Gelateria, Porrones, Vacation

Ahh! Hello! I am so excited! Tonight I leave for my week long break. I am headed to Barcelona for three nights and Madrid for another three nights. I can't wait! But before I go more in depth about what I'll be doing, I have a story to tell.

So, when I first came to Spain, one of the many things I couldn't wait to try was Gelato (so much better than ice cream.... mmmmmmm!!!!) I know it is an Italian thing, but there are plenty to be found here in Granada. I found a Gelateria fairly close to me, and I had no idea what to try. I ended up getting two scoops of a flavor called "Cookie" (sooo Spanish, I know). It has vanilla, caramel, cookie bites, and brownie bites mixed all together. It is amazing. The best thing I've ever had. I could have eaten the entire tub of it in one sitting. Anyway, to the point. I have been there about four times now (once a week), and the owner, a cute, older lady, always smiles when I come in. She finally said something to me about why I never want to try anything else and always get "Cookies". I told her that I am a faithful customer and once I find something I like, I stick with it forever. She just smiled and laughed, and I swear she gave me a little more than usual, which I'm not complaining about :D

Besides that, I have still been enjoying my time at school and exploring (still!). This past weekend I went out with some of my friends and we met up with some of our Spanish friends, and they showed us a typical Spanish drinking tradition with "porrones". If it is your first time, it can get a little messy. I spilled a little bit down the front of my shirt, but after a few rounds I started to get the hang of it! It is a fun thing to do with a bunch of friends and count to see who can drink the longest or see who can extend the porrón the farthest.

Well, I am going to get headed out because I need to finish packing! You will have to wait and see what wonderful sights I see after I get back and write all about it! Have a great week!

Here are some photos of what a porrón is and what it looks like when you drink from it.

 This is a porrón

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Rambling

Hello! This week has flown by so quickly! My language intensive course ends tomorrow with my final exam! I am confident that I will do well on it. After this exam, I have a week off until I start my other classes. I am taking a Social Politics class of Spain, History/Culture of Flamenco, Art of Spain, Civilization and Culture of Spain, and a Writing class this semester at the Universidad de Granada! I am looking forward to them.

This week a few friends from my class and I discovered an awesomely delicious bakery called Conchi, and the owner is a sweet, tiny, older lady who is friendly to everybody. Mostly everything in the shop is only one euro, and she has all types of pastries, breads, and sandwiches. They are all a fairly large size as well, so it is definitely worth the price. They are some of the best pastries/sandwiches/bread I have ever tasted. Everything in Spain is so delicious and going to Conchi during our twenty minute break from class has become my usual routine. I will be sure to take a picture of some of the delicious pastries I have eaten and update you all on that. Today I had a bocadillo with ham and cheese, caliente. So delicious. After lunch I went back and had a pastry with chocolate drizzled on top of a croissant with chocolate in the middle as well. It is absolutely amazing. Good thing I run almost every day, or else I might end up gaining weight... haha. Just kidding, we walk around too much here to be able to gain any weight. Between working out and walking everywhere, my legs are always tired at the end of the day and I fall right asleep each night.

Anyway, on Monday afternoon I am leaving to go to Barcelona for three nights and Madrid for another three nights. I am looking forward to this trip with two of my other amigas, and we have a lot planned! A lot of historical sights to see, but I'll save the surprise and tell you where I went after I have the proof! 

Last night was another intense soccer matchup between Barca and Real Madrid. This game was much more exciting, and I went to watch it with my Spanish friend and his group of friends. They are all really nice and I can really tell that I am getting better at understanding when they speak much faster, and also improving my speaking abilities tremendously. I can't believe I have been here for almost a month already! Time really has flown by so quickly... I don't want it to pass too fast! I love it here and I am learning a lot about different cultures and lifestyles, as well as about myself and others. I have met so many interesting people already and I am looking forward to meeting even more. Oh, by the way, Barca and Real Madrid ended up tying, 2-2, incase you care haha.

I also forgot to mention that I booked my trip to Palma de Mallorca, aka a freaking gorgeous island that is part of Spain. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! That's how I feel. I am going with three other friends at the end of April, and we are staying for four days and two nights. It is going to be wonderful. I am also in the process of booking a trip to Germany, and some other short trips to other cities in Spain and throughout Europe. 

