Blog escrito en los Estados Unidos

Pues, un amigo me advisó a escribir en español en mis “blogs”. Yo escribía en inglés cuando yo estaba en España, asi que voy a escribir mis blogs en español cuando estoy en los Estados Unidos. Tiene sentido, no?

Ahora, llevo unas seis semanas en Carolina del Norte. Y algunas cosas importantes han pasado durante este tiempo. La cosa más importante es que yo he encontrado trabajo Voy a trabajar en Raleigh, la capital de Carolina donde vive mi novio. :) Y tambien es donde vivía durante mi estancia en la universidad. Por eso, casi todo mis amigos viven allá. Voy a ser una profesora de inglés para extranjeros. Y tambien voy a tener una clase de español durante la segunda mitad del curso. Voy a trabajar en un instituto o el centro educativo más parecido. La verdad es que los institutos en los Estados tienen los niveles iguales del tercero y quarto de ESO y primero y segundo de bachillerato. Primero y segundo de ESO están en una escuela llamada “middle school” cual es entre colegio y instituto.

Estoy muy contenta con mi trabajo. Empieza en el medio de agosto. Asique, no tengo mucho para hacer ahora. Estoy buscando pisos en Raleigh. Y no puedo decidir. Unos son demasiado caros, otros son muy viejos, etc etc. Pero tengo muchas ganas para vivir sola. Ahora yo vivo con mis padres en High Point, pero en el principio de agosto voy a vivir en Raleigh solita solita. Nunca en mi vida, he vivido sola. Siempre he compartido pisos con amigas o con mis padres. Espero que no tenga miedo cuando viva sola. Y tambien espero que no sienta muy triste sin compañeras de piso. Me gusta tener amigos/compañeros con quienes puedo hablar.


Echo de menos mucho España. Un cosa que extraño que me ha sorprendido es vivir dentro del centro de una ciudad. Me gustaba caminar a todos los sitios. En los Estados, no puedo caminar a ningún sitio falta otra casa en mi calle. Siento que no reciba el ejercicio que necesito.

Pero, echo de menos mucho el español. Me encantaba hablar en español y oír el español todos los días.

Necesito encontrar un amigo con quien puedo hablar en espanol.....

Echo de menos todos mis amigos en Don Benito.

Muchos besitos!!!!

My LAST night in Spain.

Since I am getting ready to head back to the USA I thought I would put down some of the things I am looking forward to in the USA and then some things I am going to miss about Spain and then some things I really like about Extremadura specifically.

What I’m looking forward to in the motherland:

-Seeing Spencer

-Seeing all my other friends and family.

-Carpet in houses.

-An education system I understand

-Central heating and air

-Good service

-Efficiency

-Being able to understand everything thats going on

-Being able to drive wherever I want, whenever I want.

-International food– like japanese. Yumm, im thinking about sushi and hibachi and fried rice now.

-Seeing diversity

-Good milk

-Cookouts and 4th of July

-Cheap sunscreen

-Good, reliable internet

-Being in the same timezone as friends and family.

-Less noisy motorcycles– they are terrible in DB.

What I’m going to miss about Spain:

-All of my friends here :(

-Hearing and getting to speak Spanish allll the time.

-The Spanish hospitality– the Spanish are so kind and so helpful and caring

-Braseros (heaters that go under round tables that keep you nice and toasty in the winter.

-The cheese They have delicious cured sheep’s cheese that is just the best thing ever.

-Catalanas and tostadas– typical spanish breakfast with a toasted baguette, olive oil, pureed tomato and cured ham- yummmm

-Feeling special just because I’m an American and am a native speaker of English.

-Bacalao Dorado– my favorite extremaduran dish.

-Being able to travel almost anywhere in europe easily and cheaply.

-Sevillanas class

-Hearing flamenco pop played loudly in cars.

-The unifying culture things, like how everyone knows how and when to clap during a flamenco soung.

-Tinto de veranos and cerveza con limon

-fresh bread, yummmm

-cheap rent

-All the holidays. As one of my teachers said to me one time, “Spain might rank last in work ethic, but they have got to be first in partying” (translation)

-Getting to walk everywhere I need to go and not need a car.

-Spanish foodin general. I used to not like, but I have come to love some dishes.

