A Granada Life for Me!

¡Hola!

As I write this I realize that there is only a month and two days left to this Study Abroad experience for me.  I miss everyone—family, Chi Omega, U of I—BUT it kills me that this semester has flown by.  Spain is an amazing country.  To all those considering studying abroad: DO IT!  I just came off of the week with my parents feeling quite confident in my Spanish abilities.  I had talked in Spanish a lot as I had to be the translator.  But of course, once I came back to Granada and CEGRI my occasional inability to form a sentence came back. 

This past week has been great and only reminded me every minute why I love Granada.  But also, why I do NOT like Granada 10 as much.  I woke up Monday morning with lovely case of Pink Eye in my left eye.  (I have eye issues apparently.)  And I am fully blaming G-10.  I had been planning on going to an Eye Doctor to make an appointment to check my other eye out this day also.  But walking into an Ophthalmologist office, where touching eyes is intentional, with pink eye seemed about as good of an idea as bringing a keg to an AA meeting.  So I refrained and bought some eye drops at a pharmacy. 

I was excused from classes for the day and instead spent my time figuring out my schedule for the next semester.  It seems I should be able to double major in Spanish and Rhetoric! Yeah!  But since I’m not a declared major yet, I could only register for 2 classes.  What’s the point of being a Senior and James Scholar if registering early doesn’t help?!   But on this note, any Spanish majors out there that want to reserve a class for me please let me know! Thanks!

No tutoring this week because pink eye among children spreads like rapid fire.  This was nice as it gave me more time to do homework aka nap. 

Wednesday was the light at the end of the tunnel for me the beginning of the week.  I had to write some papers, and the idea of Wednesday night pulled me through.  I went over to Kelly’s house for dinner.  We caught up on each other’s lives and planned our final trip the week after school ends.  Our official return date is May 14^th!  And we decided to nix another trip to Ireland because the logistics wouldn’t have worked.  Instead we are going to Rome May 7^th through 10^th and then coming back to Granada for 3 days of tapas, shopping, and “Kelly & Kaye in Granada” time!  I am actually really excited for this.  I love this city!  So anyway, Wednesday night we ate a delicious meal—Lina is quite the cook!  After dinner we were gonna work on a short presentation we had for Islam the next day on Circumcision.  (Of course we have this topic…)  Instead of that, we decided to watch New Moon.  And the coolest thing happened.  We played the DVD in Lina’s DVD player.  As the movie started the first line out of Bella’s mouth was “Abuela.”  I nudged Kelly and exclaimed, “Kelly! Listen! She said Abuela!”  And of course, Kelly thought maybe that was just the line, but no, the movie was dubbed in Spanish.  We fixed this by going to the main menu and clicking on English.  But how amazing is technology?  The disc recognized the player as Spanish and automatically switched to the dubbed version!  I was so impressed because my copy of Anastasia from London won’t even play on my American computer—both countries speak English—but New Moon knew to go to Spanish!  Even though I’ll admit the movie is a guilty pleasure, I’m not going to say it’s the most impressive acting, directing, screenwriting, etc.  So the whole disc playing the dubbed version thing was the most impressive part of the evening.    I always have GREAT nights with Kellita Bonita!

And Thursday was a great night as well.  Justine, MaryPat, and I joined basically the rest of CEGRI at Taberna Irlandés.  It was a really fun night of just good people and good conversation.  Friday morning I woke up early and went over to MaryPat’s house.  We did some P90X ~ KenpoX.  And I am still sore!  MaryPat is a great person to work out with because she has so much energy.  I kind of think she should forget about Communication and just be a Kickboxing Teacher.  After our work out we went over to the park near her house to laid out and do some homework.  Friday night Katherine, MaryPat, Justine, Kelly and I went to La Oliva.  La Oliva sells local wines olive oils.  They offer tastings.  So we split a bottle of wine and tried several delicious olive oils.  I felt very refined, as refined as I can feel anyway.   To complete the great day, Kelly, Justine, MaryPat and I went to Feeling, one of Kelly and my favorite places.  Unfortunately, Friday night was an “off” night and full of creepers.  Sometimes guys think it is okay to video tape us dancing—but it is not.  So we left and got ice cream!

Saturday morning Katherine, Kelly, and I planned to go horseback riding.  When I was telling my family I was to go horseback riding (montar caballos), I didn’t accent the “mon” in “montar” correctly.  What they heard was “matar” which means to kill.  So I told them that this weekend I was going to go kill horses.  Luckily that did NOT happen.  Instead the three of us had so much fun riding.  Kelly had never ridden a horse before so I pushed for this event!  

