Last Days in Spain

Wow. I can’t believe this semester is already over. I am sitting here at the Madrid airport realizing that I have lived in Spain for almost 4 months and now it’s over. While I am so excited to come home, I can’t help but feel sad about leaving. I know I did everything I wanted to do here and I got so much out of the experience; it’s something I will never regret
The last few days here have been insane. Last weekend we frequented our favorite bars and discotecas, visiting Hannigans (karaoke!) and botellon one last time. In between finals, Meg and I made time to go out for tapas and one more kebab. Finals went really well, although I had a hard time focusing because I was trying to take everything in before I left.
Wednesday night, after a day of packing and studying for my last final, Meg and I went to Granada 10, a popular discoteca. When we arrived, there weren’t too many people there. It was open bar until 12:30, but most people wouldn’t start arriving until after 1 am. The dance floor was almost empty except for a very energetic transvestite who was dancing all by herself. Needless to say, it was great entertainment until security kicked her out an hour later for being too inappropriate. Only in Spain, right? We met some really nice people that night, proving that it can be your last night out and you’ll still make new friends. They were part of the IES program, which was a little weird for me since that was the program I almost joined.
On Thursday, I got up early and (hopefully) aced my art final before going back to bed for a few more hours. That night, Arcadia had a goodbye party for us. We sat in the office and talked about the experience and watched a cute PowerPoint with pictures from the whole semester. At one point we played this game where we had to toss a ball of yarn to someone in the group and say what our first impression of the person was and what we’ll remember most about them. A friend of mine, Amy, threw it to me and said that I was the first person she met at the airport in August. She said that I made her excited because I was so enthusiastic and open to the experience. She also said that throughout the semester, I proved to be someone who took risks and really integrated myself into the culture. It was one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten, and I hope that I always push myself to get the most out of opportunities like this. The party had traditional Spanish Christmas snacks, but we all went out to dinner as a group afterward. I had my first experience with Indian food (loved it!) and then said goodbye to everyone.
Meg and I were so excited Thursday night we couldn’t sleep. I probably got 45 minutes of rest because I kept thinking about coming home. We got up at 4 am and called a taxi to the Granada airport. That’s where the problems started. Because my parents hadn’t booked my flight from Granada to Madrid and my flight from Madrid to Chicago together, they would only let me check one bag to Madrid. So I had to combine bags and pay extra for the weight of my one bag. Also, they wouldn’t forward my bags to my final destination. That means I had to pick them up again in Madrid and recheck them and go through security again before my next flight to Frankfurt. I only had one hour in Madrid to do all of that before my flight took off, and check in closes 45 minutes before departure. Long story short, even though I ran for my life, I still missed my flight. After a brief breakdown in the Madrid airport, Mom and Dad were able to get me on a flight the next day. Even better, they got me a direct flight to Chicago and I got a seat in Business Class! The only problem was that I had to unexpectedly spend the night in Madrid. Luckily, before my parents booked a hotel, I called my friend Courtney who was studying in Madrid this semester and asked if I could crash at her apartment. Not only did she let me stay with her, one of her roommates had moved out already, so I got my own room and was able to shower and figure out my baggage issues (the airport let me store most of my luggage there). We did some shopping and went to an internet café. I had a great time and was so lucky to have her there. This morning we woke up and went to store so I could buy a cheap duffel bag in order to avoid being charged again. Luckily, since I am flying Business Class, I get to check 3 bags. Our goodbye wasn’t sad since we are seeing each other next Tuesday at a friend’s house. I arrived at the airport 4 hours early for my flight and watched as the lines piled up with people who had missed their flights or had them canceled because of snow (New York!). After having a painless check in and security check, I am now at my terminal, peacefully waiting to board my flight. If someone had told me yesterday that this is how everything was going to turn out, I wouldn’t have believed them. I am so grateful to have such a great family who will stay up until 5 am getting me home and such fantastic friends who are always so supportive.
I’ve had such a great time in Spain and want to thank everyone who helped make it such a positive and life-changing experience. I can’t wait to get home and see you all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
God Bless America

Love Always,
Em

Best Day Ever

Monday and Tuesday this week breezed by. Since everyone was still travelling, all the stores were closed for the holidays, and I was still sick with strep, Meg and I stayed in both days and just layed around. Yesterday, Wednesday, was my last day of culture class and grammar class. Meg and I were also supposed to go volunteer for the last time with the little kids from the inner city school. However, the bus that usually takes us was so full, the driver wouldn´t let anyone else on. Since I volunteer between classes, I didn´t have time to wait for the next bus because I wouldn´t get back to my class in time. So, unfortunately, Meg and I had to cancel our last day of volunteering.
Instead, we went to the Arcadia office and talked to Triana and Cristina for a little whle. After that, we wandered around the shopping district of the city and I bought a pomegranate pendant necklace (the pomegranate is called a Granada here, it is the city´s symbol). We stumbled upon an adorable Christmas festival set up in one of the plazas with a ton of little booths selling jewelry and other handmade crafts. After wandering for a while, I headed back to class. In Amsterdam, I had received a message from an American student in Granada who found my student ID on the street, so I got that back from him at the CLM. While it was pretty useless, I really wanted to keep it for memory´s sake.
After lunch (albondigas!!!), Meg had class and then we both waited anxiously for our housing lottery at Denison. Everyone who is currently abroad got a random number and, in that order, gets to pick a room for next semester. Since Meg and I want to live together on East Quad, the pickings were pretty slim and we were both stressing about it. I got number 19, which is terrible considering the handful of rooms that we wanted. Luckily, however, Meg got 5. Our good friend Becca got number 1, so she took a single. Therefore, there were only a few people ahead of us that could take the double we wanted. Most of them chose to live in singles, but one person wanted a double. For some reason, they chose to live in Crawford (the sophomore dorm I lived in last year), which left the double in Shaw open for Meg and I. My proxy and best friend back at school, Amy, was so great about the whole process. We never could have gotten the room without her. Now we are living in our own double, in a junior dorm, on East Quad. The only downside is that it´s on the fourth floor and I´m uncertain about whether there´s an elevator that can help me with move in (eek!).
Overall, it was a wonderful day. Today is the last of our classes and then we have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to take in the last bits of Granada before finals next week. Only 8 days left!
I love you all,
Em

Amsterdam

Where to begin? It's been a crazy weekend. On Thursday, Meg and I woke up and headed to the bus station to catch our bus from Granada to Madrid. Unfortunately, we were not paying attention and ended up leaving a little to late and missed our bus. The next bus to Madrid wasn't until 1:30, so we would have missed our flight to Amsterdam which was at 7:20. We spent two frantic hours in the bus station trying to find another way to get to Madrid before our flight left. Most options to Madrid would cost us more than $300, which was out of the question. Luckily, I found a bus to Malaga, a town on the southern coast, and then a speed train from Malaga to Madrid that would get us to the airport with minutes to spare. It was a lot cheaper and we were so thankful we didn't have to cancel our trip. The train ride was beautiful and a lot of fun. I am thankful we got to experience a speed train here and that it got us to Madrid in time.
We arrived in Amsterdam pretty late, so we only had time to check into our hostel and grab some pizza. We ran into some of our friends from Granada, but we were so tired we went to bed pretty early. Meg and I shared a top bunk in a room with about 26 other people. Our hostel was called The Flying Pig and is pretty famous in Europe. I liked it a lot, but I didn't like sharing such small space with so many people. On Friday we woke up around 9 am and got free breakfast from the hostel before going on a walking tour of Granada. Our tour guide was a young Australian who had lived in Amsterdam for 7 years. He spent 4 hours showing us some of the most interesting spots in Amsterdam and telling us funny stories about the city's past. It was one of the best things we did in Amsterdam.
At the end of the tour, Meg and I went to Anne Frank's house. A lot of people we were with didn't go because they heard it wasn't worth it, but it was one of the most moving exhibits I've been too. Just to walk in the space and hear personal stories from Anne Frank's father and friends made it all seem real to me in a way the book failed to. After that, we hung out with some new friends in the city and eventually made our way back to the hostel.
On Saturday, we slept in a little and then got up and walked to the Van Gogh museum. The walk was pretty cold and rainy, but we passed an adorable ice rink and a bakery where we bought a delicious apple tart. The Van Gogh museum was fantastic, but I wasn't feeling really well, so when we were done we took a cable car back to the hostel and slept for a few hours. That night we walked around the city and explored the Red Light District, which was fascinating but creepy.
Sunday we checked out of the hostel and went in search of the famous Dutch pancakes. We finally found a pancake house and had the best Dutch pancakes. Meg had nutella and banana and I had chocolate and ice cream pancakes. It was basically dessert for breakfast. After that, we caught the train to the airport and flew to Madrid. From there we caught a bus to Granada. We got in around 2 am and were exhausted.
I slept all day today and discovered that I have strep throat (which explains the exhaustion and intense sore throat). I caught it from Meg, who had it a few weeks ago. Luckily, she has enough antibiotics left over for me to take, so I hope to feel better in a few days. It was definitely a good thing that we came back to Granada a few days earlier than everyone else. I can't imagine being there while feeling so badly.
I can't believe I only have 11 more days in Spain. Tomorrow we get our numbers for the housing lottery at Denison and next week we have finals. Everything is just happening so quickly!

