Greetings From Europe!

WOW! This week has flown by so fast. I can’t believe that I have less than a week left in Spain. Next Friday will be very bittersweet. This week has been a little bit of a roller coaster as far as class goes, because it’s very challenging to pay attention at times. History isn’t the most exciting subject, plus it takes a lot more effort because it’s all in Spanish. Luckily our teachers have clued into this fact, because they’ve started alternating days of history and current events. We have to keep journals of questions we have about Spain’s culture, which is interesting. We’re also getting plenty of history lessons from Papa, including
about how they came to buy the apartment we are living in now. Apparently under Franco (he was dictator from 1939-1975), it was very hard to find places to live, and work was very scarce. Papa worked four jobs including painting buildings and streets, as well as at the telephone company. I can’t remember the other ones he said, but that’s the way it had to be. Paqui also worked as a seamstress, and continued to work even after they had children. This was very rare at this time, because women were absolutely forbidden to work outside of the home. She had to have a signed document from her husband that she was allowed to have a job. Can you imagine that? I think it’s really made them who they are today, because Paqui is always out and about, as well as everyone else. Anyway, they had to do these things to be able to afford and apartment to start a family. Before this apartment, they lived in a room kind of like a dorm room. They had a common kitchen and bathroom, and had problems with people stealing food and coal from the kitchen. They had cartellas de raciones (rations cards) in order to buy food and coal, but they didn’t provide much. Apparently they were some of the luckier ones, because Papa and Paqui both were able to find jobs. It probably had to do with the fact that Papa’s father was an important part of the Catholic Church. That was another mandate under Franco: that everyone had to be Catholic and have a Catholic education. It’s probably why a lot of people don’t go to mass in Spain today, because the majority of them were forced to go their entire lives.

It’s fascinating to learn these things, but it’s a little annoying when our teachers can’t believe that we’ve never learned about this stuff. If you think about it, though, the Spanish revolution didn’t really have a worldwide impact like Hitler and Stalin. Hitler wiped out a whole race, while Franco only persecuted Spaniards. Not to make light of the situation in Spain at all, but the Holocaust had much more of an international impact than the Franco dictatorship. In fact, I didn’t even know that there were troops from New York that volunteered to help and started hospitals with the Red Cross during the Spanish Revolution until we went to an art exhibit on Tuesday. I think it is sad that there are pieces of history like that that we don’t know, but there are so many other topics to cover.

Either way, I’m glad I’m learning it now, even though there are times in class when I just want to poke my eyeballs out. But that happens in my American history classes, too, because you can only make it so interesting.

I don't know if I've talked about Rebajas before, but I really think we should bring them to America. It's right up there with the siesta. Rebajas are a huge sale during July and August where the stores are trying to clear out all their old merchandise so they can put out all the new things because they don't have Gabe's or TJ Maxx. At this point all the good stuff has been cleared out, but it's fun to go look and see if there's a hidden gem. Saira and I went to La Corte Ingles on Tuesday (the 15th) to check out the Rebajas there. La Corte Ingles is a HUGE department store, plus a grocery store. Basically, it's a combination of Wal-Mart and Macy's. It's definitely an overwhelming place, and I didn't really like it that much, but it was a good experience, I guess. We were physically exhausted when we left, and I definitely will not miss that part of Spain.

Probably my favorite day in class was Wednesday, because we got to watch James Bond Die Another Day. I had never seen that movie before, but it was filmed here in Cadiz. It’s supposed to take place in Cuba, but apparently Havana is very similar to Cadiz. Our professor showed us images of the two cities, and they really are eerily similar. Havana just has a more mountainous landscape because it’s an island. I felt really proud to recognize all the places that are featured in the movie, and Halle Berry even swam in La Caleta, which is where we typically go to the beach! A few things are digitally enhanced, because it is supposed to be Cuba, but for the most part, it’s very true to life. The mom of one of my teachers was actually an extra in a very prominent scene, so that was exciting too. Apparently in Cadiz there is a woman named Uchi who is kind of the town nut. She loves all men in uniform and is known for calling them her boyfriends and shamelessly kissing and flirting with them all the time. My teacher, Alberto, was saying that they were watching them film at La Caleta from the University of Cadiz (the university overlooks La Caleta) and all of a sudden he saw a figure creeping along the wall, sneaking past security. It was Uchi sneaking into the set at La Caleta so she could see Pierce Brosnan. Apparently she had almost got within arms reach of him when security guards caught her, but then Pierce Brosnan waved them off and gave her a huge hug and kiss. The press went crazy and she was on the front page of the newspaper. After that, she was sort of a town hero. After class, Saira and I asked Papa about it, and he recounted the same story, so it must be true. It was a very exciting day. Everyone should watch that movie so you’ll know where I’ve been living for the past 2 months!!

Also on Wednesday (the 16th), I went to visit my friend Luis in Rota. Rota is about a 30-minute ferry ride away, and it was a beautiful ride. Rota is a really small town, and there weren’t hardly any tourists there. He’s actually from a city a little further away called Jerez, but his family vacations in Rota during the summer because Jerez doesn’t have a beach. It was a good thing I went on Wednesday, because they were having the Fiesta de Santa Carmen. Carmen is the patron saint of the ocean, and so they have a big parade taking the image of Carmen on a gold and silver platform from the church to the port and then she sails from Rota across the Bahia to Cadiz and then back. It was quite the interesting experience, because it was REALLY slow and a little bit painful, but Luis was really excited about it, and it means a lot to the people there. Just to give you an idea, it took them an hour to transport her less than a quarter of a mile. Her platform was all gold and silver, and probably the size of a queen bed. The people carried her from the bottom, and a curtain that went all the way around the platform hid them. They marched in time to music and had to be guided by the people in front of them. That would be a very labor-intensive job, I think. I’m glad I got to see it, though, because they have processions like that every day during Semana Sancta (Holy Week, before Easter). I wish I could get a good explanation as to why this type of festivity is so important, but I guess it’s just about tradition. I have pictures and video of it, but of course I’ll have to wait to upload those.

