LONDON!!!

Well I am back safe and sound from London. The plane ride back was ok except that I could not really sleep because I kept waking myself up - once I heard myself snore and the next time I could tell my mouth was hanging open. To make matters worse, one of the times that I woke up, the stewards (yes, they were all males) were standing right by our row handing out drinks. I know they saw me drooling on myself = )
Anywho, I had an amazing time in London. It seems a lot like the US only with an accent and royalty. I got in very late on Wednesday night (essentially Thursday morning). My friend Patrick(who has been studying with me in Granada) was in London on Thursday as well. We toured together and saw many things. We saw Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Tower, Tower Bridge and London Bridge (and no, it was not falling down like the popular song goes - though it is the 7th official London Bridge and so lots of others have indeed fallen down before this one). Patrick and I had a very busy day but the best part had to have been going to see Wicked that night at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Even though I have seen it before, it was still absolutely marvelous. It was off to bed after the show as Patrick had to be up very early to continue on with his travels in Munich, Germany.
I spent the day touring by myself on Friday (first time in my life I have ever done that). I went to the Globe Theater and got a picture and saw the River Thames. I went on a 3-hour walking tour through the old-city part of London. It was long but very worthwhile and informational. We saw the business district, the Bank of England, St. Paul's Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, and much more. It rained that afternoon and so I did some shopping. That night, I went to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. It was wonderful - it's amazing how the costimes are designed so that the people look like animals but you can still see their faces and you don't lose all aspects of the human quality. The music was amazing and I am so glad I got to see it. Friday night, I met up with a friends of my friend Liz (who studied with me in Granada as well) who is studying/working in London right now. There was a private going-away party in the upper part of a pub for one of his friends and so I felt like a VIP tourist or something for going to a private party in London though I had only spent two days there. It was fun to meet Will (Liz's friend) and some other American's studying there.
Saturday, I got up and checked out of the hostel and went to the British Museum. It was cool but I didn't stay for long as my attention span just wasn't prepared for a museum. I did a bit more wandering/souvenir shopping, ate some lunch, then went to catch my bus to get to the airport.
Now, it's back to Granada until Tuesday night and then it's off to the U.S. for me........

Night in the Pueblo = )

So I have to fill everyone in on my night in the pueblo of Iznalloz (small town where Paco was born and where they still have a house) with Paco and Pilar. I have been to the pueblo with them twice before and this time we went to have coffee with the two other couples that they always go on vacation with. Firstly, as we were headed up the winding road to the mountain where the one couple lives, Paco ran over a snake that was slithering across the road. After it happened, I peered over my shoulder out the back windshield to see it squirming and suffering. We all laughed and continued on. When we got to the house, which was mid-mountain and placed all alone, I was taken away by the amazing views of the city below and of the other mountains. I can understand now why people have houses in the pueblo and in Granada in the city. I met all of the couples and they were very nice. We had coffee and cookies together and then the owner of the house asked if I wanted to see the goats. So he gave me plastic booties to put over my shoes and off we went to see the goats. He is an old man and has a think Andalucian accent, dropping pretty much every "s" that he possibly can and so I understood about half of what he said. Nevertheless, we went to the barn and there must have been over a hundred goats walking around. It didn't smell as horrible as I thought it would. I was even able to hold a baby goat that was born yesterday!! It was soooo cute. Then we continued on to see the chickens, a hen that was sitting on its eggs, sheep, a peacock, and all of the equipment they use for collecting milk from the goats. He was quite proud to show me all of these things and I was happy to be part of the tour. He also had a room full of ham legs that were curing (called serrano ham and is considered a delicacy in Spain). There were so many things to see on their piece of property. After my tour, we all sat around outside and talked. Meanwhile, the sun was setting over the mountains and the view was spectacular. I can't put into words how beautiful the night was. We finally left around 9:45pm and headed back to Granada. I hate to say it but on the windy mountain roads back to the pueblo and eventually to the highway, we encountered the poor snake we had trampled with the car earlier on in the night and indeed, he was dead. As much as I don't like snakes, I also don't like seeing them dead in the middle of the road either.
It was a very fun night - the two other couples besides Paco and Pilar are so nice and made me feel right at home (even though I was the only kid there). I hope I can come back to the pueblo at least one more time before I leave Granada in 9 days!! ahhh it hardly seems possible.
Until next time,
Emily

PRAGUE!!!