-The beautiful architecture

-Being able to see really, really old things. Like the Roman theater in Merida.

-The siesta

-Persianas (blinds)– they really keep the sunlight out.

-Learning something alll the time, whether its something about the Spanish language or Spain itself. I learned atleast one thing everyday it seemed like.

-The atmosphere of going out for tapas at lunch and then just continuing to hang out the rest of the day till after dinner.

-How talkative the Spanish are.

Fun things about Extremadura:

-How they always talk about the weather, and how unusual its acting.

-Their crazy accent– they drop “s” and “d” like they’re going out of style and the sing their sentences. Its so fun and “tiene mucha gracia”.

-Merida and Guadalupe– fabulous places that should not be overlooked by people traveling to Spain.

-Everyone has so much pride in their region, its quite endearing.

-The beautiful countryside

-All the sheep I see all the time.

-How everyone is obsessed with “jamon” (ham)

-The rural atmosphere.

This, of course, is not everything, just a few things that came to mind. This has been an amazing experience and its almost unreal for it to be over. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I have learned so much. With that said-- I am also so excited about going back to the US. I miss Spencer and my friends and family so much. I am excited to be able to share with the americans everything I have experienced in Spain.

Un beso. (my flight leaves in about 12 hours!

Wrapping Up life

So it has been a strange week so far. I have been saying goodbyes and closing things out. I feel like I am undoing everything I did at the beginning. Like I had to go to city hall to void my statement on residency in don benito. I went to the back to transfer all of my saved money to my US bank account and close out my Spanish bank account (this hasnt happened completely yet-- it was kind of difficult). I am packing everything-- all the stuff that I had found a place for and organized. I have this weird void sensation that sense I am un-doing everything I did before that I leave with no lasting mark on Don Benito. Not that I should have one, but that its like when I leave everything continues on and no one will remember me. I mean I know my friends will remember etc etc. But I have no lasting legacy. Don Benito was an important part of my life, albeit short, but it always will be, but Im not an important stage or a stage at all in Don Benito's long life. That kind of makes me sad. This experience has been so wonderful for me, and I wish I could have done the same thing for the town I have been in. But thats the way it always is with these type of things.

This trend will be continuing until I leave on a plane a week from today. -- the goodbyes, the packing, the erasing of my don benito life. The emotion of it all is finally hitting me.

Another weekend in the town of Calabazones

My next to last weekend in Don Benito:

First I had my good-bye ceremony for everyone in my program. It was really good to see all of my friends and people I havent seen since October. Here is a picture of my mentor and I:

The next day, I finally went to the museum in Don Benito. Its called El Museo Etnografico. Its about the history of Don Benito and how DB used to be in the past. It was actually really good. The tour guide was great and the museum was a lot bigger than I expected. Here is a pic of Carol Ann and I out front:

That night there was a "Rock/Blues" concert in one of the Plazas in Don Benito. It was alright. The music wasnt exactly of highest caliber, but it was definitely cool to be outside and have that kind of atmoshpere.

On Saturday I had lunch and spent the afternoon with one of the teachers I work with and her friends that I have hung out with before. We kinda jumped around some places in DB and then we headed to Medellin to have coffee at Quinto Cecilio, the fancy restaurant on a hill that has beautiful views of the countryside. I have probably talked about it before. Here is a picture of the view:

That night there was another concert in Don Benito. It was also an outdoor concert but in a cooler location. It was in the ampitheater outside of Ave Maria music school which is built in a greek style with scuptured gardens-- definitely a cool site.

Here are some pics of the concert:

Fortunately a lot of my friends were able to come also. Here are some pics of us at the concert:

This is me and my friend Sara: (shes spanish, but also speaks english and french really well!)

This is Alfredo, Violeta, Pedro J and me:

The English speakers!!! Lotte, Becky, Carol Ann and me:
Four bands played. The first was Spanish, the next two were Portugese and the last was an American group from Minnesota. Everyone agreed the last group was the best! Hehe, Viva America!

It was an awesome weekend, like they always shape up to be. And now I only have one more to go. It better be just as great!

This past weekend...