Other random thoughts: I love running here. I usually run in the Federico García Lorca Park or beside the river that flows throughout Granada that leads up into the Sierra Nevada/Alhambra. It is so beautiful! I could end up running for miles and miles without even realizing it because I am enjoying the scenery too much. It never gets boring. Also, I love teterías and chino shops. The tea is amazing and there are so many options to choose from, and as for the chinos, well, they have everything you need for pretty much less than five euros. Amazing. I love walking to class every morning while listening to my iPod. It puts me in a great mood before class, even if I have no motivation to study for four hours. I love the food. I've already said this in about every other single entry, but seriously, come to Spain and eat Spanish food. It is delicious. Also, my host brother is hilarious. Every time he laughs, I burst out in laughter too because he is just so ridiculously hilarious sometimes. My house mate and I always look at each other and giggle like little school girls. Still addicted to Principe cookies. I'll post a photo of them sometime so that you know what they look like. I'm just warning you though, you're going to want to eat them. They are amazing. I love free tapas, especially at my favorite local bar. The bartender is a badass (pardon my language, but it is true. There is no better word to describe him, he is just that awesome). People here are generally very nice, but most of them enjoy staring at me because I'm American. I've learned to deal with it. Yeah, I wear shorts when I run because it's 60 degrees outside. It's "winter" to them, but it's springtime to me.

Well, enough rambling. I had pizza today and it was so delicious. Hawaiian pizza. Amazing. Fresh fruit here is the best thing. I love my señora's freshly squeezed orange juice. Absolutely the best. And café con leche twice a day. Ahh. I love it. I'm going to go now, my legs are cold because it is always freezing in the house and it's always warmer outside. Which is why I have three comforters on my bed. Sometimes it is difficult to get out of bed in the morning, but I do it because I know that I always have an exciting day ahead of me! Woohoo. Also, I discovered that I love coconut yogurt. Mmm. So good. Ok. Really, I'm done now. I will try and update again on Monday before I leave for Barcelona and Madrid, but if not, I'll be sure to update when I get back!

Taluego!

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Málaga!

Hey everybody, I haven't updated in a week because I have been busy! Last week I had classes and I have finally gotten into a daily routine of things to do. The highlights of the past week was going to watch the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid soccer game on Wednesday night at a local bar with my roommate and some of my Spanish friends I have met. It was so intense and I love how passionate and intense everyone gets about soccer here, haha. Mostly everyone is a Real Madrid fan because Barcelona is "independent" with their own language, banner, and pretty much anything else anti-Spain. Unfortunately, Real Madrid lost 2-1 but it was a great game.

The real highlight was leaving to spend the weekend in Malaga from Friday-Sunday. Myself, five other girls, and one guy left Friday after classes to Malaga. It was only a 1.5 hour bus ride, so it was simple. While we were taking the bus to the bus station, we met two super old guys who we think were hitting on us, but we aren't entirely sure. They were friendly, and they ended up buying one of my friends Washington Irving's "Tales of the Alhambra" in Spanish.... It was quite odd. After we arrived at Malaga, we had an adventure trying to find our hostel, but we had time to spare anyway. Luckily most of us are pretty easygoing, so we didn't get into any arguments or hissy fits. We found our hostel and it was nice, only five minutes walking distance from the beach, so we were happy about that. We spent most of the weekend on the beach and we also went to a Castle similar to the Alhambra. It is called the Castillo de Gibralfaro and it also contains the Alcazabo de Malaga. I don't want to admit it, but I almost enjoyed it more than the Alhambra, maybe because there were a ton less people and for about a fifth of the price of the Alhambra. I will post a few photos below. The view on our hike up to the top was breathtaking! We stopped to take photos all the time and I didn't mind one bit.

The beach was fantastic as well, we took a long walk along the coast of the Mediterranean and relaxed awhile. It was about seventy five degrees in Malaga, so the temperature was perfect. I didn't go swimming (I'm not the swimming type), but other people were complaining before we left that it would still be "too cold" in the middle of January to go swimming. I didn't think so... I could have easily gone for a dip if I felt like it. Well, other than relaxing, we went out Friday and Saturday night to a few bars and had a good time hanging out together.

