Tuesday, September 21, 2010

First weekend excursion...

FRIDAY
Friday night after class our house managers told us that we were having a Mojito party to celebrate the new school year and new roommates... He made a huge bowl of Mojitos and we all drank and got to know eachother. During the party some of our new friends invited us to go to a club after, we wernt going to because we had to be up early for our first excursion in the morning but we knew it would be fun so we decided to go anyway... We got back to the house around 4:30 am on Saturday, slept for a couple hours then packed and headed to our bus.

SATURDAY
The buses were off and luckily our destination was about 2 hours away so we got another 2 hours of sleep on the Bus. We finally arrived to a small city called Úbeda. It was very beautiful and had a lot of culture. Here is a picture of me and alex in front of a cathedral a man specifically designed for himself and his wife to be buried in. Our guide told us that his house was small and he put all his money into this cathedral because really the only thing that was important to them was the Afterlife.
After seeing a little bit of Úbeda, we got back onto the bus and headed up to the Sierra Nevadas. After having to turn around a couple times we arrived to our campground. Me and 3 other girls shared a small cabin together and took a quick nap before our first activity...
For our first activity our tour guides took us on a little hike and did not tell us what we were doing. Then I saw this ropes course that was high in the trees and I almost died ahha. For those of you who dont know, I am really afraid of heights, but I really wanted to do this so I put my fear behind me and tried my best. I was hooked up to a harness and wire so if I fell I would be caught but it still was very hard for me, and I was shaking the whole way. But I did it and I am so proud of myself :) Here are some pictures...





After our tight rope adventure we had dinner, and talked about the next day's excursion. I found out that the next day we would be going canyoneering, I was sooo excited until they told me I would have to jump off a 30 foot cliff into the river, and that there was no way around it. So after that I made up my mind that I was not going and I would go on a hike with other people instead.

SUNDAY
We woke up early to eat breakfast then everyone took the bus over to where the canyoneering was going to take place. As I was watching everyone put on the wetsuits I decided I will just go and suck it up, because this could be the only time in my life I will have the same chance. So luckily they had an extra wetsuit and I was on my way. Now I am SOOO glad I went, it was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. We followed the river for about 2.5 hours, down waterfalls, rapids and through pools. The wet suits made the crystal clear water not even feel that cold and the jump was not even that bad. The best part about it was the jump was through a cave, that had vines growing around the opening and that looked like it could have been on the movie "The Goonies", into a crystal blue pool of water that was along side a big waterfall. If anyone has a chance to go canyoneering I HIGHLY recommend it. Thankfully a guy from our group had a water proof camera that he brought along with him so here are some pictures from the trip (Unfortunately there are not many action shots because he was climbing down at the same time as us):






After the excursion we hiked through the Sierra Nevada Mountains back to the bus and went back to our cabins. We had a quick lunch then headed back to Granada. Overall this weekend was one of the most amazing weekends of my life, and I am hoping there are many more to come :). Also after this weekend I am living by the motto "When in Spain" so pretty much I am going to experience everything I am able to because when is the next time I will be living in Spain?!

MONDAY
I had been craving Persian food soo bad, so while I was at class Alex went to the store to buy all the ingredients I needed to make some chicken kabobs and saffron rice. We made an awesome dinner that tasted pretty close to Persian Kabobs. Then, after dinner our new Spaniard friends invited us to play Poker. I was the first one out :/ but its cool, I still got to practice Spanish and Alex lasted until 3rd. With this amazing weekend, Persian food, and Poker, I pretty much can say that I am loving my life in España!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Interesting cultural event


FLOWERS
Alex and I heard loud band music coming from outside and went to investigate. When we got there we saw a band playing music in the direction of an old cathedral that is next to our house. The music was awesome and I remembered that today was a special day in Granada in which they honor a specific saint. Different groups of people, bands, dancers, cowboys etc lineup and
drop flowers in front of a cathedral. Then people stuff the flowers into a beautiful net to make an amazing display of flowers. Here are some pictures/ videos:

Outside of the cathedral by our house:

Band Playing that we followed to the main cathedral:

Main Cathedral with all the flowers:
There were people lined up for miles to drop some off.

