Almost Home

With all this talk about how much I'm going to miss this place and this experience, I feel like I need to give Ohio some justice. Here's a list of things I'm excited to go home to:

1. Friends, family, loved ones, etc.
2. SHOWERS. Wasting water. The first thing I do when I get home will be take a 30 minute shower. I kid you not.
3. Food...there are plenty of foods from here I'll miss but for the most part I miss our normal eating schedule and (surprisingly) smaller portions of food at lunch and dinner than I have to force myself to eat here.
4. Working out/being healthy
5. Sitting on a couch watching American tv
6. Great service at restaurants..hotels...stores...everywhere
7. Making money again, not just spending like its my job
8. Biology classes- I never thought I'd say I'm excited to get back to Denison's classes but I picked biology as a major because I like it and I definitely solidified that decision after a semester of other classes.
9. People speaking English. Day to day life will be so much easier in my native tongue.
10. Never getting on a plane again. Or at least for a year or so. I can't take another weekend of traveling right now...except that I have to spend 2 days traveling home this weekend!

There are plenty more things, but I figure a list of 10 is sufficient. The picture is of the sunsetting over Granada last weekend. I now have 2 finals left and 4 days in Spain before my adventure ends so I'm going out now to make the most of it.

10 Days

I have 10 days left here, and as ready as I am to go home, I am going to miss Granada and this entire experience. I cannot believe it's been over 4 months since I left Ohio, scared and anticipating this adventure. I never pictured myself being able to understand almost everything in Spanish or being able to communicate with natives of Andalucia, where the Spanish accent is so thick it's almost impossible to understand. I could barely picture myself traveling around Europe without fear, jumping from metro to bus to train to plane without the help of my parents. I definitely never pictured myself missing certain things from home, like bowls, real showers, boneless chicken, BBQ sauce, and American TV. I've made some friends here that have helped shaped this experience in a way I never expected. It was a struggle at some times, and there were plenty of bad days with the good, but my friends here formed a support group for each other to help us through all of these strange emotions. I never expected to meet people to rely on like that in an 18 week program. I am FOR SURE goiing to miss the ice cream here, and many other foods like Spanish tortilla, schwarma, tapas, papas bravas, natilla, real bread with olive oil, and cafe con leche. I remember my first few weeks here, thinking the food was so plain and wondering how I would survive eating it all semester, and I definitely never expected to say that I'd miss it. I will miss going out for tapas and just getting a glass of wine (or two) or some tinto de verano and laughing with friends about how ridiculous we look as Americans in Spain. I will miss speaking Spanish, and I really want to go to South America now to further develop my speaking skills. The number one thing I will miss is my host mom, because she has been an amazing part of this trip and I would not have had the same experience without her.

I learned a things here that I didn't expect to learn. I expected to become more independent, and I did. I expected to learn more Spanish, and I did. I expected to be more confident in my travel abilities, and I did. I expected to learn about who I am and who I want to be, and I did. I didn't expect to learn to appreciate what I have more. I've learned my whole life that as I guest I have to say please and thank you and offer to help and obey by the rules of the house, and I've done that all semester as a guest in my host mom's house. I realized through saying thank you everytime she does my laundry, cooks my meals, and cleans my bathroom, that I barely say thank you to my own mom for doing chores like this. I never thank my mom for making me dinner or for washing my clothes. I may only live at home for a few months a year, and this may be the last summer I spend at home, but I have learned that when I go back I need to be more gracious and respectful to my parents. We may not agree about everything, but they paid for me to go to Spain for 18 weeks. They are paying for me to get a college education. They let me, for the most part, make my own decisions even if they don't agree with them. They have taught me so much and made me into this person who was capable of going to Spain for 18 weeks by herself and making the most out of it. That must've been a challenge. I will definitely take that lesson home with me.

Above is a picture from a 12 mile hike in Cabo de Gata that I did with my program last weekend. That is a view I will miss when I'm back in Ohio.

Road Trip!

Last weekend, my friends and I rented a car and took a road trip through Sevilla to Faro, Portugal. There was a festival in Sevilla called Feria, which pretty much consisted of a bunch of extravagant tents owned by restaurants or families and all of the Spaniards dressed up in flamenco outfits and ate and danced in these tents. It was a beautiful festival to see, with all the flamenco dresses and people being carted around on horse back. We then went to a bull fight in the Plaza de Toros, which was the MOST interesting experience I've had since I've been here. It was slightly disturbing at first, and I was a little shocked when they first started impaling the giant bull with little knives, but overall it was such a beautiful ceremony. It's amazing how humans can possibly battle bulls, and everytime the bull ran at the matador I would scream in terror. The audience would cheer everytime the matador did something cool, and their cheers were comparable to our football cheering. It was awesome, even though I had to close my eyes a few times.

