Bienvenidos a Salamanca!

I haven't had too much internet access as of late so I'll catch you up on my last few days in Spain. sunday morning we toured the Alhambra in Granada. It was so beautiful. It's hard to believe we got to walk around a place so old and full of history. To the right is a bell that all the single girls in Granada ring on January 1st to hopefully change their relationship status during that year. The other picture is of one of the patios in the Alhambra.

From Granada we had a 5 hour trip to Madrid where we dropped off 2/3rds of the group while the rest of us continued on to Salamanca.

Salamanca has been great so far. Everything is smaller and more intimate. The people seem nicer too. Our padres could not be nicer. Carmen and Miguel are 65 and 70 years old but boy do they look good. Carmen is a hot grandma! She's also a great cook. We had potato soup, a ham and cheese panini, watermelon, and flan the first night. They love to sit and talk with us as we eat which is so nice. Miguel loves to talk futbol and Carmen loves bull fights. Such typical Spanish conversations haha.

Our first morning we slept in to recover from traveling. We woke up for lunch and Carmen had made us pasta and pork chops. Miguel then walked us to school and on the way we met Morgan and Megan (girls from Samford) because they live only a block away. We live about a 25 minute walk to school. Boy are we going to be in shape after this trip!

Our classes for this term will be in the afternoon from 2-5:30. I think it will be a nice change. School was just orientation and a walk around the city. It was nice just to be able to see what's close and have a Spaniard point out cheap places to buy necessities, grocery stores, banks, and good restaurants.

After school, the Samford group opted to take Flamenco dancing lessons! It was so much fun. Even the guys were good sports and participated. I only wish we would have had flowy long skirts and large roses in our hair. Then it would have been perfect.

From there we treated ourselves to the best ice cream we've had yet in Spain. It's a cute little shop in the Plaza Mayor that has a continuously long line but is worth the wait. Later, it started to rain in the plaza, but only in half of it. It was quite the strange sight! However, we did get to see a rainbow over the plaza on our first day in Salamanca. I think it's a good sign ;)

We made the trek home for dinner and had fish sticks and croquetas with fish and cheese. Don't faint, yes, I actually ate this. I've become quite the trooper. But we also had green beans and potatoes, some of my favorites, so it turned out alright.

Even though we were exhausted, we met up later with some friends in the Plaza Mayor because we heard it was beautiful at night. Do you recognize this picture?

From there we wandered around exploring and found all the beautiful old building illuminated at night. There's a great plaza near the cathedral that is absolutely gorgeous and I know we'll be spending more time there too.

Today, after an amazing breakfast of toast (actually toasted), strawberry jelly, orange juice, and COFFEE:) we managed to find the biblioteca that has free wifi. Life lesson of the day: don't take internet and communication for granted. I think it'll actually be good for us to have less internet access so we're not so dependent on it. Anyways, we're currently at the biblioteca just updating, doing homework, and writing our journals we have to turn in Thursday.

*Keep praying for us that we'll push through and be motivated to work hard in school. Love you all!

Alzaré mis ojos a los montes,

de dónde vendrá mi socorro?

Mi socorro viene de Jehová

que hizo los cielos y la tierra.

Salmo 121:1-2

Thank you Granada, Thank you Jesus

We spent today in Granada. First, we visited the cathedral where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried. It was kind of creepy to see their tombs. Next we walked around the Arab market and old silk trading allies. I bought some great souvenirs.

Granada is what you think of when you think of Spain: colorful tiles, beaded purses, and gold accents. This is actually more Moorish/ Arabic style but I love it. Granada is a great mix of traditional Christian Spain and Muslim culture.

We spent the afternoon wandering around and shopping. We ran into some cute plazas and fountains as well. I wish we would have had more time to explore because I really think I would love Granada.

Tonight after dinner at the hotel, we went as a group to see the Alhambra lit up at night. We sat on a wall overlooking the city and the snow-covered mountains. It was gorgeous. We even got to see the full moon rise from behind the mountains. The crowd around us gave it a standing ovation when we could finally see the whole thing. It was that beautiful. Thank you Granada for the view and thank you Jesus for the moon!

