I am done all my Christmas shopping!
In other news, I am leaving for the Granada airport in about eleven hours... We are flying out of Granada at 10am, and out of Madrid around1:00 (provided all goes according to plan). Should arrive at JFK around 3 something-or-another. Let´s hope the weather holds out! I am just about all packed - luckily my stuff all fits pretty easily into my luggage so I won´t have to buy another maleta. Now comes the fun chore of not freaking out on the 8-hour flight home...
Last night was my last real night out in Granada. On the way to get tapas, we met this kid from Vancouver who just arrived in Granada and didn´t know where the fun places were. So we hung out with him and showed him some of the fun bars and stuff. It was really chill and I felt a little bit like we were passing on the torch. I called him Granada: The New Class. Feel free to laugh uncontrollably at my wit...
I gave María Pepa and Alfonso the photo and the flowers and the card today at lunch. They loved them and I was really pleased. She kept pointing out Mike el guapo in the picture, it was really cute. Yesterday they gave me a doll to remember them by.
Well, tonight I plan on taking it easy. Finish packing, get some tea, go to bed early... By this time tomorrow I´ll be making my way back to Elkins Park. Can´t wait! :)
So yeah, this might be my last blog entry. Thanks to everyone who´s kept up with it - I´m really glad I chose to write and I think it turned out to be a really fun way to interact with everyone. I´m really touched that you all took time to stay updated on my travels, it´s really meant a lot to me. Hope to see everyone over break or in the coming months!
Love,
Liz
Sunday, December 16
Saturday, December 15
I´ll be home for Christmas!
Last night was our farewell dinner. It turned out to be really fun, even though I was kinda feeling awkward about it. We had a little snack-ish dinner at this restaurant in an old train car that I walk by every day and have never gone in.
María Pepa talked to just about everyone. She seriously couldn´t stop commenting on how guapo Mike, the only boy on our trip, is. So then she went over to him and asked if he has a twin. He said no and she said that´s a real shame because she wanted to keep one of him in Spain with her. Then she insisted on taking all our pictures with him. It was really hysterical. So now I don´t really have any pictures of just me and her...but it´s kind of more silly this way. I´m going to print one out and give it to her in a frame tomorrow with some flowers. (I tried to upload it on this page but, alas, this internet is too slow...I can´t wait to be back to my high-speed connection!)
Afterwards we saw a really great flamenco show. There was a flutist, a guitarist, a singer, one male dancer, and three female dancers. They were amazing - it was definitely the best one I´ve been to. Jorge really loved it, and afterwards we made sure to get a group picture with him. We´re going to frame that too and give it to him on Monday from the whole group. Everyone´s getting sick so we didn´t end up going to the club or anything (even though María Pepa said she would come, she decided she was too cold and went home).
So yeah, I´m just finishing up Christmas shopping and tying loose ends. I can´t wait to be back!
In other news, UD lost in the national championships to Appalachian State last night. Booo! :( I think Kaitlyn went down to Chattanooga to see the game so I´ll try and get a full report from her... Hope all is well in the homeland! See you soon!
María Pepa talked to just about everyone. She seriously couldn´t stop commenting on how guapo Mike, the only boy on our trip, is. So then she went over to him and asked if he has a twin. He said no and she said that´s a real shame because she wanted to keep one of him in Spain with her. Then she insisted on taking all our pictures with him. It was really hysterical. So now I don´t really have any pictures of just me and her...but it´s kind of more silly this way. I´m going to print one out and give it to her in a frame tomorrow with some flowers. (I tried to upload it on this page but, alas, this internet is too slow...I can´t wait to be back to my high-speed connection!)
Afterwards we saw a really great flamenco show. There was a flutist, a guitarist, a singer, one male dancer, and three female dancers. They were amazing - it was definitely the best one I´ve been to. Jorge really loved it, and afterwards we made sure to get a group picture with him. We´re going to frame that too and give it to him on Monday from the whole group. Everyone´s getting sick so we didn´t end up going to the club or anything (even though María Pepa said she would come, she decided she was too cold and went home).
