On the weekend of Feb. 18 (wow I really am behind lol) USAC took us on a 2 night trip to Granada. I loved the city, it was very beautiful and had so much history. The first day we walked through the city, the arabic tourist shops and up to a viewpoint of the city and the Alhambra. The next day we spent a day at the Alhambra, which is gorgeous!! The architecture is so unique and breathtaking. The one bummer was our timing. We went when the gardens were a bit dead and the oh so famous Plaza de Leones was under construction. Oh well that's life. We still got to see the lions, but we were not allowed to take photos because the staff didn't want pictures of the lions in the wrong place. After the Alhambra my friend Michele and I walked back to the city and wandered around a bit, doing random stuff like cartwheels in the streets and stopping at what we thought was a juice bar. The juice bar turned out to be an awesome little hookah bar (no we did not do hookah!) We stopped there and got some smoothies and crepes, which were so delicious. We then decided to go out and experience the night life, since we were lame the first night ( which involved Mean Girls, wine and chocolate in our hotel room :) So that night we got ready, I even put eyeliner on, which is a lot for me lol. We ended up not doing anything with our refusal to pay 5 euros for a drink and the clubs were in no way appealing to me. So our night ended up in a search for a good bar playing the Real Madrid game, but we happened to be in the one city in Spain that does not care about fútbol. So we went back disgruntled and watched some TV. The next day we drove back to Alicante, the bus ride being around 4 1/2 hours.
La mirador de La Alhambra
Los jardines de género (meaning Pleasure Gardens)
I loved this plaza
]Absolutely stunning
And this is when my camera died...
After Granada my next adventure was a climbing trip that I randomly decided to sign up for. And I am so glad that I did. It was a blast. We started with a 40 min hike up to the first cliff that we were going to climb. There was a sort of ladder going up the wall, so it was pretty easy. I impressed all the Spanish guys with my determination to be in the very front, and there I stayed with two other guys in the group. The trip involved climbing cliffs, crossing wire bridges and walking on the side of a mountain. Of course I fell, of course I got mauled by a bush, and of of course it was AWESOME!
a bush got me...
On what my friend called "the wire bridge of death"
Michele y yo
This weekend was Carnaval, the equivalent of Halloween in the States. So I was extremely clever with my costume, aka jeans, t-shirt and a mask. Michele and I walked around carnaval a bit, but I am starting to realize that no matter what country I am in, I will never be a party girl. And carnaval is one giant party. They close the street down, and everyone dresses up and gets wasted. And I mean EVERYONE. The guys there also have no shame. A friend of mine had a guy get quite handsy with her as he walked past, ruining the night for her. One thing I have to say though, costumes are so much better here. I didn't see any lingerie/bunny ear costumes, except on guys, which is another story. All the costumes were in groups, since Spain loves community. I saw people dressed as fried eggs, Spongebob, Romans, Native Americans (this one cracked me up.. idk why), my personal favorite was a guy dressed as a boat. The party took place on La Rambla aka the barrio. There were several free concerts, a giant bar in the middle of the street and many churro stands... Ohhh Spain. I lasted till 2 am, which is almost party pooper status for Spain... haha.
Photo credit to other USACers, I didn't want to get my camera stolen.
La Rambla
Cute kids :)
This sort of thing was all too common...
My costume (aka mask :)
Sunday, instead of sleeping, I went to a nearby town called Santa Pola with my intercambio. We met up with some of his friends there and watched a small parade about the Moors and Christians. Afterwards we watched the town get wasted, mainly the teenagers (16-18). We went to a tapa bar, then to another bar to play foosball, then we hung out on the beach. It was pretty awesome, but I was so tired by the end of the day. And sorry for no photos, I am getting kinda lazy with those :(
Well that is all I can think of so far. A huge thanks to Mr. Cathcart for the Valentine he sent me :)
♥
Now I gotta go do my mountain of hw and eat chocolate because come Wednesday I have to go without! Sad day.
Upcoming Events:
This upcoming weekend: Suecia (aka Sweden) to visit mi hermano George y su prometida Anna :)
Marzo 17-20: Irlanda con mi hermana Jilly
El primer fin de semana en abril: Alemania para visitar mi amiga Anna-Pia
Abril 21-29: Semana Santa en Cartegena con mi familia española
29 de abril hasta 6 de mayo: Italia con mi hermana española (Maria) para visitar mi tia Colleen.
Busy times ahead, but having the time of my life! :D
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