Last couple weekends

Ahh its been awhile, so here's my attempt at playing catch-up on the last couple weeks....



Three weeks ago, my friends and I decided to take quick weekend trip to the beach in Malaga. The weather was finally getting nice enough....So I did my best to invite all the girls I'm closer with in, from our program. Long story short, we invited some Spanish boys and they were interested in going, but invited us to one of their Grandma's beachhouses. We took them up on their offer, but since there was 7 of us girls and 6 of them, we didn't have room in the 2 cars to drive there. Two of my friends and I went by bus and layed out on the beach until we met up with them later. We walked around Malaga a little bit and then squeezed into cars to drive to the beachhouse. We went to the supermarket to buy food and drinks and cooked paella. The beachhouse was absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed hanging out together in a "house setting". (That hasn't happened since I've arrived to Spain...) The next day we went to the beach and just enjoyed laying around. We took the bus back home on Sunday.



The following weekend was my last full weekend with my French roommate, Thomas. He said he really wanted to go to the beach, so we took the bus for a day-trip to Nerja...2 hours away. The beach was absolutely beautiful. I went with all my French friends, so I was a little out of place when they spoke so much French. None the less, I had a great time! We stayed the entire day and brought our bocadillos. The town reminded me of visiting my Grandma in Arizona. Everyone was very kind. We walked around until our bus left at 7pm.



The following Thursday, I had to say goodbye to Thomas as I left for Barcelona to meet my parents! Thomas walked me to the bus stop and I was on my way to Barcelona...(really Girona, which is 1hr. and 20min. outside of Barcelona)



I finally arrived in Girona, no problems. I took a bus into the city and from there it was slightly complicated figuring out the Metro system. My friend had given me maps and I knew the route I needed to take. I didn't realize there was underground and street-level metro stops, but after talking to many people, I was directed in the right direction. I arrived at the hotel to meet my parents around 9:30pm and we went to the consigiere suite to have a drink before dinner. We left for dinner and went to a nice authentic Catalan restaurant across from our hotel. The next morning, we walked around site-seeing. We saw the two houses built by Gaudi and walked down by Plaza Catalunya. We found La Ramba, possibly one of the most famous streets in Spain (said my Barcelonean friend)...As we reached Subway, I couldn't help but want to eat there. We stopped for lunch and continued walking around. We went back to the hotel and as we were enjoying happy hour, we met people from Philadelphia, whom my parents continued to run into everyday. We talked so long with them, that when we went for dinner at 11:30pm, nothing was really open. We found a cafeteria open and ran in to get served before they closed. We liked talking with the Arabic owner who was quite well-traveled.



The next day, we decided to take a trip to Parc Guell. As we followed all the signs, we took escalators outside to get to this high point! It was a park full of mosaics. We had lunch in the park as well. We enjoyed drinking sangria outside and we got calamari (sooo good!) , pasta, and desert! We walked back down and went to the part of the city where the Olympics were held. We saw a fountain with music and light show. We returned to the hotel and I went to meet my friend, Uwe. Uwe and I met in Rome when we were both traveling back in January and staying in the same hostel. He took me to a sausage/ham place and then brought me around the city. He showed me the Roman ruins and I got to meet 2 of his friends. We had a good time and hopefully he will come to Granada to visit us! The next day, we went to the Truimphi, the highest mountain in Barcelona. We looked at the cathedral there and enjoyed the look-out over the entire city. We took the bus back to the city centre and left for the airport. We got to Granada and went out for a quick dinner after my parents checked into the airport.



Monday, I showed my parents my university and after lunch I met with them to walk to the Albaizin. When we reached the higher point overlooking Granada, there were hippies playing flamenco. That evening, we enjoyed going for tapas with my Senora Rosa. My mom did her best to converse with her, while I translated for my dad. My Senora invited my parents over for a nice lunch on Wednesday. The next day, I met my parents to go to La Alhambra, the site where the Jews were driven out. It was a huge monument we walked around for a couple hours and then had lunch up at the top. That evening, we had dinner while we enjoyed watching a flamenco show. My parents got to meet my roommate, Dorothy. The show was great, especially since there was only 2 other tables at the restaurant! On Wednesday, I met my parents after school to bring them to my apartment for lunch. My Senora had gone all out cooking paella, little fritter balls, and cheese cake for dessert. My parents got to meet my brother, Roberto too. When they were introduced, it is customary to give two kisses, one on each cheek. EXCEPT, for males, you just shake hands. We all got a kick out of my dad trying to kiss my brother while he was shaking hands and giving an awkward hug. HAHAHA, he didn't know any better. We stayed for about 2 hours talking and enjoying lunch and then left to walk around towards the Universidad de Granada. We went in the small shops and went to eat kebabs for dinner (my favorite!!!). It seemed like the visit was too quick, before I realized it, my parents left this morning. :(



