VICTORY: SPAIN!!!!!!!!!!

ESPAN-A! ESPAN-A! ESPAN-A!!!!!!!! VICTORY FOR SPAIN!!!!! THEY ADVANCE IN THE WORLD CUP!!!!!!!! THIS CITY IS GOING CRA-ZY!!!!!!!!!!!
beep beep, beep beep, beep beep. roll over, oh! my alarm clock! i actually slept till my alarm clock! YES.
7:45 a.m. and time to get up for another day in granada, spain. :)
The city has one of those "calm before the storms" feeling as we prepare for a match against Paraguay today. It is oddly serene and calm. Hmmmmmmm......what will happen? :)
Had breakfast and met the group for a tour of the Alhambra!!!! The Alhambra is the most amazing and historical monument is Spain, hands down. Alhambra is Arabic and means "red castle."
We got there at 9 a.m. and did not get out of the tour until 1 p.m. The entire 4 hours consisted of us walking through the castle and gardens. And we walked pretty fast- thats how big it is.
Basically, the Alhambra was built in the 9th century and was added and reconstructed over time by moorish rulers and later catholic rulers. In 1492 the Catholics took over the Moorish people and ruled the castle. Until the 18th century, the castle was occupied by gypsies and thieves until Napolean and his troops came and took over the castle and then began to abuse it with their families and animals. Famous Spanish Romantic writer Washington Irving took interest in the castle and came to stay which he then turned his experiences there into stories which therefore made the Alhambra the popular monument it is today. I have never seen such intricate work in my life. each column and wall was carefully handcrafted into different shapes and designs. im not a big artsy person, but i have never seen anything so perfectly made. it was breathtaking.
Mary Lee Settle, author or Spanish Recognitions states, "if you cannot relearn wonder again at the Alhambra, you may as well stay at home and die." Wow, those are strong words.
We took the bus back home and I headed down to lunch by myself where then 3 other Spanish boys sat at my table with me. At first I was nervous because I knew I was outnumbered and they all speak probably about 20 words of English. So we began talking and telling each other about ourselves. One of the guys, Juan, kept trying to explain to me that yes his name was Juan, but that he goes by "Tome." I thought he kept trying to use the verb "tomar" in the past tense, which means "to take." But actually he kept trying to say that he goes by Tome because thats the city he is from. OHHHHHHHHHHH. NOW I get it! hahaha. So then I replied by saying, "oh ok. so then my name can be Seattle???" They just laughed and said, "si si!!!!" Ok then! everyone, i now go by "Seattle!" ;)
Went back upstairs and Monica was about to take a siesta so i wanted to as well. :) hey! gatta take em while you can!! so we slept for a few hours knowing the evening had a lot in store ;)
we got up, wrote some emails then got ready for the big soccer match vs. paraguay!!!! monica got a "xavi" jersey just like me so we were set for the game!
we went to a local irish bar called "hannigans" and sat down about 5 minutes before the game started. the bar was PACKED with spaniards rootin on spains team.
the game was INTENSE. full of yellow cards, penalty kicks, injuries and several close calls on both sides. there was hooting and hollering the entire night and i can definately say that i have never seen a country so excited and proud of their team. it was absolutely awesome.
it came to about the 78 minute of the game when spain got the ball and advanced down field. they shot, it went of the goal post, then david villa, spains star player got the ball and shot again- it hit the other goal post and...... WENT IT!!!!! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ESPANA IS UP 1-0!!!!!!!!!! i have never screamed so loud and jumped around so much for a soccer game!!!!! the bar was going crazy. crazy. crazy. i accidentally hit poor aileen on the head with my elbow while trying to high five monica. hahaha. sorry aileen! ;)
spain held their ground and WON THE GAME!!!!!!!! SPAIN WINS!!!!!!!!!! THEY ADVANCE!!!!!!!! the bar was going nuts!!!!!!!! but little did we know what was in store and how crazy this city really could get.....
we walked outside and heard a faint sound of yelling and honking of horns... we walked toward the noise and about 8 minutes down the road, at the bank in the main square where we always meet, there was where the noise was coming from.
cars driving with people wrapped in spains flag hanging out the windows and sunroofs, scooters revving their engines, people jumping on top of cars and shaking them side to side, police standing everywhere to make sure people didnt get trampled, groups of people yelling "viva espana!!!!! paraguay esta muerte!!!!!" (paraguay is dead). I. HAVE. NEVER. SEEN. SO. MUCH. EXCITEMENT.
ladies and gentlemen, i am going to be honest with you. today was probably and will probably be one of the most exciting and exhilarating days of my life.
aileen, brett, amber, monica, josh and i ran around the streets with the other spaniards celebrating their victory with them. i was soooo excited that i started running in the streets and high fiving people in their cars and scooters. they loved seeing young american girls so pumped for their country's victory. i was seriously having the time of my life and we ended up running around the streets for about 2 hours until midnight rolled around. i dont think i have been that happy or excited in so many years.
i will never forget this day.
viva espana.