I love you all,
Em

Thanksgiving in the Alpujarras

I hope everyone at home had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I missed you all. My Thanksgiving in Spain was different, to say the least. It was full of new friends, different kinds of food, and activities I thought I'd never do (hiking, eek!).
On Thursday, I did my presentation about infant obesity in my POE class. Apparently it's a big problem in Spain. On my way home, I stopped in this little bookstore and got both Frankenstein and The Hobbit in Spanish for under 6 euro! Afterwards, I met up with the ISU girls (about 13 in all) to go to a Mexican restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious! Although not the typical turkey dinner I am used to, any change from Spanish food is a good change. We had margaritas and went around the table saying what we were thankful for. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm glad I got to share it with new friends. Meg was still with her Mom, so after dinner we all headed to Hannigan and Sons, an Irish pub that does American karaoke on Thursday nights. We all had a blast and then I went home to catch up with Megan and pack for my trip.
On Friday Meg and I caught the bus with the Arcadia group at 10 am. We had a two hour bus ride, but we had two stops along the way. The first was to see this really old bridge that had been there since the time of the Muslim exodus from Granada. We also stopped at this famous fountain that is supposed to be really good for your health. It was basically just 5 pipes coming out of the ground and tasted like rust (disgusting!). We finally arrived in the Alpujarras, which is a grouping of villages on the southern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We had an hour free to eat the lunch our señoras had packed for us and do a little shopping, and then we went to a ham factory. This was probably my least favorite part of the day. The factory smelled TERRIBLE and we had to go into a room where hundreds of hams were hanging from the ceiling. After learning about the process, we got to try the ham and some Alpujarran wine, both of which made me feel sick. Thankfully, Triana, the co-head of our program, ate the rest of mine.
Finally! We arrived at the hotel and split into rooms. Meg, Val, and I shared a room, and after an intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, I got the queen sized bed. We then met up with the rest of the group and went for a short hike. It was supposed to be about two hours, but we took a wrong turn somewhere and it ended up being only one. I had no problem hiking and really enjoyed the scenery. On our hike, we saw a black cat, a white horse, and a stray dog. The dog was so cute and you could tell that he was just lonely. He walked ahead of us the entire way home, as if he knew where our hotel was. After a brief nap, we all got together for Thanksgiving dinner. How fantastic! It was almost like being home. We had two whole turkeys for only 14 people (mostly girls) and a ton of mashed potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. Granted, occasionally a weird Spanish dish would turn up, like pickles, olives and onions on toothpicks, but other than that, it was very American. After thanking Cristina and the chef, we all headed to our rooms and passed out.
Saturday was a bit rougher. We woke up early and had breakfast, and then headed out to the bus. We drove for about 15 minutes and stopped in another, almost identical, village. Here we met our guide, Francisco, and started a 4-hour hike. The first two hours were scary, but fun. I am really afraid of steep declines, and my asthma acts up on the steeper inclines. Overall, though, the views were beautiful and I had no trouble staying with the group. After a short break about half way through, though, it all went downhill. We went on the steepest incline yet, about 25 minutes of straight upward climbing, and about 3/4 of the way up I had an asthma attack and had to use my inhaler. After that, my legs were shaking so badly, I had trouble doing the steep declines that took us to the final village. At the end of the hike, I was so relieved and sore I could have cried. Luckily, it was time for lunch! All of the Arcadia students went to a restaurant nearby and I had albondigas (Spanish meatballs), which are the only food I'll actually miss from here. Throughout our meal we were interrupted by numerous village cats and dogs, all which seemed well cared for but wandered the streets freely. Afterward, we had an hour for shopping in the artisan's district (I didn't get anything) and then we got back on the bus. It was about a two hour ride home and everyone passed out. Stumbling off the bus in Granada, I was so happy to see the city. While I definitely held my own and got through the hikes without falling or hurting myself, it is obvious that I am not cut out for prolonged nature activities.
I slept until dinner and then talked to my family for a little while. I miss them a lot and it was really weird not to spend Thanksgiving with them. I had a very unique experience, one that will stand out from all my other Thanksgivings. Tomorrow, Meg and I are hoping to go to the gypsy market in town and then we are going to a bar with the group to watch the much anticipated Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game. While I don't have any particular loyalty, I think I will be rooting for Madrid. It is amazing that I only have 5 more days of classes before finals. On Thursday Meg and I had to Amsterdam for the weekend and then I'll be home before I know it. Time is really flying here, and I am trying to take it all in before I go back to my normal life. Although normal is looking pretty good about now. I love you all.