We then drove to Faro, and I have to say that driving to Portugal was the most anticlimatic experience I've ever had. We were so ready with our passports to go through border control and get a stamp, but there was no border control. There was a sign that said "Portugal", not even "Welcome to Portugal" like American states have. Either way, we made it safely to our hotel and then spent all of Saturday at the beach. I got a little sunburned, but it was really relaxing to spend time at a beach instead of sightseeing and touring more cathedrals. We walked around the town of Faro in the evening, which took us all of 20 minutes because it is a very small, old town that we concluded is not much of a tourist trap.

On Sunday we drove back to Granada, once again happy to be back in our temporary home. Sunday was the Dia de los Cruces in Granada, or the Day of the Crosses. It was really weird to see the city flooded with thousands of tourists, but this festival also consisted of flamenco outfits so it was really pretty. Every plaza had a giant cross filled with flowers and lights, and that's about all we got out of the festival. My host mom later complained about the number of tourists in the town, which felt weird because I initially thought of myself as a tourist when I got here but now I was able to sympathize with her on the iritatance of tourism here.

The picture is of my friends and I in the Plaza de Toros right before the bull fight.

Paris

Although I didn't have a voice the entire weekend as I continue to battle whatever weird European disease I've been plagued with, my 3 days in Paris were amazing! What an incredible city. We stayed in a hostel near the Moulin Rouge, which happens to be one of my favorite movies so it was awesome to see it in real life. We went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower, which was unbelievably tall. I was scared to be up so high, and I'm not usually afraid of heights, but it had a spectacular view of the city. Words can't even describe how it felt to be looking at the Eiffel Tower when we first saw it- that is a moment I have dreamed about my entire life so I had to give myself a few moments to take it in. We saw the Arche de Triomphe, which was also very cool to see. My roommate has a friend who lives in Paris, so she brought us to her favorite restaurant for lunch and we had real French fondu, which was DELICIOUS. She then walked us around a few non-touristy cute neighborhoods, where we ate crepes (also delicioius). We went to the real Notre Dame Cathedral, which was very beautiful. For dinner we bought bread and cheese and just enjoyed it- something I have always wanted to do in Paris. The next day we saw the Opera house, which was the location of the Phantom of the Opera. We then went to Lafayette, which is a famous upscale shopping building. In the afternoon we took a trip out to Versailles, an incredible palace.

Saturday evening we went to the 22 birthday party of my roommate's French friend, who lived in a suburb of Paris. It was quiet the cultural experience. For a 22 year old's birthday party in the United States, there would be a lot of alcohol and dancing and it would be loud with a lot of people. A Parisian birthday party was the complete opposite: we stood around with about 20 college students, eating quiche and not drinking alcohol. We spoke to each other calmly and quietly, and there was light music in the background. When the cake was cut, we all had a glass of really expensive French champagne to toast to another great year for the birthday girl, who then was handed a present from everyone who attended. Everyone was dressed elegantly, and all of the girls brought along very attentive boyfriends who stayed by their sides the entire evening. We brought a bottle of wine to be good guests, but when we handed it to the birthday girl she looked at it strangely and then hid it outside on the porch. It was such an elegant and calm party that you would never know it was a college student's birthday.

Lena, my friend from Germany who was an exchange student in Dublin in my Junior year of high school, met me in Paris and traveled around with us. I hadn't seen her since she visited me for my high school graduation, and it was so good to spend time with her. It was weird that since I'd last seen her, so much has happened in my life and I've changed so much, but we still clicked like the best friends we were when she lived in Dublin. It always baffles me how much people can change separately from each other and still remain good friends. The picture above is of the two of us in front of the Eifel Tower.

On our way back to Spain, we took the normal metro/train/plane/bus transportation system that has defined our traveling around Europe so far. We got back to our apartment and discussed how we only have 4 weeks left here before heading back to the States. It has to be the most bittersweet ending I've ever had to a period of my life, but I still have a month to enjoy before I tell you all about that.

