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...

Una semana in Granada

I have no words to describe how much I love Granada. I mean, I do, but it's hard to really capture the greatness of Granada in words and pictures. This week was not filled with crazy trips to foreign places, traumatic encounters, outrageous parties or anything like that, but it was one of the most wonderful ones of the semester. We went to the Generalife which are these beautiful gardens in the Alhambra. My professor was sure to tell us that they were not named "la vida general" (literally: general life) although a lot of the British tourists I overheard seemed to think that, haha. My friends and I even spotted some frogs in one of the canals of water! Yeah, that was definitely a highlight...

The Generalife!

On Friday, we went hiking about half hour from Granada and it was BEAUTIFUL. We walked maybe 5-7 miles first along this beautiful river, over a waterfall, and through a cave, and then up into the hills on the way back. It was stunning! And because we've had so much rain this winter, everything was bright green! There were times when we were literally bent over backwards trying to get around the rocks without falling into the river, but it was totally worth it. I also almost died when crossing the bridge over the waterfall (I am so afraid of bridges!), but my friend has a Disney princess backpack that I focused on while crossing and so I was okay, haha.

The river we walked along...

The almond tree blossoms! They were beautiful and they're all over Spain! You can also see our little perrito friends who followed us along the walk.

I spent Saturday and Sunday at the beach (Nerja, which is part of Costa del Sol) with some friends and it was so much fun. This morning we went swimming in the Mediterranean! It was a little cold, but I'm from the PNW so I have some tolerance for freezing water. I also got sunburned -- whoops -- but it's okay because I am finally a color that is not white (sort of) and that is great. While we were staying there, we had this really cute apartment suite with an adorable patio and it was a great celebration -- we were there to celebrate two of my friends' birthdays. I wish I could return! Alas, I think I have no more free weekends...

The Mediterranean where we went swimming!

Soon (now) begins the month of visitors! My friend Josh is coming tomorrow from London, my friends Nora and Michele are coming next Monday on their European tour during their one-month-long spring break, after we return from Morocco, then my friend Pam comes from Berlin that weekend and my friend Cameron is coming from Galway, Ireland the last weekend in April! Ahhh the days are certainly numbered, but it's great to be spending them in Granada!

Semana Santa: Roma, Venecia, y Irlanda

Hola a todos! Last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Granada which is possibly their most important week all year, celebrating Good Friday and Easter with processions, parades, and insane floats each day from Sunday to Sunday. I have some regrets about missing it because it is said to be spectacular, but as it was my spring break, I had a pretty fun time outside of Spain.

Thursday morning, I left for Rome, which is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited.

The first night, my friends Carmen and Anastasia and I went to the Vatican to see what turned out to be a rally of students/youth in support of the Pope. Apparently he's been accused on some rather serious sins.

Interesting cultural experience #1: Italian party thrown by the Italian student Asia lives with where we drank wine and ate a lot of delicious food. This is Asia and I are the party! We're so cute I know... Also: Italian culture can't really be topped by any other.

I'll spare you all of my photos of Roman monuments because I saw a lot of them. Actually, it's almost impossible to go anywhere in Rome without seeing breathtaking buildings of centuries past. This is the pantheon, and I also saw Trevi Fountain, many of the gardens in the north-eastern part of Rome, Piazza Novana, and a variety of buildings I had never even heard of but seemed very important.

Okay I also went to the Colosseum at night and it was incredibly beautiful. How did they build something so magnificent without technology or machines?

Other Roman highlights: I met a ton of Americans who are studying in Sevilla and went out with them (some were staying in my hostel). The gelato was OUT OF THIS WORLD. It's sooooo good. Pizzas are served whole and they are incredible. Basically I am in love with Italy and its sunny wonderfulness.

Next, I went to Cividale to visit a former exchange student of my family, Erica. Cividale is about 10 minutes from Slovenia so obviously we went to Slovenia -- such an awesome country to add to my list. To give you a better reference, it is also 1.5 hours from Venice. The town is very small and quaint and I mean, who can say no to authentic Italian country cooking? The answer is no one.

We made pasta! Obviously Erica helped me but mostly I handmade both types seen above myself: ravioli with a yogurt, ricotta, and freshly picked herbs filling and parparadelle with nettles in the dough and topped with freshly-picked-garlic-leaves pesto sauce. Erica made the rest of the meal: risotto with dandelion buds and herbs from her garden and fresh salad with flowers and an herby dressing. DELICIOUS! We also had the best gelato I've ever had in a nearby town, San Giovanni, which is made fresh every day and once won the award for the best gelato in Italy. Mmmm

My last destination was Galway, Ireland. I stayed with my friend Cameron and met all of her fun friends! We went out after their last day of classes (so unfair - I have two more months of class!) and then most of them scurried away on European travels. First off, Ireland is incredibly beautiful! Also, Galway is Seattle's sister city! Who knew? Makes it that much cooler. That weekend, Cam's sister and mother both came and it was a ton of fun to see them too. I know them both relatively well because I've visited San Francisco where they live more times than I can count.