Free Weekend

Finally, some free time! Yu, my Japanese roommate, went to Morocco and Megan went to France with her Mom this weekend. Besides Maria Carmen, I had the house all to myself. On Thursday, Maria Carmen went to tapas with Meg and her mom. She had to miss dinner, so Julia was supposed to make it for me. Around 8:30, there was a knock on my door and it was Juan Carlos (a rare sighting!). He said that Meg and her mom hadn´t shown up to meet Maria Carmen, so I called her. She was just around the corner, but running a bit late. Juan Carlos thanked me and said he was making me dinner because Julia was at church. I went out to see if I could help since I hate being the only one eating, and he was in the kitchen with a girl (I´m assuming girlfriend)... very awkward. The dinner was pretty terrible as I could tell he didn´t cook much. The soup was ice cold and there was so much oil on the food it was almost inedible. Either way, it was nice of him to come out of his room and make dinner.
After saying goodbye to Meg for the weekend, I went out to tapas with Amy, Monica, Emmett, and Richard. We ended up going to Bar Emilio, this really cool bar that seves porrones (lamp shaped drinks that you share amongst a group). I´ve been meaning to go there for a while, so I was excited. The other people went out to more bars or discotecas after that, but I called it an early night.
On Friday, I slept in and then went to the movies with my friend Robin and we saw New Moon in Spanish. During the movie these girls behind us kept oohing and ahhing over the cute guy, and afterward we realized they were American students we knew from the university. We all went to the Alcaiceria and did a little shopping. Afterward, I returned home for dinner and did some school work. It ended up being a super productive night and I finished two essays that are due in December as well as the Co-Curricular Learning Certificate application for Arcadia. I also finished reading Don Quixote in Spanish, which ended up not being too hard (in the abridged version).
On Saturday, I woke up a little earlier than usual (12 pm) and decided to go out and explore the city before everything closed down for siesta. I had the goal of buying a charm for my travel charm bracelet in mind and set out for some jewelry shops. It´s a tradition that Mom and Dad started of buying Clare and I charms for every vacation we take, so we can have a charm bracelet of all the places we´ve been. I went to more than 6 stores, but they either had no idea what I meant or they pulled out a bunch of random charms such as the Eiffel Tower or a seashell. I found one that had a Granada charm (a pomegranate that is the city symbol), but it was pretty ugly. I was just about to give up and head home for lunch when I stumbled upon a small store on a side street. In the window were a bunch of charms, one of them being a gold bull. I went inside and asked if they had it in silver, and sure enough, they did! I was so excited. Afterward, I ran into an old book store on my way home. I stopped in and asked if they had an old copy of Cervantes´ Don Quixote for my library at home. She pulled out a few REALLY old copies, that were basically falling apart, and told me they were over 90 euro. When I said I wanted something that would survive the trip home, she pulled out a new edition that looked exactly the same (except in better shape) and said it was only 15 euro. What a steal! It´s the complete works of Cervantes in hardcover leather. Overall, it was a perfect morning.
I went home for lunch and then talked to Mom and Dad for a bit on Skype. They are starting to decorate for Christmas, and I can´t wait to come home to see it all. Saturday night I went with Arcadia to a Flamenco concert in the gypsy neighborhood of Sacramonte. It was absolutely amazing; the stage had a huge window that overlooked the Alhambra. I thought I wouldn´t like the music, but I was very moved by the singing, even if I had trouble understanding all the lyrics. One woman danced alone for a few songs and it was extremely impressive. There was a man in front of us who kept talking and yelling out things during the songs, and about midway through the concert, after numerous ¨´Shhhhhhs´´, he was asked to leave. That´s how seriously they take the flamenco culture here. Afterward, Amy and I went to chupiteria with the ISU girls and, with her help, I finally got the shirt I´ve been hoping for. We all went to Granada 10 and danced the night away. Nothing too interesting happened, except a Moroccan guy who claimed we danced three weeks ago and that he´s been looking for me at the same discoteca every week (I never went back). That was weird. A group of us walked home together, including a German exchange student who was so fun! She´s 24 and studying landscape design.
Sunday I slept all day, except for meals. Unfortunately, lunch was that disgusting mix of rice, egg, and tomato sauce that Meg and I were hoping to avoid. I Skyped with Clare for a while and then Yu came back from Morocco. We all had dinner and heard about her trip. She seemed to like it, although it doesn´t sound like they did too much besides see a camel and eat cous cous (although that could just be because of the translation).
This week I have two presentations and then I am headed to the Alpujarras with Arcadia to have our Thanksgiving hiking trip and dinner (wish me luck!). I hope everyone at home has a great Thanksgiving, I wish I could be there with you. I can´t believe I´ll be home within the month; I have less than 3 weeks of class left!

I love you all,
Em

Florence, Italy

I have just realized I only have a month left here, and I can't believe it! Everything seems to have gone by so fast. On Wednesday, Meg and I had our first day of volunteering. We got put into two different classrooms, I got the 4 year olds and she got the 5 year olds. Mostly, we just spent an hour putting kids on timeouts. I had a young boy with Downs Syndrome who was so sweet. At one point, I looked over at Meg and she had at least 4 girls wrapped around her legs. She couldn't even move. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted by the end of it. My intercambio, Sandra, had to cancel at the last minute, although we are hoping to get together this weekend while Meg and her mom are in Paris.
On Thursday, we went to class and saw the Capilla Real (again). This is where the Reyes Catolicos (Isabel and Ferdinand) are buried. They are the ones who finally conquered Granada and made it Christian. We returned to the house for lunch, even though there was a little confusion because of a mistake I made in Spanish tenses (oops!). Luckily, she had enough food for us and then we were on our way to Madrid.
Courtney met us at the bus station and took us back to her apartment. We all had flights to catch the next day, so we only stayed up for a little bit. The next morning we got up early and went with Court to the airport where she caught an early flight to Paris with her group. Meg and I caught our later flight to Florence and got there without a problem.
It was a WONDERFUL weekend. We have missed Becca so much and we had the apartment all to ourselves for most of it, since her roommates were traveling to Rome. We walked around the city and saw a lot of the sights, like the Duomo (big cathedral), Ponte Vecchio (the beautiful old bridge), and Michelangelo's David. On day 2, I realized that I had actually been to Florence before! About three years ago, on my senior trip. It is amazing that I forgot, but we had traveled to so many cities in Spain, Italy and France, it was hard to keep it straight. Overall, we spent the most amazing weekend eating the best italian food (ravioli, penne, pizza, gelato, etc) and telling Italian guys to back off. Although, the worst group of guys we met were American Navy men (go figure!). Becca gave us our Christmas presents a little early and they were these beautiful cashmere burberry scarves. I hardly took mine off all weekend. The last night we were there, we had a birthday dinner for Meg, since we weren't all together when she turned 21. We went to this restaurant called Dante's and they gave us a ton of wine for free. It was absolutely delicious and difficult to leave to come back to the mediocre food here in Spain.
Overall, it made us miss Denison a lot and look forward to next semester. Now I am back in my room in Granada and am realizing how short of time I have left here. There is so much to do!

I love you all,
Em

Mom's Visist

What a great weekend! I could barely sit through the makeup classes I had on Friday knowing that Mom and Mrs. Kelley were wandering around the city somewhere. I rushed to the hotel and found that they hadn't checked in yet. I was just turning to leave and come back a little later when I saw them through the door. I held the door for them and Mom looked up and said "Gracias" and then looked back down without even realizing. A second later, her head snapped back up and she burst into tears. I was so excited to see her! I wonder how often the receptionists there see study abroad students meeting their parents.
All three of us got up to the rooms and sat for about an hour just talking. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant nearby and had a big lunch of fish and steak. Later that night we walked around a bit and had some tapas. We also worked with the hotel to fix our air conditioning (it kept going out) and to rent a car for Saturday.
Unfortunately, on Saturday, we found out they only had stick shifts available. Since Mom and I have never learned, it fell to Mrs. Kelley, who hasn't driven stick shift in quite a few years. Needless to say it was a bumpy ride. However, it was really worth it. We left Granada, where the weather was about 40 degrees and really cloudy, and drove 3 hours along La Costa del Sol (The Coast of the Sun), which is the southern most coast of Spain. When we arrived at the coast, it was 85 degrees and a clear blue sky. Mrs. Kelley and I took off our shoes and collected seashells by the sea, and then we all sat at an outdoor cafe and watched the beach for a while. We continued along the coast until we could see the Rock of Gibraltar (very cool!) although the driving was difficult. We eventually turned around and came back to Granada around 4 pm to enjoy some lunch and shopping.
Every day we went to the Alcaicara, a web of abbeys that makes you feel like you stepped into a Moroccan market. We bought many scarves and enjoyed the city. On Saturday night we went out again for tapas and had calamari and wine. On Sunday we got up early and went to the Alhambra. It was absolutely insane! We were allowed to enter at 9 am, and we got there about 20 minutes early. There were people running and stampeding to get into line as if it was the most important thing to be the first one in. We bought the audiotour went at our own leisurely pace. It was a great review for my art midterm, and the first time I've learned about the Alhambra in English (although it was oddly narrated by someone posing as Washington Irving). Afterwards, Mrs. Kelley went back to the hotel while Mom and I went to Burger King (I've been craving it since I've been here). They were supposed to open at 12, but like everything in Spain, they did it at their own pace. Around 12:30, we ate and had a great time. Afterwards, we had siesta, and then we went to coffee at my homestay. My senora was so energetic and gave us great coffee and cookies while Mrs. Kelley and my mom peppered her with questions. I learned more about her in that hour and a half than I have my whole time here so far. Afterwards, my throat was a little sore from translating for everyone (although I suspect Mom understood more than she let on!). We went to two great tapas places; my favorite, Cuadros, serves fantastic tortellini.
Monday, I had to return to school and take my midterms. They were pretty easy and I returned to the hotel afterwards and took Mom and Mrs. Kelley to Kebab King so they could try what I have been raving about for months. They both loved the kebab, and we were lucky enough to avoid the guy who usually works there. Afterwards, Mrs. Kelley went back to the hotel and Mom and I went to a teteria (tea/hookah store) and split a pot of my favorite Moroccan tea. It was so much fun to show her around and bring her to my favorite places. It was like I was seeing everything for the first time again! When we returned to the hotel, we sat out on the roof with Mrs. Kelley and enjoyed the view until it was too cold. Mom and I went out shopping for half an hour and she bought me this great belt and the CUTEST black leather boots. We then met Meg for dinner at a nearby restaurant (after a long search for America food) and had a great dinner of hamburgers and steaks (guess who had the steak!). Mom and I tried to stay up as late as we could talking, but eventually we fell asleep and then it was Tuesday : (
We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. I had reserved a cab to pick them up at 9 and bring them to the airport, so I walked with them to the car and we said our goodbyes. I wanted to jump in and go home with them, I was so sad. After they left, I had to face my last two finals, art and literature (the hardest ones!). I think I did really well and I am so glad they're over. Mom landed safely in Barcelona and I couldn't have had a nicer weekend with her.
Tomorrow I am doing my first hour of volunteering with the daycare center and then I have my first intercambio meeting with Sandra, a Spanish dentist who is hoping to practice her Spanish. I've given up on having intercambios with guys here, as they are WAY too creepy and European. On Thursday, Meg and I leave to start our journey to Florence, Italy. We are staying Thursday night in Madrid in my highschool friend Courtney's apartment and then we fly to Florence to stay with Becca (a friend from DU) until Monday. I am so excited!

