Flamenco!

Our trip to Sevilla (Seville.. same thing) was just peachy! Our bus there took about 3 hours but the scene along the way is so beautiful with the mountains I didn't mind. Megan threw up on the way there haha buuut other than that all went well. Our hostal was great! It had computers we could use for free, a great terrace on the roof, an open kitchen (although no free breakfast) and the room had its own bathroom. The staff was super nice and it was clean. I bought some cereal before we came and got milk while we were there and enjoyed some cereal for breakfast!

We went to see the Alcazar and got in for free because of our student card which was sweeeet. It looked a lot like the Alhambra because it was built in the Moorish style. It would have been cool to have known more history about it but it was still really interesting and I plan on reading up about it.
We wanted to go see a flamenco show that night but it was sold out so we bought tickets for Saturday night. Instead we walked around this "gypsie" village although I think it was too late because there was like no one around. We were looking for somewhere to eat and were starving and so when we saw McDonalds we went with it although it was right next to a place I'd heard of with good deals and a vegetarian menu. And next to pans & co which has alright sandwiches. When we found that out I was so mad we went to McDs. Ugh. But I had a salad.
Saturday we went to see the Plaza de Espana which was my favorite part. The downer was that there was construction going on so some of the cities were blocked off. It has little sections for each city along the walls, bridges, and a big building. All very beautiful. After that we went to the cathedral that supposedly had a small piece from the real cross. It was huge and we went up the tower too. We went back to the hostal to get ready and ate before going to the show. The food was delicious - I got 2 tapas, one was a spinach umm.. I forget the name but it's like blended together and breaded/fried and a small salad.. and also some couscous. The flamenco show was sweet! It was small and only an hour but still very enjoyable! The guitar player was really good. I could've done without the singer.. he was kinda annoying but the girl who danced was very serious and the guy seemed to be having more fun. They both moved their feet so fast though.
Today we didn't really have anything to do so we just walked around and sat by the river to eat lunch and lay around in the sun for a few hours. Both mornings, I woke up at like 8:30 and got ready, ate breakfast, and hung out on the terrace before the other girls finally got up around 10:30. Haha. But it was enjoyable.

We got back right at 8:30, mamacita made us dinner (which I happily ate all of!), I took a shower, then came here to skype. But the connection wasn't that great, the TV was loud, and I felt bad for having to talk so loud. So from now on, I'll still use the internet cafe until we get our own internet which will hopefully be soon.

Still excited for Morocco next weekend! And for Semana Santa when my sister comes!! It's going to be SO nice to have that piece of home with me in the middle of my stay here. :)

Sevilla

Another week has gone by. Time seems to be going a lot faster now. I can't believe we've been here almost two months with three months left. I know that leaving will be bittersweet. When I imagine how I'm going to feel when I arrive back home, I get emotional just thinking how it's going to feel to see my family and friends again. But I also know going back means getting a kick from reality. It'll be back to work, back to the nursing program, making my own food (which is nothing compared to Spanish food), and having all kinds of responsibilities. Yeah.. that whole thing called LIFE. Haha. But while I'm physically here I need to be mentally here as well and not dwelling on what it'll be like to be home becuase I don't want to miss out on anything here.

This weekend, we're just going to Sevilla from tomorrow morning until Sunday night. We wanted to add another place in there because we don't have school on Monday but it costs a lot to go to Portugal and Ryanair doesn't have any flights there. Should still be fun though - Sevilla is the capital of Andalusia. Next weekend is Morrocco!!

It's getting warmer out which is exciting! Like in the 60´s so when the sun is out it´s perrrfect. :) However.. it continues to rain.. a lot.

Anyways - not much else to say. Hasta luego!