In Galway, there are swans everywhere! And this city is one of those canal cities that is also on the river so the sunsets are always gorgeous.

So pretty :)

Cam, Hadley (her sister), Lee (her mother), and I went biking around the Aran Islands. These are the cliffs we stopped to see! Don't worry, there was no biking near the edge. Although there was no fence and nothing stopping you from hanging your feet off the edge -- or falling to your death. Oh to be outside of the US... We also got our hands on the beautiful Aran Island wool sweaters. They looked too weird on to buy, but they were very soft and beautiful!

Last tourist site: The Cliffs of Moher. These are also beautiful and also frightening.

Other Irish highlights: Cameron and I saw the weekly Irish dancing in one of the pubs in Galway -- very silly. I bought some excellent earrings and I got to make macaroni and cheese and chocolate chip cookies which are two of my favorite recipes to cook and which I cannot get in Spain. It was so great to cook again! I miss it a lot.

This weekend some friends are I are celebrating two important birthdays (Liz and Ferry!) at the beach since it is now beautiful, sunny and warm in Granada. Next week we head off to Morocco! The time is ticking away here... Real life is fast approaching.

A través de Andalucía

These past couple weeks I have explored some local spots of extreme beauty. Some insane architecture and beautiful views -- the south of Spain is filled with hidden treasures.

This is the tower of the cathedral/mosque in Córdoba. Originally this was a Moorish mosque from the 8th century, built by a series of Muslim leaders who made their legacy by adding their own portion to the mosque. Once the Spanish Catholics conquered Córdoba, they put a cathedral inside of the mosque -- making this building the ultimate symbol of Andalucía, a combination of Muslim and Catholic influence. It is absolutely beautiful. See for yourselves...

I know it's a little blurry, but the arches are so pretty...

More arches...

This is the cathedral -- so different from the mosque.

The Alhambra! This is where a lot of upper-level military officials lived (right side) and also where they kept arms (left side).

All the walls are so pretty, so intricately made... this is the inside of one of the towers and, like all of them, it's so beautiful.

Close-up of the walls; look at all the calligraphy and detailing!

We went to the beach, but it wasn't quite as hot and sunny as we hoped. However, it was a beautiful view from the top of this huge rock.

Life outside of architecture: Mostly I've been eating ice cream, now that the heladerías have opened for the season and enjoying the sun which has finally peaked out of the rain clouds. Spring break starts this weekend! I leave on Wednesday after classes for Málaga and fly from there to Rome early Thursday morning. Lucky me, my class on Thursday was canceled and I never have class on Fridays! I'm spending a couple days in Rome, a few more in Venice, and the rest of the week in Ireland with my best friend from school. Once I get back, 8 more weeks left in the semester! Time has flown by... I have lots of travel plans left though: Morocco for 5 days with my program, Paris for a weekend, a couple beach trips and four of my friends are coming to visit me here in Granada. And at the end of the semester, my parents are coming to Granada and we're spending a week and a half in Barcelona. But back to the present: I have two midterms this week and then it's off to Italy!

La vida académica

So recently I've gotten a little carried away talking about my travels in my blog posts. But there's more to life than that! In fact, I'm in Granada most of the time and I spend a lot of that time in class... so I wanted to share a little of my academic life. I promise it's not as boring as you'd think.

First off, here's the sched: Spanish Grammar (required), Islamic Art and Architecture, the Arab World and the West, Translation: Spanish to English, and Applied Information. Sounds thrilling right?

Brief summary: I'll start with Applied Information (at the University of Granada - UGR, in Spanish) since I've only been to one class so there's not much to say*. But let me say this: I guess all those typing classes in elementary school and PowerPoint presentations paid off, because I'm in a second or third year college course that is going over what .doc means as opposed to .txt. We practiced changing it. And we talked about what a systems operator was for 1/2 hour. So thank you American education system for making my study abroad class a breeze.

*The class I was GOING to take was apparently full and IES did not tell me this until earlier this week, so this is my had-to-pick-a-class-in-three-hours replacement class.

Translation (@UGR, English): Well lucky for me I am a native English speaker and the class is not Spanish to English because that would be impossible (imagine trying to write the way native Spanish speakers write). Instead, translating from Spanish to English is so fun! Okay don't judge me, but working with Spanish students in groups (the entire class is group work) is so great -- I get to speak in Spanish (hello, fluency, here I come! No, I am so far from that) but also I know what English texts are supposed to sound like so the half of my grade that is determined by my "grasp of English grammar, spelling and fluidity" is pretty much taken care of. (or should I say, "of which that half of my grade is taken care" -- you know about those pesky dangling prepositions...) Basically I get to make Spanish friends and it's the only time of the day I get to help Spanish students. Yay!

