Granada Love

With less than two weeks left in Granada, I have been trying to reflect upon my time here. I really cannot put into words how incredible of an experience this has been, or express my feelings coherently. The only thing that I can say is that I love Granada. At the beginning of my time here, I said that I wanted to fall in love with as many things as possible; and it is safe to say that I have. I love everything and to try to list it all would be impossible. I have even begun to feel sentimental about the crack on my steps, which shows you how ridiculously cheesy I have become. It was gotten so bad that my friends have started to joke that they have never met anyone with as many feelings as me. I mean really, a crack?

While I appreciate that I have become a bit dramatic, it has occurred to me that I spend a lot of my life trying to keep my emotions in check. Perhaps in an effort to protect my heart, I try to keep myself from falling as madly in love as I have a tendency to do. To let your heart feel so much puts you in a very vulnerable position. And, humans, at their very core, try to avoid being vulnerable. We try to stay in our comfort zone where it is safe and cozy and try not to give our heart to things that could hurt it.

But sometimes all it takes is 20 seconds of insane courage, and something great will come from it (We Bought a Zoo reference haha I am a loser).

 

When I left for Spain, I didn’t just tip-toe out of my comfort zone, I dove out of it headfirst. I had never left the United States ever, and I have very rarely been on my own. I stepped off of the plane more out of my comfort zone more vulnerable and out of my comfort zone as I have ever been. I put all of my faith and trust in Granada, relying on others to help me out. 

Was it scary? Absolutely. But I now feel like the relationships that I have made with the people and Granada itself, are some of the most genuine and real relationships that I have ever had. So, to me, it is only natural that I would love deeper here, because I put myself in this position of vulnerability. 

Maybe what I have learned most is that sometimes it is okay to be vulnerable and to open yourself up. Sometimes it is going to hurt, but when it is worth it, it is really worth it. Even though I know that leaving here will break my poor little over stuffed heart like crazy,, I do not regret falling in love like I did.

On a side note, my showers have FINALLY gotten hot. Like the only thing I didn’t like was the showers, and now that is fixed. So womp. More things to have to leave.

On the plus side, I can’t WAIT to see everyone! besos to all!

Gibraltar, Morocco and Portugal!

I am pretty sure I warned everyone that I was a horrible blogger, so there should be no surprise that I haven’t been on the ball for the last few weeks. I keep meaning to blog but then more things happen then the mass amount of information a blog post would entail overwhelms me. It’s a vicious cycle. But it ends today. I have been to Gibraltar, Morocco and Portugal over the last few weeks, and have learned so much not only about myself but also about the world in general; I don’t even know where to begin.  

Gibraltar and Morocco:

The five days that I spent in Morocco was such an eye opening experience. Yes, I got to do all the touristy fun stuff; playing with monkeys and climbing up mountains in Gibraltar was amazing, and who doesn’t dream of riding down the beach on a camel, but my trip meant something so much more. Through open and honest conversations with people I encountered, I broke down the stereotypes and perceptions I had about the Arab world, and feel like I connected to the culture in deep and real way.

We have a lot of ideas about the Arab world; it is often seems so different from our own, but I was shown time and time again how similar humans are and how we are search for the same things. A lot of times, we choose to only see the differences between cultures. We put up labels and hate and tear each other down. We can see the world as black and white, as “us” against “them”. In my time in Morocco, I learned that at the end of the day, we are all only humans, living and working and trying to make sense of the world.

I met such a wide range of people in Morocco, from very liberal to very conservative, and I wish I had the time to tell you about every interaction that I had, because they were all so special. One particularly moving experience was going to have lunch with a family in rural Morocco. We sat on long cushioned benches and (tried) to eat cous-cous with our hands. Then over sugary mint tea, we were able to ask whatever questions we wanted to, in order to learn about the culture. We learned that they had never heard of an atheist, and knew very little about other religions. The women had stopped going to school very early, and they were to be submissive to the men. Their role was clearly to take care of the family, and they were not permitted to work. As easy as it is to point fingers and say how wrong it is that women do not have rights, this is the only way of life that they know. The women know no different nor do the men. Although they believe that women have fewer rights, when I asked a father what he wanted for his daughter, you could see the love on his face when he responded that she was a very smart girl, and he wanted her to get an education. These are truly good, kindhearted people who just live so differently that I am not sure that we can fault them for their beliefs.