I am writing this blog entry on my flight from Paris CDG to Malaga (obviously I posted it when I got home). There must be 5 or 6 babies on the flight and so there is a constant chorus of screams and cries – not exactly the most relaxing flight of my life but that’s why I have an i-pod. My journeys to Prague and back have both been very long travel days but very worth-while. I decided to do a weekend in Prague to visit my cousin Sarah (she currently teaches English in Prague). We had an awesome time together. I got in on Friday night and we went to her flat and decided to make dinner for ourselves. We made delicious chicken fajitas (it was a welcome relief to have some Mexican food!!!) Saturday we spent the entire day being very touristy and seeing as many things as we could. We saw the Charles Bridge, the astronomical clock (and we saw it strike noon), the Prague castle and cathedral (complete with breathtaking stained glass windows), the Jewish quarter of the city, and many other little treasures. It was a sunny and beautiful day for touring. We spent about 8 hours walking around. We had a late lunch (which I am used to in Spain) at Bohemia Bagel. Yes, that’s right – I had my first bagel since December of ’07 and it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. Another plus – bottomless refills on fountain pop! I also have not had a refill on a drink since before coming to Spain. My how I can delight in the small things in life = ) Saturday night, we went out for a night on the town. We went to an 80’s/90’s themed club and it was soooo much fun! We danced the night away. Sunday, we spent some quality cousin-bonding time together. We had a picnic in the local park near Sarah’s flat. Unfortunately, immediately after finishing our lunch, it started raining and we were forced indoors (where it quickly turned into the perfect afternoon for a nap!) W went to dinner near Sarah’s flat at an Italian place that was very good but very filling. Afterward, we met one of Sarah’s friends Laura for a movie. We saw Penelope (I had not heard of it but it was very cute). We got up very early this morning for Sarah to get ready and off to work and so I could get to the airport to head out. It was the perfect weekend get-away! Only 1 ½ weeks in Granada, then to London for 4 days, Granada for 4 more and then I will be headed for the United States of America!

Until next time,

Em

Getting to Prague

(FYI – this blog entry was written during the excruciating amount of time that I spent in the airport in Malaga)

Well, it sure has been an interesting time getting to Prague. I decided to fly out of Malaga, Spain (1 ½ hours from Granada) instead of the Granada airport (since it is so small and lacks flight options). So, here’s where it gets a little complicated……My flight out of Malaga was scheduled for 10am on Friday morning. However, the earliest bus from Granada to Malaga leaves at 7am and arrives at the Malaga bus station at 8:45am – which did not leave me enough time to get to the airport and check-in. Instead, I took the latest bus on Thursday night and arrived in Malaga at 11pm. Luckily, I caught the last bus to the airport and arrived around 12am. Needless to say, I arrived in plenty of time for my flight (10 hrs is early enough, right?) I had good intentions of sleeping for at least part of the night in the airport, gripping very tightly to my things, of course (all because I was too cheap to pay for a hostel and really just wanted to prove to myself that I am a tough girl and can sleep in an airport if I need to). Much to my dismay, I passed the entire night wide awake – my mind not letting me drift off to sleep. I walked around a lot – half attempting to exhaust myself and half attempting to find a comfortable place to catch a few zzz’s. I got my hopes up for a while at about 5:30 am. There was an earlier flight leaving for Paris (my 6 hour lay-over site). So I decided to check into the possibility of changing my flight from 10am to 7am (more time to leave the airport in Paris and explore). After checking in at the counter, I was told I had to go to the AirFrance ticket office to make any changes in my ticket. Well, I went there only to find out the office didn’t open until 9am. Unfortunately, I had no such luck changing my flight and was left to wait for about 3 ½ hours longer in the airport. My only saving grace for the entire night/morning was that I met a very nice family from Georgia and sort of made friends with them for the remainder of my wait in the Malaga airport. Finally, around 10am, I was off and en route to Prague. The rest of my travel day was long but well worth it when I finally made it to Paris and saw cousin Sarah waiting in the airport for my arrival.

Spain, Spain, Spain!

Nothing too terribly interesting has happened in the past couple of weeks, but I will still give an update. I am chugging along with my three days of class. It’s stressful, let me tell you! (I hope everyone knows that was a joke!) We only have two days of class this week on Monday and Tuesday because of Corpus Christi and the Feria of Granada. You have to love all of the parties in Spain! My Senora told me today that I will be the only American girl she has hosted to ever experience Corpus and the Feria. I am pretty excited though I am not quite sure what those events entail just yet. I guess I will find out soon enough.

I had the privilege of spending the day with my host family yesterday in the pueblo (town). It is called Iznalloz and is about 35 Km away from their apartment in Granada. Paco and Pilar have a house in the pueblo where they raised their kids. Paco is from Iznalloz (Pilar is not…she was born in Granada). I was able to meet one of Paco’s eight siblings – a brother named Luis and his wife. They live in a house right next to Paco and Pilar’s – as a matter of fact, they are connected! It was fun to meet family and to see the pueblo. Pilar and I went for a scenic drive through the town and made a stop for a walk and a tapa in the Sierra Arana (part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains). It was a nice change of pace to be able to get away from the city and to spend some quality time with my family. Last night, Pilar and I also went for a walk – she walks everyday and I tag along when I can.

In other news…..I have made some travel plans. I have booked a flight to Prague to visit my cousin and I also plan to go to London and meet up with a couple of friends from my program. I am very excited to venture outside of Spain.

That’s all for now….until next time.

