Thank you.

I once had a dream that seemed to last all night. That was the longest dream I have ever had. Well, recently I had a dream that lasted even longer than that one.
This dream lasted about 5 weeks. I guess you cant really classify it as an authentic “dream” though, because apparently it actually happened. But as I sit here in my living room back in Seattle, Washington, I sure feel like it never did.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever experienced something so wonderful, so enriching, that when you looked back on it, you could have sworn it never really DID happen, because it was just too good to be true? Well, that’s something that im dealing with now.
As I sit here in this empty house, I have to pinch myself because I feel as if time stood still for 5 weeks, just as it does when you dream at night. I sit here and feel like nothing ever happened because no one around me knows what really DID happen. I was trying to explain these emotions to my grandma, and she said, “well katie, I felt like I was right there with you when I read your blogs!”
yes, that may be true, but, who can I run to and reminisce with about, “that one time we jumped off the mountain to paraglide!” or, “that one time when we were in spain while they won the world cup!” or, “that one time we climbed up that rock and got all cut up to just then go jump right off it again!”
I have no one here who can relate to me about those experiences or feel what I felt. I have the awesome people I experienced this all with, but they’re now dispersed throughout the country, and sad to say, I will probably never see them again.
So I sit here in this weird in between stage- struggling with the fact that the most amazing experience of my life seems as if it all occurred in this one beautiful dream. A dream that I unfortunately, had to wake up from.
But since this all indeed DID happen, friends and family- from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy lives to follow and support me on my adventures throughout Spain. I am a young women who is blessed beyond words. I cannot begin to thank everyone and everything who was a part of making this experience a reality. But most of all I thank God for choosing me to go on this trip, at this time, to this place, all while keeping me ever so safe. I am a woman richly blessed.
There is something else I feel is very important for you to know. Not only did I SEE several “very cool places,” but, I experienced LIFE in another city, another country, another culture, another world.
I now well understand another way of life. And ya know what? I appreciate it. I appreciate that 180 degree different way of life, and, I actually came to love it. I am happy I went on this trip for several reasons. But I am primarily happy I went on it because I now know life outside of the life I thought only existed. it’s valuable knowledge to gain, and I suggest you all go out there and learn about life outside of what you know, too. It may surprise you.
Many of you have no idea what it is like to go abroad alone or be alone for an extended period of time- where you have no loved ones to run to, or confide in, or just rest your head on their shoulder. You are forced to make new friends, be vulnerable, be different.
In all honesty it was all of your support and love that got me through one of the most amazing, yet CHALLENGING times of my life. Your constant encouragement forced me to feel loved even if I felt abandoned and to feel in good company even if I felt alone.
Thank you for letting me take you with me on this adventure, and I hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Now, after reading all of the triumphs and challenges I faced throughout this journey, let me propose something to you. Please, for my sake, go out there and see what the world can do for YOU, because just as I experienced, you never know what can happen.

Barcelona and all its beauty.

i woke up in my dorm room on the morning of Saturday, the 31 and knew it would be the last time i would sleep on this somewhat uncomfortable, hard mattress. despite knowing i would not miss the mattress, feelings of sadness still came over me.
i got up, got ready and packed up the rest of my stuff to leave this room, this dorm, and this city that had served as a home for me. i wasn't very happy.
monica and i said bye to everything. to the wonderful bathroom that kept us clean especially after the days where our feet were black with dirt, to the kitchen where we kept our sacred water cold, to our balcony where we spent several nights looking up at the spanish stars and to our over sized room which we were VERY grateful for.
we walked out of the building, suitcases in hand and said goodbye to a place that would forever hold a special place in our hearts.
we caught a cab to the granada airport together so that monica could catch her flight to boston in order to visit her brother and for me to catch my flight to barcelona to start yet, a new adventure.
as we left the city, we passed by the city center, which was the host of many exciting moments for both of us, including: high fiving strangers during the world cup, that tree over there falling on aileen, the policemen chasing the robber, the meeting place for all the nights we went out and the events we met up for and the burger king that gave me a little piece of home a few late nights. we were leaving a place that was full of nothing but memories, and we were both silent as we said goodbye.
we got to the airport and knew we had to go our separate ways. we embraced each other with a long hug and thanked eached other for being such wonderful roommates. it was a sad yet happy moment at the same time. bittersweet.
monica caught her flight which would eventually take her back to the states and i caught mine which would take me to another city, full of adventure and fun.
i got on the flight to barcelona with 2 other girls whom i met through a friend back in the dorm. their names were Sarah and Tracy. both girls who also did not know each other before the trip, yet both from California. Sarah goes to the University of San Deigo and Tracy proudly represents the student body of UCLA. (yes, i did ask her if she had seen any "important people" before, and she said that yes, in fact her freshman year she had a class with James Franco! WHAT?!!?!? very cool. if i were her, i would have learned nothing in that class, on account of studying the facial curves of James Franco more than the class itself) ;)
so here i was getting on this flight with 2 girls i didnt know very well, about to take on a whole new city in this country. but this time, we were dealing with a city that was a little bit bigger than granada.... ;)
we landed in Barcelona and got off the plane to an awesome airport. supposedly they finished renovating the Barcelona airport in 2009, and boy was it amazing. seriously, makes the U.S. airports look like old, beat up wharehouses.
we made our way out of the airport, but not before we had to ask about 3 different "information" kiosks which bus out of the 20 different buses we took to bring us into the city to our hotel. finally, figured out which bus to take and then hopped on, suitcases and all.
we drove about 20 minutes and sat in silence as we looked out the windows at this massively overwhelming city. everywhere we looked, there was something to see, and i knew right then that it was a good move to stay in spain a little longer to see what was so awesome about this city called barcelona.
we got off at one of the main squares in barcelona and whipped out the map to figure out where the heck our hotel was. tracy figured it out and lead sarah and i. tracy ended up being "the mom" of the trip as she would figure out the maps and walk ahead as sarah and i would trail behind ;)
we hauled our suitcases (yes, plural, all 3 of us had 2-3 suitcases) about 12 blocks until we got to our hotel. my, did that seem like a marathon with all that extra weight. it was so far that the wheel on one of my bags broke off! (sorry, mom!)
we got settled into our hotel, changed, and went right back outside to explore and get our bearings on this city.
we walked back out to the square that the bus dropped us off at and saw all these real colorful signs around. "european athletic championships, Barcelona 2010" they all read. "what does that mean??? did this already happen?? is it going to happen? have you heard of this??" we all kept asking each other. hm, whatever! we all thought.
we walked around and saw the beginnings of what would be a magnificent city.
we tried to look for somewhere to find dinner and boy did that seem to take a while. tracy and sarah were really into finding the CHEAPEST places possible to eat, so sometimes this would result with us walking around for hours just looking at prices on menus until we found the best one. i just went with it as i didnt want to complain ;)
we found a place that was selling yummy slices of pizza for just 2 euro. pretty sure we wouldnt find a cheaper place, so we settled for it and ate there.
we spent a good part of that evening walking around, taking pictures and exploring. one time, i tried taking a picture of tracy and sarah, and in the 15 seconds or so it took to take the picture, 3 DIFFERENT spanish men yelled out, "smile!" or, "oh, guapas!" ("oh, pretty!!") or something along those lines. we just laughed and decided that we would try and make our future pictures more sublte as the spanish men in barcelona are sure aggressive!
as we were walking around that night, i couldnt help but notice all the dogs i kept seeing! i sware i saw every kind of dog there is! those people in barcelona sure mean business with their dogs, too. they were neatly groomed and well behaved, almost being treated as if they were children. it was funny though, because many people had only dogs and no kids. i even saw dogs pop out purses while sitting in nice restaurants! i guess its a way of life over there :)
it made me think of this statistic i heard one time. in this study done about 8 years ago or so in seattle, there were more dogs in the city of seattle than children! WHAT?! crazy. im thinkin that barcelona may have seattle beat in that statistic!
it was getting dark and we were tired so we made our way back to the hotel for the night. tracy went with sarah to go get money out of the ATM and i waited in their room. they came back and sarah seemed upset and flustered.
"what happened?!" i asked.
"ugh the machine ate my debit card!!! and it didnt give me my money!!" she responded frantically.
she got out her international cell phone and called her mom back in california and told her what happened and asked if her mom could cancel the card and make sure there was no charge to her account. her mom said everything would be ok and that she would take care of it.
she hung up and was still real upset about it all as she wasnt sure if she had enough money to last her the rest of the trip.
tracy and i were letting her cool down and were talking to each other about something until we heard sarah go, "OH MY GOSH!!!!!!"
"what!?" tracy and i asked, somewhat frightened.
sarah walked around the corner with a debit card in her hand.
"we're confused..." tracy and i said.
"you guys..... i have had my card all along!! i must have been so upset that the machine didnt give me money, so while i was upset about it, i must have taken the card out and not even realized i did! i'm SO STUPID!!!" sarah yelled, halfway joking.
tracy and i couldnt help but laugh at her.
knowing that her mom was already in the process of canceling the card, sarah decided not to call her back, because she knew her mom would just think she was going crazy- and no mom should be thinking that of her daughter while she is abroad on her own. ;) so sarah marched downstairs to ask the front desk guy for scissors so that she could cut her debit card up, just to be safe.
i guess the guy gave her scissors followed by a real confused look when he saw her cutting up a debit card.
"what are you doing?????" he asked in a quizical way.
she then went on and tried to explain what happened in spanish. but apparently she wasnt making much sense because he was still confused as to why she was cutting up a perfectly good card. she gave up and just ran back upstairs, totally embarrassed. ;)
"i cant believe i did that!" she kept yelling. "sarah wins the dumb award for the day!" she jokingly said.
that was definately the most entertaining part of my day ;)
the next morning we woke up bright and early to go out and conquer the city. we bought tickets for the [extremely touristy] "hop on, hop off" bus tour that would bring us to all the best sights in barcelona. that bus ended up being a lifesaver. our feet were definately thankful. turns out barcelona is WAY bigger than we thought it would be. and not only that, all the big sights to see are spread out all over the city. they arent really in one area. "dear somewhat embarrassing and obnoxious hop on, hop off bus- you saved our feet from falling off. thank you, love- katie, sarah and tracy."
that first full day we went all around and saw the stadium/area of where barcelona hosted the 1992 summer olympics. VERY cool. we also went to the waterfront and walked around and ate lunch near the beautiful harbor full of sailboats. we then hopped back on the bus and it took us to this really neat park with the strangest shaped sculptures i have seen in a long time. we took pictures and sat in these oddly shaped chairs that are definately more for show than they are for comfort. lastly we walked to the Picasso Museum. any of you ever heard of Picasso? ;) yes, his museum is in barcelona and we did see it but we did not go inside because: 1. it was very expensive to go in and 2. the line to get in was around the building and we didnt really feel up for standing in a line in mid day in 95 degree heat. pass. but still, very cool that we got to see it. Picasso, a man whose work will stand the test of time!
the bus brought us back near our hotel, and tracy, being the big mcdonald's fan she is (though it you would NEVER guess she has eaten anything unhealthy in her life when looking at her!) insisted we go to mcdonald's for dinner and see what their dollar menu is like. hahaha.
we went and she got some stuff off the dollar menu while sarah and i were fascinated with the way they spell some things, such as the word "chocolate."
let me explain a little something to you.
spanish is the main language in spain. but, there are also 3 other "dialects" in spain that have parts of spanish to them, but are also very very different in style (they pretty much look like different languages). spanish is also called "castellano" (the "dialect" word for spanish). and then there are the 3 other dialects. in southern spain, where i was in granada, they spoke castellano (spanish). but in northeastern spain, like in barcelona, they speak a DIFFERENT dialect. that being, catalan. so, in catalan, they spell the word chocolate, "xocolata" which is somewhat similar to the castellano spelling- "chocolate," but not really at the same time.
sheesh, as if it could get any harder to communicate with people....now we were dealing with a whole different dialect!