On Thursday (the 17th) Saira and I went to Puerto Santa Maria, which is a larger port town on the Bahia closer to Cadiz. We left after lunch, and it was a nice afternoon trip, although pretty much everything was closed for siesta. We also had ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s, so it was nice to have my Phish Food fix. We saw the Plaza del Toros there, and I was thinking about going to a bullfight tomorrow, but it was 30 Euro, which is a little much to watch torture. That was one thing I would have liked to do, but I’ve done a lot on this trip so far and am thankful I’ve had the opportunity to do all I’ve already done. Puerto Santa Maria is also famous for its Bodegas (wineries), and they’re everywhere. You have to have a reservation to get in, which Saira and I didn’t have. So we just walked around the outside and had fun exploring.

The wind has been picking up this week, which is nice because it’s cool, but makes the beach a little bit unbearable. I tried to go for a few hours yesterday, but it was a little bit miserable because the sand kept getting in my eyes. I think I will be bringing a lot of sand from Cadiz back with me. Last night, (Friday the 18th) Juan took our group to watch a Judio-Arabe concert. It was really neat because it was inside the Castillo de Santa Catalina, which you normally can’t go in. I had no idea what Judio-Arabe music was, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to watch live music. It ended up being a very cool concert. The band was from a mix of different places such as Morocco, Spain, Israel, and Canada. The lead singer was from Canada, which was a little disappointing to me because she looked like the typical beautiful Spanish woman. She was a mesmerizing singer, and had a beautiful voice. The music was a mix between Jewish and Arabic folk songs, from all time periods. It was fascinating, and Saira and I bought a CD, although we couldn’t understand the words at all because all the songs are in Hebrew or Arabic. It was also really fun because she asked us to stand up and clap and dance along with her, which I loved. Everyone got really into it, but it was over way too soon. After the concert, Saira and I headed to New Cadiz to check out the typical nightlife on our last Friday night in Cadiz.

A few people from our group left early this morning for Morocco, so I hope they have a good time there. I would have liked to go, but it was a whirlwind trip for only two days and I’m tired of constantly going from place to place. I’m going to enjoy my last few days at the beach, even though the wind is still really fierce. I’m sure I’ll have plenty more updates from my last week in Spain, so keep checking back!

After Friday, this weekend was a nice getaway. Saira and I, along with Justine and Florence, went to Vejer and Conil. Vejer is a little town about an hour away, but still within the province of Cadiz. It’s located in the mountains and it was a beautiful drive there. As we were approaching the actual town, a farmer was walking his goats up the mountain beside the bus, and one escaped. Luckily, nothing major happened and everyone was fine, but it made me a little nervous.

Vejer was an absolutely beautiful town. All the buildings were completely white and the views were spectacular. Vejer is famous for its artisans, but unlike the other ones we’ve seen, these were VERY expensive. It was cool to see the unique ceramic work, jewelry and leather, even though I couldn’t afford it. The Plaza España was unique there, because it was really small, but there was an elaborate fountain made from hand-painted tile with ceramic frogs shooting water from their mouths. I thought it was a little chintzy at first, but I didn’t realize that ceramics were a big deal there. We also visited the castle, and the view from the front of the castle was amazing because it was located at the very top of the mountain. There was an old man taking pictures with a very expensive-looking camera in front of the castle, and as we were walking past, a gust of wind came and blew the tripod over. The camera lens shattered, and the man looked so sad. I felt really bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. After we saw everything in Vejer (which didn’t take very long) we found a crepe restaurant for lunch. The other girls brought bocadillas, so Saira and I ordered crepes. Saira’s crepe was delicious. It had ham, cheese, and mushrooms in the middle with egg. I had an apple-cinnamon crepe, which was good, too. We all had fresh fruit juice, which was refreshing but I ordered papaya, so it was a little bit bland.

After crepes, we went back to the bus station to catch the bus to Conil. I was surprised at how many tourists there were in such a small town, but I’m glad they’re not all in Cadiz. The bus ride to Conil was very short, but a little nerve-wracking because we were flying down very narrow mountain roads.

Conil was another absolutely beautiful, white town. The town is on a small hill overlooking the beach. The beach was absolutely spectacular here, with enormous waves and beautiful white sand. We slept for a few hours on the beach and played in the water for a little while, too. The water was absolutely FREEZING!!!! It felt colder than the Pacific in March. The current was really strong, too, and if you weren’t careful, it would pull you out really quickly. The sand dropped off, too, so it went from really shallow to really deep without any transition. It would be really easy to get hurt at this beach because the water was very dangerous, but luckily there were lots of lifeguards patrolling the beach as well as the water by boat. The wind was also very strong here, although it wasn’t as bad as Tarifa. The sand was a little painful at times, but it wasn’t completely unbearable. I walked along the beach for a little while, and watched people kitesurfing. I had never seen them kitesurf in person before, but it was really cool. It requires a lot of equipment, but it looked exhilarating. It would be really easy to be swept out to sea because you are at the mercy of your kite.

After the wind wore us out, we explored the town a little bit. It was a little bit of the typical beach town, with surf shops and junk stores, but it was really nice. Conil is a big place for tourists, as well, but I’m not really sure why. After we got back, Saira and I showered and got ready to go to a club called Pay-Pay (pronounced Pie-Pie). They have live music and other performers on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, it’s a really unique place. That night, there was a couple performing Spanish folk music. It was very soothing, almost like a lullaby, and I was really tired from the beach and traveling, so I went home early. Saira stayed for a while longer, but she came home early, too, for Spanish time.

