So tonight I leave for Madrid on the bus. Wish me luck with my suitcases etc. Hopefully it won't be too horrific. I had a good last week, especially if you don't count the exams that I may or may not have studied much for haha. Last Saturday a few of us went up to Sacromonte and saw the caves museum so that was fun. It was Nicole, Yasmeen, Scott and I who went, and on the way down we ran into Javier and Jennifer and they told us we should try the dulces de navidad. So we went to the cloister and ordered (through a spinning door thingy that according to Amalia was for when people would drop off unwanted babies?) and got a variety to share. Too bad they wouldn't travel well at all is all I'll say. It was a lot of fun. And Sunday Yasmeen and I went to bid farewell to the Alhambra. It was a beautiful day, so it was perfect. We got in for free as "residents" of Granada and we got to the palacios nazaries and carlos quinto and the alcazaba that afternoon. Awesome times.
The week was pretty uneventful. I finished all my papers by Tuesday and then I just had four exams, none of which were too bad. OH! But I brought in my disk of pictures that I put together for work study and Eva asked me if I knew what Javier meant to pay me. I said I had no idea but I figured 10-20 euros was fine since I would have taken most of them anyway. So she marches me into Javier's office and asks him and he just says oh I think 100 sounds about right. I was floored. And excited because I haven't had to take out any more money! Yay magic money :-) By Friday I was pretty burned out even though friends and I were able to fit in some tapas and things. But that night we had a big IES partay at the Hotel Alhambra Palace (think very swank) and went out afterward in big groups to bars and things. Only downside being that my coat and my new dress smell terribly of smoke. Silly Spain allowing things like that. But I finally had a classic night out in Granada and got up to Camborio (an important? club) and hung out with some friends I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with this semester, so it was good. It was so sad saying goodbye to the IES people though. Especially Eva and Miriam. I have to keep in touch with them - I promised.
So yesterday I found out my flight was a day later than I had been assuming. Ooops. I was talking to my mom online and was all like "see you tomorrow!" and she had to be all like "ummmmm no." I really don't know how I got that one confused. But I went out with Alexis to get a present for Amalia and then I went to the bus station so that they'd change my ticket. Luckily it was no problem and Amalia didn't care at all. Phew. Then I met Yasmeen in Plaza Nueva and we went up to the mirador to catch the sunset. There were other IESers there so we sat for a while and hung out. And made dinner plans. Yasmeen and I got tea (te alandalus con leche para la ultima vez - but I wrote down all the ingredients!) And wandered around. And went and found her some dulces to take home. Then I ran to meet Kate and go to dinner with Jessie, Tanya, Rebekah, Paul and Callie. It was fun and really good Italian food. And afterwards we met back up with Yasmeen and Jen for crepes. Which were also delicious. But goodbyes were not. We had such an amazingly fun time until then. And it got sad. But I made and kept a breakfast date with the leftovers here i.e. Rebekah, Callie and Tanya.
Today, Sunday, was a nice day. After tea with those ladies Callie, Rebekah and I went shopping. Well they went shopping and I tagged along. But it was fun just being out. I would have been sad to leave them but they have promised to come to Bowdoin to visit Tanya and me, so I couldn't get too sad. I had lunch at home for the last time and it was yummy of course. Amalia gave me turron to bring home (and I already bought some so yay turron haha) and I gave her the scarf and poinsettia Alexis and I had picked out. Oh yeah Alexis left at 3 in the morning, so I had to say goodbye to her, the lucky thing getting to come back next semester. We also took some pictures that I have to send her :-)
I spent the afternoon with Ana and her friend just resting and watching tv. I know it sounds like kind of a lame way to spend your last afternoon here, but it was really fun watching parts of dubbed American movies and talking to them and playing with Zooey, who has become a devil dog haha. And I'm about to go hang out with Lauren for a while. Thinking about actually starting the travel process is horrendous. But I know that soon I'll be happy and home. Wish me luck with my gargantuan bag and other possessions. And wish me luck sleeping on the bus. And I hope everyone is ready for the holidays and I hope to see you soon!
Last of the Granada blogs. Tear.
And here's a song that I've been thinking of because they played it when we were in Dublin. Thank you John Denver:
Country roads take me home
to a place where I belong.
*Sweet* Virginia (hey it's close enough)
Mountain mama
take me home, country roads.
Oh and some pics:
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018862&l=f4fef&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018864&l=695c1&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018865&l=48a0f&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018867&l=37acc&id=4602556
Enjoy!
16 December 2007
08 December 2007
Morocco
So I went to Morocco. It was an amazing trip and I feel like whatever I say here won't be enough to tell you about it. But this blog needs to be done - it's been almost a week since I was there and before you know it I'll be home, thousands of miles from Tangier and Rabat and the Rif Mountains and Chefchaouen. It won't be the same.
Our trip started off at the Granada train station, which is conveniently right down the street form my house. Everyone showed up on time, everyone brought their passports - it was great. We also had a little surprise which turned out to be fabulous: one of the guys that was supposed to come cancelled at the last minute to prepare for an interview? (LAME!) and so Jennifer, who is the wife of our program director Javier, came in his place. She's a lot of fun and great to travel with so I'm really glad she ended up coming. Also I was proud of myself for packing super light - I only brought Alexis's school backpack on loan and my purse. I won at packing!
The train ride was a little long but we kept ourselves entertained for the most part, and when it was still light out the scenery was gorgeous. When we first pulled out we could see the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas, and then we rolled through some countryside that I will really miss when I leave. The train took us to Algeciras, which is the port town, but when we got there it wouldn't let us off and started backing up. Hmmm we thought. Turns out they had to refill the water tanks or something so we were only delayed about 10 more minutes before we pulled back into the train station there. Miriam (our awesome IES group leader) found our hotel and we all dropped our stuff off before heading out to grab a quick bite to eat. Lauren and I split a giant sandwich concoction and then took long showers in our temperamental shower and got some shuteye.
Breakfast the next morning was the start of a long day. We could see THE ROCK of Gibraltar from the hotel window though, so it was a pretty way to start off. Then we walked over to the port and got our ferry. The ride was pretty smooth and the all natural ginger trips mom sent me worked great and I didn't get all woozy. Also most of us slept for most of the voyage, and there are some great pics floating around out there of some of my companions sleeping ;-) We also discovered that Allen, out tour guide which I'll tell you more about later, had a duffel bag full of snacks just for us. Hooray cookies!
We met our driver, Abdul, and our 14 passenger van that we occasionally called Mister Nature due to the Mister Nature air freshener that hung in the back and fell on us when he felt like it. Then we cashed in our Euros for Dirham, which was a rewarding experience since we're all used to changing dollars for Euros and definitely not coming out on top. It's about 11 Dirham to the Euro, so that was a morale boost right there.
Our first stop was in Tangier at a market. It was a very odd feeling to stand out so much. Allen bought us some fruit with his really badly accented French (how did he get this job?) and then we headed to a women's center for a meeting and lunch. We talked with two students there (they study translation) and the director. And they gave us sweet sweet Moroccan tea. The conversation was interesting since we learned a lot about attitudes on the hijab (head scarf) and the role of women, education, dating, getting a job. It was a lot to take in but it was a really great conversation. We also had lunch there and I had a delicious bowl of veggie couscous. Mmmmmmmm. My introduction to Moroccan cuisine was definitely a success. Although they did serve sour milk - that's what they called it - of which I was not a fan. It tasted like liquid cheese, but in a weird way. After lunch we started the trek to Rabat. It was a pretty long drive ... but ... surprise! We "found" some camels off the side of the road and took camel rides! It was pretty awesome. When you think about it camels are so weird looking. Their necks! How do they hold up their heads?! The camels eventually got a little grumpy - Sophia's tried to bite me on the ride while I was giving it a head scratch that it's supposed to like. Eeek! But I mean Strider trained me for anything so I wasn't too worried about it. Haha. So camel riding - check!
In Rabat we met up with our host families. Lauren and I pretty much lucked out. Our 17 year old host sister was basically the language qual. of our house, but the mom and dad and little 3 year old sister all spoke a little English too. Plus an American student, Aidan, was staying there for the semester so that was helpful (he speaks French). Plus we had a good old western toilet. And we did pretty well with our arabic phrase sheet. I can at least say thank you: shukran (phonetically at least).
We had pasta for dinner and then Zineb (my host sister) and Aidan took us out to the market. It was pretty late and starting to close down, but it was a cool time to see Rabat. Besides the fact that I love markets like that - they're so open and crowded and lively. The walk didn't last long since it probably isn't the best idea to stay out late when only one of you is a boy and only one of you speaks arabic, especially since those two people aren't one in the same. So Lauren and I watched a movie with Aidan and his other Amerian friend studying there. Then we got ready for bed - brushing our teeth with bottled water and curling up under our blankets on the sofas of their family / all-purpose room. It was actually really cold at night, but I was able to get comfy for sure.
The next morning I got up and eventually, after much persuasion, managed to rouse Lauren. We had breakfast with warm buns and tea and some kind of flat bread and jam. Met up with our group at 9 right outside my homestay, and then we went to talk to a professor. It was really interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of topics such as women's rights, but at times I thought he was taking himself a little too seriously. I did get his book though, one that talks about research he's done on perceptions in the Arab-Western conflict, something that should be helpful for my thesis. He also inscribed it to me in Arabic, so I know what Kathryn looks like in Arabic - sweeeeet!
Next we went to a park called Chellah. There were Roman ruins and the remains of a very old mosque. Mostly we went there just to have a nice break and wander in the garden. And eat some of Allen's snacks. It was really gorgeous and quite a nice stroll. We also went to the monument of king Muhammad V's mausoleum. The cavalry guards at the gate really like having their pictures taken, just so you know. It's also on the site of a giant but incomplete mosque - it was leveled by an earthquake at some point, but it is immense, and really cool to see because it is a forest of column-stubble and half of a minaret that is big enough to ride a horse to the top. Plus the view from there is gorgeous.
Then we had a long lunch break at our homestays. Lauren and I spent the time with Zineb and Ayah, our two host sisters. Ayah gave us French lessons with her colored balloons. She was never satisfied with our accent though haha. She also did our hair with her toy hairdryer and then put hijabs on us with our scarves...and wouldn't let us take them off. When we came back into the house later after having taken them off I think she was a little offended and kept asking us where they were. So cute!