I miss you all,
Em

Craaazy November

Hey Everyone!
I hope you all had a good Halloween. As for me, I was definitely celebrating the arrival of November. On Friday, Robin Meg and I went out for tapas again. We're getting so good at it, we can get to almost 5 bars in one night. Saturday was Halloween, and pretty uneventful during the day. Most of our friends were traveling, so Meg and I didn't know if we were even going to do anything at all. We ended up going out and dancing all night long. We didn't dress up, but that's pretty normal for here. It was definitely one of the best nights I've had here so far. The rest of the weekend was spent studying for midterms, which are next week.
On Tuesday our art class went to the Alhambra. It is the second time I have visited it, and I am going again on Sunday with my Mom and Mrs. Kelley. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot more than I did the first time (I think my Spanish is improving!). Wednesday I had my first group presentation in my Culture class and I think it went really well. Wednesday night we went out with some friends for tapas. A girl from Denison who is studying in Copenhagen came to visit Granada, so we spent some time with her as well. We went to Granada 10 for the usual Wednesday night "Ladies Night", but Meg wasn't feeling great, so we went home around 2. Today was a really hectic day. We have a bunch of review classes as well as a trip with some girls from Arcadia to visit a daycare center outside of Granada. It's about 30 minutes away and in a really sketchy neighborhood, but the kids are 3 months old to 4 years old, and they are just ADORABLE! They come from lower class families who need someone to look after them so they can go to work every day. Meg and I have committed to volunteering there once a week for the rest of the time we are here.
Things are starting to get really hectic. Not only are midterms next week, but everything for next semester at Denison is due soon as well (classes, housing, etc). I also am setting up an LSAT tutor for Christmas break while still attempting to work at Target. Overall, it's a little stressful. Mom is going to be here tomorrow and I can't wait!

I miss everyone and love you all!
Em

Happy Halloween

This week has been so busy. All of my classes are starting to gear up for midterms and they have given me a bunch of group projects to do as well. It doesn't help that November is starting and it's going to be my busies month. Mom is coming in 5 days and I am BEYOND excited to see her.
Monday night I had a Skype date with my best friend, Amy, who is back at Denison. We talked for two hours and it made me miss school a ton. I am having the time of my life here, but I am also looking forward to going back and catching up with everyone. On Tuesday, some of the girls and I went to the hookah bar because most of them are traveling again this weekend (a few to Amsterdam, another to Istanbul, and another to northern Spain). It was nice to catch up, I feel like we are all doing our own thing and we don't get to hang out as much as we used to.
On Wednesday, Megan Robin and I went to Granada 10 again. It was a lot of fun, although a lot of American students were dressed up for Halloween already, which was a little lame. It's starting to be so that I can only go to the discotecas once or twice a week. There are so many people and the guys are just ridiculous, I can only handle it so often. On Thursday, Meg and I went to tapas with a few Arcadia students and Triana. It was nice to go out and speak Spanish, but the students we went out with were SO RUDE. We're not good friends at all, so I thought it would be nice to go out with them and try to get a little closer, but they were just so obnoxious. One girl just sat at the table all night and texted, the other complained that they didn't have coffee at 10:30 pm (some places stop serving after dinner), and the guy was so shy he didn't say much at all. Thank God Meg was there with me; she, Triana, and I held up the entire conversation. One girl, after making a big deal about wanting chicken wings while we were all choosing some Spanish potato thing as a tapa, got her wings and said they weren't good enough. Triana had to switch with her to keep her from sending them back (something you don't do with FREE tapas). It was really embarrassing; I'm always so surprised when people lack basic manners or common social skills, especially when we're in a place where we don't know the culture as well.
Last night (Friday), Meg and I got up early to go to our Art History class. It got cancelled on Tuesday, so we had to make it up on Friday. I was bummed to have to get up so early, but it ended up being the most fun I've had in a while. We walked around Granada and saw the Arab baths as well as a Moroccan market. Our teacher pointed out the architecture and talked about the history in such a way so that it was easy to understand, but still really interesting. Afterwards, Meg and I went to the Arcadia office to talk about a volunteer opportunity we are hoping to start next week at a daycare center on the outskirts of Granada. We go on Thursday to visit the school and see if we are interested. I also found out that Arcadia reimburses you for some of the cultural stuff you do here. If you go to a Spanish movie, a museum, or a bullfight, they give you some money back if you show them the ticket. Luckily, I hold onto everything here, so I was able to get back some money for the activities I've done the past month. I was so excited to have the whole morning open, Meg and I went shopping a little. We stopped at a boot store where I found the cutest Spanish boots, although I am waiting to buy them until I get Mom's opinion. We also went to a supermarket and stocked up on shampoo and perfume and makeup. Everything is so much cheaper here if you know where to go. When we got back to the house, we ate lunch and then napped for a bit in the afternoon. We ended up going out with Robin and tapa bar hopping. It was a lot of fun and we ended up going to four bars before heading home around 1:00. Today is Halloween and, while I know I'm going to go out, I don't know if I'm dressing up or where I'll end up. We'll have to see!