This past weekend I got to participate in many activities. It started on Friday when I got to participate in the Dia del Centro at Santa Amalia. This is kind of like "field day" in the US, where there are all these special activities. They had all sorts of workshops like board games, juggling, karaoke, social dance, broach making, etc etc. The first thing we did, however, was have the typical Spanish breakfast of chocolate con churros. Heres a photo of the big vat of chocolate that was served and heres a pic of some of the professors at my school enjoying the breakfast.

Here is a photo of one of the workshops. The students are playing "futbol chapas". Basically the same rules as soccer but played with bottle caps.

After all the students left the professors got to celebrate and eat some pinchos (little bits of food; like appetizers). Here is a pic of the sweet spread of food we got to eat!

It was really fun, and Im glad I got to see it. At the end of the day, all the students and professors got a cap and like bag thing with the Santa Amalia motto.

That night I went to a concert. It was deemed as "flamenco pop". It wasnt that awesome but I do like the strong influence of flamenco music on modern music in Spain. I think it shows how the people want to maintain their culture/heritage.

On Saturday I was going to go with some friends to Santa Amalia (where I teach) to go to the Rumeria. This is the fiesta/celebration for the patron saint of the "campesino" or the farmer. The saint being honored was San Isidro. The other town I work in-- Valdivia was also having a rumeria to honor San Isidro. But anyways... I was going to go with some friends, but in the end they couldnt go, so I was like thats too bad, but oh well. Then one of my american friends somehow convinced me to go there on bicycle. So we did. It was 20 kilometers there and then 20 back. This may not sound like much, but I dont ride bikes often so it was a pretty scary prospect to me. But the road there and back is pretty flat so it wasnt too bad.

We still got kind of a late start so we ended up only having 3 hours to enjoy the rumeria. It was quite an experience. It kind of reminded me of a mix of a football tailgate and a state fair and a reunion. Groups of family and friends set up their own tent where they just hang out and and eat and talk all day. I told the director (principal) of my school that I was planning on going and he said to make sure and come by his tent, so I did and let me tell you they had some delicious food!!! All home made and fresh. But ofcourse they just kept loading up our plates. I was already really full and then they gave me like 5 desserts. But every one they gave me they told me about how this grandma made it from scratch and it was typical extremaduran-- so there was no way I could say "no"! I walked around and say a lot of my students as well. They were so excited that I was there and just amazed. I am so glad I went. But as I said, we only got to stay 3 hours because we had to return on bike before the sun went down, so we petaled pretty intensely back to ol' DB.

The rumeria was on top of this mountain right outside of Santa Amalia. Here is a pic with me and the landscape:

Here is a pic of the general craziness of cars and such at the rumeria. They had one of those blow-up bouncing things. It was a Simpson's one. No surprise there-- they love the simpsons here.

This is a picture of Paco's (the principal) tent and his family and friends:

This is me, Paco, and my american friend Justin right before we head back to DB:

ON Sunday, I went to church like always and then right after I headed out to a small village called Magacela with some friends. This is a beautiful small town that is on a mountain side. Its very close to Don Benito, but I hadnt been yet so it was a good experience. We ate lunch at one of my friend's family's house. Here is a view from the rooftop terrace:
Here we are at lunch. The names of everyone from left to right: Lidia, Eva, Adolofo, Violeta, Me, Becca, and Sarah. Sarah, Becca and I were the Americans, if you cant tell.
So, there is a castle at the top of the hill-- its very beautiful. But believe it or not, I forgot my camera. Que lastima! So here is a picture of the mountain and town and castle from down below after we had left:

Sunday night, Barcelona won La Liga. Essentially, they won the national championship. Just a little background info-- the two most popular teams in Spain are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Thus, they are fierce rivals. So, in honor of their win all the Barcelona fans (nickname: Barca) came out to celebrate in the main plaza in Don benito. This includes them all jumping in the fountain and slinging water everywhere. People brought out their car speakers and megaphones and sang, honked their car-horns, clapped and celebrated for hours. And the cool thing is that all over Spain at the exact same time were simliar and many much larger, celebrations. I have a video below.

So, I feel like I had another full and wonderful weekend. I had wanted to go to Portugal, but I am glad that I got to see more of the culture of Extremadura. I am going to miss this place.

Mariah visits Don Benito!

