Sports, Beach, Midterms

Hola! I have been so busy the past few weeks! Last week (11-17) recreation sports began, so I have been playing a different sport pretty much every day. Monday is volleyball, Tuesday is basketball, and Wednesday is soccer. We have a team with our program, so it is a good way to mingle with each other and have some fun while getting some exercise! Unfortunately the only game we won was Volleyball, so we were eliminated from the other two sports already (it's just a tournament, sadness). We are planning to have some pick-up games though.

Over the weekend there was the Fiesta de Primavera (Spring Kick-off Party), which was super crowded but very popular and somewhat fun, but not that great. Saturday was St. Patrick's Day so some friends and I went to an Irish Pub and had a drink of Guinness (we figured it was only suitable since it was St. Patty's day). Sunday was fun!! My señora has family that lives about an hour away in a town called Herradura. Lucky for us all of her family lives right on the beach, so we spent the day lounging on the beach and having a family gathering. We ate paella which was exciting because I love paella, it's so good! There was also a festival going on while we were there, sort of like a local fair or carnival that we have in the United States. Two of my señora's nieces and one of her sisters danced and sang Flamenco, which was super awesome and a neat experience!

This week I have been busy studying and taking all of my midterms, which are much more easier than they are back at ISU (I'm not complaining). Besides that, I have been playing sports as usual and spending time with my friends and intercambio. I am super super super super super super excited because my intercambio partner is going to get married in a year and she is going to invite me back to come to her wedding!!! I can't wait! And now I have an official excuse to come back to Spain :D

Tonight I am going to a Flamenco show with one of my classes, and right after that I leave for Salamanca, which I have been looking forward to visiting since I have been here!! I am going to meet up with my pen pal which I have been talking to over email, Skype, and Facebook  for about a year now. I can't believe we are actually going to get to meet each other! I am definitely excited and I can't wait to visit the beautiful city.

Well, that was just a quick update of what's going on in my life... here's some photos! I'll be sure to update when I get back from Salamanca.

Herradura

My favorite picture!

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Sacromonte, Sierra Nevada, Exploring

Hey everybody! This past week has mostly been just hanging out and exploring even more of Granada. I find it ironic that everyone here calls Granada so "tiny", but I seem to find something new to discover every day. It is quite exciting and I enjoy exploring and I am always up for an adventure.

The weekend after I got home from Germany, I celebrated my birthday with some friends. We went and got tapas a few different nights and we had a lot of fun. This week I have just been busy with classes, and as I said, in my free time I like to go explore more of Granada.

On Tuesday I went to Sacromonte ("Sacred Mountain"), a traditional "gitano" part of the city of Granada. I went to visit the famous Abadía (Abbey), which was built in the early seventeeth century, where relics and testimonies of the first Christians of Granada are conserved and, among them, the first bishop of the city: San Cecilio. The Centre of Interpretation of the Sacromonte also allows knowing the history of the neighborhood. The complex has three main parts: the Abbey made in Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, the College of the Seventeenth Century, and the Seminary. I went and saw the museum there, and afterwards enjoyed the view looking out from above the city. I also explored one of the caves which was really neat to see and think about how many of the gypsies still live in caves such as the one I visited. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures of it, so you'll just have to take my word for how awesome it was. Haha.

Yesterday I FINALLY got to go skiing in the Sierra Nevada! This is a great thing about Granada, in one hour I can go visit a beach, and another hour in the opposite direction I can go ski in the mountains. Let me just say it was absolutely beautiful. I am an avid skier and love to go whenever I get the chance, so there was no way I was passing this up. The slopes were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and today I am so sore and I am not sorry about it. All of the slopes here were much more difficult than any of the ones I have done back in the U.S. A green circle (beginners course) could have been a blue square (medium) at most other courses. The blue square slopes in the Sierras would easily be considered a black diamond (advanced) course in the United States. They were so fun! I may or may not have fallen one time, but I blame it because there was a huge random snow pile in the middle of my run and there were a lot of people around me. Either way, it was a blast and I kind of enjoyed having my one fall on the Sierra Nevada. I let nature get the best of me, I guess. Haha. Anyway, it was definitely the highlight of my week and I wouldn't mind going back once more before they shut down for the season.

This week I am just preparing for midterms which are coming up the following week. Also, recreation sports start this week so I am looking forward to that. I am playing volleyball, basketball, and soccer. It is going to be really fun, hopefully I won't get too competitive with it since it is just recreation... hahaha. I can't help it that I have a mental attitude where I always want to win or push myself. Anyway... that's about it for now.

Here's some photos:

 Abbey of Sacromonte

 Sacromonte

 View of Sacromonte from one side

And the view from the other side

 Hangin' out

 Sierra Nevada! Took this photo inside the ski lift

 And this one as well.

 Some neat graffiti I came across while exploring

Another one

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Germany and Birthday!