Arab World (at IES and in English): Excellent political science class about the interactions between the League of Arab Nations and the EU. It's very interesting and the growth of Islam as a religion is surprising. According to my professor, in roughly 20 years, Islam spread from Mecca and Medina to the entire northern half of Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the majority of the Byzantine Empire. Respect. Plus my only assignment all semester is a 10 page paper on Turkey and the EU.

Islamic Art and Architecture (IES, Spanish): Half the classes are walking tours of the city which is spectacular. Everything is fascinating even though I am NOT an art history buff by any means. The Alhambra is amazing and the history of architecture in this area is incredible.

Grammar (IES, Spanish): One word: worthless. The professor is the kind that assigns a million things (all busywork) and never follows up on any of them. Nothing is helpful and the class is a joke. I have no respect at all for my prof plus it's four days a week!

The highlights: I am meeting Spanish students, finally, and it's great! They're so awesome. My Spanish is improving and I am learning some interesting things, plus classes are mostly a total breeze.

Downside: I'm in class more than I would be at home (18 hours) and class is generally speaking not as interesting or worthwhile. But that's why I'm not taking it too seriously and THAT is definitely a plus. Turns out academic stress is a huge bummer and I am loving the relaxation and sleep!

It all turns out alright in the end

I have a friend who always says, so eloquently, that "shit just works out." It's a nice sentiment but usually it's in situations where it is unlikely that "shit" so to speak, will work out. Situations that require some small miracle to turn out alright. But this has been the story of my weekend, so James, I take back all of my snide comments towards your optimism, because it all worked out in the end.

But let me start at the beginning. After flying into Gatwick in London, I maneuvered expertly on the trains to King's Cross. I was supposed to meet my friend there, but my phone wouldn't dial any numbers. And since European numbers require some sort of magic genius to understand, all the numbers I had in my phone were somehow incorrect so I couldn't contact a single person even from a pay phone. Situation: In a large city with no destination and no way of contacting anyone... So I started to panic. Out of sheer luck, I saw a friend of mine from Haverford who was leaving for the weekend in King's Cross (major coincidence) who told me how to get to a friend's dorm. Once I got there, I couldn't find out her room number (security) and my phone had somehow erased her number from my phone so I couldn't call her even with the expertise of an Englander at my side. The scene ends in me crying to the receptionist while he hands me tissues and tries to feed me chocolate. Disaster. But somehow, I got a hold of another friend of mine (coincidentally, the one whose quote I stole) and when I left to meet him, I ran into the friend I was supposed to meet -- miracle.

Some post-recovery activities were as follows...


Unfortunately my camera died after this photo, but I went on to stand in the middle of the deep blue water (on a bridge) and gaze all around to see the beautiful lights of the London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben. What a gorgeous sight.


Mmmm so many delicious things in Harrods! My friend and I perused the huge department store and all of its rooms. If I were a child, this is where I would want to get lost.


Portobello Market! Incredible. Olives, avocados, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, clothes, strange souvenirs, ornate objects, hot, ethnic food, and everything else. ¡Fantástico!


This dessert is called pavlova. It is literally going to be my summer goal to learn how to make it. I actually think it was the best dessert I have ever had.


Obviously there was a lot of tea to be had on this trip. The one in the middle was Earl Grey with Blue Flowers. It was a little sweeter than the classic EG, but had a nice flavor. There's a lot of tea here in Granada as well and I am loving all the new flavors! Oh, and this tea shop was in Covent Garden which was beautiful!


Saturday night was a blast. We went to a huge club called Fabric where one of my friends' friends bought a VIP table where the bartenders waited on us and we had a view of several crazy dance floors. Such a great time! These are some of the girls I went out with, but not even half of my friends who were in London this weekend! It was pretty much a Haverford fiesta en Londres.


Camden market! This was the coolest place I went I think. They have motorcycle seats as chairs and tons of ethnic food simmering in huge pots and gaudy jewelry and printed clothing. It's a rush just taking it all in.

After such a crazy weekend of walking all day and going out all night, Sunday was a little bit of a struggle. Finally I got to the airport, only to find out that my flight was delayed meaning I would miss my bus back to Granada (I flew into Málaga). Sitting on the plane I was problem-solving how I would get back since the buses stop running after 10, which was when my plane was getting in. I have a habit of blabbering on about my anxieties when I'm nervous so I started telling the woman sitting next to me about my dilemma. Turns out she was going to Santa Fe (the town next to Granada) and offered to drive me to Granada! What good luck. A series of unfortunate events had led her to the seat next to me, so it was incredibly coincidental that we were even introduced, but it was quite a fortunate event for me!

This ends my traveling days for a couple weeks. I will go to Córdoba this weekend for a day and perhaps the beach the following weekend (an hour from Granada), but my next big trip is at the end of March. Spring break in Italy and Ireland!

I promise I will finally update about classes and all the other boring things in my life sometime soon. Unfortunately there have been some issues in enrolling, so I've been waiting to finalize my schedule (yes, still not finalized!!!) until I give a full update.