Memories from My Spain Adventure

Me in the Madrid Airport super excited after we finally got our luggage after waiting for two hours!

Libby and I in the Madrid Airport ready to begin our adventure!

Memories from My Spain Adventure

Hello!

So this is my last blog for this Spain trip. So sad! I have really enjoyed writing them and I hope you have enjoyed reading them. I have learned so much on this trip it is really difficult to write it all down. My Spanish has improved, obviously, and I have learned, through experiencing, the Spanish culture and how they live their day to day lives. I have travelled to more cities in Spain than I ever thought I would in my life: Granada, Ronda, Nerja, the Sierra Nevadas, Cordoba, Pais Vasco: San Sebastian and Bilbao, Valencia, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Sevilla, Cadiz and Jerez. As you have seen from my previous blogs, these trips were always eye-opening and amazing experiences.

I have had the best homestay experience, and of course my host mom has everything to do with that! She was truly a gift in this journey and I am extremely grateful that she was there for me when I needed her. She will always have a special place in my heart and I will miss her tons. Of course I will also miss her adorable grandchildren, Sonsole and Juan Antonio. Over the weekend, Libby and I went with Ana to mass because we wanted to experience her life a little bit. She goes every day. It was a beautiful church and a cool experience. After we walked around Granada together and took pictures in Federico Garcia Lorca Park near our house.

For this blog, I have posted pictures of some of the best memories from this experience in chronological order. There have been so many, so I couldn’t choose them all! I hope you enjoy looking back on these memories as much as I do. I kinda went overboard on the pictures, but that is because there were so many amazing memories that I want to share!! I chose a photo or two from each trip and also some from around Granada. Enjoy!!

I am anxious to get back home and excited to see everyone. As the last week of this trip comes rapidly to a close, I am grateful for my family for helping me be here, my friends for being there when I got homesick and of course everyone who read my blog and shared in this experience with me. I hope I will be able to have more adventures and experiences like this in the future, but I acknowledge that this experience was unique--one that I will never be able to repeat.

Again, thanks for reading my blog!

5 days and counting.

Abrazos y besos,
Annie


Me in Madrid in Plaza Major.

Kathryn, me, Kailey and Libby in Ronda.

Me in Nerja looking out over the Meditarranean Sea!

Me at the top (well almost!) of the Sierra Nevadas

Me in Cordoba.

Me, Kailey, Libby, Brittany and Kathryn in San Sebastian.

Brittany, Me, Kathryn, Kailey and Libby in San Sebastian.

Me in Valencia on the beach!

A bunch of us at the center of Spain in Madrid.

Kathryn and I in Toledo.

Kailey, Kathryn, Chris, Me and Libby in Toledo.

Me, Chris and Brittany in Sevilla.

Chris, Me, Kathryn and Kyle in Cadiz.

Granada Photos:

My host mom Ana and I in Federico Garcia Lorca Park in Granada.

Sonsole, the granddaughter of Ana, and I building card houses!

Libby, Kailey, Kathryn, Me and Kendall in Granada for my 20th birthday.

Libby and I in Granada heading out to listen to a live jazz band.

Libby, Brittany and me going out in Granada.

Kathryn, Jo and me having dinner with Chris's parents when they came to visit Granada.

Me in the neighborhood Albaycin with a view of La Alhambra behind me.

Me at night with La Alhambra in the background.

Libby and I in front of a fountain in Puerta Real, about two minutes from our house.

Me in Federico Garcia Lorca Park.

Cadiz y Jerez: Last Adventure in Spain

Me, Chris and Kathryn at the top of the tower of the Cathedral in Cadiz looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Kathryn, Chris and I at sunset in Cadiz looking over the Atlantic Ocean.

Me at the beach in Cadiz. Yes, in December!

The group: Chris, me, Kathryn and Kyle--hanging out at the beach in Cadiz.

Me with our completed and AMAZING pumpkin pie. It's as happy as I am!

Hello!

