So far I am loving the classes I am taking here, so I thought I would share a short summary of what I am taking and why I love them in. This will be in two parts, because apparently I love them more than one post can contain.
Spanish Class (in Spanish): Before coming to Spain, the most recent class I had taken was AP Spanish senior year of high school, so I was quite nervous about learning the language and being able to get by. However, I am now taking a class at the University of Granada with all Spanish speakers and getting by so I think it has improved quite a bit. In class, we mostly review grammer that I have already learned and do fun activities. The worst part of the class is by far having to wake up for it!
Islamic Art and Architecture (in English): This class is by far my favorite because I feel like it combines everything I have learned in my life so far: history, math, physics, philosophy, artistic design, religion and a little bit of politics. Because in Islam it is prohibited to display figures in public places, they developed very complex geometric designs. These designs aren´t just beautiful, they also represent their worldview and philosophical ideas, just using shapes and colors! The easiest one to describe (but still quite difficult) is the representation of God radiating through everything and everything starting from him. For both the patterns below (roof on the left, tiles on the right), a pattern with a variable of 8 begins with some design of star in the middle. Especially for the tile pattern, the visual understanding or continued expansion of the pattern could not be continued without starting from the center. It is also a very unifying idea because most believers in monotheistic religions, if not most spiritual people, would agree with this idea. These patterns are also echoed everywhere throughout the buildings, from floors to ceilings to doors!
