It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

In memory of the best semester abroad in the best city in Spain: a review of Granada before I am off to Barcelona. (Yep, my Spanish adventures haven't come to a close, yet!)

Academics

The bests:
-My Arab World & the West professor: I have a book of quotes from him that are hysterical and I also learned how the EU government works.
-Art & Architecture: My professor was the sweetest and now I could easily give official tours of the Alhambra
-In general I had no homework & easy exams; when can I ever say that about Haverford?

The worsts:
-My grammar class: Worst professor I've ever had and I went to public school for 13 years. Never have I in my life had such a disorganized, poorly taught, waste of a class. Dear Fabiola: I hate you forever.
-Informática Aplicada: 2 hours twice a week on how to learn how to use Microsoft Word, Paint, and the Internet (reminiscent of fourth grade? I think yes.)
-I know I'm a nerd, but I like challenging classes that interest me and I miss Haverford because of it even though I know I will eat my words next semester when I'm drowning in thesis drafts...

Activities & Social Life

The bests:
-Tapas: Maybe even the best part of Granada. Going out with friends and eating lots of different kinds of delicious food each night paired with a nice Rioja is hard to beat anywhere in the world.
-The beach: I went more times than I would normally go all summer in Seattle (check it: 91 degrees today in Granada, 62 and raining in Seattle). First time in awhile since I haven't been the color of a rice cake.
-Hiking: Went on a few hikes close to Granada and they were some of the prettiest I've ever been on. Nothing better than a city in the hills.

The worsts:
-You cannot entertain at home, essentially there is no private location to gather. Since all of my friends lived in homestays and the Spanish do not invite people (other than their family) into their homes, in order to hang out we had to go out to bars. Sometimes you just wanna watch a movie, you know?
-In terms of activities, there aren't really any. I mean it's great to walk around the city and the Alhambra is wonderful (I've been 6 times, wow), but besides tapas and shopping, there's not a lot here to do.
-Walking home 20-30 minutes when I just want to go to sleep. Can't complain too much about that, but it's not Haverford College.

Traveling

The bests:
-Making pasta from scratch using herbs I had picked in the garden that day in an Italian village. Like, who actually does that?
-London. Between seeing all my friends, wandering through all the incredible markets, and going out London-style, that weekend was just fantastic.
-Tie between the incredible dinner I had with Helga, Grandpa and my friends and the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Dinner was amazing (I officially love French cuisine)! But the d'Orsay was really the most incredible art museum I've ever seen and it was preceded by a French chocolate éclair. Hard to beat.

The worsts:
Note: I really liked everywhere I went, so think of this as more the low parts of the best experiences.
-Motion sickness in Morocco. The ferry ride to Tangier from Gibraltar was the worst I've ever been on and I had to stand outside in the wind the entire 2 hours. Also, the winding bus ride to Chefchaouen was almost unbearable.
-The rain in Ireland. I mean, I love rain (I'm from Seattle), but did it have to be absolutely frigid and pouring the entire time?
-Not speaking the language. I'm totally okay with not speaking every European language (even though I would love to be able to), but it's rough to be in countries like Italy, Morocco, and France where you just cannot communicate with the people.

Granada: The City

The bests:
-Walking: I like that you have to walk everywhere. It makes you enjoy the city and it's good for your health.
-It's beautiful and warm: Sun is good for your soul I think and I miss it when I'm home. Also, Granada is one the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. It is literally gorgeous.
-"No pasa nada": This is sort of the Granada catch-phrase. It means, "it doesn't matter" or "don't worry about it" and it sort of captures the atmosphere in Granada. I like that.
-The Alhambra: Well it's just fantastic. The mosaics, the arches, the calligraphy, the gardens, everything.
-The wine: It is cheap and delicious. There should be more of that stateside.

The worsts:
-When do people work? Really. The stores have no hours. They close around 2 and open around 5 which is ridiculous -- stores should not be closed in the middle of the day. They also don't open in the morning until 9 or 10. And, no one is helpful at all; customer service doesn't exist here.
-Smoking: I hate it, especially when I'm running and have to deeply breathe in someone's exhaled smoke. Can't wait to be back in America where public places are smoke-free!
-Sidewalk interaction issues: I HATE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO WALK. Granadinos walk slow, walk in huge groups that block others, and legitimately run into you unless you get out of their way. Plus, people here have burned me with cigarettes, hit me with their umbrellas, and outright run into me without apologizing. I miss the personal bubble space we're awarded in the US.
-It's hard to travel to and from: Yeah, you have to take a bus to Malaga which is a pain because you have to take city buses from both your house to the Granada bus station and the Malaga bus station to the airport. Then you have to fly far away. And it's not cheap.
-The staring has got to stop. Half the people I walk by stare at me for uncomfortable lengths of time. Nothing makes me more uneasy. What are you looking at?!