I love this picture of Kel

We went to a place within Granada.  My horse was a beautiful reddish brown and named Jedry.  He was a very tall horse, but didn’t give me any sass. 

At the place, we were able to practice riding a little around the ring before going out on a trail.  The guide worked with me on my positioning during “trotting.”  I needed to sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, and stand up on the horse as he trotted.  She had me practice.  As you can imagine this looked a little funny and Kelly was sitting on her horse laughing at me.  But then the guide turned to her and made her do the same thing so HA!  Katherine knows how to ride well, so she needed no help!  The saddles were English saddles and not Western, so that was a little disconcerting because you feel more likely to fall off.  But I got the hang of the trotting motion and when Jedry trotted it was an amazing feeling—like I was flying!  

The best moment of the afternoon had to be when we were crossing the river and Katherine’s horse began to stamp at the water, splashing everywhere.   We thought maybe the horse just wanted to play a bit.  But then it sat down in the water with her on it!  She hopped off of him and he started to roll around in the water.   Clearly a perfect time to do this, horse!  It was really funny.  And then Kelly’s horse started to stamp in the water too.  “Don’t you do copy him!”  It was okay though, we made it across the river.  Katherine was unscathed!  Just wet! 

Playing in water, before laying down

Us laughing...

Collecting her horse...

I headed home for a shower and a nap!  That night Katherine, MaryPat, Kelly, and I met up with some guys from CEGRI at Hannigan’s to watch the Real Madrid versus Barcelona fútbol game.  It was a pretty bad game for Real Madrid.  Kaka was out because he hurt his leg a couple of weeks ago, I believe. And Ronaldo just didn’t match up to Messi.  But don’t worry Ronaldo, if it was a photo shoot contest, you would win.  (On the sports channel here they compare Messi to be the Michael Jordan of soccer.  Messi IS amazing, though.  Youtube him.)  The game ended and we stayed at Hannigan’s.  It was a really good night.

Hannigan's

Sunday Katherine and I had planned on joining some of the guys at a beach.  But the forecast said rain, so I chose my bed.  This was the last full weekend with all five of us (Katherine, Justine, MaryPat, Kelly and me) in Granada!  I’m telling you time here just flies by!  Speaking of time flying…I turn 21 on Wednesday!  How am I 21 already?  Maybe I can stop the aging process here…I just need to find a vampire to turn me.  I’ll keep you all posted on the vampire search, but for now:

¡HASTA LUEGO!

Semana Santa: Break Two

Semana Santa

(Holy Week)

Family Members Visiting: 3

Days on Vacation: 8

Books I Read: 5

Jars of Nutella: 2

Attempted Emergency Room Visits: 1

Mom, Dad, and Elaine arrived in Granada Thursday, March 25^th.  They didn’t get in until late and couldn’t figure out the phone card they bought to call me.  So I was sitting at my apartment, checking the status of their flights every 5 minutes!  But they arrived safely and we kick started our vacation Friday morning!

Friday, March 26^th:

            Met them at 9am at Hotel Los Angeles, which actually was a beautiful hotel not far from the center of Granada.  I showed up with a suitcase full of things to be taken home to be swapped for a suitcase with snacks, spring clothes, and Newsweeks!

            We walked around for a bit and for breakfast we indulged in a traditional Spanish cuisine of café con leche and toast.  Almost the same as omelets, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, etc. (Elaine wanted just milk, so I asked for leche and they gave it to me hot.  Apparently, I look like a “plain hot milk” kind of girl!  The situation was saved when I asked for some cacao to make it hot chocolate.) 

        After breakfast my family met my host family—two worlds colliding!  It was actually quite nice.   My mom brought two Foley Orthodontics Mugs.  Now Carmen can remember me always…as well as have abnormally large mugs. In fact, they would probably work better as vases here than as mugs.  They drink out of tiny ones here.

Carmen, Me, Eduardo 

 I was afraid my Spanish skills wouldn’t quite be up to the challenge to translate, but I got the job done.   We chatted about fútbol, the European Union, and the euro.  I tried to explain autonomous communities to my family as well as the various languages within Spain—Catalan, Euskera, etc.  This was difficult to explain without a map.  So after meeting Carmen and Eduardo, we went for a little walk towards CEGRI.  (Of course, we stopped and bought some amazing gelato.  It’s nice having your parents and their wallets here…I was able to get two scoops!)  I was really pleased that CEGRI was still open because they were able to see the beautiful, little school.  AND I took them upstairs to a map of Spain and explained the autonomous communities and different languages with much more ease.

