Venecia

10 days in 1 backpack? I am good! :)

Back from my 10 day trip around Europe! I love Italy and Greece. :) Our first stop was Venice. We thought we were off to a rough start when our bus to Malaga (cheaper to fly out of Malaga - 1.5 hours south of me - than Granada) was 20 minutes late. The boys in our group were all pretty laid back but Niki and I were super stressed about missing our flight. Turns out European airports are nothing like O´Hare. If you give yourself about 20-25 minutes to get through security that is more than enough time. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and our flight was delayed about an hour. By the time we got to Venice and figured out how to get from the airport to our hostel it was about 10:30 pm. When we finally got to our hostel the door was locked and there was a sign saying to call this woman to check in and it would be approximately 20 minutes. By this time we were all starving and right across the street from a restaurant with delicious looking pizza. The woman arrived in 20 minutes but we spent the next hour trying to check in. We are still not sure if this woman was just way to old to be working or quite possibly drunk. Either way we finally got our rooms, grabbed some pizza and headed to bed. Unfortunately, the pizza in Italy did not exceed our expectations. I did find out that I like mushrooms though. :) And at least now I am positive Chicago pizza is the best in the world.

First meal in Italy

Our first stop the next morning was a Venetian mask shop. We were able to try on masks and watch as they were being made by hand. Our goal was to get to St. Mark's Square that day but it took all morning because we stopped at more stores than I can even count. There were many distractions along the way including jewelry, clothes, food, bridges, workshops, gondolas, soldiers and a first hand view of Venice sinking.

The Mask Maker

My new favorite outfit :)

First of a million rivers I crossed

Venice is sinking in the background!

St. Mark's Basilica was beautiful but my favorite part of the day was the view from the top of the bell tower. We could see the whole island from there. And we were lucky (not sure if that is the right word) enough to be at the top of the bell tower when the clock struck 3pm. I jumped about 12 feet in the air and lost hearing for a few minutes but it was definitely worth it. :)

Entrance to St. Mark's Basilica

Saying a prayer for a special someone inside the Basilica.

View from the Bell Tower

There was not much of a night life in Venice but we went out for late dinners and wine every night. And this is where I discovered that I love pasta with clams and mussels. :)

Yum Yum Yum Pasta and Clams :)

The next day we took a boat to Murano, the island famous for glass blowing. We we able to watch an awesome demonstration and look at (but not buy) some really expensive glass.

Voy a Italia y Grecia

I am leaving for Venice, Italy in less than 24 hours!! I can´t believe it. I just spent the last few hours getting totally organized and printing all my boarding passes and it finally hit me that I am leaving! I am sure since this is our first big trip that something is bound to go wrong, but I think that is all part of the experience. As long as I remember to pack my passport everything will work out. :) No pasa nada, right?!

I definitely feel like I have learned a lot about myself over the last month and hopefully grown at least a little (in character, not height, Dad - but feel free to insert a corny joke here) but there is one thing that has not changed. Its almost 8pm and I am most likely going out tonight. I have class tomorrow at 11am and I am leaving right from class to catch a taxi to the bus station. I have still not packed (Miss me Mom?)... Hard to break old habits. :) Will I be able to fit 10 days worth of clothes into just a backpack? Stay tuned to find out! :) I´ll be back in Granada late Sunday, October 17th. No posts until then!

Marruecos

Can you believe I went to Africa two weekends ago?! I now have been to 4 continents. North American, Asia, Europe and Africa. My passport is filling up with stamps already and I still have so many more places to travel.