Italia

I went to Italy for my spring break and thoroughly enjoyed it. We started out in Rome, and after 14 hours of traveling we got in a cab only to experience how crazy Italian drivers really are. They didn't have lanes in the road..it was just a free for all. It was perhaps the scariest experience of the trip, and we definitely did not get into another cab for the rest of the week. We went to a restaurant near our hostel on the first night there, and our hostel was in a suburb of Rome so it was an all local restaurant. Thus, nobody spoke English, and it was my first experience in a situation where I didn't speak one bit of the language and had to get by. We managed, and had some of the best pasta ever and a liter of the best wine ever (only 2 euro for the wine...I'm not kidding when I say wine is cheaper than water over here). It was weird to feel like foreigners again, and really made me appreciate how comfortable I am with the Spanish culture now. The next day we went to the Vatican City to see St Peters Basilica, which was surprisingly a let down for being the largest cathedral in the world. I definitely think St Pauls in London takes the award for the most impressive cathedral. We then went to the Colosseum and the Palatine Ruins (which was the original city of Rome, very cool to see) and experienced more real pasta and pizza. The next day we hit up the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the steps where Caesar was killed, and a few more piazzas. That was our final night in Rome, and as we had an early train the next morning we went to sleep very early. At 3:30 AM we woke up to a strange shaking of our beds, and although it took us a few minutes to figure out what was going on, we realized we were in an earthquake. We took shelter under the door frame, and luckily our hostel was far enough away from the center of the quake that we didn't get hurt. It was a scary experience, though, and a lot of people did die outside of Rome. I am appreciative to be safe, and to have such attentive family members at home to worry about my safety :)

The next morning we were eventually able to get out of Rome and took a train to Florence. Wow. I'm going to retire in Florence. I loved the city! It wasn't as touristy and American as Rome, and it was a cute little town that reminded me of the Italian version of Granada. The next day we went on a bike tour around the Tuscan countryside, about 45 minutes out of Florence, and this was definitely my favorite part of the trip. The bike trip started out at a castle that bottles and stores wine and olive oil, which we got to tour and then taste. After riding our bikes through breathtaking scenary, we came to a family owned restaurant and had the best meal of the trip. We then rode our bikes for another hour before ending the tour. That night we had another amazing meal (calzones and gelato) and visited il Duomo, another cathedral. It was a unique building on the outside, but once again did not compare to St Pauls. While we were there, we also did plenty of shopping, people watching, walking, and eating. I was able to relax in Florence, which was much needed after the whirlwind that has been these past 3 months.

We took another train to Venice and once again traveled for way too many hours. Venice was such an interesting city with all the canals and no cars. Our first night there, the city was covered in an eerie fog and we were a little creeped out walking around the silent, foggy streets. When we came back the next morning, the city had a completely different fog-free feel. We went to the Guggenheim and took a water taxi to a nearby island, Murano, which is famous for glass blowing. As this was the end of our Italian experience, we had to have one last pizza and cone of gelato. We then spent 16 hours the next day traveling back to Granada, and it felt so good to be back "home".

That had to be the best week of food I've ever experienced, cruises included. I definitely connected with my Italian roots while I was there. I even carried on a few conversations with the locals, in Italian! I looked up a few key phrases before going, and then used my Spanish to get around the rest of the phrases I didn't know. It made me really want to learn Italian, but I'm pretty sure it would interfere with my Spanish knowledge. I also discovered that my default language is no longer English, it's Spanish. Anytime we were approached by someone speaking Italian, I would never respond in English... I always reverted to Spanish and then switched over to English since it was more likely that they spoke some English. I was glad to take a break from a Spanish speaking country to discover how much my Spanish has improved the past few months. Another thing about our trip was that we realized we took pretty much every form of transportation to get around: city busses, long distance busses, planes, trains, cabs, vans, boats, bikes, walking, and metros. What an experience! I'm pretty confident in my ability to navigate any city now, no matter what language they speak.

The picture is of me and the 3 girls I traveled with in the Colosseum. Stay tuned for more blog updates- I only have 6 weeks left but still have 2 more countries to visit!

Barcelona

I went to Barcelona to meet up with my family last weekend..what an adventure! I had some trouble with the plane ticket on the way there, but after buying a second last minute ticket I made it to Barcelona after all. It was relieving to see my family in the hotel when I got there, knowing that I didn't have to plan or stress about traveling for a few days. We saw a Gaudi Museum, Picasso Museum, the Sagrada Familia, walked along the sea, went to Parc Guell, climbed Mount Juic, visited the 1992 Olympic Stadium, and enjoyed tapas and helado. My favorite was Parc Guell, which was a park designed by Gaudi. I'd studied the park in high school and had been wanting to visit it since. Naturally, my dad took us on educational and historical walks through the old parts of the city, thanks to Rick Steves. I don't know where American travelers in Europe would be without good old Rick.