On Sunday (the 13th) Saira went to Sevilla and I stayed in Cadiz so I could go to the Playa Victoria. Playa Victoria is supposed to be the nicest beach in Cadiz, but it’s also a lot further away, so I’ve never been there before during the day. I’m glad I went, because it was very similar to Conil, only without the wind. It also wasn’t very crowded for a Sunday, which was really surprising to me. I guess it’s because it’s in the more touristy part of the city, so it’s not quite as much of a tradition for the whole world to go to the beach on Sunday. I stayed there pretty much all day, and then Saira came back in time for dinner. On my walk there, I passed a giant handball tournament. Here, it’s called Balonmano, and apparently it’s a huge deal in Europe. I guess we have it in the United States; too, it’s just not as big of a deal. There were teams from all over Europe here, and I watched a little bit of it on a big screen outside of the stadium. The stadium was set up in the sand, so I guess it was the beach handball championships. I continued on to get away from the crowds associated with the tournament, but overall it was a relaxing day, but I still wasn’t ready to go back to classes.

That night at dinner, Papa ate with us and started telling us about some of the history of Cadiz. He’s lived here his whole life, and during most of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, so it’s really interesting to hear his stories. He was telling us about a book he is reading, called A World Without an End (Un Mundo Sin Fin, because he’s reading it in Spanish, of course) and basically it’s about how in the beginning of civilization people didn’t know how to build cathedrals or city walls or anything, and how the knowledge got spread throughout the world. It also deals a lot with the oppression and evolution of governments through time. It sounds like a very interesting book, but it’s very long, so I’m not sure I’ll start that anytime soon. I have read all the books I brought along, and I also started reading a small novel in Spanish. It’s pretty simple, but I understand it all, so that’s a small victory. I also started reading Harry Potter, because there’s a copy of it here, but I think I’ll wait to read more of that at home, because it would be a pain to bring back.

Saira and I got ice cream then went to bed because we were both really tired from a long weekend. It’s getting weirder and weirder thinking that we only have one weekend left in Cadiz, and only two weeks of class left. I’m starting to look forward to class being over, but I just want to hang out here for a while. It will be good to be home, too. I almost forgot, too, that I got the exciting news that Chet has a new baby! I’m really excited and hope that everything goes well with that situation.

Today (Monday the 14th) was a good day. Class went very smoothly and I’m really enjoying the culture and history class so far. It’s nice to have a break from grammar for a little while. I think another grammar class would have been too much. Plus, it’s better to learn about the culture of Spain while I’m actually here. It sounds like it will be pretty easy, although I have to give a 20-minute presentation next week…eek! Plus I’m in class with people from my program, as well as a guy from Germany, so at least I know my classmates, too. We didn’t do a whole lot today except go over the basic structure of class, and both my teachers gave the guy from Germany (Sven) a hard time about the soccer game. I guess they have the right to, although he seemed a little annoyed, haha.

I also got more exciting news that both Clint and Cody are engaged, which is great, and I’m very happy for everyone. Hearing all this good news makes me miss home even more, but it will be here soon enough.

We didn’t do much today, because it’s taking more and more energy to get back into the swing of class and things. I heard from Ashley yesterday before she left Barcelona, and it sounds like she had a good time there. I can’t wait for more updates from Greece, although I still wish she were here.

This has been the most depressing week since I’ve been here. Ashley left today, and it seems very strange without her, especially because we’ve constantly been together for the past month and a half. Of course, we’ve been doing all the “last” stuff with her; last time at the beach, last time at the heladeria, etc. The worst part about it is that it is starting to sink in that it’s almost time to go home. I miss home a lot, but I miss the people there much more than the actual place itself.

In the evenings at Playa Victoria they have an open-air market, similar to the one on Mondays by the port. Saira wanted to go on Tuesday (the 8th) and Ashley and I didn’t feel like doing homework, so we went along with her. It was a long walk, but it was nice because it was along the beach the entire way. Ashley and Saira had been to Rota (another pueblo close by) that day, so they were pretty tired from walking all day already. It was cool to see all the vendors out late and to see the beach at night, but all the junk shops are starting to run together. It was late, but Saira wanted to walk back, so Ashley and I took the bus, which was much faster.

Wednesday during the day, API took us for a tour of the Cathedral. The cathedral is a famous landmark because it was one of the original buildings of the city that still remains, and is built partially under the ocean. The actual building itself is like most other cathedrals; only you have to be careful because a piece of the ceiling might knock you in the head. They have nets up to catch pieces, but sometimes they slip through. The cathedral also has a crypt, which still wasn’t like the one Ashley saw in Vienna, but it was still better than the one in Granada. There was a really creepy effigy of Santa Maria (the patron saint of Cadiz) in the crypt, and she looked almost realistic. But the crypt was nice and cool because it is under the ocean, and if you press your head to the wall, you’re supposed to be able to hear the ocean. I tried it, but didn’t hear it, but it was a cool idea anyway. We also got to go up in the tower of the cathedral, and the view was absolutely spectacular. You can see both old Cadiz and new Cadiz, as well as the ocean. It’s the tallest tower in the city, and we could even see our house from it. I really liked the tower, even though it was a pain to walk up it. Why didn’t they think to put elevators in those things? ☺

Wednesday night (the 9th), Ana asked Ashley and I to watch La Sirenita with her. La Sirenita is The Little Mermaid in Spanish. It was really cool because I’ve basically memorized the movie, so I actually knew what was going on. It’s exactly the same movie, but all the songs and dialogue are in Spanish. It was really funny when Ashley and I started singing (the first song) and Ana just looked at us kind of strange. We were singing in English, and of course she’s never heard that version before. After that, though, she would ask us how to say certain words from the movie in English and write it out for her. It was really cute to hear her pronounce the words in English. Overall, it was so fun because we got to watch the movie on the patio, eat palomito (popcorn) and learn The Little Mermaid in Spanish. I really liked the songs “Bajo del Mar” (Under the Sea) and “Besala” (Kiss the Girl). Papa really likes the song Bajo del Mar, too, and he sang part of it to us.