I am trying to think about what else to update... Oh, I have a new food addiction here: A snack called "Príncipe". They are two shortbread cookies with chocolate in the middle (similar to Nutella spread). I am in love with them and I snack on them all the time. I don't think they are quite the healthiest snack, but I monitor my input. They are amazing. Much better than Oreos by a long shot.

I have one more week of my "intensive-language" course and then I have a week long break where I will be going to Barcelona and Madrid with one other friend. After that, I will begin my "real" classes, which I am looking forward to. I am really enjoying the University so far, it is very fun and I have a lot of chill people in my class. My professors are very active and they are willing to help us and answer any question, so I feel very comfortable.

I can't think of much else to write right now... but here are some photos!

 

 Bull Fighting Ring!

 View on our way to the Castle

 View of the Castle from below!

 The beach! Malagueta

 The Mediterranean!

 The sky is so blue

 My waitress put this in my cafe con leche and it made my day :)

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Antibiotics and Alhambra

I finally got into the doctor Thursday evening. It actually went a lot smoother than I thought it would. Surprisingly I remembered most of the vocabulary from eighth grade (thanks Señora B... err, was it Ms. Laub? Hahahaha). Anyway, I only had to look up the word for "runny" and refresh my memory on "resfriado" (which means "cold"). The doctor was very nice and she treated me right away, and I received three antibiotics for only eight euros. I was so shocked... I had to sit there for a few seconds and think it through that she literally just said eight euros and not eighty... haha. So I have been taking my medicine for about four days now and I am feeling so much better. Unfortunately, the night that I received my antibiotics, the next morning I woke up with what I thought to be pink eye. I have never had an allergic reaction to any medicine before, but I thought maybe it might be because of the differences between countries. It doesn't matter now because my eye is feeling a lot better after buying more medicine from the pharmacy, luckily I didn't have to go to the doctor this time.

Other than that, Friday and Saturday night I went out with friends and we had a great time hanging out and talking to some locals. Saturday we went to the Alhambra, which I was so excited for! I took plenty of notes and tons of photos, and I enjoyed every second of it. I can't wait to return in the Spring when all the plants and flowers are in bloom, but it still looked absolutely stunning. I loved learning/reviewing about the Arabic/Muslim history and finally being able to see all of it in person instead of imagining it all through photos. We saw the three palaces and the garden. The first palace was used for the justice courts, the second was for the administration and government, and the third was used as the Lion's court (the place for men and women to be together). In the Lion's court, the musicians had to be blind so that they couldn't see all the women that the king kept (he had anywhere between 10-200 women). The king who had the most women was Muhammed the 5th, who had over 200 women. The architecture was phenomenal, most of the ceilings were compiled of over 8,000 pieces of different materials, and the walls are over 600 years old. I could sit here and tell you five hundred other random things about the Alhambra, but I'll just post a few photos instead.

Besides the Alhambra, I have just been spending time at school or with friends. Yesterday I went and had tea in Albaycin with my Spanish friend who I met last week. This weekend I am going to Malaga with 5 other friends and I cannot wait! It won't be super warm, but we are still planning on going to the beach and hang out for awhile. It will be a great trip! I am loving it here so far and I am happy to get to know other people from my program and also some locals! I also got a house mate on Saturday afternoon and she is from the University of Michigan. She is super nice (shout out to you, Sarah!) and it is a lot less awkward around the house now that she is here, haha. It was never super awkward before, but it is nice to have someone else to relate to! We try not to speak English in the house though because we don't want to make our Señora feel bad or anything like that. We are planning to go shopping soon since now is the time with all the rebajas (sales and rebates) after Christmas. They have huge sales up until the middle of March, so I will have to go buy some big boots since those are really popular for the chicas here in Spain. I only have shorter boots, but apparently boots that go all the way up to your knees are the big hit.