After our lunch break we went to our cultural exchange with Moroccan students. Miriam and I got paired off with Badr, who was kind of a nice guy, but also kind of weird. Miriam and I got henna! from a little lady on the street. She promised to wait around for all the other girls to get it done after we went to the hammam (bath). We went shopping in the market for a little while, and then he wanted to take us to this bar. It was basically a pool hall, and neither Miriam or I wanted to spend time there. It was smoky and there were zero girls playing, but we got sodas, which Badr didn't think we'd be able to open for ourselves...hmmm. By the way Badr told us about all the drugs he's done, but quit apparently, and that he can't give up alcohol...super! It was really strange - I think he was trying to show us how super cool he is? But it just went wrong. Miriam and I finally got him back to the market to look around some more, and then we rushed to meet our group. I got myself some shoes (they're red with pointy toes) and a horse sculpture, but on the way home he broke a little bit and I'll have to give him a glue job back in the states.
We all met up and went to our homestays to get stuff for the hammam. It was a very different experience (says me who isn't even a fan of locker rooms). It was great though because it was the only time I really bathed for the weekend haha. We each got olive/date? soap and a bucket and went into 3 rooms full of naked Moroccan women haha. It was neat that it was set up just like the old Arab baths I've learned about - with the three rooms of different temperatures and all. Not exactly my scene, but it was good to do while we were there. Afterwards we went to the homestay upstairs from mine and the lady from earlier gave us all henna. I got both my hands done and a spot on my face next to my left eye, but that one wore of really fast. It was really fun and so amazingly pretty. All of our homestay families made us this traditional (and delicious) noodle dish for dinner - and it's made after a woman gets henna done so that she can eat with a spoon and not her hands! So clever! That night we watched a video of Zineb's cousin's wedding to an Englishman. It was gorgeous. Apparently a wedding takes aaaaaaaall night and the bride gets 6 or 7 dresses. Niiiiiice. It was really gorgeous and it was funny to watch the brits look a little awkward since they didn't know what was going on. The groom did surprisingly well though, so I guess that's what counts. Then it was definitely bed time.
Early morning the next morning. Breakfast was equally delicious and there was an addition of some kind of corn bread that I liked. And tea, oh glorious tea. Our host mom gave Lauren a hijab because she took to wearing her scarf as one, and a jalabi (spelling? no idea) which is like a really long (to your ankles) sweatshirt, and Zineb gave me a really pretty modern one that is black and doesn't have a hood, and looks really elegant. We were so touched! I'm going to have to send them a nice present from the states when I get back!
We packed up Mister Nature and headed for the Rif Mountains. It was a really gorgeous ride and I kept saying wow because we drove through tons of farmland where we saw people plowing their fields with an actual plow and donkey or horse team. There were open wells by the roadside and donkey carts and donkeys parked the towns we'd drive through. So yeah, wow. We ended up in a little town and we met a family there for lunch. As usual we had a discussion but it was really informal and I liked it. All the maternal people on the trip were easy to pick out because the family had a little baby boy and his older sister. And it was a really cute family. We all pitched in to make the lunch. We had sandwiches with veggies and cheese and then veggie couscous. Mmmmmm food always so good.
After eating and having tea again (yay) we went on a little hike through the village and up the hill to a lookout point. Where it was breathtaking. And some of the kids from the village followed us up. It was really fun. I think I could have stayed there for a long time with that gorgeous view in that clean, simple, and safe little village. I guess I never pictured Morocco as very mountainous, but I guess I was proven wrong.
We said our goodbyes and headed on to Chefchaouen. It was another considerable drive...I slept. We got there at night and checked into our hostel (Hotel Al-Andalus - we felt right at home) and then had some free time to go to the market. I am an awesome bargainer I've decided. But I can't say for what in case you're getting a Moroccan present. It was really fun though. And then we had a really nice dinner out at a restaurant. Yum yum yum. And we had a meeting up on the roof of our hostel to talk about our experience. Thaaaaaaanks Allen haha. My roommates (Lauren and Jennifer) and I went pretty much straight to bed afterward. It was really really cold though and I had trouble sleeping because I would feel really hot but my fingers and toeses would still be cold. It was quite a battle.
Got up early the next morning and went for a brief walk by myself. Then we went on a hike up the mountain a ways to get an awesome view of Chefchaouen (and wake us up). We sat around up there for a while and when we headed back down it was about time to pack up and go. I did manage to get some olives for someone who might appreciate them though, and I have it on good authority (Jennifer's) that they're quite yummy.
Over breakfast in the van Rick and I decided that we were getting married - him because I found more cheese for him to eat and me because in Morocco you get 7 dresses at your wedding. Awesome. It's a good joke. The only other excitement on the way to Ceuta was that at one gas station / rest stop Abdul couldn't get the van started so we all had to get out and push Little Miss Sunshine-style to get it going. It was amazing. I'm so happy to say I've done that. But also worried about what happened after Abdul dropped us off? Is he still stranded there on the seaside? :-(
Getting over the border to Ceuta (Spain's little chunk of Africa) was quite an experience. We got more stamps in our passports and while we were waiting for the rest of our group we saw this crowd of Moroccans start stampeding. It was because they saw the police - their police coming. And their police just flat out steal their belongings as they wait to cross the border. We saw a policeman harassing an old lady - it was so incredibly sad. At least other people tried to help her but we just couldn't believe our eyes. Once back in Spanish territory we could tell we were there. We took taxis to the port and got all aboard. It was a nice ferry, but I started feeling queasy almost as soon as I was on board. Luckily I had my magic ginger trips with me! That and a fanta worked wonders. Once back in Algeciras we took a bus to Granada, and we shared it with returning peace corps kids and a film crew - literally on the spur of the moment - they had called up their buddy Allen and we had a giant bus - who knew? I just rested on the way back, and thought about our trip and stuff. We had a snack break with delicious bocadillos waiting for us. And we got home safe and sound.
The next week passed pretty uneventfully. Kate and I did our Spanish class presentation and it actually went really well with an extremely minimal effort on our part. And Wednesday after the last group presented Rosana (our professor) popped open a couple bottles of sparkling red wine and we botelloned for the rest of class while she read tarot for us (odd?). That night she took us out for copas and it was pretty fun. And there were a bunch of IES kids at a club so we all hung out until the wee hours and had a good time. I think I'll save my last week(end) in Granada for another post since I should really be working on at least one of the two papers I have left. Finals for me are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so wish me luck!
So many pictures:
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018706&l=f1870&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018707&l=25cd2&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018708&l=c4313&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018709&l=3c819&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018710&l=3571d&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018711&l=988ad&id=4602556
Our trip started off at the Granada train station, which is conveniently right down the street form my house. Everyone showed up on time, everyone brought their passports - it was great. We also had a little surprise which turned out to be fabulous: one of the guys that was supposed to come cancelled at the last minute to prepare for an interview? (LAME!) and so Jennifer, who is the wife of our program director Javier, came in his place. She's a lot of fun and great to travel with so I'm really glad she ended up coming. Also I was proud of myself for packing super light - I only brought Alexis's school backpack on loan and my purse. I won at packing!
The train ride was a little long but we kept ourselves entertained for the most part, and when it was still light out the scenery was gorgeous. When we first pulled out we could see the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas, and then we rolled through some countryside that I will really miss when I leave. The train took us to Algeciras, which is the port town, but when we got there it wouldn't let us off and started backing up. Hmmm we thought. Turns out they had to refill the water tanks or something so we were only delayed about 10 more minutes before we pulled back into the train station there. Miriam (our awesome IES group leader) found our hotel and we all dropped our stuff off before heading out to grab a quick bite to eat. Lauren and I split a giant sandwich concoction and then took long showers in our temperamental shower and got some shuteye.
Breakfast the next morning was the start of a long day. We could see THE ROCK of Gibraltar from the hotel window though, so it was a pretty way to start off. Then we walked over to the port and got our ferry. The ride was pretty smooth and the all natural ginger trips mom sent me worked great and I didn't get all woozy. Also most of us slept for most of the voyage, and there are some great pics floating around out there of some of my companions sleeping ;-) We also discovered that Allen, out tour guide which I'll tell you more about later, had a duffel bag full of snacks just for us. Hooray cookies!
We met our driver, Abdul, and our 14 passenger van that we occasionally called Mister Nature due to the Mister Nature air freshener that hung in the back and fell on us when he felt like it. Then we cashed in our Euros for Dirham, which was a rewarding experience since we're all used to changing dollars for Euros and definitely not coming out on top. It's about 11 Dirham to the Euro, so that was a morale boost right there.
Our first stop was in Tangier at a market. It was a very odd feeling to stand out so much. Allen bought us some fruit with his really badly accented French (how did he get this job?) and then we headed to a women's center for a meeting and lunch. We talked with two students there (they study translation) and the director. And they gave us sweet sweet Moroccan tea. The conversation was interesting since we learned a lot about attitudes on the hijab (head scarf) and the role of women, education, dating, getting a job. It was a lot to take in but it was a really great conversation. We also had lunch there and I had a delicious bowl of veggie couscous. Mmmmmmmm. My introduction to Moroccan cuisine was definitely a success. Although they did serve sour milk - that's what they called it - of which I was not a fan. It tasted like liquid cheese, but in a weird way. After lunch we started the trek to Rabat. It was a pretty long drive ... but ... surprise! We "found" some camels off the side of the road and took camel rides! It was pretty awesome. When you think about it camels are so weird looking. Their necks! How do they hold up their heads?! The camels eventually got a little grumpy - Sophia's tried to bite me on the ride while I was giving it a head scratch that it's supposed to like. Eeek! But I mean Strider trained me for anything so I wasn't too worried about it. Haha. So camel riding - check!
In Rabat we met up with our host families. Lauren and I pretty much lucked out. Our 17 year old host sister was basically the language qual. of our house, but the mom and dad and little 3 year old sister all spoke a little English too. Plus an American student, Aidan, was staying there for the semester so that was helpful (he speaks French). Plus we had a good old western toilet. And we did pretty well with our arabic phrase sheet. I can at least say thank you: shukran (phonetically at least).
We had pasta for dinner and then Zineb (my host sister) and Aidan took us out to the market. It was pretty late and starting to close down, but it was a cool time to see Rabat. Besides the fact that I love markets like that - they're so open and crowded and lively. The walk didn't last long since it probably isn't the best idea to stay out late when only one of you is a boy and only one of you speaks arabic, especially since those two people aren't one in the same. So Lauren and I watched a movie with Aidan and his other Amerian friend studying there. Then we got ready for bed - brushing our teeth with bottled water and curling up under our blankets on the sofas of their family / all-purpose room. It was actually really cold at night, but I was able to get comfy for sure.