Over the weekend I went to Cádiz and Jerez with some good friends of mine. We had a five day weekend because of holidays in Spain on Monday and Tuesday. Cádiz is a beautiful little town, basically surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, in southern Spain on the western coast. Even though it was December, it was still t-shirt weather and the sun was shining! Since my friends and I were renting an apartment for the weekend we did all our own cooking, which was really fun! And of course, as promised we made pumpkin pie! We experimented and made a gram-cracker crust, which ended up turning out really good! We also walked around the city; it’s small so we pretty much saw most of it. We also took a walk along the boardwalk looking out over the Atlantic Ocean and of course we walked on the beach.

On Sunday we took a day trip to Jerez, which is about 40 minutes from Cádiz. Jerez is known for its winery’s, which we saw everywhere, and has a beautiful Cathedral. We found an outdoor market that was more like a garage sale. There was a ton of stuff that looked like people had just grabbed it out of their house to sell!! But there were some gems among the rubble. I found a pretty pair of earrings for myself and my friend Chris found some very cool sand drawings.

Needless to say, it was a very relaxing and fun weekend with friends. Now I am in the final stretch of this Spain adventure. This week is the last week of classes and next week is finals. In less than 2 weeks I will be back in the states. The time here has flown by!! I cannot believe that it is almost over. It has been such a great experience.

I won’t have any more adventures to write about but I will blog another time or two about my last week and a half here in Spain and of course about arriving home! I miss you all and I cannot wait to see you when I return.

10 days and counting!

-Annie

Thanksgiving in Granada

Tortilla Espanola!!

Me with my host mom Ana making Spanish Tortilla.

Pumpkin soup at our Thanksgiving dinner.

The desert for Thanksgiving: apple pie, cheesecake and tiramisu.

The Thanksgiving meal main dish: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and of course gravy!

Me at Thanksgiving with my pumpkin soup! Yum!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Obviously I celebrated the holiday in Spain (where it doesn’t actually exist) with my friends. We had found a restaurant that has a sort of traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. It was actually pretty good! We had a starter plate (that didn’t have anything to do with Thanksgiving), but then they gave us pumpkin soup and turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. There was also big bowls of cooked vegetables to share. For desert we each got a sampler plate with apple pie, cheesecake and tiramisu. Overall it was really good, except for the fact that there was no pumpkin pie. It is impossible to find it here! However, my friend Chris’s parents brought him two cans of pumpkin when they visited. So next weekend when Chris, Kathryn, Kyle and I go to Cádiz we are going to make pumpkin pie!!

Next weekend (the 4th through the 8th) is a holiday weekend. We don’t have school Friday, Monday or Tuesday so we are going to Cádiz for these days. Cádiz is a beautiful small town on the western coast of Spain. We found an apartment to rent for really cheap (since it is off season for travelling) with a kitchen and everything! Perfect for pie making!! It even has a hot tub! Pretty fancy for what we are paying for it! It should be a fun and relaxing trip, my last trip outside of Granada before coming home.

After the Cadiz trip, we have one last week of classes and then finals the week after that. After finals, I leave (December 19th)! So soon! I am ready to leave but it will be sad leaving Granada and my host mom. We have become very close over these past months. She is a sweetheart and I will miss her dearly.

Speaking of Ana, on Friday last week Ana taught me and Libby how to make Spanish Tortilla! The ingredients are potatoes, onions and eggs. Very simple but it’s a little more difficult than I expected. You literally have to flip the big mixture of potatoes and eggs! Ana made it look effortless but I am sure the first time I make it I won’t have as much luck! But I am planning on making it when I come home. So be prepared for some authentic Spanish food! I am looking forward to food at home (burgers, macaroni and cheese, bacon and eggs, tacos/burritos, steak and bagels with cream cheese--Mom are you taking note??).

I will write again next week after I get back from Cadiz. After that my life will be consumed with packing, studying for finals and classes. Not that interesting. I will most definitely need to sit on my suitcase to close it! After four months here I have accumulated lots of stuff (mostly presents for family, friends and of course myself). I can’t wait to see you all and hear from you when I come back.

