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