Over the weekend we went to Cádiz, though that's actually false advertising as we spent less than 12 hours in Cádiz, a short visit after a 4-5 hour bus ride, only to drive back the next day. Thankfully we made stops on the way there and back, but it still made for 2 very long travel days.
On the way there, we stopped at El Torcal Nature Reserve in Antequera. When we arrived I seriously thought we had landed on the moon. I had closed my eyes for a bit back when the landscape was similar to the country sides of California. When I opened my eyes we were surrounded by humongous pieces of limestone. It was quite shocking. We headed down a normal path, quite similar to other nature reserves and state parks. About 3 minutes into the hike, Javier, the director of IES Granada, turned around and said "Anyone who wants to go a bit more difficult route follow me!"
I followed.
And it was awesome. We left the trail and just climbed all over these humongous rocks from when this area was covered in water years and years ago. We spent a couple hours climbing and exploring, and then reluctantly returned to the buses to eat our picnic lunches :( When we go on trips like this, since our families give us breakfast and lunch, we get bagged lunches. This would be fine, except for we all get humongous sandwiches (bocadillos) of jamon y queso which after sitting in our backpacks from 3 in the afternoon, are not too appetizing. I won't be missing the bocadillos.
As I said, we did not have a lot of time in Cádiz. When we got there we walked around a bit but other than that we had quiet night. Before we left for Cádiz I had looked into restaurants and there was a restaurant that was known for a tomato soup, not gazpacho, but another type of tomato soup, salmorejo. I was really excited to try it, thinking it would be more like our comforting tomato soup (best served with a grilled cheese sandwich) than gazpacho is. I unfortunately was wrong. It was COLD and not my tomato soup that I was craving.
The next morning we went to La Yeguada de la Cartuja, a horse stable. They have about 300 horses, all Cartusian horses, a sub-breed of the Andalusian horse. It was really cool to see the stables, and the young horses... there was a horse show at the end that got my camera really dusty and was a little boring, but for the most part it was a fun stop.
Our last stop was in Jerez de la Frontera, the Tío Pepe winery. Supposedly, this sherry, as it would be called, is famous and shipped around the world. I've never heard of it, though I suppose that's not surprising, I'm not very well learned in my sherries. It was interesting to get the tour and see how they make the sherry, but the tasting part of the visit was disappointing. We only got to try 2 types of sherry, I was expecting to be able to try more types to see if there was something that I liked. Of the 2, I didn't really like any of them, so there will be no Tío Pepe coming home for the holidays. Its possible that people of a better knowledge of wines and sherries would like the wines, well, more than possible as it is indeed famous, but I myself could not appreciate it. After the wine tasting we went back to Granada.
Check back later this week for photos... I don't have time to put them in right now. I'm not even sure they're on my computer yet.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
La Vida Mia
I just want to make a quick update, I've been pretty busy, but feel like nothing is getting done.
As far as school work, I have a test tomorrow in Flamenco class, them I'm off to Cadíz with my program for 2 days (not really school work... but school planned), and next week I have some rough drafts of research papers due and a test in my Translation class. Eek!
On the not-so-studious side of things, I will be seeing a puppet show from South Africa on Sunday, which is geared towards adults and should be lots of fun! I have been meeting semi-regularly with a student of the Universidad de Granada, named Oresti, to practice Spanish, and so that he can practice English. Our time together involves lots of miming and some confusion as we try and express ourselves in each language, but for the most part I think its helping. It's certainly making me think about my English as he asks questions like "What is the difference between 'heard' and 'listen'?" My friends and I have made ourselves regulars at a Mexican restaurant. We go every Thursdays, which is 1 Euro Margarita night (making them cheaper than water!), and get either nachos, or tacos, or a chimichanga (which I'm not completely sure what it is, but Monique really likes it) and spend a few hours laughing and telling stories of our week.
Celia and I are making plans for our Germany and Poland trip in the beginning of December. We will fly into Berlin, spend a couple days there, and then take an overnight train to Warsaw, spend a couple days there and return home. I'm really excited to see Berlin and Warsaw, even though if given the option they wouldn't be my first choice of places to go. We have the transportation booked, we just need to find a hotel or hostel to stay in and choose things we want to see. I will update you as I know more :)
I've almost figured out what classes I'm taking next semester which is always a fun/stressful time as you sign onto the school's website and type in numbers as quick as possible, hoping not to get closed out of the perfect schedule you've spent more time creating in the past week than on homework. In the past 2 years I've had great luck with my schedule, but this time I got closed out of the American Sign Language course I was hoping to take, but am hoping maybe I'll be let in by some act of God. It's notoriously impossible to get into, so I wasn't too surprised, but I'm not giving up yet.
I must be off to class, hope this update finds everyone at home healthy and well.
¡Hasta luego!
As far as school work, I have a test tomorrow in Flamenco class, them I'm off to Cadíz with my program for 2 days (not really school work... but school planned), and next week I have some rough drafts of research papers due and a test in my Translation class. Eek!
On the not-so-studious side of things, I will be seeing a puppet show from South Africa on Sunday, which is geared towards adults and should be lots of fun! I have been meeting semi-regularly with a student of the Universidad de Granada, named Oresti, to practice Spanish, and so that he can practice English. Our time together involves lots of miming and some confusion as we try and express ourselves in each language, but for the most part I think its helping. It's certainly making me think about my English as he asks questions like "What is the difference between 'heard' and 'listen'?" My friends and I have made ourselves regulars at a Mexican restaurant. We go every Thursdays, which is 1 Euro Margarita night (making them cheaper than water!), and get either nachos, or tacos, or a chimichanga (which I'm not completely sure what it is, but Monique really likes it) and spend a few hours laughing and telling stories of our week.