Thursday night (the 10th), we didn’t get much studying done. Ashley was trying to pack and get ready for her test and Saira and I weren’t helping at all. I’m already not looking forward to packing. Eventually we gave up on studying and went to bed, knowing that Friday would not be fun.

Class was fairly normal this week, nothing really out of the ordinary. One of the other ladies in my class (Laura from Finland) missed two days of class then yelled at our teacher because she missed a day for a doctor’s appointment. I understand that it’s frustrating when the professor misses class, especially in an accelerated program, but don’t get upset when you do the same thing.

The test was fine, too, not really anything out of the ordinary. I’m sure I passed, but then again I don’t really think they fail too many people in the summer. We were going to try to go to the beach with Ashley one last time before she left, but she hadn’t finished packing yet so Saira and I hung out here with her. We had a delicious lunch of pot roast with a side of…huevas!! Of course it was for Ashley’s last meal. Somehow Saira got out of eating them (sneaky), but Paqui dished a whole plateful of them for Ashley. She got out of it by saying she was full, but I was sitting right next to Papa, so I had no way out. If I never eat those things again I will be happy. I can’t really complain, though because everything else has been so delicious. It’s almost like a game, though, to think of the creative ways to get out of eating the gross food.

Saying goodbye to Ashley was very emotional, especially for me because she’s been my right arm through this whole trip. Luckily I only have to spend 2 weeks without her, but I know that she will have a great time with her family in Greece. Of course she started crying as she got in the taxi, so Saira and I started crying, too. I think even Papa was a little emotional, because he had to take a little walk after she left. Dinner was definitely kind of depressing tonight, even though we had the most delicious tuna, ever. Paqui had been marinating pieces of tuna steaks for two days, and after she fried them, they were little bites of heaven. I think Paqui knew we would need good food to help us feel better, but dinner was definitely very quiet.

Saira and I are going to meet up with our friends from Belgium tonight, because it’s Catherine’s last night, too. We’re going to a couple small pueblos tomorrow with the other two, Justine and Florence, so that should be fun, too.

I almost forgot to mention two other things. One is another strange dish we’ve had here: caracoles. Caracoles are small snails that can only be harvested during two months out of the year. The first time we had them they weren’t very good, but the last time, they were delicious. It’s still weird for me to suck a little snail that still has eyeballs and a smile out of its shell and eat it. Also, about two weeks after we started living here, they started construction on the outside of the building. At least we don’t have to worry about oversleeping for class, because we are always woken up at about 7:30 by yelling and banging and other fun construction noises. We don’t have the choice of closing the windows, either, because we would probably die of suffocation. Oh well, it just makes it that much easier to get up and run in the mornings.

Also, after Ashley left and before dinner, we met up with our friends that are living in the residencia because one of them is leaving, too. We met up at the heladeria and got some ice cream. We all squeezed onto a bench and had just started laughing at Jennifer because she put her hand in bird poop. Not too long afterwards, I felt a plop on my leg, and was horrified to find that a bird from the tree above had taken aim for my leg. I freaked out. I really don’t like birds anyway, and the thought of pigeon poop on my leg made me want to vomit. Not only was it on my leg, but also it had gotten on my shoe and shoelaces. Saira got napkins for me from the heladeria, and even the server there felt bad. It was embarrassing and gross at the same time. We said our goodbyes to Jennifer and went back home for dinner. It was quite the long day.

Feliz Día de Indepencía, America!! Friday marked the midpoint of my time in Cadiz. It seems very strange that it’s halfway over already. I guess time really flies when you’re having fun. I’m glad for another week of class to be over, but my time in Cadiz is going by too quickly.

Wednesday (the 2nd) API took us on a tour of the Museo de Cadiz. It was a fascinating museum, because there were roman ruins, tombs, and many old paintings. The museum also had an exhibit of all the Arabic artifacts that have been recovered in this area. It got to be a little bit boring because our tour guide talked about every single display case we walked past. I felt bad for him, though, because the San Diegans and even some of the people from our group were being really rude and talking the whole time. One of the guys said it was because he didn’t understand any Spanish, but you still should be respectful of someone who is volunteering their time to tell you about something they care about. It made me really mad, too, because they’re going to Granada this weekend with us.

Friday (the 4th) was the first day of class I have actually enjoyed this week. It’s been a very frustrating week because the teachers have had to adapt to the various levels of the different students. On Thursday we had 4 new students in our class from Villanova. I don’t know who their program director is, but I have no idea why you would want your students to start halfway through a class. It’s like jumping into a class at midterm. Not that we’ve really done much but review so far, but they didn’t even understand simple Spanish. Long story short, they took up about an hour of instruction time trying to convince the Spanish teacher (in English) that they should stay in that class. Luckily, she knew that it would be better off for all if they were moved down a level, so that took care of that problem. That same morning, Enya (the lady that caused all the problems the first day) decided that she needed to change classes, too. So, of course she caused a scene about that, and didn’t participate in the rest of class. She just sat there doing workbook pages out of some book that wasn’t even our textbook and was really rude to our teacher. I was really embarrassed for her, especially because she was a 40-year old woman acting like a kindergartner.

That afternoon passed much more smoothly, and the class that had started out with 8 students in the morning went down to 3 that afternoon. We finally moved on to new topics, too. I was getting frustrated because we spent 4 days reviewing things I had already learned in my first class, but nobody (especially Enya) had no idea about. I talked with our program director as well as some of my old teachers, and they said they would take care of it. Luckily, on Friday they did, and they gave me more homework (yay…) and promised that the pace of the class would pick up. I felt kind of bad complaining, but it’s like spending half of a semester learning about addition in an Algebra class. It was also tough because the professor I have in the afternoon has been gone for three days for a literature conference, so on top of all of that I had to get used to a new (and very different) teacher.