Also, I find it hilarious that the people here in Spain take everything so literally (most of the time). They are quite gullible, and it is kind of funny to mess around with them. Of course, the same goes on their end, because I have caught myself looking like a fool in front of some Spaniards, due to the different lifestyle aspects and manners, what is polite and impolite, etc. I love when people stare at me when I am running around Granada wearing shorts and a bright shirt. It is 65 degrees here (most of the time) and they are all bundled up in double layers, jackets, scarves, hats, gloves, etc. and here I am enjoying this warm weather in shorts. Oh well! I don't mind being stared at, they already know I'm American anyway because of my skin tone and hair color.

Anyway, I'm going to go run! Here's some photos.

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Dipping Shortbread Cookies in Café con Leche > Dipping Oreos in Milk

Hola a todos! The past few days I have just been getting used to classes. I have class every morning from 10:00 - 2:00. It is not a bad schedule, I get to sleep in a little bit and still get home in time to spend the afternoon and evening doing what I want. The classes here a lot more fun and laid back than they are at ISU. I feel like here at the University of Granada, our professors are more concerned that we are actually understanding the content we are learning, and not just trying to rush through a specific syllabus like it seems at ISU (not always, but just something I have noticed). My classes so far have been a lot more interactive and we do a lot of activities and games to help us remember the topics better (it is true that if you are actually enjoying the way you are learning, you will retain the information better). Today, for example, we have been learning more in depth vocabulary of the parts of the body and descriptions and adjectives, etc. We paired up with someone, and we each had to describe to the other person different qualities, and they had to draw it based on our descriptions. At the end, we could see what they came up with and if it matched what we said. It was very fun, and great practice to retain the vocabulary. For the grammar section, we have been doing a lot of activities and we will go on YouTube and listen to song lyrics and analyze the different verb tenses. It is easier to remember which verb forms to use when you can actually relate it to something current in your life.

Anyway, besides classes, I have still been ill with a cold that has turned into a sinus infection. I have been trying to get into the doctor for the past week, but the insurance company that is provided through this program is not doing their part to be punctual... I have been going in and out of many offices trying to figure out what to do, and nothing seems to be working out. I am hoping to get in tomorrow (cross your fingers), but if not, it looks like I will have to wait out the weekend... Oh well. At least it is only a sinus infection and nothing worse.

This weekend our group is visiting the Alhambra, which I am super excited about! I have been waiting to visit the Alhambra in person ever since I started high school. It will definitely be an amazing experience and I will be sure to take plenty of photos. Also, I discovered that the shortbread cookies here are the greatest snack I have ever tasted. I just discovered today that dipping the shortbread cookies in my café con leche tastes about twenty times better than dipping Oreos in milk, not even kidding. It is fantastic. Other than that, I can't think of much else to update you all on... Well, I also figured out a more efficient way to shower. My shower head is not connected to the wall, so I have been holding it in one hand while trying to maneuver and do everything else. I finally decided to suck it up and turn the water off after I rinse, set the shower head down, put the shampoo/conditioner in my hair and use my body wash while freezing my butt off, then turn the HOT water back on and rinse off for a bit... It kind of sucked at first but I am getting used to it. My señora also made me neat slippers to walk around in so my feet don't get cold, they are so adorable.

 The picture that Kaitlyn (my partner) drew based off of my descriptions

 My slippers!

 The picture that I drew based off of Kaitlyn's descriptions

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Starting Classes

Greetings! The past two days have been pretty busy for me, classes are finally getting up and going so I am becoming more occupied with serious studies. Sunday night my Señora and I were invited for dinner at her friend's house in another town close to Granada, so we went over there and had a good time. Before we went to his house, we made a detour and drove up through the mountains and Martín (her friend) showed us the view of Granada from atop. He also showed us the indoor bull-fighting ring up close, which is rare to find because normally the bull-fighting rings are open without a ceiling. After the pleasant and informative detour, we finally went to his house and he cooked us shrimp, onion rings, and croquetas. Everything was very delicious and by the end of the meal, I felt like I was pregnant, hahaha. Martín is very humorous and I enjoyed meeting him, and he also showed me his journals full of poems and short essays he has written. Very beautiful pieces of work in there.