The next morning I got up and eventually, after much persuasion, managed to rouse Lauren. We had breakfast with warm buns and tea and some kind of flat bread and jam. Met up with our group at 9 right outside my homestay, and then we went to talk to a professor. It was really interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of topics such as women's rights, but at times I thought he was taking himself a little too seriously. I did get his book though, one that talks about research he's done on perceptions in the Arab-Western conflict, something that should be helpful for my thesis. He also inscribed it to me in Arabic, so I know what Kathryn looks like in Arabic - sweeeeet!
Next we went to a park called Chellah. There were Roman ruins and the remains of a very old mosque. Mostly we went there just to have a nice break and wander in the garden. And eat some of Allen's snacks. It was really gorgeous and quite a nice stroll. We also went to the monument of king Muhammad V's mausoleum. The cavalry guards at the gate really like having their pictures taken, just so you know. It's also on the site of a giant but incomplete mosque - it was leveled by an earthquake at some point, but it is immense, and really cool to see because it is a forest of column-stubble and half of a minaret that is big enough to ride a horse to the top. Plus the view from there is gorgeous.
Then we had a long lunch break at our homestays. Lauren and I spent the time with Zineb and Ayah, our two host sisters. Ayah gave us French lessons with her colored balloons. She was never satisfied with our accent though haha. She also did our hair with her toy hairdryer and then put hijabs on us with our scarves...and wouldn't let us take them off. When we came back into the house later after having taken them off I think she was a little offended and kept asking us where they were. So cute!
After our lunch break we went to our cultural exchange with Moroccan students. Miriam and I got paired off with Badr, who was kind of a nice guy, but also kind of weird. Miriam and I got henna! from a little lady on the street. She promised to wait around for all the other girls to get it done after we went to the hammam (bath). We went shopping in the market for a little while, and then he wanted to take us to this bar. It was basically a pool hall, and neither Miriam or I wanted to spend time there. It was smoky and there were zero girls playing, but we got sodas, which Badr didn't think we'd be able to open for ourselves...hmmm. By the way Badr told us about all the drugs he's done, but quit apparently, and that he can't give up alcohol...super! It was really strange - I think he was trying to show us how super cool he is? But it just went wrong. Miriam and I finally got him back to the market to look around some more, and then we rushed to meet our group. I got myself some shoes (they're red with pointy toes) and a horse sculpture, but on the way home he broke a little bit and I'll have to give him a glue job back in the states.
We all met up and went to our homestays to get stuff for the hammam. It was a very different experience (says me who isn't even a fan of locker rooms). It was great though because it was the only time I really bathed for the weekend haha. We each got olive/date? soap and a bucket and went into 3 rooms full of naked Moroccan women haha. It was neat that it was set up just like the old Arab baths I've learned about - with the three rooms of different temperatures and all. Not exactly my scene, but it was good to do while we were there. Afterwards we went to the homestay upstairs from mine and the lady from earlier gave us all henna. I got both my hands done and a spot on my face next to my left eye, but that one wore of really fast. It was really fun and so amazingly pretty. All of our homestay families made us this traditional (and delicious) noodle dish for dinner - and it's made after a woman gets henna done so that she can eat with a spoon and not her hands! So clever! That night we watched a video of Zineb's cousin's wedding to an Englishman. It was gorgeous. Apparently a wedding takes aaaaaaaall night and the bride gets 6 or 7 dresses. Niiiiiice. It was really gorgeous and it was funny to watch the brits look a little awkward since they didn't know what was going on. The groom did surprisingly well though, so I guess that's what counts. Then it was definitely bed time.
Early morning the next morning. Breakfast was equally delicious and there was an addition of some kind of corn bread that I liked. And tea, oh glorious tea. Our host mom gave Lauren a hijab because she took to wearing her scarf as one, and a jalabi (spelling? no idea) which is like a really long (to your ankles) sweatshirt, and Zineb gave me a really pretty modern one that is black and doesn't have a hood, and looks really elegant. We were so touched! I'm going to have to send them a nice present from the states when I get back!
We packed up Mister Nature and headed for the Rif Mountains. It was a really gorgeous ride and I kept saying wow because we drove through tons of farmland where we saw people plowing their fields with an actual plow and donkey or horse team. There were open wells by the roadside and donkey carts and donkeys parked the towns we'd drive through. So yeah, wow. We ended up in a little town and we met a family there for lunch. As usual we had a discussion but it was really informal and I liked it. All the maternal people on the trip were easy to pick out because the family had a little baby boy and his older sister. And it was a really cute family. We all pitched in to make the lunch. We had sandwiches with veggies and cheese and then veggie couscous. Mmmmmm food always so good.
After eating and having tea again (yay) we went on a little hike through the village and up the hill to a lookout point. Where it was breathtaking. And some of the kids from the village followed us up. It was really fun. I think I could have stayed there for a long time with that gorgeous view in that clean, simple, and safe little village. I guess I never pictured Morocco as very mountainous, but I guess I was proven wrong.
We said our goodbyes and headed on to Chefchaouen. It was another considerable drive...I slept. We got there at night and checked into our hostel (Hotel Al-Andalus - we felt right at home) and then had some free time to go to the market. I am an awesome bargainer I've decided. But I can't say for what in case you're getting a Moroccan present. It was really fun though. And then we had a really nice dinner out at a restaurant. Yum yum yum. And we had a meeting up on the roof of our hostel to talk about our experience. Thaaaaaaanks Allen haha. My roommates (Lauren and Jennifer) and I went pretty much straight to bed afterward. It was really really cold though and I had trouble sleeping because I would feel really hot but my fingers and toeses would still be cold. It was quite a battle.
Got up early the next morning and went for a brief walk by myself. Then we went on a hike up the mountain a ways to get an awesome view of Chefchaouen (and wake us up). We sat around up there for a while and when we headed back down it was about time to pack up and go. I did manage to get some olives for someone who might appreciate them though, and I have it on good authority (Jennifer's) that they're quite yummy.
Over breakfast in the van Rick and I decided that we were getting married - him because I found more cheese for him to eat and me because in Morocco you get 7 dresses at your wedding. Awesome. It's a good joke. The only other excitement on the way to Ceuta was that at one gas station / rest stop Abdul couldn't get the van started so we all had to get out and push Little Miss Sunshine-style to get it going. It was amazing. I'm so happy to say I've done that. But also worried about what happened after Abdul dropped us off? Is he still stranded there on the seaside? :-(
Getting over the border to Ceuta (Spain's little chunk of Africa) was quite an experience. We got more stamps in our passports and while we were waiting for the rest of our group we saw this crowd of Moroccans start stampeding. It was because they saw the police - their police coming. And their police just flat out steal their belongings as they wait to cross the border. We saw a policeman harassing an old lady - it was so incredibly sad. At least other people tried to help her but we just couldn't believe our eyes. Once back in Spanish territory we could tell we were there. We took taxis to the port and got all aboard. It was a nice ferry, but I started feeling queasy almost as soon as I was on board. Luckily I had my magic ginger trips with me! That and a fanta worked wonders. Once back in Algeciras we took a bus to Granada, and we shared it with returning peace corps kids and a film crew - literally on the spur of the moment - they had called up their buddy Allen and we had a giant bus - who knew? I just rested on the way back, and thought about our trip and stuff. We had a snack break with delicious bocadillos waiting for us. And we got home safe and sound.
The next week passed pretty uneventfully. Kate and I did our Spanish class presentation and it actually went really well with an extremely minimal effort on our part. And Wednesday after the last group presented Rosana (our professor) popped open a couple bottles of sparkling red wine and we botelloned for the rest of class while she read tarot for us (odd?). That night she took us out for copas and it was pretty fun. And there were a bunch of IES kids at a club so we all hung out until the wee hours and had a good time. I think I'll save my last week(end) in Granada for another post since I should really be working on at least one of the two papers I have left. Finals for me are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so wish me luck!
So many pictures:
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018706&l=f1870&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018707&l=25cd2&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018708&l=c4313&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018709&l=3c819&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018710&l=3571d&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018711&l=988ad&id=4602556
06 December 2007
Dennis's Visit...mostly we just went to the alhambra and did silly walks
Hola.
So this will be a short post about Dennis's visit (because I didn't really do my hostess duties to the max) to be followed by a long post about Morocco. Here it goes:
So on Sunday when I got into Granada from Barcelona I went home and dropped my stuff off and such. Then I went to find Dennis at his Oasis hostel. It was a little tricky to find in the twisty streets of the Albaicin, but I've gotten good at my Granada navigation and I made it alright. It was kind of late and I had a bit of work to get done so all we did was go out for tapas. We went to Dos Ojos (Double Eye) because it was close and they have goo Mediterranean tapas. I was annoyed though because I tried to introduce Dennis to tinto de verano and the bartender totally messed it up, and no, I don't know how that's possible. There was approximately a centimeter of brown sugar sitting in the bottom of mine. So that was triste. Oh well.
Monday we met up for tea and pastries between my classes. And walked around. And messily ate a chirimoya on the streets which was delicious (I want to smuggle some back to the states sooooo badly). And found a smelly used clothes store with giant alien sculptures in it? True fact. Aaaand of course we administered to the ministry of silly walks on the mean streets of Granada - someone had to do it. Unfortunately I had to get back to class, but on the way I found a cake for Alexis, since it was her birthday :-)
That afternoon I had tickets for us to see the Alhambra. Our timing was pretty much perfect and we had a really pretty tour of the old place :-) We got into the palacios right on schedule and saw the garden of the generalife before they kicked us out. Then we had pizza at la Donna and it was delicious. Mmmm hmm pizza.
Tuesday I had a lot of class so I'm not really sure what we did other than that Dennis went shopping and found himself a coat at Zara - sweeeeeet. We hung out that evening and wandered around the Albaicin which was cool. Checked out a teteria at some point and got tapas. Then I had to bid him adieu because his train left for Madrid the next morning at 6:50 - ewwwww. It was fun for me to have another guest and I hope Dennis enjoyed Granada. Despite the fact I had to be lame and get work done instead of taking him to see lots of cool things. And that's about the end of Dennis's European Adventure - he's back in the states now. It's also almost the end of mine :-( But I still have Morocco to tell you about and a little over a week plus two papers and four exams left before I head off for home. Wish me luck!
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018696&l=348cb&id=4602556
So this will be a short post about Dennis's visit (because I didn't really do my hostess duties to the max) to be followed by a long post about Morocco. Here it goes:
So on Sunday when I got into Granada from Barcelona I went home and dropped my stuff off and such. Then I went to find Dennis at his Oasis hostel. It was a little tricky to find in the twisty streets of the Albaicin, but I've gotten good at my Granada navigation and I made it alright. It was kind of late and I had a bit of work to get done so all we did was go out for tapas. We went to Dos Ojos (Double Eye) because it was close and they have goo Mediterranean tapas. I was annoyed though because I tried to introduce Dennis to tinto de verano and the bartender totally messed it up, and no, I don't know how that's possible. There was approximately a centimeter of brown sugar sitting in the bottom of mine. So that was triste. Oh well.