Flamenco Dancers:

Dancing Horses:


Lots of People:
After watching the show for a while we left the main cathedral and got gelato, then met up with some friends to play fútbol. Overall it was a good night :)




Sunday, September 12, 2010

Parque de García Lorca Y Zaidín Fiesta de Rock


Parque de García Lorca
We decided to take a little walk outside of the city to get some fresh air and relax on the Saturday afternoon... We came across this amazing park.

The park is in the once the countryside surrounding the home of famed poet, author, and playwright Federico García Lorca. There are rose bushes fountains, and a little pond. We brought a blanket to sit on and some wine, over all it was a great day.

Here are some pictures from the day:



These are exercise equipment they have in the park.... just after taking this picture I dropped and broke my camera :(.


Fiesta De Rock in Zaidín
This festival was the talk of the town all week in Granada so obviously we wanted to go. The only problem was we had no idea where it was but decided to try anyway. We headed off into the direction we thought it was and walked for about 20 mins when we decided this could not be right.

Finally we asked some young, intoxicated Spaniards where it was and they said they were heading there so we could all go together. On the way there the Spaniards were shouting Disney sounds at the top of their lungs in Spanish, "un mundo ideal", so we chimed in, in English. Once we got there we were astonished by how big this thing was. There were carnival rides, food vendors and a HUGE lot with a stage in the back, all for free. It was SOO much fun!







Monday, September 6, 2010

Camera Obscura

"Let's get out of this country
I'll admit I am bored with me
I drowned my sorrows and slept around
When not in body at least in mind
We'll find a cathedral city
You can convince me I am pretty

We'll pick berries and recline
Let's hit the road dear friend of mine
Wave goodbye to our thankless jobs
We'll drive for miles maybe never turn off
We'll find a cathedral city you can be handsome I'll be pretty"

Sunday, September 5, 2010

A day in Granada



Chelsea and Alex's Date Day

After waking up pretty late Alex and I decided to go roam around the city and get lost. We headed toward Plaza Nueva, which is the main tourist center in the city. Plaza Nueva is lined with vendors and restaurants that sell tapas and different souvenirs.
We passed Plaza Nueva and followed the river that runs through Granada up a cobblestone street toward the outskirts of the city. The river has beautiful arch bridges and historic buildings around it. Also a lot of stray cats drinking water and lounging in the shade the trees provide.

After following the cobblestone streets around a bend in the road we came across the most amazing view of the Alhambra up on a hill. We decided to stop for lunch at one of the many restaurants that lined the streets and ate an amazing meal while taking in the view.

Alex was very pleased with the discovery of his meal. Its called a Shawarma or as we like to call it, a Spanish style burrito. Its the closest thing they have to a burrito in Spain. It's a kebab wrapped in a tortilla with lettuce, really good sauce, and chicken. Probably one of the best things we have had here, and it was as big as Alex's arm.


Also, this little guy hung out with us through out the entire meal (Jessica FYI Isis followed me to Spain), and a very talented street performer was playing beautiful music on a flute/recorder.
After enjoying our meal and cervezas we carried our adventure on up the cobblestone street further away from the city central. We came across a huge hill and got almost halfway up when we stop to debate on whether to turn around. Just then we heard English coming from behind a wall. I took another step further and saw an old little door opening into a huge beautiful garden.

The English speakers I heard was a family and the dad was actually wearing a Chargers jersey. They were just leaving so me and Alex ignored them and went to explore this secret garden. We were literally the only ones in there. It was AMAZING. Here are some pictures...




After exploring for a good while we headed back to Plaza Nueva, got some gelato and walked the 5 minutes back to our house. Overall this day was an amazing experience. I am so thankful I get to live and explore this gorgeous city. :)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Our House!

We Found a House!



This is just a basic video of our house... there is actually 10 people living here and a lot more rooms but it kind of gives you an understanding about what it looks like.

Our managers are super nice and they decorated everything amazingly.


