Que Viva España!!! I can't believe we had the opportunity to be in Spain when they won the World Cup! The city of Segovia set up a screen in the main plaza for everybody to watch, and it was PACKED. The game was rather boring until the end, but it was worth it to stay and see the celebrations after we won! We definitely smelled like a mixture of the three most important things of Spain: beer, smoke, and pot. The fiesta lasted the entire night...car horns, singing, gunshots, fireworks, etc. prohibited us from sleeping, but it was so exciting! The Spanish people definitely know how to celebrate. Don't worry, we fled the streets ASAP to avoid the stampede.
This weekend we traveled south to Granada, the last Moorish city to be reconquered by the Christians in 1492. We visited the Alhambra, the most famous Muslim palace- which was BEAUTIFUL! I didn't realize how much the Arabs influenced the culture and history in Spain. We took the night bus to Granada in order to evade staying in a hostel an extra night, but the bus arrived 2 hours earlier than we predicted. Instead of arriving at 6:30 in the morning, we arrived at 4:30am with no hostel to check into until 11am. We decided to camp out in the bus station and met some really nice people! A Brazilian woman shared some of her stories with us and discussed how the Spanish culture is so different from the cultures of Latin America. We also met another girl from England who had studied here for 4 months. Yay for adventures...
Our Spanish Culture and Civilization class is very interesting, and it's nice to be able to travel and see the places that we talk about. From our classroom today we could hear a piano playing Spanish music in the background, which definitely help set the mood!
It has been said that traveling makes you more appreciative of the things you have at home. SO TRUE. Katie and I have already talked about what we're going to EAT when we return. The menu for each meal here is BREAD, BREAD, other carbs, BREAD, and ice cream. We just can't seem to stay full here! We never pass up a chance to eat McDonalds, even though we never eat it in the United States. Somehow we never end up with what we ordered, either. The first place we're going is Target, because it also contains a Starbucks...two birds with one stone.
We we also take 45 minute showers without turning the water off each time you shampoo or lather with soap. I will talk on the phone as long as I want. And sleep with AIR CONDITIONING and dry our clothes with actual dryers!
I think we're going to cook brownies for our host family today...pray that it turns out well! Tomorrow we're going to Salamanca and then to Barcelona for a long weekend. We miss everyone at home...besos fuertes and ciao!!
Again, can't express how much I'm enjoying these blogs. This is truly such a rich learning experience for you. And then to learn what you'll do when you get home - we would all benefit from not taking all we have in the U.S. so much for granted. That said, what a time to be in Spain...wow!
ReplyDelete