Emily

I am officially done with classes at Cegri. I had my last class this morning at 9am! I know I have said it many times before but I am just shocked that time has passed so quickly. Tomorrow is MAY!!!
We have a farewell dinner for our group tonight. We had a welcome dinner one of the first nights we were here and so it is only appropriate to have a farewell dinner. From what I have heard the restaurant is kind of fancy and all of the girls are going to wear dresses and get fancy! It should be fun. Our director and his wife will be there for the entire dinner and then they have invited all of the Cegri teachers for dessert and coffee after so we can say goodbye to them in a setting outside of the classroom. It will be a bittersweet night as I am looking forward to having fun and talking to everyone but not looking forward to saying goodbye to people.
The rest of the week is holiday in Spain and hopefully there will be some fun things to do to keep me entertained. I think some my Michigan friends and I are going to have a picnic! Should be fun!
Until next time,
Em

No puede ser (it can't be)

The title of this album was my senora's response when I told her that I ran 10 kilometers. It was quite hilarious. Yesterday I ran 11.3 km = 7 miles! I can hardly walk today because my legs hurt so bad so I think I will take a break from running.

My host family is going on vacation next week and my senora is stocking up the kitchen. She has four meals for me in the freezer and has a mountain of other things. She has a supply of cookies, pizza, tortilla, chicken broth, fruit and diet coke! Oh she knows me too well! I told her she can stop buying things but she said she still needs more! At the rate she is buying things, I will definitely need those 6 and 7 mile runs!!

I think today is supposed to be 27 degrees Celsius! Finally....the weather we have all been waiting for!

Hump-day Hola from Granada!

The weather has finally cleared up in Spain after about 5 consecutive days of rain and slightly chilly temperatures. It is a little disheartening to keep hearing from my mother that the weather in Adrian is nicer than in Granada. I thought we were supposed to have these unbearably hot days?! Haha Oh well.

Since the weather improved, I thought I would make an attempt to make those pesky pastries disappear that have suddenly found their home on my thighs and backside! I ran 10 km yesterday around the city (an equivalent of 6 miles). It was a struggle at times but I made it. Two of my good friends here are training to run half marathons next week and so I thought I should get my butt in gear (literally!)

We only have 4 more days of class left at Cegrí and then most of the Illinois and Wisconsin students will be leaving to travel and then go home or just to go straight home. Once my classes are done at Cegrí, I will only have class on Monday from 6:30-8pm, Tuesday from 11-12:30pm and then Wednesday from 6:30-8pm. Needless to say, my Michigan friends and I are going to need to find something to do to fill our empty days. My girlfriends and I are thinking lots of day trips or weekends at the beach. I also hope to do some traveling outside of Spain. I need to explore Europe while I am on the continent! Who knows when I will be back!?!

Until next time,

Emily

This past weekend, I went on a hiking trip with 27 other students from my language school (Cegrí) to the Alpujarras. The Alpujarras (for those of you who don’t know) is part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of southern Spain. There are several different areas of the mountain. We left on Friday morning (4/18) and returned Saturday evening. Of course, the only weekend we get rain is the one for which we are scheduled to go hiking in the mountains! Some of my friends and I were walking to the plaza where we were to catch the bus and it started down pouring on us. We quickly caught the first bus that we could and rode it the rest of the way to the plaza. We thought our trip was doomed but actually it turned out to be a wonderful first day. We made it to the mountains (after a long and winding bus ride – I certainly took Dramamine!) We left our stuff in a big room and headed off to hike. We decided to cut the root short so that we were near a small town if the weather were to break loose on us again. It was soooo beautiful and breathtaking. We were able to see very clearly the top of the highest peak of the Sierra Neveadas (Mulhacen). I can’t do it justice by simply using fancy adjectives but needless to say there is nothing like this ANYWHERE in Michigan!! There were definitely some scary moments (near edges of cliffs, hiking downhill on loose dirt and rock, etc…)

We had a nice picnic lunch and then headed back to the hostal to relax and hang out. We had a really nice dinner at the hostal. Some people ate conejo (bunny) and it was not pleasing to look over and see an entire little peter cottontail sitting on peoples plates. Our director, Miguel, would request the head of anybody’s bunny who did not want to eat it! Ewwwww

Saturday was one continuous day of rain but we persevered and hiked anyway. A lot of people had either ponchos or rain coats. The hike on the second day was supposed to be longer but since it was raining and cold, it too got cut short. We hiked for about 3 hours and had a break for a snack then we made it to the next town where the bus picked us up and took us back to camp where we attempted to dig out as many dry and warm clothes out of our backpacks as we could. We all bonded sitting for a few hours in that room and we ate a nice lunch and then took off for Granada. The ride home was interesting as we had to stop at one point while 4 girls got off the bus thinking they were going to get sick. Luckily, no one got sick and we made it home just fine. It was an amazing trip and I had so much fun!

Get excited - it took me less than a week to make another post!!! yay!

Mom and Dad in Spain = )

So I am mad at myself for having to apologize before every post and I really thought I would be better about updating my blog while my parents were here (since we had WIFI in our apartment). However, we just had so many fun things to do everyday and I could not justify spending any of the precious time I had with my parents updating my blog. Therefore, here comes another exhaustive summary of the events from April 1st – April 9^th ……….

