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!