the next day we got up early again to see more of the city. i was most excited for this day as i knew we would be seeing some of the famous work of the architect: Antonio Gaudi. i learned about him and his work in my art history class in granada!
we got back on the hop on, hop off bus and made our way to his different masterieces. and yes, they were masterpieces.
he is famous for: casa battlo (a house he built for a rich family with the last name battlo), la pedrera (another building i never did learn the purpose for) and then la sagrada famillia (a cathedral which is open for the public to use).
we decided to pay the expensive entrance fee for casa batllo and boy was it worth it.
gaudi's style is described as having a "modern" style. and all of barcelona is known as being a city with "modern" art. let me tell you, i have been all over europe and i have seen some neat art, buildings and sculptures. but what is so neat and different about barcelona is that the art is different than all the other art in europe. it is not deeply rooted in ancient history with its perfectly handcrafted gold carvings (which dont get me wrong, are AWESOME!), but it is much different. it is colorful and inventive and different than anything i have ever seen. and thats what made me fall in love with it.
gaudi is a genius. i say that with confidence. his unusual style in casa batllo blew me away. he was a man obsessed with nature (no joke). he especially had a fascination with the sea. he built this house with the sea in mind. the walls, windows and ceilings were all built so that it looked like the sea had curved them into being. each window and wall allowed light to circulate through in just a way so that the temperature and lighting of each room was built to his taste. such time and thought was put into his work. he was a man with a love for the sea, and no matter how odd it may have seemed in his time, he will forever be known as the revolutionary figure of modern art.
i'd say him and i have a shared love for the sea. and if i could choose someone to bring back to life to have dinner with, he would be one man i would love to meet.
but little did i know what antonio guadi could really do.
we got back on the bus and drove about 15 minutes out to a remote part of the city. we turned a corner and once again, as europe always seems to do- BOOM. there was yet another, huge, amazing, tall, grand masterpiece standing right in front of us. i literally had to tilt my head as far back as it would go as this building in front of me was massive.
la sagrada familia is what guadi coined it.
we got out and i stood in awe of this structure in front of me. i tried taking pictures but i literally could not fit the entire building into the frame of my camera. i kept backing up, further and further, trying to get as much of it as i could and i backed up into a fence and could no longer go anywhere else in order to take the picture. this thing towered over EVERYTHING. it was enormous.
we went inside and boy i have never seen architecture like that before. i cant even describe it. for those of you on facebook, take a look at my pictures and you will get a glimpse of what it was like. i can honestly say that it was the most awe inspiring building i have ever been in.

it was mid day, so we ventured over to starbucks. i was excited because i had a starbucks card and i could get a nice blended drink with it! come to find, "oh, we don't accept american starbucks cards in spain, sorry!" so much for starbucks being an international corporation.

next stop was park guell. i had never heard of it, but supposedly it is one of the neatest, most unique and prettiest parks in the world. it was indeed. it had several trails that lead different places, park benches and columns and small figures that were all made of this awesome ceramic-like glass. everywhere we looked, there was a different color or shape. there were no similarities.
last stop for the day (and boy were we ready for it!) was the barcelona football (aka soccer) stadium. this place was huge! it was so neat seeing this place because several of the players on spains world cup team play for the barcelona team. i was right there where those players have spent a lot of their time! we learned that it seats over 100,000 people and that it is the largest stadium in europe. very cool.
that night we went back to the hotel, relaxed after an 11 hour day of touring and went to bed early. curling up in the blankets with the air conditioning blowing on my face never felt better.

it was our last day in barcelona and we wanted to do the few things we still had on our agendas. we walked around more (of course), got some souvenirs for friends/family and then went to the beach. yes, the beach was beautiful and the sand was comfortably warm on my little feet while i walked on it. but, there were a few strange/difficult things about this beach... 1. it was CROWDED. i have never been to such a busy/bustling beach. people were everywhere and we barely found a spot to sit. i'm not a huge fan of crowds/people invading my personal bubble. oh well, i have to get over it because in life, that pretty much is bound to happen probably about every day. ;) 2. i had no idea that going to the beach in barcelona also meant going shopping. how is this so, you may ask? well, while we were sitting there, trying to have a relaxing afternoon after 2 and a half days of exhausting touring, probably about every 20 seconds, we were approached by some sort of vendor trying to sell us one of the following things: a massage (yes, its true. they would flash their little license's at us and say, "MASSAGE?!"), a henna tattoo, mohito's, overpriced soda, dresses (sarah almost gave in), burittos (yes, burittos on the beach, true story. they were HUGE!) and all sorts of other things that i can't even remember. boy these people were persistent too! they would stand in front of us and say over and over, "mohito? mohito? mohito? mohito? quieres? mohito? mohito?" ok.... "dear vendors in spain, what do you NOT understand about the word NO?!!?!?!?!?!? love, katie."
boy oh boy sometimes i can be mean when i get annoyed.
the beach was a bit overwhelming but definately relaxing. for any of you who plan to go to a beach in spain, though, make sure to watch your stuff closely! 3 DIFFERENT people approached us and told us our bags were in easy spots to steal and that if we kept them there, "they would be gone in 5 minutes." being back in the states now, i keep clinging my purse to my side, and then i relax a bit knowing that the U.S. is not quite as bad in regards to pick pocketing. thats pretty nice i guess ;)
i then went on a speed boat tour through the bay. the girls didnt want to pay the 10 euro (dont really know why, because c'mon! its a speed boat! in spain!). it was really fun/neat seeing the city from the perspective of the mediterranean sea :)
on the boat, i saw a helicopter fly by and it had a sign on it that read "helicopter ride over barcelona, 45 euro." eeeeeg. a little steep. but boy, that would be cool to do some day :)
the last day in barelona was perfect. beautiful weather, interesting beach experience, great food, great city. i did not want to leave. not at all.
we went back to the hotel and i had a question to ask the guy who worked at the front desk. i asked him about the taxi service to the airport and wake up calls and such. when i was about to walk off, he said in english, "i like you shirt."
"um, what?" i responded.
"i like you shirt." he repeated, again in english.
i looked down at my shirt and realized that it really was nothing special at all.... "why is he saying this?" i thought to myself.
"thank you......." i said, as my voice somewhat trailed off.
i walked away (with a quickness to my step) and wondered what it means in spanish culture to tell someone that you like their shirt...? it could mean several things, and i kind of dont want to think about it anymore.... either way, sorry buddy, but i highly suggest you use a different line on the next american girl who comes by..... ;)
the girls and i went up to their room, exchanged some pictures then i said good bye to them, as i had a flight at an ungodly hour the next morning.
it was sad saying goodbye, because who knows if i will ever meet up with them again? i just shared this awesome experience with them, then i have to leave it all right there, right then. such a strange and unsettling thing to do.
i packed up my stuff and layed down for the night. i slept restlessly, knowing that i would be SCREWED if my alarm somehow didnt go off in the morning.
luckily it did and i got ready, grabbed my stuff and got in the cab waiting for me outside the hotel. i prepared myself for what would be, a. long. day.
(it ended up being a 24 hour travel day (yes, true story) consisting of: 3 separate flights with ridiculously close connection times, checking my 49 pound (eeeeeg!) bag 3 separate times, going through security 3 separate times, customs, 2 skytrams and an annoying man behind me on my 10 hour flight from madrid to texas who kept laughing OUT LOUD during the movie "date night." ok, "dear people of this world, i as well enjoy getting a good laugh in movies when i am bored sitting on a plane for 10 hours, but for the sanity of those around you, could you refrain from allowing everyone from rows 25-42 from hearing your obnoxious laugh? thank you :) love, katie").
as i got into that cab in barcelona, it was still dark outside (5:40 a.m.) and i sat in the back by myself and looked out the window as we passed the sights i had spent the previous 3 and a half days admiring. as we took the main road out of the city and onto the freeway, i shed a tear as i turned around for the last time and said goodbye to a city, and a country that had been oh so good to me.