Anyway, Monday we had a "placement exam" to figure out what level of spanish we are and which classes we will be placed in. I received a score high enough that I needed to receive credit hours, so I was happy. Today we actually began the "language intensive" month, where we just review a lot of grammar, vocabulary, etc. Starting in February we will actually sign up and begin our "real" classes. I have two professors during the language intensive course, and they both seem pretty outgoing and nice. They seem very genial and I think they really want to help us get better at every aspect of Spanish, so I am excited for that.

Other than that, life hasn't been too eventful lately. Just getting into the swing of things is pretty tiring in itself. In my free time I have been running, eating, or exploring by myself or with friends. Usually going to a tapas bar or going out at night with friends to practice our spanish some more has been fun. The other night my friends and I met two very sincere Spaniards and we ended up talking for a long time. I am hoping to meet up with them again this weekend to practice some more and get to know the culture here even better with people my age.

Here are some photos of the mountain view and the bull ring:

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Exploring the City!

Hey everyone!


So Thursday night was the Día de los Reyes parade. Let's just say that night was like the Christmas Eve here in Spain. It was crazy. There were literally about 100,000 people watching this parade, it was so neat. Everyone was fighting to get a tiny piece of candy, but it was quite humorous. The Día de los Reyes (Epiphany, as you may know it as) takes place on January 6, and it is a huge deal here in Spain. The day after, every single store has rebates and sales out the wazoo. It is going to be PACKED around here the next few weeks with everyone shopping and what not. Anyway, the parade was awesome, lots of cool things to look at. I'll post a few photos below.

The next day, Friday, we didn't do much because it is the national holiday for Día de los Reyes. I mostly just lounged around, and I also finally got to go on my first run since I've been here. Needless to say, it was breathtaking. I ran alongside a river that flows throughout Granada, and I was running towards the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was one of the most glorious runs I've been on, and I can't wait to be able to experience this almost every day. My señora has been making some really delicious food for me, and for dinner I think she likes to try and make something more "American" to make me feel better. We had hamburgers and french fries on Friday night. It obviously didn't taste quite like home, but it was very delicious either way (my señora is an amazing cook). She actually has a legit deep fryer, and I love smelling the aromas and hearing the cackling noises when she uses it. The french fries she makes are better than any other fries I've had. 

Anyway, Saturday (yesterday), we took a cultural visit to the Albaycin neighborhood. The Albaycin is the old Arab Quarter. It comprises approximately the area between the hill of the Alhambra, the hill of San Cristobal, the Sacromonte and Elvira.  The Albaycin is like a different world within Granada. This is due to the strong Muslim influence in this area. It was the place where the first Siri court was built in the eleventh century. We had a beautiful view of the Alhambra from the top of the Albaycin neighborhood, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I am definitely going to be visiting there again. Afterwards, we went to a small teahouse called Casa Blanca, and the owners shared a Moroccan Green Tea and some postres with us. The tea tasted pretty good, a bit to sugary, but it had a nice kick of a minty flavor in it as well. 

Today I am just relaxing as I prepare for the placement exam for the University tomorrow. Maybe I'll study a little bit (yeah right), or most likely take a walk and explore some more. Here are some photos!

 Lights!

 Parade!

 Parade!

 My room!

 View from Albaycin

 Sierra Nevada

 Mezquito

 I love this photo

 Green tea and postres

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Hot Dog Eating Contest

Buenos tardes a todos! I have quite a hilarious story to tell you all. I was going to try and wait and update until after the Día de los Reyes fiesta, but I was afraid that I might forget some of the details, so here it goes.