Hey everyone!

I just got back from my trip to Berlin and Munich, Germany. What a beautiful country! Two beautiful cities, very different from one another. While they are both very urban and populated, Berlin seemed more busy and rushed while Munich was more old school. I loved them both. Sorry if this blog is not very detailed, this is the third time I have tried to write this entry, but the past two times my internet has cut out and so everything I have typed beforehand was lost... I apologize again if this seems unenthusiastic.

What we did in Berlin:

Parliament Building - While we didn't go inside, we walked around the parliament building which was really neat! Nothing too special to say about it since I didn't see it in its entirety.

Brandenburg Gate - Super awesome to experience it in person! We hung out awhile just taking pictures and admiring a beautiful monument (at least to me it is).

Jewish Museum - Had pretty much the entire history of the Jewish religion and culture from its birth until the present day. What a neat place! A lot of information learned and the museum was very interactive and not like a typical museum where you just read a bunch of random things that you forget the next day. A lot of personal stories and collections from victims of the Holocaust and WWII. Very neat and worth the two and half hours I spent in there.

Berlin Wall - Finally checked this off my Bucket List! What an amazing historical monument to see! I was looking forward to seeing this the most, perhaps. Definitely made my day.

TV Tower - A monument where you can go up nearly 500 meters in the air and see the whole panoramic view of Berlin around you! Very neat sight. Very popular and busy. Had a restaurant and bar up above as well.

Overall of Berlin: Loved it! Germany is so beautiful. The people are so nice and helpful. The hostel was very nice, and the weather turned out to be in our favor. Not too cold nor rainy like the forecasts predicted, thank goodness. A looooot of things to visit and I saw a lot of the major things which satisfied me! So much more I could have done, but I am glad I saw what I did! We were on our feet the entire time we were here!

Munich:

Dachau Concentration Camp - Perhaps my overall favorite sight-seeing adventure in Germany. I have been looking forward to experiencing a concentration camp in person ever since learning about the Holocaust for the first time. I believe that seeing a concentration camp is something that should be obligatory, WWII and the Holocaust is something that changed our entire world history, and without it we could be in entirely different places at this very moment. It is a shame that it has been so long forgotten. Overall, the camp was very serene and surreal. Walking on the same ground where over 200,000 people were killed, and even more who may have survived or escaped, or whatever, is a morbid thought, but it was what crossed my mind upon entering.

Rathaus - A huge castle/building that is famous for its architecture. I honestly don't know too much about it, so if you're interested in learning more, go on Wikipedia like I did ;)

Royal Residence - Soooooooooooo beautiful. Very similar to the Palacio Real in Madrid (except I couldn't take pictures there!). I was so ecstatic that I was able to take pictures in the Royal Residence because all of the architecture and decorations are absolutely stunning.

Deutsches Museum - Another neat, hands-on museum that deals with modern technology and other forms of science such as natural gas, minerals, rocks, airplanes, boats, etc. Very, very neat and I learned quite a bit. My favorite was the interactive genetics section where you were faced with five different situations regarding personal stories about genetic testing and whether or not you were in agreement with the decision that the person had chosen. Also when I saw a gigantic model of a mitochondrion I got super excited (Although I am a language major, science [especially biology] is my other favorite subject)!

Hofbrauhaus - A beer brewery restaurant / company that is very famous throughout Munich. What an experience! They gave each of us a liter of beer to drink (I am legal in Europe, so yes, I did try out the beer here) and I was contemplating how I was going to be able to drink the entire glass. I also ordered four pork sausages with some homemade potato salad and it was all so very delicious. The atmosphere was very lively yet laid back. Very cool place to be and I'm glad I experienced this very popular restaurant!

Overall of Munich: Very beautiful as well! A bit more old-school and relaxed, which I prefer. The hostel was very nice and all of the German people are punctual and friendly. Loved the entire experience in both cities. Love Germany as a whole. Looking forward to returning one day!

As for my birthday!!!!

I arrived home and I felt the love! My señora had bought me a beautiful bracelet and a Flamenco fan thingy (I don't know how to describe it, sort of like those Chinese ones). It is precious! Also, for dinner I was surprised to see balloons and another gift from my lovely roommate Sarah! She bought me a neat clock with the Spanish flag embedded in it as well as a Barcelona FC coffee mug (my favorite soccer team here)! Also for dessert, we had a delicious triple-chocolate cake that my señora made all by herself... wow. I was in awe and I really felt at home. I also went back into my room to find two letters from home on my desk! My parents sent me a lovely singing SpongeBob card which made me very happy and I received a letter from a wonderful family from my church (thanks Bernie)!

It was a wonderful birthday here in Spain and I am glad to have gotten to celebrate it with wonderful friends and family in Spain and from home! Hasta luego!

My birthday cake!

Hooray!

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