Like I said, I did and learned so much in Morocco, I have just given you a little taste, when I get home, ask me all about it, I would love to give you every dirty detail (ask me about the bathrooms). 

After learning so much about the Islamic culture and seeing the generosity of humans, it was devastating to return to Spain and learn about the bom

bings in Boston. It was a crushing reminder that there are bad people in the world; I was naively under the assumption that the world was all sunshine and rainbows. It makes me sad to think of the impact that the actions of one Muslim are going to have on their community, a group of people who I now know as being loving and kind.

Portugal:

So, after such a deep meaningful life discovery, some friends and I decided that we really need a break and headed to Lago, a beach town in Portugal. All of my other travels have been about history and learning, but this one was not. I had a much-needed break from exploring cathedrals and mosques, and just was a very selfish little girl; I laid on the beach and did not do much of anything. We went on a boat tour and saw beautiful caves and then we ran on beautiful beaches. Lagos is heavenly and my trip was relaxing and perfect. I got to relax with the girls who mean so much to me from my program, and even though I felt a little selfish, sometimes you just have to take a break.

 

And everything in between:

Time has been flying by and I now have a little less than a month left in the program. There are so many thing I need to do and see that I am feeling so overwhelmed. After spending two hours cooking with my host mom, I began to think about how hard it is going to be to say goodbye to everything. When I got here (three months ago exactly) I told myself that I wanted to fall in love with this world and Granada, and wow. I fell hard. I fell head over heels in love, knowing that I would have to leave, and my heart is already breaking. Since I still have a few precious weeks left, I am going to enjoy every single second, and try to blog a little bit more!

Hope things are still going swimmingly in the good old US of A, see you all soon!

Just Another Day in Paradise

When my host mom told me the very first day that we met that I was the luckiest girl in the world, I nodded my head in agreement, and probably said si si si loudly and aggressively, just so she knew I understood her. I knew that I was lucky to be in Spain and to get the opportunity to study abroad. I could not even have imagined how much luckier I was going to get throughout the next months.

After two months of being in this beautiful country, saying that I am the luckiest girl in the world does not even begin to describe how I am feeling. It is completely an inadequate way to describe everything I have had the opportunity to do. I honestly don’t know why I have been so fortunate, and it seems so unfair that everything is going so right in my life when so many people have so little. I would not even want to ask for any more than what I have right now. Well obviously there are a few things I wouldn’t mind, but really that’s just me being human.

This weekend, it was finally supposed to be sunny, so a group of us decided to head to the beach! Although the wind made it too cold to tan, I actually got a lot of studying done, which came in handy on my test today. Although I am told that I didn’t go to the prettiest beach around Granada, the view from the top of the rocks was incredible; with the blue- blue water and the white painted houses on the hillside.

When I thought of going abroad, I always pictured myself wandering around in the sunshine, eating ice cream, lost but perfectly happy. This Sunday, Emily and I walked up to watch the sunset to the side of the Alhambra. We got a little lost, and there was ice cream. As the sunset, it reflected against the snow-covered mountains behind the Alhambra, and everything just kept getting prettier and prettier. The magic of the moment was only intensified by Emily’s excitement; I’m sure people around us thought we were crazy.