Tuesday April 1^st – The arrival: I have never had a day pass so slowly in my entire life! My parents were supposed to arrive in Granada at 1pm but instead arrived at 5:10pm because of changes in their flight schedule. I was worried the entire day that they were playing the worst April Fool’s Day joke on me of my entire life (however, I knew better!) Their plane finally arrived and I was there waiting in the luggage area as they walked off the plane. The reunion was all I could have hoped for. I ran to my parents arms and just hugged them for minutes (complete with tears and all). I had never before felt such joy and excitement! Unfortunately, they arrived without luggage but we checked in with the airline and made sure they had our contact information for when the suitcases arrived. We took the bus from the airport to Granada. It was so hard to believe that my parents were actually with me in Spain! It seemed too good to be true – but it was! We got settled into our apartment – it was very spacious and modern (two words that are quite uncommon to Granada). We met two of my friends (Bill and Patrick) for tapas later that night and we had a good time. It was an early night as Mom and Dad were very tired from a day-and-a-half of traveling.

Wednesday April 2^nd – Mom and Dad slept in – I think jetlag got the best of them that first night. We went to the SuperSol to pick up some food for our apartment. Dad quickly realized that Coca Cola Light is nothing like Diet Coke in the US! Then I took them on their first of many walks around Spain. We went to the Albaycin and Sacramonte (the caves and neighborhood of the gypsies). It was a hike and I was proud of them for not complaining TOO much. We made it up to a lookout point called the “Mirador de San Nicolas” and they were in awe of the views of the entire city and of the Alhambra. They agreed that it was definitely worth the hike.

Wednesday night we had tapas again with my friend Liz. Then we took my parents to a salsa dancing bar so that they could experience a bit of the Spanish nightlife!

Thursday April 3^rd – Alhambra day – Once again, Mom and Dad flashed their mighty super strengths and hiked all the way up a very large hill to get to the Alhambra. I was very proud of them as it is a struggle for even the most young and in-shape of people (and that was not supposed to be a reference that they are old and out-of-shape). We made it just in time for our 11:30am visit. We spent about 3 hours touring the three parts of the Alhambra. I tried to tell them as much as I knew about it but for some parts we hopped on the end of a tour group who had an English-speaking leader (we know how to be resourceful, when needed!) We were tuckered out by the end of our visit and we all were ready for a siesta by the time we reached our apartment.

Thursday night – my parents had the privilege of meeting my host parents (Paco and Pilar). Pilar made tapas and we all sat around the table and had cervezas (beers). It was a wonderful visit. Paco and Pilar kept talking in Spanish just like my parents understood everything they said. Naturally, I had to be the translator and found it to be an entertaining job for the night. I gave my parents a tour of the apartment and they were very impressed with how nicely it was decorated and kept clean. Mom and Dad did the best that they could to speak as much Spanish as they could quickly gather from their high school memory bank. I couldn’t have imagined a better meeting of my two sets of parents!

After tapas with Paco and Pilar, we met up with some of my friends and we took my parents to see the botellon in Spain. It was fun but a little uncomfortable as they were easily the oldest people there. Oh well – they will probably only be in Spain once and my friends and I wanted them to experience all there is to see and do in Granada!

Friday April 4^th – We did the most “touristy” thing we could possibly do….we took a ride on the Granada Tourist Bus! Most of my friends in the program say they wouldn’t be caught dead riding on it but while my parentals were here, it was completely acceptable for me to be a full-blown tourist! It was a lot of fun and we got to see most of the city. We even had a very informative narration (in English too!) We had to return to the apartment mid-afternoon to pack for our weekend get-away to Barcelona. We had a flight out of Granada at 8pm on Ryanair to Girona (a small town about an hour outside of Barcelona). Once in Girona, we had an hour bus ride into Barcelona. We had rented a flat in Barcelona in Barri Gotic for the two nights we were there and we met someone from the rental company to let us in and got all situated. It was off to bed as we had a long day ahead of us.

Saturday April 5^th – Barcelona! We decided to do a weekend trip to break up the time that my parents were here. My Mom has always wanted to visit Barcelona and so that’s where we headed. Saturday was a busy day and we did a lot. We walked down Paseig de Gracia to see both of Gaudi’s houses, went to the Sagrada Familia (though we passed up going inside to conserve time), visited Parc Guell (one of my favorite parts of Barcelona – and there we had a picnic lunch), walked down Las Ramblas and visited a big open-air market where we bought fresh fruit, bread and cheese to snack on that afternoon. We returned to the flat for a short siesta and snack time! Then it was off again to do some more exploring. We went to Barceloneta (known as little Barcelona and is near the water), we all put our fingertips into the Mediterranean Ocean, and then we hit up a couple of bars for some drinks to end the day. I had been to Barcelona before and so I knew where I wanted to take them and how to navigate the city/metro (which was very helpful since we had so little time in Barcelona).

Sunday April 6^th – We visited the Cathedral (which dates back to the 1200’s) and saw more of Barri Gotic. We took a walk to Parc de la Ciutadella and it was a beautiful day for a nice stroll in the park. We also visited the Chocolate Museum. It was a random/spur of the moment decision but it was fun and entertaining. We had lunch on Las Ramblas and did some postcard shopping. Our flight was at 6:40pm and so we had to catch the bus to the Girona airport around 4pm. It was a short visit in Barcelona but very fun. Once back in Granada, we had dinner at a nice little restaurant that I had eaten at my second day in Granada. It was a hit!