Happy Halloween,
Em

The Weekend of Discotecas and Tapas

On Wednesday night, we all went out to Granada 10, a discoteca here that I usually avoid because it tends to be filled with American students. But on Wednesday, we all went and had a really fun time. On Thursday night, the beginning of our weekend, we all went to Tantra bar where this really good saxophone player stood up on the bar and played for almost 45 minutes. It was so much fun! Then we went to Camborio, the best discoteca in Granada. It is situated in the old Muslim neighborhood, Albaicin, and it had beautiful views of the Alhambra. We got there so early (around 12:45), we had the place all to ourselves for almost an hour. After that, everyone we knew from school showed up. Saturday we heard there was a tapas festival, but it ended up getting canceled (although we don't know why). We decided to just go out for tapas and went to four different bars and had the best food I've had here so far. I had fried eggplant and honey, barbeque meatball and mashed potatoes, tortellini, and a pork kebab. The best thing is that all of this amazing food comes free with your drinks, so it was so cheap! On Sunday Meg and I decided to just go shopping and have a girls night in. We went out and looked for boots for Megan (they're really popular here) and then we watched a movie and skyped with a couple of our friends from back home.
Denison put up its course catalog for next semester and I've picked my four classes (fingers crossed I get into them all). I am taking two Honors seminars (The Iraq War and Intro to Linguistics) and two English classes (19th Century Brit Lit and Short Stories). I am very excited!
Megan just decided to go to Barcelona in two weeks while my mom is visiting. Plus, when her Mom visits in the middle of November, they are going to travel to Paris as well. Basically, she only has one more weekend in Granada, and then she is traveling for 5 weekends straight (eek!). I'm glad I will be in Granada for a few more weekends.

I love you all!
Em

Summer Research and Amsterdam!

So it's been a fantastic week so far. I found on Monday that my grade for my intensive course (the class I took in September) was 9/10, which is a solid A! I also received an email back from Professor Porcheddu, the professor I want to do research with next semester. He said he would love to work with me again and that he wants me to submit the same proposal as last year because he thinks it's good enough to make it. I'm so excited! I hope I get the grant this year to stay on campus, it will help a lot with my senior research.
On Tuesday night, I went out with the girls who went to Rome last weekend. They had such a blast and hearing them talk about Italy made me even more excited to go to Florence in a few weeks! Although, I'm more excited about my mom visiting in two weeks.
When Meg and I got home last night, we booked our tickets to Amsterdam for December. A group of Arcadia students are going to Morocco, but Meg and I decided we'd rather go to Amsterdam. We are going with two other groups of girls, but we booked our own flights and hostel so that we don't have any problems. We are leaving Thursday, December 3rd (arriving in Amsterdam around 10 pm) and we are coming back to Granada late on Sunday, December 6th. I also booked us a hostel in The Flying Pig Downtown, which is one of the most famous hostels in Amsterdam. It also got voted as the best hostel in the world last year, so I'm hoping it will be a great experience. I've never stayed in a hostel before, so I hope I like it. I am beyond excited.
We only have two more weeks of October, and then November starts, and it gets a little crazy. Both of our moms are visiting, Meg is going to Barcelona, and we are going to Florence, Italy as well as hiking with the group in the Alpujarras. This is really our last couple weeks of downtime in Granada before we start traveling.
To quickly answer Paul's question (because I know it's been bothering him), I have not heard from Javier again. He stopped calling about a week ago. Although, I have met a new guy named Gustavo, who wants to do an intercambio. Since the girl I was supposed to be doing an intercambio with through Arcadia is too busy with her masters this month, I am going to see if Gustavo and I get along well enough. We are going to go for tapas and talk in English and Spanish to help each other learn.
Clare was home last weekend, so I got to see her and my parents on Skype, which was nice. I can't wait to see them all at Christmas. I've also kept up with a lot of my friends from school, who all say that junior year at DU is extremely stressful and that a lot of people are abroad.
This weekend, I am planning on going to some discotecas with the girls, since I haven't gone in a few weeks (last weekend was really restful). A few of them are going hiking on Friday, but I don't think I will be joining them as hiking is not really my thing. We are going hiking with Arcadia at Thanksgiving, and I think that will be enough for me.

I love you all,
Em

Classes

So far this week we have really just gone to classes. My teachers are all very enthusiastic and have great personalities. My art teacher for example, he makes us sing this song called "Granada" every day. It's hilarious, and he has a really good voice. My 5 other teachers are all women, my grammar teacher is sarcastic (in a good way) and the other four are really nice and helpful.
On Wednesday night I finally made the trek up to the student apartments to have dinner with my friend Valerie. You have to take a bus to get there, because it's about an hour walk away. She made tortellini and I brought bread and butter. Mel and Blair were also there, so we had a nice dinner and I got to see where all the other students live. It looks really fun, but I definitely wouldn't want to deal with transportation back and forth.
Today Meg and I had our late class cancelled, so we were able to stay home and figure out some stuff for school. I have to pick classes pretty soon, so I'm trying to figure out what my course load needs to be. I only have to focus on English and Honors classes, and with my AP credits from highschool, it's possible that I only have to take 3 classes each semester. I am also getting a LSAT tutor for over Christmas break so that I can take the LSAT again in February. Plus, I'm trying to work a bit at Target for the few weeks I am home in January and I'm attempting to get another summer research job at Denison so that I can stay there next summer and do something that will help me get into law school. It's such a hectic time, and there's so much that I want to do, it's a little frustrating to be so far away. But, I'm still in contact with everyone at school and home and I'm really excited about the rest of this semester.

I love you all,
Em

Gwen's Weekend

Wow, it's been a busy week, sorry I haven't been updating a lot. On Tuesday I went to the beach with some of the girls and had a great time. We went to a town on the southern coast called Malaga, which was the home of Picasso. The beach was gorgeous and the weather perfect, but I left a little earlier than the others in order to go to the Picasso Museum in town. They had 155 works of his donated by his grandkids, and I definitely learned a lot walking around by myself. I got home just in time for dinner and Meg was home from Madrid.
Wednesday was our first day of classes. I had a TERRIBLE schedule, which consisted of having one class on Mondays and Wednesdays and four classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, meaning I'd have to run to lunch and then run back to school. Luckily, Cristina, our program manager, is the best and was able to switch my culture class so that I have two classes on Mon/Wed and only three on Tues/Thurs. All of my classes were a lot of fun, although I can already tell they will be more challenging than my intensive course. I don't have to buy any books, just these great notebooks the CLM provides for each class. I am taking Grammar, Spanish Culture, Spanish Art, Spanish Literature, and Composition classes, and so far I am excited about them all. In my art class I even get to take field trips to the Alhambra and other places to talk about the architecture and art.
On Thursday, Gwen arrived from Madrid. We went to the guitar concert and then out for tapas and a kebab (she had never had one). It was a pretty easy night b/c she was tired from travelling, so we all went to bed pretty early. On Friday we went to this great Medieval fair in the middle of Granada and went around to all these fascinating booths and gypsy stands. Later, we went to botellon and Vogue (a discoteca). It was a ton of fun, and Gwen said the guys here are just as sketchy as they are in Madrid. On Saturday, Gwen and some of the girls went to the beach, but Meg and I stayed in and then took Gwen out on a girls night to tapas and tea. Last night, Sunday, was our last night together and we went to see a movie during the afternoon. We saw Agora, which was really good, but completely in Spanish. It was a lot of fun being able to understand 2 straight hours of Spanish, and we all felt very accomplished afterwards. After dinner, we all went to the chupitería (shot bar) and met up with some great American students from Barcelona that Meg and Gwen had met in Madrid. They were very nice and a lot of fun. Gwen, Sophie, Meg and I ended up staying out until 4 in the morning, because we won't get to see Gwen again until November.
Overall, it was a great weekend. Luckily we have today off to rest (Columbus Day) and then we have three days of school before the next weekend!

Miss you all,
Em

Trip Time!

