Crazy Time Lapses

I apologize for not writing for so long - life has been crazy-busy lately....jammed packed with work, emotions, goodbyes, parties and the list could go on. I am not going to write a lot in this post but just wanted to show a handful of pictures that caught my attention recently.

Here are the three roommates signing the lease to our new apartment in Spain on SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

Here we are again - this time, celebrating Michael Lynn's birthday on MAY 31, 2011 (our last day of school).

Here is Tad opening a bottle of champagne to welcome us to our new apartment in SEPTEMBER 2010

Here is Tad opening a bottle of champagne in JUNE 2011 to celebrate one of his last nights in the apartment and his new job


It just seems so crazy that this amazing 9-month adventure is coming to a close. Obviously, life is full of so many mixed emotions right now and I am taking things day to day. It's all I can do. I want to thank everyone for their amazing love and support!
More to come later.....
Em

Happy Heart

So there have been some things in the last few weeks that have really made me smile and I'd like to share them with you.

1. After a slow winter (business was not so great), Emily's gym is back and full of people eager to work out. I have gone running the past couple of days and at two different times (once in the evening and once in the morning) and both times I have seen many people out walking, running, biking, etc. It has always been said that Spain is a healthier country than the US and now I am starting to believe that. Granted, I have seen my fair share of older men and women who have clearly been hitting up the pastry/bread shops WAY too often but for the most part, I'd say Spain is a pretty fit country. Even those people that are overweight are out walking. I will say that the climate here, especially in Motril, is much more conducive to outside exercise all year round whereas the weather in Michigan keeps us cooped up indoors for the greater part of November-April. It doesn't help when a person may not have a gym membership (for various reasons - they do cost a lot) and then can't take advantage of the great outdoors. Also, Spain has much more foot traffic on a daily basis. People walk to work, to the store, mostly anywhere. We all walk here to get our groceries yet at home I live closer to a grocery store than I do here and I never walk there. It's just funny to see the difference between a culture that is accustomed to walking everywhere and one that is accustomed to hopping in the car to get to every place. It doesn't help that gas here is about 1.4 euro/liter which calculates to somewhere between $7/8 per gallon. And you all thought $4 was bad, right?

2. I have a class at my academy where I teach in the afternoons that is absolutely terrible. For the hour that I am with them on Mondays and Wednesdays, I can think of nothing more than how I wish the clock would strike 4:30 and I can be done with them. Well, on Wednesday, a certain trouble maker was absent and I actually had a relatively pleasant class with them. We were covering "do you like" and responding with "yes I do" or "no I don't" and also revisiting some of the foods they had learned earlier in the year. I asked them individually if they liked each thing (ie. ice cream, milk, oranges, sandwiches etc) and I was amazed at how little some of them liked. It reminded me of my good ol' days when I was picky (ok that's me poking fun at myself because I'm still very picky but am getting better little by little). I rewarded them with candy every time they said something correctly. I was so happy to be able to leave class with a smile on my face. I gave them all high five's as they left class. Hopefully this behavior will continue for the next few weeks!

3. I also give private English lessons and two of my students are sisters (one is 13 and the other is 18). They are such nice girls but seem to be very reserved and quiet. The other day, I was giving class to the 13 year old and we were trying to get the CD player to work so we could do a listening activity. I flipped the CD player and all of the batteries came out of the bottom. I know it doesn't really seem funny but Isa was dying laughing and so was I. She had tears in her eyes. It made me so happy to see her enjoying herself and laughing so much. I usually try to crack jokes with them whenever I can and they laugh, even if they aren't so funny.

4. I know it's probably hard to believe but I only have 34 days left here in Spain! I have mixed emotions about this but I will include it in the list of things that make me smile for this reason: I can't WAIT to run into my parents arms and give them the biggest hugs on June 15th when I get home. It turns out that 9 months feels like a really long time to be away from family and friends. I have made friends here and cherish the relationships that I have with them but I can't wait to get back to everything I know and love about home (including but not limited to: my family, friends, my bed, El Chaps, baby carrots, the lake, driving, and the list could go on and on.....)

That's all for now - I'll try to keep you updated as best I can in this last month here. Much love to all!

A little weekend getaway

What does everyone need after 10 days off for Holy Week and Easter? A 5-day weekend. Well, at least that's how Spaniards see it. So this past weekend was another festival here in Spain called "las cruces" or "the crosses" and so we had Monday and Tuesday (the 2nd and 3rd of May) off of school. We spent part of the weekend in Motril and then headed to Cordoba on Sunday to visit a friend of Tad's who is also teaching English there. I had been to Cordoba when I studied abroad but was eager to see more of the city.
During "Cruces," people build elaborate altars with crosses to celebrate Jesus and his sacrifice to the world. Some of the crosses are really beautiful and have flowers all around them - here are a couple of examples.


It's funny because this is supposedly a "religious" holiday but like most other Spanish festivals, it would not be complete without alcohol. There were many different tents set up with hundreds of people swarming them. A popular tradition is to dress up in Flamenco dresses (for the women) and dance Sevillana. It's really a cool thing. Unfortunately, we were a big group of Americans and so we didn't really experience the authentic "cruces" holiday but there's always another year!
We did some touring around the Jewish quarters of the city and took a walk down this famous street called "calle de las flores" or "flower street."

Sunday night we went out to dinner and then went to a really cool Jazz Cafe for some drinks.
Here I am with our awesome host, Joey.