18 days and counting

-Annie

Weekend Fun in Granada

Ana, my host mom, with her mandarin orange peel that looks like a tree!

Cute! She is an expert fruit peeler--always is able to do it in one chunk!

The sunset in Granada.

Me with my cappucino and chocolate and churros!

The jazz band Libby and I saw.

Me with the heart of a Fin Whale at Parque de Las Ciencias.

Me and the girls at Chris's parents apartment after having dinner.

Hello,

So this last weekend was spent in Granada. Since I am only here for another 25 days my friends and I decided to do everything in Granada that we hadn’t done yet. And of course just hang out, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

So on Thursday evening, a bunch of friends and I went over to Chris’s parents apartment. They came here from the USA for the week and were renting a place in Albaycin. So we went there and had an amazing dinner of baked potatoes (with all the toppings of course), garlic bread, cheese, fruit salad and a green salad. YUM!! It was super good and tons of fun. As you can see from the crazy pictures, we had a great time.

Then on Friday I went to Parque de las Ciencias with some friends. Basically it is like OMSI in Portland but a little different because it has a big outdoor area too. It was really fun. We went into a human body exhibit (the nursing majors loved that), saw a birds of prey live show and played on a giant chess board. I had a good time and was glad I made it there having heard about it and walked by it for most of my stay here. Apparently it is one of the best Science Museums in Spain. Later that evening after my run, Libby and I went to a café/bar to see a live jazz band. They were incredible!! It was a great atmosphere, the owners were nice (helping us with our Spanish) and of course the music was beyond this world. I have a few videos of the show if you want to see them. It takes forever to upload them on facebook, but I will try to when I have time.

On Saturday Libby and I walked around near our house and did some shopping and browsing--more shopping than browsing though! And we got chocolate and churros!!! YUM!! Then it was time to relax and work on some homework. On Sunday we slept in…finally! Later in the afternoon I went on a walk through Albaycin with Libby and her friend from church Kimberly. The neighborhood up there is beautiful because it has an amazing view of La Alhambra and we were able to see the sun setting. Of course, the street performers, the flamenco dancers and the weed smokers all added to the Albaycin atmosphere. It’s one of the more popular neighborhoods to hang out in and has a mix of all kinds of different people.

Ok so this is probably one of the most exciting things that has happened here, at least in my opinion. As usual Ana, my host mom, is AMAZING and the other night her granddaughter Sunsole was here and we were all having dinner, talking and laughing. We taught Ana how to say some words in English (she wanted to know what bonita (pretty) and preciosa (cute) were in English), sang songs and played silly Spanish games. Libby took about a 20 minute video of Ana and Sunsole playing, singing and laughing in the kitchen. It was ADORABLE and probably one of the most incredible evenings here with my host mom. Ana keeps telling us that we are the best students she has had and that she would adopt us in a heartbeat. She is truly the sweetest. Ask me when I get back and I would love to show you the video. It is amazing beyond words.
For the remaining 25!! days here I am going to be enjoying myself! For Thanksgiving on Thursday my friends and I are going to a restaurant that has actual traditional, American Thanksgiving food! Yay! Then over the weekend I am planning on celebrating a friends birthday, shopping for last minute gifts for others and myself and enjoying one of the last weekends I might ever have in Granada.

On Friday December 4th through Monday the 7th, Kathryn, Chris, Kyle and I are going to Cadiz, the last trip I will be taking here. Cadiz is a beautiful town here in Andalucía about a 4 hour bus ride from Granada. It should be a relaxing and fun trip, a good way to end the adventures in Spain.

Once this last adventure is over, I will be focusing on studying for finals and packing up to fly home on December 19th. I cannot believe it is time to start thinking about packing. Cross your fingers I can fit everything in my suitcases! However, I am ready to be coming home. I will miss my host mom and everything here, but I am also really excited to go home for Christmas and to see my family and friends. I miss you all so much!