A company offers this Morocco trip every semester to a few universities around Granada. The travel time for the trip was a lot longer than expected. We visited 3 cities in Morocco in just one short weekend. Friday afternoon we took a bus from Granada to Algeciras, a city on the southern tip of Spain. From there we took a boat across the Strait of Girbraltar to Ceuta, a city in Northern Africa that is Spanish territory. It took a very very long time to get through customs and Morocco is two hours behind Spain. So although we ended drove to our hotel in Tétouan an hour away and ate dinner at 10pm, it felt like midnight to us and we were exhausted from the long day of traveling. They promised us a traditional Moroccan meal but I think we got the tourist version of it. We had soup and a lot of bread as well as fish and egg-tasting flaun for dessert. Luckily, we all made it upstairs before falling asleep at the dinner table.

Susan, Molly, Me, Elise, Niki and Chelsesa

We had an early start the next morning and visited a medina in Tétouan. A medina is a community where people live, work, shop and spend time with friends and family. We walked through the market part of the medina first. We were all throw by the smell of fish as we walked in. I have honestly never seen so many fish in my life. There were a lot of fruits and vegetables too. The worst though were the live chickens. Reluctantly, I watched one get its head chopped off. This may be normal if your are from a small town in Iowa :) but this was a first for me. The picture above shows my friends and I standing in front of one of the few churches in Morocco.

I've got a Dirham, hey, hey, hey, hey :)

I was able to change my Euro into Dirham, the currency in Morocco. I feel super rich in this picture but 200 Dirham is really only 20 Euro.

Una mezquita

Here is one of the many, many mosques in Morocco. Our guide explained to us the significance of the 5 points on the star on the Moroccan flag. The 5 points symbolize the the country's religion and faith - the 5 pillars of Islam. One of the pillars include daily prayers, 5 times each day.

Can you tell I am still smiling? :)

During one part of our tour we met these old Moroccan women selling typical farmers clothes. They were so sweet and dressed us up in these clothes so we could take pictures. I must say, I am a pretty convincing Moroccan farmer woman.

Muchas alfombras

Later that day we found ourselves in somewhat of a tourist trap. Our guide brought us to a rug/blanket store where they took about an hour to show us dozen of rugs. It wasn't until the very end where we found out each rug cost about 500 Euro. In case these men didn't know... college students studying abroad for a semester do not have that kind of money. However, a few girls did bargain some rugs down to 200-250 Euro. They thought is was a steal until we went to two other rug place that weekend where the rest of us bought similar rugs for about 20 Euro. :)

My new Moroccan hat!

 We went to an excellent restaurant that day for lunch. I think I could eat pretty well in Morocco. :) Noodle soup, spicy chicken kabobs and fruit for dessert. The minty tea at every meal is a little much for me though. There was a lot of entertainment for us at the restaurant also. The men in the picture played music as we entered and left the restaurant and there was a double-jointed man inside that juggled fire!

Mom, Dad!? Can I keep him?

 Later that day we drove to Tangier where we had a chance to shop and ride camels. I was a natural! :) It was a very touristy location because we paid 1 Euro to basically ride the camel around the parking lot, but I think its safe to say it is the best Euro I have spent so far!

A typical hostel in Chechaouene

The second day was awesome! We traveled to Chechaouene and had an extremely knowledgeable guide who was ecstatic to be able to share his culture and hometown with us. We visited a medina here too but it was a lot cleaner. He told us about how it was a goal of his community to keep there homes clean and safe. He also explained a lot about the architecture as well as the significance of the color choices and how it all related to the Islamic culture. Again, we visited a weaver but this time it wasn't a scam. We actually met the man the worked on the rugs and blankets and the guide shared with us exactly how much time went into each item. The man was happy to have visitors and kept asking us if we wanted to see a magic trick. He was would break the yarn he was using into two pieces and pretend to be scared that he would not be able to work this into his rug. Then with a sneaky grin he would waved his hands over the two pieces of yarn and it would once again be whole. Magic? Or maybe 40 years of weaving? :)

Cutest old man weaver ever

Overall, we were very pleased with the trip. If we planned the trips ourselves instead of going through the separate company we might have saved a little money and spent a little less time traveling but I do not think we would have seen everything we did. Hasta luego Morocco! :)

La Corrida de Toros

Last weekend was the first time I stayed in Granada. We all knew we are going to be traveling a lot and our weekends here are rare. It worked out perfectly because there also happened to be a bull fight last weekend! Granada is not necessarily known for bullfights but they still host them on occasion. My host father Pedro said we were lucky to be able to see one because fall is not "bull-fighting season." My friends and I bought the cheapest tickets for 12 Euro but the most expensive reached over 120 Euro. Even if I had the money for tickets like those, I think the seats would be a little too close for comfort.