So yeah, I´m just finishing up Christmas shopping and tying loose ends. I can´t wait to be back!
In other news, UD lost in the national championships to Appalachian State last night. Booo! :( I think Kaitlyn went down to Chattanooga to see the game so I´ll try and get a full report from her... Hope all is well in the homeland! See you soon!
Thursday, December 13
Tuesday, December 11
Una foto
This is a photo I found on Google image of what the Alhambra looks like right now, framed by the snow-capped mountains. I would have posted a picture I took myself, but my computer is too slow...and let's be honest, I'm not nearly that good of a photographer. :)
Monday, December 10
Queda una semana...
There´s a week left and still so much to do!
First, my first solo travel experience went rather swimmingly. Jaén was okay. It kind of reminded me of Almería, but with a seriously adorable Moorish quarter like Granada. I kind of just wandered around there on Thursday cause it was an Andalusian holiday so nothing was really open. I did find a cute park where I read for about an hour. An man walking about one mile-an-hour on a cane stopped and told me how proud of me he was for reading and learning. I never saw him before, or again.
On Friday I took a bus to Baeza, which was SO beautiful! It´s a tiny little town and I wandered around until I found the Renaissance buildings. There were all these winding paths between old stone buildings and archways and cute light posts and such. It was really neat to see, and the weather was great! I went in a museum and they put a video on for me with images of the town throughout the years. I was the only person in the whole place! I really loved it, though come lunch time I realized the downfalls of travelling by one´s self - so lonely!
On Saturday, Kelly and Kelsey met me in Úbeda. It was a feast day, plus I have never seen fog so bad in my life, so the town was eerily still. Surprisingly, it was more lively than Jaén (a much larger city) had been on Thursday. We wandered around and found the cool stuff, just like I did in Baeza. Unfortunately the pictures didn´t come out great because you could hardly see five feet ahead of you, let alone up to the top of some ancient relic of a Renaissance church... I was pretty happy to be travelling with the girls too, I hadn´t hardly talked to anyone in two whole days! On a funny note, we walked to this place that was supposed to be a beautiful look-out point, but you could not see anything because of the fog. It was pretty silly...there could have been a highway or a Garden of Eden below and I´ll never know!
I´ve spent most of my time pretending to study but really just getting lost in all kinds of unimportant things. Went for a walk today through the Arab part of Granada and was sad to think this might be the last time! Today and tomorrow are my last class days, Wednesday and Thursday are exams, and then Friday is the farewell dinner! I guess I should be studying now instead of writing this - but I´ll pull through, I always (well, almost always) do. And besides, what are a few finals grades versus my last week in this beautiful little Andalusian town?
Naturally though, I´m getting psyched for the return to my homeland - the greatest township on earth. Things I´m looking forward to include: Coyne Family Home Videos, The Muppets´Christmas Album with John Denver, sushi on Christmas Eve (and maybe a movie), Santa´s visit, etc. Can´t wait to see everyone so soon!
First, my first solo travel experience went rather swimmingly. Jaén was okay. It kind of reminded me of Almería, but with a seriously adorable Moorish quarter like Granada. I kind of just wandered around there on Thursday cause it was an Andalusian holiday so nothing was really open. I did find a cute park where I read for about an hour. An man walking about one mile-an-hour on a cane stopped and told me how proud of me he was for reading and learning. I never saw him before, or again.
On Friday I took a bus to Baeza, which was SO beautiful! It´s a tiny little town and I wandered around until I found the Renaissance buildings. There were all these winding paths between old stone buildings and archways and cute light posts and such. It was really neat to see, and the weather was great! I went in a museum and they put a video on for me with images of the town throughout the years. I was the only person in the whole place! I really loved it, though come lunch time I realized the downfalls of travelling by one´s self - so lonely!
