Blogs from Granada, Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 17

Last week had a lot of ‘lasts’: last meeting, last dinner, last group trip. Last Tuesday we had our last intercultural meeting with Veronica. We talked about reentry back to the US and what we can expect to feel. I’ve already gone through the reentry process coming back from China, but this will still be different. Last time, I was only home for three weeks, so I didn’t really have enough time to readjust completely. And it was during the holidays, so I was rushing everywhere and seeing all these people. This time, it’s the summer, I’ll be starting work again, and things will (hopefully) be less hectic and crazy. I think it will be harder too though because my study abroad experience will be completely over. I’ll be back to real life, working and going ... read more

This weekend, I went to Portugal with a bunch of people from the program through Discover Granada. We got on a bus at six in the morning on Friday and drove to Sevilla, where we picked up the rest of the people going. The program was led by five or six guys a little older than all of us, so it wasn’t going to be a very strict weekend. Portugal was basically one big party. Well, for most of the people. I only went out the first night for the kickoff dance party. They had a sangria sailboat ride with unlimited sangria one day, but I chose to just stay on the beach and not get drunk. The weather was perfect every single day. The weather forecast said Friday and Saturday would be rainy, but it ... read more

Since we had a holiday on Monday and Tuesday, I took a trip to Barcelona with Cat and Malissa. We left on Saturday morning from the bus station to Malaga airport. Traveling by bus and plane has become so normal to me now. I’ve logged more hours in a plane this semester than the rest of my life combined. We got to the Barcelona airport and took a bus into the city center. We walked to our hostel, which was very close, and checked in. Well, Cat and Malissa checked in. I was not in the computer. What happened was, Cat found the hostel, so I told her to book it. She wanted us to meet to do it, but I couldn’t so I just told her to go ahead and do it. And it’s not ... read more

Not much was going on this week, except an impromptu trip to Toledo. I’ve been obsessing over this damasquino stuff, and Toledo is the place to buy it. No one else was really interested in going, so I ended up making the trip myself. I left Thursday afternoon after class. It’s unfortunate because there’s no direct bus from Granada to Toledo, so I had to take the five hour bus up to Madrid, go to a different bus station and then take the hour long bus ride to Toledo. I didn’t get there until eleven at night and had to walk to my hostel in the dark. It was a bit nerve racking for me, but I had a map and good directions, so I found it easily enough. The hostel is tucked in just inside ... read more

April 10, 2012-   The Hotel Corona de Granada boasted a breakfast buffet and we were all eager to check it out this morning. The buffet was similar to other buffets we have enjoyed in Europe and we were happy to have access to it to start our day off with the most important meal of the day. Our tour guide picked us up at the hotel this morning for our tour of Alhambra. We were excited to be the first ones on an open top bus. We pretended that we were rock stars going thru town. Amy did her best Vince Vaughn impression (from the movie The Breakup). She shouted to the streets of Granada..."Say it like you mean, don' t make me say it twice... Are you ready to see Chicago? You might be ... read more