La Plaza de Toros

Chelsea, Molly, Me, Elise and Michelle

A typical "Corrida de Toros" has 6 bulls. Before I went I showed my Señora the flyer and she told me I was going to see some good bullfighters/matadors (toreros). I am still not quite sure what qualifies as a "good" torero - I am just glad no one was impaled by a bull horn. Basically, there are a lot of toreros per bull that place sharp flags in its back but then there is one main torero that gets really close to the bull and performs different maneuvers. The first hit though is always from a guy on a horse. I think its because at this point the bull is strongest and therefore he is at a safe distance. The horse is completely covered in armor but its not always safe. The second of the six bulls we saw actually knocked the man off his horse and the horse fell over completely. Since the horse wears so much armor it took 5 men to lift the horse back up - all the while the bull is running around like crazy! In other countries like Portugal it is illegal to kill the bull after because the bulls horns are cut and therefore the bull cannot kill the torero. However, in Spain the bull is able to harm/kill the torero so at the end of the fight it is legal for the torero to kill the bull. The kill shot is a specific point on the back of the bulls neck. It was extremely strange to see the bull running around one minute and on its back motionless the next. I am glad I went because it is without question a part of the Spanish culture, but I don't think I ever need to go back.

Many, many toreros!

The horseman getting ready for the first shot.

Goodbye toro :(

Everyone in the crowd had white scarves or bañuelos they waved when they were impressed by the bullfighter. This meant that after he killed the bull he was able to cut off its ear and take it home as a reward for his excellent skills. Luckily, the bulls are not killed for no reason at all. The meat is actually eaten after. In fact, my professor took us to a meat/fish market last week and we saw bull meat and a sign that indicated it was the bull from the fight Saturday night. Needless to say, I did not buy anything. :) After the bull fight we stopped at my friend Elise's house and her Señora told us that next time we need to wear more traditional bullfight outfits...

"La ropa más apropriada"

The atmosphere during the fight was really fun and afterwards all the people rushed towards the exits to get a glimpse of the toreros as if they were movies stars or NBA players in the United States.

El torero famoso

Un nuevo corte del pelo

A few weeks ago I decided to get a haircut. I wanted one before I left but I was so busy packing and visiting everyone in Champaign that did not have time. So now, I am in another country where I need to speak another language in order to do anything. Of course I started freaking myself out and getting way to nervous. For some reason I kept imagining going to get my hair cut and saying the wrong thing in Spanish and coming out bald or with a Euro mullet.

Luckily, I have probably one of the coolest professors for my writing class. She is also the assistant program director so she is there to help with any questions we have. I asked her where a good place to go for a hair cut would be. She also taught me all the vocabulary words I needed to know - bangs, layers, angles. She even could tell how nervous I was and called and made my appointment for me! My friend Susan actually came with too for support and make sure I wasn't coming home bald. I was able to describe everything I correctly in Spanish and I stopped at my Senora's work on the way home to show her my new do. :) She called me "guapa" a bunch of times so I could tell she like it. :)

I actually ended up going to back to the same place after that weekend because I didn't like the haircut as much as I did at first. The lady was extremely nice and didn't charge me to fix it. It was a good experience though. For the most part people in Spain are not usually in a hurry so if I just take my time when speaking Spanish and figure out what I am trying to explain, everyone is really patient and great. They often try to finish my sentences though to help me get my idea across. Then I have to listen very carefully because if I just nod along it might not be what I actually mean. But all is well now and I love my new haircut! :)