I had initially planned on studying abroad in Barcelona instead of Granada, and I came to the conclusion that I'm glad I didn't. Barcelona is in a province of Spain called Cataluna, and that province hasn't been on good terms with Spain throughout history. They don't consider themselves Spaniards, nor do they only speak Spanish. Catalan is the native language there, and I was surprised to see how much Catalan they actually spoke. I wasn't able to read most menu's there because they were in Catalan instead of Spanish. This was not only confusing, but also very frustrating. I enjoyed my time in Barcelona, but I was glad to return to Granada at the end of the weekend.

Showing my family around Granada was a lot of fun. It was good to have visitors, and to show them everything about this city that I've fallen in love with. At the end of their time here, they came over to my apartment to have tapas with my host mom. I really enjoyed translating for them and watching them interact with each other. When my family said goodbye, it was kind of bittersweet. I told my mom that I'll be coming home in less than 2 months, and she asked if that's good or bad- I honestly had to think about that question. While there are many things I look forward to at home, I'm definitely loving my time in Spain. It will feel good to look back on this entire experience and see how much I've learned, but I'm not ready for it to be over yet. I can't even imagine how 10 weeks flew by and I only have 8 left! Luckily the next 4 weeks will be the most exciting of the trip: a week in italy, 4 days in Paris, and a weekend in Portugual! I'm excited to see more of Europe, but sad to leave Spain for so much time.

London

Two weeks ago I went to London for 3 days, and I've been too busy to update this blog until now! London was a really great time, and I'm so glad I went. After spending 8 straight weeks in a Spanish speaking country, we figured it would be super easy to travel in an English speaking country. We were actually quite wrong. There were a lot of things that just didn't make sense about traveling there and that were so inconvenient, but we were definitely grateful to be able to ask for help in English instead of Spanish. There was a point where we asked 5 different people the same question about where to catch a bus to the airport and we got 5 completely different answers, none of them actually leading us to the bus stop we needed. We also ended up looking like complete idiots when we tried to operate the metro and train systems for the first time, but in the end we figured it all out and learned a lot about traveling in Europe outside of Spain. We also had our first hostel experience, which was indeed an experience. We ended up having a 10 person room, which was 7 boys and the three of us girls. Totally unexpected.

As far as sightseeing goes, I pretty much walked around the entire city gasping at everything. Our first morning there, we walked to see the Parliament Building, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the Queen's Collection Museum. All of these buildings were absolutely breathtaking. I took over 30 pictures of Parliament alone. That afternoon we decided to take a trip out to Windsor to see the Windsor Castle, where the Royal Family actually lives. This was my favorite part of the weekend- what an amazing castle/town!! I wish I could've taken more pictures, but a lot of it prohibited photography. That night we took a ride on the London Eye, which was a giant ferris wheel on the river overlooking the whole city. This was beautiful and breathtaking as well.

Day 2 was also full of sightseeing. We saw the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London (complete with a tour from a real Beefeater), the HMS Belfast (a WWII ship), St Paul's Cathedral (the most beautiful church I've ever seen), Shakespeare's Globe Theater, Abbey Road, and the Tate Modern Art Museum. By the end of the day, we were so worn out from walking for two days straight that we went to bed super early.

Overall, I loved London. The people were all very friendly and all of the history was so interesting. It couldn't even imagine living around all of those monuments and castles. I realized that I cannot understand the English accent AT ALL. I felt like everyone was speaking a different language! It was so weird to see all of the sights that I've seen in pictures and movies my whole life and never thought I'd ever see close up. I'm glad I got to test the waters of traveling out of the country before my 10 day spring break trip to Italy next week. The picture above is of me in front of Big Ben!

Cultural Differences

I LOVE learning little cultural differences in everyday life, and I realized after being here for 7 weeks that I've just gotten used to the little things here. I don't want to forget the confusion I experienced my first few days here, while I learned daily things I should or should not be doing, so I figured I'd share them with you all.

1. They don't tip here. It's so weird, but I've gotten used to it and now when I go back to the States I'm sure I'm going to forget to tip. They also include taxes in the prices, so what you see on the menu is what you pay.