a history bath, goodbyes and the start to another adventure.

the other night i took a history bath, yup.
monica, aileen, aileens friend maggie, and i went to the arab baths here in granada and literally took history baths!
we really had no idea what to expect. all we heard about it was, ¨you have to try it!¨
we walked in and it smelt soooooo amazing in the waiting area. everything was dimly lit (i loved that!) and very clean and classy. we signed in and they told us how the night would work and we got really excited!
we went and changed into our swimsuits and then walked to this massive, old stone door that we couldnt figure out how to open at first ;)
we walked into this big open area that was again, dimly lit and a bit misty/hazy. in this large room separated by old, medieval looking collumns were 7 different ¨baths,¨ 2 massage areas and a larger room where you could sit and have sweets and Moroccan tea.
the baths were all different in size and temperature. some resembled mini sized pools, others were more like regular hot tubs.
we were told that there were 6 warm baths and 1 cold one.
we walked around and tested each one to see which one was the cold one.
the girls chose one bath to start in and i took a picture of them and of some of the other baths. soon after, this woman approached me and told me that pictures were prohibited because it is a place of relaxation and the flash disturbs people.
whoops :)
this place was sooooo cool. everything was so old looking and the tiles and structures were so elaborate and unique. definately different than the typical spa back in the states ;)
everywhere we looked, we saw a sign that read ¨silencio.¨ and apparently they dont joke around with this word.
as monica was telling us about her day, she was talking somewhat loud as she has quite a projective talking voice.
suddenly, from a source we have yet to figure out, we hear, ¨ssshhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!¨ in quite the forceful tone.
whoops :)
that happened to us about 3 more times throughout the night as we figured out that they really do mean business with those ¨silencio¨ signs!
they probably get really annoyed of chatty american girls who come through every night ;)
we were all given a number when we went in but were not really sure what it was for.
all the sudden someone called our numbers and we got up and walked to the place where the lady who called our numbers stood. 3 other ladies stood there and led each one of us to a separate little room where we would lay down for a......wait.....A MASSAGE!? SWEET!!!!
they used scented oils that felt especially warm on my already hot back.
they massaged us for about 15 minutes.....and man.....those were some of the best 15 minutes i have had while here! it was awesome!!!! i almost fell asleep but i didnt let myself because i wanted to enjoy it!!
we then went back out and got some of the delicious Moroccan tea and continued to enjoy the baths. i made sure to try each one out (yes, even the cold one, brrrr!!!) and each one was a bit different. i loved it!
take a history bath in spain: check!

the baths were pretty much the last thing i have done this week that was eventful/worth mentioning due to the fact that i have pretty much been quarantined to my room on account of school.
oh wait, i guess i saw something a little strange on my way home tuesday night. i turned this corner on the street and saw an old WOMAN peeing right there on the side of the street. i seriously had to double take as i wasnt sure why she was in an awkward half squat position when i first saw her. i then saw the liquid coming out of her and it was confirmed. ew.
the strange thing about this is that people were walking by her and acting like it was no big deal.
um, what!?!!?! this is disgusting! definately not allowed in the states. and i guess that is one other thing i like more about the states than here.
oh, well i guess there is another thing i like more....while were on this topic.
i dont know what it is about this week, but there have been 6 DIFFERENT times (yes, i counted) that i have walked by a pile of dog crap RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the sidewalk.
ok again, WHAT!?!?!
¨dear spanish dog owners, please bring your dogs to a park to do their business. OR, pick up their crap so that people like the poor man in front of me dont step in their **** while trying to walk down the side of the street. thank you very much. -katie¨
aye aye aye.

ok, i am quite excited right now because i just finished my last exam and am officially done with school for the summer!!! yay!!!
complete a session of school in a foreign country: check!

all i have left to really do is pack up my stuff in my room and say goodbye to the awesome people i have met here.
today at lunch, almost all of us American students were there at the same time, and one of them proposed we do a standing ovation for our cook, antonio. who, i can say with confidence, must be one of the best cooks in spain! ;)
he was very surprised by our praise and yelled out, ¨vale, vale, ya se, ya se!¨ implying, ¨ok, ok you guys.... i already know im great!¨ hahaha. oh antonio.
as i pack up and leave a city that has offered nothing but beauty, excitement, challenges and joy to my life, i will leave one thing behind, and that is the totally different person who came here and had no idea what she was getting herself into ;)
i leave here with a new perspective and appreciation for culture and life outside of what ive grown up in.

now, off to barcelona for a few days to visit and explore what is said to be, one of the most popular and beautiful cities in the world.

i love you granada, see you later ;)

i played in snow....in july.

the other day i hiked up a mountain. yes, i did.
hm what should we do on saturday? i asked monica. we talked about it and i came up with the idea of taking a bus to the sierra nevada mountain range where we could then hike to the top of the 2nd (ALMOST 1st!) highest peak in spain. sounded like a pretty sweet idea, right?
so we bought our bus ticket for 10 euro and woke up early on saturday morning (this time bringing PLENTY of water) and went to catch our 2 separate buses that would take us high up the mountain to drop us off for the hike that we would do.
the bus ride was about an hour long and the entire time, the bus was just huffing and puffing as it climbed this massive mountain. luckily i sat on the side of the bus that had the view of the small lakes that had formed in the hills and the waterfalls of the snow that was melting from the peak. it was absolutely beautiful. the trees were much greener and i could sense the air was getting cooler. yay!
the bus dropped us off at the highest point it could go and we got out and i took a deep breath of some of the cleanest air i have ever breathed (except for the air in bellingham, which, i must brag, is in the top 10 of the cleanest air in the WORLD, thank you very much :). however, though the air was clean, it was thin and i could immediately tell the difference because of the altitude.
i looked up at the peak that you could supposedly climb "in 6 hours" and somewhat laughed to myself thinking it was WAY too far away to do it in 6 hours. the others agreed.
"oh well, we will just go as far as we can and turn around when we want to or need to" i said.
we started walking. and oh man......
after a good 10 minutes i was definately feelin the steep incline in my legs and in my lungs. we were hiking up this terrain that was real difficult to walk on, as my feet kept slipping on the thin rocks that never seemed to stay in place.
"oh no....what did i sign up for????" i thought to myself. oh well, im in spain ;)
kept going and saw that the others we went with from our residence hall were far behind us and it was only brett, hillary, monica and i up front. we kept hiking as we were determined to somehow get as close to the peak as we could.
we hiked for another 20 minutes until we hit the first patch of....... thats right, snow.
let me tell you, snow was the LAST thing i expected to see.....in july....in spain..... after all this heat i have been living in this past month, snow didnt seem to exist to me anymore.
we walked around in it and picked it up and i am not lying to you, i most definately kissed it when i had it in my hands. the cool, crisp feeling it gave was so refreshing and renewing.
we didnt stay in the snow long as we knew we had to keep going. a small road was up in the distance and i thought about walking on the road to see if it would be easier than this impossible trail. once i got there, i found that it was much easier to walk up the road than the trail. so hillary and i decided to take it for a little while, noticing that it ran parallel with the trail.
as we walked, we saw cows (what!?), ski lifts that were not in use and ski jumps that no longer were cushioned by snow.
what a beautiful hike it was.
eventually we met up with the others as the road intersected with the trail. "that peak is a day away guys, lets stop for lunch. we wont get to the top, so no need to be in a hurry" brett said.
we agreed and decided to walk a little further for a good look out place to eat lunch.
we walked another 5 minutes and monica, who was ahead, yelled, "YOU GUYS! GET OVER HERE!" we ran over and as we met up with her at the top of this hill, we saw what she was talking about.
there we stood at this cliff that overlooked not only the second highest peak in spain, but also the highest peak. there were cliffs that plunged into the valley and rocks with jagged edges that could easily split you in half.
"ok... this looks like a decent place to eat...." i joked.
that was probably the most beautiful view i have ever had while eating a simple sack lunch. we sat there with our legs over the edge and took in the beauty of spain.
after 20 minutes, we decided to keep walking to see if we could get any closer to the top.
as we got higher, the wind blew harder and definately made the "hard" status hike move up to the "difficult" status.
we had been hiking for about 3 hours until we realized that we may actually be able to make it to the top.....it seemed possible! after realizing this, we seemed to pick up the energy and keep moving as if our lives depended on it.
we got closer and closer....but not without getting more and more tired.
i was close to telling the others that i had made it high enough and that i was satisfied with the view i already had, but i went against what my body was begging of me.
we were almost to the top and i started to get so excited.
finally, there we were. at the top of spain, literally.
the air was so thin up there. when i would breathe in, it was almost as if i was breathing nothing, as the air pressure was minimal. (which didnt exactly help the lungs at that point....).
i looked around and off to one of my sides, saw that we were standing above the clouds. wow. we were pretty high up there....
we took some pictures of the beauty.....gave each other "high fives" for our A+ effort ;) and then had to make our way back down, knowing that the bus would leave at 5, with our without us.
as we made our way down, i was excited because i was sure that it would be easier coming down than going up.
not so much.
i mean, dont get me wrong, it was EASIER.....but.....there are harder aspects to walking down a mountain than there are walking up. hillary and i were talking about how you totally use different muscles in your legs to walk up something than you do when your feet are stomping on the earth as you walk down something in order to keep you from tumbling down ;)
as we were walking down, we had about 45 more minutes and man were we ready to be there. we were exhausted.
we were on hour 5 and half of pure movement and i was ready to check in.
we were so close when all the sudden....."is that a sprinkle of rain????"
it started down pouring on us.
now, when i got dressed for a hike up a mountain in the mid of summer... in spain....i did not dress for rain. so of course i had a tshirt and shorts on and was getting drenched by the rain. "um......dear mother nature, im not in seattle. please stop raining. love, katie." ;)
luckily, after about 1 minute of rain, it stopped as if mother nature knew rain was the last thing a girl from seattle wanted while she was hiking a mountain in spain ;)
we were so close to the end of the hike when hillary goes, "gosh.....it would have been nice if they would have put some signs up....like, 'warning, this hike is difficult.' " HAHAHA!!! "so true!" i agreed.
if you ever go on a hike in spain, dont expect any signs of where the trail is, where it leads, "warning-possible land slide" signs, or the level of difficulty. in spain, i guess you can use the term that, "they throw you at the wolves." they kinda see what your made of. well, i guess that keeps things interesting huh? ;)
we made it to the bottom and we all felt so accomplished. us girls all passed out at the first table we could sit at. we simply put our heads on the tables and the guys were nice enough to make sure our stuff wasnt stolen as we passed out for what appeared to be a long winters nap.
i definately made use of the ibuprofen my mom packed for me. i havent needed ibuprofen so bad in my life. not only were my legs sore, but my hips were throbbing in pain. yeah, i have gone 2 hours or so running around a soccer field, but i have never gone 6 hours with solid physical activity. yikesabee.
since the hike, i have been pretty much drowning in schoolwork here. i guess the spanish culture is to trick you into thinking that school here isn't too bad....then BOOM- "its the last week! we should give you big projects and tests, all due on the same day!"
man do i miss the structure of the american school system. (but thats really all i miss about the american school system ;)
so i have been busy making powerpoints, studying random art history spanish vocabulary, learning the various mountain ranges and rivers in spain and of course preparing for an oral presentation on the differences between spain and the U.S. aye aye aye, hello books.
well, despite the massive loads of homework that i must now return to, i can now say that i hiked one of spains highest peaks the other day.
be physically challenged while abroad: check!