Joey is a guy with a great sense of humor and shares with me a love of singing, theater and the arts in general. We ended up swing dancing in the middle of the bar (no, no one else was dancing but we didn't care) and it was a blast.
Monday morning was off to do the touristy things. We paid the mosque a visit - it's an impressive Moorish masterpiece with a strategically placed Catholic chapel in the middle (added when the Christians conquered the Moors in Spain). It's famous for it's red and white striped arches throughout.
Here are a few pictures from the mosque.




After that it was off to the palace and gardens. I have an obnoxious amount of pictures of flowers (because I love to take pictures of flowers) but I definitely am not going to post them all.
Joey and I just taking in the gardens

I masterfully placed my camera to self-time a picture of us in this little "cave"

Beautiful flowers and ponds



A view looking out over Cordoba

Tad and I were using each other as back rests....that's what friends are for, right?

Cordoba is known for it's beautiful flowers (as I think you can gather from the many pictures of flowers) but I absolutely loved the balcony on this house!

And last but not least - another one of my self-timed masterpieces :-)

I am down to less than 40 days here in Spain - I can't believe it - but that's all I am going to say about that for now!

Scottish Haggis Neeps and Tatties

If you don’t understand any of those words, don’t worry because before this past week, I didn’t know what any of them meant either. Then I saw them on a menu and decided I would not order said dish since I didn’t know what it was (ok, I knew what Haggis was only because I had looked up typical Scottish cuisine before our trip and knew it was something I would not touch with a ten-foot pole or should I say ten meter pole since I’m in Europe). Haggis can be described as “a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours (complements of Wikipedia). Here is a picture of haggis, neeps and tatties (neeps and tatties are turnips and potatoes).

Well, I didn’t try typical Scottish cuisine but I still had a blast on my trip to Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) with my roommate Tad. Luckily, Tad had connections in Scotland (he taught with a girl down in Honduras who lives in Scotland). She is currently attending St. Andrew’s University and so that was our first stop. It was such a cool town – it was full of students and really just had that college town feel. It made me want to go back to my college days (wow, that makes me sound really old). We toured around the city with Laura - here are a few pictures from around the campus and by the sea.



The highlight of Tad's time in St. Andrews was definitely going to see the Old Course at St. Andrew's. Tad worked at a golf course for many years in high school and in the summers during college and was so thrilled to see the golf course and the famous bridge where golfers such as Jack Nicklaus posed. We went there during the day to see the course and upon Tad's request, we returned at night for him to get a picture on the bridge!
Here's the bridge...

...and Tad in all his glory

Here we are with our awesome host in St. Andrews - Laura.

On a completely random side-note - I found the mixer that I will one day own (it's a good thing the store was closed or I might have come home with a mixer).

We spent the night in St. Andrews and caught a bus early in the morning back to Edinburgh to begin a full day of touring. Edinburgh was so beautiful and one of my favorite parts was the contrast between how green the grass and trees were compared with the dark bricks on a lot of the buildings. There are two parts to Edinburgh - Old Town and New Town. We spent all day Thursday exploring Old Town. We walked down the Royal Mile (it's a mile stretch between the Palace of Holyrood/Scottish Parliament and the Edinburgh castle).
I don't really know what this is but it was on the main drag (Princes Street)

The view of the castle from Princes Street (there was always a haze when we were there)

St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile (had a beautiful organ inside but it was 3 pounds for a photo pass and well, we didn't really want to pay for that)

Of course, there were reminders of our "home" country - a random bull and Spanish flag. Viva Espana!


We decided to fork out the money to go inside the castle - nothing is cheap when you are paying in pounds (about 1.7 dollars) but it was worth it. It has parts that are 900 years old. We got a 1/2 hour free tour and then did some exploring of our own. The Scottish crown jewels are located here along with war museums and other educational opportunities.
Here are some pictures from around the castle



Another random side-note - we happened to walk by a little convenience store on the walk up to the castle and I noticed they had Dr. Pepper. Now, Tad and I both love Dr. Pepper so of course we went in and bought one and then got weird stares when I took the following pictures.....


It was worth it! :-)

Now, Tad and I made a deal before we went into the castle - if we did something that he wanted to do (go to the castle) we could also do something that I wanted to do. My choice: Camera Obscura. It's a famous attraction in Edinburgh and the main part is a 360 degree camera that lets you see the city of Edinburgh - also included in the entrance fee....hours of entertainment with things such as distorted mirrors, optical illusions, heat cameras, etc. We released the inner child in both of us and it was a blast!
Tad and I as midgets

Two of my heads with Tad's body

Tad as an Asian

Heat cameras - yes, please

Em, what happened? why are you so small?

We had dinner on Thursday at a cool restaurant called the Villager and I had hummus for the first time in 7 months!!! I was beyond excited.

On Friday, we visited another cathedral

We also saw a block with a TGIFriday's and a Starbucks - oh America.

We also couldn't resist eating lunch at Pizza Hut on our last day because the pizza in Spain is horrible and we wanted some real pizza.

The flowers and scenery in general in Edinburgh were amazing!

Overall it was a great trip and although Scotland was not on my "list" of places that I wanted to visit, I am glad that I went. Everyone was so friendly and I absolutely loved the culture - including the accent (though sometimes I questioned whether or not they were actually speaking my native language!)

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!