 

We then had a lunch at a buffet and moved on to the Alhambra.  Dad had already seen the Alhambra when he and John traveled through Spain several years ago.  But I ordered the tickets online and was so excited to have this all planned out.  Can you guess where I’m going with this?  Yeah, I totally screwed up.  I miss understood the time slot thing as you have specific time to enter the palaces of the Alhambra.  And we missed ours!  But we were able still able to see a lot.  Compared to my last visit, a little sol goes a long way!  This time when we looked out at the amazing views of the city, I could figure out exactly where all everything was including my house. 

After the Alhambra, Elaine walked back to my apartment with me so I could pack a little for our trip.  I’m lucky that Elaine and I can wear the same clothes—and that she’s no longer rocking clothes from Limited Too.  Basically I brought one outfit and my computer.   Easiest traveling I’ve had to yet.  On our way back to the hotel I had us swing by the Supermarket and stock up on Kinder Buenos. 

That night for dinner we met up with MaryPat and her parents for tapas at 380.  A full on Flanagan and Foley Night meant the stars were aligned. 

Those olives on the plate?  They represent teeth...

Mair and I watched as our parents got along, just as we knew they would.  (Yes, dentistry was talked about…) And Elaine was a trooper as we all shared a couple bottles of wine and she nursed an Ice Tea.  To top the night off we moved on to get churros con chocolate—the perfect ending to a fantastic evening. 

Saturday, March 27^th:

            Saturday we hit the road pretty early because the streets in Granada were getting closed off around 4pm.  Every Semana Santa in Granada there are a series or processions throughout the week for the religious holidays.  Although, many people don’t practice the religion here, these processions are a part of the culture and tradition of Spain.

Fuengirola

            We had about a 2 and half hour drive to Malaga (but we were actually staying in Fuengirola, which is a city south of Malaga.) We got a little lost because Spain really does not like clear street signs anywhere. But I got to practice my “directions” vocabulary.  We stayed at this nice little resort and just relaxed.  We did a little grocery shopping that first day, got the essentials.  Nutella.  And just rested and read.  The family needed to catch up a bit on sleep.  And, well, I can’t resist a siesta.

Sunday, March 28^th:

            Sunday, Elaine and I sat outside and read.  We got a little burned and learned that Elaine should bath in Sunscreen before going outside.   Basically the whole day was spent laying out and reading.  Pretty much exactly what I had in mind for this vacation.  The weather was very  nice, not extremely hot, but you could tell it was on an upswing. 

            That night we went to mass.  It was really interesting hearing everything in Spanish.  The mass itself was not any different, except for one thing.  There was a power point…?!?  Everything was traditional: architecture, music, candles, etc. and then BAM power point with clips from a movie about the Passion.  I found it slightly distracting!  After mass we had a nice dinner at our Resort.  And a busgirl told me I spoke Spanish well.  I pretty much almost decided to move to Fuengirola and study there after that comment.  Thanks for the confidence boost, busgirl. 

Monday, March 29^th:

            Monday, we walked down to the beach.  Elaine skipped rocks.  I attempted to skip rocks.  But who needs to know how to do that?  I think it’s an impressive skill to know how to chuck a rock into the water just to have it just sink the bottom.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.

I wanted to skip this rock...

Elaine wanted to skip THAT rock...

            The rest of the day, Elaine and I laid by the pool to attempt to even out our burns.  Later that night we enjoyed another delicious dinner at a different restaurant on the resort.  Despite the jar of Nutella calling to us from our condo, we indulged in some pretty nice desserts. 

Tuesday, March 30^th:

            I was very excited to head up to Malaga on Tuesday.  There is another Picasso Museum  because he was born in Malaga.  I have become quite a fan.  As I was brushing my teeth that morning I noticed the pupil in my right eye was twice as big as my left eye.  I thought it was funny and Elaine took a picture of it.  Then I ignored it.  We went up to Malaga.  While we were at the museum I developed a headache around my eyes and noticed that I couldn’t see well out of my right.  I had thought it was my contact, but sure enough my eyes were still oddly dilated.  I showed my parents and we decided to wait it out a bit.  We went and had lunch at this adorable restaurant with amazing paella.  I introduced the family to Tinto Verano, even Elaine!  

Yumm, paella!

After our day of fun in Malaga, my eye was not getting any better.  We drove back to Fuengirola and my mom and I waited at an Emergency center for a hospital.  (The “seeing a doctor” thing is a little different here in Spain.)  We waited while people got sick in the waiting area—awesome. After some time, the people who arrived after me were being seen first, so we decided to leave and just see someone the next day.

