An Eventful Past Few Days

This is going to be one of my longer updates as there was a lot that happend since I last wrote since I didn't have access to internet until today. So here's a rundown of my trips this past weekend:

Thursday:
Thursday night we went to Oxigeno, and then joined Juanca and Isma in their apartment. We played cards, and then headed to the discoteca to dance. We got home pretty late especially considering we had to meet everyone at 8 to head to Granada. It was a fun night though.

Friday:
I learned an important lesson that morning. If you plan on staying out late the night before a trip, do not pack the next morning. We managed to get everything together and arrive on time, but we we arrived I soon learned that I forgot to grab some pajama pants and clean socks. I also forgot to bring a cami to go under one of the shirts I brought. So I slept in a t-shirt and underwear, rewore the same socks, and borrowed someone else's extra cami. I will most definitely be packing tomorrow to leave on Thursday for Paris even though I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow night because I just don't function in the mornings.

We boarded the bus and started on our 7 hour bus ride to Granada. It takes a lot longer to get to places in Spain because of all the mountains. A direct route is near impossible, and the roads curve and change altitude so much that you can't drive very fast. We stopped at a truck stop to eat the bocadillos (sub sandwiches) our host families had made for us. They definitely hit the spot. I was pretty much asleep up until this point and woke up starving. I managed to stay awake the rest of the trip and took some pictures of the landscape. In Iowa, where there aren't rivers and forests, there are corn fields. In Spain, where there aren't mountains, there are olive tree groves. Miles upon miles of rows of olive trees. They claim the best olive oil in the world is made here. I would have to agree.

We arrived in Granada and got settled in our hotel. It was very near the center of the city which was convenient for site-seeing. I roomed with Erin and Maren. As much as I wanted a shower when we got to the hotel, I didn't have time. So I washed my face and freshened up a bit and joined the group to head to our first tour, la Capilla Real and La Catedral de Granada. La Capilla Real is a small church that was built by Isabel the Catholic after the christians conquered Granada, the last muslim holdout in Spain, in 1492. Outside the sanctuary, there were rooms of artifacts from the art and home collections of Isabel and her husband Fernando. The artwork was incredible. We were not allowed to take pictures but I couldn't have captured it in a picture. I specifically remember one painting of the people during the crucifixion of christ. The tears rolling down the people's faces looked so real. It was like if I touched them they would have been wet. In the sanctuary, Isabel, Fernando, their son Felipe and his wife, and their nephew, Miguel who died very young, are buried. It was amazing to look at the coffin of the Queen who gave Christopher Columbus permission to go on the voyage that discovered America. The queen wanted all the kings and queens to be buried there.

We then headed to La Catedral de Granada. Carlos V built the cathedral because he thought that the other church was too small, and he wanted to be buried in a grand cathedral. The cathedral was magnificent. The artwork, the organ, the columns, the capillas, everything. I took lots of pictures here. Funny thing was Carlos was never buried there.


We then walked around looking at small shops. Granada still has a very prominent arab influence. There were so many shops that had hookahs, teas, teapots, inscense, silks etc. It was like stepping into Morocco for an evening. Matt, Erin, Jordan, Joaquin and I went to the hookah bar before we met for supper. I had a delicious tea: rooibus de flores. It felt very good on my throat which had been hurting for a couple days. We then met and went to a buffet to eat. I stiffed myself to a point I had not been in a quite a while. It was very good. We then went back to the hotel, and most of the girls went to Monica and Michelle's room. We stayed there for a while and then decided to go to a discoteca. We stayed there for about an hour and a half. We got fun feathered masks. It's the carnaval period here in Spain which is like Mardi Gras. While we were there Sean and Andrew had some British girls all over them. They didn't much appreciate it was they didn't seem to be the purest of girls. One took Andrew's mask. He was very angry and contemplated chasing them down but decided against it. haha. We left shortly after that. I was exhausted so I took a shower and went to bed.

The next day we headed to Alhambra, an arab palace/fortress. Parts of it were 1000 years old. The attention to detail was unimaginable. They did all of the decoration by hand. Some of the colors had faded over the years, and I wish I could have seen it with the vibrant colors because it was breathtaking when it was practically faded to tan. We went to the top of the tower at the end which was the last stand for the muslims in Spain. You can see the whole city of Granada from there, as well as the snowy mountains in the distance.