On Saturday, Kelly and Kelsey met me in Úbeda. It was a feast day, plus I have never seen fog so bad in my life, so the town was eerily still. Surprisingly, it was more lively than Jaén (a much larger city) had been on Thursday. We wandered around and found the cool stuff, just like I did in Baeza. Unfortunately the pictures didn´t come out great because you could hardly see five feet ahead of you, let alone up to the top of some ancient relic of a Renaissance church... I was pretty happy to be travelling with the girls too, I hadn´t hardly talked to anyone in two whole days! On a funny note, we walked to this place that was supposed to be a beautiful look-out point, but you could not see anything because of the fog. It was pretty silly...there could have been a highway or a Garden of Eden below and I´ll never know!
I´ve spent most of my time pretending to study but really just getting lost in all kinds of unimportant things. Went for a walk today through the Arab part of Granada and was sad to think this might be the last time! Today and tomorrow are my last class days, Wednesday and Thursday are exams, and then Friday is the farewell dinner! I guess I should be studying now instead of writing this - but I´ll pull through, I always (well, almost always) do. And besides, what are a few finals grades versus my last week in this beautiful little Andalusian town?
Naturally though, I´m getting psyched for the return to my homeland - the greatest township on earth. Things I´m looking forward to include: Coyne Family Home Videos, The Muppets´Christmas Album with John Denver, sushi on Christmas Eve (and maybe a movie), Santa´s visit, etc. Can´t wait to see everyone so soon!
Tuesday, December 4
Fuego
Today a fire alarm went off in the middle of history class. Our professor was like, "Is this real?" Then some professors stuck their heads out of their classrooms, frowned, and kept teaching. Downstairs, Monolo our grammar professor from last semester was running around in a neon vest. Everyone was laughing at him. I guess this is a Spanish fire drill...
Sunday, December 2
Final travel plans...
Well, I just booked a hotel in Jaén for two nights next weekend. I have not done nearly enough Spain exploring as I wanted to on this trip, and it´s a four day holiday weekend, so I am glad I made the decision to get out of Granada. Unfortunately, my friends aren´t going to be able to join me. They might be able to take a day trip with me on Saturday, but I am thinking that it´s too far/expensive for just a day trip... I am a little apprehensive about this, but excited at the same time. I´ve never traveled on my own before - I´m hoping it will be a good way to see more of the country. Any suggestions?
I´m heading to Jaén on Thursday, then hopefully making a day trip to Baeza on Friday (and returning to my hotel in Jaén that night), and then heading to Úbeda for a visit on Saturday before taking the bus back to Granada on Saturday night. I haven´t bought any bus tickets yet, but that´s easy so I still have a little bit of time to do it. In the meantime I´m just researching the sites to find some economical touristy activities.
The end of this trip is coming fast and everyone is preparing for the return home. I´m really sad because this was a great three months and I love all the kids I´ve been here with and all of the experiences we´ve had. That being said, just knowing how close it is makes me really excited to finally come home. It´s a weird mix of feeling totally ready and totally not ready at the same time... I´m trying not to dwell on it and really working hard to make sure I don´t "check out early". So hopefully I´ll really be able to live up these last two weeks!
I´m heading to Jaén on Thursday, then hopefully making a day trip to Baeza on Friday (and returning to my hotel in Jaén that night), and then heading to Úbeda for a visit on Saturday before taking the bus back to Granada on Saturday night. I haven´t bought any bus tickets yet, but that´s easy so I still have a little bit of time to do it. In the meantime I´m just researching the sites to find some economical touristy activities.
The end of this trip is coming fast and everyone is preparing for the return home. I´m really sad because this was a great three months and I love all the kids I´ve been here with and all of the experiences we´ve had. That being said, just knowing how close it is makes me really excited to finally come home. It´s a weird mix of feeling totally ready and totally not ready at the same time... I´m trying not to dwell on it and really working hard to make sure I don´t "check out early". So hopefully I´ll really be able to live up these last two weeks!
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