Ok, so I am finally starting to get used to the delicious and enduring Spanish meals, but last night I was taken aback in surprise. For those of you who don't know, Spanish people usually have a very light breakfast (bread, fruit, coffee), a very large lunch (the most important meal, usually some sort of soup with a lot of side dishes, with fruit and café con leche served afterwards). Anyway, this story has to deal with dinner time, which is usually just a light meal, such as a sandwich or something similar. I was surprised to see my señora walking out with SIX hot dogs on a single plate... My first thought was that she saw the Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th and since I have been eating well, she is going to start training me to enter and win! Hahahaha. It was difficult for me to suppress my laughter, but I was happy that she was making the attempt to at least help me feel slightly more at home by cooking a somewhat American dinner. Well, as I was slowly making my way through the hot dogs, (I would only go on to finish eating three of them, señora was probably disappointed in me) she brings out a huge OMELET. I was already starting to feel full at this point, but that omelet looked so delicious that I just had to finish the entire thing (it was amazing). I wish I would have gotten a photo of this dinner to show you all, but I would have felt rude pulling out my camera in front of my señora and taking a picture of her food she took the time to cook for me. She is a wonderful cook and I appreciate everything she makes, but I just couldn't help but chuckle a bit when she made me six hot dogs.... hahaha.

After dinner a large group of the study abroad gang went out together at a tapas bar! Tapas are like appetizers, and in Spain they usually are free when you order a beverage of some sort. So we had a good time going to a local bar getting to know each other and also talking with some of the Spanish natives! Everyone seems very friendly so far that I've met here (except those rude ladies on the plane).

Earlier today (It is 4:00 p.m. here as I write this), we had orientation again for the University, and the tour guide/school people showed us all around Granada. It is so beautiful! I will post some photos below that I took on my phone.

Anyway, tonight is the Día de los Reyes parade (Three Kings)! I am very excited to be able to experience this since it is a big deal in Spain. I am going to take plenty of photos and I will be sure to write about how amazing it was!

Hasta luego

Decorations for Christmas

 Pretty walkway :)

 Ahh beautiful hills

 Fountain!

 Me with beautiful scenery! Haha

 At the tapas bar with some amigos!

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Arrival!

Ahh, what a busy couple of days it has been, but totally worth it! I will try and give you a brief yet detailed run-down of how everything went! Monday morning my father and I set out around 9:00 a.m. to head to O'Hare, and we arrived around noon. I still hadn't felt like I was leaving. We finally got around to checking in around one or so, and I wasn't excited about going through security. After neatly organizing my carry-on luggage, it was annoying having to take nearly half of it out because Heaven forbid it makes the buzzer go off. Oh well. Well, the rest was nothing special until we finally got around to departing around 5:45 p.m. Luckily I got an aisle seat and didn't have anyone sitting directly next to me, but one seat over from me I was talking to a nice girl (about my age I would guess) from Louisiana (who works at Chick-Fil-A - my favorite!, and goes to a community college there) who was headed to Venice to visit her best friend. We were having nice conversation about books, traveling, and other such topics of life, and I got around to thinking how quickly people come in and out of our lives, throughout its entirety. Really the only consistent and concrete foundation of people we have in our lives are our family, if we are even lucky enough to have them for most of it! I was just thinking about how people come in and out of our lives for a reason to teach us something, and then leave when necessary, and it is okay that they are not a part of our lives anymore. I think that is very true and lately I have been realizing this more and more with whomever I  come into contact with. Well, also throughout this plane right, sitting to my right across the aisle from me were three women who were actually from Spain (might I add they were quite rude and inconsiderate). I was not pleased to hear them gossiping in Spanish (most likely assuming I couldn't understand what they were saying) about "ugly" actors and actresses, and making fun of Americans. They sort of ruined the first impression I was hoping to receive from a typical Spaniard. Oh well. I got over it.

Anyway, after the long, boring, restless, and unappetizing meals during the eight hour flight from Chicago to Madrid, we finally landed! At this point it STILL hadn't felt like I was leaving, it just felt like another day in the life of Hillary. Typical. I travel across the world on a daily basis, no big deal. Haha. Well, I was super excited for it all even though I felt pretty tired. I don't have time to be tired! I am too enthused about this opportunity. While we were sitting in Madrid, I got to know some of the other students from ISU who are also spending the semester in Granada. It is nice having other colleagues to relate to and share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Finally, after the short flight from Madrid to Granada, we finally arrived at our destination! I was just about ready to collapse. Our program directors met us at the airport and we all got on a bus to where our host families would be waiting for us! I was already pretty anxious, but now I was starting to get a bit nervous about what I was going to say to my Señora. As soon as I got off the bus, my Señora (Carmen) shouted my name and I turned around and immediately ran to give her a hug and some besos (gotta immerse myself in the Spanish culture right away)! We were equally enthused to meet one another, and the first two things she asked me were how tired I was, and how hungry I was because we were about to have quite a large and delicious lunch! She cooked paella (with chicken, rice, and veggies) and we had a lot of other potpourri side dishes to go along with it. The coffee is absolutely fantastic here, I could drink it all day. My señora is a very nice and considerate woman (she said that I speak good Spanish, but that's not why I like her so much ;)). She is going through chemotherapy right now, so I am hoping that my company will keep her in good spirit throughout this semester. I am so excited to live in such a wonderful home with a wonderful señora. Her family visits a lot as well which is nice company to chat with and learn more about their culture and history.