Monday April 7^th – We paid a visit to the infamous “bread lady” of Granada. There is a kiosk in a small plaza in Granada (very close to my school – Cegrí) and every morning a woman sells bread and pastries there. She is a hit with all of the people in my program and also with a lot of people in Granada. She always has a line of people waiting. We bought some goodies and ate them near the river in a park. Then we took a bus tour of the University of Granada (really we just stayed on the city bus all the way around campus and I narrated!) We had some tapas with Liz during the afternoon and I had class. That night we had a group outing for tapas with some of my friends and Patrick’s parents were here too so we met up with them. We filled a whole bar with all English – speaking people. I am sure the people working just loved us! It was so much fun. I didn’t want to leave.

Tuesday April 8^th – We had a lazy day because we had done most of what we wanted to do in Granada. We did some more shopping for souvenirs and then we took a walk to a big park in Granada called Parque de Garcia Lorca. Mom had brought a couple of movies from home (at my request) and so we all sat around and watched The Holiday together and it was just perfect. We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant called La Piccola Italia. It was very good and we all had a great time. We had tapas once again (though we were not hungry in the least) with Alan and Mike.

Wednesday April 9^th - The Goodbye – The day we had all been dreading had finally arrived. We all were up early as Mom and Dad’s flight left Granada at 9:55 am. I walked them to the bus stop on Gran Vía and that is where we had our tearful goodbye. We hugged for a long time – no one wanting to let go! It was so hard to see them drive away on the bus.

It was an amazing time and we made some memories that none of us will ever forget. I still can’t believe that I was able to have my parents with me in Spain for nine days. I am so grateful that they were willing to spend the money to come visit and to experience life with me in another country. Love you guys!!!

Now it’s back to normal life around here. We only have two more weeks of class at Cegrí and it seems hard to believe that most of the group (Wisconsin and Illinois students) will be going home at the beginning of May. It will be weird without them here.

Until next time (at the rate I am going, who knows when that will be?!?! Haha)

Em

A real post......finally = )

Since I am so behind on updating my Blog, this is going to be one giant recap of the past couple of weeks. So here goes….

As I am sure most of you know, last Sunday was Easter. However, in Spain and especially in Andalucía, the celebration starts a week before Easter and this week is called Semana Santa (Holy Week). Because of Semana Santa, I had another 10-day break. I decided not to travel anywhere outside of Andalucía because I wanted to experience all of the festivities of Holy Week in Spain.

Saturday 3/15-Sunday 3/16 - The first part of the break, I went to the beach with two of my friends from the program. We went to a small town in the Costa Del Sol called Nerja. The first day there (Saturday) it was kind of chilly and a little windy so we didn’t get to fully enjoy the beach and sunshine. We had beautiful weather on Sunday and were able to go out and enjoy the beach, warmth, and sunshine. The town is beautiful. There is a famous spot there called the “Balcón de Europa” and there is a great view of the mountains and coastline of the beaches. It is definitely a place I would visit again – for the beaches and I also want to see the famous caves of Nerja.

Monday 3/17 - My friends and I spent Monday in Granada. We were able to see our first Semana Santa processions. In order for any of what I am going to say to make sense, I think I must bore you with a little history lesson. Semana Santa has been a tradition in Andalucía for hundreds of years and with the declining number of “practicing catholics” it is becoming just that – more of a tradition and a thing that must be done every year than a display of faith and Christianity. Nonetheless, each of the larger churches in Granada (and most of the other cities in Andalucía as well) has a brotherhood that organizes their procession for Semana Santa. Each procession usually contains two pasos (statues) – one representing Jesus and the other representing the Virgin Mary. There are people that walk in the processions – los penitentes (people that wear outfits similar to the KKK for purposes of anonymity and some even spend the duration of the procession walking the streets without shoes), las manolas – women that dress all in black with veils of black lace and carry candles and finally there are los costaleros – these are the people that carry the statues. They all walk underneath and it takes a lot of practice and following the strict cadence of the drums to make it work. I am amazed at the people who are part of these processions. Some of them would last as long as five or six hours each. Each procession also has a band and a drum line. There is no way to accurately describe the sound of the band except to use the word squeaky. I think they find people for these bands that only play their instruments once a year for Semana Santa and do not practice otherwise. However, by the end of the week, it had almost become a comforting sound. I will describe a few of them in more detail but I must stick to my chronology of the week!

Tuesday 3/18 – Wednesday 3/19 – I had the privilege of going to Almuñecar (another small town in the Costa del Sol) with my señora and señor (Paco and Pilar). Their daughter and her husband and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter were also there. It was a lot of fun to hang out with my family here and to bond a little. We spent some time at the beach and even watched a procession pass through the streets of Almuñecar. We went out for tapas and drinks on Tuesday night and I ate dried octopus! It was not too bad and I would definitely eat it again. The rest of the family stayed until Thursday night but I took a bus back from Almuñecar to Granada on Wednesday afternoon so that I could be home for dinner with my friend’s parents. My friend Liz (who I knew before coming to Granada) invited my other friend Emilee and I to dinner and a Flamenco show with she and her parents. It was so much fun. We went to Venta El Gallo which is the same place we all saw a Flamenco show at the beginning of our stay in Granada. We had a great 4-course dinner and watched the show while we ate. After we ate, we waited around for a while to see the Procession of the Gypsies (one of the most famous of Granada). It was raining during the procession and it didn’t help that they were climbing a huge hill with the floats to get to Sacramonte (the neighborhood that is highly populated with gypsies and is located in the caves of the mountains very close to the Alhambra). The teamwork of the costaleros and encouragement of the thousands of people who came out to watch the procession was just amazing.