i do.

today a very dear friend of mine from back home is getting married. and i am here on this relaxing sunday in spain wishing i was there to give her a big hug and wish her and her awesome husband a wonderful life together.
to my Molly Purcell and Caleb Lind- i am thinking of you today and wishing you a life full of happiness! i cannot wait to see the wonderful places God takes you!!
i have no doubt that Molly will be stunning today. i mean, she is naturally so beautiful (my mom once told me that Molly reminds her of the actress Anne Hathaway. i very much so agree.) and Caleb is a lucky man for snagging her. but i would want no one else for my Molly :)
i guess things like these happen when your away frolicking around in another country. you miss big things like these. but i guess thats the sacrifice that comes with the privilege.
all things worth having come at a price, right?
love you, Molly and Caleb.

a day and a life in spain.

i have to share something really fun with you. yesterday in my language class, we were obviously discussing the language of spanish. but we were also discussing other languages in general, and my professor decided to end the class with the following video. please, i ask you to watch this. i hope you find it as humorous as i did. here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INOL2zVv7mw

this story is a good one, but i think my parents and sisters would like it most- :)
today i was in the lobby studying because monica was still asleep and i didnt want to wake her. from a far away distance, i heard this faint sound of little girls laughing/talking/yelling- just behaving as normal little girls always seem to. the noise came closer and closer until 3 little girls all ran up to the main entrance of my dorm and it appeared as if they were waiting for someone to come let them in. finally a man (who looked like their dad) came and opened the door for them then told them to sit and wait in the lobby while he went upstairs to get something. what made this whole situation even more precious was that they were all speaking english, so i knew what they were saying.
as they sat across from me in the lobby, i just smiled as i noticed how oddly similar those 3 girls looked in age, looks and behavior- as my 2 sisters and i. i just love it when i see 3 little girls who are all somewhat similar in age. it just takes me back to my childhood.
the girls were obviously staring at me so i looked at them and asked them in english, ¨how old are you?¨ (but i wasnt sure if they would answer, knowing that little kids seem to be pretty good at ¨not talking to strangers¨). the older one gasped and said, ¨you speak english!? no one here your age speaks english!¨
i laughed and told her i was from america and that i was here studying spanish.
they seemed very intrigued as all 3 of them walked up to me and started getting closer and closer as if i was one of the famous disney characters at disneyland.
i eventually told them that i had 2 sisters back home as well. they LOVED hearing this.
¨oh!!! are you the oldest!?¨ the oldest girl asked me.
¨no, i am the middle child¨ i said as i smiled at the middle child of the 3.
¨oh! what does your older sister look like!?¨ the oldest child asked.
i told them that both my sisters looked a little like me but that they had pretty, blonde hair.
¨oooooohhhhhh......¨ they all said in unison, as if blonde hair was a foreign delicacy.
i just couldnt stop staring at the youngest girl as she rolled around the floor in her little diaper just humming some tune to herself. her acute features reminded me so much of when steph was little.
suddenly i heard someone walking down the stairs behind us.
¨quite the conversationalists aren´t they?¨ a man asked me.
¨they sure are!¨ i replied. ¨are these your daughters?¨
¨they sure are¨ he said.
he went on to tell me that he was here with a group of students from florida and he was the director of the program bringing them around and that his wife and girls came with this time as well.
¨well im actually 1 of 3 daughters, too¨ i shared with him.
¨ah.... well let me ask you, how did your parents do it?¨ he said with a laugh.
¨well, if my dad were here, he would tell you to just keep them busy. then they will stay out of trouble¨ i shared.
as we were talking, the middle child continued to crawl around his leg as if it was some pole out on the playground.
¨and did it work?¨ he asked with an intrigued look.
¨it sure did. we all turned out great and we´re best friends to this day.¨
¨well i´ll keep that in mind¨ he said with a laugh.
they took off out the door and i had a smile on my face as i felt like it was just yesterday when my sisters and i were that age.

i was walking to school today and i turned one of the corners at the main intersection in town. as i turned the corner, i saw 2 policemen standing there, which was odd because i had never seen policemen just standing around except for when spain won the world cup.
¨hm.....¨i thought to myself, just shrugging off the occurrence.
suddenly a man´s arm hit my bag as he went sprinting by me. i turned in his direction and saw that he was running at full speed. i then heard someone else running from behind me, and as i turned, i saw it was one of the policeman running after him. the policeman passed me as well and was off in pursuit of the man.
i took a closer look in the direction they were running and saw that several of the other men who were street vendors were quickly packing up their things that they were selling and also began running in the same direction as the other man. i tried to see if the first guy had anything in his hands that he had may be stolen, but i saw nothing. he sure was running fast.
pretty sure the policeman had no chance to catch him as the man ran with the endurance and speed of an olympian.
¨interesting.....¨ i thought to myself as i semi quickly walked away from the scene.
who knows what was really happening there...
but i guess these types of things are bound to happen everywhere, huh? ;)

on top of the world.

