Greetings from España! I can´t believe it has been over a week since my return from Ireland. Getting back into the swing of things at school was a bit difficult since I wasn´t speaking much Spanish while traveling (unless Natalie and I didn´t want people to know what we were talking about...) but last week my señora´s daughter and family were visiting from Sevilla and I had many opportunities to practice with them. They have a one and a half year old son named Oscar (such a cutie!) and I learned a bunch of names for various animals after reading him a children´s book-what a great way for me to learn vocab, right?

Last Thursday I went out for a few glasses of wine (vino tinto) and tapas with some of my classmates before heading to a small dance club called Afrodisia, which played groovy music from the 60´s. It had been a long week so by the time people were heading to the discotecas, I decided to head home for a good night´s rest. Friday I went shopping and found some great deals at Zara, a popular clothing store here. The sales (or rebajas) here only last for another week so I´m taking advantage of the time I have left! Saturday Natalie and I traveled to a city about 45 minutes east of Granada, called Guadix. Here we saw a beautiful cathedral, visited the market that sells everything from spices and fruit to beads and hand-made African carvings. Then we headed up the mountains/hills where a large portion of the population lives in caves! Their dwellings are actually built right into the sides of the hilly land and there was a spectacular sight of the Sierra Nevadas from the highest look-out point in El Barrio de las Cuevas. That night after having a few sangrias and tapas, we headed to Kapital, a smaller and less expensive discoteca that had really good music. I didn´t get home until 4:45am (a bit early to call it a night in Spain but hey, it was a long day) and Sunday was a day for rest and relaxation. I went for a run in the early afternoon and watched the end of Gladiator (dubbed, of course...just not the same) before meeting Jesús (mi intercambio) for café con leche. We hadn´t seen each other since before my trip to Ireland so there was a lot to talk about and since we lost track of time I was a bit late for the evening mass at San Francisco.

All in all, my weekend was really fun and I´ve enjoyed staying around Granada and practicing my Spanish. I´m getting really excited for this weekend because my friend Kaela, who is studying near Madrid this semester, is coming to Granada to visit! I´ll have a lot to show her in just a few days but maybe we´ll head down to the beach for a day if the weather is nice. Okay, check out the Ireland pictures at the bottom of the page and I´ll post again soon! Ciao.

Ireland

I´ve returned from my trip to Ireland and have so much to tell...the country was unlike anywhere I have ever visited and although my pictures will say more than I´ll ever be able to explain (for example this photo taken in Dublin at dusk overlooking the Liffey) I´ll try my best to recount the adventure I had with Natalie, my travel buddy.

Our departure flight was located in Málaga, a southern city in Spain near the Costa del Sol, where we spent the day visiting the Picasso Museum, La Alcazaba (a Muslim military building built on the coast of the Mediterranian-think "mini-Alhambra") and a beautiful cathedral. After a day in the sun, it was time to go to the airport to catch our late-night flight to Dublin; we arrived in Ireland after midnight and since we hadn´t booked any hostels for the weekend we decided to head to Galway as soon as possible. And so our adventure began...with an overnight stay in Dublin´s airport, attempting to sleep in the cold plastic chairs with a recording of a very angry-sounding woman going off every 10 minutes reminding travelers to never leave their bags unattended.

Sunday, 11 Feb

Despite this seemingly bad start to our trip, we caught a 6:15am bus and headed west. We arrived in Galway, the third largest city in Ireland (although after walked the "downtown" you´d never believe this fact), around 9am and checked in to a hostel for showers and some shut-eye. After resting a bit and then making some pasta with groceries from a local store down the road from our hostel, we toured the city by foot and went out for a drink later that night. Here we got a taste of traditional Irish music, which was mesmorizing...the band consisted of two violinists and an accordian player. At one point there was a solo on the accordian and a hush fell over the entire pub...a local citizen explained to me that this song was an example of the Irish heritage and represented something not of this world. It was a perfect way to begin our tour of the island.