Wednesday, March 31^st:

            We drove back up to Granada to fly from there to Mallorca.  I took them to get lunch at Noche y Dia, which is a really cute little café/ restaurant.  After lunch I went to a doctor.  She said that my eye would be fine, but I should see a neurologist sometime.  So we left Granada with Mom feeling better about leaving me at the end of the week.  We flew out to Mallorca and arrived late, but were staying in a beautiful condo. 

Mallorca

Thursday, April 1^st:

            We spent the day at the resort, checking out the pools and beach.  The pool was really nice.  There was a “cold water tub” in addition to the pool.  How is that an actual thing?  Shouldn’t it just be called a tiny pool?  

"Cold water tub"

Beach at our Resort

Things I learned this day: 1) apparently Elaine freaks out about bugs; gone are the days when my little sister would be brave and kill spiders for me.  2) I really do not like overly friendly male workers, who have been married once already and tell me I look 16, to sit down and talk to me when I’m wearing a bathing suit.  Not a fan. 

            That evening we drove around the area a bit.  We saw some cliffs and part of an old Ruin.  The cliffs were really breathtaking.  And I had to fight the urge to cliff dive, but then I realized there was no Taylor Lautner to dive in a save me… (that’s one for all those New Moon fans out there.)  

Mom get's nervous about cliffs and told Elaine she had to stay at least 10 feet away from the edge...I decided to lay along it for a picture...

            For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant.  It was really good food and at the end of the meal they brought us out a shot of some peach liquor.  Apparently this is a normal thing at Chinese restaurants in Spain.  I thought maybe it was a tonic to neutralize any MSG in the food.

            Dad had some fun driving the Peugeot stick shift we rented.   I had less fun as we drove around the curves and images of our car shooting off the edge of the island swam through my head. 

Friday, April 2^nd:

            Our last day on vacation together.  We decided to head over to Palma Mallorca (the capital of Mallorca.)  First we drove up a mountain (which was pretty scary as well) to see a Monastery.  There were millions of bike riders going up these mountains.  Apparently stick shift cars don’t like going too slowly.  Why don’t they have automatic cars here! The Monastery was lovely and an appropriate place to visit on Good Friday. 

Monastery 

            Next, we decided to go shopping.  First on our agenda was to see some Majorca Pearls.  We went to a huge jewelry store and looked around for a while.  And to my surprise, mom and dad decided to buy me some beautiful, beautiful pearls for my 21^st birthday.  Thanks padres!  

My lovely necklaces

Saturday, April 3^rd:

            Dad, Mom, and Elaine left around 6am.  I slept in a bit more, but had to check out by 10am.  My flight wasn’t until 4, so I had some time to chill.  I decided to read by the pool.  But remember that overly friendly worker? Yeah he decided to interpret my reading, again, to talk.  He asked me why I was so quiet and not doing anything.  I wanted to say “because clearly I like reading, now go away!”  Instead, I said I had to go and relocated in the lobby to wait for my taxi to the airport. 

            My taxi driver was a very friendly and talkative man.  Turned out he was from Granada, so we talked about Granada for a bit.  Then we passed some people on bikes and he proceeded to tell me that they were mostly German.  He continued on to let me know how much he hated Germans.  I just nodded and refrained from telling him that my parents lived in Germany for five years, my brothers were born there, and that I am visiting family friends in Munich soon. 

As he dropped me off this old man asked me how long I would be in Granada.  I told him until May and he was disappointed because he was returning in November and was hoping we could meet up for coffee or something.  I told him that would have been nice.  Sure nice, but probably a little weird too.

            As I lined up to board my flight back to Granada, a group of 20 or more men all wearing red jerseys showed up to get on the flight.  It was the Mallorca fútbol team.  They were very much attractive and very much men.  I really regretted choosing to wear leggings, a t-shirt, and no makeup that day.    

I'm pretty sure we've been taking this exact picture since Freshman year of High School...

            Saturday night MaryPat and I met up with Tarah Kraft and her friend Claire.  They were visiting from England.  We had some nice Chinese tapas, then hit up a Chino and showed the girls Granada night life.  

           Of course, there was a procession going on so we ran into that.  As you may notice in these pictures the outfits worn in these processions look like the costumes worn by the Ku Klux Klan.  Apparently the KKK did model their costumes after this tradition because here the costumes inspire respect.    

Part of a procession 

            We went to Granada 10 later because it was free, not for the quality of the discotecca.  Tarah and Claire had to leave at 4am, but MaryPat and I stayed until 6:30 chatting and dancing.  It was a great night!

And Sunday was the first Easter that did NOT feel like Easter.  My host family does not treat the day differently than any other Sunday.  So no mass.  No processions.  No family meals.  No Bunny.  Nothing.  Luckily mom had packed me a chocolate bunny and some jelly beans! Hope everyone had a great Easter!!