Thursday 3/20 – Saturday 3/23 – I did not do much for the rest of the week. I stayed in Granada and watched processions and relaxed. Thursday night, a big group of us watched the Procession of Silence at 1:00am! It was a very cool procession but one that I might only want to see once. They turned off all of the lights in the city wherever the procession went and everyone is silent as it passes. The men are all dressed in black, along with the women and the only sound comes from one drum (just to keep the cadence). There was only one statue and it was of Jesus. There was a person near the end of the procession who was wearing chains around his feet and they were dragging on the ground and making a very grim sound (to represent the death of Jesus). It was a very powerful image. The last procession that I really liked was on Saturday and it was the only one that occurred that day. It was the procession from the Alhambra and the float contained the famous statue of Mary holding Jesus. The base of the float was very cool and had details similar to the Alhambra.

Sunday 3/24 – Easter Sunday. It was weird to be away from my family for Easter but I made it through. I did not wake up to an Easter basket full of candy but my friends did give me a little basket the next day and I was very happy. I went to church with Liz and Emilee and it was nice. I took communion for the first time in Spain. I had been trying to respect the catholic tradition of communion (since I am not catholic) but I could not imagine abstaining from communion on Easter. What they don’t know won’t hurt them!

Monday was back to the daily grind of class and homework. It was hard to get used to being back in class but we all adjusted well. I have one more class today and then it’s another one of those great 3-day weekends that we have every week! I am going to Cordoba tomorrow with a group from our Spanish school (Cegrí). I am excited and have heard that it is beautiful. The thing that I am most excited about, though, is the arrival of my parents in 5 days! They get in at 1pm on Tuesday (4/1) and I can’t wait. I am so excited to take them around Spain. We are going to spend the weekend that they are here in Barcelona. I will try and do my best to keep everyone updated of our adventures while they are here.

It is hard to believe that half of my time here is gone. It is going to be a bittersweet day when I leave at the end of June. But I will deal with that when the time comes.

Hasta Luego,

Em

I am terribly sorry to keep you all waiting but there have been so many interesting things to do in Spain lately that I have found myself lacking a significant amount of time to write all of them down on my blog. I will have more time this afternoon and will update then!
Hasta luego,
Em

Hiking, Beaches, and class

Hello everyone!
So I think I have finally figured out my final schedule after making several changes and being very frustrated. I am still taking all of the same classes at Cegri (the language center). At the University of Granada, I am taking Sociology of the Religions and now my new class is called History of the Comic. I don't really know anything about comics but I guess I will learn. There are a few other U of M students in that class and that will be good so that we can help each other with readings and understanding what the lectures are about. It is such a relief. AHHHH
So this past weekend I got to do a lot of fun things. Two of my other friends from Michigan and I went hiking/walking/climbing in some mountains in a small town just in the outskirts of Granada. It was a lot of work but well worth it. We eventually made it to the top of a small mountain and we sat and had a picnic lunch. It was really fun. Then on Friday, we took a day trip to Malaga to go to the beach. We took a bus at 11am (which we realized was way too late because the bus trip took longer than we thought it would and we didn't get to Malaga until 1 pm). We then took a nice long walk to get to the beach. It was nice - the weather was warm but it was a little hazy and cloudy at times. Malaga is a pretty city but seems pretty touristy because of the beach.
On Saturday afternoon I caught a bus to Marbella on the Costa del Sol to meet up with some family friends and their son (the Goldsen's). I got into Marbella around 6:30pm and Mr. Goldsen picked me up from the bus station. We had a very nice spanish dinner complete with tapas and paella at a restaurant called "La Pesquera" which was recommended to us by someone at the resort. On Sunday, we went to Gibraltar (well I didn't technically go there because I forgot my passport and they would not let me through). I did get to see the rock and the water around it was a beautiful shade of turquoise blue. We then took a very scenic drive through the mountains to a quaint little town in Andalucia called Ronda. I don't think we drove in a straight line for more than about 1/2 Km. But it was worth it for all of the amazing views we had of the mountains. Once we were in Ronda, we visited the plaza de toros there (the oldest one in Spain) and also saw that gorge and huge bridge that goes across part of the old town in Ronda. It was such a cute town. We also had dinner at an italian place and had pizza. It was a very fun and eventful day!
We left Monday morning to return to Granada because I had class at 9AM! I met back up with the Goldsens after they saw the Alhmabra. We visited the Cathedral in granada and then had a nice lunch before they headed out. It was so nice to spend some time with people from home and to see some familiar faces. Now I only have 3 weeks until mom and dad will be here to visit! I can hardly wait.
I can tell that my spanish is improving and I am very excited. I hope that things only continue to get better and better!!
Hasta luego,
Em