We then had some free time in the city to eat lunch, but I just ate some break and fruit I took from the hotel. Yeah, I'm cheap. I did buy some amazing gelato. We then got on the bus to head to Cordoba. It was almost dark when we got there so we checked into our hotel. It was like an apartment complex! We had a large table, a kitchen, a bedroom, etc. It was very unexpected. We then headed to supper at a traditional cordoba restaurant. We kept getting served course after course after course. I practically had to be rolled out after that. I did biff the step on the way out and almost face planted but I caught myself.

We went back to the hotel and practically the whole group came to Maren, Erin, and my room. We played cards, and Toni, our advisor here in spain (basically another mom), even played for a while. We then tried to find the rest of the group in a Discoteca but we wandered and wandered and couldn't find them. Finally, Andrew, Michelle, and I decided it wasn't worth it and went home.

The next day we headed to the ruins of an arab city just outside of Cordoba. Maren about slapped me because I was really hyper and she was still waking up. You have to love our relationship. The ruins were very interesting. The rock they used had million year old fossils in it. The city was built to celebrate the independence of Andalucia (southern spain that was once muslim) from the east. It only lasted 35 years because a extremist muslim group from Africa destroyed it because they thought the brilliance of city was disgraceful. The mountain then eroded over it over the years. In the 1800's it was discovered and they've been excavating ever since. I managed to leave my camera on the bus so I don't have any pictures. I have lots of friends who do though.

After the ruins we went to Cordoba to eat. I actually bought a hot bocadillo this time. It was fantastic. I still bought some ice cream too. :D Can never have enough of that. After we ate, we headed to La Mezquita. It was originally a church built by the goths in the 8th century. After the muslims conquered it they build a magnificent mosque on top. When the Christians conquered it. They preserved the Mosque but added on a cathedral. So it's a very interesting mix of art and architecture.

After La Mezquita we headed home. It was a five hour drive, and I was feeling pretty sick. We made it home, and I felt better after we stopped and got some food.

We had decided on the trip that we really wanted to go to the Carnavales in Badajoz. So Toni cancelled our classes yesterday. We left at 11:30 in the morning and arrived around 12:30. We stayed at a 4 star hotel because that was all that was still open. It ended up being cheaper than some hostals. It was really nice. We then decided to go costume shopping. During Carnavels, everyone dresses up and parties in the streets. It's a lot like a mix between halloween and Mardi Gras. I found a cowgirl outfit, bought a red hat and some play guns. Maren did my make up, as well as lot of the other girls'. We played some cards in our room, and then headed out around 10 to meet Nacho and his friends. Well in Spain no one really starts going out till after midnight. So we just kind of chilled in the streets. And by chilled I don't mean hung out...I mean we were really cold. haha. Finally the streets started to fill up. I had to go to the bathroom so I went to a bar. I went to the guys because it was clean since it was early and I didnt' want to wait. I did my business, washed my hands, and went to leave...there's no door knob. it's sitting broken on the sink. I try to pry it open; i couldn't. I looked for anything to stick in the hole in the door to get it open. There was nothing unless i dismantled the toilet. So I resorted to banging on the door until someone let me out. It was an unwanted scare but I made it out and back to our group. By 3am the streets were filled with people in all sorts of costumes. We made lots of new friends and spoke more spanish than I think I have any night. There was a point in the night that it was just rolling off my tongue like english. I wish I could do that all the time. Around 4:30 we were REALLY cold so we headed to a disco. As I was dancing I started to fall asleep. That's a good indication it's time to go. So we headed to the hotel and slept for 45 minutes, packed up, and caught the 7:30 bus back to Caceres.

Maren and I went home and changed then headed to class at 11. I stayed awake during the first class, and even participated in discussion. Our second class was cancelled and so I got to take a short nap before I went to my internship today. At my internship, I found the manuals for the titrator which is helping immensely in my mission to program and fix it. I've got my homework done and am about to go to bed. I'll add pictures tomorrow. Later!