It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

In memory of the best semester abroad in the best city in Spain: a review of Granada before I am off to Barcelona. (Yep, my Spanish adventures haven't come to a close, yet!)

Academics

The bests:
-My Arab World & the West professor: I have a book of quotes from him that are hysterical and I also learned how the EU government works
-Art & Architecture: my professor was the sweetest and I can officially give tours of the Alhambra I know so many details
-In general I had no homework & easy exams; when can I ever say that about Haverford?

The worsts:
-My grammar class: Worst professor I've ever had and I went to public school for 13 years. Never have I in my life had such a disorganized, poorly taught, waste of a class. Dear Fabiola: I hate you forever.
-Informática Aplicada: 2 hours twice a week on how to learn how to use Microsoft Word, Paint, and the Internet (reminiscent of fourth grade?)
-I know I'm a nerd, but having classes that mean nothing to me and essentially are a waste of time really frustrates me. I like challenging classes that interest me and I miss Haverford because of it. Even though I know I will eat my words next semester when I'm drowning in thesis drafts...

Activities & Social Life

The bests:
-Tapas: Maybe even the best part of Granada. Going out with friends and eating lots of different kinds of delicious food each night paired with a nice Rioja is hard to beat anywhere in the world.
-The beach: I went more times than I would normally go all summer in Seattle (check it: 91 degrees today in Granada, 62 and raining in Seattle). First time in awhile since I haven't been the color of a rice cake.
-Hiking: Went on a few hikes close to Granada and they were some of the prettiest I've ever been on. Nothing better than a city in the hills.

The worsts:
-You cannot entertain at home, essentially there is no private location to gather. Since all of my friends lived in homestays and the Spanish do not invite people (other than their family) into their homes, in order to hang out we had to go out to bars. Sometimes you just wanna watch a movie, you know?
-In terms of activities, there aren't really any. I mean it's great to walk around the city and the Alhambra is wonderful (I've been 6 times, wow), but besides tapas and shopping, there's not a lot here to do.
-Walking home 20-30 minutes when I just want to go to sleep. Can't complain too much about that, but it's not Haverford College.

Traveling

The bests:
-Making pasta from scratch using herbs I had picked in the garden that day in an Italian village. Like, who actually does that?
-London. Between seeing all my friends, wandering through all the incredible markets, and going out London-style, that weekend was just fantastic.
-The Musee d'Orsay in Paris. It was really the most incredible art museum I've ever seen and it was preceded by a French chocolate éclair. Hard to beat.

The worsts:
Note: I really liked everywhere I went, so think of this as more the low parts of the best experiences.
-Motion sickness in Morocco. The ferry ride to Tangiers from Gibraltar was the worst I've ever been on and I had to stand outside in the wind the entire 2 hours. Also, a winding bus ride to Chefchaouen was almost unbearable.
-Parisians. Really, they give you the worst looks, it's actually hard to believe. Like, I'm sorry I don't speak French. Scratch that, no I'm not.
-Not speaking the language. I'm totally okay with not speaking every European language, but it's rough to be in countries like Italy, Morocco, and France where you just cannot communicate with the people.

Granada: The City

The bests:
-Walking: I like that you have to walk everywhere. It makes you enjoy the city and it's good for your health.
-It's beautiful and warm: Sun is good for your soul I think and I miss it. Also, Granada is one the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. It is literally gorgeous.
-"No pasa nada": This is sort of the Granada catch-phrase. It means, "it doesn't matter" or "don't worry about it" and it sort of captures the atmosphere in Granada. I like that.
-The Alhambra: Well it's just fantastic. The mosaics, the arches, the calligraphy, the gardens, everything.
-The wine: It is cheap and delicious. There should be more of that Stateside.