the other day i felt what it was like to be a bird.
and the moment my feet touched the ground again, the dream had come and gone just like that.
on monday i skipped my classes to do something that not many people have been able to do or i guess you could say "have had the guts" to do. and let me tell you, it was totally worth missing that day of school.
on monday the girls and i went flying. thats what we called it. its more commonly known as "paragliding."
from the moment i decided to do it up until about 5 minutes until i actually did it, i wasnt nervous at all. i guess i really didnt think about what i was getting myself into.
our group met up with the pilots at 4 p.m. on monday afternoon and we caught the bus from the city up into the hills of granada. from there, we met up with the other pilots where they would drive us to the top of the mountain.
when they pulled up, they pulled up in one of those creepy "rapist" white vans with no back windows. yes, true story.
my dad used to have one of those vans and he would haul his dental equipment in the back when he had dental contracts with different jails around washington state. looking back, im sure people would stare at us when he would drop angela and i off at school in this old, ruggedy beat up "rapist" van with no back windows, and as angela and i would jump out of the front seat because we had to share it since there were no seats in the back. (yes, again, true story) hahahaha.
so we all jumped into this creepy white van and sat there for a moment and realized that the pilots were having a hard time getting it to start.
"oh gosh you have got to be kidding me" i thought to myself.
they tried starting it about 20 times, then they went under the van with a hammer and began hitting some part of the van with the hammer, as if that would make it start. i just couldnt help but look at monica and laugh.
then they had the brilliant idea of putting the car in drive then pushing it backwards. as we were rolling down this hill backwards, in a creepy white van that was not on, i just put my head in my hands and hoped that something would get this car to start.
i dont know what happened, but as we were gliding backwards, the engine ignited and the van started. the guys started hooping and hollering and all of us girls just looked at each other, shook our heads and laughed.
the driver turned around and said, "see! no problem! its the spanish way!" hahahaha.
these spaniards never give up on their cars here ;)
they drove us up to another area where we then got into smaller cars (that yes, were normal and had windows).
i was in the car with 4 other girls and our driver was a younger pilot who had not yet gotten his license to take other people in the air.
we were driving up this mountain on this one way road and i of course was on the side of the car closest to the cliff. i pretty much clung to amanda the ENTIRE ride up because we probably had about 5 inches to spare on the right side before the car would go tumbling off the side of the road down that mountain. our driver really didnt seem to notice our nervousness though, as he went on about his crazy life which consisted of "making his wife pregnant.....twice.....ah...us humans....we never seem to learn our lesson....thats why there been so many world wars.....!" (in his cute, broken english accent). im sure us 4 would have thought his life story was a little bit more funny if we wouldnt have been so preoccupied by the giant cliff that was dangerously close on our right side.
we made it to the top safely as our driver said, "See! no problem!"
i wish i was as carefree as they are!
wow was it beautiful up there. standing up at one of the highest peaks of the sierra nevada mountain range in granda, spain.
not only was it beautiful, but it was SILENT. you could hear a pin drop from up there. it was as if we were in our own world. well, i guess we pretty much were.
the other pilots came after us, hauling the parachutes on their backs. i give them props for carrying those massive parachutes as if they were nothing. because it must have been about 100 degrees up there. man it was hot. and none of us thought to bring water. "shoot.....hope this doesnt take too long or we might pass out from dehydration" i thought. :/
the pilots unloaded their backpacks and started putting everything together. as i sat there and waited, i started to get a little nervous as i saw that we stood right in front of this massive drop off cliff. i knew that we were at this particular drop off for a reason....but i didnt really know how this process actually worked.
the pilots looked ready and they walked over to us to square us away.
they explained the process of paragliding which basically consists of this:
"we strap you up to us, you look straight ahead, wait for my signal, and when i say run, you run as fast as you can. and run straight toward that cliff until you cant run anymore. and thats it!"
oh ok....so let me get this straight.... you want me to run until i have pretty much jumped off that cliff right there? hm, ok, no problem. YEAH RIGHT!
they told us that our minds will tell us to try and sit down on these little seats we had but that we couldnt sit until they gave us the signal. they told us that we had to keep running and running and running because the parachute will force us in the opposite direction, so its up to us girls who are in front to be the "front wheels" and counteract the force.
gosh, this is when i started to get a little nervous.
i dont know about you, but i have never jumped off a mountain before....and this just seemed suicidal.
oh well, no turning back now! i am already at the top of this damn mountain and im so thirsty that i dont want to open my mouth to the dry heat... im ganna do this!!!
the pilots hooked hillary and i up first. i asked the pilot where i should put my camera and he strapped it to one of the handles then did a little whistle thing and pointed down his shirt which basically meant that i should put it down my shirt. i couldnt help but laugh. it was a good idea though!
i was about to go when hillary and her captain started their "take-off." as i watched, my heart began to beat hard. the pilot was keeping his eye on how the wind picked up the parachute so whenever he moved in the direction the parachute did, he dragged hillary with him. so i was basically watching her get dragged from side to side on this rocky edge until finally he seemed to get situated then yelled to her, "corre! corre! corre!" (run! run! run!) and she took off with all her might and ran as hard as she could. yet, the wind was pushing them both backwards and they both struggled for a few seconds then finally began running full speed towards the cliff. hillary did well as she ran until she had no more earth to run on. luckily, right in time, the parachute caught the wind and took them soaring into the sky.
"hm........ok.... this is a little harder than i thought it would be...." i thought to myself. i began to mentally prepare myself to get tossed around by the wind and by the pilot and i kept thinking to myself, "gosh this dang parachute better catch the wind once im flying off that cliff!!!"
it was my turn. the pilot asked, "are you ready chica?" i said "si!" with the most confidence i could seem to muster.
the same thing happened to me. i was tossed around and i almost lost my balance a few times and then he yelled to me, "corre! corre! corre!" and i ran as fast as i could but it didnt seem to be working. i felt like we were starting to lose runway space when all the sudden the pilot yelled to me, "STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and i came to a screeching halt about 2 feet from the edge of the cliff.
oh. my. gosh. i. almost. fell. off. that. cliff.
the pilot turned to me and told me i wasnt running fast enough. "you must run with more decision!" he said in english.
ok.....i dont know about you....but i was sure running with "as much decision" as i could- since i knew that running was what it took to get this thing to work.
shoot. i dont know how much faster/harder i can run but i guess it needs to be better.
so the pilot picked up the parachute and we walked back about 50 feet to where we began to try again. he asked me if i was ok, as if he sensed my worry and i said "yes, yes, im fine. lets go!" i just wanted to get in the air and get the hard part over with!
second try....here we go.
"corre! corre! corre!" he yelled again and this time, i WITHOUT A DOUBT ran as fast as my short little legs would take me, with all the "decision" i had in me. i was NOT going to die because i ran off of the edge of a cliff. heck no.
i ran and ran and ran until my feet were off the ground and oh. wait. i was flying.
oh. my. gosh.
for the first 30 seconds i was literally hanging off the seat we are supposed to sit in because the wind was forcing me from sitting down. the pilot had to pull my shirt back toward him so that i could sit down rather than being in the free fall position, strapped on for dear life by these 2 small bands.
once he pulled me back, i was sitting and at that moment, i realized we had ascended even higher- and there i was. i was paragliding!
after taking a few breaths from the take off, i settled in and enjoyed the view.
words cannot express the joy i felt at that moment.
i've met a lot of people in life whose one wish has been to fly.
if you want to see what thats like, you can do a few things. you can go sky diving, bungee jumping, parasailing or paragliding.
but let me tell you why paragliding might be your best choice.
in bungee jumping, you really cant see where you are going, as gravity is pulling you to earths core at quite the rapid pace.
in sky diving, im sure the view and experience is AMAZING, but i imagine that the pressure of the wind and the rush of the free falling would take you from seeing whats really around you.
with parasailing, you really dont go that high in the air and your view is not much different than the view of those in the boat pulling you.
but with paragliding, this is something much different than the rest.
you sit down in this surprisingly comfortable chair and as the wind hits your face at a rather pleasant speed, you have all the time and comfort in the world to see what is around you.
with paragliding, you really can experience what its like to be a bird.
and for those of you who ask, "what about being in an airplane? does that come close?" absolutely not. ;)
after about 10 minutes of this out of body experience, i noticed we were already descending.
"wait...." i thought to myself.... "they said we would be up in the air for about a half an hour...."
the pilot yelled to me, "when land, run!"
"ok" i thought, "this wont be too bad...!"
we got closer and closer to the ground and i kept hoping and praying i wouldnt break my legs from too hard of a land or an impact.
minus the tree branches we went through (hahaha) we landed well and i started running with the momentum we had going. we came to a stop and the parachute fell.
the pilot then turned to me and told me something i would have rather not heard.
"there was problem with the lines. had to land early."
um..........what did you just say?????
that definately freaked me out and 10 minutes before this, i would have never thought that being on the ground was somewhere i would have been happy to be.
we walked back up to the cliff we were on and the girls there gave me a confused look like, "whoa. that was fast.....?"
i know this sounds bratty, but i kind of felt jipped. right when i was starting to enjoy my time up there and get comfortable with the feeling of flying in the air, we already had to land.
at the time, i was so grateful for having flown, but at the same time, the money i had to pay almost didnt seem worth it.
hillary, who went before me, landed about 10 minutes after i did and was confused to see me already sitting there. i explained to her what happened and she felt bad and didnt know what to say.
"oh well katie, at least you did it. have a good attitude about this" is what i kept trying to tell myself.
the other girls went and as they would be gone upwards of 40 minutes and as i sat there in the heat, as thirsty as i have ever been in my life, i started to get a little upset. but again, i kept telling myself to chill out and get over it. "may be they wont make me pay as much.....?" i thought to myself.
once the others were done, we were about to leave when my pilot ran up to me and said, "you ready?!"
i was confused....
i looked at him and said, "what?"
he said, "last time, you not fly long enough. we fly again. now."
oh..........!
i wasnt sure if i should be happy or scared all over again.
i mean, sweet! i really wanted to fly for longer.....but were the lines "going to be a problem" again....or was my take off going to make me almost have a heart attack again? sheesh.
the word "ok!" almost seemed to involuntarily slide out of my mouth as i was on the fence in agreeing to putting my life on the line, again.
the pilot got the parachute ready, strapped me up, and there i was again, about to run off the cliff. aye aye aye. what did i sign up for?!
"corre! corre! corre!" he yelled to me and there i went again. running. with. all. my. might.
after only a few steps, we flew into the air. "yes!" i thought, thinking that this take off was much better than the last one. but right after that thought, we hit the ground again and the pilot yelled, "corre! corre! corre!" and i ran as fast as i could again, seeing the edge of the cliff come creeping closer and closer.
we took off into the air one more time yet to be pulled by earths force back down. "corre! corre! corre!" he yelled again and i took the last 5 steps i had before the edge of the cliff came to force me to fly and that last step i took, i shoved my body over that cliff with as much umph as i had in me and there we went- the parachute caught the wind and we quickly gained altitude.
"thank you Lord!!!!!" is what immediately came to my mind. i was in the air and all seemed well.
"very nice run!" the pilot yelled to me.
"gracias!" i yelled back, with a slight quiver in my voice ;)
this time around was even better as we took more altitude and as the pilot reassured me that the lines were "perfecto!"
"oh good...." was all i could think to myself.
we flew for about 20 minutes until the pilot apparently decided to see how my spanish was. he began asking me in spanish if i had ever flown anything before and if i ever wanted to try. i guess i thought i knew what i was saying back to him but all the sudden he told me to take the gears that control the parachute so that I. COULD. FLY. US.
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, what?!?!?!!?!?!?
before i knew it, my hands had the controls and i. was. flying. the. entire. thing.
ok.......... i had no idea what i was doing.
trying to take commands in a different language while you are already in semi fear of your life is quite the task, ladies and gentlemen. but to be honest, the pilot really gave me no choice as he had already let go of the gears and said "i can sleep now!"
UM....NO YOU CANT!!!!!! i said back ;)
he laughed. i totally didnt at the time ;)
i definately flew that thing for a good 5 minutes as he told me to lean left and pull right and lean forward and level out then lean right and pull left. i was actually taking turns and bringing us up and down in the sky.
way. to. cool. for. my. own. good.
as he began explaining to me how i would land, i finally stood up for myself and said that i preferred not landing the thing and that i would really appreciate it if he would land it for us ;)
he laughed and said "ok then!" hahaha. wow.
after a few minutes, the pilot yelled, "hold on and lean right!" right when i did, we began spinning in circles and i felt a sudden decline as i realized that the "normal" way to land these things is to lean one way and pull the gears that same direction which then lifts the air out of the parachute to land it. we were spinning in these tight circles for about 30 seconds and at this point, the wind was beating my face as i tried to hide it behind my arm.
before i knew it, we were about 100 feet off the ground and again, the pilot yelled, "ok! we land! you run!"
i prepared myself and scooted myself out of the seat so that i was hanging in mid air and as we hit the ground, i began to run with the momentum. we came to a halt and i watched the parachute fall to the ground.
the pilot looked at me and said, "you like?!"
all i could seem to say was, "si!!!! como un sueno." (yes! it was like a dream).
would i do it all again?
you bet i would.

sun, cliff jumping, nudity and the Mediterranean.