Monday we met up for tea and pastries between my classes. And walked around. And messily ate a chirimoya on the streets which was delicious (I want to smuggle some back to the states sooooo badly). And found a smelly used clothes store with giant alien sculptures in it? True fact. Aaaand of course we administered to the ministry of silly walks on the mean streets of Granada - someone had to do it. Unfortunately I had to get back to class, but on the way I found a cake for Alexis, since it was her birthday :-)
That afternoon I had tickets for us to see the Alhambra. Our timing was pretty much perfect and we had a really pretty tour of the old place :-) We got into the palacios right on schedule and saw the garden of the generalife before they kicked us out. Then we had pizza at la Donna and it was delicious. Mmmm hmm pizza.
Tuesday I had a lot of class so I'm not really sure what we did other than that Dennis went shopping and found himself a coat at Zara - sweeeeeet. We hung out that evening and wandered around the Albaicin which was cool. Checked out a teteria at some point and got tapas. Then I had to bid him adieu because his train left for Madrid the next morning at 6:50 - ewwwww. It was fun for me to have another guest and I hope Dennis enjoyed Granada. Despite the fact I had to be lame and get work done instead of taking him to see lots of cool things. And that's about the end of Dennis's European Adventure - he's back in the states now. It's also almost the end of mine :-( But I still have Morocco to tell you about and a little over a week plus two papers and four exams left before I head off for home. Wish me luck!
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018696&l=348cb&id=4602556
04 December 2007
Overdue Barça Update (aka avoiding writing my art and architecture paper)
So I'm not entirely sure where I left you but I'm going to start with Barcelona which happened a couple weekends ago.
My flight was Friday evening so I was able to go on that field trip in the morning which was super cool. Even though I had to pack and catch the bus and things it was a pretty chill day so I liked that.
When I arrived in Girona (the airport about an hour from Barcelona) I encountered some funny italians. They were there to partay and all had matching hats and things. And they were really excited that I was american, that I speak English, that I speak Spanish, and that I kind of speak Italian. I didn't let them sit next to me on the bus.
When I got into the station in Barcelona Brian and Lauren were there to meet me, which was really awesome because Barcelona is huge and signs are in Catalan. And because they're Brian and Lauren and they're cool like that. So the plan was to go see some fountain/light/laser/music/awesomeness show, but we got there and the fountain was drained. I guess the lady at the hostel gave them faulty information. Oh well. We laid on the grass there by the empty fountain for a while, enjoying the fact that Barcelona is ever so slightly warmer than Granada, or was that day at least. We went and got some Bocadillos at Pan's (don't judge - it's native Barcelonan) and then I got checked into the hostel. It was a really giant, clean, great hostel called Centric Point Hostel. I would highly recommend it to anyone venturing there for a visit. Each of the three of us were in separate rooms on separate floors, but I felt really safe actually. At night there was a guard at the door and it takes multiple key swipes to get into the rooms, which each have their own bathrooms. I had some random people in my room but they were all nice, so no problem.
Brian, Lauren and I met up for an earlyish breakfast the next morning and got to Casa Batllo a little past 9 in the morning. For those of you who don't know, I basically took the Gaudi tour of Barcelona that weekend, and it was fabulous. Casa Batllo was one of my favorite places that we went, too. It was a private house that Gaudi designed for the Batllo family and I want to live there. Just check out the fotos. Mmm hmmmm.
We took the metro a lot, since Barcelona is huuuuuge. Plus I had a free pass that another IES girl hadn't used up all her rides on. The three of us went down close to the Gothic Quarter to the big market. It was really awesome. I got a fruit platter (small snack-sized one) and an avocado...but I wanted it all. Except the snails. And maybe the fish. But it was really cool. I wish I could do my grocery shopping somewhere like that.
Then we took the sky-tram thingy up Montjuic (Jew Mountain) and on the way up worked on our Catalan: i.e. word+TAT! = Catalan. We decided it is a decidedly more badass language. And actually I would really like to learn how to speak it. I mean reading it wasn't very hard for us since we had Spanish, French and Italian more or less covered. But it's really pretty. And just awesome.
There's a castle up on top of Montjuic. We explored the military museum, the view, and the cafe (Lauren needed to recharge her batteries) and I liked it. We could see pretty much all of the city from up there, and that's always neat. We didn't want to linger too long and make them miss their flight though, so we took a tram thingy down the hill and made our way back to the hostel for them to pick up their backpacks. We briefly explored the Gothic Quarter, and then it was time for my friends to desert me. They got on the bus to the airport and I went to see la Pedrera which was sweeeeeeeeeet.
La Pedrera is a Gaudi Apartment building. The facade is cool and so is the lobby, but mostly it's the roof that is fantastic. My pictures include a great many from there, especially since I was there just at and after sunset, and it was incredibly gorgeous. There was also a period room set up and an awesome gift shop for people with mucho dinero ;-)
Then I got myself a bocadillo and went back to the hostel. After a short break I took the metro out to Torre Agbar, which is just a weird modern building that looks like a gherkin (among other things). It was all lit up at night and there's a little park behind it that I sat in for a while. It was a cool view. Then back to the hostel where I finished the book for Arte de Asia Oriental and went to bed early.
The next morning I got myself some breakfast and got all ready to leave the hostel. Took my stuff with me and headed to the Sagrada Familia. Oh. My. God. It is unbelievable.
First of all it's a church, but you almost wouldn't believe it if you didn't see the crosses and Jesus guys. Inside, though it isn't finished, feels like a forest. Only made out of stone. But Wow. Wow wow wow. I took the elevator up in one of the towers and that was pretty amazing. I just can't describe that architecture that well. But the colors and the soaring feeling is almost enough on it's own to make you religious. Almost haha.
After I came out I went into the park across the way to check out the view and took a few pictures. This tiny Japanese lady mobbed me with gratitude. I was really confused at first as to why, but it was because she works for Nikon and saw my camera. Weird. But really really funny. Then I went to take the metro out to Park Guell.
Except that one of the lines stopped working - I think one of the trains broke down. So I walked. It was long. And uphill. But I made it fortunately. And Park Guell was totally worth it. I ate me a picnic there - avocado and bread and a soda. Sitting on the big long famous curvy bench :-) Yay. I explored a little and took in the crazy mosaics. On my way to the Gaudi casa-museo this vendor guy gave me a little metal flower he made. He was from Colombia and I don't think he likes Barcelona very much. But oh well I didn't take much time to talk to him, but I took my flower haha. And the casa-museo was cool. I wandered around a little more and then gave myself plenty of time to walk (yes, all the way) to the bus station. When I got there I ran into a bunch of other IES people heading back to Granada. So that was cool. And I got to hear about their crazy Barcelona weekend. I really enjoyed my quiet one, though. Even by myself. I decided I should travel by myself every once in a while. It's really refreshing.
Back in Granada I had to run off and find Dennis!! I would tell you about his visit now but it's about time for me to run off to my UGR class. Dennis news and MOROCCO news soon to come :-) In the meantime...pictures!
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018454&l=899e5&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018455&l=7f94a&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018456&l=325ab&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018489&l=974f4&id=4602556
My flight was Friday evening so I was able to go on that field trip in the morning which was super cool. Even though I had to pack and catch the bus and things it was a pretty chill day so I liked that.
When I arrived in Girona (the airport about an hour from Barcelona) I encountered some funny italians. They were there to partay and all had matching hats and things. And they were really excited that I was american, that I speak English, that I speak Spanish, and that I kind of speak Italian. I didn't let them sit next to me on the bus.
When I got into the station in Barcelona Brian and Lauren were there to meet me, which was really awesome because Barcelona is huge and signs are in Catalan. And because they're Brian and Lauren and they're cool like that. So the plan was to go see some fountain/light/laser/music/awesomeness show, but we got there and the fountain was drained. I guess the lady at the hostel gave them faulty information. Oh well. We laid on the grass there by the empty fountain for a while, enjoying the fact that Barcelona is ever so slightly warmer than Granada, or was that day at least. We went and got some Bocadillos at Pan's (don't judge - it's native Barcelonan) and then I got checked into the hostel. It was a really giant, clean, great hostel called Centric Point Hostel. I would highly recommend it to anyone venturing there for a visit. Each of the three of us were in separate rooms on separate floors, but I felt really safe actually. At night there was a guard at the door and it takes multiple key swipes to get into the rooms, which each have their own bathrooms. I had some random people in my room but they were all nice, so no problem.
Brian, Lauren and I met up for an earlyish breakfast the next morning and got to Casa Batllo a little past 9 in the morning. For those of you who don't know, I basically took the Gaudi tour of Barcelona that weekend, and it was fabulous. Casa Batllo was one of my favorite places that we went, too. It was a private house that Gaudi designed for the Batllo family and I want to live there. Just check out the fotos. Mmm hmmmm.
We took the metro a lot, since Barcelona is huuuuuge. Plus I had a free pass that another IES girl hadn't used up all her rides on. The three of us went down close to the Gothic Quarter to the big market. It was really awesome. I got a fruit platter (small snack-sized one) and an avocado...but I wanted it all. Except the snails. And maybe the fish. But it was really cool. I wish I could do my grocery shopping somewhere like that.
Then we took the sky-tram thingy up Montjuic (Jew Mountain) and on the way up worked on our Catalan: i.e. word+TAT! = Catalan. We decided it is a decidedly more badass language. And actually I would really like to learn how to speak it. I mean reading it wasn't very hard for us since we had Spanish, French and Italian more or less covered. But it's really pretty. And just awesome.
There's a castle up on top of Montjuic. We explored the military museum, the view, and the cafe (Lauren needed to recharge her batteries) and I liked it. We could see pretty much all of the city from up there, and that's always neat. We didn't want to linger too long and make them miss their flight though, so we took a tram thingy down the hill and made our way back to the hostel for them to pick up their backpacks. We briefly explored the Gothic Quarter, and then it was time for my friends to desert me. They got on the bus to the airport and I went to see la Pedrera which was sweeeeeeeeeet.
La Pedrera is a Gaudi Apartment building. The facade is cool and so is the lobby, but mostly it's the roof that is fantastic. My pictures include a great many from there, especially since I was there just at and after sunset, and it was incredibly gorgeous. There was also a period room set up and an awesome gift shop for people with mucho dinero ;-)
Then I got myself a bocadillo and went back to the hostel. After a short break I took the metro out to Torre Agbar, which is just a weird modern building that looks like a gherkin (among other things). It was all lit up at night and there's a little park behind it that I sat in for a while. It was a cool view. Then back to the hostel where I finished the book for Arte de Asia Oriental and went to bed early.
