The Return of Eli and Emily in Spain

So, if you took a look back in my blog to 2008 when I first started writing it, you might find a comment or two about an awesome girl named Liz Baxter. You wouldn’t find a picture because my blog was utterly dull before because I didn’t know how to put up pictures. Well, if I did know how to put them up, this one probably would have appeared…..

Liz and I met our first year of college. We lived on the same floor of Mary Markley at the University of Michigan.
Here are Liz and I with some other friends from the dorm - such fun times in 5th Blagdon!

It just so happened that three years later, we both ended up studying abroad in Granada, Spain.
Here we are for our first visit to the Alhambra (this is our first week of study abroad).

The last time I had seen Liz was in September of 2009 when she came back to U of M for a football game while I was still in school.

Now, the last time I have seen her was when SHE CAME TO VISIT ME IN SPAIN!!!

I could not have been more excited to have a visitor and let alone one that shares friends and memories with me in Spain and who also speaks Spanish. Liz arrived in Spain on Thursday and the reunion was a sweet one. We had so many things to catch up on and so many memories to reflect upon in our short 6 days together.
We had beautiful weather the Friday she was here and so we took a day trip to the beach in Salobrena (the neighboring town). It was all three roomies, Bern and Liz. We took some sandwiches, a couple beach umbrellas, some sunscreen and towels and were off for the day. Bern and Michael Lynn were like fish (yes, actually we all went swimming but I only got a picture of these two).

Later that night, it was off to Granada to reunite with Abelardo, Javi and the Granada gang. Liz and I actually met Abelardo randomly on a flight to Barcelona back in February of 2008 and it has been nothing but a great friendship ever since.
Here is a picture of Liz and our other friend Emilee with a couple of our Granada friends, Javi and Pablo.

Here I am with Abe and Javi when I first reunited with them after 3 years in the fall

We spent the evening catching up with all of the guys – we had tapas and then went to a pub. Unfortunately, all the guys didn’t come out but we had fun with the ones who did.
Here we are at tapas

Abe, Emily, Javi and Liz

We spent part of the day on Saturday just walking around Granada and remembering things from study abroad – there was a little shopping here and there too.
Oh, and some sitting in a park :-)

Saturday night it was back to Motril to hang out with the Motrilenos. We stopped by my friend Emilio’s cortijo (cottage) where all of my friends were having a surprise birthday party for a friend. We were there long enough for Liz to show off her awesome ping pong skills and then it was out on the town.

No Motrilena night would be complete without a stop at Tito Daniel’s.


Sunday was a day to relax. We spent the day watching movies and catching up on the happenings in our lives. We met up with friends for coffee that afternoon and kicked the soccer ball around a bit. My roommate Tad's girlfriend is in town this week and so we all went out for a tapa on Sunday night.

Unfortunately, I had to work both Monday and Tuesday (refer back to the last blog post about my busy life!) I was able to cancel my classes on Monday night so we went to Granada (surprise surprise, right?!) We had tapas once again and were able to just relax.

It was back to Motril on Monday night so that I could work again on Tuesday (what is this thing I have called a job and why can't I make it go away?!!) But, once again, it was back to Granada on Tuesday night because Liz had to fly out from Granada Airport early Wednesday morning. I think we spent a fair amount of time in transit between Motril and Granada but it was well worth it.
Tuesday night was filled with more tapas and beers that were bigger than any I've ever seen before.........(it may seem that all we did was eat and drink but I promise you we did more than that - it just happens to be where I take the most pictures!)

And we roasted our own pork skewers at the table

It was a sad goodbye - I didn't want her to leave and she didn't want to go. I am so grateful that she came to visit me. We had so much fun and created more memories that we will never forget. THANKS, ELI BAXTER!