This past weekend, Mariah came and visited me in Don Benito. It was so much fun, but the bad thing was it rained on and off all weekend. Friday had some of the best weather, so we took advantage and did the pilgrimage to la Ermita de las Cruces (the Chapel of the Patron saint of Don Benito). The weather was perfect for the trip there. It was sunny, not too hot. Just wonderful for a bike ride. So we took our time, took some pictures, enjoyed the day. Its 8 kilometers from the edge of Don Benito to the ermita so when we got there we were ready for a break. Unfortunately, when we got there the chapel was closed! And it was supposed to be open. We got there after siesta and everything. Later we found out that the caretaker had passed away so the chapel was in a transition time. So, I felt bad that after our "pilgrimage" we didnt really get to "finish" it since we couldnt see the Patrona. But oh well. So we rested in the area for like 10 minutes and all of the sudden dark clouds started rolling in, so we jumped back on the bikes and headed back to Don Benito. It started sprinkling on us, but it wasnt too bad. It was pretty amazing how quickly we made it back when we thought we might get drenched. Luckily we did not get drenched, so even though our legs were killing us the last kilometer we made it back nice and dry (well pretty dry).

Here are some pictures from our pilgrimage/ bike ride:

All along the path their are crosses to "lead the way". This is the only part where there are 3 crosses.

We stopped at a little bridge/creek area. There was this cute little stepping stone path across the creek.

Here I am looking pretty stupid. My expression came out way more ridiculous than I thought in my mind. But I wanted proof of my bike excursion, so here it is. :)

The land all around this path is sooo flat. Not like NC at all. But so beautiful in its own right. The bike I used is the one laying down. It had no kick stand so it was always on the ground. Haha.
Another image of the pretty creek!

That night we went and watched Iron Man 2 which ended up to be a big mistake. We both kept falling asleep!

On Saturday we went to this restaurant called Quinto Cecilio around midday because it has beautiful views of Medellin, its castle, and its roman bridge. It wasnt raining then, so we sat on the patio, but you could feel the rain was coming.

That afternoon we tried to take a walk around Don Benito but we ended up having to walk under umbrellas most of the time.

The rest of that day we pretty much just talked.... and Sunday too. It was awesome to be able to talk about everything that has happened this whole year. Mariah and I have such similar lives-- we both majored in Spanish, both have done this same program in Spain this year, we were roommates in Raleigh last year, we both want to be Spanish teachers, AND we both want to live in Raleigh next year. So it was good to be able to talk about everything-- our plans for next year, spanish, teaching, etc, etc. Talking it all out has made me even more excited about coming home and getting started with things.

I was definitely sad to see her go on Monday morning. But its so close to the end now, that it wont be long till I can hang out with all my friends all the time back in NC.

I miss you all! Only 23 days!

besitos!

2 Weekends, 3 destinations, Many Memories

So the past two weekends I was lucky to get to travel. The last weekend in March I went to the small town, Cabeza del Buey, where my friend Cheri lives. Myself, Justin, and Nick went together to spend a tranquilo weekend in the "Ox's Head". While we were there we took a little hike up the mountain next to Cheri's town. We walked up a path called the "Sierra del Calvario" which guides hikers by posting 14 crosses along the way. Once we got to the summit, the view was wonderful.

Here is a view of Cabeza del Buey from the summit:

This is another view from the summit. That little chapel is the end point of the "Sierra del Calvario" hike.

After hiking back down, we made delicious fajitas at Cheri's house.

This is a picture of Justin, Cheri, and I infront of the cross in the center of town.

Here is a beautiful view of the countryside surrounding Cabeza del Buey.

I really love seeing the small towns of Extremadura. You get a sense of the real life of Spaniards. Plus the countryside is stunning this time of year.

Now on to this past weekend; the first weekend in May. There was a "Feria de Queso" (Cheese festival) in Trujillo, Spain. I had been to Trujillo twice before (the first time barely counting), but I decided that I could not miss the cheese festival! (plus I wanted to go to Guadalupe and I had to connect thru there anyway). I ate soooo much cheese and I got soooo full! But it was delicious!! I tried so many different kinds. Some better than others. I tried cheese desserts and cured cheese and fresh cheese. In this picture I'm eating Requeso cheese. Its like fresh cheese, very light and soft. It had marmelade on top, so its kind of desserty. I tried lots of cured sheep's cheese because I was trying to find some that I really liked. Because I had been having trouble finding good sheeps cheese in the grocery store. And luckily after 3 or 4 samples, I found one I really liked that wasn't too expensive. Oh, also, you had to pay for samples. Which was kind of lame, but Spanish cheese is really expensive, so I guess they had to help out with the prices.