The next morning I got myself some breakfast and got all ready to leave the hostel. Took my stuff with me and headed to the Sagrada Familia. Oh. My. God. It is unbelievable.
First of all it's a church, but you almost wouldn't believe it if you didn't see the crosses and Jesus guys. Inside, though it isn't finished, feels like a forest. Only made out of stone. But Wow. Wow wow wow. I took the elevator up in one of the towers and that was pretty amazing. I just can't describe that architecture that well. But the colors and the soaring feeling is almost enough on it's own to make you religious. Almost haha.
After I came out I went into the park across the way to check out the view and took a few pictures. This tiny Japanese lady mobbed me with gratitude. I was really confused at first as to why, but it was because she works for Nikon and saw my camera. Weird. But really really funny. Then I went to take the metro out to Park Guell.
Except that one of the lines stopped working - I think one of the trains broke down. So I walked. It was long. And uphill. But I made it fortunately. And Park Guell was totally worth it. I ate me a picnic there - avocado and bread and a soda. Sitting on the big long famous curvy bench :-) Yay. I explored a little and took in the crazy mosaics. On my way to the Gaudi casa-museo this vendor guy gave me a little metal flower he made. He was from Colombia and I don't think he likes Barcelona very much. But oh well I didn't take much time to talk to him, but I took my flower haha. And the casa-museo was cool. I wandered around a little more and then gave myself plenty of time to walk (yes, all the way) to the bus station. When I got there I ran into a bunch of other IES people heading back to Granada. So that was cool. And I got to hear about their crazy Barcelona weekend. I really enjoyed my quiet one, though. Even by myself. I decided I should travel by myself every once in a while. It's really refreshing.
Back in Granada I had to run off and find Dennis!! I would tell you about his visit now but it's about time for me to run off to my UGR class. Dennis news and MOROCCO news soon to come :-) In the meantime...pictures!
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018454&l=899e5&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018455&l=7f94a&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018456&l=325ab&id=4602556
http://bowdoin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018489&l=974f4&id=4602556
23 November 2007
Happy Thanksgiving! ... Yesterday
So I haven't done a whole ton of stuff this week - mainly because the work load is building up and would rather my last week here doesn't become a hellish stretch of papers and exams. But I did a lot of research this week and am almost done with the 'codebook' (research questions answered for every article we're going to use) for my 20 page Arab World and the West paper, so I feel good about that. It's progress anyway, and I can almost start writing the papers for my UGR class since I've nearly finished the Chinese Painting book...so on top of things. And I've put in some work study time so that's good.
On Tuesday Nicole and I went to my favorite teteria after class and then we met Kate for tapas which were rather excellent, plus we hadn't eaten there before and now we have a good new tapas place to frequent :-)
Wednesday was a rather rainy day, but it was mostly clear for our trek up into the Albaicin with my Islamic Art class. We went to Santa Clara de Asis (like St. Francis of Assisi - it was a Franciscan order) which is a cloister. It's still in operation - since like the 1200s I believe - so it's very unusual to get in and see it since all the nuns are all cloistered and don't like to have people intrude in their quiet. The Islamic Art part is that there are pretty cool Mudejar ceilings, but the visit in general was pretty neat, especially since our tour guide Rafael was really cool and knowledgeable and easy to understand. The creepy thing was they had one of the best collections on Jesus Ninos in the world? The Jesus ninos are baby Jesus dolls. The nuns dress them up and change their outfits every week...ummmmmmmmmmm. But it was interesting.
Thursday was Turkey Day of course and the people at IES think it's one of the most important holidays for Americans ever - probably just because it's unique to the U.S. - and so they threw us a big dinner that night at a restaurante Pilar de Toro which was really nice. We got all dressed up :-) And Nicole and I went to a teteria very Thanksgivingly beforehand to kill time between our class and dinner. It was a cheerful little feast and the restaurant tried to make it authentic for us. Haha. We had some soup which was good. And the appetizer which was like fancy tortilla espanola was pretty excellent. The turkey was, well, more like turkey-loaf than actually turkey meat ? We weren't really sure, but it was ok and we got "gravy" and a tiny bit of mashed potatoes with it. By far the best part of the meal was the pumpkin flan which basically was like pumpkin pie without the crust. I sat with Kate, Emily and Mary for the most part (the table was bigger but I was on the end so that's who I talked to) and we had fun being silly. After dinner we socialized for a while but it got over late so I went home. Now I can say I've done Thanksgiving in Spain and Ireland!
This morning we had an art class visit. It was to a taller (workshop) de ceramica and it was awesome. Unfortunately for them, most people skipped it since it was a Friday morning. I mean I understand the people who already had travel plans and things, but I know a lot of people were there since they were at dinner last night. Oh well their loss. We got to see a guy throw some pots and a vase for us, and to me the most amazing part was when we saw another guy painting a plate with an intricate pattern, that he knew by heart, just by sketching out some marker lines and going from there. And the different ones he worked on were almost indistinguishable - so cool! I may or may not have gotten myself / the Grant family something really cool there ;-)
So in a couple hours I catch the bus to the airport to head to Barcelona until Sunday. I hope yous Americans enjoyed your meals yesterday :-) It's a weird time right now because we're all starting to realize that we don't actually have very much time left. I'm not sure how I feel; on the one hand I can't wait to get home and see my family and have a nice Christmas with them and all, but on the other hand I don't want to leave Granada...ever hahaha. So we'll see. I think my last night here will be the worst of it, and then once I get going I'll just want to be home. Anyway - wish me luck on my travels this weekend! And think good thoughts for Marcus - he was supposed to go to Istanbul, but the train tracks flooded and he can't :-( Alright hasta luego!!
On Tuesday Nicole and I went to my favorite teteria after class and then we met Kate for tapas which were rather excellent, plus we hadn't eaten there before and now we have a good new tapas place to frequent :-)
Wednesday was a rather rainy day, but it was mostly clear for our trek up into the Albaicin with my Islamic Art class. We went to Santa Clara de Asis (like St. Francis of Assisi - it was a Franciscan order) which is a cloister. It's still in operation - since like the 1200s I believe - so it's very unusual to get in and see it since all the nuns are all cloistered and don't like to have people intrude in their quiet. The Islamic Art part is that there are pretty cool Mudejar ceilings, but the visit in general was pretty neat, especially since our tour guide Rafael was really cool and knowledgeable and easy to understand. The creepy thing was they had one of the best collections on Jesus Ninos in the world? The Jesus ninos are baby Jesus dolls. The nuns dress them up and change their outfits every week...ummmmmmmmmmm. But it was interesting.
Thursday was Turkey Day of course and the people at IES think it's one of the most important holidays for Americans ever - probably just because it's unique to the U.S. - and so they threw us a big dinner that night at a restaurante Pilar de Toro which was really nice. We got all dressed up :-) And Nicole and I went to a teteria very Thanksgivingly beforehand to kill time between our class and dinner. It was a cheerful little feast and the restaurant tried to make it authentic for us. Haha. We had some soup which was good. And the appetizer which was like fancy tortilla espanola was pretty excellent. The turkey was, well, more like turkey-loaf than actually turkey meat ? We weren't really sure, but it was ok and we got "gravy" and a tiny bit of mashed potatoes with it. By far the best part of the meal was the pumpkin flan which basically was like pumpkin pie without the crust. I sat with Kate, Emily and Mary for the most part (the table was bigger but I was on the end so that's who I talked to) and we had fun being silly. After dinner we socialized for a while but it got over late so I went home. Now I can say I've done Thanksgiving in Spain and Ireland!
This morning we had an art class visit. It was to a taller (workshop) de ceramica and it was awesome. Unfortunately for them, most people skipped it since it was a Friday morning. I mean I understand the people who already had travel plans and things, but I know a lot of people were there since they were at dinner last night. Oh well their loss. We got to see a guy throw some pots and a vase for us, and to me the most amazing part was when we saw another guy painting a plate with an intricate pattern, that he knew by heart, just by sketching out some marker lines and going from there. And the different ones he worked on were almost indistinguishable - so cool! I may or may not have gotten myself / the Grant family something really cool there ;-)
So in a couple hours I catch the bus to the airport to head to Barcelona until Sunday. I hope yous Americans enjoyed your meals yesterday :-) It's a weird time right now because we're all starting to realize that we don't actually have very much time left. I'm not sure how I feel; on the one hand I can't wait to get home and see my family and have a nice Christmas with them and all, but on the other hand I don't want to leave Granada...ever hahaha. So we'll see. I think my last night here will be the worst of it, and then once I get going I'll just want to be home. Anyway - wish me luck on my travels this weekend! And think good thoughts for Marcus - he was supposed to go to Istanbul, but the train tracks flooded and he can't :-( Alright hasta luego!!
20 November 2007
Dublin Town
Well before getting started on the tales of Dublin I would like to take this opportunity to wish Casey a Happy Birthday! (Because I know she reads my blog hehehe) and inform you all that this is the anniversary or Franco's death. A lot of people are pretty angry that he died peacefully in bed, others that he died at all. There are right wing crazies protesting / vandalizing in Madrid and people took the old fascist dictator flowers. Hmmmm. Well that's your 'today in Spain' section for the day. And now you know.
So ... Dublin.
On Friday morning Kate and Staci met me with a taxi (since they live at the other side of town) at Parque del Triunfo and we went to the bus station. We took the 7 am bus to Malaga where we ran into a kid named Tim, also going to Dublin, that Kate knew slightly from Denison. He was nice and at a later date shared his pringles with us yay. There was also a kid from Tim's program there with a large gaping wound on his forehead that had me worried, but he was going to Amsterdam so I figured it just wasn't my problem. We took the bus to the airport, checked ourselves in, went through security, ate the hummus that Staci had brought for us, and pretty much had perfect timing for getting on the plane. I like Aer Lingus since it's all green and everything. And we had an easy flight - I slept a little and got a bunch of reading done for my Arte de Asia Oriental class.
My first glance down at the emerald isle was pretty awesome. I had a window seat so when we dipped below the clouds I saw this great shock of green fields and little clustered cottages (well most of them probably weren't cottages in the strictest sense of the word but it's Ireland, so it counts). It actually reminded me a little of flying into Portland, Maine since you come in over the water.