Anyway, that's the review. Saturday night was our last round of tapas. Friday night was our final dinner which was incredible. We had such delicious food and had a great night with the whole program (thanks IES!) at this beautiful restaurant right under the Alhambra. I snapped more than a few frames of my favorite people, so in memory of Granada, here's a couple photos.

This is the patio at the restaurant.

Ferry, Liz, Leah & I with our favorite IES caretaker, Herminio!

Some of my lovely friends: Ferry, Alex, Liz, Michelle, Leah & Vicki

Well, my parents are I are here for one more day (they arrived yesterday evening) and then we're off to Barcelona on Wednesday. Goodbye, forever, study abroad. You were fun.

¿La última semana?

Well, I guess all good things really do come to an end. Here I am, working* on final projects, papers, and exams, and it is the one week mark until the end of my program here in Granada. (*I use the term "working" pretty loosely here.) It's the typical mix of emotions: excited to return to the US (peanut butter! things without olive oil! stores open from 3-6!), sad to be leaving Granada (no more free tapas, no more beautiful southern Spain, no more wonderful granadinos and extended euro-vacation), shocked that the time has flown by SO quickly, ready to be done with classes, etc. I will actually be staying in Spain for two more weeks after the program ends with my parents -- mostly in Barcelona and Madrid -- but finals are this week and Sunday is the day of goodbyes. But as Kurt Vonnegut said, it's never a mistake to say goodbye.
These last few days I have had some last hurrahs though. My friend Mia was here which was tons of fun. We went to the beach and relaxed all day in the sun so now I am officially not the color of bacalao (a typical Spanish white fish)! Can't really come home from a semester is southern Spain looking like I was just in the PNW. Anyway Mia and I bopped around Granada for a few days and just soaked in the glory (and the sun rays -- it's been so hot here!) and ate all the tapas. Mmmmm one of the things I will miss most is the tapa evening life. Going out for tapas with friends just isn't the same as going out for drinks or dinner in the States. I usually spend a leisurely 3 or 4 hours eating tapas and drinking wine or tinto de veranos (remember? half red wine and half lemon fanta!) just chatting with friends and walking around the city from place to place which just isn't the dinner situation at home. Not that I'm not beyond excited to get a kitchen again and cook whatever my heart desires, because such as tapas will be one of the things I miss most, cooking was one of the things I missed most about the US, but still. I guess I'm lucky to never want to leave where I am and always want to go where I'm going.

In addition to my friend Mia, another Vashon High School survivor was in Granada just last night! My friend Tanner and a lot of his program (he's studying in León) did an Andalucía tour and their last stop was Granada. Of course, it was their favorite (haha I don't know if it was, but it should be!) We wandered the beautiful streets and stopped in some of my favorite bars. Wish I could visit him in León!

A last update on my recent adventures: Last Sunday IES took us on an 18km (~11 miles) hike along the beach in Cabo de Gata. It was fabulously beautiful. Unfortunately, my camera died even before getting there so I have no photos of my own. However, I did snag some good ones from my friends so you can at least enjoy the view.
This is at the beginning of the hike.

These are my friends! Michelle, Ferry, Alex, Cara, me and Liz!

Oooo so pretty! It was this pretty the whole day.

And this is at the end.

Alright so 3 more finals, two more translations, one more assignment, 7 more nights of tapas (including tonight), and 0 more classes. Parents are here on Sunday (it's that one week mark where you can start using days' names instead of "one/two/three week(s) from ___"). Friends all leave on Sunday. I honestly cannot believe I am almost a senior. Yikes.

Paris in the Springtime

Well I just got back from a weekend in Paris. It was pretty fabulous, I'm not going to lie. I will spare you the stories of all my travel mishaps because at this point, none of them are really even surprising or interesting. After a semester traveling Europe I have a trunk full of stories regarding every kind of travel disaster possible from random rides home with strangers to confused conversations in languages I don't at all know to miraculous coincidences and canceled flights. But I do want to note that traveling in Paris was a bit confusing for us non-French speakers and their metro auto-ticket booths don't take cash or credit card so I don't even know why they're there. Maybe they take personal checks? Anyway, I went with four of my friends from Granada (two also coincidentally from Haverford), had a wonderful dinner with my grandparents, saw a slew of tourist sites, and ate a lot of pastries. Jealous? I thought so.

