Granada... Not a bar in Lawrence.

Hola! I have returned from my first of many weekend excursions and it was amazing! With a group of about 45 students, we took a bus from Alicante to Granada. There were about 15 kids from MU, 10 from ASU, 5 from random schools and then the Wisconsin group. The Wisconsin group has already been here for a month and they leave tomorrow. They kept talking about how they wish they could stay longer which reminded me how happy I am that I chose a semester instead of just a month long session.

We left on Friday at 3 PM. The bus picked us up from school. I knew it would be a pain to come home and then go back to school so after class I just hung out at the university until 3. Tracy, Erin and I walked around a little and grabbed a bocadilla (which is like a sandwich) at a cafe on campus. We really felt like Spanish students then! Ha.

The bus ride was about 4 hours but we had a big, comfortable bus so I slept for almost the entire time! Plus, Aurora had packed me lots of fruit and a cheese sandwich that I ate on the way. When we arrive in Granada, we put our stuff in our room and got on smaller buses for a little tour.

We drove up through La Albaycin, which is a small neighborhood that was home to the common people during the Moorish period in Spain. We went to see the night view of La Alhambra from the Mirador San Nicolas, which is right across from the castle and fortress. It was so beautiful. I am not usually the touristy type so I was surprised that all of the places that we went excited me as much as they did. I love learning about history but I never seem to appreciate them as much as most people do when I see them in person. But, I was in awe of every single place that we went in Granada. It made me even that much more excited for the next couple months.

After the amazing night view, we went to a Flamenco show in the gypsy caves in the Sacramonte part of Granada. We all sat in this narrow little cave on the side of a mountain and watched women and a few men dance while a small little group played music and sang in the background. It was such an intense dance. The ladies really put all of their emotions into it and were sweating and everything! They had so much energy, it was fun to watch them do something that has been such a huge part of their lives. The main guy was awesome at dancing! There were pictures all over the place of him dancing since he was a little boy, probably only 5 years old. The show didn´t get over until about 1:30ish so we headed back to the hotel and everyone went to bed.

The next morning we started our day around 10. First, we went to La Catdral. It is a Renaissance cathedral from the 16th century. This cathedral was built to impress the people of Granada after the reconquest to show them the power and majesty of the Christians. It too was unbelievable. I kept wanting to take pictures but I know that pictures would not have done this place justice. Every single corner of the church was occupied with some decoration or a painting. Plus, the ceilings all went up about 100 feet. I was in awe that someone had laid on their back to paint all of it. That is some dedication and talent that I just do not have!

In La Catedral is La Capilla Real. This is a wing of the cathedral which holds the remains of Ferdinand and Isabella, Juana la Loca (their daughter) and Felipe el Hermoso (Juana´s husband). Artifacts, clothings and paintings of their times are also on display. Ferdinand and Isabella´s tombstone was huge and we were able to see their coffins underground. Armando is really the best tour guide ever. He knows everything and wants to share it with anyone who is willing to listen. I tried to stay by him the entire time because I loved hearing his historical stories.

After the cathedral, we went to La Cartuja. It is a 16th century monastery. It was built to facilitate the conversion of the population to Christianity. The monastery includes the refectory, several chapels, the charter room, and a baroque church-. Armando tole us that it is one of the most impressively ornate churches we will see in Spain.

Our last stop was Sante Fe. This town was built around the military camp used by Ferdinand and Isabella during the effort to reconquer Granada. In the central plaza, the Catholic kings signed the contract with Christopher Columbus to finance his search for a western route to India. We learned all about Christopher Columbus and just what an enigma he really is. There is controversy through all of Europe about whether he is Portuguese or Italian.

We got back to the hotel at about 3 PM. We walked around a little bit and I bought some postcards. We also went to el supermercado and found wine that was only 0.95 Euros! We were so excited! Ha. Even though it is wine in a box, it still is cheaper than a bottle of water here! We just thought that was hilarious! They even have wine juice boxes! Once we all found our way back to the hotel, we slept until dinner. We ate dinner in the hotel and then we went out. It was really fun! It was kind of hard because we had such a big group but eventually the Wisconsin group went to a different bar so it was a little more managable. We met some other American students who were studying in Granada and I talked with a girl from Spain that studied in New York for a year. We headed back to the hotel at about 2 AM and fell right to sleep.

In the morning, we went to La Alhambra for the inside tour. It is a huge place! La Alhambra actually means "red fortress" because it was made out of red clay. It took us about 4 hours to tour the entire thing! The fortress was amazing but the palace was even better. The Arab king had this huge house with so many rooms it was hard to take it all in. Then, we walked about 100 feet to his summer house which was this beautiful white building called Generalife. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella took over the Arabs and established Christianity in this region of Spain. In almost every corner of La Alhambra they put a figure of the Virgin Mary, most of which are still there today! It was amazing, I think I took over 300 pictures!

At about 2:30, my legs were sore and I was ready to head home, to Alicante. It is weird that I just wanted my bed in Alicante! We got back on the bus but we still had one more stop.

We drove for about an hour and stopped in a little town called Guadix. There are people in this town that still live in caves. However, they are pretty advanced. It was really interesting because they had electricty, plasma tvs and running water. They just lived in caves because their ancestors had done it and it was their way of life. There were about 6 kids playing soccer in the street before we left. One girl in our group tried to tell them that she was friends with Miley Cyrus but they were unimpressed. Ha! After about 30 minutes in this little town, we headed back to Alicante. On the way back, we watched American Beauty, in English, thank goodness! Ha, I could actually let my brain rest and just enjoy some entertainment which was nice. However, the movie was pretty strange.

I got back to my house at about 8ish and Aurora wasn´t here. I was really looking forward to seeing her so I waited for her to come home. Then, I Skyped with my mom and dad which is always great. It is almost midnight here so I am going to bed so that I will be well rested for a week of early class.

I love you all and miss everyone like crazy. I am already craving some American food and I am curious what I will want my first meal to be once I get home! I guess we will see!

Adios! Love, Me.