This will be a quick post but I just had to give an update on the weather since the last time I posted it was rainy and gloomy. Well, today was MUCH better. It was sunny but there were some clouds. The best part, though, was the fact that it was 19 degrees.......celsius! Here is a quick conversion for you: 19 degrees C = 67 degrees F. It really is starting to feel like spring here. Some of the trees and flowers are blooming and it´s wonderful. I still can´t imagine what the weather will be like in the summer if I am already peeling off layers of clothing when it is not even 70 degrees. The summers in Granada sometimes reach 110 or higher! Ahhh.
Anyways, things are good for a Monday!
Hasta Luego,
Emily

Week One of University Classes

I was able to find out this week what university classes are like in another country. I am taking two classes at the University of Granada. One is called ¨Sociology of the Religions¨ and as for my other class....well that is still being figured out. I am enrolled in a class called ¨Introduction to the Music of Al-Andalus¨ which is a class about music during the Arab reign of Spain. It seemed interesting until I went to the class both days last week and the professor launched into two lectures about ideas and concepts that I don´t even think I could understand in English, let alone in her rapid Spanish. She was writing arabic words on the board and it was so hard to follow what she was saying. Another one of my friends from the University of Michigan is also in the class and he has been just as lost as me. I think for the sake of my sanity I need to find another class. I tested out another class that seemed interesting and ran into just the same problems. It was called ¨Technoscience, Culture and Medicine.¨ I thought it would be intertesting since my major is medicine and science -related. However, there were 8 people in the class and most were native spanish speakers. There were three American girls but one had been here since September and could understand/speak well and the other one had only been in Granada for three weeks but was very good at spanish. We had to split into two groups of 4 to discuss a list of questions about our opinion on many different challenging questions (that once again I could barely think of a sentence to defend my opinion in English, let alone contribute anything positive to the conversation in Spanish). So I don´t think that is the answer to my problem. I have all of next week to change classes so I am going to keep looking for more options.
It was a frustrating week. We are all hitting the point in our trip where it is just frustrating to not be able to fully communicate with people. It was ok to completely struggle for the first month but now it just seems irritating. Oh well, we will all keep plugging away and keep practicing. It doesn´t help that the beautiful weather we were having for over a month seems to have disappeared for a while. It has been cloudy, gray, and rainy for the past three days! No fun!! But I won´t complain too much since it is not snowing or below 20 degrees outside.
Well that´s about it for now from Spain. I hope everyone is doing well! I can´t believe February is almost gone! Time is just flying by!
Emily

Vacation in Spain

No need to worry....I am still alive and well! The past week we had a break from school and my friend and I took a trip to Barcelona and Madrid. Most people went to Italy, Paris, London, and other assorted cities in Europe but Liz and I wanted to explore Spain.
First, we went to Barcelona. We were there from Friday (2/8) to Monday (2/11). Liz has a friend that is studying in Barcelona and so she played tour guide for us. We saw so much of the city in two days. We saw many of the little neighborhoods of Barcelona (Barceloneta, Olympic village, and some assorted other places). We saw Gaudi's houses - we did not go inside for a lack of time and a desire to save some money. He seemed like an interesting guy (Gaudi). My favorite part of Barcelona was Park Guell - Gaudi's park that he designed. It is absolutely huge (over 70 acres) and is just a little piece of heaven. Most of the park is decorated with mosaics of colored glass. There is a great view of the city from the top of one of the platforms. There are also two little house/cottages in the park that look like gingerbread houses. It is hard to give it justice just describing it but if you ever have a chance to get to park guell - it's a definite must in Barcelona.
We also visited Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece. It is absolutely monsterous - it takes up an entire block. We went to the FC Barcelona museum and it was fun. There was a lot of memorabilia from many years of the club's existence. We were able to go inside the stadium and look around and it was very cool.
Barcelona has a very metropolitan feel - almost like a mix of New York and Miami. The city is very spread out so we took the metro a lot and it was a very convenient way to get around. We were able to stay in Liz's friend's apartment and cooked our own food. It was very different from all of my home-cooked meals at my homestay.
After our stay in Barcelona, we took a flight to Madrid. We arrive Monday night and stayed in a hostel. It was very small but got the job done. We did a lot of museums in Madrid. We went to the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornemizsa. They were all very cool and I was glad that we went to all of them - but I don't really want to go to another art museum for a while! We also went to the Palacio Real, Palacio de Comunicaciones, Fuente de Cibeles, Plaza Mayor, Parque de Buen Retiro (a huge park in Madrid with some awesome things to see - definitely a must see if you go to Madrid), and we wandered by some other random places. Liz and I agreed that Madrid has the feeling of Washington D.C.
I really like both of the cities but was very happy to return to Granada (it is great because it seems like home now!) My classes at the University of Granada tomorrow. I am taking Sociology of Religion and Music of Al-Andalus. It should be interesting to see how they compare to classes at U of M. We only have four more weeks of class and then another break for Semana Santa (not that I am looking forward to another break already - haha!)
I am sorry it took me so long to update my blog. I will try to be better at it! I hope everyone is doing well!
Emily