~Please forgive the typo- door war is supposed to be doorway :)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Welcome to the Mediterranean: Salobreña

Day 3
Sunday's in Granada are very quiet and everything is closed. Since everything is closed we decided to take a bus to the closest beach called Salobreña. We did our best taking the local bus to the bus station then got a little confused. Since we were so close to the outgoing us time it only let 1/2 of us buy our tickets, so we ran over to the help desk and they worked everything out for us. We made it down to the area where the buses are and tried to find our bus. Ironically we ran into Maria who was dropping our friend off so he could go back to Madrid, she helped us find the right bus to get on and we were on our way.

When we got to Salobreña we had to walk a while to actually get to the beach, but when we did it was amazing. It is not uncommon to see topless women and thousands of umbrellas. One time when I was looking around I saw a little boy pull down his pants and start peeing into the sand right next to his family. It was super funny and the family did not even react. I am not sure if that is normal or not but we avoided that spot for the rest of the day.

There was a point where you could hike up and take in the views of the entire coast. There were young kids jumping off the cliffs and awesome views. Here are some pictures.
They had restaurants right on the beach that were frying squids.



After coming back from the beach we were all really tired. So we showered, took a siesta then went out and bought ingredients for Calimocho. Calimocho is red wine mixed with coke. A very popular drink in Spain. We made them and drank and it was an awesome time :).

I'm in Granada!!



Day 1
After lugging my insanely heavy luggage over cobblestone streets and through plazas to the hotel, we were finally here, in Granada, Spain! We checked into our hotel, and all took a shower because we were disgusting from the 4 hour and 45 minute bus ride from Madrid. After relaxing, showering and getting settled in we decided to take to the streets.

We just started walking, trying to see where we would end up. Finally we ended up in the Centro or Plaza Nuevo, which has over priced food but in a great location. Definitely a tourist area. We did not want to spend too much money so we walked done some alley ways and found a little tapas bar that had 1e beers and free tapas with each beer... yummm.

After we enjoyed our tapas and beer we explored some more, we found our Citibank and walked down a random alley and came across this...


The Cathedral of Granada.
Its crazy how secluded yet centrally located it is. The Cathedral in adjacent to where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried in the Royal Chapel. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are still viewed as some of the best monarchs Spain has seen.

For those of you who are into the Tudor dynasty, one of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's daughters was Katherine of Aragon who was Henry VIII first wife, she gave birth to only one daughter who was Mary Tudor (known as bloody Mary for her execution of many non catholics). After Henry VIII renounced his marriage to Katherine of Aragon he married the famous Anne Boleyn, who was the mother to Queen Elizabeth, and which led way to the English pull away from Rome. After Anne Boleyn was executed, Henry VIII had 4 more wives. For more on King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella click here .Here is a famous portrait of Mary Tudor that I saw in the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. (Secretly taken by Iphone)
After taking in the marvelous sights we returned to the hotel for a much needed nights sleep.

Day 2
After waking up, showering and eating breakfast. We went with some girls to look at a place to live. The second we stepped into the place we felt a connection, everything about it we loved. While we knew the connection was strong we still wanted a couple days to sleep on it to decide if it was what we really wanted. So we left the place and went on a mission to find phones.

The mission to find phones was a flop, almost EVERYTHING in Granada is closed on Saturdays after 2. Since everything was closed we decided to take the time to relax, eat dinner, and after dinner we went out and got ice cream :) yummm....

After ice cream we went back to the hotel and hung out, one of our friends from CSUSM had been having a really hard time with homesickness and anxiety. He tried to get over it but around midnight he told us he had to go to the hospital for anxiety and something to sleep. Brandon, Al
ex and I all jumped into a cab with him and went to the hospital. For those of you who believe socialized healthcare is impossible to get treated are completely WRONG. We walked in, on a Saturday night, and it was dead empty. Our friend was able to get treated automatically and all of the doctors were really nice and persistent. And the best thing about it, he got treated, medicine, and everything was 100% free. Here is a picture of what the hospital looked like:

After the hospital we walked back to the hotel, it was really nice walking down the empty cobblestone streets and taking in the city. Unfortunately the anxiety medicine did not work for our friend and he was still not able to sleep. The next day he made the decision to go home and took the next bus to Madrid. Hopefully he is doing much better... We miss him!