Not only am I lucky for seeing all these beautiful things, I have also met a lot of just really beautiful people. I have the best host mom and friends I could ask for. I have had a little bit of a cold this week, and one night I was coughing. My host mom knocked on my door holding a cup of tea. She proceeded to tuck me into bed, kiss me on the forehead, and tell me that she would be in the next room over if I ever needed anything. She is an angel sent straight from heaven. I am convinced. And my friends here are actually some of the best and nicest people in the world, I don’t know what I will do without them (so I’m just not going to think about it).

As if all of this wasn’t enough, I just got offered an internship with Amnesty International. I had a preliminary interview, but was not really hopeful, so when I got offered the internship in my second interview I was blown away (and giggled like a 15-year-old I’m ashamed to say). I hope that I can return the blessings that I have been giving by helping people who need it, just a small way I can say thanks for everything I have!

I really don’t even know how I got to be so lucky, but I thank everyone who has played any role in my life, you guys are amazing and I probably don’t thank you enough xoxo

Amo l'Italia

So for my spring break, as most of you know, I went to Italy with my mommy. I had the best week ever, thanks to the best mom ever, and can’t believe that it is already over.

In the taxi on the way to my hotel in Rome, the first thing my 40-year-old taxi driver asked me was “do you have a boyfriend because you look very good”. And from that moment on, I knew I was going to like Italy. Then, I had dinner (pasta with cheesey meaty goodness and a gelato) and knew I was going to love Italy. I was right. Although I am sure that I could tell you every single glorious detail of our trip, I will try my best to highlight the main points!

Our first morning, we went to explore ancient Roman ruins, which was a surreal experience. People I had read about in history classes and in the Bible had literally been standing in the same spots that I was—how cool is that?! After that, we went to the Colloseum and learned about all the weird (gross) Roman events that took place inside. After eating a delicious pizza, we went to a palace/museum (I can’t remember the name- shame on me, but it was cool!) then the Trevi Fountian, and, being the tourist that I am, I threw in a euro! I hope that means I’ll be back to Rome. The next day, we went to the Vatican. In case you are not aware, it is absolutely huge. We were in the museum for hours. The artwork was incredible; we went into a room full of Etruscan artifacts and learned all about the Etruscans, a civilization that I knew relatively nothing about. Another highlight was seeing the frescoes by Raphael. By the time we made it to the Sistine Chapel I was exhausted and hungry, which kind of took away some of the awesomeness. But guys, I was in the Sistine Chapel. How cool?! After that, we found the Spanish steps, and climbed them!

Tuesday bright and early, we headed off to Florence. Although I loved seeing the sights of Rome, I fell in love with Florence. It was beautiful and much more peaceful, with everything in walking distance. When we got there, it was raining, but that didn’t stop us from waiting outside for almost an hour to climb the 400+ steps to the top of the Duomo. And climb them we did. I think the view was worth the stairs and the rain, look how pretty! 

I think my favorite day, if I had to pick one, would have been Wednesday. We decided to take a day trip to San Gimignano, Siena, Monteriggioni and Chianti. San Gimignano is a walled in medieval town, with beautiful views of the countryside. The town was tiny with passages leading all over, and I felt like I was in a movie or a fairytale. The highlight of Siena was the Cathedral, one of the best examples of gothic architecture. The fortress of Monteriggioni was our next stop. The fortress is home to less than 50 people, and you could see from one end of the “town” to the other. I think I could happily live there and just spend the day looking at the view. Our day ended at a winery in Chianti, where we watched the sunset from the patio. There are very few times in my life where I have felt as happy as I did then. Looking out over Tuscany, it made me realize how beautiful and precious life is. We are often so preoccupied by getting to the next step, to see the next thing, that we forget to stop and appreciate how blessed we really are.

Thursday, it was back to the museums for us. We went to the Uffizi, also immense. I could probably spend three days there and still not see everything. It was around this time that my maturity level began to decrease, and after four days of seeing naked roman statues, I just had to take note of the impressive behind on this one. Mom found me ridiculous, but because she loves me so much, overlooked that I was acting like a 13 year-old-girl, and let me giggle for a minute. 