2. Spaniards have a fear of floors. They never touch the floor with bare feet. Ever. We have to wear shoes or slippers in the house at all times to avoid touching the evil floor. And they don't put things on the floor either. When I come home from class I always want to put my purse or backpack on the floor next to my desk, but it's not allowed. Anything that touches the floor is evil, or something. At restaurants you can't put your purse on the ground, either. Everything goes on the table.

3. They don't say "thank you" (or, to be fair, "gracias") as much as we do. They only say it when they really mean it. My host mom always seems offended and weirded out that we thank her about 10 times during each meal. Try having a meal with a senior citizen who spent all morning cooking for you, sets the table for you, serves you all the food herself, clears each plate after you're finished, passes you the water and bread multiple times, and serves you the best dessert you've ever had...all without saying thank you every two minutes.

4. We have to say goodnight (and kiss goodnight) to every individual person in the apartment before sleeping. If we just say goodnight to the general room full of family, it's rude. If we go to sleep without saying goodnight, we might as well move out.

5. Spaniards don't have any idea what personal space is. They will stand on top of you and think it's normal. When walking on the street, they don't move out of the way to make room for you to pass. You just have to bump into each other. This is especially annoying in the rain with a bunch of umbrellas...and when you think someone is stealing from you because they're standing so close.

6. They are much more blunt here. Host moms tell you if they think you're fat. Guys in bars tell you what they really think of you, and what their real intentions are if they're having a conversation with you. Professors tell you if they think you're stupid. At first this is hard to get used to, but it makes compliments mean more.

That's all for now, I'm already starting to forget some! This is a picture of my bedroom here, for those of you not on facebook who want to see what it looks like.

What I've Learned So Far

The people of Granada have taught me a lot so far, even though they have no idea. I've only been here for 6 weeks, so I'm sure I have much more to learn from them, but here are four of my favorites:

1. Patience- Things will take forever here, you just have to deal. You want to mail a letter at the post office? It will take 30 minutes of standing in the wrong line before you get to the front and they tell you to switch to the other line and wait another 30 minutes. You go to a restaurant and want to eat quickly? It will probably take 40 minutes before they bring your food out. You want to cross the street? You need to wait 5 minutes for the light to change. Things just take a while, and it's okay because you'll get where you need to be eventually.

2. If you want it, ask- You go to a restaurant and want chicken but there is NEVER chicken on the menu? Then ask. They have chicken, they just expect you to ask. My favorite drink here, Tinto de Verano, is only on half of the menus, but every place I've been to has it. You want the check when you're out to eat? Nobody is going to bring it to you, even if you sit there for hours. You have to ask.

3. Enjoy the little things- There are so many great things about this city, but every city has great things and we always only see the bad. You have to slow down and enjoy what's right there in front of you. Orange trees line the streets so everything smells like citrus. Everywhere you turn there's a beautiful view of the Alhambra or the Sierra Nevada. When the sun is shining, sit outside and enjoy it. Every street has a few bakeries and coffee shops- savor the smells. In every moment, here or back at home, there's something to smile about.

4. No pasa nada- The people of Andalucia have a saying that has become a way of life. "No pasa nada," or "It doesn't matter, it was nothing." No matter what negative or annoying thing happens here, we all say "no pasa nada" and we move on. It's a very optimistic way of dealing with the bad cards in life, because in the end, it doesn't matter and everything will be okay.

As I said, those are just a few of the things I've learned. Thanks for reading!

El Teatro y Almuñécar

I'm taking a theater class this semester, which is something completely new for me since I'd much rather sequence DNA than interpret a play, but it has actually been a great opportunity. I've read a few plays by Federico Garcia Lorca, in all my 8 years of Spanish classes, and I'd always learned his life story but felt so far removed from it. For those of you who are not familiar with Lorca, he was from Granada and was, obviously, a famous playwright, and he was also homosexual. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936), Franco had Lorca assessinated for being homosexual, and the town of Granada has mourned him ever since. He is an excellent playwright and I've always enjoyed his work, but learning about him never really did much for me. In my theater class we recently read his play, Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), and this past weekend we went to see the play in a theater in Granada. How amazing to see a play by Lorca in his hometown in SPAIN! It made me feel more connected to him and his life story, and made me further appreciate this opportunity

In other news, I went on a daytrip to a nearby beach town called Almuñécar. It was gorgeous! The views of the beach and mountains were breathtaking. Being landlocked most of the year, seeing an ocean (or sea, in this case) always leaves me speechless. My friend and I had a picnic on the beach and stared into the horizon for hours. We also hiked up a cliff to see a 4th century castle, which was pretty cool. I attached a picture of myself on the beach, so you can all know what I mean by amazing views :)

Hasta luego!

