Carnaval in Cádiz!

Hey everyone!

I have had a busy week - classes kicked into full gear, intercambio, hanging out with friends and the host family, and things like that.

The most exciting thing that happened within the past week was my trip to Cádiz for Carnaval! Carnaval is a huge street party all over the town (mostly in the central plaza area), and people from all over Spain and even other countries come to dress up in costumes and party in the streets... pretty much like Halloween for adults. I went with two girl friends and my Spanish friend! We had a blast. Our bus left on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. and it was about a four hour trip to Cádiz. We stayed there the entire time until our bus left to come back home at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday... it was a LONG day! No sleep, just hanging out and meeting a bunch of random people and having a good time. I am glad I went, Cádiz is so beautiful! But it started to get quite messy towards the end of the night... haha.

Anyway, I am going to Germany Thursday night through Tuesday night! We have a five day break because the 28th of February is the "Independence Day" of Andalucía. I am going with one of my best friends, Kelsey, to Berlin and Munich! We are hoping to go visit some famous monuments and definitely go to a concentration camp during our trip. I think that visiting a concentration camp should be a requirement that every person must achieve in their life, because the Holocaust was a huuuuuge part of our world history, and without it our history would be entirely different, which means that potentially many of the things we are doing at this moment could be entirely different. I am looking forward to it quite a bit!

Other than that, not too much is new. Recreation sports begin in March, so I am super excited about that. I found a deadly hill to run up when I'm feeling fat and it kicks my butt every time I do it, but it is so worth it in the end. Hmmm.... I also bought a generic brand of Principe cookies, and it was a really bad idea. They don't even compare.... I feel bad for betraying Señor Principe. At least now I know.

Here's some photos from Cádiz / Carnaval!

Read More

Ronda and Intercambio!

Hello!

This past week I have just been recuperating from my trip. I am enjoying my classes a lot more this week than I was last week. My professors are very lively and passionate about the subject that they teach, so that makes me really motivated as well. I don't really feel like talking about school right now, so I'm going to skip right on over this section. :)

On Friday our program took a day trip to Ronda (a small historic city close to Málaga). It was so beautiful! We learned all about the ancient aqueducts and castles, arabian baths, and other things similar. It was very interesting and it was quite a wonderful sightseeing adventure. I enjoyed the trip very much, and we also found a McDonald's there, and I couldn't resist but to help myself to a delicious Oreo McFlurry (so worth it!). Hmm.... I am trying to think of what else to describe the trip as, but I honestly can't think of much. I'll let some of the pictures do the talking for me :)

Also, I finally got to meet up with my intercambio partner for the first time! Intercambio is a program where a Spanish student and an American student meet up so that we can practice our desired languages (for instance, she wants to practice English and I want to practice Spanish). We usually do one hour of speaking in Spanish and then one hour of speaking in English. She is really nice and very humorous! I love listening to her pronunciation of words (I'm not making fun of her, I'm sure that I sound a little bit ridiculous to her as well). It is really one of the best ways I have been practicing Spanish so far. And she is more relatable and easier to talk to because she is near my age and we have plenty to talk about! I am really excited about being able to meet with her twice a week because not only are we practicing a lot, we're also becoming good friends and it is always nice to have a good friend who is foreign! Now I have at least one excuse to come back to Spain and visit... hahahaha! She embarrassed me today when she told me that I speak Spanish very well and that she wanted to be able to speak English as well as I can speak Spanish. It made my day, but I am not getting a big ego about it because I have plenty to practice as well :)

Other than that, life has been a dream over here. Last night for Valentine's Day I went out with some amigos to a Mexican Restaurant and we had margaritas and some delicious food! I could have eaten another three whole plates... I really miss Mexican food... haha. Anyway, it was a really fun time and I am enjoying everything! Also, I am excited for my parents to come visit in a little more than a month! It will be a great time.

Here are some photos:

Read More

Barcelona and Madrid

Hello!

Man, I am so worn out! After a week of traveling and beginning my new classes yesterday and today, I am exhausted! Going to try and be as detailed as I can while I write this blog entry, though. Here it goes.

First, Barcelona:

Overall impression: I loved it. Although it was cold and rainy while we were there, I enjoyed this city very much. It is quite big, and my legs were dragging by the end of walking between monuments, but it was definitely worth it. I would gladly go back again. Especially since it is heavily influenced by my favorite architect, Antoni Gaudí. Everyone seemed really nice and helpful, and I didn't feel the stereotypical "Catalan Pride" vibe like a lot of people say there is. It was a beautiful place, especially by the sea with all the boats.

Sagrada Familia: A Roman Catholic Church designed by Gaudí. Although the construction still isn't complete, it is a beautiful place to visit. I wasn't too impressed with the inside of it, but the outside is crazy detailed. It is still in construction today, and it consists of 4500 square meters for up to 8000 people to worship. It is over half way completed, and by the end of the construction, there will be four towers. It was freezing inside! But it was cool because we got to go up to the top and see the view of Barcelona over all of it. And we had a fun trip down, winding down the spiral staircase.

