It was really hard to believe my summer study abroad finished so soon-not without one more hoorah filled with new towns, new sights, and a new experience all together. I finished my finals on Friday, July 31st and the very next day flew from Granada to Madrid. That was THE WORST goodbye I have ever had. It was not easy boarding that plane-but knowing I had some special people on the other side of that flight helped me through. I had an interesting flight to Madrid. In the middle of the trip I heard a sound similar to a lawnmower backfire-and [View Full Entry]

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This is the summer of experiences, and I have another checked off! The last weekend in Grand Granada (as I now refer to my host-city) the trio set out to hike the beautiful landscape that we have been simply viewing these past 2 months. Each day I walk to and from school with the most picturesque background of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The actual beauty really came full circle with me after hiking up, down, and around a small portion of them. We hopped on a city bus that took us 45 minutes up into the mountains to a small [View Full Entry]

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It is crazy to think, my last weekend excursion of my summer is wrapped up and done. All that is left is 3 measly finals and a paper! A grand finale it was. The girls and I headed to Barcelona for our final getaway. I thought it was impossible to beat all the awesome cities I have traveled to these last 2 months, but honestly and truly; Barcelona is at the tip top of my list of favorite places! The city is jam packed with unique architecture, COLOR, and energy. We FLEW out on a Friday evening. (What a nice change [View Full Entry]

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Two weeks ago, I experienced the most chaotic, wild, crazy, odd, enormous, cultural festival I could have ever imagined possible. ( and that is STILL an understatement!) Nothing could have possibly prepared me sufficiently. The week before the "Running of the Bulls" in Pamplona I learned all about the San Fermin Festival in my classes. It is a week in July to honor the San Fermin (Each town has a patron saint and for Pamplona-it's Fermin!) Each teacher and my host parents all had the same expression before I left..."poco loco....ten cuidado" which means, its a little crazy, be careful. HA. [View Full Entry]

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To prevent myself from becoming too sad being away my very first 4th of July, a beach was the only option. I saw Odin off to Madrid on Saturday, and boarded a separate bus heading south to the beautiful city of Malaga! A couple girls from my program were there and I planned on meeting them for the rest of the weekend-easy enough? WELL, I had some character building travel lessons this past weekend. 1.) Get exact address of hostel 2.) Know all other possible names of the hostel 3.) Don't ask locals on the street for directions...only workers. 4.) If [View Full Entry]

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FINALLY... after a month of seeing the Alhambra from a far, I have set foot on the actual ground! (twice may I add in one week!) The WSU students toured on a Saturday, and then also when Odin came to visit-it was a must! What a beautiful piece of history this is to Granada. I had learned a lot about the different parts of the Alhambra in my Islamic Class which made the tour that much more interesting. Just a tid bit on the Alhambra: Granada, Spain is KNOWN for having this historic Muslim Palace structure. There are three different areas [View Full Entry]

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Just thought now that I am finishing up my first semester abroad, everyone would like to see some pictures of the school! Again, it is the Centro de Lenguas Modernas "building"-a section of the University of Granada (different location) Adorable place, that I really have come to love!! [View Full Entry]

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Bienvendidos a MADRID!! This little weekend excursion to the capital of Spain was complete with sightseeing, my family, best friend, unbelievable food, perfect weather, and amazing experiences! Can't really ask for much more! The weekend started on Friday morning when I arrived to the train station in Granada. Up until this weekend I had traveled in groups, however this weekend I was hitting the happy trail alone. Needless to say I was VERY nervous! My punctuality combined with nerves got the best of me, and I was about an hour and 15 min. early for my train, not a problem to [View Full Entry]

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WHAT.a.WEEK!!! I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to take part in the Corpus Christi Festival. Just a little info about it I learned throughout the week. It is a Catholic feast/celebration of no particular point in the life of Jesus, just rather celebrating the actual Body of Christ. Thursday is the "holy" day of the week when most of the worshiping is done on. Although, throughout the week there was a carnival/fair event, parades, fireworks, dancing, bands, etc. Some highlights (although there were TONS) from my week: On Monday night, the group took a bus out to the [View Full Entry]

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While planning to study abroad I made a list in my head of the major places I wanted to visit, and this past Saturday I was able to check one off! The whole gang of WSU students and myself went on a one day, planned excursion to the city of Seville. As my host Mom was planning our lunches to pack, she kept saying, it is going to be VERY hot on Saturday... VERY HOT.... LOTS of sun.... Well as we pulled into Seville (about a 3 hour bus ride) a bank thermometer read 44 C. That converts to about 111 [View Full Entry]

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