Before and after cheese tasting, we walked around Trujillo. (I went with two other american girls who live in the next town over from Don Benito) Because this was the third time, I did a little more exploring into different areas and I got to see some beautiful ruins of churches.

I said goodbye to Caroline and Becca at 1:00, because they were going back to Villanueva/Don Benito. So, I was on my own for the rest of the trip. After siteseeing/wandering and Cheese festival-ing I went to the bus station to catch the 2:15pm bus to Guadalupe and then something happened that has never happened before. The bus was full! And they would not let 4 of us on. I was one of those 4. Sooo, luckily there was another bus to Guadalupe at 6:15. So I just had to wait another 4 hours. Thus, I went back into Trujillo and wandered around and hiked around the hill the castle is on. So it wasnt a compete loss. And then when 6:15 rolled around, there were enough seats on the bus. Whew! The reason the bus was so full before was because one of the main bus companies that run in Extremadura is striking currently, but not a complete strike. They are running "servicio minimo" (minimal service). So when they normally run 5 buses, they run 2. Thus, all buses were much more full then normal. When I couldn't get on the 2:15 bus I was like this might be a sign that my trip is not going to go well.

But I finally did get to Guadalupe-- 4 hours later than I had planned, but there was still a couple hours of sunlight left when I got there so I got to walk all around and see pretty much everything. Another auxiliar in my same program lives there, Liam. And he showed me around and told me everything about Guadalupe. He was a great tourguide! :) It was great to get to talk and catch up as well.

Here is a view of the famous Monastery in Guadalupe:

This is a picture of me in front of the bridge that was built for a train-- the tracks were never laid. So, now its just a little pedestrian bridge. But lovely just the same.

The next morning I got to take a guided tour of the monastery. Which was pretty impressive. They have amazing paintings-- Goyas, Zubarans, El Grecos. And many beautiful illuminated manuscripts and music books. However, I unfortunately, didnt get to "visit" the virgen of Guadalupe and kiss her platter thing because the tour went long and I had to get on the bus. Too bad! But overall, I was so happy I got to visit the Monastery and Guadalupe in general. It was so beautiful and a wonderful little trip.

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the monastery nor the church, but we could take pictures of the cloister. This is in mudejar style and probably one of the more beautiful cloisters I have seen in a church/monastery.

So I caught the 11:45am bus to Miajadas after visiting the monastery. The way back down through the mountains and to Miajadas was beautiful. There were fields and fields of wildflowers. I tied to get pictures of them, but none of them turned out too nice. But this one picture might give you an idea:

So, then I arrived in Miajadas at 1:10pm. Plenty of time before the 2:10pm bus to Don Benito. So I took a little walk around miajadas and had a cocacola light and a tapa. Then I got back to the bus station to sit and wait right next to the platform a good 15 minutes early. Ready to get on the bus. 2:10 passes, 2:15, 2:30--- still no bus. One other guy was waiting as well and I asked him if he knew anything about the bus. And he said that it has to come, it always comes. Well once it hit 3:00pm I decided to do some investigating. Now, I knew it was Labor Day in Spain, so I was like well this company could be on the holiday schedule which means that the bus wont come till 9pm. Which is a pain, but atleast it comes. But then I go and make sure, and there is a sign saying that the company will be running NO buses because its Labor Day. So, then I check the other company (the one on strike) and of course the buses that would have gone to Don Benito were cancelled. So I asked the guy who works there if there were any buses at anytime going to Don Benito that day and he said "not one" (but in spanish ofcourse). So, here i was stranded in the small town of Miajadas that is only 20 kms from Don Benito. I was so close! But 20kms was not possible walking. It was a little too far. I could have 10-12 kms, but 20 was pushing it. And I would have been walking on the highway-- a little dangerous. So I started calling/texting people to see if anyone could come and rescue me. :) I contacted probably 10 or 12 people. Finally one of my teachers called me back and said she would gladly come and pick me up. Yay!! Saved! Once she picked me up, we ended up driving out in the country to go hunt down the horseback riding place. We drove around alot looking for it and once we found it, it was closed! Too bad! But it was a beautiful day to drive in the country.

