Coming to Spain was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But leaving is even harder.
Coming to Spain was a very hard decision for me. I was apprehensive, nervous, scared: What if I can't communicate with anyone? What if my Spanish isn't good enough? What if I don't get along with my host family? What if I don't make friends? What if I fail?
Turns out none of this happened. Yes, I have had my (many) moments of frustration, confusion, and awkwardness but that just comes with traveling and learning a language. Overall, coming to Spain has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I have met so many amazing people from all over the world and made friendships that will last a lifetime. I've seen and experienced new things that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I cherish every person I met, every experience I had.
Granada and Spain will always have a special place in my heart. I will never forget the time I spent here with these people I love so much.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Are you ready for some fútbol?
Can you believe that I actually enjoyed watching a soccer game?
Ruth, Tess, her friend Ann Marie, Sam and I went to a Granada soccer game yesterday! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to experience some real Spanish soccer.
Granada won 3-0!
Ruth, Tess, her friend Ann Marie, Sam and I went to a Granada soccer game yesterday! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to experience some real Spanish soccer.
Granada won 3-0!
Barcelona! The anti-Spain, Spain!
This past weekend I went to Barcelona with Michael, Ruth, Kelsey and Rachel!
If you don't know much about Spain, Catalonia (the autonomous community Barcelona is located in) is very anti-Spain. They don't like being associated with Spain in general, have outlawed bull fights, don't like speaking Spanish (they prefer Catalan) and have talked about separating from Spain all together and becoming an independent country. So if you ever want a real, authentic Spanish vacation I definitely would recommend Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, or Madrid over Barcelona. I am pretty sure I heard more French than any other language this weekend.
Over the weekend we saw plenty of Gaudi architecture, markets, shopping and beautiful gardens. My favorite part was either the market off of Las Rambas or the gorgeous gardens near the Olympic park. It was a fun weekend but also really draining.
If you don't know much about Spain, Catalonia (the autonomous community Barcelona is located in) is very anti-Spain. They don't like being associated with Spain in general, have outlawed bull fights, don't like speaking Spanish (they prefer Catalan) and have talked about separating from Spain all together and becoming an independent country. So if you ever want a real, authentic Spanish vacation I definitely would recommend Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, or Madrid over Barcelona. I am pretty sure I heard more French than any other language this weekend.
Over the weekend we saw plenty of Gaudi architecture, markets, shopping and beautiful gardens. My favorite part was either the market off of Las Rambas or the gorgeous gardens near the Olympic park. It was a fun weekend but also really draining.
Monday, May 13, 2013
May Update!
I can't believe it is already May! Arriving at Adela's for the first time feels like just yesterday and about a year ago at the same time. Here's what I've been up to this month so far!
Nerja
Our program took a day trip to the coastal city of Nerja to soak in some sun. Even though the water was cold I finally sucked it up and swam in the Mediterranean! We all eat paellla at this beach side restaurant and then played volleyball for the rest of the afternoon! It was my last time on the coast so it was sad to leave the costa del sol!
Día de la cruz
The third of May is la día de la cruz (Day of the Cross). During this festival, different churches and other groups build displays that center around a large cross covered in red flowers. The cross is usually surrounded with different antiques and items that are special to the city they are in. Granada is known for having a great día de la cruz festival and I had a great time looking at all the displays and enjoying the other main part of the festival: flamenco. The women (and little girls!) of Granada dress up in beautiful flamenco dresses and put red and white flowers in their hair, many of the crosses are accompanied by flamenco music and there are performances in many of the plazas. My favorite spontaneous performance was in front of the cross in campo del principe where a mother was dancing with her husband who was holding there little daughter. I got it on film and it will for sure make it into my Spain video! After we enjoyed the crosses Katie, Ruth and I hiked up to Tess's place in the Albaicin and hung out in her cave for a while before I was off for a lovely double date with Sam, Alex and Leah!