Finally! I am finished with my month long intensive language course. I took the test on Tuesday and found out on Wednesday that I passed both classes (I'm pretty sure I got an A!). Meg and I weren't feeling too great though, both of our stomachs had started hurting after dinner one night. On Thursday we left with the Arcadia group to go to Toledo, Segovia and Madrid.
In Toledo, we stayed for one night at the Fundación, which is where the Toledo students live and have classes. It was nice, but Toledo was very small and the only sites we saw were some churches, which didn't interest me a lot. We had dinner with the Toledo students (we had really gross paté for an appetizer), but I got seated by two that were SO quiet. I asked them a ton of questions about their program and how they liked Toledo and I could barely get any responses. Their enthusiasm was so low, I was thankful we were only staying one night.
The next day we took the bus to Madrid and took a couple tours around the city. It is a beautiful city with a lot of fun things to do, but definitely a little too big for me. Plus, everything there is a lot more expensive than it is in Granada. We got to see the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) which is now used only for diplomatic meetings with other countries. It was extremely impressive, each room was more ornate than the last. One room, the king's dressing room in fact, had hand embroidered flowers all over the walls. It took 5 years for the people to sew it. The palace was definitely my favorite place. After the palace, we went to this huge rally in the main plaza where everyone was dancing and they had huge screens up waiting for the announcements for which city won the bid for the 2016 Olympics. We waited for about an hour before they declared that Rio had won, so everyone was really disappointed, but we did get free shirts! We were so exhausted from walking around all day so we had a pretty relaxing night. We went to an outdoor market and walked around for a bit, but went to bed relatively early.
On Saturday, we had to be down in the lobby of the hotel pretty early for breakfast and to leave for Segovia. Segovia was absolutely beautiful, a little town on top of a hill. It has the second oldest aqueduct system, which was also very impressive. We saw another church there, as well as a smaller royal residence. We were only in Segovia for the day and returned to Madrid at night.
I started not feeling well on Saturday morning. Besides my stomach, my throat started hurting a lot as well and I ended up losing my voice. My friend, Gwen, from Denison is studying in Madrid and we were all supposed to go out with her on Saturday to this really big discoteca. However, it just didn't make sense for me to push myself when I wasn't feeling well, so Gwen came and hung out in our hotel room for a while before going out with everyone else. Monica, who also wasn't feeling well, and I stayed in and watched the Italian Job in Spanish.
On Sunday we went to the Prado Museum, the biggest museum in Spain, and saw a lot of works by Velasquez and other well known artists. My favorite was a painting by a pretty unknown author called "The Garden of Earthly Delights". After the museum, we had a little bit of free time, so a group of us went to another, more modern, museum called Reina Sofia. This museum had a lot of work by Dali and Picasso. I spent more time looking at the Picasso exhibit because I have already gone to the Dali museum in Barcelona and know his works pretty well.
I also made the decision that I wasn't feeling well enough to stay with my highschool friend, Courtney, for another two days. So I had lunch with her before I left with the Arcadia group Sunday evening. I am going back to Madrid for a night in November to stay with her before Meg and I go to Florence the next day, so I'll be able to see her again. Plus, she started school today and tomorrow, so we wouldn't have been going out that much anyway. I was able to cancel my bus ticket for Tuesday and I saved a lot of money by not staying in Madrid longer.
I came home with the group on our nice private bus and today I woke up and went to the doctor with Cristina. They say I have a virus and gave me three different kinds of medication to take. It was hard explaining all my symptoms in Spanish, but Cristina was a big help. I am already feeling better! Cristina told my senora that I can't have friend or oily foods, which is good b/c most of the stuff I don't like here is fried, now I have an excuse to have pasta and rice most of the time.
Classes start on Wednesday, so tomorrow is our last day of freedom. Megan stayed in Madrid to hang out with Gwen a little longer, but she will be returning tomorrow night. I think I might go to the beach with some of the girls tomorrow and have a nice relaxing day. Gwen is coming to Granada this weekend, so I will have a lot more time to hang out with her. Besides being sick, it was a fantastic trip and I got to see a lot more of Spain. Plus, I know I definitely made the right decision in choosing Granada!

Love you all,
Em

Bullfight!

The other day, Meg and I were sitting in our room when all of a sudden, this Japanese girl shows up at our door. Apparently she is living here as well, in the room next to hours. She seems very sweet, but she doesn't speak any English and her Spanish is pretty poor. I'm excited to have her here because it will help Meg and I speak more Spanish at home and we can have better conversations at meals. She is so polite and I don't think it will be hard at all to share the space with her.
It was a pretty good weekend. We went out on Friday night to the botellón. It was Beatriz's last night because she is going to Ireland to study for a year. After botellón, we went up to this awesome discoteca in the Albacín, an old Muslim neighborhood that faces the Alhambra. The discoteca was named Cambodio, and it was basically a bunch of caves that had multiple dance floors and bars. It was so beautiful, and the views were breathtaking! At about 4:30 am, Meg, Sophie and I started walking home. We ran into one of our friends from Kabab King and he opened the store just for us! It was so nice, and we sat around talking for a while. Unfortunately, other people saw the store was open, so Kamel ended up having to work a bit.
Saturday was pretty low key. Meg and I went out for a bit to sit at a cafe and study for our big test on Tuesday. Some of the girls went out around midnight to see "Inglorious Basterds" or "Malditos Bastardos", but Meg and I had already seen it and wanted to get a good night's sleep.
Today was an absolute blast. We went to the bullfight at Plaza de Toros around 6 pm. Our senora packed us sandwiches and fruit and we all brought wine. I thought I would hate the bullfights because the killing of the bulls is so inhumane, but it was actually a lot of fun. The first bull was really sad, but after that it was a lot more exciting and almost artistic. It seemed as if the matador and the toro were dancing, and they had little interludes when other matadors would come out as well. Overall, I think most of the girls liked it. It was definitely worth going to.
Afterward, we went to a Moroccan restaurant where Meg and I split the best pizza I've had here so far. On our walk home, we passed the huge parade they are having this weekend in honor of Saint Angustias (the patron saint of Granada) and the Virgin Mary. They had a huge statue of Mary that they were carrying through the streets while chanting Hail Mary in Spanish. There was also a live band and a lot of food booths (I had to struggle not to by anything, it all looked so good!). It was very cool to see.
Overall, it was a weekend of trying new things and meeting new people. The beginning of this next week might be a little boring with the test on Tuesday and all. But I leave Thursday for Toledo and then Madrid and Segovia, so hopefully I'll have a lot to tell after that!

Love Always,
Em

Spanish Dreams

I haven't written in a few days, so let me catch up. On Tuesday night we went out with all of the girls and Beatriz, Cristina, and Pilar (three Spanish girls we met here). They were so much fun! Beatriz is leaving on Sunday to study in Ireland and Cristina is learning English so she can get a job when she goes abroad as well. She would speak to us in English and we would respond in Spanish. Since most of the Spanish students aren't here yet, it's so nice to go out with some actual natives who have the patience to let us butcher the language when talking.
Wednesday was pretty uneventful, but Thursday was a blast. After lunch we had a meeting in the Arcadia office about the Morocco trip. After doing a lot of research about it, I don't think I'm very interested in going. It has a lot to do with the Peace Corps and the socio/political situation over there, which is a pretty heavy trip to fit into 4 days right before finals. Overall, I'm just loving Granada too much to want to leave it. The guy who presented the program though was so passionate. He grew up in Germany and spent most of his childhood wishing he could cross the Berlin Wall and travel the world. When it final came down, he did just that. Now he's settled in Granada and has founded the Morocco Exchange program. He seems so passionate about traveling and how different cultures can help you define yourself as well as your perspectives about others.
After the presentation, we all went for dinner at a Mexican place which was very good. We then went to the free guitar concert they have every Thursday night. We arrived a little late, so we had to sit on the floor, but it was so worth it! There were 3 guitarists and it is just such a peaceful hour, sitting there listening to Spanish music. Afterwards, we all wandered to a tapas bar and had the BEST tapas I've had here so far. After filling up on those, we went to karaoke at Hannigan's. Once again, it was very fun but VERY American. After about an hour, Meg and I decided to go home and get some rest. Our final is on Tuesday, so we're trying to study a lot this weekend and memorize everything.
Tonight we are going to the botellón and hopefully a different discoteca that is in the Albacín and has awesome views of the Alhambra. On Sunday, all of the girls bought tickets for the bullfight here in Granada, so I'm going to see that on Sunday evening. I'm a little nervous because I don't know if I'll be able to watch them kill a lot of animals, I think that bullfighting is antiquated and immoral, but I've been told it's a very important cultural experience, so I'm going to go with the girls and hope I make it through it!
Oh, and something really exciting happened. During siesta one day, Meg woke up and heard my talking in Spanish in my sleep! Even though I don't remember it, it's a really good sign when you start speaking another language in your dreams.