Monday, 12 Feb

Today we took a ferry from a city west of Galway to the Aran Islands. We rented bikes and despite the cold, rainy, windy weather, we were able to tour much of the countryside. It was such a great experience because much of the land remains untouched by development and it felt like we were visiting a place untouched by modern influences. Most of the pastures created by rock fences still divide the land and there are a few sites on Inishmore, the largest of the three islands, that reflect years of early Celtic Christianity influences. Here´s a picture of the cliffs near a historical site built by Celtic tribesmen where the Atlantic Ocean abruptly meets jagged rock-this place was one of the highlights of my trip!

Tuesday, 13 Feb

Today after tourning the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the University of Galway, we decided to escape the bleak, rainy weather by catching a bus and returning to Dublin. Since it arrived later in the evening we checked in to our hostel, walked around a bit to familiarize ourselves with the city and bought groceries for dinner. After dinner we headed to Temple Bar with an Australian friend we met at the hostel. This is the most well-known pub and the biggest "touristy" spot to grab a Guinness and hear live music...and it´s where I tasted my first glass of this famous brew!

Wednesday, 14 Feb

After getting a late start due to fellow hostel-mates abusing their time in the community bathroom, we took a tour of Dublin Castle, inside and out. There were some beautiful Waterford crystal chandelliers, murals and French Victorian furninture scattered throughout the castle. We were also shown a buried part of a tower that was nearly destroyed due to a fire a few hundred years ago. It wasn´t discovered until the 1980´s when water from the old moat flooded one of the building built on top of the tower! Here´s a view of the church connected to the tower (in the upper left-hand corner)-this tower is the only part of the original castle that survived the fire.

We also toured a part of the National Gallery and Trinity College. Later that night we went to a pub called the Porter House and I tasted a locally-brewed stout that was actually enjoyable! Natalie and I also tried a fruity beer from Belgium (compliments of a random Hungarian guy) that tasted more like wine than beer. I think I may be spoiled now and will find it difficult to go back to the Madison brews this summer :)

Thursday, 15 Feb

Today we toured the Guinness Storehouse and learned all about what goes on in a brewery...although I can´t really keep everything straight with the barley, malt, yeast, etc., the complimentary Guinness at the end in the Gravity Bar (which provides an amazing view of the city of Dublin) was well worth the confusing info session.

After the Guiness Storehouse we made our way to Collins Barracks where they used to hold military drills. Near the barracks is the National Museum of Ireland, where we visited a few really interesting historical exhibitions on the Easter Rising of 1916 and Irish military history including the IRA. After taking an Irish history course on Revolt and Revolution, these exhibits were awesome to see.

Friday, 16 Feb

Our last full day in Ireland consisted of touring St. Patrick´s Cathedral. The picture to the right is a bit blurry but it´s a side view of the altar and if you look closely you can see the row of knight´s helmets above the seats. After the cathedral we took a stroll in St. Stephen´s Green, a beautiful park with lots of open grassy area, ponds, trees and benches right in the heart of Dublin.

After lunch (homemade mac & cheese made with spaghetti noodles, with baked potatoes on the side...since we were trying to use up all our accumulated groceries from the week...) we did a bit of shopping and I nearly bought a set of Waterford Crystal wine glasses. After I weighed the option of going to Portugal next month and sipping from real crystal at home (and believe me, it was a hard decision) I decided to go for the traveling option. I guess I know what´s first on my wedding registry down the road!

Our last night in Dublin took us first to a four-story bar/club where I had an outrageously expensive Irish Coffee. Next we headed to The Mezz, a bar with live music and lots of locals. We met a group of Irish gents who were celebrating their graduation from Trinity College and after chatting for a few hours, one of them talked us into seeing Croke Park the the next day before our flight home. He insisted our trip would not be complete without a tour of the largest Gaelic football stadium in Ireland-and I suppose this can be justified.

