Granada and then some

This past Saturday-Sunday the ALA group drove to Granada for an overnight trip. It's about 3.5 hours away by bus and we went to visit the Alhambra, Granada's catedral, and we went to a barrio called Albaicin. It was a really fun trip and there was a lot to see. I took over 200 pictures. Perhaps it's the asian in me. Haha.

Once we got there, we settled into the hotel. It was a beautiful hotel and about a 5 minute walk away from the Alhambra.

The walk was definitely strenuous because Granada is all mountains and the walk was either uphill or downhill. I felt like I was going to fall everywhere I was going. But all in all it was fun.

Our first stop was the Alhambra. The Alhambra is made up of 3 parts: The Alhambra, a part I don't remember because I'm a poor listener, and The Generalife (Hen-e-ra-lee-fay). Generalife was probably my most favorite part because I love looking at flowers and all that fun stuff. They even had pomegranate trees! It made me happy. And made me crave pomegranates. I was tempted to pull them off the trees, but I figured that would be sort of rude.

Here are some pictures of our visit to the Alhambra.




This was part of the second part of the Alhambra. If you stand in the center, where that small circle is located, and you say something, it echoes.

A view of Granada.


One of my friends and me in front of part of the Alhambra. It was such a gorgeous day.


Note the pretty reflection.


Pomegranates!

Later on we just did some more walking around. We went back to the hotel for a descansito (little break and rest time) and dinner. The dinner, like lunch, was buffet style. I ate more than I should have but that's okay. You only live once. I seriously love Spanish food. It's delicious. It was my friend's birthday and since we all enjoy the nightlife, our group went out to a couple of bars for drinks and tapas.





My roommates and I went back around 3 to get some sleep so we could get up to start our day at 8:45. We went to a barrio called Albaicin, where we got to stop at a couple of places to take some more pictures. Our guide took us to the catedral and we got to see the tombs of the kings and we also were able to see the marble statues of the king and queen on their death beds. It was interesting.


The view from Albaicin


So nice.

After that, we went out and did some more shopping. I went and bought a falafel pita. It was so delicious. Soooo good. Here's a picture of the food, and then me devouring it.


We went back and had lunch at the hotel and drove back home. All in all it was a good way to spend the weekend. However, the climate changes affected me more than I had ever anticipated. Now I'm sick and last night I had to leave class early because I just wasn't feeling well.

This is our second week of classes. Math is getting really tough because I just don't understand his examples, because they all relate to Sevillian life. He's not very kind and unapproachable so it makes it tough for me, but I'm getting a tutor so hopefully that will help. I finally found the classroom for my Pedagogia Intercultural class. It's going to be a lot of work but I'm excited. The professor is sooo nice and interested in my perspective about education and immersment because I'm an American, but I'm also a minority. I talked to three Spanish students in that class and then I made friends with a girl from Germany. That was pretty exciting. My last class is from 7 to 9. I wasn't feeling well so I left at 8. I'm getting used to the buses and the fact that the universidad is not on a closed campus.

My homestay is incredible. I love my senorita. She's a lot of fun and so easy to talk to. She told me she has a Chinese friend living in Sevilla and that he can cook for us. And the Chinese friend has a Korean friend so that will be exciting.

I think I'm definitely putting on weight because my srta makes me so much food. She's an incredible cook. I've been taking pictures of the food I've been eating for lunch and/or dinner on a daily basis. I was going to post up some pictures but my internet is messing up a lot and it's taking a lot longer than I thought. I'll update tomorrow probably with pictures of my meals, haha. Mostly for Val. But yeah.

Okay, that's all for an update I suppose. I can't believe it's already October. I'm missing my mom's birthday and I'm missing Xander's first birthday. It's tough but I'm finally getting accustomed to living here. It's interesting, fun, and extremely expensive. Especially with such good wine and beer and ice cream and tapas.

I'm going to Barcelona on Thursday until Monday. Expect a really photo filled update on Monday. And yay for absolutely no classes on Monday! That's my worst day.

I miss you guys tons. Keep in touch. And have a great week!

-abc.