3 More Days!

Hey Everyone! I know it's been a while since my last blog, but I've been busy traveling and doing school work and studying for my last tests that are tomorrow. Since my last blog I have been to the Alhambra here in Granada, A palace on a hill here. It's very pretty and old! I also went to Sevilla and went to the largest Christian Cathedral in the world. It was also very neat. Christopher Columbus' body was there, crazy! I also went to this town called Nerja which was very similar to California except for the sand. A group of us went to these super ancient cave that was soooooo big inside!!!! It was breath taking! Here is a link : http://www.casacuevarural.com/Cuevas-turisticas/MALAGA/Nerja/10/Cueva-de-Nerja   I hope it works. They were gorgeous!

So here is a funny story...This guy John C. on our trip doesn't like flies, just like i don't like flies. Before he went to bed Friday night there was one in his room that he was swatting at. After he fell asleep, this previous event led him to have a nightmare about flies. He was being chased by flies and tried swatting at them as hard as he could and they just wouldn't go away. He finally got one good swat and heard a huge crash noise that woke him from his dream. He woke up to find shattered glass from his nightstand all over his entire bedroom. So, apparently he was using his pillow to "swat at the flies" and he was trying so hard in his sleep he smashed his nightstand. Poor guy. But it was one of THE funniest stories I had heard so far while on the trip.

This Sunday and Monday 3 of us went to Madrid, Roshelle, Roxanna and I! We had so much fun. We were able to go to a gigantic flea market and get some really cute cheap things! After that we gained an appetite because anyone who shops knows that that is what happens. We decided to go to "The Oldest Restaurant in the World", called Botin!!! Built in 1725! The food was so delicious too. The most expensive item on the menu was baby eel for $101.60 Euro! Holy crap! Who would spend that much on baby eel?!?!?!I just don't get it! After that we checked into our Hostal and then took the metro to a bull fight! I have got some wicked footage too. It is so crazy what they do to that poor bull. By the end of the fight the bull has been stabbed multiple times and has these hooks hanging from him all before the matador stabs him with a sword. After that the other matadors make him dizzy and then he just falls. One of the matadors takes a small knife and sticks it into his head and swirls his brains to make sure he is dead which is actually kind of sad and must be painful.

  So I only have 3 more days till I get home and I made a video for Everyone here in Spain I have met and all my friends and family back in Arizona! I hope you all enjoy it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phi-tedAkdU&list=UUQqKUPGzewTiOx4Yhz1tpZQ&index=1&feature=plcp See you all when I get Home! Miss you all!

Class and life in España

     I started class on the 4th of June. The first week seemed to go by pretty quick and it wasn't too bad. Now, this week has been terrible it seems! I CAN NOT stand my class taught through the University of Granada. I was expecting so much more in this class. I was hoping there would be more art and explanation of the art not 1200 years worth of art and architecture in only 16 days!!!!!! Grrr... I hate when I don't understand stuff either. There are a few people in my class that know so much more than the others. And I can tell that they don't like me asking questions either. But those of you who actually know me know that that is what I do, that this is what I have always done, ask questions. I have questioned everything my entire life. It is the only way I am going to know how things are done. One more rant...We go through Toilet paper like no ones business...! Huge pet peeve of mine. I think it is because of the French boys that I living with us now. They are only 14! They leave the toilet seat up and leave the toilet paper behind the toilet...I think they may wipe the tip of their pee-pees' but I'm not sure. Its just annoying to not know where it is all going!!!! Yikers man...

     Next topic: We went on our first excursion! We went to these ruins called Madinat al-Zahra. It was this palace created by the Caliph at the time who was Muslim. When the Christians arrived, they told the Caliph that they couldn't build a paradise on earth so the Christians tore it down. We got to see 1/10 of the site because the other 9/10 haven't been excavated yet. What we saw were gorgeous ruins of what would have been their version on paradise. We then drove a bit further into the city of Cordoba and stopped at the Cathedral there which was still in use and sooo gorgeous. There were so many paintings and Arabic writings on the stone there.

     A group of us along with our teachers took a hike up to the place called the Alhambra. The view of Granada from there is so breath taking! You can see people across the way at this place called the Albyzin taking pictures of Alhambra. That view though is so gorgeous. I wish I was able to upload pictures onto my tablet from my camera...no USB or SD ports :(

     One thing that has been so hard is the language barrier since I have been here. I can slightly understand Spanish and can hardly say a word. It has been so difficult. I started to cry at our excursion because I couldn't understand our guide. It is hard to like or share an experience of a description of a place when you can't understand the language. It was so frustrating. I was second guessing my decision of even coming to Spain last night. I was thinking that it may have not been worth the money but I won't know for sure till the end of the trip. I will let you all know then. Anywho, It's time for me to take a siesta ( from 2-5 pm all the shops close, the employees go home, eat lunch, then nap. It's awesome!). There will be more to come later!!!

The First 3 Days

So, The very first day that we arrived in Spain after our 12 hour flight, we still had a 4 hour drive ahead of us to Granada. One of the girls in our group, Taylor, had lost her luggage. U.S. Airways sent it to Lisbon, Portugal. It still has yet to show up...hopefully today it does. So, still day one we walked to our host families apartments and met them. Lucia and I live with this really nice lady named Ana. She is so eager to learn English and for me to learn Spanish. She will only let me speak to her in Spanish... It's so difficult. Well, Lucia and I got settled in and fell asleep around midnight here which is 3PM there in AZ. Yesterday morning we took a small tour around Granada to find out school and to find city hall and little places to eat. Lucia and I joined up with John, Miguel, and Eddy and walked to go have lunch and site see a bit more which was lots of fun. The guys had to go home to go eat so Lucia and I did a little bit of shopping which was so much fun, mostly because I love to shop and she does too! We met up  with the rest of the group at 8 PM in front of the Cathedral here in Granada and walked to this Irish Pub and had dinner together. (there are a lot of /Irish Pubs here in Granada). A group of us decided to go out after that which was alright. It just stinks because none of the clubs open till at least 2-2:30 AM and that is waaay too early. Oh, and people here wake up so late. If you are awake at 9 or even 10 it still sounds dead outside. Its crazy. Oh, and the architecture here is quite pretty. Lucia and I went with another person from our group this morning to Hagan-Daz then up towards Alhambra. We didn't actually go all the way up since Edgar had to return to his host families house for lunch. Lucia and I just walked around the little shops. We were supposed to meet the guys around 3 but they didn't show, again. They did this yesterday too to us. Darn boys... all well.

Lucia and I are now back at our host families house and are going to take a nap I guess since we have class tomorrow and are sooooooooooooo worn out by all this! At least me Sanish will hopefully get better.