Saturday, 17 Feb

Here´s a view of Croke Park which is located on the north side of Dublin. Although we weren´t suppose to view the field without a guided tour, Naill (our Irish friend) talked to the info desk and we were able to catch a glimpse of the turf! It was fun to get a tour from a local because it was probably the most authentic thing Natalie and I experienced all week. On the way to the park we also learned a lot about the sports in Ireland. Soccer (as we know it) is not nearly as big as Gaelic Football, which is similar to a game in the US called Speedball (middle school gymclass anyone?). The only sports that are usually played in Croke Park are rugby and Gaelic football...soccer is also allowed but many die-hard Irish fans are not happy with this because soccer is a "European/English" sport that doesn´t have a place in Irish history.

After this we went for a delicious piece of carrot cake and coffee (mmmm) before booking it to the city bus we needed in order to catch our flight back to Spain. I believe this last tour was a perfect way to finish our visit in Ireland. Now I´m back in Granada planning my upcoming trips and getting back into the swing of things at school. It´s almost time for dinner so I´ve gotta run but hopefully more pictures from Ireland will be posted soon. Ciao!

Festival of San Cecilio

Hola amigos, que tal? This past weekend I attended the Festival of San Cecilio, a celebration in Granada that includes a taste of local foods (for example, beans, salted fish and bread), flamenco dance and music (gratis, of course) as well as a concert and sweet constumes, which you can see in this picture! I uploaded more pics on the bottom of the page so check them out...and see if you can spot the dog on the roof!

The festival was located in the Albaicín, a district in Granada that historically was the medieval Muslim quarters. Many of the roads are extremely narrow and windy, and the trek up the Albaicín is always a good workout because it is established on the side of a mountain. Restaurants, bars and night clubs are scattered within this district, making it a prime tourist spot.

Today I visited the Monasterio de La Cartuja with my art class to study the gothic, renaissance and baroque art/architecture. The actual church was decorated in baroque style, which included more color, gold, molding and other detail than I could take in but I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed so I can´t share them with you but if you have seen any baroque churches before I think you´d get the picture.

Okay, I have to head home for a light dinner and a bit of studying, but after tomorrow I have my first spring break...and I´m off to Dublin! Hopefully I´ll be in touch but if you don´t hear from me, don´t worry because I´ll have plenty of pictures and stories when I return :)

Un abrazo fuerte

Here´s a picture of a building a few steps away from where I study. There is a lot of graffiti around certain parts of Granada, but as you can see, some of it is rather artistic and interesting to look at. I´ve also posted a few pictures of my school, which is located in the heart of Granada, close to fresh fruit stands, various cafés and privately owned stores such as La Olivia. This tienda sells local and regional produce like olive oils, vinegars and sweets. CEGRI consists of three floors and there is an open patio in the center. We have two computer labs, a biblioteca and several classroom that are warmed by small portable heaters that give off surprisingly large amounts of heat.

My week here has gone by very quickly...again. I can´t believe I will be departing for Dublin in only nine days! I am becoming more comfortable speaking in my conversation class but I still fumble a lot of my words. For example, the other day in my culure of Spain class, instead of saying many Spaniards enjoy going out for a drink after work, I accidently stated that they spend time drinking babies! (Spanish majors, please forgive me...) Anyways, after this horrible blunder, we moved on and had a discussion about the differences between Spanish and U.S. schedules. In Spain it is not uncommon to see young children (in strollers even) as well as older citizens walking in the streets at 10 or 11p for an evening stroll on the weekends. Bedtime for children here (hopefully my little cousins hear this and start appealing to their parents) are not until 9:30 or 10p on weeknights! I don´t mind this too much but when I went to bed at 11:00p a few nights ago, the next morning Alfonso seemed genuinely concerned that something was wrong with me! (Tricia, how does this sound to you?)

Well, I have to run to class but I have another long weekend ahead of me so stay tuned!