On the hike back down the mountain, we stopped in a little Arabic tea room and sat and drank exotic teas by candlelight. My mango tea was delicious and the little silver tea pots were precious.

We tour the Alhambra in the morning before heading back to Madrid and eventually on to Salamanca to meet our new family!

Beach Bum

Today was glorious! I spent the ENTIRE day on the beach. I'm talking over like 7 hours of sun, sand, and freezing cold Mediterranean sea! We worked up the nerve and just ran head first into the water. None of this tip-toe in and slowly immerse yourself. Nope, you'd never make it in that way. You just have to hold your breath, run and dive, and hope your heart doesn't stop from hypothermia. Luckily, I lived to tell the tale and can say "I've swam in the Med!"

Tonight we're headed back to the buffet for dinner and then across the street to a restaurant with couches to watch the Spain vs. Chile game. Viva España!

Freezing in the Med

Bottomless Pits and Wild Monkeys

6-24-2010

After a great breakfast this morning we boarded the bus, luggage and all, and headed off to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is at the tip of Spain and is actually a British territory where the official language is English. We even needed our passport to walk through the gates of the city.

I have to say it is one of the craziest, most interesting places I've ever visited. It's known as "the rock" because, well, it's basically made up of a big rock with caves inside. You can also see Africa from the top! We spent a few hours in the city center just eating lunch and shopping. They get the award for the world's ugliest souvenirs. Don't worry I didn't buy you anything you'll have to pretend you like.

Around 3pm we all boarded 8 passenger vans for the trek up "the rock". Mrs. Dr. Crider told us before we even arrived to beware of the "bottomless pits"...whatever that means. So, we all were freaked out all day that we were going to fall into a bottomless pit and be devoured by wild monkeys. However, our tour guide Maxi was awesome. He gave us the low down and warned us of the vicious monkeys. And, they're only vicious if you have food and they want it. Some girls in our group found this out after the monkeys stole their ice cream and they ran away screaming. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

Wild monkey with an ice cream cone in each hand- haha!

At the top of the rock and without food, the monkeys were really cute and soft and we took turns letting them sit on our shoulders! *Griff, I know you're jealous right now:)

Just chillin' with a monkey on my shoulder

Then we went to visit a huge cave in the rock. It was made by water and looks beautiful inside. They actually even have concerts there because the acoustics are so good.

The view from the top was incredible. At one point, I could see Africa straight ahead (only 14 miles from Gibraltar, so close that I got a text from the mobile provider in Morocco), the Mediterranean to the left, Atlantic and Spain to the right.

Me with "the rock"

Sailboat and Africa in the distance

Lighthouse at the tip of Gibraltar

In the afternoon we left for Torremolinos, a smaller coastal town to the east. We had a feast of a buffet for dinner. After dinner, we went and frolicked in the freezing Mediterranean! The beach is beautiful and the sand is a bit darker than I'm used to. The city is cute and reminds me a lot of the gulf shores of Spain. There's an ice cream shop down the street and a place where we can watch Spain play tomorrow in the Mundial. I also bought a towel, don't worry mom.

Walking into the Med

We have all day free tomorrow to spend on the beach. And I plan on being a beach bum all day long :)

Olé!

6-23-10...the rest of my night and FLAMENCO show!

We took the best siesta of our lives in the afternoon in Sevilla. Dinner was at 8pm. It started off with a salad with tuna on it. The main course was some sort of fish that I forced down. Dessert was an orange and cinnamon flavored rice pudding, which was actually kind of good. I definitely broadened my horizons tonight.

Flamenco started at 9:30pm at the Patio Sevillana, which is located across from the river and next to the bull ring. It was a beautiful night and a beautiful area of town. We had the chance to take a few pics at the river before heading to the show.