Nerja
Our program took a day trip to the coastal city of Nerja to soak in some sun. Even though the water was cold I finally sucked it up and swam in the Mediterranean! We all eat paellla at this beach side restaurant and then played volleyball for the rest of the afternoon! It was my last time on the coast so it was sad to leave the costa del sol!
 |
| Lunch time! |
 |
| Paella restaurant! |
 |
| Hey look I found my store! |
The third of May is la día de la cruz (Day of the Cross). During this festival, different churches and other groups build displays that center around a large cross covered in red flowers. The cross is usually surrounded with different antiques and items that are special to the city they are in. Granada is known for having a great día de la cruz festival and I had a great time looking at all the displays and enjoying the other main part of the festival: flamenco. The women (and little girls!) of Granada dress up in beautiful flamenco dresses and put red and white flowers in their hair, many of the crosses are accompanied by flamenco music and there are performances in many of the plazas. My favorite spontaneous performance was in front of the cross in campo del principe where a mother was dancing with her husband who was holding there little daughter. I got it on film and it will for sure make it into my Spain video! After we enjoyed the crosses Katie, Ruth and I hiked up to Tess's place in the Albaicin and hung out in her cave for a while before I was off for a lovely double date with Sam, Alex and Leah!
All displays have an apple with scissors in them, which symbolizes a pun I'll attempt to explain. "Pero" means "but"and is another word for apple. By putting an scissors in the apple it means that anyone who says something along the lines of "This display is beautiful but I have seen better"should just stop talking when they get to the word "but".
My family doesn't read my blog...
I will bake cookies, make dinner, mow the lawn, babysit, clean the house, run to Target or do whatever favor for the first member of my family who reads this and tells me!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
YOLO! You Only Lagos Once
I took a weekend trip to Lagos on the southern coast of Portugal last weekend and it was one my favorite weekends to date!
I went with Discover Excursions again so all I had to do was show up and enjoy the ride.
Friday
We left Granada at 6am and took a bus to Sevilla to pick up more students (there I met up with Chi who I met while in Morocco) and then another 3 hours to Lagos. We checked into our hotel which was nearly on the water and then went down to the beach right away. The beach was absolutely stunning. It was in its own little cove surrounded by beautiful high cliffs and had clearly, bright water. We just had a little time to lay out because then we had to go meet up with the group for our sangria cruise! The boat ride was SO much fun. We drove along the coast and got to see all the beautiful cliffs while enjoying free, unlimited sangria! When we stopped the boat people started jumping in the water. It took a lot of convincing but I eventually got in when Oscar, one of the guides I met in Morocco, agreed to jump in with me. The water was freezing but felt good after a few minutes. Then we got to go in a little dingy boat and a local guide took us through the caves. Again, absolutely stunning! I could have spent the whole day just exploring the rocks. After the cruise, I went out to dinner with Chi and Oscar and then everyone went out to a club which I didn't stay long because we were exhausted from our first great day.
Saturday
Before we headed off to the beach on our first and only full day in Lagos, we went to go look at some beautiful cliffs in the area. Sam and I ran away from the group and hiked to this beautiful look out that was straight out of a travel brochure. Yellow cliffs, bright blue water, local boats, so beautiful! I never wanted to leave!
After that we went to a beach on the other side of town with the whole group of Discover Excursions (like 230 people). The beach was huge so it wasn't too crowded but it was less spectacular then the small on by our hotel and it was windy, sand was everywhere! There was also free sangria which made up for it a bit. It was a nice day just relaxing in the sun. We buried Chi and Oscar used his awesome artistic skills to make him into a bodybuilder. Javi, another guide and good friend of Oscar, also helped and he just hilarious.
We left the beach and after showers we went to "The End of the World". After a 40 min bus ride to the western coast of Portugal we got to Cape St. Vincent. Read this from Wikipedia:
After we got back to Lagos we went to dinner; this time at Nah Nah Bah, one the of the world's best burger joints! I got a grilled chicken sandwich which was SO good. Then we went out to Joe's Garage for the night's fiesta and it got real crazy, real fast. It as fun, lots of people dancing on the bar and a lot of good music. But then it started getting a little too crazy for me. The last thing I saw before I left was a girl with blood running down her foot because she got cut by broken glass. So we all went back to the hotel and hung out in one of our rooms for a while. I don't think I got to sleep until like 5am. But that's Spain, uurr um, Portugal for ya!