The worsts:
-When do people work? Really. The stores have no hours. They close around 2 and open around 5 which is ridiculous -- stores should not be closed in the middle of the day. They also don't open in the morning until 9 or 10. Also, no one is helpful at all; customer service doesn't exist here.
-Smoking: I hate it, especially when I'm running and have to deeply breathe in someone's exhaled smoke. Can't wait to be back in America where public places are smoke-free!
-Sidewalk interaction issues: I HATE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO WALK. Granadinos walk slow, walk in huge groups that block others, and legitimately run into you unless you get out of their way. Plus, people here have burned me with cigarettes, hit me with their umbrellas, and outright run into me without apologizing. I miss the personal bubble space we're awarded in the US.
-It's hard to travel to and from: Yeah, you have to take a bus to Malaga which is a pain because you have to take city buses from both your house to the Granada bus station and the Malaga bus station to the airport. Then you have to fly far away. And it's not cheap.
-The staring has got to stop. Half the people I walk by stare at me for uncomfortable lengths of time. Nothing makes me more uneasy. What are you looking at?!

Anyway, that's the review. Last night was our last round of tapas. Friday night was our final dinner which was incredible. We had such delicious food and had a great night with the whole program (thanks IES!) at this beautiful restaurant right under the Alhambra. I snapped more than a few frames of my favorite people, so in memory of Granada, here's a couple photos.


This is the patio at the restaurant.


Ferry, Liz, Leah & I with our favorite IES caretaker, Herminio!


Some of my lovely friends: Ferry, Alex, Liz, Michelle, Leah & Vicki

Well. I'm off to the train station to retrieve my parents and we're off to Barcelona on Wednesday. Goodbye, forever, study abroad. You were fun.

¿La última semana?

Well, I guess all good things really do come to an end. Here I am, working* on final projects, papers, and exams, and it is the one week mark until the end of my program here in Granada. (*I use the term "working" pretty loosely here.) It's the typical mix of emotions: excited to return to the US (peanut butter! things without olive oil! stores open from 3-6!), sad to be leaving Granada (no more free tapas, no more beautiful southern Spain, no more wonderful granadinos and extended euro-vacation), shocked that the time has flown by SO quickly, ready to be done with classes, etc. I will actually be staying in Spain for two more weeks after the program ends -- mostly in Barcelona and Madrid -- but finals are this week and Sunday is the day of goodbyes. But as Kurt Vonnegut said, it's never a mistake to say goodbye.

These last few days I have had some last hurrahs though. My friend Mia was here which was tons of fun. We went to the beach which was so relaxing. And I am officially not the color of bacalao (a typical Spanish white fish)! So I mean that's good; can't really come home from a semester is southern Spain looking like I was just in the PNW. Anyway Mia and I bopped around Granada for a few days and just soaked in the glory (and the sun rays -- it's been so hot here!) and ate all the tapas. Mmmmm one of the things I will miss most is the tapa evening life. Going out for tapas with friends just isn't the same as going out for drinks or dinner in the States. I usually spend a leisurely 3 or 4 hours eating tapas and drinking wine or tinto de veranos (remember? half red wine and half lemon fanta!) just chatting with friends and walking around the city from place to place which just isn't the dinner situation at home. Not that I'm not beyond excited to get a kitchen again and cook whatever my heart desires, because such as tapas will be one of the things I miss most, cooking was one of the things I missed most about the US, but still. I guess I'm lucky to never want to leave where I am and always want to go where I'm going.

In addition to my friend Mia, another Vashon High School survivor was in Granada just last night! My friend Tanner and a lot of his program did an Andalucía tour and their last stop was Granada. Of course, it was their favorite (haha I don't know if it was, but it should be!). We wandered the beautiful streets and stopped in some of my favorite bars. Wish I could visit him in León!

A last update on my recent adventures: Last Sunday we went on an 18km (~11 miles) hike along the beach in Cabo de Gata. It was fabulously beautiful. Unfortunately, my camera died even before getting there so I have no photos of my own. However, I did snag some good ones from my friends so you can at least enjoy the view.


This is at the beginning of the hike.


These are my friends!


Oooo so pretty! It was this pretty the whole day.


And this is at the end.

Alright so 3 more finals, two more translations, one more assignment, 7 more nights of tapas (including tonight), and 0 more classes. Parents are here on Sunday (it's that one week mark where you can start using days' names instead of "one/two/three week(s) from ___"). Friends all leave on Sunday. I honestly cannot believe I am almost a senior. Yikes.

Lists! Como siempre...

Well what else is new? I'm making lists for fun and then reviewing them...