So I must say this past weekend was very adventurous. And even with the travel stressors, it was totally worth it. Guadalupe was so beautiful! These weekends and trips make me love Spain so much-- as if I didnt love it already. At the end of every trip Im so happy and content with what I had done and seen... it makes me sad to know that in a month I am going back to the US and probably never returning to live in Spain again. Bittersweet.

Semana Santa Adventures Week 2

The day that Mom and Dad left Nicole came. So, there was no gap between the two. We even all ate breakfast at the airport together. After we left the airport me and Nicole went to el Parque de Buen Retiro (as I have said before, its my favorite place in Madrid). We then ate lunch in Plaza Santa Ana (popular place to eat). We ate outside in the Plaza and had some good, traditional Spanish food: tostadas with tomato titurado (pureed tomatoes), empanadilla de verduras, un canapé with salmon, y tintos de verano. Yum

We then went and got dessert: Chocolate con churros

While we were eating the churros Nicole kinda hit a low point, sleepiness wise so we went back to the hostel to take naps.

After napping for a looonnggg time we went shopping on Gran Via-- Madrid's main drag. And then we went out for tapas, we had several delicious tostas (toasts with toppings)

On Sunday, we tried to go to Toledo, but when we got to the Train station there was a sign up saying that all trains returning from Toledo to Madrid that day were full, so we could have gotten there, but not gotten back. So we decided to go to Alcalá de Henares instead. Its a small but quaint town outside of Madrid. Its well known for being the birth place of Cervantes and also for its old University.

Here is a picture of the Plaza de Cervantes:

Here is a picture of Nicole with the statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The building behind her is Cervantes birth place/house. We got to go inside and look around. It housed lots of different copies of Don Quixote in all different languages. (There are also some classic Spanish nuns in the picture, how lucky!)

We visited several places in Alcalá de Henares: a mudejar palace, churches, parks, and a guided visit of the university. We returned to Madrid late, but in time for some more late night tapas.

On Monday, we headed out early to Don Benito and spent the rest of the day there. I was glad I got to show Don Benito to Nicole as well as everyone else who has come to visit me. I showed her the parks and the main avenue, etc etc.

On Tuesday, I went to work in the morning and Nicole went shopping in Don Benito. After lunch that afternoon, we headed out on a bus to go to Sevilla. However, we had to take a bus first to the city of Merida and then get on another to Sevilla. So since we were going to have a lay-over in Merida anyway, we decided to make the most of it. We went to see the Aqueducto de los Milagros (Aqueduct of Miracles). Its a roman ruin (obviously). Merida is full of roman ruins, but this is what we had time to go see. I decided to do a classic jumping pose infront of the aqueducto.

That night we got to Sevilla and checked into our hostel and ate close by. We were pretty tired from the day of traveling.

On Wednesday, we got to spend the whole day in Sevilla. we started out by going to the Reales Alcazares. Then we went to the Plaza de Espana. This is a pic of me there:

Then we went on a free walking tour of Sevilla organized by our hostel. It lasted almost 3 hours. It was pretty great. I learned alot of stuff about the city that I had never heard before.

The next day, we got to spend most of the day in Sevilla, so I finally got to see stuff I have never seen before. This was the fourth time I had visited Sevilla and I always see the exact same thing because Im always going with people who have never been before, so we always go to the top, same sites. Soooo, me and Nicole went to Cartuja-- a part of Sevilla and walked around the monastery there. Then we went to Macerena (another barrio) and saw some of the original border walls of Sevilla that were built by the moors when they inhabited the area:

Late that afternoon we headed east to Granada. We got there late so just got some kebabs and went to bed.