The list of sites I saw: Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, San Chapelle, Museé de Louvre, and Museé d'Orsay

This is sort of a failed jumping photo, but we tried... also, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was so amazing! You can see the whole city and the Seine running through. Also, the elevator ride up is kind of like an amusement park ride! And actually much more frightening -- glass door elevator hurdling through some metal crosses -- than actually being at the top.

The Notre Dame was INCREDIBLE. It was so beautiful! All the stained glass was so fabulous and bright. I was very impressed. I am actually constantly astounded by the architecture and handicraft of the old building in Europe because they seem like they would be incredible feats today and almost unimaginably hard to build during the centuries during which they were built. Hats off to you, ancient builders, you were pretty visionary.

LOOK AT THE COLORS! That is not photoshop. That is real.

The Louvre! Ahhh here is one debacle: we bought tickets that morning to see the Louvre and had to pick them up at a chain store (FNAC). We struggled for quite some time trying to find the one closest to us, which, once we found, turned out to be under construction! After taking a taxi (this is 11 hours into our day and we had just spent 45 minutes finding a store we couldn't go to), getting the tickets (finally), and walking to the Louvre, we present our tickets, only to be told, to our delight, that the Louvre was free that day for people under 26 years of age. We showed our passports and got in for free. FOR FREE! I still have my unused ticket... Seriously, it is a good thing the Louvre is such an outstanding museum or I would have been considerably more upset over this. Side note: I love the pyramids. It's an interesting contrast with the old, beautiful building of the Louvre.

Last photo: The desserts were so delicious! Especially the éclairs...

I'm afraid I have no photos of the Museé d'Orsay because they didn't allow cameras, but it was by far my favorite museum in the world. I have been to quite a few for my (relatively) young age, but I could have stayed there forever. Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Manet, Degas, and van Gogh, among others! Ahhh, tt was so incredible and I'm not even an art fanatic by any means. My one complaint: everything was in French! I wanted to read the titles, but I was a little lost. But I guess we were in France, so I'll forgive that...

My friends and I also went out to dinner with my grandparents who live in Paris for roughly half the year and that was incredible. We had drinks at their apartment: champagne with elderberry liqueur in it that they had brought back from Germany -- it was delicious! Sweet and light. We then went a bistro they knew extremely well and had lots of wonderful French food. Seriously, French food is out of this world. It was really great to see them and my friends were, of course, were delighted to go to an authentic French bistro! My last misadventure was getting lost running and ending up at the Moulin Rouge somehow, but it's a fairly tame sight at 8am -- I was actually surprised it was on such a huge, main road. Anyway, Sunday morning we finished off our trip with fruit tarts and cappuccinos and now I'm back in Granada for only 3 more weeks!

5 more weeks of Spain. 3 weeks left in Granada. 2 weeks of class. 1 week of finals. 1 more friend visiting. A lot more tapas (but never enough) and no more trips outside of Spain! Endings are always bittersweet.

La comida buenísima

A blog entry dedicated to deliciousness: Because I know all I really care about is food...

I think avocados are the best food ever. Probably most of you know this about me, but I eat them whole as frequently as possible. Guess what my host mother buys for me to eat every day for lunch? Good guess! AVOCADOS! I just want to express how happy this makes me. Apparently they grow here in Spain (jealous) and are found in all of the fruterías. And even though my host parents think I´m really strange, I don´t care. What one wouldn´t do for love [of food]...

Another find I have to credit my friend Ferry for is dried kiwis. Do they have these in the States? I am not sure, but they are incredible! And they are sold at the fruit stands around the city and are soooo delicious. Maybe even more delicious than the dried apricots I had in Morocco...

A more savory find: Clams in butter-garlic sauce. Listen, I am not a clam fan at all, but I went to a seafood specialty tapas place and there were BABY CLAMS (the size of nickels or quarters roughly) in the shell and they were incredible. I know it sounds simple and I´m from the PNW so I should be used to and fond of eating all kinds of clams, but I´m not usually partial to clams, and for whatever reason these ones were beyond delicious. Actually seafood in general here can be quite tasty. They have salmon sushi tapas that are buttery delicious mmmm

And now that it´s beautiful and hot here, I´ve had a chance to sample several heladerías. The best ice cream I´ve had thus far is the raspberry gelato at what is known to be the best ice cream place in Granada. It literally tastes like raspberries in ice cream form. Not at all creamy, but smooth and tasty. I figure, it´s gotta be healthy because it´s just like eating fruit. Right?

And perhaps one of my FAVORITE place to go is a little tea shop where I order té pakastaní (Pakastani tea) which is creamy and chai-like and a little sweet, but very flavorful. Whatever they put in that is gold.

I promise to keep updating my adoring fans (all three to five of you...) on my delicious finds and I am not leaving here without recipes from my madre. Until my next exciting food encounter...