So I Dublin airport we fetched our bags and went to the bus stop. Only this older gentleman there informed us that there were problems with the buses of late because some of them are on strike. But he was really nice and helped us find where we needed to go, and we got to ride on the upper story of a double decker bus into town, so it was all good. It took us a bit to find our hostel just since it's tucked away with only a little door-width sign, but we got there. And our hostel, the Shining Emerald B&B if you go by their sign, was pretty nice. I mean it was bunk beds and dorm style but it was clean and seemed really safe and gave us decent breakfasts. After successfully checking in (which required me going down the street and into the basement of a men's clothing store to get to an atm) first thing on my agenda was calling Jake. From a payphone since my cell didn't like Ireland as much as I did. So it took a little coordinating but he found us. And since Kate was about to faint from hunger we had to find us a pub :-)
Now, Jake is awesome, just so that everybody knows. He spent the majority of his weekend showing us around and getting us to all the sights and keeping me from doing things like the viking splash tour which really does exist, to the chagrin of dubliners who are less than fond of being roared at. So yes, Jake is the best Dublin tourguide ever, and, like with Cati's visit, he reminded me that I really will be happy to be back at Bowdoin even if a part of me misses Spain next semester.
So we went to a pub which had some excellent veggie soup and honey-glazed ham and cheese sandwiches. It was a hit all around. And after we had satisfied our hunger we could go out and wander. We went into the Temple Bar area which is where most of the night life is. We enjoyed the real irish pubness of the irish pub we went to :-) Lingered over drinks for a while. I treated myself to a baby guinness which is so much better than the real guinness. And we listened to Irish accents, and strolled along the river and it was pretty great. We were tired though. And we still had a fiesta to go to! Staci's homestay mom's boyfriend's sister is working in Dublin right now, and it was her birthday on Friday, so Staci brought her presents from her brother. We took a taxi to her house. At first it was awkward since there weren't many people there. But people came - Spaniards, French, German, Italian people. Most are studying there. We spoke espanol that night, drank their soda, ate their sandwiches. And it was good. We were so ready for bed though once we got a taxi back to the hostel.
We made it up for an earlyish start the next morning though. Breakfasted on tea and toast and things. And Jake picked us up to begin the tour haha. We walked past the spire on O'Connell street, right by ours. The spire stands where a column that the IRA blew up used to stand. But the spire doesn't really claim to be a monument or anything. I guess they just thought it was a good idea (see my pictures to fins out about the spire.) Jake took us to Trinity's campus. It's pretty wicked old, as in 1592 old. And we wandered around the grounds quite happily for a while. Kate and I were ready too move in, but Staci thought it was too cold. She thought the whole trip was too cold though, so I guess that's what you get for coming to Dublin when you don't have a smidgen of Irish blood in you. By the way, Kate and I are coming back, renting a car, driving on the wrong side of the road in a stick shift, and losing ourselves in the Irish countryside one day. It is a plan set in stone.
Also at Trinity College they have an amazing library with an exhibit on the Book of Kells - lot's of illuminated manuscripts. It was very cool. I was so happy I got to see it since it was really the one thing on my to-do list for the trip. Unfortunately they don't let you take pictures in the library, but it was gorgeous all the same - dark wood all around, busts (of famous guys, guys) and books books books. I was thrilled with it anyway. And Jake's student card got us all in for free so that was a sweet deal. Jake says his Trinity classes aren't anything spectacular, but I would go there just for the library. Haha.
After Trinity campus we walked down Grafton Street which is mainly for shopping and stuff. We went down to St. Stephen's Green, which is a really pretty little park with ponds and ducks and pigeons and green. And you aren't allowed to walk on the grass, but we dealt with it. We had a snack there on a bench, a snack that we stole from our hostel - shhhhh. We got a little cold just sitting though, so we warmed ourselves up with the Christmas cheer making itself known back in the area of Grafton. We also warmed ourselves up with hot chocolates at Bewleys - a cafe place very famous for its very famous writers who probably drank stronger stuff than we. And we felt literary, and warm.
Then we decided to go for the Guinness! Took the tram out to near where the Guinness Factory is. We had to wait in line for a little while to get in, and it had started raining a bit at that point, but we bore up valiantly. We figured it muct be worth it if Jake was willing to come and pay to get in for what I think was his 3rd time. I actually found it pretty interesting, but I still say beer is gross. The displays are fun and creative too, so that was good. We got to learn about how Guinness is good for you. I think my favorite part of the giant pint glass (the inside is shaped like a giant pint glass) was the advertising section. They had such funny ad campaigns back in the day. They were so un-p.c. but pretty awesome at the same time. You get a drink at the end of the tour at the Gravity bar - Kate and I got sodas and Staci got to pull her own pint. It was good times, and a good view of a drizzly Dublin afternoon.
We made our way via tram back to the city center. We were a bit hungered. And Jake us to this great pub that was quiet inside, Irish looking, with really good food. they made me my own vegetarian sandwich (one of the things that if I asked for in Spain I would get a crazy face) and we shared some onion rings and chips. I really could have chilled at that pub for a while. But at least we lingered over our food. We made our way to a souvenir shop and had great success and great fun taking pictures there. Partly I needed to get back to a guinness store because I got myself a mug there and then the paper bag got rained on and tore and tragically my mug got completely obliterated. But I got an all new one so whatever. Kate and Staci got claddagh rings, and I got a ring with a green stone in it, and a hat. And so that was another mission accomplished. I guess Jake didn't really need to come souvenir shopping with us, but he did anyway. Guess he was having that much fun.
We three girls took a rest back at the hostel for about an hour and a half. It was just too early to go out, and a bit rainy and stuff. But Jake picked us back up and we were ready to go. We went to a pub that wasn't bad, but it helped me decided once and for all that there will never ever be a beer that I like. Strawberry flavored or otherwise. Blah. We tried some pubs, but to be honest Staci was getting on my nerves because she really wanted to party, which is not how I wanted to waste my two days in Dublin, and I didn't want to feel like I was keeping her from having fun, but for that and a few other reasons there was a bit of tension between us that night. Oh well now she knows to only travel with fellow partiers and I learned not to travel with her. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's just how it worked out, and we still had a lot of fun, it was just a bit of a personality clash. We ended up on the roof section of a bar just hanging out, so my only regret is that it wasn't in a good old Irish pub for the whole night, but oh well. Got to visit with Jake and that was good.
Sunday morning we got a bright and early start too. We got breakfast and checked out and stored our bags and Jake was waiting for us downstairs. We got a lot done in a morning and our timing was pretty much perfect. We went to Christ Church Cathedral and were there when it opened, and since it was a Sunday entrance was free, although I did put in a euro for the donation box since it was such a pretty church and I lit a candle for peace - I liked that that was there a lot. The floors of the cathedral were actually really neat, and the architecture and the crypt. It was a nice little visit. We stopped by the outside of St. Patrick's but didn't go in since Jake told us Christ Church was better anyway and we think they might have been starting the service.
Then we caught the tram out in the same direction of the Guinness Factory, but we walked out to Kilmainham Gaol (a jail) and on the way we walked past the Royal Hospital (which is now a modern art museum) and checked out its garden which was really pretty. There was lots of green :-) Kilmainham was really depressing, but also really interesting because the tour told us a lot about the Irish Independence movement and general history that I thought was cool / depressing / stuff I should know since I got a lot of Irish in me. We rushed a bit after our tour was over to get to the tram, get to the hostel, get our stuff, etc. I was sad to say goodbye to Dublin and Jake, but Jake at least I'll see in a couple of months. And Kate and I will make it back to Dublin / Ireland in the nearish future. We've decided. Anyway hugs all 'round. We got on another double decker bus back to the airport. Our timing was perfect and, even though they thought I was a terrorist at the security checkpoint we had just enough time for a snack before boarding and heading back for Malaga. Where Tim shared his pringles with us, to bring the whole story full circle. Staci was on a different bus heading back to Granada than Kate and I, so our adventure was mostly at an end. I curled up at home for the night and dreamt of green and shamrocks and foxhunting in the rolling hills. Ahhh. Twas a good trip. And now I need to get crackin on my Arab World and the West paper so wish me luck!
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Check out the fotos :-)
So ... Dublin.
On Friday morning Kate and Staci met me with a taxi (since they live at the other side of town) at Parque del Triunfo and we went to the bus station. We took the 7 am bus to Malaga where we ran into a kid named Tim, also going to Dublin, that Kate knew slightly from Denison. He was nice and at a later date shared his pringles with us yay. There was also a kid from Tim's program there with a large gaping wound on his forehead that had me worried, but he was going to Amsterdam so I figured it just wasn't my problem. We took the bus to the airport, checked ourselves in, went through security, ate the hummus that Staci had brought for us, and pretty much had perfect timing for getting on the plane. I like Aer Lingus since it's all green and everything. And we had an easy flight - I slept a little and got a bunch of reading done for my Arte de Asia Oriental class.
My first glance down at the emerald isle was pretty awesome. I had a window seat so when we dipped below the clouds I saw this great shock of green fields and little clustered cottages (well most of them probably weren't cottages in the strictest sense of the word but it's Ireland, so it counts). It actually reminded me a little of flying into Portland, Maine since you come in over the water.
So I Dublin airport we fetched our bags and went to the bus stop. Only this older gentleman there informed us that there were problems with the buses of late because some of them are on strike. But he was really nice and helped us find where we needed to go, and we got to ride on the upper story of a double decker bus into town, so it was all good. It took us a bit to find our hostel just since it's tucked away with only a little door-width sign, but we got there. And our hostel, the Shining Emerald B&B if you go by their sign, was pretty nice. I mean it was bunk beds and dorm style but it was clean and seemed really safe and gave us decent breakfasts. After successfully checking in (which required me going down the street and into the basement of a men's clothing store to get to an atm) first thing on my agenda was calling Jake. From a payphone since my cell didn't like Ireland as much as I did. So it took a little coordinating but he found us. And since Kate was about to faint from hunger we had to find us a pub :-)
Now, Jake is awesome, just so that everybody knows. He spent the majority of his weekend showing us around and getting us to all the sights and keeping me from doing things like the viking splash tour which really does exist, to the chagrin of dubliners who are less than fond of being roared at. So yes, Jake is the best Dublin tourguide ever, and, like with Cati's visit, he reminded me that I really will be happy to be back at Bowdoin even if a part of me misses Spain next semester.
So we went to a pub which had some excellent veggie soup and honey-glazed ham and cheese sandwiches. It was a hit all around. And after we had satisfied our hunger we could go out and wander. We went into the Temple Bar area which is where most of the night life is. We enjoyed the real irish pubness of the irish pub we went to :-) Lingered over drinks for a while. I treated myself to a baby guinness which is so much better than the real guinness. And we listened to Irish accents, and strolled along the river and it was pretty great. We were tired though. And we still had a fiesta to go to! Staci's homestay mom's boyfriend's sister is working in Dublin right now, and it was her birthday on Friday, so Staci brought her presents from her brother. We took a taxi to her house. At first it was awkward since there weren't many people there. But people came - Spaniards, French, German, Italian people. Most are studying there. We spoke espanol that night, drank their soda, ate their sandwiches. And it was good. We were so ready for bed though once we got a taxi back to the hostel.