Sierra Nevada

Last weekend I took a trip to the Sierra Nevada National Park. A bunch of the people in my program were skiing for the day, so we took the bus as far up on the mountain as we could to find snow. Once we got to the ski town up there, we found a lift that would take us all the way to the top of the mountain. It was hands down, one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen- we could see the whole city of Granada and for miles beyond it. Numerous meet of snow covered the top of the mountain, but it was probably 60 degrees up there. I'd never taken a ski lift before and figured I never would because they look so open and scary, but I was so glad to have the opportunity to ride one. We stayed for a while at the top of the mountain, quietly admiring the view. One thing we noticed was how silent it was at the top of a snow covered mountain. There wasn't a single car, siren, scream, person talking, or animal around, and any sound we made was instantly absorbed by the snow surrounding us. Even though I live in a quiet suburb and go to school in a tiny town, I still had never experienced such silence. It was so calming to sit there, not hearing a thing and looking out across miles of Spanish countryside. That was one of those rare moments in life that I will probably always remember.

Madrid and more Life Experience

Some friends and I took a very spontaneous trip to Madrid this weekend, and the city is huge! It reminded me of New York and was a lot more Americanized than any other Spanish city I've been to. We ended up eating lunch at TGI Fridays because after 3 weeks of traditional Spanish food, we needed a burger. That is probably the last time I'll have American food while in Europe, though, because it did not sit right in my stomach. We went to two different discotecas (clubs) this weekend, and they made me conclude that men here are way more persistent than most men in the States. I'm learning how to adapt to the Spanish lifestyle of staying out until 6am, but I can already tell I'm going to need to sleep for at least a week when I get back home! While we were there we also went to the Museo Reina Sofia, which housed a lot of Picasso and Dali. This is a picture of me in the Plaza Mayor, which is where they used to have bull fights in Madrid.

I have to say, I am continuing to notice how much I'm learning and growing from this trip. One reason I wanted to come to Spain alone was that I wanted to become more independent. I know I've always been a relatively independent person, but there are some things that terrify me to do alone. Here is a list of adventures I've conquered in the past three weeks:

1. Planes- I have traveled alone a few times, but only direct flights and within the United States. The idea of taking three separate planes to multiple European countries freaked me out, but now that I made it here I know I can make it home.
2. Busses- I managed to figure out the Spanish coach bus system, even though nobody at the bus station spoke English. Arriving in Madrid successfully was such a satisfying feeling.
3. Metros!- The subway or metro has always intimidated me because it's so confusing and big, no matter what city you're in. However, knowing that I could navigate the metro in Madrid- in Spanish- makes me comfortable taking such transportation in America. The worst part of this experience was when we were running behind for our bus back to Granada and we took the metro to the bus station. Of course the metro broke down mid journey, and we sat trapped in the dark just praying it would start so we could make our bus. We managed to make our bus just in time, but the experience was crazy.
4. Taxis- The hard part about taxis for me is pretending like I know the city so the driver doesn't rip me off. The girls I traveled with this weekend don't know much Spanish, so they left me to figure all of this out, and I succeeded. Confidence is key.
5. Making decisions without my parents- Usually when I purchase anything major, like a plane ticket, I call my parents and ask for advice or if it's a good idea. Calling home whenever I want to do anything here would be really expensive and unreasonable, so I've been making decisions all on me. I decided to drop a class and take a new one, which is definitely something I'd normally ask my dad for advice on. I've purchased at least 5 plane tickets, without consulting my parents at all. I overheard a girl today in class saying she wants to book her plane tickets for Spring Break, but needs to talk to her parents first and ask them what to do. It was a good feeling to know that I planned my whole Spring Break trip without even telling my parents.
6. Credit card problems- Along the same lines as making decisions without my parents, I've also had to deal with my credit card problems without parental advice. Some travel companies don't take American credit cards online, so I've had to call a lot of companies to convince them to use my credit card. Calling companies always scared me, but doing it in a foreign language is even more intense. Figuring that out was a big accomplishment for me. My credit card company also decided to freeze my credit card, and I had to deal with that on my own as well. When I first got here, I had the constant urge to call my parents and ask them for help, but after just 3 weeks I've lost the need to ask them as many questions.
7. Sense of direction- I used to always get lost. No matter what. Living in a foreign city where you can't call anyone and ask them to look up your location on Mapquest has definitely forced me to develop a sense of direction. Now I can pretty much find my way back from anywhere in Granada, and I had the same experience in Sevilla and Madrid. I've also learned to ask for directions when I need to. Strangers can be nicer than I thought!