The next day (Friday), we started off the morning with a delcious breakfast of catalanas and then headed to the Cathedral of Granada. It is in my top 3 favorite church buildings that I have seen. So I was excited to see it again. Its a lot sunnier/happier than the cathedral in Sevilla. White and a lot of light. Here is a view down the center isle towards the main altar:

After the church we went to the nieghboring Capilla (chapel) hat houses the tombs of the Catholic Kings-- Ferdinand and Isabella.

After that we went and walked around the Albaycin. Which is the old, historic, moorish section of town. And it still houses a large population of Mosques and muslims-- a rarity in Spain. It is a beautiful section of town with beautiful views of La Alhambra and Granada itself.

After walking around the Albaycin, we headed to La Alhambra for the massive visit it is. We had to hike up the hill, but of course it is worth it. There are 4 parts to La Alhambra. The first we went to was los Palacios Nazares. This was the palace section of La Alhambra during the moorish times. Here is a view from one of the windows looking out on the Albaycin across the way. Is it beautiful or what?

We then went to Carlos V's palace (built right in the midst of all the moorish buildings) and then to the Alcazaba (moorish fortress), then to the little church, then to Los Palacios y Jardines del Generalife (Palace and gardens). It was all very beautiful. I didnt remember a lot of stuff, so it was awesome to see it again. This pic is of the Generalife:

So we spent a little over 4 hours at La Alhambra which is pretty normal. Its massive. But needless to say, we were pretty tired after all was said and done.

For dinner that night we went to get kebabs, which are everywhere in europe and usually of the exact same quality, BUT this night was an exception. We went to some place thats menu only said they had chicken kebabs, but ofcourse we wanted lamb kebabs, so we asked the waiter and he kinda of gave this weird answer like he wasnt sure if they had any meat left, but yeah we could have some. Then our kebabs show up with this weird looking meat inside. Its ground beef first of all, but in addition it didnt looked cooked. EEkk! So I spit it out right away and the waiter came over and asked what was wrong and he said that it was pink because it was flavored with red pepper. And after tasting it again it did taste cooked, but after half way thru, my mind took over and I just couldnt eat the rest of it. That was the last kebab of the trip-- i think me and nicole were scared after that kebab that we would get another one like that. So we declared those kebabs, kLebabs, becasue they were fake. Haha

That night we went to the Arabic Baths. I learned about these when I was in Spain the first time, but no one would go with me. So, luckily Nicole went with me. :) Its origins are from moorish tradition. The moors had public "baths" which were for the rich but was a form of relaxation. You move around from different temperature warm pools and cool pools. Its kind of like a mixture of going to the pool and a spa. It was really relaxing. And at first, the cool pool seemed silly because it was really cold but after being in the really hot water you kinda needed to cool down. It was decorated very arabic-ish. I loved it.

The next day, we spent the morning walking around the Albaycin again and getting some souvenirs. We then headed out of Granada for Madrid. It was a long bus ride-- 5 hours. But it could have been worse I guess.

That night we had a wonderful last meal, full of wonderful Spanish delights: tinto de veranos surtido de pueblo: queso manchego, jamón ibérico, chorizo, croquetas de carne, albóndigas, and cava. Buenísima!

The next morning, me and Nicole headed to the airport, and I saw her off. Sad.

I am so happy Nicole got to come and visit Spain. I really wanted her to see Spain and I also feel like it is probably the last opportunity we will ever have to take a trip just the two of us. Because we probably wont have an opportunity like this in the future with future marriages and families it can never be just us. So, it was awesome to get to have a sisters trip!

Having two weeks of family here was very refreshing and it was something to look forward to. Something that kept me excited. But, it also made me miss the US more than I thought. I think I am more anxious to get back now especially after hearing all about all the happenings back home.

So, whew, that was a long post. I applaud you if you made it all the way thru.

Thanks for reading. I love you all! (5 and half weeks till I return to US soil) :)

Semana Santa Adventures Week 1

Mom and Dad came and visited me for the week of Semana Santa. We went to Barcelona, Sevilla, Don Benito, and Madrid. Here are some pictures and stories from our trip together!

We started off the trip in Barcelona. Our first excrusion was to Parc Güell. This is a park that was designed by the famous, Antonio Gaudi.

