM
To: HS Staff
Subject: Field trip (Spanish) : Saturday November 12th 2005

 

 

Buenos dias,

 

 

next Saturday, the following students will travel to Sharjah to visit a photographic exhibition called “The legacy of Andalucia” at the Art Museum. They will miss 1^st and 2^nd period, and we should be back for 1^st lunch. Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

 

Abdullah Yousuf

 

Akif Saifi

 

Alissa Fulton

 

Amanda Morrow

 

Annelies Sap

 

Asha Unni

 

Aziza Souidi

 

Christiaan Van Zyl

 

Elie Khawaja

 

Emilie Delafosse

 

Faisal Al-Khalidi

 

Francesca Roque

 

Ga Yee Park

 

Georgia Lorente

 

Ibrahim Al Jallaaf

 

Jamal Saboonchi

 

Jesseca Khan

 

Jessica Reed

 

Kang Jun Chung

 

Kristen Bustrak

 

Kristen Duff

 

Lida Roozitalab

 

Malak Matar

 

Nadja Kaiserseder

 

Namdar Amirfathi

 

Omar Al Kayal

 

Ovais Salman

 

Sager Paruli

 

Shahryar Aynetchi

 

Shakira Muller

 

Syahdiqin Binte Ismail

 

Tobias Hespe

 

Yasemin Davies

 

Yasmine Abou El Ata

 

Yusef Abonamah

 

Yuta Fukunishi

 

 

Gracias = Thanks!

 

 

Colleen Marte, Anne-Marie Greaves and Javier Castro.

 

 

NOW YOU CAN STOP READING!!!! IF YOU KEEP GOING, IS UNDER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!! Just more patriotic propaganda!  ;-)

 

 

 

Probably all of you have been by now at Ibn Battuta mall, and you know that it is divided into 6 areas: China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia.

 

 

Well, let’s talk a little bit about history, as today you just have to deal with parents  ;-)  In 711, a Moorish Islamic army from North Africa invaded what is now my country, Spain. They started in the south, and they moved northeast across the Pyrenees. The Iberian peninsula, except for small areas in the northwest and the Basque region, became part of that empire, under the name of Al-Andalus. They hanged out in there until 1492 when the Catholic Morarchs completed the “reconquista”. The name of today’s Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucia) comes from “Al-Andalus”, and this southern province of Spain was among the last territories to pass from Moorish to Spanish Christian hands.

 

 

The Moorish domination of the peninsula had a profound effect on language, and we have thousands of words in Spanish that come from Arabic, starting by alcohol  ;-) You do too in English. Things that I like that come from arabic are “ajedrez=chess”, “alberca=swimming pool”, “almohada=pillow”, “azul=blue”, “café=coffee”, “guitarra=guitar” and “haren=harem”. Words that I don’t like and come from Arabic are “alquiler=rent”, “aduana=custom”, “algoritmo=algorithm” (sorry Benson), “asesino=assassin”, “chisme=gossip” and “rehen=hostage”. Is that right, Ibrahim?

 

 

Apart of the language, there is a big influence in art and culture too. This picture

 

 

 

 

is the original of the famous “Court of the Lions”, and you can find a replica at the entrance of Ibn Battuta. It is located at Granada’s Alhambra.

 

 

Is this Morocco?

 

 

 

 

NO! It’s Granada, in Spain!!

 

 

How about this mosque. In Saudi Arabia?

 

 

 

 

NO!!! It’s “La Mezquita”, in Cordoba, Spain.

 

 

The Emirates?

 

 

 

 

NOOOOO!!!! Seville, in Spain!

 

 

So this is what we are going to see with our students next Saturday. I know that now all of you want to go too, but you need to talk with Mr.Mock first. In case he doesn’t give you permission to leave, you can always go by yourselves  ;-)  Check this out!

 

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/FeaturesNF.asp?ArticleID=188123

 

 

So many beautiful things in Spain thanks to them. When I visited Granada, I understood perfectly the famous verse:

 

 

“Dale limosna, mujer,

 

que no hay en la vida nada,

 

como la pena de ser

 

ciego en Granada.”

 

 

“Spare him some charity lady,

 

for there is nothing in this live worse

 

than the pain of being

 

blind in Granada.”

 

 

Que tengais un buen dia, have a nice one!