woke up early saturday morning super excited for a fun filled weekend at the Mediterranean Sea. who could ask for more?
hopped on the bus with the group and drove the hour and a half to the coast.
before reaching our hotel, we stopped at some sweet underground caves. man, i wish you could have seen them. i just dont understand how these caves (let alone anything on this earth) is so perfectly handcrafted the way they are. my main question to this world is: how can you think there is not a God who took so much time creating this for US? blows my mind.
got back on the bus and it dropped us off right at the hotel. the street had only one lane so the bus driver stopped in it and had us all get out there and insisted we take our time getting our bags out of the trunk. as we were doing so, i noticed that a HUGE back-up of cars began to form behind us because we were blocking the lane. the only lane.
the cars starting honking and people started yelling and here were 10 americans just takin our time gettin our bags out of the bus rather than pulling over to do it. "typical americans," im sure they thought ;)
ok. out of all of you- how many of you pronounce the word "bag," - "beg," as in "i beg you to do this for me!" ??? say it to yourself, how do you pronounce it?
i SWEAR there are other people in the pacific northwest who incorrectly pronounces that word the way i do!
ok, well, as you can may be guess, i am the only one of all of us over here who pronounces that word in that way. and boy, i cannot seem to hear the end of it. whenever i say the word, which oddly enough, has been often, everyone just starts laughing and goes, "katie! its not beg! its bag!!"
UGH SHOOT!!!! i need my friend danielle, the speech therapist to get over here and help me change this! or else i will not hear the end of it!
but hey, aileen cant talk because apparently those from philly pronounce the word water- "wurtur." i try and laugh and tell her she is pronouncing it the wrong way each time she says it, but, everyone seems to find my mispronunciation funnier. whatever ;)
wow. now, for this little getaway, i brought my mini fan just in case the hostel would be real real hot like it is in our room in granada. well, i underestimated our program i guess. as i walked inside the hotel, i honestly thought, "this couldnt be where were staying...its too nice!" it was right on the sandy mediterranean beach and the lobby had marble floors and amazingly comfy waiting room furniture. YES!
went up to our rooms which were on the 4th floor. monica and i took the stairs. monica took the stairs (because she is active like that) and so did i! but not to be active, but mostly because i have a TINY fear of elevators. ESPECIALLY the TINY european ones. (oh, and i cannot forget, and neither can the 15 other girls who were there that day, on my 21st birthday party night, we pretty much almost got stuck in one as it started beeping and the doors started closing when only half of us were out of it. but, maddie came to the rescue ;). so anyways....long story short-not a fan of elevators. yes, i'll take the stairs.
got to the 4th floor and walked into our room and there it was. right when you walked into the room, the windows stood there, shades open, and the Mediterranean was right there in site. "SWEET!!!!!!" is what monica said. i couldnt agree more. here we were- in spain, studying abroad, at the beach, standing in our amazing hotel room (which i must add, did have AWESOME air conditioning) looking out over the Mediterranean. "man, were 2 spoiled biatches" is all i could say. monica agreed.
we threw on our suits and ran to the beach!!!! YES!
OUCH!!!!! right when i stepped on the beach, i felt it. BURN. wow. let me tell you something readers- if you go to spain, i recommend you bring some type of sandals that are easy to walk on the beach in. why you ask? well, the beaches in spain are LOVELY, dont get me wrong. but....they do not consist of sand..the consist of ROCKS. but wait, before you start judging, let me say- they consist of very BEAUTIFUL rocks. like, smooth, almost marble-like rocks. if i had a bigger suitcase/didnt pack as many clothes as i did, i would take the entire beach home with me and i know you would enjoy staring at each one of those gorgeous rocks with me. so soft, obviously smoothed by the ocean currents.
HOWEVER.... the reason it hurt to step on these smooth rocks was because.....
well, let me ask, have you ever stepped on rocks that have been sitting in the sun for hours, just asking to get roasted by the sun? yes, those are the rocks that our feet had to step on in order to get around. as my friend ayla put it once, "its like stepping on a stove!!!"
so.....rather unfortunately, there were us americans, not walking to the water whenever we wanted to swim, but SPRINTING. sprinting as fast as our little feet would take us as they were not ok with the burning sensation from the rocks. hahaha. i would always laugh as i watched each one of us make our way to the beach going, "oh, ah! oh, ah! oh, ah!" as if those words help the burning feeling go away. but of course i would stop laughing once i had to make the sprint ;)
ok. if you havent heard anything i have said yet on this blog, here this:
if you EVER, EVER, EVER get the chance to go to one place in the world- please choose anywhere where you can go to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. it is not only a refreshing/perfect temperature, but it is so clear that you can snorkel, AND..... (not many places can beat this next one), it is so salty that you can lay on your back in the water and literally take. a. nap. im not joking- i tried it. and it worked. im pretty sure i fell asleep for about 2 minutes until a wave woke me up. seriously- you can lay there on your back (or your stomach) and not move one. single. muscle. and still stay afloat with no problem. whats that for a vacation, huh? ;)
as i floated around and dove down to look at the wild life and the rocks, i kept getting the salty water in my mouth. not on accident though. it was because my mouth was open. why? because i couldnt stop smiling at the thought that i was swimming in the mediterranean sea. so amazing.
we spent the whole day at the beach. well, most of us did. the group slowly trickled down to where monica and i were the only ones left in the rays. "we're hard core" i said to her as we were still laying there at 7:30 p.m. soaking up the sun. "yeah we are. i mean common, its the mediterranean!!" she replied. so so so true.
we left the beach around 7:45 and went up to our awesome room to shower off the salt. as monica was in the shower, i just sat on our balcony, closed my eyes and listened to the waves crash on the shore while breathing in the sweet scent of the salty sea. i sat there taking it all in, considering myself one lucky 21 year old girl.
i was soooooo happy to be there that i decided to make my first (and probably last) call to the U.S. to make my family jealous ;)
monica was generous enough to let me borrow her phone. i called my house phone, no answer. then called my moms cell phone.
"hello???" (in a confused tone)
"mom??" i said.
"yeah???" (in another confused tone. i was the last person she thought she would be speaking on the phone with at that moment)
"hi...its your love bug" i said with a smile on my face.
"katie???!!?!?!?!!?" she asked with quite the excitement in her voice.
"yes. hi :) "
it was a good 4 and a half minute chat. so nice to hear her voice and im sure vis versa. i told her what i was doing at that moment (standing on the balcony looking out over the sea at sunset) and she told me that she would get our dad to take us back there someday. sounds good to me ;)
we had dinner as a group. buffet style. and boy, the best buffet i've ever had!!! so so so many options. we all had AT LEAST 2 plates. but i dont think anyone beat j.d,'s record of 5 plates. so so yummy!
we then walked around town together. its so beautiful there at night. walking around in a sleeveless dress at 11 at night is not a time when im going to complain about ANYTHING. we walked around and came to a look out place over the Sea that we had went to earlier in the day and i stood there and looked out over a sea of darkness. i was *this close* to taking out my camera, snapping a picture of the complete darkness and saying it was a picture of "the Mediterranean Sea...at night!" but i figured i shouldnt waste my time ;)
went back home, got a good nights sleep and actually slept with the covers OVER me rather than on the floor. dear person who invented air conditioning- thank you very much. love, katie.
woke up semi early sunday morning to meet for breakfast. (another great buffet! and this time, i had more than just toast!) and i woke up to monica being gone. where was she???? she soon got back to the room and informed me that she was out on the beach watching the sun come up and just enjoying the morning. sounds nice huh? well....not completely.....
you would think that would be a nice relaxing time....right? well...it was actually the opposite...
she goes on to inform me that while she was sitting on the beach, enjoying the cool breeze of the july morning, a younger spaniard male approached her and asked her if he could sit down. "no" she said (i would have done the same thing, all she wanted to do was enjoy the morning and not have anyone bother her!) he sat down anyway.
"do you have a boyfriend?" he asked her.
"yes" she replied (which you think would make him go away....well, not this guy...)
"well where is he?" he asked.
"back home." she simply responded.
"then who are you here with?" he nagged (obviously not getting the memo that she didnt want to talk to him).
"my friends." she informed him.
"can i have a kiss?" he asked (WHAT?! THIS GUY IS CRAZY!!!!)
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she responded angrily as she got up and walked away. more upset rather than creeped out.
luckily, he didnt follow her.
as she continued to enjoy her morning, she sensed someone behind her again. before she could turn around, a voice asked "what time is it?" (it was his voice again).
as she turned around to tell him, she noticed something very disturbing.
HE WAS STANDING THERE NAKED!!!!!!!!! ON A PUBLIC BEACH!!!!!!
too bad she did the nice thing and turned around to tell him the time. how was she supposed to know he would be NAKED?! she quickly turned around again and yelled, "LEAVE!!!!"
he ran off laughing like a young teenage boy.
now, monica was pretty ticked off about it all. but im sorry, i couldnt stop laughing. like, are you kidding me?!?! haha!!!
whats even more funny is that if he would have kept bothering her, im sure she would have used her black belt to scare him off.
in fact, i almost wish that would have happened. she would have (excuse my french) kicked. his. ass. the poor guy wouldnt have seen it coming. hahahaha too bad that didnt happen ;)
we checked out of our rooms, got on the bus, and headed to a different beach for the day. this one was definately much busier. and...... well..... had a lot of boobs.
yes, im telling the truth. it was a nudist beach..... haha.
everywhere. i. looked. i. saw. boobs. "ummmmmmm" we all kinda said laughing, but trying not to laugh too hard and look like a bunch of awkward american tourists. it was funny watching the guys because whenever women would walk by (or even run by, yes, it happened) they would kinda jet their eyes away, acting like they werent looking. common guys, we know you saw them ;)
after a few hours, it was time to meet up for lunch. we ate at this wonderful outdoor grill that had about 2 pans that were about 8 by 8 feet grilling the famous spanish "payella" dish. it basically consists of rice with a wonderful seasoning, shrimps and clams.
i sat by brett for the lunch and as they served the food, they served it with shrimp....but....it was shrimp with their little whiskers still attached and their heads along with those big black eyes. wouldnt doubt it if they were out swimming on the floor of the mediterranean about an hour ago. "um......i cant eat these." i just couldnt eat shrimp with their whiskers shooting up at me and their eyes just staring me down pretty much saying, "spare me, spare me!!" oh those poor things.
brett told me to chill out and that they were amazing and that it was no problem for him to take off their heads for me to eat. so, without me kindly rejecting his offer, he went on to say "see, now all you have to do is grab it and squeeze it like this..."
POOOOOOF.
at that moment, all eyes went on me as i sat there with the blood and guts of that very shrimp's head on my white sundress and yes...my arm.
"ew." was all i could seem to say.
"im so sorry!!!!!" brett said over and over.
"see....this is exactly why i didnt want to eat them! look at this blood!! and oh! i think this is its brain on my arm!!!"
as i wiped it off, i couldnt help but think that the shrimp was getting back at me for not being a vegan. hey! i tried! i wasnt going to eat it! well, that shrimp didnt seem to care.
we finished lunch and headed back out to the beach for free time for the rest of the day. and yes, i slowly got over the guts of the shrimp spewing out on me.
as the day went on, i got more used to seeing boobs. it almost didnt phase me anymore. until i saw this one british lady when i walked around the corner whose boobs pretty much hanged to her belly button (but this wasnt a good hang...). "wow....that is one confident woman" i thought to myself. turns out she was really nice as she ended up watching our bags for us at one point during the day when we all went exploring.
that brings me to my next story. ayla, j.d., brett and i decided to stay near the area with all the cliffs and caves as it was less busy. the other girls wanted to go back to where we were earlier in the day.
so, us 4 left our stuff (yes, we were gambling our precious belongings) with big boobed british woman and took off to explore the cliffs and caves. we swam over to a semi private beach where ayla and i started following the boys up this trail. ok.... so im in a bikini....with no shoes on...walking up this trail with glass, random rocks and sticks. hmmmm....i thought to myself... is this smart??? :/ oh well, im in spain.
we walked and walked and walked and my feet were starting to BURN on the rocks. we got to this point where we were walking on nothing but what seemed like God's creation of concrete mixed with the pointiest rocks you will ever feel. "ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch" i kept thinking to myself, yet keeping it in as i knew this would end up being worth it. we were getting close to the cliff when i saw something sliver into the bushes about 3 feet ahead of me.
yes, it was a snake. and not just some snake, but it was probably about 5 feet long. oh. my. gosh. the boys told us to stay away from the bush and the shade as thats where they like to be. "dont worry," brett said, "they dont like humans." yeah tell that to everyone who has been bitten by a snake!
we finally got to a cliff where we could jump off into the clear blue sea. YES! i thought to myself....never so excited to go jump off a cliff...haha
ayla and i stood at about a 25 foot jump area while the boys went over to a 30 foot jump area. j.d. went first to test the depth and said we were good to go. ayla and i looked at each other almost reading each others minds "whose going first?"
when im nervous about things, i tend to just like to get them out of the way. not that jumping into the mediterranean sea is something i want to "get out of the way" but, jumping off a 25 + foot cliff is a little unsettling.
so, with that, before saying anything, i just jumped. there i went.
i landed in the water with a splash, preparing myself to half way lose my swimsuit (girls, you know what its like).
the jump ended up being a thrill and i definately wanted to do it again. the other 2 jumped and then we went off to explore a cave we saw off in the distance. we swam over there and saw that it went pretty far back. as we were swimming into it, the waves started getting a little strong as the current of a huge sea was flowing into this tiny cave. we made it onto a rock and looked around. j.d. went over into this dark area where he said he saw some unrecognizable type of writings on the wall. cool.
we jumped back in the water and swam over to the place we had previously jumped off.
this is where it gets interesting.
the guys saw these tiny holes where hands had smoothed the rock and decided that we should all climb up this rock to get back up on top to then be able to jump off again.
ok. im all for jumping again...but....i dont really feel like tackling this 15 foot vertical rock... in a bikini. well, too bad. they had already started climbing.
not so fair though because j.d. is about 6 foot 5 and brett is like this little monkey that can climb anything. so there was ayla and i, both about 5 foot 5 and there in the water staring up this rock that the guys keep saying, "you can totally climb this!!!"
yeah. frickin. right.
j.d. jumps back in the water to help us. ayla goes first. tries a couple times and definately fails as she would get up a few feet and fall backwards back into the water.
"ok...." i kept thinking...."this is kind of hard core." hahaha. "and kind of dangerous...." those prickly rocks with barnicoles attached to each inch of them wasnt exactly like the climbing wall back at school.
after a few attempts, some major effort on her part, and help by some shoving of the butt done by j.d., ayla made it to the top. "shoot. now i have to do this." i thought.
"ok katie. your in spain. climb up this damn rock!!!!" ;)
i tried once. OUCH!!!!!! those barnacles seemed to bite at the edge of my toe. i fell back in the water.
tried again. POOOOOSH. a huge wave shoved me up against the rock and i let go of my grip and fell back in.
ok katie. come. on.
i look up at ayla and kind of shake my head and she goes, "katie!!! you're in spain! if it takes some blood and cuts- it will be worth it!!"
"ugh i hate this because i know she is right!" i thought.
i go for a third time. j.d. yells to me, "wait for the rush!!! wait for the wave to push you up!!!!" and as i wait for the perfect time, i thrust myself up, pull with ALL. MY. MIGHT. and make it higher than i had the previous 2 times. but i still wasnt done. i was stuck in an awkward position in the hardest part of the climb. "COME ON. DO THIS!!!!" i thought.
suddenly, i felt a hand on my butt as another wave came and i was pushed higher as i lifted my left leg above where my hands gripped to then pull me up.
ok. wait a minute. what is that touching my butt???
oh, thanks for the push j.d.!!!!! :/ hahahaha
pretty sure when i had my left leg extended above my arms, (i tend to be quite flexible in extenuating circumstances), j.d. got a perfect shot of about half my butt as my swim suit was definately not doing its job.
"sorry j.d.!!!!!" i yelled.
"no problem!!! your so close!!!!!!" he yelled back.
i made it. i actually made it. YES!!!!!!!!
climb a vertical cliff in the mediterranean: check.
i stood on top of that cliff with so much pride.
at that moment, i felt pride was something i deserved to feel ;)
as i stood up there around 5 p.m., knowing we had to leave soon, i just looked out over the water and over that cliff i had just conquered and once again smiled at the sea. this. is. too. cool. what an awesome weekend it's been.
ouch. what is that?
i looked down and my forearm and my toes were bleeding from the climb. ayla was right though, a few cuts and some blood was totally worth it.

