Lessons in Inconvenience

Well, I have to start by saying that I had a very fun weekend. Secondly, I think I have mastered the technique of inconveniencing people. Let me tell you all I have learned about the art of "INCONVENIENCE."
We'll start the weekend on Saturday morning. I had plans to go to Granada for a birthday BBQ during the day and an International Dinner at night. I was so excited for both of these things. Since I already had plans, Tad and Michael Lynn decided they would go to Guadix (a town north of Granada). It was a trip that we had planned for last week but didn't end up doing it. Since Granada is on the way to Guadix, Tad offered to drop me off so that I didn't have to pay to take the bus (we'll consider this inconvenience #1 - only because even though he offered, it was still out of their way a little bit). So they dropped me off and then my friend Jacob (the BBQ was for him because it's his birthday on Monday) came and picked me up where Tad dropped me off (Inconvenience #2). I felt bad that he had to come pick me up because it is a BBQ for him yet he was the one who brought all of the stuff and pretty much planned it. We went and picked up his cousin and ran some more errands and then finally made our way to the BBQ site. We ended up going to a recreation area behind the Alhambra. It was a bumpy road but the climb was gorgeous. There was never a moment that I didn't have an amazing view of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I will never tire of the landscape of Spain.
It took a while to get everything set up but the BBQ was a blast. Here are some pictures.
Some of the guys standing around the grill, enjoying some beer and a beautiful day

Me and my friend Javier - I had a blast teaching him new English words :-)

Me and a couple of the girls

The group (except for me)

Now here is a personal inconvenience (#3) - they decided to play a game of soccer and guess who didn't get the memo to wear tennis shoes?!?! ME. Being a trooper, I played in the shoes I wore (which weren't outrageously uncomfortable but they are getting worn out in spots). Anyways, I had so much fun playing soccer - I miss it so much. You could tell we are all a little out of shape as the beginning of the game was rough but we improved. I stopped playing once I noticed this..... (hope no one is grossed out by feet....especially dry, nasty feet)

It hurt a lot and had bled through my sock and into my shoe. This whole weekend, I have had to walk differently to avoid putting pressure on it. And in compensating for that, other parts of my foot have started to hurt! Oh well, it was worth it and now I have the itch to play more soccer!
After everyone was sufficiently worn out, there was a water fight....
Just check out Irma's clothes

....a group shot that included Emily (thanks to self-timers)

.....and a beautiful sunset on the drive down

After that, it was time for the International Dinner at my friend Abelardo's house. He has tons of friends and a lot of them are in the Erasmus program (it's Europe's study abroad program). He organized a dinner and everyone that came had to bring a traditional dish from their country.
Here are all of the flags of the countries that were represented last night - Can you guess them all?

It's the US, Spain, France, Argentina, Mexico and Columbia.
I of course made the apple pie that I made for our Thanksgiving dinner. Only this time, I made a lattice crust on top (just to make it look fancier).

We had many different dishes (quiche, a pork dish with potatoes and honey mustard sauce, salmorejo - a tomato-based Spanish dish, candied coconut, impossible cake - half chocolate cake/half flan, and my apple pie). Little did any of us know, Abelardo decided there would be a contest to see who brought the best dish. Well, we decided to initially vote for two categories (sweets and main dishes) and then have the winners from each category go head-to-head. Well, my pie won for the dessert and the guy from Argentina who made the pork and potato concoction won for the main dishes. To add another element of surprise, Abe made Diego and I give speeches about why we thought our dishes should win. Diego went first (and even being a native Spanish speaker) he had nothing to offer. Then it was my turn. I was nervous (besides the French girl, I was the only non-native Spanish speaker). But I gave it my best. I said "my apple pie was hand-made with love. I spent a lot of time and effort peeling and cutting apples for this delicious pie which is so typical of the US." Everyone clapped and loved it. Then we voted.
I WON!! YAY!!! I have an award-winning pie! haha There was also a prize. Abe is an architecture major at the University of Granada and he did a drawing for the winner (aka ME).

I love it and think it's so cool to have something that my friend drew.
Here is a picture with my pie and my prize (it's a bad pic because my lazy friend would not stand up to take the picture but you get the point)

Well, here's where the real inconveniences start. So after the dinner, all of the people were going to another party (a going away party for a couple of Erasmus students). I didn't really know anyone and was also not feeling well. I had started coughing and really in no way wanted to go out but since I was staying at Abelardo's apartment, I had to do what he did. This party was jam-packed. There was standing room only and even if you could find space, you could be guaranteed that within seconds, someone was going to be bumping into you. I was not feeling this party and was looking for a way to leave.
Enter my other good friend Juan Carlos.

He was out with friends and I met up with him and he told me that I could stay with him even though all of my stuff was at Abe's. He told me that I could have his bed and he would sleep on the couch (#4 - how sweet of him). We took a bus home and I immediately crashed. His mom made us breakfast this morning and after that I ventured off to Abe's to get my stuff and catch a bus home to Motril. After asking Abe to look at the bus schedule, we determined that there was a bus at 1:30. It was 1:20 and so Abe offered to drive me to the bus station (#5). We got there in record-time (thanks to the wonderful driving skills of Mr. Abe) and I went to the ticket window only to find out that we read the schedule wrong and the bus left at 1:15 and the next one didn't leave until 3:30. FAIL. I texted him and told him what happened and he told me to walk back and he would drive me back at 3:30. Upon arriving at his apartment (again), I told him all I wanted to do was sleep. I crashed on the couch for an hour and he took me back around 3:15 (#6). After nearly couching my head off and with barely any voice, I am back in Motril but after a fun weekend.
Long story short, I inconvenienced a lot of people this weekend and I know that I really am so fortunate to have such amazing friends here in Spain. They do so much for me and I never know how to re-pay them. I can only hope that they all come to visit me one day in the US so I can spoil them rotten (hint hint to any of my Spanish friends that read this....COME TO THE US!!!)