Las Alpujarras

Its has been forever since I have blogged. I like blogging because its a great way to share with everyone what I have been up to, but I am always finding new and exciting things to do. I still feel like I am on vacation -  really long and expensive vacation! :)

Me in my hiking outfit :

Three weekends ago my whole class and I climbed the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain. The specific range is called Las Alpujarras and climbing it was probably the best work out I have had since being abroad. The most surprising part was the bus ride up to the mountains. I did not think I was someone who got motion sickness but that was one windy and curvy ride up the mountain! I just kept my eyes closed the whole time but I was extremely relieved to get off the bus. We packed our lunches once we arrived and started our climb. Our tour guide was a small yet muscular woman who was actually sick that weekend. However, that did not stop her from kicking our butts on that climb. The paths were not too steep but they were winding and narrow and we marched in a single file line at an extremely fast past. Think about one of those scary movies where the killer or bad guy is trying to catch his victim. She is running as fast as humanly possible and the bad guy is only walking and some how he continues to keep up with her. This was the reverse. I was was running/climbing as fast as possible and yet I couldn't keep up with our guide although it seemed like she was taking a leisurely walk through the park.

Hiking up some rocks by the river where we ate lunch

For lunch we packed all the fixing for sandwiches. We ate at this great spot down by the river where we were able to climb down after lunch. It was probably the most fun - and definitely the most relaxing part of the day. Expect for my friend Chelsea. While we were eating a bee flew onto her sandwich when she wasn't looking and she ate it! It stung her tongue first though. It was her first time being stung too!

The rest of the day was not as tiring but it was pretty hot out. By the time we made it to the hostel everyone was pretty beat. We showered and took short naps before going out to an extravagant dinner. Most people ordered fish but a few tried rabbits! Definitely the first time I had seen that! The worst was the fact that the whole animal was served on the plate. Of the 5 people that tried rabbit, 4 of them couldn't bring themselves to eat the head so our program director ate all the rabbit brains himself. Lucky for me, I was sitting right next to him...

We stayed out for a bit that night but we were all pretty exhausted after 6 hours of hiking and semi-dreading the six hours ahead of us the next day. We had a traditional Spanish breakfast that morning - bread with olive oil and a tomato paste. Soon I was pleasantly surprised because I saw we had a new guide for the day. Pablo was awesome for day two because he knew we were all tired and sore. We walked at a much slower pace. We took a different path that day and actually climbed to the top of the mountain. The view from the top was amazing. Once we finally got there our program director announced "Welcome to the Mile-High Club... literally." We had a picnic lunch again the second day but no one was stung. When the day was finally over we were all relieved to see the bus. I am pretty sure all 24 of us slept on the drive back to Granada. Glad we got our naps in because later that night was one of the most fun nights out in Granada. We were all out together and we went to a bunch of new bars and clubs. It was our first time going to a "discoteca" - dance clubs open from 3am to 7am. I think its safe to say that none of us did anything but sleep that Sunday.

My "I'm on top of a mountain!" face

Mi Ducha

I have amazing news! I finally have a door for my shower! The shower in my apartment was probably the only complaint I had about Granada and life here so far. Before the shower was just in one corner of the bathroom with no curtain or door or tub to keep the water from going everywhere. I had to stand in the corner and turn the water on and off every 3 seconds so I did not flood the entire bathroom. There is just the one bathroom in the apartment we all share. Then out of no where - after having been here for 3-4 weeks - a door appeared in the bathroom! It was the best surprise I have ever gotten. Now, maybe my host family told me about this when I first moved in and I didn't understand Spanish yet, but I could have swear they never mentioned it. The other day at dinner my señora asked if I liked the door and then explained to me the people that redid the bathroom did a poor job and they had to get everything redone a second time.

Before...

After! yay :)