That list is just the tip of the iceberg of life lessons. I already feel more like an adult than I did before. Independence here I come!

Ronda y Sevilla

We took a 3 day trip this weekend to Ronda and Sevilla, two other Andalucian towns (Andalucia is the province the Granada is in). They were the most beautiful cities I've ever seen! Ronda was a tiny town in the mountains, and every where we looked we found a gorgeous view. Although southern Spain has been in a drought for years, of course it's been raining nonstop since I arrived two weeks ago. This actually worked in our favor for Ronda, though, because the grass and trees covering the mountains and plains around the city were all the perfect shade of green so the views were even more spectacular. Luckily, for Friday and Saturday we had clear blue skies and 60 degree weather during the day. At night and all day Sunday, it poured rain.

We got to Sevilla late Friday night- another amazing city! Although it was clearly Americanized, the city still had the Spanish and Arabic charm. We went to the Palacio Real, which was the palace and home of many Spanish royalty. If I could live anywhere in the world, I would choose the grounds of this palace. The Islamic culture centers around peace, tranquility, and the journey to be closer to your personal God. This was evident all over the palace and its gardens. It came completel with a napping house, many incredible fountains, a shrubbery maze, orange and lemon trees, and plenty of courtyards within the palace. Something interesting about the architecture of the palace was that when you first enter it, the decor is very simple, and as you get closer to the center, the architecture and decor gets more elaborate. This is supposed to help you feel like you're leaving your mortal desires outside and gradually get closer to God.

Another strange thing about the architecture was in the cathedral in Sevilla, which is the world's largest Gothic cathedral. Inside the structure of the Catholic cathedral was an Islamic mosque. This shows the struggle between Catholicism and Islam in Spain. Many of the churches we've seen are attached to mosques. It's so strange that even though the two religions caused many wars in the country, their buildings of worship are able to be attached. My professor was telling us the symbolism of the cathedral, and it showed how different Catholicism is from Islam. The ceilings were unyieldingly tall and the entire building was just huge, so it made anyone who walked into it feel like they were tiny and insignificant. The talls ceilings were to make Catholics feel like God was very far away from them. All of the walls and ceilings were covered with beautiful and complex designs. It seemed so different from the tiny mosques we toured, with simple white and gold walls and a focus on tranquility. Don't get me wrong- I don't plan on converting anytime soon, but it really made me think about the power of the Catholic church.

We also saw a flamenco show in Sevilla, which is an absolutely beautiful dance. Of course we visited many tapas bars and a discoteca, to remind ourselves that we're still college students. They were, as usual, a great time :)

On the drive home, our busses stopped at Spain's idea of a fast food truck stop. It was the most disorganized and stressful experience. It made me really appreciate American culture. Everything I experience here makes me compare the two cultures, which has been a great learning experience. There are many things that Spain could learn from America, and also many things that America could learn from Spain. It baffles me how different the two cultures are, even though they are both developed countries. Although adapting to this new culture can be very frustrating, especially when I barely understand what anyone is saying to me, I am loving learning from it and I think everyone should try to spend an extended period of time living in a different country just to learn. Everyday I learn a few new Spanish words, something new about the culture and people here, and something new about myself. My roommate and I were saying that if we were to go home today, we'd already be changed people. I can only imagine how much I'll have learned by the end of May, and I can't wait to continue learning and changing!

Attached is a picture of me in the Plaza de Torros- the bull fighting ring in Ronda. So Spanish of me!

La Alpujarra

This weekend we took a trip to a small mountain town in the Sierra Nevada called La Alpujarra. This town pretty much lives the way they did 100 years ago, so it was really interesting. The glacier at the top of the mountain is the source of water for some really popular bottled water company in Europe called Lanjaron, which was evident in this town because there were pipes down from the top of the mountain that led all the way down to this town so there were a bunch of fountains in the plaza where people just filled up their water bottles or drank directly from the fountain. Not a water fountain like at home, but a statue spitting water type of fountain. It was really cool, and the water tasted so pure. We hiked for 5 hours down the mountain to a river and then back up the mountain to the town. It was a very intense hike, but worth it for the beautiful views of the Sierra Nevada. My mom would've hated the drive there because we were on this one way round up the mountain for an hour and a half, and it kept curving and there was no siderail but it would drop hundreds of feet at the edge of the road. Ahh!! The picture is of my roommate and I halfway through the hike, with the town in the background.