After the Uffizi, we went on an intense mission to find presents for people and boots for me. We got a little lost, but getting lost in Florence beats getting lost in most places!            

Friday before catching the train back to Rome, we went into the Accedemia de Belle Arti to see the beautiful David. He was beautiful. After one last trip by the Duomo, one last gelato (chocolate and peanut butter) and one last trip along the Arno, we said goodbye to Florence.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip without a little travel drama. After checking into the Holiday Inn in Rome (by far the worst of our otherwise quaint little hotels) mom went to check into her flights leaving Saturday. She could not check into one of her flights, and I am sorry to say that the drama that followed was not pretty. In the end, everything was fine, but poor mommy lost her luggage coming home. I have decided that although the travel gods don’t find favor with us, all the other gods have been treating us pretty well!

Saying goodbye to Italy was hard, and saying goodbye to mommy was even harder. The sights that I saw were beautiful but the time with my mom was priceless. Wow, that was cheesy even for me, but it’s true. Anyway, I could write for hours about Italy, but I think that give all you lovely readers an idea of Italy! I hope you all had a great Easter and had some chocolate bunny for me!

Holy Fallas

When I met Rosa in Ithaca last fall, Spain was just a distant dream. To be honest, I am not ever sure if I knew where Granada was, but when I heard that Rosa was from Spain, I just had to get to know her better. So being the loser I am, I chased her down after class and insisted that she tell me everything about Spain. As we got to know each other better, it was decided that I had to come visit her in Valencia when (if) I was in Spain. She told me that the best time to come was during “Las Fallas”. When I asked her what that was, she laughed and said she really couldn’t explain it. And after seeing it for myself, I completely understand her reaction.

To start with the very basics, Las Fallas is a festival that is held in Valencia every year, and it basically involves burning wooden monuments, explosions, fireworks, day drinking, and maybe some religion? As hard as I tried (ask Rosa, I really tried) to understand the celebration, I just really couldn’t grasp it, and I am struggling to find words to describe it.

So my understanding is that, every year, neighborhoods get together to construct a “falla” which is a big, colorful, wooden thing, that actually takes a lot of time, effort, and money to make. Then, they place the “falla” in, near, around, in some space, maybe? by their neighborhood. Then, they all get dressed up in these really elaborate costumes, the little kids are SO cute, and they hire a band, and they parade around in the streets having a generally wonderful time. At some point, they take a walk to put flowers in front of the cathedral. Then on the last night, they set their beautiful falla on fire, and I’m told that they often cry as they watch it burn.

While I think this is kind of strange, I follow the basic idea behind this part of Fallas. But what I don’t really understand is everything else that goes on. There are masses of people drinking on the streets (not exaggerating MASSES) and buying food from vendors, and explosions in the streets. Everyday at 2, everyone heads over to the center of Valencia (old, young, drunk, sober, EVERYONE and their mother-THOUSANDS of people), and listen to about 5 minutes of the loudest explosions I have ever heard, then casually get on with their day. Little kids are constantly running around BLOWING things up like its no big deal, while their parents laugh over their café con leche. On multiple occasions I was convinced that I was going to die.

I’m certain that I did a horrible job explaining the madness that is las fallas, but take my word for it; it was without a doubt, one of the strangest things that I have ever witnessed. The more I tried to figure it all out in my head, the more confusing it got, and by the end, I decided that it was something I should just enjoy and not question.

Besides having a wonderfully confusing time doing falla-y things, I had the best time with Rosa, catching up, exploring the city, and eating bañuelos (kinda like a donut that you dip in chocolate. Yum.) I feel in love with Rosa’s apartment, the palm trees, the SUNSHINE, the people, and the food. Rosa could not have treated me better, and saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things in the world. I am truly blessed to have met her, and love her for putting up with “Las Fallas” for me.

Fun Facts:

-I spent 10 hours on a bus getting back to Granada from Valencia. I could have flown to Baltimore in less time.