On Thursday night, as well, we took Paqui and Papa out to dinner. They showed us their favorite restaurant in Cadiz, and of course they ordered us plenty of fresh seafood. As an appetizer, we had patatas alioli and fish pate. I’m not really sure I want to know what is in fish pate, but it tasted really good. For our meal, we ate Dorado, which is a fish native to the Bahia de Cadiz. Paqui has served us fish with bones in it before, but never in my life have I eaten a whole fish with the head still attached. It was a little bit unappetizing, but Papa demonstrated how to eat it and I felt a little better after that. The meat of the fish itself was definitely worth the hassle of cleaning it. It didn’t taste fishy at all and it melted in my mouth. It had been cooked with plenty of olive oil and garlic (of course!), which was just enough to give it wonderful flavor. Thankfully I didn’t swallow any bones, but Ashley did, and they told her to pull the middle (soft part) out of the bread and swallow it whole. This caused quite a bit of excitement at the dinner table, but the bone got taken care of. We took a leisurely stroll back to our area, and Papa told us all about the history of Cadiz. They both grew up here, and his father has a plaza dedicated in his name. They took us to a heladeria for dessert and they told us more about the history of the city. Apparently tapas got their name from in the old days when people would be out having a drink in the afternoon, but couldn’t really enjoy it because flies would constantly get into whatever they were drinking. Finally, someone decided to put a slice of ham on “top of” their drinking glass to keep the bugs out. Now, tapas have evolved into anything you eat as a late afternoon snack or before a meal, but I thought that story was really interesting. Cadiz is also the home to very unique trees. There are two trees that were brought back to this area by Christopher Columbus, because he sailed his ship out of the Bahia de Cadiz. I’m pretty sure the legend is true because they are the only trees of their type that exist in Spain. It was a very fun and educational evening and we were most definitely exhausted.

Luckily I had a relaxing weekend ahead, because we left Friday afternoon for Granada. It is a 5 or 6-hour bus trip because Granada is situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (yes, they have Sierra Nevadas in Spain, too). I’m glad we went by bus, though, because we got to see the beautiful countryside of Andalucia. There are hills and farms, as well as little pueblos located seemingly precariously in mountain passes. Unfortunately, though, we got behind a tanker truck that couldn’t go very fast, but I learned to play hearts with some of the people from San Diego. There isn’t anyone in our original group from San Diego, but there was a new wave of API students that came last Sunday. They have an API branch at their university (University of California, San Diego), so they aren’t actually taking classes with us, but classes that are taught by the professors from UCSD. They seem like nice people, but they’re kind of strange. They joked about being from the University of California, Socially Dorky (or something of that nature). By the end of the bus ride, we started to think they weren’t really joking.

By the time we got to Granada, it was really late because the bus got stuck behind the tanker. So, we ate dinner at the hotel and took a walk of the city. The dinner wasn’t too great, and it was really greasy, but it was probably because it was buffet style. I don’t really think that Spanish food is made for buffet-style serving. The walk, however, was wonderful. Granada is a very lively city, and it has a lot of Arabic influence. It was originally founded by Arabs but was later conquered by the Christians. Anyhow, it looked like Oglebay at Christmastime, because there were bright lights and decorations all through the streets and in the trees. As we walked past the Cathedral, there was a string concert in the plaza. The music was absolutely beautiful and I felt like I should have been doing a Spanish Waltz or something. After we watched the musicians for a little while, we decided to make a little music of our own by singing patriotic songs through the streets of Granada. We probably caused a scene, but we couldn’t forget about our own country’s independence just because we were in a different country.

After the paseo, we stopped at a Tetería for Moroccan-style tea. It was delicious and very strong, but a nice way to relax after a long day. Ashley and I were about to crash so we walked back to the hotel as the others sought out nightlife.

The next morning (Saturday, the 5th), we ate a late breakfast and took a bus to The Alhambra afterwards. The Alhambra is a palace/fort situated above the city in the mountains. The Arabs built it, and even after they were conquered, the palace and grounds has remained relatively untouched because it is so beautiful. It was a really hot day, but thankfully there was plenty of shade and fountains to keep it cool. We started our tour in a huge herb garden. I wish I could have bottled the smell and taken it with me. There were mint, lavender, chamomile, and various other herbs as well as roses and orange and jasmine trees. I’m glad I didn’t have an allergy attack. We continued our tour through the gardens, and of course the girls stopped to take plenty of pictures. However, the rest of the group didn’t wait for us, so we got a little lost. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland or something, because there were mazes of juniper bushes that were so tall, you couldn’t see over them. Finally our program director, Carmen, came back to rescue us. Once we finally entered the palace, there were more gardens and fountains. Our tour guide told us that the archaeologists discovered that the palace was under the rule of seven different nations because of the different layers of flowers. The new group would come in and plant whatever they wanted overtop of the previous layer. The building itself has been meticulously preserved, which is interesting because it has inscriptions in Arabic and quotations from the Koran all over the walls and ceilings. I’m glad I was able to see a relatively untouched piece of Arabic architecture. The actual architecture of the building was functional and practical, because the Arabs were obsessed with geometric patterns and equilibrium. They had very high ceilings, but instead of having solid wall all the way up to the top, they carved intricate details all the way through the stone so it served as a sort of ventilation system as well. Each set of rooms was situated around some type of fountain or pond to provide “air conditioning.” Whatever they did worked because it was very temperate through the whole complex, although it was at least 40 degrees Celsius in the actual city. Washington Irving also took up residence in the Alhambra, and wrote stories about Granada. He has a room and a plaque dedicated in his memory, which was interesting because I didn’t realize he lived and wrote in Spain.

After the Alhambra we had free time, so Saira, Ashley and I walked through the city again. It’s amazing how much a place can change in the daylight. We found an Indian restaurant and ate couscous and kebabs with an appetizer of different Mediterranean salads. It was delicious and the food was so fresh, but it was definitely more than we could eat. We continued to walk a little bit more, but the heat got to be unbearable so we went back to the hotel to take a siesta. I slept really hard in the air-conditioned room and was really disoriented when I woke up. Saira and I went back out after siesta and explored the city some more, and of course had some ice cream. I liked Granada a lot because the architecture and layout was much different than the other cities we’ve been in. I think it’s mostly because it’s situated in the mountains and has maintained its Arabic heritage.