Blessed

The rest of the week went really well. I’m feeling a lot better and finally got a good night of sleep last night!
Thursday night we went to the karaoke bar first and ran into Kelsey. It was really crowded in there so eventually we decided to head out. We went to this bar that has free salsa classes on Sun/Mon nights but the guy who teaches them was there and was showing us some moves. Hah.. I suck at dancing. It was still fun though! We also ran into a group of our people there who were mostly pretty drunk already. We headed up to Camborio just before the cut off time for ladies getting in for free. I can’t say I was having a great time since I didn’t really want to go out in the first place. So Kathleen, Nicole, and I left together.
Friday we didn’t do too much during the day. Obviously nothing important since I can’t even remember what we did. That night we went to some bars around the Chup but again.. wasn’t having that much fun. The smoke was bothering my lungs and eyes a lot. I didn’t drink at all either night so that might be why I wasn’t all into it. Drinking still just.. isn’t me. I’ve tried to go along with it a couple times and although I’ve had some fun – it just doesn’t feel right. I’d much rather be sitting around with my friends, laughing, playing apples to apples, etc.
Yesterday morning I got my package from my mom! It was complete with movies, chocolate, vitamins, blank CDs, an itunes gift card, power bars, and a card. I was SO excited for everything and so glad my mom sent it to me! ☺ Then since it was a beautiful day out, I went to the park for a run/walk. It’s hard to run right now because I start coughing a lot when I do but I still enjoyed walking around and whatnot. After lunch, we met up with Nicole and Kathleen to walk to the albaicin and see what’s up there. There were amazing views, plazas with music, people selling jewelry, and a lot of “hippie” type people. Afterwards we were just walking around and were going to check out where the flamenco shows are. A guy who helps tourists or something spotted us and took us around to the caves where the shows are and helped us out. Once it was starting to get dark and cold we headed home. We were all pretty tired and decided to stay in and watch movies. Liz and I watched Twilight and I lent Moulin Rouge to the others.
This morning, mamacita woke us up for breakfast and afterwards we got ready and went to church. The service was long today and we were sitting where it was hard to see the words. I kinda wish I could go by myself because I would sit closer and in the more student-ish section. And I would stay afterwards to say hi to people and whatnot but they like to leave right after.
But even with the imperfections, I'm realizing more every day just how blessed I am and always have been. I'm so thankful for everyone and everything that have help lead me to where I am and where I will be.
Well that’s about it. We’ll see what this week has in store for me and what adventures I’ll stumble upon. ☺

Estoy enferma.

Not much has happened so far this week. The weather has been as up and down as usual with rain and sun but luckily I was able to get out for a run all days but yesterday. I´ve been steadily getting sicker and although it´s just a cough and runny nose, it keeps me up at night and wears me out.

Classes have been alright but I´ve been struggling to stay focused and fighting the urge to cough the whole time. I know my friends (especially Liz) want to go up to Camborio tonight but I don´t know if I feel up to it. In the end, I might give in to peer pressure, but really I´ve lost a lot of my interest in going out every week. Plus I just feel so blah right now. We´re supposed to get coffee with Cristian later today and I doubt I´ll even feel like going to that but probably will so Liz doesn´t go alone.

We don´t have any plans for this weekend which is fine with me. Time to relax and hopefully get over this sickness. I might regret later not going to Carnival in Cadiz but oh well. Next weekend we have Monday off so some of us are planning on taking buses to Sevilla and Malaga. The next weekend we´re going to Morrocco. Then I don´t know.. maybe Barcelona for a game? We´re still trying to figure out spring break but I´m thinking we´ll spend a few days in England, go to Croatia and take ferries out to see the different islands around there. Then hopefully figure out a way to get to a few places in Italy on our way back to Spain. I´m thinking about seeing if there´s someone from my church that my sister could stay with while she´s here. I know Kelsey will have her own apartment so maybe her but I don´t know. We´ll see what we can do here in Granada and maybe take buses to places around here while I have school. Then spend the weekend in Paris before Rosemary has to go back home. I just really hope I can figure everything out with transportation and that it ends up being an amazing trip for her. :)

I´m getting a little homesick now that I´m sick. I miss the comforts of home, being able to eat and drink when and what I want (I really want some tea!), and having my mom to take care of me and make me take whatever vitamins I need.
But that doesn´t mean that I don´t like being here too. I love being here. My life is an adventure almost every day. I just appreciate what I have back home a lot more now.

La iglesia

This weekend has just kinda been relaxing and we haven't done too much. Liz has been sick and it's been rainy/cold out. Yesterday we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant with the internet cafe guy and talked about our cultures. He's really nice and I had a good time but still didn't talk much. That's one bad thing about having a semi-fluent roommate is that I don't have much of a chance to practice. The food wasn't that great and was definitely the Spanish version of mexican food.

Then us along with Kathleen, Kelsey, and some other girl went to the youth service at the church. It was good - I liked it - it's just hard to concentrate for so long since it's in Spanish. We went to church today and there were a lot more people. I brought my english bible along and looked up what we were talking about which helped me. I loved the music.. especially since one of the ladies played the flute for a couple songs which was a big comfort to me. That's why I love music (without words) - it's universal and no matter where I am, if I here it, it sounds the same.

Today we finally have some sun and no rain so far! It's great after a week of rain, clouds, and cold. As long as it's still nice in about an hour or two, I'll go for a run. :)

So as far as internet goes, we still don't have it in the house. We forgot that by "this week" in Spanish time means "a month or two" that we'll have working internet. But at the 24 hour little grocery store by our place, there's wi-fi. And I know I pick it up in the room so now that we have the password, I'm going to see if it works there.

Alright well we're going to try to plan something to do this month and figure out when we want to take trips places. Fun fun!

Ohh dios mio..