The Flamenco show was my favorite part of the trip so far. These dancers are incredible, passionate, and graceful. The force they use in their rhythms, stomping, and clapping while wearing huge dresses blows my mind. The men were super talented too. I know, men flamenco dancers, you didn’t see that coming, but they’ve got serious skills. It was hard to get good pictures but I did manage to get a few.

Family Update!

I found out some information about my family in Salamanca! Finally!

The madre's (or should i say abuela's) names is Carmen and she's 65 years old. Her husbands name is Miguel and he's 70. We only have a 20 minute walk to school. The only other info I have is that our padres like to help people and volunteer at the church. I can't wait to meet them and go to church with them too! Please be praying for our communication with them, good food, and new Spanish friends!

Sweet Sevilla

6/23/10

Today was all about Sevilla. We woke up early to an amazing breakfast at the hotel. I'm talking buffet with eggs, bacon, croissants, jellies, fruit, cereal, and coffee. It was like heaven on earth. It's amazing how sick I am of white bread and nutella.

More observations about Sevilla: It has a Florida-like climate and is without a doubt hotter than Madrid. The sun is so bright and there are even palm trees. Bikes with baskets are really popular here and I would love to see the city by bike when my padres come to visit:)

At 9am sharp we left for a tour of the city. We actually started with Italica. This is right outside of Sevilla and is the site of Roman ruins. We visited the arena where gladiators would fight. The floor is covered in sand, or in Spanish- "arena", this is actually where we get our English word arena! Cool huh?

There were also ruins of houses with mosaic floors still intact. It was pretty surreal because these things are so old.

Old Roman Arena

Cool Shadows

From there we went to the Plaza de España for only a few minutes. This is a place where I would like to visit again. It was built for the world fair in 92 (i think) and was used in a couple of movies...one being Star Wars 2. The beauty and intracacies of the architecture are beautiful.

Later we went to the Alcazar which is like a palace. The architecture and decor was very Arabic and had a lot of beautiful tiles, patios, and fountains. At this point we were wearing down, starving, and our feet were on fire from pain. BUT, thanks to Dr. and Lady Crider (as she's sweetly called) we kept going. Off to the cathedral! Here we saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus and climbed to the top of the bell-tower. I really thought I wasn't going to make it but the view from the top was beautiful.

View from the Top of the Bell Tower

This building is where all the original documents from the New World were kept from the time of Columbus!

For lunch some of the girls stopped at a cafe across the street from the cathedral--we couldn't make it any farther haha. I downed a whole pizza by myself. yum.

We have free time this afternoon (siesta!!) and after dinner at the hotel we're going to a Flamenco show! I'm really excited because Sevilla is supposedly where Flamenco began. It should be amazing.

Tomorrow we're off to visit Gibraltar and then on to Torremolinos for 2 nights at the beach! This week is flying by!

Sunflowers and Sunshine

6/22/10

Today marks the beginning of our trip to Andalucia!

We left bright and early to hail a cab and make it to the bus by nine. We then drove 2.5 hours to see the windmills of Don Quixote in Castilla-La Mancha to the south of Madrid. There were multiple windmills on the top of this hill overlooking a patchwork of landscaping. It was beautiful.

Then we drove a little bit further to Puerta Lapices for lunch. We got 50 euros for lunch this week but thankfully our madre packed us a lunch so I haven’t had to use it yet. This was a quaint little Don Quixote-themed town.

A door in Puerta Lapices way too cute to pass up

We then got back on the bus and drove for 3 more hours to Cordoba. On the way we passed miles and miles of sunflower fields. It was incredible and we all wanted to jump out and frolic.

Yes, all of these are SUNFLOWERS:)

Cordoba was our big stop for the day. The main thing we saw was the Mezquita which is the Muslim mosque with a cathedral in the middle. Don’t ask me why! It has something to do with the history and the reconquest. They didn’t want to ruin the cool mosque so they just build a cathedral in the middle. The mixture of simple architecture and Baroque intricate architecture of the cathedral. We also saw the synagogue, old Arab market, and learned about Maimonides the philosopher.