off to swim in the mediterranean :]

today in class i was really thrown off because my professor announced to the class that i look like the singer "kesha." ok.... not a huge compliment because she is kinda a crazy person, and personally, i think she looks weird. oh well, im sure my professor meant for it to be a compliment....hehe.
but....i can attribute the song "your love is my drug" to her- which has been stuck in my head for about a week now since all they play in stores over here is american music ;)
we went out for these awesome fruity drinks tonight that were HUGE. wow. so filling. luckily i had monica to help me with it.
while we were there, i had to use the bathroom.... but shoot.... i forgot... sometimes bathrooms here dont have toilet paper... like, they just dont provide it. so, they say its always a good idea to bring toilet paper with you when you go out. well, i guess i forgot to pack my toilet paper because i definately needed it tonight when i went to the bathroom. luckily allison was outside the door waiting (because did i mention, there was no lock on the door? haha) and i said "uh....allison.....is there any toilet paper....?" and she goes, "nope. nada. here ya go!" and i turn around and her little hand is propped into the stall with some napkins in it. hahahaha! "allison! where did you get these?!" she replied, "oh, i carry them around in my purse for times like these! take them!" thanks for saving my butt allison, literally ;)
tonight i had to say goodbye to my girls from greece. i definately shed a few tears. they are two of the sweetest girls i have ever known. i told them i would come visit them in greece as soon as i can. next stop, perhaps? ;)
now i have to leave for the night as monica and i have some packing to do for this weekend. we are going to a little beach city right on the southern coast of spain called "nerja." it is supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in spain to visit. can't wait. as if i havent seen enough beautiful places here. so time for some R&R and sun tanning. swimsuit and A LOT of sunblock: check.
mediterannean sea - here i come.

and the world spins madly on.