We made it up for an earlyish start the next morning though. Breakfasted on tea and toast and things. And Jake picked us up to begin the tour haha. We walked past the spire on O'Connell street, right by ours. The spire stands where a column that the IRA blew up used to stand. But the spire doesn't really claim to be a monument or anything. I guess they just thought it was a good idea (see my pictures to fins out about the spire.) Jake took us to Trinity's campus. It's pretty wicked old, as in 1592 old. And we wandered around the grounds quite happily for a while. Kate and I were ready too move in, but Staci thought it was too cold. She thought the whole trip was too cold though, so I guess that's what you get for coming to Dublin when you don't have a smidgen of Irish blood in you. By the way, Kate and I are coming back, renting a car, driving on the wrong side of the road in a stick shift, and losing ourselves in the Irish countryside one day. It is a plan set in stone.
Also at Trinity College they have an amazing library with an exhibit on the Book of Kells - lot's of illuminated manuscripts. It was very cool. I was so happy I got to see it since it was really the one thing on my to-do list for the trip. Unfortunately they don't let you take pictures in the library, but it was gorgeous all the same - dark wood all around, busts (of famous guys, guys) and books books books. I was thrilled with it anyway. And Jake's student card got us all in for free so that was a sweet deal. Jake says his Trinity classes aren't anything spectacular, but I would go there just for the library. Haha.
After Trinity campus we walked down Grafton Street which is mainly for shopping and stuff. We went down to St. Stephen's Green, which is a really pretty little park with ponds and ducks and pigeons and green. And you aren't allowed to walk on the grass, but we dealt with it. We had a snack there on a bench, a snack that we stole from our hostel - shhhhh. We got a little cold just sitting though, so we warmed ourselves up with the Christmas cheer making itself known back in the area of Grafton. We also warmed ourselves up with hot chocolates at Bewleys - a cafe place very famous for its very famous writers who probably drank stronger stuff than we. And we felt literary, and warm.
Then we decided to go for the Guinness! Took the tram out to near where the Guinness Factory is. We had to wait in line for a little while to get in, and it had started raining a bit at that point, but we bore up valiantly. We figured it muct be worth it if Jake was willing to come and pay to get in for what I think was his 3rd time. I actually found it pretty interesting, but I still say beer is gross. The displays are fun and creative too, so that was good. We got to learn about how Guinness is good for you. I think my favorite part of the giant pint glass (the inside is shaped like a giant pint glass) was the advertising section. They had such funny ad campaigns back in the day. They were so un-p.c. but pretty awesome at the same time. You get a drink at the end of the tour at the Gravity bar - Kate and I got sodas and Staci got to pull her own pint. It was good times, and a good view of a drizzly Dublin afternoon.
We made our way via tram back to the city center. We were a bit hungered. And Jake us to this great pub that was quiet inside, Irish looking, with really good food. they made me my own vegetarian sandwich (one of the things that if I asked for in Spain I would get a crazy face) and we shared some onion rings and chips. I really could have chilled at that pub for a while. But at least we lingered over our food. We made our way to a souvenir shop and had great success and great fun taking pictures there. Partly I needed to get back to a guinness store because I got myself a mug there and then the paper bag got rained on and tore and tragically my mug got completely obliterated. But I got an all new one so whatever. Kate and Staci got claddagh rings, and I got a ring with a green stone in it, and a hat. And so that was another mission accomplished. I guess Jake didn't really need to come souvenir shopping with us, but he did anyway. Guess he was having that much fun.
We three girls took a rest back at the hostel for about an hour and a half. It was just too early to go out, and a bit rainy and stuff. But Jake picked us back up and we were ready to go. We went to a pub that wasn't bad, but it helped me decided once and for all that there will never ever be a beer that I like. Strawberry flavored or otherwise. Blah. We tried some pubs, but to be honest Staci was getting on my nerves because she really wanted to party, which is not how I wanted to waste my two days in Dublin, and I didn't want to feel like I was keeping her from having fun, but for that and a few other reasons there was a bit of tension between us that night. Oh well now she knows to only travel with fellow partiers and I learned not to travel with her. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's just how it worked out, and we still had a lot of fun, it was just a bit of a personality clash. We ended up on the roof section of a bar just hanging out, so my only regret is that it wasn't in a good old Irish pub for the whole night, but oh well. Got to visit with Jake and that was good.
Sunday morning we got a bright and early start too. We got breakfast and checked out and stored our bags and Jake was waiting for us downstairs. We got a lot done in a morning and our timing was pretty much perfect. We went to Christ Church Cathedral and were there when it opened, and since it was a Sunday entrance was free, although I did put in a euro for the donation box since it was such a pretty church and I lit a candle for peace - I liked that that was there a lot. The floors of the cathedral were actually really neat, and the architecture and the crypt. It was a nice little visit. We stopped by the outside of St. Patrick's but didn't go in since Jake told us Christ Church was better anyway and we think they might have been starting the service.
Then we caught the tram out in the same direction of the Guinness Factory, but we walked out to Kilmainham Gaol (a jail) and on the way we walked past the Royal Hospital (which is now a modern art museum) and checked out its garden which was really pretty. There was lots of green :-) Kilmainham was really depressing, but also really interesting because the tour told us a lot about the Irish Independence movement and general history that I thought was cool / depressing / stuff I should know since I got a lot of Irish in me. We rushed a bit after our tour was over to get to the tram, get to the hostel, get our stuff, etc. I was sad to say goodbye to Dublin and Jake, but Jake at least I'll see in a couple of months. And Kate and I will make it back to Dublin / Ireland in the nearish future. We've decided. Anyway hugs all 'round. We got on another double decker bus back to the airport. Our timing was perfect and, even though they thought I was a terrorist at the security checkpoint we had just enough time for a snack before boarding and heading back for Malaga. Where Tim shared his pringles with us, to bring the whole story full circle. Staci was on a different bus heading back to Granada than Kate and I, so our adventure was mostly at an end. I curled up at home for the night and dreamt of green and shamrocks and foxhunting in the rolling hills. Ahhh. Twas a good trip. And now I need to get crackin on my Arab World and the West paper so wish me luck!
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Check out the fotos :-)
19 November 2007
From Cati to Cadiz and Beyond! (well not too much beyond...but it sounded so good)
So...to catch y'all up.
Cati visited me. And it was awesome.
I picked her up from the bus station on Wednesday (poor thing flew into Madrid and had to take the bus to Granada blah) after a nice class at the Generalife with art and architecture. Took the traveller home where Zooey instantly glued herself to my one unnatural friend who doesn't really care for dogs (just kidding, Cati, I love you anyway). We got good tapas with Kate and stayed up late that night catching up on gossip and trading study abroad stories. It was so nice to have a friend around. Not that I don't have friends here but in a way I guess most of them are friends out of necessity more than anything else. Definitely needed my Bowdoin fix ;-)
So on Thursday I have early class so I didn't force Cati to leave with me at 8 in the morning. But she met me when I had a break between classes and we got tostada at a cafe in Plaza Nueva and scaled the Albaicin for to go to the Mirador San Nicolas to get a look at the Alhambra. Weirdly it was kind of a hazy day, but the view was pretty darn good anyway if I do say so myself. I went back to class and Cati went and saw the Cathedral and it was good. And we had lunch and it was good. And we siestaed and it was good. And I took her up to see the view from Cartuja when I had class. While I was being all studious she went shopping. And then I met her there and we went shopping. And did tapas with Kate and Nicole down at Plaza Einstein at the best tapas place ever called Madronera (I think - I know for sure that it starts with an M and has an N with a tilde in it). We saw some other friends there but didn't eat together since we had such a head start on them. We did meet up later to go out though. Apparently Hillary and Scott have mad connections and we all got into Granada 10 for free. It was fun. I wasn't a huge fan of the music for the first while we were there so I interpretive danced to it. Like 'Umbrella' which I now know because the Spanish are OBsessed with it. My friends were very impressed by my dancing, I can tell you. Oh geez. Plus at Granada 10 they paused everything twice to put on a fashion show. Which was weird. But funny. And then we got tired and went home.
The next morning we slept in. Climbed the Alhambra hill and tried to get into the Generalife for Cati to see it but they had no tickets :-( So we hung out. And then we went shopping and damn you Zara for your appealing but evil ways! After Zara we went home and went out again to climb the Alhambra hill ... again. Met up with my art history class to take a night tour of the palacios Nazaries. It was pretty freakin sweet. Harder to take pictures though in the low light, and the guards kept having hissy fits to try and hurry us out of there which obviously didn't work. Ha! But it was beautiful and I'm really glad Cati could get in with us (mostly because Eva at IES loves me - she's my favorite). After getting through the palaces it was cold. And dark. And we scampered down the hill to my favorite teteria. We got tea and a crepe for dinner. Mmmmmmm tropical crepe. It had chocolate, banana, pineapple, maybe something else AND AVOCADO. I know it sounds odd but it was delicious. Cati got to show Steve she'd eaten avocado and I got to eat the avocado and we were both happy.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end. The next morning I had to get on the IES bus at about 7:30 and left Cati with directions for how to retreat to Madrid and make her way home to Stockholm. (It was snowing there at the time - MUAHAHAHA) So it was sad that we had to have a groggy goodbye. But I ensured that she had skittles to take with her and so that's all that counts. We had a good visit and it definitely reminded me to get on top of things and register for Bowdoin Spring Semester classes that following Monday. So yay Cati, yay motivation, yay Bowdoin, yay.
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So I hope Cati enjoyed herself as much as I enjoyed having her here. She must've at least like the rays of sunshine in contact with her person. I feel like she may miss that a bit. But not as much as she misses me.
So once again on an IES trip we arrived at my favorite place ever. Yeguada de la Cartuja. It was a horse farm obviously. The monks of the cartuja had been breeding andalusians for forever. And they were beautiful. And I got to pet them. And get horse kisses. And one mare named Ultima even chewed on my hair so that made my day. And the show was amazing. There were some carts pulled around the ring. Free lunging of a gorgeous stallion. Loose mares and babies. Mares on a line directed by just one rider. Dressage. Oh pretty pretty pretty. I think I may have annoyed the people around me with my enthusiasm but I don't really care because some of them were annoying me too. I got all riled up when I heard that riding shouldn't be called a sport and that horses are stupid, for example. Honestly the ignorance of some people haha.