-I made it to and from Valencia without losing anything or falling. I think I deserve a reward.

-At my internship, one of the ladies was celebrating her birthday, and I found out that in Spain, it’s normal to eat birthday cake at 10:30 in the morning. They call it second breakfast, and I am SO not complaining.

-It has been rainier this year than in the last 40 year. And I was told it NEVER rains in Granada. What a lie.

-I had midterms this week (see Uncle John, I do work too)

-I had mushrooms this week, and after years of hating them, don’t think they are that bad.

-I am going to Italy in 3 days.

-Tomorrow is supposed to be 67 and sunny 

I think I am the luckiest girl in the entire world. Sending love and warm weather your way, I’ll post again after Spring Break!

Me Caes Bien

Every week or so, I discover a new Spanish phrase that I just can’t get enough of. The first one that I loved was “esta para mojar pan”, which basically means danggg boyy you are looking good (but literally it means to be for wetting bread—I don’t know its tricky to translate, but trust me, it’s a good thing). This week, I learned “me caes bien” which is equally as weird to translate. It literally means “you fall on me well”, and it is what you say to someone you get along well with, or you like. And I think it is wonderful. I keep trying to use it with things besides people, but I am told it doesn’t work like that; Spanish is weird sometimes.

Regardless, I like the idea that people just fall together well, kind of like how my life has fallen together over the last six weeks: it has fallen on me well. I am in a lovely routine of waking up just a tad earlier than I would prefer, having café con leche, going to classes, having the BEST food I have EVER eaten in my life for lunch, then going to my internship, then seeing my lovely friends. On the weekends, I have plans to travel, and when I am not traveling I am exploring and falling more in love with Granada.

I think I have this sense of calm here, and I feel like I am beginning to see what I really want out of life. I feel like I have spent the last 20 years of my life under the impression that if its okay not to be happy in the present, if it will help make you happy in the future. I struggled through four years of vigorous training under the assumption that if I practiced to the point of pain everyday that one day I would run really fast and I would be happy. I suffered through an internship, which sorry to say, I hated, under the assumption that it would look good on a resume and then I would get a job and be happy.

I think, maybe, just maybe, in our culture, there is an idea that if you suffer now, one day you will be happy, or maybe it’s just a personal problem. Or really, if I really wanted to, I could trace it back to religious ideas that involve suffering but I wont go there. But either way, I’m just SO over it. I want to be happy now. I am happy now. No, I am not dropping out of college, or moving to Spain (yet), or blowing all my money (okay I kind of am). I have not lost my mind. I have just decided that I want to be happy always and I am going to do everything in my power to make that happen.

Okay, I’m over that hippie rant. Moving on, I went to Crodoba last Friday, and it was amazing. My favorite part was visiting this old old old (think 900’s old) city that used to be amazing, but then got destroyed by a civil war and buried for years and years until one day a farmer was digging in his field and stumbled upon it- or something like that. They have currently only uncovered 10% of the city, but it was so crazy cool that I didn’t even mind that it was pouring. We also saw the mosque, which is also old and beautiful. And I will be taking a test on all of the parts of it, and could (hopefully) give you a great description of all the cool details, but I only know how to say it in Spanish, so that's awkward.

 

Fails of the week:

- It has rained more here in the last month than it did ALL year last year. Obviously.

-I was walking along the mosque with my head in the clouds, and tripped in the absolutely most dramatic way possible and landed right on my camera. Needless to say, my camera did not like that very much and is a little on the broken side. On the plus side, with a few more falls I can dedicate an entire album of pictures just for my falls.

-Brenna and I attempted to go bowling. We took the right bus the wrong way and ended up in the complete wrong place. Good times.

Wins of the week

-I had my first dream in Spanish (it was about me not being allowed into a church fair, strange but in Spanish so I’ll take it

-I had PASTA. And it was amazing.