Here is a picture of Mom and I on one of the beautiful benches in Parc Güell. The first year I took Spanish-- 7th grade-- I saw a picture of the benches in Parc Güell and I decided then that I had to someday go see them. And so I finally fulfilled that wish! :)

Our next stop was the Sagrada Familia, another Gaudi work. It was impressive as ever. And this time we got to go inside. And I realized just how unfinished it is! However the towers were closed so we couldnt go up in the spires or walk on the little bridges. I was pretty bummed.

The next day, we walked down the famous Las Ramblas with all its craziness and me and mom took a picture with one of the street performers. I carefully selected him as well. He didnt look scary like several of them do. :)

At the end of Las Ramblas, we continued on to the harbor in Barcelona. It was an absolutely beautiful day to walk around the harbor-- the sun was shining, it was warm and there was a nice lil breeze. I absolutely love coastal harbor towns; and this part of Barcelona definitely gave that vibe.

After walking around the harbor, we went to Parc de la Citudella-- a beautiful park where we saw the impressive fountain called, la Cascada.

Next, we went the the "Gothic Bari"-- which is the old part of town. We walked around the exterior of the Cathedral (La Seu).

Then we ate lunch on Las Ramblas and headed to the Montjuïc section of town.

We saw and climbed up to the Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya-MNAC (huge building, very impressive). Montjuïc is on this huge hill in the center of town. So we got some great views!

Also from up here, we walked around the Olympic Stadium (the olympics were in Barcelona in 1992).

The next day we walked around Barcelona a little more and visited Casa Milá aka “La Pedrera”. ANother Gaudi creation. This is a few of the rooftop:

Then later that day, we flew to Sevilla. And then the whole next day, we had to take care of some travel issues and made an emergency trip to and from Madrid. Even with the craziness, we still had time to go to el Parque de Buen Retiro in Madrid. I would say it is my favorite part of Madrid. I go there every time I am i Madrid, so of course, I had to show it to my parents. :)

This picture is of me and Mom in front of one of the big ponds:

The next day, we finally got to see Sevilla-- and we sure did see a lot! We started off by going to los Reales Alcazares. This was once the Moorish palace and then was taken over by the Christians and then served various political purposes. However, it still maintains its "mudejar" (morrish) style. Its very beautiful. Here is a pic of the gardens:

We then went to the Plaza de Espana. It is a beautiful plaza that was built in 1929 for an exposition of all countries that speak Spanish. It might be my favorite place in Sevilla.

Then, we headed back to the historic center and went to the Cathedral of Sevilla. It is the largest cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest Christian church. It is massive and impressve. Here is a picture from La Giralda (the tower that is in moorish style, because it was once a Mosque).

Sevilla is world famous for its processions that occur all over town during Semana Santa. It was insanely crowded at night and there were processions going on everywhere. There were 9 going on at once! And all within a relatively concentrated area because they all have to pass by the Cathedral. We would get stuck in zones because the processions would be blocking off all of our routes. Mom and Dad did not enjoy the craziness very much, but I thought it was an amazing thing to experience. Ever since i learned about the processions in Sevilla, it has been on my list of things to see. Here is a pic of one:

The next day morning. We headed off to Don Benito, my little town. I was very excited to get to show them Don Benito since its where I am living my life right now. I showed them the parks, my apartment, the main avenue and we even got to see Don Benito's procession for Maudy Thursday.

Here is Mom and Dad in the Plaza de Espana in Don Benito:

And here is a pic of the Procession in Don Benito:

The next morning we headed off the Madrid-- the last stop on mom and dad's trip. I first took them on the normal site-seeign route in Madrid. The route I pretty much take everyone on. We went to the normal locations: Plaza de Espana, El Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Gran Via, The National Library. I have never been able to make inside the National Library. I have tried to go many times, but I have never actually made it inside. And, of course, when we tried to go, it was closed for Holiday. ... sigh... Some day.

Here is Mom and Dad in the lovely Plaza Mayor:

Then we hiked it out to the Plaza de Toros. It is a beautiful plaza. We couldnt go in, but the outside is impressive enough. (Mom got in my picture, haha)

And then on Saturday morning, Mom and Dad flew back to the United States. I was lucky that they could come and visit me. It was great to have them here and I was glad I got to share something that is a big part of who I am-- Spain and Spanish.

Coming soon-- the blog about me and Nicole's adventures!