They are headed to Madrid and will be headed back to the US on Saturday. We had such a nice visit, I can't believe we are half way through our trip in Granada! Midterms are next week and I leave a week from tomorrow for Portugal!!! WOOOO

My "trip" to England and my first family dinner :)

Thursday was the day of my planned departure for Leicester, England. My flight was scheduled to depart at 8:10pm so I left my house in Granada at 3:30. I had to take one city bus to the bus station in Granada. I bought a bus ticket to go to Malaga, where the airport is. Due to the first bus running late, I missed the 4pm bus and waited until 5pm. At 5:15 the bus left for Malaga and it was supposed to take 1hr and 2o minutes, but somehow we didn't arrive in Malaga until 7pm. I hurried off the bus to catch the connecting city bus to the airport. It was supposed to arrive at 7:05 and didn't come til after 7:15pm. (Are you seeing a trend with the Spanish bus transportation?) I got on the bus to go to Malaga and we were in standing traffic. I didn't get to the airport until 8pm. I ran through the airport, it seemed like a clip out of a movie. I found someone to help me and she confirmed that I wouldn't make my flight and directed me to the next person to help me. I went to the help desk to try and get on the next flight. Unlike the U.S., they aren't as willing to help you. I was crying and couldn't have been more relieved when they responded to me in English (although I spoke to them in Spanish...) They told me that there were no more flights for the day and I could wait until the morning and pay 75 euro to change my flight. I panicked and began calling all of my family members. I got through to my sister, Melissa, although she couldn't help me much. What was she supposed to say? hah. Anyways, I chose to leave the airport and go back to the bus station and buy a ticket to come back to Granada. As my luck continued, I missed the bus to the bus station. Once I got to the bus station, I saw the bus labeled MALAGA-GRANADA. I ran over to the bus driver and asked him how long I had til the bus was leaving. He told me I had 2 minutes, so I sprinted inside the bus station to buy my ticket and of course, there was a huge line of 10 people in front of me. I bought my ticket for the next bus which didn't leave until 12:30am. :( I had to wait in the bus station, which seemed like a sketchy place, for 3 1/2 hours! I got back to Granada at 2:15am and took a taxi home. 11 hours later, 4 buses, 1 taxi, 115 euro, and I was back where I started....Marvelous.

On a lighter note, I was able to text my brother and he let my Senora know that I would be home for the weekend. On Saturday, she had many visitors and they were all in the living room. I haven't quite been introduced to the family, so I just kept to myself. It was boring being around the house because Thomas and Dorothy were gone for the weekend and my Senora was busy entertaining. So I decided to go out on Saturday night with the "French" kids. We went to a discoteca in the caves and had a riot. They were playing hip-hop music and I enjoyed it too much. I was goofing around and dancing like a rapper and before I knew it, I had (black) guys coming over to me and telling me I was a good dancer! They started showing me all their moves, and I had really tricked them. I couldn't keep up! haha....It was fun though.

On Sunday afternoon, my Senora came into my room and invited me to lunch with her family. I was absolutely delighted to go eat at the dining room table. It was probably the most authentic Spanish meal I have had here. We ate with her son and daughter and their partners and two older people I was never introduced to. We ate paella, and in the center of the table was all this food that everyone just helps themselves to. There was shrimp, cheese, potatoes, and OCTAPUS. The woman next to me encouraged me to try the octapus and as I was eating my paella, I was examining the ingredients. There was chopped up octapus in my paella! As we ate, the family was pretty comical. They don't take turns speaking and they speak SO loud! I enjoyed listening to them bicker about things such as the bus system and how the price of the tickets went up. They were all very inviting to me and I was pleased to eat with company. It was a nice end to my weekend although I wish I could have made it to England.