-My days of pizza box folding finally paid off when I was told to fold filing boxes at my internship. I beasted it.

-Brenna and I went running 3 days in a row. I’m not sure if you understand how much of an accomplishment it is, but trust me it is.

-I get to see Rosa this weekend in Valencia (I am praying for no travel fails)

-I get to see Mommy in less than two weeks!!

As a summary, Spain falls on me well.

That time I went to Madrid and got stuck in a snow storm

So I went to Granada thinking “wow this is GREAT I get to miss winter and I won’t have to deal with snow”. Now, I do go to Ithaca so, over the years, I have accepted snow as a part of life. Yeah yeah yeah I get it, snow soooo pretty to watch fall. But I am not so pretty to watch fall and snow makes everything so slippery that my downward tumbles are inevitable. Regardless, I was sure that I had run away to a land far far away where snow only existed on the mountaintops in the distance. But, as luck would have it, the day I left for Madrid, Granada was under a blanket of snow (I told you the travel gods hate me). I am actually just blowing everything way out of proportion, our bus was delayed for an hour or so and we waited out the “snowstorm of the decade” in a cute little café.

By the time we (I went with a group of 11 people from my program because we didn’t have classes Thursday or Friday) got to Madrid we were a little tired so after we checked into our hostel, which was, by the way a little dirty and I’d really rather not think too much about it, we went to the Reina Sofia to leisurely stroll around. I am convinced that after two hours in the museum I saw absolutely nothing. No, that’s a lie, I saw Guernica, which is by Pablo Picasso, and pretty cool, but other than that I spent most of the time trying to figure out why the layout was so confusing. I am, as I have said repeatedly, really good at wandering around lost and confused.

As to not have a repeat performance of getting lost in the museum, I decided to take a guided walking tour of the city the next morning, and that was pretty amazing. Although I saw a lot of famous/historic/once in a lifetime things, the best thing that I did was go to check out the gardens at the Prado later that night. As the sun was setting, we explored the gardens and it was like I was in Alice in Wonderland. I was so relaxed and happy and I feel like even though I had seen so many “have to see things” that morning, it was more life changing to just walk around and absorb everything that night.

The next day, we headed off to Toledo and I fell in love right away. It is a charming and quaint extremely old and historic. Our hostel was beautiful and there was a rooftop view that was like a little slice of heaven. We saw the cathedral (they started the construction in 1227!), but then a group of us spent the afternoon wandering around. We found this quiet area on the outskirts of the city and spent hours just talking about life and love and the pursuit of happiness. But really. We did. And it was great. Then I had a bacon hamburger and fries and mint chocolate chip ice cream and my life was complete.

I think the most important thing that I have learned this weekend, and in my past month in general, is that life is really not about sight seeing and taking a ton of pictures in front of really old things. Although I have taken far too many pictures, I am learning that life is not about running around to check things off a list. It is not about where you take the picture, but who you take it with. And that leads me to the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last week: my mom is coming to ITALY with me!! I burst into tears when she said she was thinking about visiting me, and I get teary just thinking about how excited I am to see her. I am absolutely not homesick here. I am in love with Granada, but I have realized how important my family and friends are, because at the end of the day, they are what makes my life so great. So I am so grateful for all of you guys, for the friends I have made here, you guys are making this the best time of my life, and my friends and family at home, who have given me the confidence to be here, I miss you guys!

Fun facts about my life:

-I have apparently been eating rabbit meat pretty consistently since I have been here, and just realized it.

-I tried pig liver and squid with ink, both interesting and probably a one time thing

-I witnessed, at 6 on a Sunday afternoon, an old lady walk into a café, take a shot of alcohol, and causally walk out. I want to be her one day.

-My host dad just taught me how to clean a fish and popped out the eyeballs as he was talking to me. I will never be the same.

-Out of all my friends, I am the only one too short to take cool wall pictures and have the cuts to prove it.