last day in granada....
the bus for Madrid leaves tonight at 10 and gets to the airport at like 4.. ugh! Not looking forward to waiting in the airport til my flight at 11, but we have to leave early cuz people have really early flights. I had my last final this morning, political system of the EU... didn´t go as well as I would have liked but I did my best, maybe 7.5 range. I´m really excited to go home! But not looking forward to hauling around my 4 pieces of luggage. I´m also sad about leaving Granada and my friends I´ve made here, but it´s been a great time. I was sad about leaving our señora all by herself for the holidays, but then she´s use to having students coming in and out. She´s been hosting for 15 years, so that´s about 60 students! It´s quite funny she didn´t even bother to learn our names, because she said our names were strange and hard to remember.
boarding my plane in 24 hours!

Hola a todos! I just got back from a weekend in Bilbao. The pinxos were delicious, they´re these little snacks they serve at the bars -the goat cheese was my favorite. .. here´s some pics!
Only 4 more days in Granada....

I went on a last minute trip to Portugal this past weekend. Only a 4 hour drive and we stayed at a nice hostal in Lagos- cute harbor town where we woke up to seagulls every morning (afternoon). We chilled on the beach and watched surfers and wind surfers wipe out. The weather was windy, but very sunny and warm. Then for dinner I had Portuguese speciality, vino verde, a dark white wine -greenish tint- with my fish of the day.

We rode out to Sagres and hiked up a cliff of red claylike stone to watch the sunset -gorgeous! Overall, it was a wonderful time, good group of people too. It appeared that Portuguese people there knew more English than Spanish. Geographically you would think that Portugal would be overwhelmed with Spanish influence, but no. Probably because a lot of tourists come from the UK.

¡hola! no he escrito en mi blog hace mucho tiempo...

A couple weekends ago I went hiking in the Alpujarras, a series of pueblos strung across the mountains. It was a relief to get out of the city, and endulge the fresh mountain air! The city we stayed at was called Capiliera, and our hiking guide told us that in the Alpujarras they fabricate this red wine called la Costa -which of course we had to try! We stumbled upon a small bar that night, and had some (lots) of Costa -very pure and strong. I chatted with the bartender for a bit and told him I was from Ohio. Surprisingly he was familiar with it. Turns out that his old antique cash registrar was manufactured in Dayton!

I had a nice Thanksgiving with my studies abroad group. The directors organized a dinner at a restaurant on the Plaza de Gran Capitán. The food was good... different good. The turkey was a weird texture, kinda like meatloaf, but good flavor. ¡toma!

Hola todo el mundo!
My aunt was here in Granada this past weekend. We had a great time. We went to Alhambra, of course, my fourth visit. On Thursday we went to the Cuevas de Nerja. They´re these natural caves discovered in 1959. It was very humid descending deeper into the caves. In Nerja we also stopped by the Balcon de Europa, then went on a carriage ride around the pueblo. Then yesterday we at a really nice lunch in the Albacin neighborhood. We relaxed and enjoyed the view of Alhambra!

I fell that my Spanish is getting really good! It really helps to have Spanish friends to practice speaking -and to learn vulgar phrases and slang haha. Also I talk with my Señora a lot. The other night my Señora took out me, my aunt, Niki, Niki´s mom, and Niki´s mom´s boyfriend out for dinner. It was fun and Señora Carmen laughed at our guests, because they ordered water at the tapas bar haha. She´s funny. I met her sister the other night, and they were trying to hook up either me or Antro with this 44 year old man. Ahhh no thanks! They wanted Antro to find a boyfriend in Spain so that she wouldn´t leave.

I got a haircut the other day! My mop-top frightened the little Spanish ladies when I walked into the Peluquería. It was difficult to communicate what I had wanted done, but eventually we worked something out. Apprehensive at first, she cut and styled my hair. She did a good job, it´s nice, shorter -gotta get use to it.

I played poker with some Spanish friends last weekend. There´s a bar where everyone brings their own cards and chips and plays for hours. We ended up playing til 4 A.M. At first I thought the boys were just trying to get Niki and I´s money, but Niki -because of beginner´s luck :) - won 10 euros. It was a fun night, a nice break from nights out of clubbing.

Last night Niki and I went with a couple friends to the thermal baths in Santa Fe, right outside Granada. After driving around in the olive tree fields for like 40 min, they finally found the baths. It was like a natural jacuzzi, with large stones and a waterfall. It was the perfect temperature to keep us warm in the cool night. We chatted and watched the stars for a couple hours, very relaxing :)

I got back from a mini vacation in Barcelona yesterday. It was so fun. Did all the tourist stuff and saw all the buildings nerdy architecture students would enjoy. I really liked Barcelona, but I´m glad I chose to spend my 4 months study abroad in Granada. Barcelona is swarming with tourists and chorizos (bad guys). But it was awesome to see Gaudí, Mies, Meier, Nouvel and Calatrava´s architecture.

Sagrada Familia

Niki and I at Parc Güell

Mom and I Arc del Triomf

Rooftop Casa Mila