This was the list I made in February as a sort of strange bucket list for my time here. Since it's almost over (sad!), I decided to go back and review...

Ten things to do before I leave (please live vicariously through me as I cross them off through the semester):

1. Visit London (and my 8 friends studying abroad there): Yes! I had some wonderful London adventures and wish I could go back!
2. Learn to cook a Spanish tortilla: Well, technically I got the recipe, but I haven't had access to a kitchen yet, so we'll see...
3. Speak Spanish fluidly and understand fully: I am getting closer! But learning another language is kind of hard, not gonna lie.
4. Visit Italy and eat an entire pizza for lunch: YES! My life is so complete now. My days in Italy were the BEST.
5. See the Mediterranean Sea: I even SWAM in the Mediterranean! The beach there is so beautiful and I'm going back this weekend.
6. Learn the streets of Granada (and throw away my map!): Well I lost my map, does that count? But I also know a lot of them -- I almost never have to ask for directions anymore.
7. Make Spanish friends: Um, I met people in my classes. And I know a few bartenders, sort of?
8. Go to a football game: I went to a Granada game! It was a little silly and I wish I had gone to a Madrid or Barca game, but you know, I still had fun. It was still European football so I'm gonna count it.
9. Play tennis on clay courts: I swear to god, for all the tennis on TV, there doesn't appear to be anyone ever playing...
10. Buy European clothes so I don't always look so American: Yeah I'm never going to be able to fit in :( But I am trying to compensate by adding to my wardrobe... hopefully I'll get to shop more before I leave!

Paris in the Springtime

Well I just got back from a weekend in Paris. It was pretty fabulous, I'm not going to lie. I will spare you all my travel mishaps because at this point, none of them are even surprising or interesting. After a semester traveling Europe I have a trunk full of stories regarding every kind of travel disaster possible from random rides home with strangers to confused conversations in languages I don't at all know to miraculous coincidences and canceled flights. But just know that traveling in Paris is not so easy and their metro auto-ticket booths don't take cash or credit card so I don't even know why they're there. Maybe they take personal checks? Anyway, I went with four of my friends from Granada (two also coincidentally from Haverford), had a wonderful dinner with my grandparents, saw a slew of tourist sites, and ate a lot of pastries.

Sites I saw: Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, San Chapelle, Museé de Louvre, and Museé d'Orsay


This is sort of a failed jumping photo, but we tried... also, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was so amazing! You can see the whole city and the Seine running through. Also, the elevator ride up is kind of like an amusement park ride! And actually much more frightening -- glass door elevator hurdling through some metal crosses -- than actually being at the top.


The Notre Dame was INCREDIBLE. It was so beautiful! All the stained glass was so fabulous and so bright. I was very impressed.


LOOK AT THE COLORS!


The Louvre! Ahhh here is one debacle: we bought tickets that morning to see the Louvre and had to pick them up at a chain store (FNAC). We struggled for quite some time trying to find the one closest to us, which, once we found, turned out to be under construction! After taking a taxi (this is 11 hours into our day and we had just spent 45 minutes finding a store we couldn't go to), getting the tickets (finally), and walking to the Louvre, we present our tickets, only to be told, to our delight, that the Louvre was free that day for people under 26 years of age. We showed our passports and got in for free. FOR FREE! I still have my unused ticket... Seriously, it is a good thing the Louvre is such an outstanding museum or I would have been considerably more upset over this.


Last photo: The desserts were so delicious! Especially the éclairs...

I'm afraid I have no photos of the Museé d'Orsay because they didn't allow cameras, but it was by far my favorite museum in the world. I have been to quite a few for my (relatively) young age, but I could have stayed there forever. Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Manet, Degas, and van Gogh, among others! It was so incredible, honestly, and I'm not even an art fanatic by any means. My one complaint: everything was in French! But I guess we were in France, so I'll forgive that...