That night after dinner, we went to another Flamenco show. This time, the building was air conditioned, which felt especially good after we hiked up a mountain to get there. It was very different than the other Flamenco show we went to, because the setting was much more intimate. One of the older dancers came out during a break and asked people from the audience to dance with her. Unfortunately she didn’t come to our section or I definitely would have done it. If I had more time here I would definitely look into taking Flamenco classes. After Flamenco we toured around the city some more, because it’s much more pleasant at night. We stayed out until 2 or 3 in the morning, but didn’t have to meet up again until 11 the next day. It was nice to not be in a rush in the morning for once.

Sunday (the 6th) was a nice and relaxing day. The only item on our agenda was the Cathedral and then we had more free time. The part of the cathedral we were allowed to see was very small, and didn’t have many artworks or treasures. It had a crypt, but you could just go down a set of stairs and look through a window at the tombs of the most recently dead family members of the rich. Ashley said she saw a really cool crypt in Austria, and I’ve been hoping for that in every cathedral we’ve been in, but I haven’t found it yet. After our time at the cathedral Saira and I walked around to check out some of the artisan shops in the area. Somehow we got separated from the rest of the group and ended up by ourselves for a while, but oh well.

Once we finally made it back to Cadiz, Paqui had prepared a delicious meal of patatas rellenos and filetitos. Patatas rellenos are mashed potato balls stuffed with meat and fried. Filetitos are thinly sliced filets of beef or pork, depending, and I think it comes from the cheeks of the animal. That may not be entirely accurate, but every time I ask Paqui about it, that’s the response I get. Of course we all had tons of homework that we hadn’t done yet, so we got to work on that and headed to bed early.

I guess I haven’t really talked about food much so far, but that’s not because it’s been bad. Paqui is actually an amazing chef, and I haven’t really disliked anything she’s fixed for us, except for huevas. Huevos are eggs and huevas are egg sacs from tuna or other large fish. It tastes as strange as it sounds. We’ve had them fried, and even garlic and olive oil couldn’t cover up the grainy texture of all the little fried fish eggs. At least that’s the only thing we really haven’t liked, and she doesn’t fix them very often. It’s plenty of extra protein I guess. I think my favorite thing she fixes is the filetitos or eggplant sandwiches. She puts ham and cheese in the middle of slices of eggplant and fries the whole thing. It’s really delicious because the eggplant is really tender. Of course, I love all the fish she fixes, as well. I’ve never in my life eaten fish that hasn’t been completely cleaned. I don’t really like the work, but it’s definitely much fresher. I’m getting much better at leaving the spine in one piece and not swallowing any bones, but it’s not really a habit I want to continue in the U.S. Also, much to my chagrin, I actually have eaten tomatoes and peppers. I feel rude not at least trying them because we eat them all the time. I’m glad I did, because they’re actually really good. She fries the peppers with olive oil and garlic, but serves them cold as a salad. With bread, it’s fantastic. We’ve also eaten paella, which is a traditional Spanish dish, which has rice and anything else you want to throw in it. We’ve had it with shrimp and other shellfish, or ham and chorizo and pineapple. Either way, it’s really good, and I guess it’s an even better way to get rid of leftovers. Gazpacho is another traditional Spanish dish, and it’s usually served cold. It’s basically like tomato soup with peppers, onions, cucumbers, and all kinds of fresh vegetables pureed. Gazpacho del campo (or caliente) is served warm, and it has bread mixed in with it. It also has A TON of garlic mixed in it; I think it was coming out of my pores for a few days. It was really good, though, and Papa was explaining to us that people used to eat a lot of soups and gazpacho because it was a way to make the vegetables last and provided all the necessary nutrients when they didn’t have any food an money. We have had a lot of soups, which seems strange because it’s summertime, but they’re all really good. We eat a lot of lentils and garbanzo beans as well. I’m starting to look forward to having pasta when I get home (hint, hint) because we really don’t eat a lot of it here. That may be another reason why people don’t have serious weight problems, is because they don’t eat a whole lot of bread products.

I could probably write a whole book on the food we’ve eaten, but I don’t really know any of the recipes. Paqui has been cooking for so long that she just kind of throws all kinds of stuff in a pot and it comes out really delicious. Plus, her kitchen is really small and gets really hot, so I feel like I’m in the way if I want to watch. I am very thankful that we’ve been blessed with such a great host family and that I’m not constantly sick and I’m not losing tons of weight because it’s miserable. Unfortunately the people in the residencia are not quite as lucky, so I’m definitely reassured that I made the right decision by choosing to live with a host family.

I think I also forgot to mention that Paqui actually has 3 daughters and one son. Her daughter Lidia is living here for the summer, because she teaches at the University of Valencia. She teaches Latin and Greek, and is fluent in Spanish, but refuses to learn English. It seems strange that she chose two very obscure languages, but she’s very nice and is very patient with us. Plus, she’s a great resource if we’re looking for something to do. It’s almost like having an older sister. Paqui’s son also is a professor of marine engineering, and served in the Spanish Marines for a little while. He’s not quite as friendly as Lidia, but is really funny sometimes. He’s good looking, but has a girlfriend with a really annoying voice, but she’s a lot like Lidia, too.

We’ve met one of her older daughters a couple of times, but she’s not really around much. She has the two kids, Ana is 6 and Felix is 2. They are both incredibly cute and funny, but they don’t look like sister and brother at all. Ana is very dark-skinned, has dark hair and eyes. Felix is fair-skinned, has blond hair and blue eyes. I guess I know how it feels to not look anything like your siblings, but their difference is much more drastic than between Jen, Em and I. Ana likes to play games with us, and even convinced us to play beauty parlor one day. One of her friends was over with her, and they fixed our hair and did our makeup. That was a big mistake because we let them use our makeup. I ended up losing my eyeliner brush and they used basically all of Ashley’s eyeliner. Needless to say, we were quite attractive after it was all said and done, but it was fun nevertheless.