Muchísimas amigas!

This past week has been filled with Haverfordian visitors! Two friends from London came (they were already in Spain on their month-long spring break European tour when the volcano erupted) early this past week and we found a new tapas bar that is delicious! There is no shortage of good tapas bars here in Granada. This weekend another friend came from Berlin and we enjoyed churros y chocolate at a great café this morning with Liz, one of my Haverford friends studying here with me! It's been a delicious week. There is nothing I love more than sharing good food with friends -- it's the best. And as for Haverfordian friends (another one of my top-favorite-things), my darling friend Cameron will be here on Thursday for 6 days! AND my very first Vashon Island amiga has just booked her tickets to visit me in May! I love visitors. They're just so much fun.

This evening I also went to a Granada Club Football (Granada FC) game with a friend of mine here! It was actually a ton of fun even though I've seen mediocre college teams with more talent. Granada is about two levels down from favorite soccer teams like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, but it did fill the entire stadium with cheering, stomping, drumming fans which, let's be honest, is better than all the Seattle sports teams combined. They won too! The fans celebrated with doing the wave all around the stadium several times... I guess silly sports antics know no borders... Anyway, the picture above I did NOT take, but I thought it captured the ridiculousness of the team better than any I snapped.

Tomorrow starts my fourth-to-last week of classes and fifth-to-last week in Granada. Even though it seems like time is rushing forward, many of my friends are leaving in the next two weeks to return back to the States and I am lucky enough to be here for another seven (my parents are coming at the end of my program for two weeks more of traveling!) Now I just hope this 75 degree weather will last also...

Morocco

Africa! I have recently returned from the dark continent of mystery. It was pretty crazy and I have rarely been to a place so different from my home (any of them, Vashon, Haverford, Granada). Even disregarding the insane political, social, economic, and cultural differences, the bare sensory input was an onslaught of smells, tastes, sights, and sounds brand new to me. They drink a mint tea with tons of sugar several times a day unlike any tea I've ever had (and I have had a LOT of tea in my life). The cous cous is delicious and the streets smell like the bakeries which constantly bake sweet bread. The cars are bright and poorly made, the walls are stone and the architecture is Islamic, there are cats everywhere, and the people dress in intensely patterned clothing. I guess Northern Africa is more like the Middle East than what is typically thought to be "Africa" (to truly see "Africa" I think you have to go quite a few countries south). The people are predominantly Muslim and the country is Arabic, although these words' meanings are very non-specific. What it means to be Muslim in Morocco wasn't at all necessarily what one might think it means typically. Essentially, this trip threw a lot at me in every way from food to food for thought. As usual, I will explain the details with my photos...


This is the Rock of Gibraltar! It is entirely encased in a cloud -- I am told this is because when the English took Gibraltar they brought their awful weather with them. Anyway, we hiked to the top which was awesome (minus the lack of view) and this is also where the monkeys are!


The monkeys! They sit on your head! There are apparently about 300 on the rock and it is unclear exactly how they got to Gibraltar or why they are still there and no where else in Spain.

We stayed in Gibraltar for the night before taking the ferry boat to Tangier! It was a ROUGH ride, but totally worth it, obviously.


The food in Morocco is delicious -- this is 7 vegetable cous cous and it was incredible. Another wonderful dish: baby noodles with cinnamon and almonds, mmmmm.


WE RODE CAMELS! Ha, be jealous. It was really crazy to be on a camel and their joints bend at very strange angles.


So we stayed with a host family in Rabat -- the city we went to after Tangier -- and stayed for two nights. Within an hour of arriving at our host house (we stayed in groups of 3 Americans), our host mother decided to dress us up in three different outfits each of her traditional clothing. She took over 120 photos of us for over an hour. Moroccans are known for their hospitality, but that was not what I was expecting...


The markets were pretty crazy. You have to bargain with the shop-owners and everything is squished together and insane! I did buy a pretty scarf and some earrings though!


We went to the Rif Mountains to this TINY village to talk with a Moroccan family. Their children were SO CUTE. We gave them a soccer ball and it was almost as big as the little boy. ADORABLE. Anyway, it was interesting to see what village life is like. It seems very isolated, but extremely beautiful. It was such a weird experience to see their small children and think of how different their life would be compared to mine. I guess in some ways it was just as interesting to realize how similar they would be, too.


After stopping by the Rif Mountains, we arrived at Chefchaouen, which is back in the Spanish part of Morocco (Rabat is farther south and thus in the French region). It was all blue and white; the buildings are made of white stone and painted blue in many places. They sell lots of colorful items and it was a lot of fun to shop and walk around such a beautiful city.

