Oregontourist

After a very long trip (a fifteen minute metro ride, four hour high speed train ride, one hour bus ride, and ten minute taxi ride), we finally arrived 500 miles from Madrid at an Air B'n'B in the small town of Begur. Begur is situated on the Costa Brava, a rugged stretch of Spanish coastline between Barcelona and the French border. This area is lined with cliffs, ancient hilltop towns, hiking trails, and some beach resorts. Begur itself is a small town of about 4,000 people situated on a 1000 foot high promontory jutting into the Mediterranean. It's highest point is a thousand-year old castle, and little homes and shopping streets cling to the hillsides below it. About a mile to Begur's north, east, and south lie picturesque Mediterranean beaches, occupying coves hemmed in by cliffs ... read more

I am currently on an AVE high speed train, passing through the rugged plains of La Mancha (where Don Quixote was set), towards Madrid. This concludes several days spent in the cities of Guadalquivir Valley in Northwestern Andalusia (the region of Spain I've been in thus far, wedged against Portugal to the west and the Mediterranean to the south.) After 19 days here, I've gotten to know the region well, and am a bit sad to see it go, through I'll certainly return someday. Regardless, the cities I've spent time in during the three days since Ronda have been fantastic. My family and I took a late-morning train from Ronda northward to the city of Cordoba on the 2nd of July, arriving around noon. Cordoba is about 2/3 the size of Granada, and it has been ... read more

I've been busy/away from an internet connection for a bit, so here is an update on my final week in the Granada Study Abroad program, which ended on the 28th. After my busy weekend, I returned to my routine of Spanish classes in the mornings, and activities in the afternoons/evenings. Classes progressed well, and I learned many specifics of Spanish--particularly the variety spoken in Spain---which I would not have otherwise picked up on. After classes Monday, we walked up a canyon to the Sacramonte neighborhood--traditionally inhabited by cave-dwelling gypsies. There, we took a flamenco lessons, ate tapas, and saw a flamenco show. Tuesday, we swam in the ancient Arab Baths, which was incredibly relaxing. After a free/preparation for departure afternoon on Wednesday, we spent Thursday in the home of a Spanish culinary connoisseur, trying a extraordinary ... read more

Sunday at 7:00, I arrived in Granada. Unfortunately, my luggage did not. Therefore, my program director Alejandro, and I spent several hours trying to retrieve it from British Airways, which had accidentally sent everybody's checked luggage to Barcelona. Fortunately, they delivered it late the following day, and it was a relief to change out of the long-sleeved shirt I'd been wearing for the previous 48 hours. That aside, I had a phenomenal introduction to the wonderful city of Granada. Granada is a compact city of about a half-million people, situated at the end of a valley in the far south of Spain. It is surrounded by some of Europe's highest peaks, and is about 30 miles north of the Mediterranean. The climate is dry, and the average day ranges from 60 degrees at night to 90 ... read more

Author’s note: this post was written at 10:48 pm, GMT-5 on June 15, 2018 I may have just experienced three of the most exhausting yet rewarding days of my life here in DC. I flew overnight, getting absolutely no sleep, from Portland to JFK, landing around 3am Pacific. Because it didn't feel like breakfast, I had Chinese noodle soup, and flew down to DC. I was met at the airport by my former West Albany classmate, Lizz Hertel, who served as Oregon's youth governor three years ago, and originally convinced me to join the program. We took the metro with a few other governors (MA, OH, and KY) to our hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, a few miles from DC. After introductions and a quick lunch, we made our way on the metro to the National Mall, ... read more