My friends and I also went out to dinner with my grandparents who live in Paris half the year and that was incredible. We had drinks at their apartment: champagne with elderberry liqueur in it that they had brought back from Germany -- it was delicious! Sweet and light. We then went a bistro they knew extremely well and had lots of wonderful French food. Seriously, French food is out of this world. My last misadventure was getting lost running and ending up at the Moulin Rouge somehow, but it's a fairly tame sight at 8am -- I was actually surprised it was on such a huge, main road. Anyway, Sunday morning we finished off our trip with fruit tarts and cappuccinos and now I'm back in Granada for only 3 more weeks!

5 more weeks of Spain. 3 weeks left in Granada. 2 weeks of class. 1 week of finals. 1 more friend visiting. a lot more tapas (but never enough) and no more trips outside of Spain! Endings are always bittersweet.

La comida buenísima

A blog entry dedicated to deliciousness: Because I know all I really care about is food...


I think avocados are the best food ever. Probably most of you know this about me, but I eat them whole as frequently as possible. Guess what my host mother buys for me to eat every day for lunch? Good guess! AVOCADOS! I just want to express how happy this makes me. Apparently they grow here in Spain (jealous) and are found in all of the fruterías. And even though my host parents think I´m really strange, I don´t care. What one wouldn´t do for love...

Another find I have to credit my friend Ferry for finding is dried kiwis. Do they have these in the States? I am not sure, but they are incredible! And they are sold at the fruit stands around the city and are soooo delicious. Maybe even more delicious than the dried apricots I had in Morocco...


A more savory find: Clams in butter garlic sauce. Listen, I am not a clam fan at all, but I went to a seafood specialty tapas place and there were BABY CLAMS (the size of nickels or quarters roughly) in the shell and they were incredible. I know it sounds simple and I´m from the PNW so I should eat this stuff like popcorn, but for whatever reason these were beyond delicious. Actually seafood in general here can be quite tasty. They have salmon sushi tapas that are buttery delicious mmmmm

And now that it´s beautiful and hot here, I´ve had a chance to sample several heladerías. The best ice cream I´ve had thus far is the raspberry gelato at what is known to be the best ice cream place in Granada. It literally tastes like raspberries in ice cream form. Not at all creamy, but smooth and tasty. I figure, it´s gotta be healthy because it´s just like eating fruit. Right?

And perhaps one of my FAVORITE place to go is a little tea shop where I order té pakastaní (Pakastani tea) which is creamy and chai-like and a little sweet, but very flavorful. Whatever they put in that is gold.

I promise to keep updating my adoring fans (all three to five of you...) on my delicious finds and I am not leaving here without recipes from my madre. Until my next exciting food encounter...

Muchísimas amigas!

This past week has been filled with Haverfordian visitors! Two friends from London came (they were already in Spain on their month-long spring break European tour when the volcano erupted) early this past week and we found a new tapas bar that is delicious! There is no shortage of good tapas bars here in Granada. This weekend another friend came from Berlin and we enjoyed churros y chocolate at a great café this morning with Liz, one of my Haverford friends studying here with me! It's been a delicious week. There is nothing I love more than sharing good food with friends -- it's the best. And as for Haverfordian friends (another one of my top-favorite-things), my darling friend Cameron will be here on Thursday for 6 days! AND my very first Vashon Island amiga has just booked her tickets to visit me in May! I love visitors. They're just so much fun.


This evening I also went to a Granada Club Football (Granada FC) game with a friend of mine here! It was actually a ton of fun even though I've seen mediocre college teams with more talent. Granada is about two levels down from favorite soccer teams like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, but it did fill the entire stadium with cheering, stomping, drumming fans which, let's be honest, is better than all the Seattle sports teams combined. They won too! The fans celebrated with doing the wave all around the stadium several times... I guess silly sports antics know no borders... Anyway, the picture above I did NOT take, but I thought it captured the ridiculousness of the team better than any I snapped.

Tomorrow starts my fourth-to-last week of classes and fifth-to-last week in Granada. Even though it seems like time is rushing forward, many of my friends are leaving in the next two weeks to return back to the States and I am lucky enough to be here for another seven (my parents are coming at the end of my program for two weeks more of traveling!) Now I just hope this 75 degree weather will last also...