Sunday
On our last day we got to go back to our pretty little beach by the hotel. We spent the morning there relaxing, dipping our feet in and skipping rocks. Then we went back to the hotel for a bit to clean up and it was off to the buses for our 7ish hour trip back to Granada. I had to say goodbye to Chi and Oscar in Sevilla which was just a tiny bit of a preview of what is in store for me at the end of May. I can't bare to think of all the goodbyes!
I went with Discover Excursions again so all I had to do was show up and enjoy the ride.
Friday
We left Granada at 6am and took a bus to Sevilla to pick up more students (there I met up with Chi who I met while in Morocco) and then another 3 hours to Lagos. We checked into our hotel which was nearly on the water and then went down to the beach right away. The beach was absolutely stunning. It was in its own little cove surrounded by beautiful high cliffs and had clearly, bright water. We just had a little time to lay out because then we had to go meet up with the group for our sangria cruise! The boat ride was SO much fun. We drove along the coast and got to see all the beautiful cliffs while enjoying free, unlimited sangria! When we stopped the boat people started jumping in the water. It took a lot of convincing but I eventually got in when Oscar, one of the guides I met in Morocco, agreed to jump in with me. The water was freezing but felt good after a few minutes. Then we got to go in a little dingy boat and a local guide took us through the caves. Again, absolutely stunning! I could have spent the whole day just exploring the rocks. After the cruise, I went out to dinner with Chi and Oscar and then everyone went out to a club which I didn't stay long because we were exhausted from our first great day.
 |
| Chi, Oscar and I |
Saturday
Before we headed off to the beach on our first and only full day in Lagos, we went to go look at some beautiful cliffs in the area. Sam and I ran away from the group and hiked to this beautiful look out that was straight out of a travel brochure. Yellow cliffs, bright blue water, local boats, so beautiful! I never wanted to leave!
 |
| My boat! |
 |
| Oscar and Javi buried Chi! |
Cape St. Vincent was already sacred ground in Neolithic times, as standing menhirs in the neighborhood attest. The ancient Greeks called it Ophiussa (Land of Serpents), inhabited by the Oestriminis and dedicated here a temple to Heracles. The Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum (or Holy Promontory). They considered it a magical place where the sunset was much larger than anywhere else. They believed the sun sank here hissing into the ocean, marking the edge of their world.This place was unbelievable. The cliffs were the biggest cliffs I've ever seen and with the sun setting it was breathtaking. It was also the windiest place I've ever been! The wind could have blown you over if you weren't careful! Which also made it really, really cold but we huddled together for warmth. It was really amazing being at this place that thousands of years ago people believed was truly the end of the world. The whole time my favorite travel quote was ringing through my head "Home is now behind you, the world is ahead".
After we got back to Lagos we went to dinner; this time at Nah Nah Bah, one the of the world's best burger joints! I got a grilled chicken sandwich which was SO good. Then we went out to Joe's Garage for the night's fiesta and it got real crazy, real fast. It as fun, lots of people dancing on the bar and a lot of good music. But then it started getting a little too crazy for me. The last thing I saw before I left was a girl with blood running down her foot because she got cut by broken glass. So we all went back to the hotel and hung out in one of our rooms for a while. I don't think I got to sleep until like 5am. But that's Spain, uurr um, Portugal for ya!
 |
| I got "Big Bob's Cock Meat Sandwich |
 |
| Party at Joe's Garage. Oscar was giving everyone highlighter tattoos |
On our last day we got to go back to our pretty little beach by the hotel. We spent the morning there relaxing, dipping our feet in and skipping rocks. Then we went back to the hotel for a bit to clean up and it was off to the buses for our 7ish hour trip back to Granada. I had to say goodbye to Chi and Oscar in Sevilla which was just a tiny bit of a preview of what is in store for me at the end of May. I can't bare to think of all the goodbyes!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)