*La Mezquita

After a few hours later, we hopped back on the bus and headed for Sevilla. We’ve got a cute little hotel in the Jewish quarters and our rooms are really nice. We also had a 3 course meal for dinner. After dinner we wandered upon a park and strolled through the city. To finish off the night we met in the piano bar and played and sang for about an hour. It was a great and relaxing way to end such a long day.

Yo soy Español, Español, Español!!

Today was our last full day in Madrid. We definitely made the most of it and got to do just about everything we wanted.

We started our day off by searching for the nuns. Now, this might sound weird but there's a monastery near the Plaza Mayor where the nuns sell "dulces". Thanks to Katie Carroll (shout out!) and Samantha Brown from the travel channel, we were inspired to search for the nuns. After asking about 4 people how to get there, we found the monastery and rang the bell for the nuns. A squeaky little nun answered and buzzed us in their heavy, old front door. We walked sketchily through dark hallways to find a lazy susan built into the wall. The nuns put a box of "naranjines"(orange scone type cookies) on it, we took it, left money, and spun the lazy susan. Quite the experience! We also had the pleasure of seeing the squeaky petite nun in her apron as she came to explain to us they were out of basically every other type of sweets. And this was only the beginning of our day.

Us with our Nun Cookies

From here we sought out the tapas bar we went to last night in Chueca because it was just that good. Thanks El Tigre for free tapas with purchase of a drink. Fabulous.

Later in the afternoon we spent a good few hours in Retiro park just soaking up the sun and recounting the good times we've had in Madrid. We also met Caitilin and Kimberly and rented a row boat and went for a spin across the lake. It was a beautiful day.

I'm pretty obsessed with this picture...

Me, Courtney, Kimberly and Caitlin going out on the lake

Tonight was definitely the highlight. We watched the Spain vs. Honduras game outside of Santiago Bernabeu with every other young Spaniard in the city. We met our Spanish friends from the church and they helped us brave the crowd and participate in the cheers like, "Yo soy Español, Español, Español!¨ Hence the blog title :)

The beginning of the crowd at Bernabeu

Allison, Courtney, and me cheering on España!

Here's the good news: Spain won! 2-0. The crowd went ridiculously wild for each goal. It was so great to be a part of the excitement. And of course we sported our rojo for "La Roja".

Oh and Suiza lost...haha take that chico suizo.

So now it's off to bed and last minute packing and battery charging. I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have in the next week in Andalucia but I'll do my best to update everyone when I can!

We're not rule breakers. Can we have our cookies back?

Today was a fabulous day in Madrid. We were ecstatic to sleep in til 11 this morning. We then cooked french toast for our madre and Swiss housemates. They loved it with some cinnamon sugar on top. Then we spent a while just chatting with our madre as she tried to explain to us how to make some typical Spanish recipes. I think we got enough information to make some good comida when we get back to the states.

Our madre also told us about a precious park called "El Capricho" (the 'whim'). So, on a whim-haha, we ventured out to explore this great little park where supposedly Goya would go to paint. It was so quaint and had a lot to wander around and see. On our way in we attempted to bring in some fanta and cookies. The cookies were confiscated at the entrance to the park i guess because they didn't want us littering in the park. So we strolled around and had a photo shoot in this beautiful park. Here are some of our best pics:

My GORGEOUS roommate :)

We picked some flowers and put them in our hair. On our way out of the park, as we collected our confiscated cookies, the attendant asked if we got our flowers from the park. I said, "no, no, no." and walked away really fast. Um, we're in a park with flowers everywhere. Of course I got my cute fresh flower from this park...whatcha gonna do about it?

On the way to lunch we had the metro all to ourselves and took advantage of it by singing, sliding, and dancing through the train car. The security guards are going to have some entertaining footage of some American chicas.