it's been a long week of classes and i have been busy....which is why i haven't said hello for a while. i have gotten into so much of a routine that i honestly feel like i live here now. i wake up in the mornings, take a shower, do some homework in my room, fun read, go to lunch, get to school early to enjoy the air conditioning, have classes, come back and eat dinner then do whatever the others are doing that night. its pretty routine, but if you know me, i like routine. and life here has become freakishly routine that i honestly feel like just another spaniard going about my life.
i went to the store the other day to get some sunny delight juice (man, its been years since i have seen that stuff, let alone buy it!) and i put it in my fridge by my room to have in the mornings. im not positive.....but i think that our cleaning lady....rosa....might be takin some of my sunny D. ummmmmm.......what do i say to that???? may be she doesnt know its mine and may be she thinks the other cleaning lady brought it??? haha. whatever. if sunny D helps her get by in the morning, i can deal with that ;)
i've never been in a place where a big celebration has occurred because of a sports victory such as a world series, an NBA championship, or even a world cup. but now i can say that i have been...even though it wasn't my city or country celebrating...oh well. it still counts!
but i must say its pretty neat being surrounded by the enthusiasm and energy of a sports victory. its even neat being here after they won the world cup and seeing what life is like after its all said and done. there is still spanish pride in the air, and that makes me very happy to see.
tuesday night i went out for tapas and drinks with my greek girls who leave tomorrow. :( :( :( i JUST learned that tapas are NOT a SPAIN thing....they are ONLY a GRANADA thing. WHAT?! blew my mind. for those of you who may not know what "tapas" are, basically, if you go to a bar that says they serve "tapas" (which is their word for appetizer) and you go there and order ANY drink, they will bring you a FREE appetizer (tapa) with your drink. any appetizer of your choice. rice, noodles, pasta, chicken, delicious bread, etc. so if you are there with say 4 other people, you will get 5 appetizer dishes, one for each of you. all for the price of just 1 drink per person! it is AWESOME!!!
so we went out and had those at this cute little place just down the street from where we live. we walked in and flower designs were all over the walls and the floors and the main colors were white, pink and purple. you would assume that women owned the place or that it catered to the female crowd. nope. there were definately only men workers and there were plenty of men customers. many guys i know from the states wouldnt have wanted to step foot in that place, let alone work there! hahaha.
we walked one of the girls we knew back home that night. it was around 1 a.m. im not trying to scare you mom and dad, but, walking that night was the first actual time that i have felt legitimately unsafe. luckily there was me and 3 other girls, but, there was this eerie feel to the night and it was unsettling. i actually decided to take my camera and keys out of my little wallet i was carrying around and stuff them in my shirt. that left just 5 euro in my wallet that anyone could take if they decided to rob us.
i think that part of the reason i got so scared was because my friend allison told me that one of the girls who lived in our dorm last month was robbed right outside our dorm door. they chased her down the street and took her phone and money.
i guess you can never let your guard down completely, even if you think you feel totally safe.
luckily we got back ok that night and i kinda thought twice about walking around the streets again with just girls at that hour :/
wednesday i had to get up early because my 8 p.m. art history class was rescheduled to a time earlier in the day. we were going on a field trip!!! ah....it brought me back to the good ol elementary days! :)
little did i know where we were actually going that day!
i met my class outside school and we walked to "La Capilla Real" - - the church where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried!!!!! these people are HUGE in our history!! they reunited spain under the banner of Christianity and were able to reform the country which eventually became known as being one of Europe's best adminstered countries. i couldnt believe we were going there and i was psyched because i got in for free with my class! another thing on my to do list was being accomplished as part of school. sweet.
the church was of course beautiful. but what made me upset was when i walked in and saw a sign that said "no pictures." shoot. im ganna have to sneak them because i am NOT going to pass up a picture of ferdinand and isabella's burial site.
i walked around the church and was taking pictures without my flash. i felt like my mom. whenever our family would go to europe, about half of the places did not allow photography. but did that stop deb? nope. whats it ganna hurt!? right? ;)
i took a picture of the burial site that sat above them and after i did, i looked over and a man who worked there looked at me and said, "no no no."
whoops! sorry! i mean, im not sorry i took the picture, im sorry you caught me. ;)
luckily he was really nice about it and didnt throw me out or something. there i would have been on a field trip with my class and my teacher looks over and sees me getting escorted out of the building. hahahaha.
i was able to get a picture of their actual coffins which sat in this creepy underground area. yes! successfully sneak a picture even after the security guy told me not to: check!
we left the church and of course there were a ton of shopping places nearby and i had to get a few more things for family and friends. when i went to the cash register to pay, she rung this one item up that i DID NOT realize the price was as high as it was, so i kindly told her i didnt want it anymore.
ok. heres a few "heads up" tips for you all the next time you are in spain.
1. they DO NOT speak english here. their old ruler/"dictator" - - Franco, actually forbid them to learn any other language except spanish. it just was not ok to know anything else. so, though he has been dead for quite some time, the aftermath of his reign still affects people here today as several of them still DO NOT KNOW ENGLISH. and thats totally ok! im not the selfish american who wants or needs everyone in the world to know english. thats why i am here learning spanish. BUT.... i will say....if you own a souvenir shop or a restaurant....and you mainly attract american tourists who most likely only speak english....it might be beneficial for you to know a few words in english if you want to more successfully sell your product. just a thought.
so if any of you go to spain- i HIGHLY recommend you speak spanish, bring someone who speaks spanish, or bring along one heck of a spanish dictionary.
2. when you go up to the register to buy your merchandise, make sure you want ALL of it and know how much each one costs. because once you set that stuff on the counter, there is NO turning back.
why do i say this? well, when i set the stuff down and realized how much one of them was AFTER she rang it up, (i assumed it was a certain price but i was caught way off guard when i did see the actual price) i told her i didnt have enough money for it. which i honestly didnt. she stopped, looked at me and said in spanish, "well i cant erase it. why dont you want it?" and i tried to explain to her that i didnt have the money and i didnt know it was that expensive. and as i was trying to tell her this, she was just standing there like i was just the most inconvenient person she has ever come across. like, how dare i decide i dont want to buy something!!!! what will she do now?!?! i asked her if she could simply erase the one item and keep going with the other stuff i wanted. she said no, it was not possible. ummmmm...... why not??? i kept thinking. oh well. i didnt want to get in this huge spanish argument because i knew i wouldnt get anywhere because i wouldnt even be able to argue in the language! hahaha. luckily she worked it out somehow and didnt make me pay for it. but sheeeeesh, next time, check once, twice and a third time what you are getting and how much money you have.
i just couldnt stay out of trouble with the spaniards that day! ;)
thursday morning i woke up to this terrible beeping sound. like anyone can be in the morning, i was disoriented and started checking my fan to see if it was my fan making this incredibly loud beeping sound. how could my tiny fan make such a loud sound?! well, in my head, it was totally my fan, and i didnt know why it kept making the sound after i had turned it off. after a few minutes of utter confusion, i realized, oh, it wasnt my fan, it was coming from outside :)
i then got a little nervous because i then went into freak out mode and thought "oh no! is one of the buildings' fire alarms going off?! is there a fire?! can i get out of here!?"
i lifted the window and went out on our balcony and saw a bunch of people standing outside one of the clothing stores near our dorm. there was no emergency, everyone looked fine and i didnt see fire ;) apparently it was just the security alarm going off and apparently they COULD. NOT. TURN. IT. OFF. it went off for about a half an hour. yes. nonstop. loud. obnoxious.
though this made me quite frustrated because i had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep thus far, i couldnt help but laugh because this type of thing is soooo customary for spain. its really no big deal for a store alarm to go off for a half an hour, even if it disturbs the entire street. no one really cares. man, this laid back spaniard lifestyle is just not jiving with my high strung american way of life! ;)
i went to school and got a lot done. i have this huge art history midterm on tuesday which i am SUPER nervous for. eeeeeek! so i have been busy preparing for that.
one of the girls in my classes told me she wasnt going to be in class on monday because she is going para gliding. do any of you know what that is? well, its para sailing, except, rather than it being over water, you glide over a MOUNTAIN. when she told me that, i without thinking said, "WHAT?!?!!?!??! I WANNA GO!!!!"
turns out you pay this company to come pick you up, bring you to the top of the sierra nevada mountain range, they run off the top of the mountain with you, you glide at a starting altitude of about 10,000 feet then fall for a good 20 minutes, then they take you back to the city. sounds like a thrill, count me in.
when i heard this, i thought of my friend martha back home who i know would be here in a heartbeat to do this with me ;)
so i need to figure things out with that, but, i am pretty sure i will be flying over the sierra nevadas on monday evening rather than being in class.....hm....is it ok if i skip class one day.....? um, yeah.
on my way home from classes, i turned this corner and i SWEAR TO YOU....i SWEAR...i saw my friend maddie. my heart literally dropped in excitement. she was tall and had long dark hair and was wearing sunglasses just like maddie would. i literally had this smile on my face and i about went running to this random girl, who, turned out not to be maddie. but boy, at that moment, i realized how much i missed her and how much i miss those i love back home. :)
i got back from classes and my greek girls came running up to me and said, "eat quick! were going to a flamenco show tonight!!!!" um, ok!!!
so i ate quickly and we took off to go get tickets for the flamenco show.
we got our tickets and had to wait for it to start, so we went and got tapas at a nearby restaurant. throughout the night, fabricio (from brazil) and eva (from greece) proceeded to ask allison (from texas) if she: owned a horse, liked country music and if she had met george bush. hahahaha.
allison is quite the comedian so she responded, "why the hell would you think i own a horse?! just cuz i live in texas does not mean i own a horse! i've never even been on a horse! and country music?! i HATE country music! and george bush?! UGH i DO NOT like him!!! i am pretty much the only democrat in texas but i dont care!! but.... he actually does live in the neighborhood next to mine....."
hahahaha!! oh allison i love you.
fabricio and allison then proceeded to have an argument solely over the topic about why soccer is called soccer in the U.S. to fabricio, it made no sense. to allison, it did. fabricio said, "what does soccer have to do with the sport!? you use your feet with a ball! it should be called football in america!!" then allison said "well then if you are going to get that critical, then you should make every sport like that. like calling volleyball handball or something!" listening to that argument that lasted about 10 minutes was almost the best and most comical part of my day.
we headed back to where the flamenco show was and went inside.
for any of you who do not know flamenco, its basically a very sexy, highly individualized dance that is extremely popular in spain. i HIGHLY recommend you see one whenever you can. it (usually) consists of a female dancer, a male dancer, a guitarist and then 2 or 3 other males/females who clap a certain beat and yell out random spanish words. its actually quite sexy and beautiful, believe me.
we walked into the place where the show was and, whoa. it was this tiny little area that pretty much was like a hallway. it was about 12 feet in width and 12 feet high. then it was about 150 feet long. only about 30 people could fit into this tiny area for the show.
it was extremely personal and every person in there could hear and see perfectly and you could almost smell the perfume the dancer wore.
the show started at midnight (totally normal start time for a thursday night show in spain. no big deal, right?) and for the entire time, i just sat there in this tiny, somewhat claustrophobic area watching this foreign, culturally rich dance unfold in front of my very own eyes.
little did i know that after what seemed like 20 minutes, the show was already ending. "it couldnt already be done..." i thought.
looked at my watch and it read 1:30.
only the culture of spain can seem to put me into the trance i was in during that show.
absolutely awesome.