las alpujarras

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a couple of weekends ago, we went on another excursion to the alpujarras, which are basically the other side of the sierra nevada mountain range to the mediterranean sea. beautiful. huge mountains, hills... and tiny towns tucked away (holy alliteration!). we basically hiked around, stopping here and there to listen to our guide and hang out in the little towns. we arrived on saturday late morning and checked into a quaint hotel in a town called capileira. we hiked the entire afternoon and into the evening, and for supper our directors treated us to a yummy buffet-style supper in the hotel restaurant. the next day we packed up our things and headed to another part. after this second hike, long but not nearly as intense as the first day, we ended up in a town called pampaneria. here i bought a classic spanish alpujarras rug, and it is perfect for my room (i had been looking for something - i´m not a fan of no carpet in my bedroom...). the whole weekend was actually really intense - at one point in the saturday hike i was about to throw in the towel. everyone had a choice of whether they wanted to hike or hang around in the hotel or in the town we ended up in on the second day. after the first day, only about 1/2 of the people actually hiked on sunday! i absolutely loved this excursion. it was a refreshing change from cathedrals and monuments and architechture. well, i don´t have a lot of time to write, so i´ll just publish this one. enjoy the photos.

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Photos

lunch
we had a long break to eat lunch and relax on this huge cliff! across the valley, basically directly in front of us, we could see in the distance the town in which we were staying! it was beauuutifulllll...

posing on the cliff
elissa and i after eating our bocadillos (sandwiches) and fruit for lunch

i wish they all could be...
california girls: elissa, rose, and whitney. they are all really great.

me encaaanta tomar el sol
my roommate laura relaxing on the deck of our hotel room in capileira

es una cosa muuuy curiosa...
our rad tour guide explaining something about the ancient irrigation systems of the alpujarras... i can´t always take away concrete information from tours in spanish...

fording the riv
herding around in the alpujarras... in some places stepping on your untied shoestring could have been the end of you...

a nalgene and a sunburned arm
a welcomed relief: these faucet-type things are all over the place, and even though they look disgusting and old, the water coming out of them is some of the best drinking water of all time...

water and me
me standing by something that was important to the ancient irrigation system. i can´t actually tell you what though.

wahh!!
whit pretending to fall into a little irrigation river in an alley in pampaneira. or something. we were on our search for something to eat. note the rugs for sale!!

waaasting time...
some boys from my program and one of our directors (in the red to the right) playing hacky sack in pampaneira while we waited to go home.

in my room...
the beautiful, 17 euro rug from the alpujarras. i´m considering wearing it as a poncho in the airport so that it doesn´t take up precious space and weight... a ver...

Comments

[Katie B.]

Lovin it!
I'm loving the pictures Amber! And I love your rug- I bought one from there as well and I still adore it. You could always mail it back to the states... it only takes 2 months by ship :P Hope you're having a great Easter weekend in Espana!

[Uncle Keith]

Great Journals
Amber, Thanks so much for taking the time to put these journals together. I have really enjoyed reading them. Sounds like this has been a great experience for you. And thanks for representing our country and SD well!! Hope to see you soon back in the States. Love, Uncle Keith

[Amy]

espana
Ambular wow.. I am so jealous of your amazing time in spain. you are an inspiration to your fellow spanish/english speakers. i am so excited to see you soon..hopefully before I leave for costa rica... i miss you tons but i am so happy for you and your new experiences. love Amy W.

[Travis]

What an awesome time!
It looks like you are having the time of your life over there. I am sooooo jealous. You are going to have these memories for the rest of your life. You had better let me know when you are going to be back home so that I can visit before you head to LA. P.S. You are doing a great job on this blog!