We then met Caitlin, Ashley, and Mary at the restaurant El Espejo for a late lunch. We had some great ham, cheese, and egg sandwiches and split some leche merengada. After that, we met Kimberley and Allison at the baptist church for what we thought was going to be a church service but ended up being a choir concert. Different, but good. We left after the first half to get some of the best tapas at El Tigre.

Later we attempted to see a movie in Spanish but we didn't get there earlier enough so we just sat on the steps of the movie theater and chatted with this random Nigerian who struck up a random conversation.

On the way home, we ran into our Swiss roommate and his friend and went for some coffee at the cafeteria. We're home now just enjoying our pics and dreading the packing process that's looming ahead.

El Escorial and Castillo de Manzanares

Today was our excursion to El Escorial and el Castillo de Manzanares that are in the North of Madrid. These places were beautiful.

*EL ESCORIAL:

This building dates back to 1559 and is a monastery, church, and college. It was huge. It also has the 2nd largest library in the world. A wedding was going to take place this afternoon so the iglesia looked amazing. 4 organs were going to play when the bride walked down the isle.

El Escorial is also the burial place for all the kings of Spain and their wives. Here's the creepy part: it has 3 empty tombs waiting on the current king's grandfather and parents. Also, the room next door is where they keep the bodies of recently dead royalty until they rot and only bones are left to put in the box.

* El Castillo de Manzanares:

This city was gorgeous and you could see Madrid in the distance. It sat near the mountains and a lake and had wildflowers surrounding the beautiful castle. If I had to live in Spain, I would pick here.

Finished!

Today was our last day of class and final exams! The exams went well and I'm sad to be leaving my sweet teachers :(

Grammar Class with Marcos:

After school, we went to see the Torres de Europa. They are the buildings in the more modern section of town that lean inward at a 15 degree angle...pretty cool. It's hard to tell, but that's me on the bench!

Afterwards me and Courtney hit the jackpot at H&M on Goya, a new street we had yet to explore. We got some "necessities" for our trip to Andalucia next week. Later in the afternoon, we got gelatto with our Swiss roommate Adrian and his friend Petra that's visiting him. Dinner was yummy lasagna.

After doing our homework on El Escorial, me and Courtney met up with some Samford kids at a restaurant and all the ladies got roses from the waiters! Me and Courtney had fun with ours.

After hanging out with our friends for a bit, we headed home to get some rest before our excursion today to El Escorial.

Jamón, Jabón, y Japón

Well this week flew by! I actually got off at the right metro stop this morning so I knew it was going to be a good day! We spent today reviewing for our exams tomorrow.

After class we had a group field trip to the Senado (Senate). It was actually really cool. I had no idea what to expect but we got to see where the Senate debates and got to sit where the president sits. We even met a Senator from Toledo. She was cute and welcoming to our big group of Americanos. The interior of this old building that used to be a convent was indescribably beautiful. We also got to go into the biblioteca that has original copies of manuscripts of books from the 15th century and original constitutions of Spain. Plus, it looked like a scene right out of Harry Potter.

El Senado and the flags from Spain's autonomous communities

Me at the President's Podium, no big deal :)

Harry Potter/ Senate Library

When we left the Senate, we ran right into a cute market so of course we stopped in for some shopping. I got a dress for 8 euros and some ridiculously comfortable European pants that I'm currently wearing. From there me and Courtney wandered into Pan and Company to get some coffee and prepare for our oral exams this afternoon.

My oral exam/ conversation was with Mr. Dr. Crider. He is so calm, wise, and I just loved talking to him. His only feedback to me was that he would be dissapointed and I would be stupid to quit studying Spanish until it's flows completely naturally. He was such an encouragement and I think it went well.

Tonight we had some sort of rice and carne that tasted like taco filling without the taco. We also had a side of large, cold and white asparagus we were supposed to dip in mayonaise. I'm adventurous but not that adventurous. Who knew asparagus could be white?

Later, we met some girls at our cafe to study for our finals tomorrow. They shouldn't be too bad but it's a lot of information. Thanks for all your prayers!

Viva España!!