I love not having classes on Friday! Haha but right now it´s got me all confused because it feels like it should be Saturday.

My other set of classes don´t seem like they´ll be too bad - the grammar and POE (oral and writing). All of my classes aren´t too bad it´s just the having everything in Spanish that drains me at the end of the day. The literature class might be a tad challenging because we´re expected to read and interpret Spanish literature. I´m alright with getting the general idea but not understanding it the way she wants us to. Oh well.. at least I have friends in all my classes so we can help each other out and hopefully get it in the end.

Wednesday afternoon Liz and I met up with Kelsey for coffee at DunkinCoffee. We were supposed to go running with Kathleen and Megan at 5 but lost track of time talking and before we knew it, it was 5:30. We talked about our experiences with señora - what´s the same and what´s different. Afterwards she came with us back to the house to surprise mamacita. She was so excited! She made us sit and offered us coffee and slices of cake. Although we´d just had coffee, we had some more.

Yesterday Megan and Liz came along to run with me. Kathleen is supposed to come today but the other two might be too sore. Haha. I don´t mind running with them but at the same time I kinda do. My workout is usually just a time for me to relax and do my own thing. But now I have to adjust my workout to how much they can/want to do. I mean I´m glad that I can motivate them to do it but.. I´m just so used to working out by myself.

After dinner last night Liz went to the internet cafe and I stayed to shower and get ready. We were supposed to meet up with Kathleen and Nicole at midnight to head to Camborio but didn´t end up leaving until like 12:45 because Liz was talking with Joey. Sometimes it gets on my nerves when I´m waiting around for her and it´s just like.. nothing else really matters to her it seems like. I just don´t have a boyfriend or friends that need that much attention and I hate being late for things so.. that´s an area she and I kinda clash.

Anyways so we get to Camborio (finally after walking there in the cold!) and are having a good time. Then, we still don´t know what really happened, but Megan had passed out so we got her out onto the chairs away from the dance floor and got her to regain concousness. She said she hit her head on the wall. We had her drink water and were struggling to keep her awake. So many people were crowded around her and.. it was just kinda a mess. We got her stuff and Tecya (her roommate) and her took a cab home. We left too but walked. There was a bit of a problem between Nicole and Sarah Dime that ended in yelling and Nicole pushing her against a wall. Sarah is a bitch in general and what she said about Megan and to Nicole was not good and although Nicole shouldn´t have lost her temper like that.. no one really blamed her. Plus the alcohol they´d both had didn´t help. But she was so mad at herself on the way home and is really worried about it all.

So anywho.. we got home around 4:30 and I didn´t sleep well at all. My feet were freezing and I don´t know.. I just wasn´t tired. Señora made us breakfast and then I headed here to the school while Liz went back to sleep.

Tonight I´ll run and then we´re all going to cafe futbol. Tomorrow Liz and I are eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant with the internet cafe guy who wants to learn more about America before he goes there this summer. Then at night we´re going with Kelsey to the youth service at the church. On Sunday Kathleen wants to go with me to church too so.. yeah should be an interesting weekend.

Yesterday we had our first day of classes. They weren't bad but half of my classes are ISU kids and the rest are American so that's kinda a bummer. We'll see about classes today but I'm assuming it'll be the same kind of thing. I had art and literature which both don't seem like they'll be too bad although literature might be a little more challenging just to read and interpret Spanish stories the right way.

I didn't run on Monday because of the rain but I ran twice last night haha. I went at my usual time and although I didn't run as much because I was super full from our mountain of pasta, salad, and bread I was still out there for a long time and went up the stairs. Then almost right when I got back Megan messaged me on facebook asking if I wanted to go run with her. I told her I already had but would go again with her.. so I did. We're supposed to run again tonight at 6 and Liz says she's going to join in.. we'll see about that.

Today at 4 I'm meeting up with Kelsey for coffee. This weekend I'm going to try out her church so we figured we'd hang out some to get to know each other. Then on Saturday Liz and I are going to eat at a Mexican restaurant with the guy from the internet cafe that's going to the U.S. this summer and always asks Liz about what's different, etc. So that should be interesting and I'm looking forward to some (hopefully) good Mexican food!

Alright well I should finish getting ready and head to school. I don't really like not having class until 11:30.. I need to figure out something to do to kill time. Luckily right now the stolen wi-fi is working. But soon we should have our own internet!

Oh and Kiko says hi. This is the 3rd time he's come in the room this morning. Haha. He just can't get enough of me.

Home Sweet Home

Well we made it back to Granada safe and sound, although exhausted and hungry.

