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!



Thursday, August 26, 2010

3rd Day/Night in Madrid




3rd and Final Day/Night in Madrid (for now at least)

Today we woke up, ate breakfast, then attended another mandatory orientation meeting. This one was a little better than the last, we talked about cellphones, housing and important stuff like that. We were also able to meet our resident director Maria who is going to be in Granada with us. She is very nice and I am excited to spend a year with her.

After our meeting we decided to take a small siesta before lunch just to catch up on some sleep. Well, I guess we really needed to sleep because we slept through our alarm clock and ended up missing lunch.

After we finally woke up, we headed over to the famous Prado Museum and saw some amazing paintings by Goya, Greco and many more. I really wanted to go to the Reina Sofia Museum to see Guernica as well, but we ran out of time :/, I guess I will have to save that one for the next time.

After spending a lot of time in the Prado we headed back to the Metro and the dorms. We got ready for our last dinner in Madrid that was held for all the participants in the program at a small restaurant.

The restaurant was amazing. We had the first course of many different Tapas, unlimited Sangria, Salmon or Steak, then this awesome cake with coffee and champagne. Probably one of the best meals I have ever had in my life.

After that we headed back to the dorms. Alex and Brandon played in a USA vs España fútbol game with some of our companions and the Spaniards. Of course they lost but it was still fun to watch. Then we called it a night because we have to wake up early to head to Granada in the morning.

2nd Day/Night in Madrid


2nd Day in Madrid
Waking up in Madrid is still hard to get used to. The sun is just rising at 8:00am, but the temperature is about 90 degrees out. Unfortunately we are not provided with air conditioning in our dorms so me and alex have been sleeping without any covers on a twin sized bed. I guess it really makes you appreciate the small things the United States provides... ie queen size beds and ac. But Madrid is still amazing.

After waking up and eating breakfast we had to head to our first orientation regarding the program. It was very boring and I was having a hard time keeping myself awake but I guess you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

After the meeting we decided to go on search for some sights to see in Madrid. We took the Metro to the Gran Via which is a pretty popular shopping area. The shopping was awesome but since it was only the second day we were here we did not want too spend money and the heat was unbearable so we ended up looking for another attraction.

Something I learned...
If you dont want to look stupid by asking people what to do in cities you are visiting, you should check out a tourist stand (like the ones that sell souvenirs and the like), all the postcards have the most beautiful sights in the city so it will show you where to go. And by doing so we ended up here....

Plaza Mejor

A very beautiful, and half shaded secluded part of the city. The plaza is surrounded by a building and the only way in and out is through amazing arch ways. We decided to sit down and enjoy an over priced drink to soak in the site and shade. It was well worth it, and definitely one of my favorite things that I have done so far.

After the Plaza Mejor we walked around Sol and shopped. I was able to find a blow dryer for a decent price that works well. I was super stoked on that because my hair was definitely in need of some styling.

Finally, we decided to return to the dorms to have dinner. After dinner we were all invited to play fútbol with some Spaniards living in the dorms. It was a lot of fun, and I got to practice a little spanish with one of the girls. Our first experience with locals :) kind of exciting. While it was fun, the Spaniards seriously dominated us, I think there is a reason why they are World Champions.

After playing/watching fútbol we walked across the street to a place called "Campus Tavern" for some drinks. They were also playing a spread of American top 20 but had a deal for 3 beers for 12 euros which is pretty cheap for Madrid so we decided to take advantage of it. I think the bartender was overwhelmed/annoyed by all of us so he put this song on after he was finished getting us our drinks.
Kind of funny, but I like the song haha

After that we just head back to the dorms and passed out. Overall it was a good day. I still cant believe that I am in Spain. I dont think it has kicked in yet.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

1st night and 1st lesson in Madrid


Our First Night in Madrid
Our first night in Madrid was pretty exciting. After dinner we all got ready and headed toward a touristy part of Madrid called Sol. In Sol we were flagged down by numerous promoters trying to get us to go to their bars or clubs and using free shots as incentives. We finally decided on this one guy who was very persistent and ended up in this posh bar that played subtle house music and had florence lights around the bar and dance floor. Since it was still early the bar was pretty slow so we got our free shots, ordered a couple beers and relaxed.

After the posh lounge we walked around the plaza looking at the buildings and people. We were again flagged down by this guy who was doing a bar crawl with a bunch of British people and asked if we would like to join. We were all really tired (mind you we had only had a 3 hour nap in 24 hours) but decided to anyway because something just attracted us to him, Im guessing it was the familiar sound of English but I don't know. The bar we ended was a British Bar, the atmosphere was covered in paintings and pictures that were obviously British, the draught boasted Newcastle, Heineken and Guinness while the DJ was spinning the USA's top 20 hip hop.

