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.