New Classes, New Countries

Starting October 3, we had all new classes. For the next 3 months, we would be in regular classes, not just the intensive course. I have four classes now: Oral and Written Spanish, Grammar, History of Spain, and History of Flamenco and Traditional Spanish Dance. The good thing is that we don’t have classes most Fridays, only occasionally for make-up days when there is a holiday. Monday through Thursday I have class at 8:30 in the morning. Mondays and Wednesdays, I have class until 2:30, and Tuesdays and Thursdays class ends at 10:30 but I have my internship from 11:30-2:30.

October 7 to the 9 my program went to Morocco. We took ferry from Tarifa to Tangier. Once in Tangier we ate couscous and drank mint tea at the Darna Association of Women. There they provide classes to women, teaching them to read and write, and teaching them skills such as sewing or weaving. They sell beautiful handmade items there like tapestries, stuffed animals, and blankets, and the profits go to helping women. After we ate and toured the building, we walked around Tangier and saw the city. After we left Tangier, we took a bus somewhere near the Atlantic Ocean and rode camels! After the camel ride, we went to the Cave of Hercules. It was so beautiful. There was the cave, and the cliff that looked over the Atlantic. That night we rode to the hotel and ate an amazing Moroccan dinner.

Saturday, we ate an amazing breakfast buffet then headed out to tour Tetouan. We saw the Medina, the Mosque, the street markets, the city baths, and the tannery. The tannery was my least favorite part of the whole trip. It is where they make leather. It smelled like death.

After Tetouan, we hopped on the bus for a 2.5-hour ride to Chefchaouen. The roads in Morocco are very mountainous. Nothing in scarier than riding on the side of a mountain in a bus that has to turn off the air-conditioning when going uphill because it isn’t strong enough, is easily 30 years old and a stick shift. When we got there, we were dropped off at the highest point in the city, and made our way to the bottom. In Chefchaouen, every house is painted a shade of blue. In the past, blue houses were used to identify the Jewish residents, but it became a popular attraction, so now the city has days every year where all the residents paint their houses blue. Our tour guide took us to see the amazing sights of the city and experience the culture. After we had the tour, we were split up among three local families for lunch and free time. I was with a girl named Yousra; she is 17 and in high school. Her mom made us the best couscous I have ever had in my life. After lunch, our group went to the city center and walked around the shops. I got henna on my hand, and it only cost 20 dirhams, which is 2 euros. I also bought a purse, some hair oil and a necklace. Chefchaouen was so hot, I went through 4-1.5 liter bottles of water. After I got the henna, Yousra took me to this beautiful lookout at the top of a restaurant. We could see the whole city; it was so beautiful. That night, we had a private Andalusi concert at our hotel. It was so much fun. Everyone danced and sang. Then we had some very good dinner and slept like rocks because we were so exhausted from the day. Then on Sunday morning, we ate breakfast early and left for Tangier. We had to catch the ferry back to Spain. Once we got back on the bus, everyone was passed out.

          Morocco was very interesting because we saw how the people lived so differently compared to what we are used to. Even though Morocco and Europe are separated by only 50 miles, so much is different.

           

          October 14, I went to Lagos, Portugal with this program called discover excursions, a bunch of people from my program went too. We had to meet at 6 am and didn’t get to Portugal until 2 or 3 pm. There were about 40 of us on the trip. When we got to our hotel, I was in the bathroom getting ready to go to the beach when my phone fell off the counter and broke. The screen was unusable, so for the rest of the weekend, I did not have a phone. I kind of enjoyed it because it made me focus more on what was going on, although I do wish I could have gotten some pictures. We met at the beach after we checked in, and there everyone met each other and we played games of American football and Frisbee.

The next day we went on a boat for a “Sangria Cruise.” From the boat, we all got onto a tinier boat and toured the caves which were beautiful. This weekend was my first time jumping from a boat into the ocean. The water was freezing, but the weather was hot, so most people went in the water. From the main boat, they had a tiny boat take groups of 10 people touring through the caves. After the cruise, we went to the beach and hung out there until 4 or 5. Then, we went back to the hotel, showered, ate and went out again.

          On Sunday, I signed up to go kayaking in the ocean. It was so difficult but beautiful. It was my first-time kayaking, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I was surprisingly not terrible. We kayaked through the caves and up to a beach. On the way back, the tour guide tied us all together and hooked us up to a boat and they pulled us the rest of the way back to the dock. After that, we headed back to the hotel to shower, grab a late lunch and leave. The bus ride back to Granada was not fun because I couldn’t use my phone to listen to music. We arrived home after 1am but it was worth it.

          So far October has been an interesting month, meeting new people from all over the world, and taking new classes and a foreign language, but it is so fun. 

Intensivo

Ten days after the original shock of moving to a new city with a new language, we started classes on September 2. On the 1st, we took a placement test and the next morning we started classes. The class was four hours a day, five days a week of strictly Spanish speaking, writing, and grammar. Class started at nine and ended at one. Our class was a mix of fourteen very interesting students, and a crazy, but amazing teacher.