Today we had our first day of orientation where we toured a little bit of the university and met some people. I am looking forward to classes starting to give me some more things to do (not that I'm bored, just keeps me busy). I have met some new friends so far and I am excited to explore this beautiful city with them, as well as make even more new friends along the way! Today for lunch my señora cooked a sort of rice soup with eggs and vegetables in it. It was pretty good, I am already getting used to the typical meals here in Spain. Good thing I'm not a picky eater! I gave my señora her gift and I think she really enjoyed it, so I am happy! I haven't done too much exploring yet, since I have been exhausted and busy with things to do, but I will definitely be taking some time to do so next week.

 This blog isn't very detailed (sorry, I'm still exhausted), but I will be more interesting in my next posts. I haven't taken many photos yet either because I've been too busy enjoying it for myself! I'll be sure to post plenty of them throughout the semester. Until then, here are a few that I took along the way on my iPhone:

 Airport in Madrid

 What our plane looked like!

 Sierra Nevada!

My breakfast!

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Unexpected

I finally finished my packing, after quite a bit of procrastination between spending the last few days with friends, family, and coming down with the dreaded common cold. It is ironic how my body just chooses to get sick at the most inopportune times. I am a health freak (as most of you already know), and getting ill is something that rarely happens to me. If you are an avid fan of the television show Parks & Recreation, I literally feel like Chris, like my body is a microchip and one tiny illness messes up my entire routine. I might not mind it so much if it were an illness that could be cured with an anti-biotic or something... but nope, it is rhinopharyngitis (that makes a "cold" sound much fancier than it really is). Complaining will not do much to fix it, however. All I can do is keep healing my body and hope that I feel better for take off tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning my dad and I will make the three hour drive to O'Hare, and go through the dreaded communist customs in the airport (I really hate this, if you couldn't tell. I am a large advocate for privacy and independence, and to be frank, airports are super ridiculous regarding check-ins and searches and what not, especially since 9/11). Anyway, my flight departs at 4:45 p.m. Jan. 2 CST, and I will arrive in Madrid, Spain around 7:40 a.m. CET (about 12:40 a.m. Jan. 3 CST). From there I have a four hour layover until the one hour flight to Granada from 11:50 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.

I am so excited to leave, even with this minor set back of becoming ill. Thank goodness last night was New Years Eve (I am so exhausted, definitely didn't help my sickness staying out late), or else I might be too anxious to get some sleep tonight! It honestly hasn't been as difficult as I thought it might be to say goodbye to my friends and family. I think that is because I still really can't believe that I'm going to be living in Spain for five months... it won't feel real until I'm actually there stumbling in Spanish over my words and worrying about my gender agreement when I should really be more concerned about the actual task I'm asking about... haha. I guess that's why I'm going to become a Spanish teacher, it is a big deal to me that the male words stay male and the female words stay female. I also realize that this opportunity is a time where I will become even more independent and will learn to be more self-reliant and learn a lot about myself, as well as embrace a different culture.

Well, enough ranting. It is my last blog entry sitting here on my couch in my cozy central Illinois home for about five months (and maybe longer). I appreciate everyone's support, and I am so excited for this trip and I honestly can't wait to share this journey with you all! I look forward to writing my next entry from my home in Spain, most likely sipping on some sangria because wine is the cheapest beverage in Spain!

Take care,
Hillary

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