Celia and I are making plans for our Germany and Poland trip in the beginning of December. We will fly into Berlin, spend a couple days there, and then take an overnight train to Warsaw, spend a couple days there and return home. I'm really excited to see Berlin and Warsaw, even though if given the option they wouldn't be my first choice of places to go. We have the transportation booked, we just need to find a hotel or hostel to stay in and choose things we want to see. I will update you as I know more :)
I've almost figured out what classes I'm taking next semester which is always a fun/stressful time as you sign onto the school's website and type in numbers as quick as possible, hoping not to get closed out of the perfect schedule you've spent more time creating in the past week than on homework. In the past 2 years I've had great luck with my schedule, but this time I got closed out of the American Sign Language course I was hoping to take, but am hoping maybe I'll be let in by some act of God. It's notoriously impossible to get into, so I wasn't too surprised, but I'm not giving up yet.
I must be off to class, hope this update finds everyone at home healthy and well.
¡Hasta luego!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
When homesickness hits
This past week has been a tough one. As I said in the last post I was not feeling well in Morocco, but thankfully was only left with the sniffles (which don't seem to ever want to go away) by the time I got back into Granada. Then a worse ailment hit: Homesickness.
I feel like homesickness always comes at the worse time, and that was certainly the case here. It really made my two day week seem like it would never end. For some reason I decided that this was the week to worry about the 3 papers that I will have to write for the end of semester, when really I only had to worry about having a topic right now. The papers seem extra daunting because they have to be written in Spanish, and are still expected to have the same quality of any other college paper.
On top of the self-induced stress, my Señora decided this was the week she would complain about the fact that I didn't eat my entire fish at lunch (which I guess was expensive, but I can't help it, as much as I have learned over here that fish isn't bad, I never crave it and still don't love eating it) and that my room wasn't clean enough for her. I felt a bit unwelcome, and truthfully like I was back in high school. Well, not even high school since my parents never made me clean my room, but you get the idea. My roommate was going to Barcelona for the weekend so I was really worried about it just being the two of us in the house. In the end, being just Juana and I has proved to be nice. I find I'm conversing with her more, because often times Lily would dominate the conversation with questions.
Finally, this weekend Caitlin, a really good friend from home who is studying in Madrid for the semester, was here to visit. As much as I was looking forward to seeing her I think it just added to the homesick feeling. It reminded me of everyone at home who I haven't seen or talked to in a while. In the end, seeing her may have actually been the cure for my homesickness. Though we didn't see each other too much (she was here to visit her boyfriend, who understandably dominated her time), when we were together it was just like being at home.
After she left, I read for about an hour on a park bench until the sun set and I was only reading by the weak street lamp. Walking home I found myself in awe of the city I was walking through. It was as if it was the first time I walked down that street (which it was probably the 15th time this weekend). I felt lighter, I felt empowered. I don't know what changed laying on that park bench reading Shopaholic and Sister but something did. The homesickness disappeared. Maybe it was the fresh air, maybe it was being around someone from home, maybe it was just time for it to go away. All I know, is that I'm glad its gone. It will probably return, but I feel a little more prepared for when it does.
I feel like homesickness always comes at the worse time, and that was certainly the case here. It really made my two day week seem like it would never end. For some reason I decided that this was the week to worry about the 3 papers that I will have to write for the end of semester, when really I only had to worry about having a topic right now. The papers seem extra daunting because they have to be written in Spanish, and are still expected to have the same quality of any other college paper.
On top of the self-induced stress, my Señora decided this was the week she would complain about the fact that I didn't eat my entire fish at lunch (which I guess was expensive, but I can't help it, as much as I have learned over here that fish isn't bad, I never crave it and still don't love eating it) and that my room wasn't clean enough for her. I felt a bit unwelcome, and truthfully like I was back in high school. Well, not even high school since my parents never made me clean my room, but you get the idea. My roommate was going to Barcelona for the weekend so I was really worried about it just being the two of us in the house. In the end, being just Juana and I has proved to be nice. I find I'm conversing with her more, because often times Lily would dominate the conversation with questions.
Finally, this weekend Caitlin, a really good friend from home who is studying in Madrid for the semester, was here to visit. As much as I was looking forward to seeing her I think it just added to the homesick feeling. It reminded me of everyone at home who I haven't seen or talked to in a while. In the end, seeing her may have actually been the cure for my homesickness. Though we didn't see each other too much (she was here to visit her boyfriend, who understandably dominated her time), when we were together it was just like being at home.
After she left, I read for about an hour on a park bench until the sun set and I was only reading by the weak street lamp. Walking home I found myself in awe of the city I was walking through. It was as if it was the first time I walked down that street (which it was probably the 15th time this weekend). I felt lighter, I felt empowered. I don't know what changed laying on that park bench reading Shopaholic and Sister but something did. The homesickness disappeared. Maybe it was the fresh air, maybe it was being around someone from home, maybe it was just time for it to go away. All I know, is that I'm glad its gone. It will probably return, but I feel a little more prepared for when it does.
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