After the show we got a tour but I mostly just visited with the horsies and wandered around taking pictures. It was a beautiful day. And I secretly wanted the bus to leave me behind, but it refused. :-( Next stop Jerez!
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So we got to Jerez and had to get lunch. Staci and I found a really authentic, crowded little bar to get tapas at. I had delicious croquettas, so all was well with the world. And we went into a couple of shops just to kill time and I found a little blazer for just 6 euros. And I got it. So there.
The next activity was a bodega. And not just any bodega...the Tio Pepe bodega. Yes. We saw lots of barrels, the largest weather vane in the world, brandy distillers, more barrels, big huge barrels, barrels with famous peoples' signatures, and a glass of sherry for mice. It was a good afternoon. We also got to taste sherry and brandy, some of which was foul, others which were good. It was a popular gift shop among my friends.
We left there for Cadiz, and arrived right about at sunset. Our hotel was amazingly nice - yes I did take a nice long bath that night - and I roomed with Lauren which was a fun change. I wandered around with her for a while (we went out and saw the Atlantic) and then we met up with Brian and Hillary and Nicole to find some dinner. We were just sort of searching in vain when we ran into Eva and Miriam from IES and they pointed us in the direction of a really yummy seafood place. I got prawns. They were whole and delicious. And my friends shared a seafood platter. We hung out for a quite a while and Javier (IES director) came by and joined us. He told us about Galicia, where he was born, and lots of interesting Spanishy things and we really enjoyed our meal that way. But we were getting cold sitting outside even though the weather in Cadiz was soooo nice and warm, so eventually we went back to the hotel where I watched CNN while Lauren got ready for bed and then took my long bath. Ahhhhhhh.
The next morning we made an effort to get up, eat breakfast and explore. Lauren met a friend she knew from when he TAed at Amherst so it was Hillary, Nicole and I for the morning. We went over to the Cathedral and got ourselves some postcards, walked along the shore. Went out to the lighthouse / castle which was a really pretty walk and also into the castle Santa Catalina (another one - not really as chulo as the one in Jaen though). And we sat on the ramparts over the water for a awhile. But had to head back for our noonish departure. I had a few minutes in the room to drink a cup of tea and I was ready for the wild ride of the afternoon.
IES took us to Parque Donana. The park itself wasn't super excited but the fact that we went in all terrain vehicles was. What's more we took a boat out to the island, and my truck had the best driver. We passed everybody else multiple times and bounced around like crazay. The guys that had had a rough last night in Cadiz may not have appreciated it so much, but I sure did. There was a lot of sand and water and wetlands. It was cool. By the end I think we were all tired but it was a fun day for sure. The ride back to Granada was long - about 4 hrs, but we got a rest stop and it was fine with me to get home and go to bed. So that's really it for the adventure.
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The week that followed wasn't particularly interesting. I wrote a paper. Did other work. Went out to tapas a couple of times. Discovered the best Spanish dish ever - Migas. It's bread crumbs fried in olive oil and eaten with basically whatever you want - meat, sauteed veggies, grapes. Oh deliciousness, I love Amalia. Had classes. My roommate got her keys stolen. Ya know lots of good stuff haha. Well hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to catch up and talk about last weekend's DUBLIN trip :-) fabulousness. For now I should think about dinner and perhaps homework. We'll see.
Cati visited me. And it was awesome.
I picked her up from the bus station on Wednesday (poor thing flew into Madrid and had to take the bus to Granada blah) after a nice class at the Generalife with art and architecture. Took the traveller home where Zooey instantly glued herself to my one unnatural friend who doesn't really care for dogs (just kidding, Cati, I love you anyway). We got good tapas with Kate and stayed up late that night catching up on gossip and trading study abroad stories. It was so nice to have a friend around. Not that I don't have friends here but in a way I guess most of them are friends out of necessity more than anything else. Definitely needed my Bowdoin fix ;-)
So on Thursday I have early class so I didn't force Cati to leave with me at 8 in the morning. But she met me when I had a break between classes and we got tostada at a cafe in Plaza Nueva and scaled the Albaicin for to go to the Mirador San Nicolas to get a look at the Alhambra. Weirdly it was kind of a hazy day, but the view was pretty darn good anyway if I do say so myself. I went back to class and Cati went and saw the Cathedral and it was good. And we had lunch and it was good. And we siestaed and it was good. And I took her up to see the view from Cartuja when I had class. While I was being all studious she went shopping. And then I met her there and we went shopping. And did tapas with Kate and Nicole down at Plaza Einstein at the best tapas place ever called Madronera (I think - I know for sure that it starts with an M and has an N with a tilde in it). We saw some other friends there but didn't eat together since we had such a head start on them. We did meet up later to go out though. Apparently Hillary and Scott have mad connections and we all got into Granada 10 for free. It was fun. I wasn't a huge fan of the music for the first while we were there so I interpretive danced to it. Like 'Umbrella' which I now know because the Spanish are OBsessed with it. My friends were very impressed by my dancing, I can tell you. Oh geez. Plus at Granada 10 they paused everything twice to put on a fashion show. Which was weird. But funny. And then we got tired and went home.
The next morning we slept in. Climbed the Alhambra hill and tried to get into the Generalife for Cati to see it but they had no tickets :-( So we hung out. And then we went shopping and damn you Zara for your appealing but evil ways! After Zara we went home and went out again to climb the Alhambra hill ... again. Met up with my art history class to take a night tour of the palacios Nazaries. It was pretty freakin sweet. Harder to take pictures though in the low light, and the guards kept having hissy fits to try and hurry us out of there which obviously didn't work. Ha! But it was beautiful and I'm really glad Cati could get in with us (mostly because Eva at IES loves me - she's my favorite). After getting through the palaces it was cold. And dark. And we scampered down the hill to my favorite teteria. We got tea and a crepe for dinner. Mmmmmmm tropical crepe. It had chocolate, banana, pineapple, maybe something else AND AVOCADO. I know it sounds odd but it was delicious. Cati got to show Steve she'd eaten avocado and I got to eat the avocado and we were both happy.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end. The next morning I had to get on the IES bus at about 7:30 and left Cati with directions for how to retreat to Madrid and make her way home to Stockholm. (It was snowing there at the time - MUAHAHAHA) So it was sad that we had to have a groggy goodbye. But I ensured that she had skittles to take with her and so that's all that counts. We had a good visit and it definitely reminded me to get on top of things and register for Bowdoin Spring Semester classes that following Monday. So yay Cati, yay motivation, yay Bowdoin, yay.
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So I hope Cati enjoyed herself as much as I enjoyed having her here. She must've at least like the rays of sunshine in contact with her person. I feel like she may miss that a bit. But not as much as she misses me.
So once again on an IES trip we arrived at my favorite place ever. Yeguada de la Cartuja. It was a horse farm obviously. The monks of the cartuja had been breeding andalusians for forever. And they were beautiful. And I got to pet them. And get horse kisses. And one mare named Ultima even chewed on my hair so that made my day. And the show was amazing. There were some carts pulled around the ring. Free lunging of a gorgeous stallion. Loose mares and babies. Mares on a line directed by just one rider. Dressage. Oh pretty pretty pretty. I think I may have annoyed the people around me with my enthusiasm but I don't really care because some of them were annoying me too. I got all riled up when I heard that riding shouldn't be called a sport and that horses are stupid, for example. Honestly the ignorance of some people haha.
After the show we got a tour but I mostly just visited with the horsies and wandered around taking pictures. It was a beautiful day. And I secretly wanted the bus to leave me behind, but it refused. :-( Next stop Jerez!
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So we got to Jerez and had to get lunch. Staci and I found a really authentic, crowded little bar to get tapas at. I had delicious croquettas, so all was well with the world. And we went into a couple of shops just to kill time and I found a little blazer for just 6 euros. And I got it. So there.
The next activity was a bodega. And not just any bodega...the Tio Pepe bodega. Yes. We saw lots of barrels, the largest weather vane in the world, brandy distillers, more barrels, big huge barrels, barrels with famous peoples' signatures, and a glass of sherry for mice. It was a good afternoon. We also got to taste sherry and brandy, some of which was foul, others which were good. It was a popular gift shop among my friends.
We left there for Cadiz, and arrived right about at sunset. Our hotel was amazingly nice - yes I did take a nice long bath that night - and I roomed with Lauren which was a fun change. I wandered around with her for a while (we went out and saw the Atlantic) and then we met up with Brian and Hillary and Nicole to find some dinner. We were just sort of searching in vain when we ran into Eva and Miriam from IES and they pointed us in the direction of a really yummy seafood place. I got prawns. They were whole and delicious. And my friends shared a seafood platter. We hung out for a quite a while and Javier (IES director) came by and joined us. He told us about Galicia, where he was born, and lots of interesting Spanishy things and we really enjoyed our meal that way. But we were getting cold sitting outside even though the weather in Cadiz was soooo nice and warm, so eventually we went back to the hotel where I watched CNN while Lauren got ready for bed and then took my long bath. Ahhhhhhh.
The next morning we made an effort to get up, eat breakfast and explore. Lauren met a friend she knew from when he TAed at Amherst so it was Hillary, Nicole and I for the morning. We went over to the Cathedral and got ourselves some postcards, walked along the shore. Went out to the lighthouse / castle which was a really pretty walk and also into the castle Santa Catalina (another one - not really as chulo as the one in Jaen though). And we sat on the ramparts over the water for a awhile. But had to head back for our noonish departure. I had a few minutes in the room to drink a cup of tea and I was ready for the wild ride of the afternoon.
IES took us to Parque Donana. The park itself wasn't super excited but the fact that we went in all terrain vehicles was. What's more we took a boat out to the island, and my truck had the best driver. We passed everybody else multiple times and bounced around like crazay. The guys that had had a rough last night in Cadiz may not have appreciated it so much, but I sure did. There was a lot of sand and water and wetlands. It was cool. By the end I think we were all tired but it was a fun day for sure. The ride back to Granada was long - about 4 hrs, but we got a rest stop and it was fine with me to get home and go to bed. So that's really it for the adventure.
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The week that followed wasn't particularly interesting. I wrote a paper. Did other work. Went out to tapas a couple of times. Discovered the best Spanish dish ever - Migas. It's bread crumbs fried in olive oil and eaten with basically whatever you want - meat, sauteed veggies, grapes. Oh deliciousness, I love Amalia. Had classes. My roommate got her keys stolen. Ya know lots of good stuff haha. Well hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to catch up and talk about last weekend's DUBLIN trip :-) fabulousness. For now I should think about dinner and perhaps homework. We'll see.
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