Love Always,
Em

Finally, Mashed Potatoes!

On Saturday, Meg and I slept pretty much all day and then met Sophie for dinner at this really great little Chinese place we found on Gran Vie. Afterwards, we hopped on the bus and went to Marecena for the Chamboa concert. I bought a bus pass so now I feel very native using it to get back and forth places. The Chamboa concert was a ton of fun, they had a lot of little booths set up with cute clothes and trinkets. The music was really good and I could actually understand some lyrics! Afterwards, we took a taxi home and got a kebab before going to bed.
We woke up early on Sunday and went to Almunecar, a beach town about an hour away from Granada. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive up into the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The beach was a little cloudy and cold to begin with, but after we walked around and looked at some shops, the sun came out and we spent a couple hours just relaxing on the beach. The water was a little too chilly to be in, so we just slept and read until it was time to go back.
Today, we had school again. This is the beginning of our last full week of the intensive language course. We'll be having our final at the beginning of next week and then we'll be off to Madrid! Today was definitely the best food day we've ever had. Last night we had mashed potatoes (YAYYY) and today we had tortellini and grilled cheese. The food situation is definitely looking up. Tomorrow we are going on a walk with Christina to see all the hang out places of the students, it should be fun!

Miss you,
Em

Spanish Guitar and American Karaoke

On Wednesday I had a pretty normal day of school and siesta. I had to go to the Arcadia office and talk to Christina about my classes for next month. I got into the literature, art, and culture classes that I wanted, but I won't find out about my grammar and composition classes until the day before they start. While I was in the office, I bought my bus ticket to Madrid for two weeks from now as well as a plane ticket to Florence, Italy for mid-November. Meg and I are going there to visit our friend, Becca. Luckily, she has an apartment, so even though the ticket was a little pricey, we won't have to worry about hostels or anything like that. Next week we are having our group meeting about Morocco, so I'm going to wait to book any more trips until after I figure out if I want to/can afford to go to Morocco. Our group has a 5 day weekend at the beginning of December that would be perfect for traveling. Right now we are debating between Dublin or Amsterdam, both of which would be really cold and probably expensive. Either way, I have a long time to decide and I'm enjoying Granada too much to want to go anywhere else.
I returned home for dinner after my meeting and then Meg and I went out to our favorite Chinese bar right in the middle of the city. We met the other girls there and had our usual wine and calamari. The waiter is starting to recognize us and know what we want to order. Afterwards, we went to Granada 10, which is a discotheque nearby. I really hate it though because it's small and is usually all American students with the exception of the standard handful of creepy Spanish guys. Wednesday is Ladies Night, though, so we got in for free. After about 30 minutes, we decided to go to another discotheque, called Mae West. This club is a lot bigger and much more authentic. I actually use my Spanish skills! We met a group of guys there and we all exchanged numbers. This guy, Javier, seemed very interested in my number, but I had school the next day so we ended up leaving semi-early (early for Spain is around 3 am). Javier called my phone 25 times between 4:30 am and 6 am and really annoyed Meg and I. I ended up having to turn my phone off in order to get some sleep. It was an interesting night, but I was very tired the next day.
On Thursday we took a long siesta and had to tell Maria Carmen that we wouldn't be here for dinner b/c of a concert we wanted to go to. We went and ate at the Burger King in the center of town because Meg and I are CRAVING American food. Afterwards, we met our group at this awesome museum on a side street and listened to a free concert of two guitar players. The first was a classical guitarist, and I liked him the best. The second was a flamenco guitarist who played with a violin as well. It was absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite things we've done here thus far.
I ran into a girl I know at Denison who is in another program here. Neither of us knew the other was studying in Granada, so we exchanged numbers and talked about weekend plans. Afterwards, Sophie Meg Emmett Richard and I went to Hannigan and Sons, which is a huge Irish pub in Granada. On Thursday nights they have karaoke, with a free drink every time you do a song. We had such a blast! Emmett went first and did "Like a Prayer" by Madonna (too funny!) and then Sophie and I did "Faith" by George Michael. I tried to get Meg on stage, but that's not really her scene. We met a lot of American students and had a really good time singing and dancing around. There were a few Spanish guys who sang and they were TERRIBLE, it was so funny to listen to.
On the way home, Soph Meg and I stopped for a kabob at Kabob King (the place to go for a late night snack). On our way home we ran into the guys from the other kabob store and talked to them. We are starting to realize just how small Granada really is. It definitely has the city vibe, but we've only been here 2 1/2 weeks and we are already running into people we know. I can't imagine what it will be like in a few months!
Today we had a relaxing day at school; the teachers really let us relax on Fridays. Now we are going to siesta and then go to the chupitería (shot bar) and la botelón. We have a couple fun things planned this weekend and I can't wait to tell you all about them.

Love Always,
Em

La Festival de la Patrona

Today after school Meg and I bought Maria Carmen flowers because it is the festival of the patron saint of Granada, Saint Angustias. After lunch I took a short siesta until 5 pm and then went out with Sophie while Meg kept sleeping. Sophie and I went to the library of the Centro de Lenguas Modernas and I got two books in Spanish that I will try to read in the next to weeks. There is also a multimedia room for you to listen to music or watch movies, so we might go and hang out there later in the week. They have movies in English and in Spanish.
After the library, Soph and I walked through the park where they were holding the festival. There were hundreds of people there in line with bouquets of flowers to hang up on the church. On the front of the church, on either side of the door, there were large green grids on which men were standing and placing flowers. The devotion and excitement was amazing, and it wasn't even an official holiday here!
We walked past the plaza and went to a nice restaurant by the river where we sat outside and met our friend named Amy. We all had a glass of wine and talked about our lives at home. We were about to leave when it started to thunderstorm, so the waiter just rolled out an umbrella for our table and we ordered another round and waited out the storm. It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had so far. I am sad that a lot of the group is going to Seville this weekend, while I've chosen to stay in Granada. I've only been here a short time, and there are so many trips I want to take, it seems like a better choice to enjoy the city while it's still calm.
I walked home just before nine and had dinner with Meg and Maria Carmen. We watched part of a football game (Madrid vs. Zurich). I am pretty sure Madrid will win. Now I am going to read some more of my book before I go to meet some of the other girls for tapas around 11:30.

Love Always,
Em

King Kabob

Last night actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I thought we were all just going out to grab a quick ice cream, but we ended up going to get tea as well (I'm still feeling a little sick) and then a few of us went to King Kabob, which is this late night Turkish diner. We met two really nice guys who work there who sat with us for a long time and talked to us in Spanish. It's always a relief to find people who will give you time to form what you want to say but who aren't harsh or critical if you mess up. Carmen and Mohammad (the two guys) said that I was the best out of the group and that my speaking is very fluid and precise. I was so excited!
Today we had school again, it was really easy and we didn't have any homework. I feel as though I am really starting to understand the grammar and I hope that it will stick with me in conversation.
For lunch we had this yellow rice soup and for dinner we had a kind of potato brick thingie (very filling). Meg and I went to the Arcadia office for a little bit and did some research on the trips we want to take to Italy and Dublin. I am trying to figure out if I can swing them financially, but since it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, I'm sure I'll find a way. We are hopefully going to buy all the tickets on Wednesday so I can stop worrying and going back and forth. I won't decide on the trip to Morocco until later, when we hear about the cost and the details of the trip.