Seeing you very soon,

Annie

Last Group Trip: Sevilla

Me and some of the gang with Starbucks in Sevilla.

The Roman ruins in Sevilla.

Los Reales Alacazares in Sevilla

The gardens of Los Reales Alcazares.

Me, Chris and Brittany in Parque Maria Lusia riding on the cool bicycles!

Me in the driver's seat! Look Out!

The Cathedral in Sevilla.

An view of the city from the tower in the Cathedral.

Me and Kathryn at the top of the tower of the Catedral.

Hola Amigos!

I write this blog with only about one month remaining in my adventure in Spain. Crazy!! But needless to say, I am ready to come home. Don’t get me wrong, I love the city of Granada, my classes and my host mom, but I do miss the great northwest and the wonderful UP campus.
So now I will catch you all up on the details of my life here in Granada. Firstly, I have been sick the last couple of weekends, bad cold and then a nasty stomach virus that prevented me from eating anything for about three days. Not fun, but I am fine now and my host mom is the best and took really good care of me. It is actually cold here now. It has been warm through all of October, warm being low 70s and sunny in the afternoons, but a little chillier at night. So far in November it has been a lot colder, but the last couple of days have been sunny and on the warmer side. Still no rain. There are actually clouds in the sky today which gives me some hope that it might rain, but it has yet to rain since the beginning of October. This is unusual for Granada, where it normally rains more, but in the last few years Spain has been experiencing droughts due to lack of rain. I miss the rain. So if you can send some to me. We could use it here.
So I took the DELE exam last Friday. It went better than I had expected, but I have no idea if I was able to pass it or not. You have to get 70% or higher on each section in order to pass. I have high hopes of passing the writing and reading sections, but the grammer and vocab section was difficult. I don’t find out until February or March if I passed. So for now I am just basking in the glory of having completed the exam. And all of my midterms are over, so I don’t have anymore tests until finals week in December. Yay!

Last weekend, after the DELE, my program went on its last trip together. Sad! We went to Sevilla for the weekend, a beautiful city about twice as big as Granada, about 3 hours away. On Saturday we visited Los Reales Alcázares, which are basically a bunch of beautiful gardens and castles that were built for the kings to live in. Then later I went to La Hospital de la Caridad (Hospital of Charity), a church that has a beautiful “retablo” in it that I learned about in my art history class. It was really cool to see what I had learned about in person. Later my friends and I went to STARBUCKS! Yeah I know totally an American thing to do, but it had been a long time since I had a frapaccino. Yum! After we caffeinated up, we went to El Parque Maria Luisa, a really big park in Sevilla. In the park we came across a place where you could rent bicycles. Now these were not ordinary bicycles, there were more like carts that you sat in and pedaled your way around. Since there were six of us, we rented two and split up. And of course when there are two bicycles and a bunch of caffeinated youngsters, what else do you do but race? My team won! It was tons of fun and a good work out! Since there was only one person who could drive at a time, we would switch occasionally and do a Chinese fire drill! Needless to say it was a fun evening!

On Sunday we got a tour of an old Monestery that Christopher Columbus had stayed at during his time in Spain planning a second trip to America. Then we went and saw some roman ruins just outside of Sevilla. The Roman Empire, during its glory days, had occupied what is now Spain. After a lunch break, we visited the Cathedral and Plaza de España. It was a really good trip and I had lots of fun hanging out with my friends. I am sad though that it was our last trip together because I have gotten to know all of the people on the trip and I will miss them when it’s over.
As for my last month here in Spain, I will spend some well deserved time in Granada. This weekend I am going to explore the city I call home and visit Parque de las Ciencias (Park of the Sciences) here in Granada. And of course I will be hanging out with my friends and hopefully my intercambio.

In early December, we have a five day break so I am going to travel one last time with a few friends before we leave Spain. We haven’t decided where yet, but are considering Santiago de Compostela, Cadiz or possibly Portugal.

I hope everything is well back home with you all. I miss you all and can’t wait to see you. Only one more month!

Peace,
Annie