We weren't too fond of the American feel but stayed for a drink because they were cheap. After that we had to run to the Metro because it closed at 2 am and we did not want to get stuck with a cab fare or a long walk home.

And now my first lesson of being in Europe begins...

On the Metro there was a younger guy who was acting really drunk sitting next to us. He got up to give his seat to some of our friends and was acting really weird like he was losing his balance into me because of the moving metro. I was distracted for a second because of the confusion then I looked down and his hand was trying to get into my purse. Instinctively I grabbed his hand and pushed him away. Just then we were at a stop and he ran off. Luckily he did not get anything but it really shook me up and taught me a lesson on how to hold my purse. I think I will pay a lot more attention now.

Okay well thats all for now stay posted for more crazy shiz.

I love and miss everyone :)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Hola España, Glad to See you Again!


After 15 hours of flying, I finally made it to Spain! :)

We flew into Madrid at 7:30am Spanish time and were picked up by our Director Martin. We were then bussed to the Universidad de Madrid and checked into the Chaminade Dorms and this place is awesome! They have a gym, a pool and we each have our own little rooms and share a bathroom with one other person. The Wifi is a little iffy and not always consistent but it it is better than anything!

After getting settled in the rooms and showering we fought the urge to sleep and decided to go find a bank in the city. Our Director offered to walk with us and a couple other students to show us around Spain. We walked for 2 hours through out the city of Madrid on 24 hours without sleep. It was kind of tedious but it was a great introduction to the city.

One of my favorite things I saw was the Arc that is a sister to the Arc de Triumph in Paris. It was very beautiful.

We are all very tired but doing great! I miss everyone so much but I am so excited to be here. I can not believe it is only day one and we have already done so much! Alright its 9:30pm and I have to get to dinner. Check back for another post soon!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Journey Proud

So I have about 5 hours until I need to be at the airport and I am laying in bed contemplating how the next few months of my life will be... I guess the beauty of this experience is that how all the events will unfold is pretty much a mystery. But I think that's what I am most excited for.

As Disney's Pocahontas put it, why choose the safe calm path when you can discover what's just around the riverbend?

Touché Pocahontas, Touché



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E Sycamore Ave,El Segundo,United States

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A person's guide to obtaining a Spanish Student Visa- PRE ACCEPTANCE PLANNING

¡MUY IMPORTANTE!
While the instructions on the Los Angeles Spanish Consulate website: click here, on how to obtain a Spanish Student Visa are informative, I believe there is still important information that would make your process go a lot smoother. Read below if you are planning to study abroad in Spain and need to apply for a Student Visa. I wish someone had written something out like this for me.

These steps should take place before you even apply for the program you are wanting to get into:

I) Apply for your Passport, in order to do this follow the following steps:
1. Make an appointment at your local United States Postal Service Office
2. Take passport photos professionally. These can be done at a Kinkos, Costco or other stores
3. Fill out the passport application
4. Attend your meeting with your required documents ie Drivers License, Birth Certificate
etc. and money for the passport.
More information on how to obtain a passport can be found HERE

II) Request your "Absence of Police Records from the FBI". This is a tedious process and takes forever. In order to do so follow these steps:
1. Download the fingerprint forms from the FBI Website
2. Download and fill out the Absence of Police Records request form from the FBI Website
3. Find a local PROFESSIONAL and CERTIFIED fingerprinting location. This is VERY important or your
fingerprints will be sent back. The FBI lists UPS locations as credible fingerprinting locations, however I do not recommend them. Every person I know (3 people) that had them done at a UPS had their fingerprints sent back. The have extensive instructions about good fingerprinting on the FBI Website linked above.
*If you live in San Marcos, CA I recommend going to A1 Fingerprinting in Vista. It is a small hole in the wall place but the guy knows his stuff and does what he does very well. As of today the number is (760) 724-0840.

4. Obtain a form of Payment:
Option 1: Obtain a money order or cashiers check for $18 U.S. dollars made payable to the Treasury of the United States. Please be sure to sign where required.
Option 2: Pay by credit card using The Credit Card Form. Don’t forget to include the expiration date of the credit card that you are using.
**I suggest using Option 1 so you do not have to disclose Credit Card information. But thats just me.
*Important note: Cash, personal checks, or business checks WILL NOT be accepted
*Payment must be for the exact amount
*If the request is for a couple, family, etc., include $18 for each person.
*If you are making multiple requests per person, include $18 for each request

5. Review the FBI Identification Record Request Checklist to ensure that you have included all the information they require to process your request.

6. Mail the required items listed above—applicant information form, fingerprint card, and payment—to the following address:

FBI CJIS Division – Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306

**You should do both of these processes prior to even applying for your program because each of them can take up to 4 months to receive. So get on it if you have not already. :)

**SEE THE NEXT POST FOR THE NEXT STEPS IN OBTAINING YOUR STUDENT VISA.