On Monday, we left Chefchaouen and took the BEST FERRY I HAVE EVER TAKEN from Ceuta (a Spanish territory in Morocco) back to Spain. The seats were huge, cushy, and could recline quite a ways. Just had to mention that for an Vashonites who might read this. I know you guys would have appreciated this ferry's clear awesomeness.

Some other awesome experiences without photographic evidence: We went to a Hammam, which is an Arabic bath, and scrubbed layers of skin off of ourselves and also got massages! We got henna as well on our hands, although mine is actually almost all gone already. We went to the beach in Rabat briefly, as well, and I went into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! Surprisingly, even though I go to school on the east coast, my first time in the Atlantic was on the African coast... Oh, and we got to see storks! They are, for the record, not big enough to carry babies so that is a very misleading tale.

Now, I'm back in Granada for the next couple weekends. Some friends from London were just here and it was SO GREAT to see them! We took them out to our favorite tapas places, churros y chocolate, and the best tea in Granada. Another friend is visiting from Berlin on Friday (Inshallah -- a very useful Arabic phrase meaning "If God wills it") and then my friend Cameron comes next week! Turns out we have only 4 more weeks of classes and 5 more weeks in Granada! Ah! But I guess I can't be too sad about returning to the best coast and living in beautiful Seattle for the summer!

(How to Speak About) The Future

In Spanish, speaking about the future almost always requires speaking with the subjunctive, which by definition, means adding doubt or uncertainty to the meaning of the phrase. Cuando vuelva a los Estados Unidos... When I return to the States... I cannot use the indicative here because I haven't yet returned to the States, thus, as the Spanish speaker is constantly reminded, I can't assume that it will be true since it hasn't yet happened. There is something frustrating about that to me; I can't say without doubt in Spanish that I am going to Morocco on Thursday even though I know I am. As an obsessive planner, it almost mocks my love of organization and my beloved calendar. I'm a little offended. But it has made me realize that with so many decisions comes a lot of alternatives and that choosing one outcome doesn't necessarily negate the others -- anything can happen, so to speak.

The spring, especially, for some reason, the month of April, seems to bring a lot of decisions about the future. Room draw for housing next year was this week, class registration for the fall is due on Friday, a lot of decisions about summer internships are released in early April, which comes with decisions about housing and transportation for the summer, elections for all student government positions are this month, and this year, the impending decisions about "life after college" seem too close for comfort. Lucky for me, my housing situation has worked out perfectly -- I am living with five friends in a suite in an all-senior dorm on campus! I also have miraculously secured a summer internship: I am working for a psychology professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Washington with a stipend from my college and I'll be living in my friend's apartment 10 minutes from the lab in Seattle while she is abroad in Rome. This morning I submitted my class registration for the fall, as well. Perhaps that is what brought upon this entry, because I debated between classes for hours and hours these past weeks before finally deciding on my list. It just seems as though for every decision that is made, there is so much time and uncertainty. In sum: besides my amateur philosophical musings, I wanted to keep my fans (haha) updated on my life to come. Things have been working out for me this spring and I feel incredibly lucky -- I have certainly been on the bad luck side of things (for housing, classes, internships, etc.), but this year has been filled with good news (knock on wood).

And now seems like a fitting time to review my list of goals for the semester -- since I have no doubt that it will reflect my thoughts on uncertainty and the (sometimes) importance of talking about the future Spanish-style.

1. Visit London (and my 8 friends studying abroad there) -- CHECK! I loved London; I wish I could go back.
2. Learn to cook a Spanish tortilla -- Not yet. But my host mother has promised to teach me.
3. Speak Spanish fluidly and understand fully -- That was a little hopeful of me. I understand Spanish very well but speaking fluidly is taking a little more time.
4. Visit Italy and eat an entire pizza for lunch -- CHECK! Well I ate it for dinner, but mission accomplished.
5. See the Mediterranean Sea -- I'll do ya one better: I SWAM in the Mediterranean Sea. And it was so beautiful.
6. Learn the streets of Granada (and throw away my map!) -- I haven't used my map in weeks and I would say I know my way around well enough.
7. Make Spanish friends -- Well I guess I have sort of made friends with my classmates?
8. Go to a soccer game -- Hoping to go in Barcelona or Madrid when I'm traveling with my parents in June.
9. Play tennis on clay courts -- I have yet to see anyone with a tennis racket anywhere.
10. Buy European clothes so I don't always look so American -- I look a little more Spanish. Operation Springtime Spanish Clothing commences in Morocco. More to come.

So not as bad as I thought I guess? Maybe there is hope for my planning nature after all...