I don’t think there’s anything else I’ve left out so far, but I’ll keep the updates coming as my time here comes to a close.

Thursday night (June 26th) was such an exciting night. Instead of studying for our finals the next day, Saira, Ashley and I went to the Plaza Mina to watch the game. Spain played Russia in the semifinals and won in a shutout. The game wasn’t quite as exciting as the Italy game, but it was still fun. Ashley was trying to do a little homework before the game started and ended up making friends with the Spanish people sitting next to us instead. One guy insisted on doing her homework for her as she tried to explain that she was studying for a final exam. Needless to say it didn’t work, so we gave up on studying for a little while.

At first we were only going to stay for the first half, then the crowd just got bigger and we had great seats, so we decided to stick it out. After the game, we went back to study, but it was incredibly hot and we weren’t really in the mood to study. I had a small pity party with the girls and then Mom, but I finally ended up getting some studying done.

The next day (Friday the 27th) was pretty much an ordinary test day, I reviewed with Inés in the morning and took my test in the afternoon. It wasn’t hard, I feel like I actually over studied for it, because a lot of the material we covered on the test was what we covered in the beginning of class. It’s good, though, because that means I learned a lot more than I was supposed to, which is probably because I was the only one and we were moving at my pace. Anyway, after the test and lunch, we went to the beach to celebrate. We spent the whole afternoon at the beach, and it was nice and relaxing. Afterwards, we ate an early dinner (at 8:00) and went to watch Flamenco at La Perla de Cádiz. It’s in the new part, close to La Playa Santa Marîa, but it was definitely worth the walk.

When we got there, it was completely packed. I think this is the only event in Cadiz that people are actually early to. We found seats in the balcony, which actually wasn’t too bad because we were right in front of the windows, and of course there wasn’t air conditioning. La Perla is a venue where two professional Flamenco dancers compete against each other. The night we were there they didn’t declare a clear winner, but I think they get a sort of professional rating so they can compete in more venues. The first competitor was a woman who danced in a very traditional style. She had only a guitarist and singer/percussionist with her. I was completely caught off guard by the style because I thought Flamenco was a type of Latin ballroom, but it’s not. The dancer (male or female) dances by their selves along with guitar, singing and clapping. There are no drums, but occasionally one of the accompanists will drum on an African drum of some type, but there aren’t actual drums because it would distract from the dancer’s feet. Flamenco is a cross between Riverdance, tap and square dancing because the singer acts as a type of caller. It’s hard to really explain Flamenco without seeing it, so I’ll include a couple of links for you to watch. Either way, the second dancer was much less traditional and much more entertaining (I thought). The second dancer was male and he had about eight accompanists, and their production was much more theatrical. They each gave two performances and it was a very long night, but I loved it. It was an incredible experience, and I would love to be a Flamenco dancer.

Copy and paste these links to watch videos of Flamenco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYjTIJf4XB4
(This is at La Perla, but we didn't actually watch this guy dance. I have some of my own videos, but they take forever to upload. I'll be happy to share them with you all when I get home!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRrn-RdzLgQ
(This is an example of a female dancer, their costumes are much pretty but they don't move as quickly as the men. Watch how she provides some of the rhythm with her shoes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAx2RNONAQ8
(This is Paco De Lucia in the Mezquita at Cordoba. He is a world-famous guitarist and is famous for both flamenco and jazz. I absolutely love this video and hope you do too!)

We were tired from the heat and excitement of Flamenco, so we went back home to pack up for Tarifa. We left at nine the next morning (Saturday the 28th) by bus to Gibraltar then on to Tarifa. Before visiting Gibraltar, I didn’t really know that much about it. I didn’t even realize it was a British colony until they told us we needed to bring our passports along. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a British colony, but wasn’t a British colony until the 1800’s. I still don’t really know all that much about it, other than it’s the point where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Oceans meet, and so it was a fortress to guard the entrance into the Strait of Gibraltar. From a distance, it just looks like a huge rock that fell in the middle of the ocean, but it’s actually very beautiful. We took a cable car ride up to the top (which made me very nervous, but better than walking). Sometime in the past, someone brought apes to the island and over time they reproduced and now a huge colony exists. There are warnings everywhere not to have food or plastic bags, because they perceive it as treats and will attack you. They also warn you not to imitate the apes because they see it as a threat. On the way up, we watched as an ape climbed on top of a car as it was pulling away, and the family freaked out. It was really funny because they stopped and everyone got out of the car, and the ape climbed in the open window. The dad kind of got upset then the little boy got up close, and the ape made a flying leap for him. He screamed and ran away, but the ape was finally out of the car. There were apes everywhere, and for the most part; they weren’t even fazed by humans. They didn’t bother us until we were visiting the armory. From the top of Gibraltar, you can see Morocco, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. After we explored the top of the rock for a little while, we went down in the cable car to the midway point. At the midway point was the main inhabitations, as well as an old armory with canons built into the rock. There was a big trellis with a fountain underneath it, and it served as a kind of playground for the apes. We were walking under it, and my friend Ben stopped by one of the posts. There were two apes above him, and I don’t think he even realized it. All of a sudden, one jumped down onto his head. The other jumped onto his back, and they wouldn’t get off. A couple of the people from our group started freaking out, but Ben wasn’t upset about it. The first finally jumped off, then the other climbed down his back and grabbed a map out of his back pocket and scampered away. The ape tried eating the map but realized it wasn’t food and threw it down and ran away. It was quite the scene, and it was really funny. After that, the apes didn’t really bother us anymore, but they were very entertaining. Especially when we passed a man handing out uncooked spaghetti to them. Surprisingly, they were very human in that they would go back and beg him for more by pulling on his pants. He was a little overwhelmed, I think.