The rest of the Rome trip went pretty smoothly. It rained a couple days but I brought my umbrella along. We took a guided tour of the Coliseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. We learned all about the founding of Rome and the legend of the shewolf that sucked the two brothers, etc etc. We went to Trevi fountain at night and later during the day. There were some creeps hanging around the fountain that talked to Megan and Kathleen (or "Ariel and Susie") but didn't bother the rest of us. We found a nice place to eat gelato nearby that we visited a few times. I tried the nutella, strawberry, coconut, and caramel. I also tried others mint, chocolate, lemon, cookies and cream, and probably a few others. I loved the nutella and strawberry combo. I should've put banana in there too. We also had our usual pizza place where you could get a pizza a drink for 5 euro. We saw the Pantheon and Vatican City - St. Peter's basilica, Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel. We walked everywhere in Rome as opposed to Paris where we mastered the metro system.
I'm really glad all of us get along so well almost all the time. It was a little too much time with them at some points for me. Especially at night when I really wanted to go to bed but they stayed up talking for a while. Or when I'd wake up with the alarm and get ready and they'd keep on sleeping. And not doing some things or eating at places because of money. But whatever. When I think of some of the other people in our group, I'd take my group of friends any day.

We got back home without much trouble. When we got to Madrid, we weren't lucky enough to be allowed to get past security and sleep on the chairs so we had to wait up in the cafeteria for 4 hours until Ryanair opened. We got our stamps and went to wait for our plane for an hour and a half. We saw Elle and Lauren from our group that were taking the same flight home. They were shocked when they found out we had to wear the same clothes more than once.. they would not have survived with us. Haha. Anyways. Made it to Granada and had our taxi driver pick us up. We got home around 8. Waiting for me on my bed was a letter from my grandparents. That was amazing to come home to and definitely made my day. Liz and I put our stuff away, ate some breakfast bars and went to bed until lunch. Had a delicious and FREE meal (well pre-paid but free for us) from senora. Man I missed her cooking! She also told us we'll be getting internet this week which is an amazing surprise! It's going to be great!

I went for a run which felt great after a week of not doing anything. However.. there's rain in the forecast almost every day. It's not raining right now but I'm too full from lunch and we're supposed to go to cafe futbol at 5.

Well if you want a longer explanation of what went on during our trip, you should check out my friend Nicole's blog. She wrote a lot while we were there and afterwards.
www.nikkigoestogranada.blogspot.com

School starts tomorrow. Here's my schedule (which I'm pretty happy with)

Monday and Wednesday -
11:30-1:00 Spanish grammar
1:00-2:30 Oral and writing

Tuesday and Thursday -
8:30-10:00 Spanish art
11:30-1:00 Spanish literature

So yeah that gives me free afternoons and nights which is great! I also have a nice balance with two classes every day.
I plan on starting to go to church. There's a church a few blocks away that Kelsey (the girl who lived here before and is studying here again) goes to. She and I are planning on meeting up for coffee sometime this week and then I'll go to church. Saturday night is a youth thing and Sunday afternoon is regular church with lunch afterwards. I'm excited to see how I feel and fit in there. :)

I'm hoping that there are still spots open for the Cadiz trip for Carnival. We'll check later on tonight. Other than that, I'm looking forward to taking trips to Morocco, Ireland, (maybe) Scotland, England, Greece, Germany (really want to see holocaust places), Romania, and wherever else we decide to go. :)

Alright well.. adios!

Au revior and Bonjourno!

Well heres a short update from an internet place in Rome.

Getting to Paris was an adventure in itself that involved missing our plane becuase we didnt get our tickets stamped in between our connecting flgiht and then sleeping in the airport.
Our hostal in Paris was pretty gross which is why none of us showered while we were there. We got some wipes and washed our hair in the sink that was in our room every few days. Gross, yes, I know. But at least it was cold in Paris.
The first day even though we were extremely tired we visited the Lourve and Eiffel Tower.
We also saw Notre Dame and went up to the top which was cool. We went to Versaille and the palace was absolutely gorgeous but we just glanced at the gardens since it was cold and rainy. We went to the artists hill and stopped by the Moulin Rouge.
The food was great when we ate out. Otherwise it was subway or McDonalds. Or just not eating because it was too expensive. Haha.
There were also quite a few interesting stories that came from taking the metro. We met a lot of interesting people along the way. Also encountered a lot of creepy people.
It was great though - the good and bad adventures were adventures nonetheless and what seemed bad at the time, we laugh at now.

So today we managed to get to Rome without any problems really. It was a lot warmer and nicer when we arrived. Our hostal is amazing! We get our like own little thing with a wonderful shower, mini-kitchen, and comfortable beds. Plus its just us. Last night our other roommate came home drunk and puked..
When we left it was cold and rainy though. We intended to get food and go to the Trevi fountain then the awesome gelato place buuut we just went to this place with pizza and a drink for 5 euro and now we are using internet.

Alright well thats it for now but Ill give a better update when we are back in Granada.