Boring Week

I apologize for not writing sooner but it has been a pretty uneventful week and weekend. I will fill you in on a few of the more exciting events.
I began reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I have read it in English and now am attempting to read it in Spanish. It is difficult but a welcomed challenge because I am looking up the words that I don´t know and am learning new vocabulary everyday. I love to sit in one of the many parks in Granada and read for a while. I find it very relaxing and a good way to spend a few hours.
My friend Patrick and I decided to give the Cathedral another try this past Sunday. We went to the service at 12. It was interesting...very cold inside the cathedral. I picked up a lot of the sermon but the scripture readings were a little confusing. We said the Apostles Creed and the Lord´s Prayer - both of which were very interesting to hear in Spanish. It was so strange to hear something that I have known for most of my life in another language.
We have a break starting on Thursday (the 7th of February). My friend Liz and I are going to Barcelona for a few days (8th-11th) and then we are flying to Madrid (on the 11th). We have no plans beyond that. We will probably stay in Madrid for three or four days and then possibly go to Valencia or to Malaga to spend some time soaking up the sun on the beach!
I am sorry I don´t have anything too exciting to say. I am sure I will have lots of things to say after returning from my trip! I hope everyone is doing well!
Hugs from Granada!
Em

Almost Three Weeks

It is hard to believe that I have been in Spain for almost three weeks now. I guess it´s true...time flies when you are having fun. The internet connection that I was using at my house was short-lived. The people must have figured out that I was bootlegging it off of them. So since Sunday is a very long day in Spain and my host parents are at their friend´s house for lunch (which means they are pretty much gone the entire day), I decided to come to an internet cafe near my house.
This weekend, my friends and I attempted to do some cultural things. On Saturday, I went with two of my friends from Michigan to the ¨Mercadillo.¨ Imagine a huge flea market with piles and piles of clothes and shoes. Things there are very cheap. Both of my friends bought shoes for 2 € which is about the equivalent of $3. It was fun and definitely an experience. Then my friend Liz and I just sat in a park near her house, munching on loaves of bread and discussing how lucky we were to be in Spain.
Saturday night: Once again, I was with a group of my UM friends and we decided to go see the play ¨La Casa de Bernarda Alba¨which was showing at the Teatro de Isabel la Catolica. Most of us took a literature class back at UM and had to read this play which is by Federico Garcia Lorca (who was from Granada). It was well-done. The actresses were very passionate. We all were glad that we had read the play before and knew the story line or we would have been completely lost. We are not exactly ready to completely usderstand spanish theater, just yet.
Sunday morning (today): A few of the girls and I attempted to go to the Cathedral in Granada. It turns out that the Spaniards must not want anyone to know what time their services are at. We looked for signs and even asked people. We were at the cathedral at 9:30 thinking there was a service at 10. However, we were wrong and it was at 12. So we had coffee and a pastry and waited around until about 11:30 only to enter what we thought was the cathedral and find there was already a service going on (it ended up not being the actual cathedral but we did not know that at the time.) After wandering to another door, we found the real cathedral and there was also a service going on there. Needless to say, we might try again next week and actually make it to the right building and at the right time.
It is difficult to get used to Sunday´s in Granada. Everything is closed except for food places. It is really just a day to enjoy family and eating here (which I guess are two things I don´t really mind too much.)
We already have a break in less than two weeks. A few of my friends are going to Dublin, Edinborough, and London and I think I may tag along. It should be fun.
I´m off for now. I am still loving Spain and I thank all of you for keeping in touch so well!!
My Love to all,
Emily

2 Weeks in Spain

So I actually found internet in my apartment and so I decided that I would write and re-cap some of my favorite times in Spain so far. Some of you may have heard about some of these things so far but you will just have to read them again!

The first few days here were spent looking extremely touristy (if that's even a word). We walked around many parts of the city and it is a big city. It takes me about 20 minutes to walk to Cegri (the school where I have my language classes). That is how long it takes for me to walk and I am a speed walker. It is pretty far but I don't mind the exercise.

My family is nice. I live with Paco and Pilar. I don't really know how old they are but they have three grown daughters and 4 grandchildren. I have only met one of the daughters thus far. They have hosted students before and so they are very accommodating. They watch a lot of tv. It is hard to understand the tv so far because my spanish skills are not that great yet and they talk so fast. I have my own room with a bunk bed, a small closet, a little table and a dresser. It's small but comfortable.

Last Sunday we went as a group to the Alhambra. It was simply breathtaking. Every detail is so intricate and old. Everything in Granada is soooo old. Buildings that you can find in Granada would have been knocked down years ago in the United States for a new mall or something modern.

I made it through week one of classes and thus far life is much more relaxed than at Michigan! I can't say that I am going to enjoy going back to Michigan in September because the Spaniards really know how to do things right. I am really enjoying "siesta" everyday! I have never slept so much in my life.

Ok well that's all for now. I will keep updated as often as I can with new and exciting things that happen over here in Spain!

Adios,
Em

I have a blog!

Hey guys!

I created a blog today so that I can keep everyone posted on what´s happening in Spain!! I don´t have time to write anything right now. I have to go recharge the Euros on my phone and then have dinner with my host family. I will write as soon I I have more time!