Love Always,
Em

La Alhambra

Today we woke up around 10:00 and had to completely rush to meet up with our group. Meg and I could have walked alone, but it was pretty far away and there was some confusion, so we decided to meet up early with some of our friends and take the bus. We rushed getting ready and having breakfast and Maria Carmen was nice enough to rush and make us lunches so that we wouldn't have to hurry back and we could eat at La Alhambra.
We took the bus and, after missing the stop, the bus driver was nice enough to drive us back to the plaza where we needed to meet up with our tour. La Alhambra is impossible to describe, the intricacy of the carvings and the variety of flowers is really overwhelming. I probably took over 200 pictures and I am dreading having to go through them and weeding out the ones that didn't capture the spirit of the palace. For all who don't know (I certainly didn't before doing my research to go here) Granada was the last Muslim stronghold when all the rest of Spain had turned over to the reign of Isabelle and Ferdinand and the official religion of Christianity. La Alhambra was the palace that overlooked the city of Granada and it is absolutely massive with a lot of history. Isabelle and Ferdinand were so focused on gaining control of Granada that, after they did invade and win, they demanded to be buried in Granada. I saw their casks at La Catedral de Ave Maria the other day.
After walking all around La Alhambra and seeing many beautiful rooms and views, we moved on to Generalife (which we all mispronounced and sounded VERY American). To do it injustice and simplify it would be to call it the royal gardens. It is an absolutely huge park with fantastic scenes of foliage and exotic flowers and fountains. My favorite part was Las Escaleras de Agua (The Stairs of Water). It was this long set of stairs flanked on each side by what looked like an intricate tiny water slide. If you stop the water some way up from the bottom and then let it go, it splashes whoever is standing below.
We all ate our lunches in Generalife and had a great time. We decided to walk back and stopped in our favorite Irish pub, Catedral, to have a Coke and paella. Then Meg and I returned home and slept until dinner, which is coming soon!
Overall, it was definitely one of the best days and most certainly the best tour we have had. It is also the last one that we will take with an official tour guide in Granada. Now all the rest of the exploring is left to us! I am feeling a lot better, although I still have a head cold, but I am sure that I will be back to normal this week.

Love Always,
Em

Addendum: Grossest dinner EVER! It was gray and squished. We're going for ice cream.

Estoy Enferma

Thursday night I started to feel a little under the weather. When I woke up on Friday, it was as if I had been hit by a bus. My whole head felt three times its normal size and, while I tried to go to classes, I had trouble making it through the first half. I left at noon and missed the second class to go home and sleep from 1 pm on Friday to 2 pm today (Saturday). I woke up for dinner and Maria Carmen took my temperature which was a little over 100 degrees. She gave it to me in Celsius though, so I had to look it up online.
Thankfully, when I woke up this morning I felt much better. I ate a little more and spent most of the day reading and cleaning up a little. I am going out tonight, but it will probably be an early night because I'm still not 100% and tomorrow we are going to visit La Alhambra, which is a huge Moorish palace that marked the last stronghold before Granada became Christian when Isabella and Fernando invaded. It should be beautiful.

Miss you all!
Love Always,
Em

Overload

Yesterday was a really nice day. We had a fun time in class and then took a few hours for siesta. Before dinner, Meg and Sophie and I explored the western end of the city a little bit and found a pretty nice mall as well as the prettiest park I've seen here so far. It's name is Frederico García Lorca park, he's a famous Spanish writer. There were a million rose bushes and different shaped trees. It was much different from parks back home, but very beautiful.
We stayed in last night and just hung out. Today we had class again and we had our first exam: we had to tell a story in front of the class! I talked about how my key didn't work the first night I was at my homestay and how embarrassing it was.
After class we had lunch and then went to a meeting about safety in the Arcadia office. Afterwards we all got helado (ice cream) and talked about what kind of trips we want to take while we're here. The Arcadia program is taking us around Spain on various trips and they are also hooking us up with a Morocco program, although that isn't paid for and is supposed to be pretty expensive. But Morocco is a place I know I would never go on my own and because of that I am seriously considering it. I am also going to stay in Madrid with some friends for a few nights as well as try to travel to Italy and possibly Dublin to visit some other friends from home. Overall, the whole traveling thing is exciting but very stressful. I wish someone would just plan it for me.
I miss you all!
Love Always,
Em

La Plaza del Toro

Albacin was very pretty once you got to the top, a breathtaking view of Granada, but it was very hard to walk up to. All of the streets are cobblestone and almost vertical they are so steep. Needless to say, my legs are going to hurt for a few days.
Yesterday I had class again. It was really easy and at the end of the day the second professor pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to move up a level because she didn't want me to be bored. I said no because the first class is actually at my level in terms of grammar and because, if I move up, I might jeopardize my credit transfer at Denison. Right now everything is perfect and I think that I will be challenged enough without moving to advanced.
Meg and I had pasta for lunch and then took a quick siesta before meeting Sophie (another girl from Denison) to explore some more of the city. We took about a 30 minute walk to Plaza del Toro, a bullfighting ring on the northern outskirts of Granada. After paying 3 euro, we got a nice succint tour of the facilities, including the creepy medical rooms in the back for when people get hurt. It was interesting though, there was a bar/restaurant set up in the middle of the ring because it isn't bull fighting season yet, and they were playing Hanson's "Mmmbop", so it was hard to take some of the danger seriously with 90s music in the background. Afterwards, Sophie Meg and I went to a nice air conditioned bar and had tapas, which are basically free appetizers that come if you order a drink.
I came home for dinner and then left again in order to meet Amy, Morgan, Sophie and some people from another program. We went to the Moroccan part of the city and found a really cute and authentic hookah/tea bar. We hung out there for almost 3 hours before heading home to get some sleep.
I am getting used to being here and I am definitely getting a handle on the city. I do miss home and American food a lot, but I'll be back there soon enough wishing I were here, so I'm trying to enjoy the moment without feeling too homesick. I miss Denison too, but I'm staying in touch with a lot of friends from there, so it makes it a little easier.

Miss you all,
Love Always,
Em

Botellón

So last night turned out to be really fun. We met at La Plaza Isabelle, which is our usual meeting spot in the center of the city. It has a huge statue in the middle of the fountain of Columbus asking Isabelle to go look for the New World. One of the girls in the group, Monica, brought her sister from the homestay. Her name was Beatriz and she is 23. She was so nice and taught us a lot about the city. We went to what is called a botellón, which is a huge gathering of people in a park. It is the only place in Granada where you can drink outside and it's much cheaper than the bars, as well as more authentic. We talked spanish the whole night and met a lot of new people. Around 3 am we went to a discoteca (basically a club) that is called Mae West. They were only letting in natives from Granada, but since we had Beatriz, we were able to get in anyway. It was a huge building with a lot of different levels and rooms. Most played American music, but there were rooms you could go to if you wanted to listen to Spanish music. There were TVs all along the walls and they played a tribute to Michael Jackson (everyone here gets really excited about his music). It was a lot of fun and we didn't get home until about 5:30.
Unfortunately, that means we overslept the next day and weren't able to make it to the beach. Luckily a couple other people overslept too, so after dinner we went out for tapas. Today is Megan's birthday, she is turning 21 which isn't as big of a deal here as it is in the US. We still went out to another discoteca called Granada 10. Unlike Mae West, Granada 10 had a lot of people from America, so we didn't get to speak Spanish as much as we did the other night. We met a nice group of guys from Texas who are here on vacation and then we called it a night.
Today we had lunch, the usual bowl of soup and some ice cream (I think a treat for Meg's birthday). They usually have soup at lunch, which I am trying to get used to. I don't know how they can eat something that hot when it's 95 degrees out. I just finished my homework for tomorrow and now I am getting ready to go on a tour of Albacin, an old Arab neighborhood.

Love Always,
Em