This coming weekend I'm going to Ronda and Sevilla, so hopefully I'll have something interesting to report on then! In the meantime, there are rumors that there a giant supermercado (grocery store) a few blocks over the sells peanut butter (no other stores sell it!) so we're looking into that ASAP!

La ciudad de Granada

I walked around Granada today with a group of students, and I fell in love with the city! The buildings are all so old and beautiful, the Alhambra is huge, and the mountains are the perfect background to a true Spanish city. For those of you on Facebook, I posted a bunch of pictures I took of the city on there today. This city is so different than American cities. There is a great mix of Spanish/European and Arabic cultures. The streets are crazy and narrow. They are all stone or marble, and only a few streets actually have street "signs" which consist of a randomly placed plaque on the side of a building, not always on the corner of the street. This makes getting around with a map pretty difficult, so I mostly rely on my sense of direction (which has drastically improved since I got here) and try very hard to remember some visual representation on every important street corner. There is a surplus of grand cathedrals here, with a giant one in the center of the city near my school.

The spaniards eat a small breakfast (we've had two pieces of toast and butter every morning) and then eat a huge lunch at 2 or 3. So far this lunch has consisted of soup, salad, Spanish tortilla (which is basically an omlette with potatoes), sometimes bread and cheese, and dessert. I don't know how they manage going so many hours between breakfast and lunch without eating. It drives all of us American students crazy! During lunch time, or the siesta, everything in the city closes. From 2-4pm you cannot go into any stores. Around 4pm, stores open again and the city gets busy again. At 9 or 10, they eat a light dinner, or go out for tapas. In Granada, if you order a drink at a tapas bar, you get free tapas. This is a great bonus :)

Speaking of tapas, it's time for me to go out and eat some! I posted a picture of the city from the top of a hill. Enjoy!

I'm Here!!

I made it to Malaga in one piece, and so did my luggage! The plane situation was stressful because apparently wearing a baggy sweatshirt and carrying contact solution makes you a security threat. I arrived yesterday afternoon in Malaga, and it was sunny and about 60 degrees. There were palm trees everywhere! By the time I got to my hotel and settled in, it was dark and relatively cold (about 35 degrees), but I went out to a tapas bar with a few people in the program. Restaurants in Spain are different- you don't tip so the waiter doesn't give you much attention. We had to flag him down to take our order and to get the check. We tried sangria and it was really good! We then asked a local where we could walk around, and he told us he'd take us to a bar that he was going to. A bunch of us followed him for a while through some really pretty Spanish streets, but we were all jet lagged and exhausted by the end of this walking tour so we went back to the hotel. Even though it was 1am Spanish time, I couldn't fall asleep because it was only 5pm in Ohio! This morning we sat through a bunch of orientation talks, and ate a huge lunch. I have no idea what I've been eating this whole time, but I've had a lot of salty meat and cheese. After orientation we left Malaga and took a bus to Granada where we met our host mom. My roommate, Rachel, and I have been trying to pool our Spanish knowledge together to talk to our host mom, Sole, but it's only half working. She seems really nice, and she even made us dinner tonight. We had no idea what it was and we were stuffed, but apparently it's rude not to finish everything you're given so we had to finish it all. We then spent a few hours trying to figure out our internet, and alas I fixed it! Oh, and we have a perfect view of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from our apartment. It's beautiful!

Don't worry, I'll actually have real adventures to report on eventually, but for now I'm all adventured out. We're staying in Granada for two days of orientation, and then we're heading to Las Alpujarras to hike.

It won't let me attach a picture right now, but I'll add some later.

Farewell America!

I just figured I'd test out this blogging business before I left the country, so here goes! I leave for Spain on Monday, and should get there 17 hours later on Tuesday. Yes, I am excited, nervous, scared, and so ready to go! My first two weeks there are orientation, and I'll also be traveling with my program to Malaga, Granada, La Alpujarra, Ronda, and Sevilla. I'll then settle down in Granada with my host mom, Sole, and I'll start classes the first week of February. My classes will all be taught in Spanish, so hopefully I'll come back being mostly fluent!

I'll try as hard as I can to keep up with this blog, as advised by my perfect big brother. Now you can all follow me around Europe! Adios!