Casa Batlló: My absolute FAVORITE monument in Barcelona. So beautiful. Also constructed by Antoni Gaudí. It was originally designed for a middle-class family, and it seems that Gaudí's intention was to avoid straight lines, completely. Haha. It was built during the period of Modernism, and has a lot of influence of mosaic made with ceramic tiles. Absolutely stunning. Every room was a surprise and I am amazed at how creative this man was. I would love to live in a house like that... wishful thinking. Seriously though, I was obsessed with this place and I could have spent about three more hours in there.

Museo Picasso: A huge museum full of artwork done by Picasso himself. Much of the artwork in this museum was also donated BY Picasso himself to the museum. Most of the artwork in this museum is a center to obtain background knowledge for the early years of learning of Pablo Picasso. How much his artwork has changed and progressed throughout history! I wish I could have taken photos, seeing the transitions between the phases was stunning. I wasn't too big of a fan of Picasso before, but I have always enjoyed a little bit of his artwork.

Cathedral: Decent. A lot prettier than any church in the United States. A lot of statues and interpretations of apostles and other important biblical figures. Very neat.

Other random things that happened in Barcelona: The hostel was really nice. We met some cool people from Australia and other parts of the U.S. and went out with them one night and had a good time! Hostels are a really neat place to meet people from all around the world. The monuments were a lot more expensive here than they were in Madrid, but oh well. I'm only here once (maybe). Besides the rainy and cold weather, I loved visiting the pier next to the Mediterranean. I saw a girl reading a book on a bench and I was envious because I would love to sit next to the sea and read every day. What a view.

On to Madrid!

Overall impression: I loved Madrid as well. I can't tell you which city I love more, so don't ask. They are both unique and have their positives and negatives. It was super cold and windy in Madrid, but at least it was more sunny. A lot more ambient in Madrid, more trees and greenness in general, which I enjoy. It was nice that our hostel was in close proximity to everything, and I love the metro system in Madrid.

Reina Sofia: Museum full of all different types of artwork. Super humungous. I was obsessed with the glass elevators on the outside of the building. Very neat. I was so excited to see the Guernica (the REAL painting!) in person, but unfortunately it was too crowded and I couldn't get a decent photo of it. Oh well. I saw it with my own eyes! Also, I was even more excited to see some original paintings by Joan Miró, my absolute favorite artist. He is awesome. There is so much to say about this museum, so much artwork, and it was free entry for students!

El Prado: Another museum full of artwork, but mostly religious and Greek mythology art. I was looking forward to this as well. Very exciting. Of course, my favorite painting was seeing Saturn devouring his child (up close and personal!). Francisco de Goya is another one of my favorite artists, and I was happy to see plenty of his influence in the museum. Diego Velazquez also had a lot of paintings in El Prado, and I enjoy his artwork as well. A lot of interesting sculptures and paintings in El Prado. We went back the next day because we didn't get to see everything thoroughly, and this museum was also free entry for students!


Palacio Real: MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. Oh. My. Goodness. So beautiful. I wish I could have taken photos, I never would have left that place. I would still be there right now. So intricate and the designing is breathtaking. Try to Google Picture some photos of the inside of it, but it won't do any justice. That palace is absolutely fantastic. It is the official residence of the King of Spain in the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floorspace and contains 2800 rooms. It is the largest palace in Europe by floor area. The interior of the palace is notable for its wealth of art, in regards to the use of all kinds of fine materials in its construction and the decoration of its rooms with artwork of all kinds, including paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez and Francisco de Goya and frescoes by Corrado Giaquinto, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Anton Raphael Mengs.

Cathedral: Right next to the Palacio Real. Also very beautiful, very similar to the one in Barcelona.

Other comments about Madrid: So beautiful, loved the hostel. Huge. Tried a Kebab for the first time here and fell in love with them. Kebab is a sort of meat dish that originated in Persia. I had mine on a sandwich with a mix of meat and chicken, along with salad and two "special sauces" that came on top. Man, it was so delicious. Met some awesome people here from Ireland, Germany, Holland, Mexico, Peru, and more. Memories to last a lifetime, love it! I felt like I could have walked around the city forever and not get bored. My favorite night of the trip was when we met up with some other friends from our group and went out for her 21st birthday. We went to an AWESOME jazz bar and rocked to some awesome blues and jazz music for awhile. It inspired all of us to find a jazz bar when we returned to Granada (and we did)! It was a really fun time and it was exciting seeing all of the people relax and carefree.

Other random things I want to say about the trip: I realized that I am awesome at reading and navigating with a map (not bragging, I promise). I was just excited that I didn't have to waste money on public transportation because I could navigate our way between monuments and what not. Also I was surprised to see that there is more Middle Eastern influence in Barcelona than I initially thought (not a bad thing). We went to some awesome restaurants, but by the end of the week I found myself missing my home in Granada. Home cooked meals, my bed, and the city itself.

On a side note, my "real" classes started yesterday, and they seem pretty decent so far. I think my favorite class will be Sociopolítica because my professor is young (and handsome!), and he seems the most relatable to the students. Also, he played professional soccer in Málaga for a few years or so, so that obviously interested me as well. He is very enthusiastic and passionate and really wants us to participate, which I am excited about. My other classes seem pretty cool too. The other classes I am taking are History of Flamenco, Arte Moderno, Cultura Española, and an Oral/Writing class. I am looking forward to them, even though a few of my professors seem a bit rude or just a little too prideful. Oh well, we'll see I guess!

That's about all I can think of for now... here's some photos from the trip.

Read More