After we finished touring Gibraltar, we ate lunch in the village below. Our director, Juan, is obsessed with Subway, and desperately wanted to eat at the one in the village. The rest of us were looking for something a little more British, and stopped at a little café. Afterwards, we all got back on the bus and headed toward Tarifa. We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon, and I was really impressed by the town. It was really small and very much a beach town. Our hotel was really unique, and Saira, Ashley and I shared a room—with air conditioning!! We also joked that it was our princess room because it had a mosquito net over the beds and two balconies. The bathroom was also done in hot pink tiles. It was by far my favorite hotel we stayed in. We walked around town for awhile, then we tried to go to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner. It was already completely reserved, so we went to a Mexican restaurant instead. I know, it seems very strange to go to a Mexican restaurant in Spain, but I think it was better than any Mexican I’ve had in the states. We walked around for a little while afterwards, but I think the spicy food bothered my stomach because I haven’t had any in a while, and I went back home.

Saira, Ashley and I stayed up and talked for awhile, and by the time we went to bed I felt much better. The next morning (Sunday the 29th), Ashley and I had an adventure as we tried to get breakfast downstairs. We had been looking forward to sleeping in all week, and we thought breakfast closed at 11:30 so we thought we had plenty of time to sleep in. We were wrong. Ashley went down at 11:05 and quickly realized we were very late. The lady was very rude to her and some of the other people eating breakfast started laughing at her. I’m kind of glad I didn’t go first, because her Spanish is much better than mine. I would have caused a riot I’m sure. Finally we got our breakfast and ate in silence and embarrassment. Everyone met downstairs at around 11:30 and we left for Bahia Claudia, which is supposedly the nicest beach in Andalucia and the windsurfing and kitesurfing capital of the world, as well as the location of an ancient Roman city. We walked through the ruins for a while, which was really neat because they ran a huge tuna fishing industry out of the Bay. There were remains of shops, the actual factory where they preserved the fish (with lots of salt) and got it ready to ship to other parts of Spain. They even had a spa to help people get the nasty fish smell out of their skin. It was very cool because I was able to get closer to the ruins than I could in actual Rome. The history of this area is extremely rich.

After walking through the ruins, we got to go to the beach (Playa Bolonia)! As I said before, this area is the capital for windsurfing and kitesurfing, so of course there was a lot of wind. I didn’t really think much of it, until the other girls tried setting up our umbrella, and it nearly blew inside out. I tried laying out for a little bit, but realized it was impossible because the sand felt like little needles penetrating my skin. Instead, I decided to head for the water, which was VERY cold, but the waves were huge and lots of fun. I tried swimming against the waves, which was a great workout but I lost both my contacts. Oh well, it was time to change them anyway. It was just a pain because I left my glasses on the bus. I really enjoyed the beach, other than the wind because we built a sand castle and spent a lot of time in the water. It was a nice change to be in the Mediterranean, but I was glad to get back on the bus and out of the wind. We were all really tired so on the way back to Cadiz I think we all passed out. It was just enough time to get rested up for the big game that night!

By the time we all got showered, there wasn’t enough time to eat at home before the game, so we found a restaurant with a TV that wasn’t too crowded. We had some really good and not so good tapas, especially Ashley with the chipirones a la plancha. Chipirones are baby squid, and la plancha means lightly grilled. They were pretty gross, especially because the inside was really slimy. I stayed on the safe side with chicken and pork, and we split an order of patatas alioli, which is our favorite. At halftime, we went to the Plaza Mina, where there was a giant crowd, of course. We got ice cream and found places to stand where we could at least partially see the TV. I couldn’t really see for most of it, but the crowd was electric. They were constantly cheering and singing, there definitely was never a dull moment. The crowd went wild after Spain won, and people were pouring water from their windows into the plaza and cheers and excitement filled the air. Everyone made a huge ruckus for a good half hour after the game, and we actually learned some of the cheers and fight songs. Unfortunately, the cheers stayed in my head forever afterwards, but we met up with our friends from the residencia and went to a bar for a little while. Ashley and I called it an early night because it had been a long weekend, and we started new classes today. We were dreading it, but looking forward to new teachers (for her) and actual classmates (for me).

Here is a clip of the video from Cuatro (which is the Spanish ESPN. The Plaza Mina wasn't quite as crazy as the Plaza Colon in Madrid, but you get the idea. They also show President Zapatera (the president of Spain) a couple times. It was really cool to experience a source of national pride. Americans don't really unite over a certain sport, even in the Olympics. I think I've brought luck to Spanish sports so far this summer, so it's a good thing I'll be back in the US for the Olympics ; )

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=J3av-j6bF0o

The new round of grammar classes started out like usual with a prediagnostic test with my new teacher, Laura. I felt much more confident with this test because I actually knew what I was doing. After the test, Laura was explaining the structure of class and the syllabus and had to spend about 15 minutes explaining the concept of a break to one of the girls in the class. She couldn’t understand why we needed a break in the first place, because “we aren’t little children, we can take a small break whenever we need it.” She also complained about how people in Cadiz always took breaks. It made me really mad because I can’t sit through four straight hours of class (I don’t know of anyone in their right mind that would) and I don’t really think the concept of a break is that hard to understand. She supposedly has been living here for a year, I would think that she’d be used to the laid-back lifestyle by now. At that moment, I was really wishing I was back in the classroom by myself. Already I could tell she would cause problems for the teachers, and would probably dispute every little thing they said. It was really frustrating and I felt really bad for my teachers because they had to deal with her. Hopefully it will get better as the week progresses, but I guess I should really learn to be careful what I wish for.

As for now, we’re getting ready to go to the movies with our friend Luis who is leaving for summer vacation tomorrow. He only lives about an hour away, so hopefully we’ll get to see him again before we leave. Hasta Luego!

p.s. The score was Spain 1 Germany 0. Quite a close game, which made it all the more exciting!!