On September 16, some friends and I went to a beach town called Almuñécar for the weekend. It's on the Mediterranean. We took a bus from Granada to Almuñécar. The walk from the bus station to our Airbnb was long, hot, and mainly uphill. The shoes I wore gave me horrible blisters all over both feet, and I thought that the ocean water would help heal them, but instead of sand, it the beach was completely covered in burning hot rocks. It was so painful to walk on, but the rocks were very useful when it got cold because they were still warm. The water was so clear but cold, and we could see fish swimming around while we were in the water. We all were numb, but it felt great compared the scorching heat. Later, went to the market and bought food to cook for dinners and breakfasts. One day, coming back from the beach we all rode the same elevator up to our room, but the elevator was meant for three people, not five fully grown adults in a tiny elevator. We were stuck in there for forty-five minutes before a man came for us. We used the stairs for the rest of the trip, and we were staying on the 7th floor. We were all pretty shaken up from the experience, but we hung out in the apartment until we were all better then went back to the beach and got dinner at an amazing pizzeria.

These are the rocks at the beach

The sunsets were beautiful.

The view from our Airbnb.

In the middle of September my host mom’s sister came to stay with us because she goes to school here. She became my intercambio partner, which means that we talk in both English and Spanish to help each other improve. We often go out to get tapas and talk in Spanish and English.

At the end of September, our program went out for churros con chocolate. We met the new students that would be with us for the rest of the semester. Before we were thirteen girls and one guy, but then four more girls and three more guys joined for the regular semester program.

Each person got their own cup of chocolate for their churros.

That weekend we visited the Alhambra. We had a tour that was about three hours, and we got to see all the different parts like the Generalife, the hotel, the different palaces, the fort, the Medina, and the cemetery. It was interesting to see how the people used to live, and what was important to them. Every major room had some type of fountain; our tour guide told us it was for privacy, to cover conversations. I find it very interesting that after the crusades, the Catholics took over the Alhambra and built their own palace and church. You can clearly see the difference in architecture and style between the Moorish works and the Catholic ones. Royalty from all over Europe used to come to the Alhambra and stay in The Palace of Carlos V for their vacations.

Granada has so much to offer, I can’t believe all the things I did and saw in one month. Three months left and I can’t wait to see what other amazing things I’ll do!

The First Week and a Half

After fifteen hours on a plane I finally could say that I was in Spain. While waiting for my flight in the Philadelphia airport, I had met a wonderful couple traveling to Salamanca. We talked about travel and they gave me advice for Granada. On the plane, they were in the row behind me, and the man who was seated to me switched seats to be with his family, so I had the row to myself! I was happy to have some room and privacy, and after four hours I was tired of the flight and ready to be in Spain, but at almost the halfway point, the plane turned around because someone was sick and we waited in Boston for 2 long hours where we weren’t allowed to leave our seats. An eight-hour flight turned into fifteen hours and I missed my connecting flight to Alicante. Finally, after much confusion and a language barrier I got on the plane to Alicante.

The view from the plane

On the hour-long plane ride to Alicante, I was seated next to a wonderful man on his way home from Colombia. He was coming from his mother’s funeral but he was still very talkative and interested. He gave me advice about my family as well, saying, “Whenever you have a chance, spend it with your family. You never know when is the last time you’ll see them.” That kind of made me feel guilty about leaving them to come to Spain, but at the same time I felt like it was something I needed to do to grow as a person, become independent, and help my future.  Also, the whole ride we talked in Spanish!

        When I arrived, my friend and her dad were standing by the gate and I stayed in their apartment in Elche for a few days. Upon my arrival, I had some expectations for Spain based on the last time I was there, but the city and the people were very different from what I thought they’d be. Last time I was here, I was in a small village in the mountains, and Elche is a relatively large town. Elche is in the Valencian region of Spain, so all the signs were in Catalan and Castellan, which I was not expecting. I went to the beach, met new people, saw beautiful churches, and had the best paella. The beach was on the Mediterranean, the sand was soft and hot, and once fully in the water, I could see my feet.

My friend Gemma, and the inside of an old castle. You can tell it wasn’t built with tall people in mind!

Overlooking an old fort. 

Wonderful paella made by my friend’s aunt. Best. Paella. Ever.

Beautiful street art next to a running trail.

The beautiful Mediterranean

After my 4 days in Elche, and an emotional goodbye from my friend and her parents, I took a 6-hour bus ride to Granada where I was greeted by my host mom’s ex-husband. He dropped me off at her apartment, where I met my host mom and her kids. She took me for a walk around the city, showed me where I would be taking classes, and pointed out all the fun places to go. I couldn’t help but thinking about how lucky I was to be able to live in this amazing city for 4 months.

A beautiful road that runs along a river in the Albaycin Quarter of Granada next to the Alhambra.

The two next mornings, I had to be up at seven to meet with my program. We toured the city and familiarized ourselves with the school. I met the thirteen other people with whom I would be spending the first month. Everyone was excited and nervous, as expected. Spending four months away from home is tough and scary, so everyone quickly found a support group of friends. Our first weekend together we went to Malaga. Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga so we made a point to visit the Picasso museum. It was so beautiful, and it is the central hub of all his works. Most of his paintings get rotated out of the Picasso Museum to others throughout the world. We also toured the Alcazaba which is an old Moorish fort. This one is the best preserved one in Spain. Malaga is known for their Malaga wine. I tried it and did not like it because of how sweet it is. It tasted like maple syrup.

A statue of Picasso

Our group of CEA students, and Jorge at the Picasso Museum.

Those first one and a half weeks in Spain were worth the fifteen-hour flight.