Wednesday:

It started out as a normal day. Except that when I was on the metro, sitting and reading my newspaper, I completely missed my stop for school! Oops. My whole group got off and I was in the clouds I guess. The lady sitting next to me started laughing when she saw my friends standing on the platform looking for me. We had a good laugh as I rode to the next stop and turned around to finally make it back to where I was supposed to get off in the first place.

Grammar class as usual. It's actually really fun for 9am. I even look forward to it. That's how cool my teacher is.

In culture, we split into groups and made posters representing our impressions of Spain. We cut out pictures from newspapers and magazines. It was pretty fun too.

We had group meetings after class and ended up discussing the nuances of Spanish culture. It was an interesting conversation.

After a quick siesta, me and Courtney met about 10 Samford people in a local restaurant to watch the España vs. Switzerland futbol game. It was actually a really exciting game. I've never seen a soccer match before and I'm kind of hooked. Not to mention, it must be a requirement to be gorgeous to be on Spain's team. Just saying ;)

After all that hard work (by La Roja) we lost, against Switzerland. Boo. Our Swiss roommate wasn't so "neutral" today as he flaunted their victory with a happy dance in our room.

Dinner tonight was some type of pesto soup and tortilla with tomato sauce. Quite the combination.

We went to see the opera Carmen tonight. It was really good but really confusing. It's a Spanish story that takes place in Sevilla but they sing everything in French. Turns out I don't speak French and had trouble reading the plot in Spanish. It got creative let me tell you. The sweet lady next to us helped us decipher what was happening. It was also over 3 hours long. Wow. However, the leads were super talented and I really enjoyed the singing and parts with flamenco dancing.

Courtney, me and Caitlyn before the Opera

The cast of Carmen

It's off to bed now--Oral exams tomorrow at 5pm. It's a 30 minute interview in Spanish with the professors. Ah! Now is when I really need your prayers to push through!

Mambo Italiano

Here's an update on my weekend in Italy!

The Marinelli's picked me up at the airport at 8pm and took me into Torrino to eat some delicious Italian pizza. We met up with Manuela (Kikka's sister) and her boyfriend and Mattia (Kikka's boyfriend). Everyone got their own huge pizza with really fresh ingredients. I had cheese, tomato, olives, and sausage on mine. Let me just warn you, you can NEVER out-eat an Italian. They all finished their entire pizza when I was half way done. Incredible.

Friday night we just walked around the huge plazas in Torrino and later we had the best gelatto of my life. It put's Spain to shame.

We slept in a bit Saturday morning then went to the local market which is kind of like Spain's Rastro but a little better quality. I bought a shirt, a ring, and a couple of scarves for pretty cheap. They also had a fresh fruit, cheese, meat, and pasta market on one side. It was like heaven. I'm sure dad and Rachel would have freaked out at all the gourmet Italian cheeses and pastas.

For lunch we had Italian chinese food which was pretty good. I never thought I would learn how to use chopsticks in Italy haha. Then we went to drop off our compras at her house. From there, me and Kikka hopped on her Vespa and went our for more shopping and more gelatto. It's what Italians do. Shop and eat. The Vespa was fun and I don't think I took a breath the whole time we were zooming through the town.

For dinner Saturday night, Daniella fixed 4 cheese pasta and we also had ham and bread. Italian food is amazing. From there, Saturday night was very interesting. Me, Kikka, and Mattia went to a girl's birthday party at a Discoteca. We left at 11pm and got back at 5am. It was fun night of dancing and all the Italians were really nice about trying to include me as much as possible in their conversations. We went to bed when the sun was coming up and woke up around 10.

Sunday morning we took a walk around Kikka's house at the foot of the alps. It was beautiful to stroll in the countryside and enjoy the beauty of Italy. The scenery is surreal. For lunch we had eggplant, brocolli, cheese, bread, and salad outside on the terrace. It was fantastic. I could not have asked for a better weekend and a better host family. I love you Marinelli's!!

Me and Kikka in front of their beautiful house and surrounding gardens.