Morocco

Africa! I have recently returned from the dark continent of mystery. It was pretty crazy and I have rarely been to a place so different from my home (any of them, Vashon, Haverford, Granada). Even disregarding the insane political, social, economic, and cultural differences, the bare sensory input was an onslaught of smells, tastes, sights, and sounds brand new to me. They drink a mint tea with tons of sugar several times a day unlike any tea I've ever had (and I have had a LOT of tea in my life). The cous cous is delicious and the streets smell like the bakeries which constantly bake sweet bread. The cars are bright and poorly made, the walls are stone and the architecture is Islamic, there are cats everywhere, and the people dress in intensely patterned clothing. I guess Northern Africa is more like the Middle East than what is typically thought to be "Africa" (to truly see "Africa" I think you have to go quite a few countries south). The people are predominantly Muslim and the country is Arabic, although these words' meanings are very non-specific. What it means to be Muslim in Morocco wasn't at all necessarily what one might think it means typically. Essentially, this trip threw a lot at me in every way from food to food for thought. As usual, I will explain the details with my photos...


This is the Rock of Gibraltar! It is entirely encased in a cloud -- I am told this is because when the English took Gibraltar they brought their awful weather with them. Anyway, we hiked to the top which was awesome (minus the lack of view) and this is also where the monkeys are!


The monkeys! They sit on your head! There are apparently about 300 on the rock and it is unclear exactly how they got to Gibraltar or why they are still there and no where else in Spain.

We stayed in Gibraltar for the night before taking the ferry boat to Tangier! It was a ROUGH ride, but totally worth it, obviously.


The food in Morocco is delicious -- this is 7 vegetable cous cous and it was incredible. Another wonderful dish: baby noodles with cinnamon and almonds, mmmmm.


WE RODE CAMELS! Ha, be jealous. It was really crazy to be on a camel and their joints bend at very strange angles.


So we stayed with a host family in Rabat -- the city we went to after Tangier -- and stayed for two nights. Within an hour of arriving at our host house (we stayed in groups of 3 Americans), our host mother decided to dress us up in three different outfits each of her traditional clothing. She took over 120 photos of us for over an hour. Moroccans are known for their hospitality, but that was not what I was expecting...


The markets were pretty crazy. You have to bargain with the shop-owners and everything is squished together and insane! I did buy a pretty scarf and some earrings though!


We went to the Rif Mountains to this TINY village to talk with a Moroccan family. Their children were SO CUTE. We gave them a soccer ball and it was almost as big as the little boy. ADORABLE. Anyway, it was interesting to see what village life is like. It seems very isolated, but extremely beautiful. It was such a weird experience to see their small children and think of how different their life would be compared to mine. I guess in some ways it was just as interesting to realize how similar they would be, too.


After stopping by the Rif Mountains, we arrived at Chefchaouen, which is back in the Spanish part of Morocco (Rabat is farther south and thus in the French region). It was all blue and white; the buildings are made of white stone and painted blue in many places. They sell lots of colorful items and it was a lot of fun to shop and walk around such a beautiful city.

On Monday, we left Chefchaouen and took the BEST FERRY I HAVE EVER TAKEN from Ceuta (a Spanish territory in Morocco) back to Spain. The seats were huge, cushy, and could recline quite a ways. Just had to mention that for an Vashonites who might read this. I know you guys would have appreciated this ferry's clear awesomeness.

Some other awesome experiences without photographic evidence: We went to a Hammam, which is an Arabic bath, and scrubbed layers of skin off of ourselves and also got massages! We got henna as well on our hands, although mine is actually almost all gone already. We went to the beach in Rabat briefly, as well, and I went into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! Surprisingly, even though I go to school on the east coast, my first time in the Atlantic was on the African coast... Oh, and we got to see storks! They are, for the record, not big enough to carry babies so that is a very misleading tale.

Now, I'm back in Granada for the next couple weekends. Some friends from London were just here and it was SO GREAT to see them! We took them out to our favorite tapas places, churros y chocolate, and the best tea in Granada. Another friend is visiting from Berlin on Friday (Inshallah -- a very useful Arabic phrase meaning "If God wills it") and then my friend Cameron comes next week! Turns out we have only 4 more weeks of classes and 5 more weeks in Granada! Ah! But I guess I can't be too sad about returning to the best coast and living in beautiful Seattle for the summer!