Granada: The most beautiful City in Spain

This last weekend we went on a three day exursion to Granada which was amazing! We stayed at a fabulous hotel that even made my roommate think about staying in one night! Friday afternoon we just walked around the city and got to see the Alhambra from an important viewpoint. (Bill Clinton has been there) After that we went to a cozy flamenco show!

Saturday we went to the Alhambra and were amazed at how beautiful everything was, every minute it felt like we should take another picture. We also had the best tour guide ever, he was easy to understand and so sweet! After the Alhambra I went to a mexican restaurant for lunch which was amazing! I have been missing Mexican food for so long, and it was a relief to not eat spanish food. That night I went out to dinner with Brittany and Yuko, we got sort of lost but ended up finding this great pizza place for only two euro, and some other buildings that we didnt not get to see with ISA. That night I went out with some ISA kids to a couple of bars, and had the best Mojito I've ever had. They used dark rum instead and it was amazing!

Then on Sunday we enjoyed a great breakfast at the hotel, walked around Granada with ISA and got some lunch before heading back to Madrid. Overall Granada and Salamanca were my favorite trips they both were goregous and it is hard to decide which city I like more. Granada was special becuase it had the moroccan influence that we already got to see, and were glad to be able to enjoy the food again.

Real life in Madrid and Segovia

So lately life in Madrid has been getting kinda hard, and I'm definitely getting more excited to go home. I am so sick of random crazy people on the street, last thursday I had two men try and talk to me and ended up grabbing my jacket (mind you I was not alone with a guy and a girl, and in the center of Madrid). I then proceeded to turn around yelling at them in english cuz I was so caught off gaurd and pushed them several times away from me. It is so frustrating to feel like you need to be around guys to feel safe. Also being harassed even when I'm completly bundled up and covered, clearly not asking for any type of attention.

The next day me and Ubah went shopping and almost got hit by a car, we were standing near a side street to a One-Way and this man was not going to stop, or even ask us to move. So now I have bought a gigantic ring that's made out of metal that if I need to punch someone, might actually do some damage. I hate feeling like everyone is out to get you, or harass you, and I'm worried about when I go back to the States if I will continue to be mean to strangers. Don't mean to be a downer or complain, but this is what it's really like for me here.

However! Yesterday we went on a day trip with ISA to Segovia and it was really pretty! A lot colder than Madrid but it actually looked a lot like autumn in Washington. We got to see the aquaduct and cathedral along with a boring museum. Although the tour guides were extremly boring I had fun with my friends :)

MOROCCO

Morocco was amazing and definitely the highlight of my time abroad so far. We first took a day to get to morocco by bus, and then went to Fez and walked around the medina (market). It was shocking to see animals and meat right on the street, along with way too many donkeys walking through the narrow alleys. I personally hated being this close to donkeys and got scared everytime.

The next day we left for the desert, this cost us another day on the bus but was so exciting when we finally go to the desert. We stayed in heimas (tents) and the sky was amazing. You could see the milky way, and a shooting star every 2 minutes. We didnt do much that night besides stare at the sky and eat dinner, but we got up early the next day to watch the sunrise.

After watching the amazing sunrise, we had breakfast and got ready for our camel rides! As cool as they look the camels were quite uncomfortable to sit on, but still a great experience. We rode the camels to a "typical town" where we got to hand out candy and extra clothes to children. This was my favorite day of the trip because we had so many awesome experiences, the next day we started heading back to Spain stopping by Meknes on the way.

October Recap

So it has been forever since ive updated this, but ive actually been pretty busy. First of all my parents visited! It was awesome being able to show them around, and i hope they loved it here! After that I visited Salamanca with my study abroad group wish was amazing, and definitely my favorite city in Spain so far. It is more of a college town, and is gorgeous to walk around.

On our way to and from Salamanca, we visited Escorial and Avila. These two cities were filled with history but not that exciting. The coolest part of these two cities was the giant wall in Avila.

Two days after Salamanca, we left for Morocco.

Dia de La Huelga

Before checking out the strike, I went with my host family to see this Argentian Tango Performance, they were soo good! It was the same couple, but of course the girl had a different dress for every song. There has been a huge tent in Plaza Mayor for the last week, and there are tons of little tables inside all selling Argentian stuff from food to purses and figurines.
So today we did not have to go to school because of the strike going on in Madrid. I was kinda afraid of this, but I did venture out to Puerta de Sol to check out the strike and was surprised to see not much going on. People had banners and whistles but it was actually safe and uneventful.

Tonight I went to salsa lessons again, and luckily there were more guys this week so everybody got to have a partner!

Bull Fight

So today i ventured out to the Plaza de Toros to see how bad these bull fights are. I was surprised to see so many tourists, and how tight of pants the matadors wear! Def not cute buut it was overall not that bad, we stayed for 3 bulls after awhile it gets to be boring since its the same thing over and over again. Each bull was different in the level of patience and anger they had. I didnt know they would also bring horses out that the bulls would charge as well. Overall an interesting experience, not that bad if you look away sometimes :)

Madrid

So it has almost been an entire month of living in Madrid, and i finally have decided to keep a blog. This last month has been quite interesting, and actually harder than i thought. I was quite surprised by how difficult it was for me to leave my friends and family, and the long trip here did not help. But luckily for me, my host family is amazing and I get along well with my roommate.

I met Ubah my closest friend here literally right after my flight, Roberto from ISA was sent to meet us both at the airport and we have been friends ever since. We also met Yuko that same day while heading to a bus tour with ISA.

It has been hard for me to get comfortable here, because i feel like i always have to be on the look out for thieves and weird people on the street. I take the metro everywhere, and it takes me almost an hour to get to school everyday. I have had two teachers for this intensive month and their both super nice, it is all conversational even the grammar class.

I have already started to loose weight becuase i eat a lot less here, and i live on the fifth floor much less all the walking we do on a daily basis. My family eats very healthy, the one thing i miss the most is breakfast!!!

Skype has gotten me through, being able to talk to my family and friends back home :) can't wait to see everybody in December!!! I can't belive it has only been a month, i feel like i have learned so much already and my spanish is improving!

*Things I've learned*

+don't stand on the Left side of escalators

+dont' say hi to strangers

+people stare all the time, and it's normal

+common for couples not to get married

+people stay out till 3-6am everyday

+police officers are wayyy cuter in Spain

+be careful dancing with Spanish men, they'll try to kiss you