I think it was a month ago now that my dad came to Spain to hang out with me. We went to the Cathedral, Alcazar, Maria Luisa Park, Plaza de Espana, and Universidad de Sevilla. We also met up for dessert with my host mom. Despite the language barrier I thought the conversation went very well! The next day we rented a car to go to Granada. Fun Idea in theory except... no NeverLost.. Lets just say we got lost a few times... Granada was pretty cool. We walked around most of the first day trying to find this restaurant that was in my travel book. We were soo lost but after a good hike we found it. It turned out to be this local hot-spot and the food was really good! The next day we saw the Alhambra, which was amazing! I get to go back with my program in a few week and I really can't wait to see it again. Then we went to Marbella which is this town that is on the ocean. Very rich... Like the prince of Saudi Arabia brought his two boats with him. We drove back to Sevilla where dad was catching his train for Madrid. So fun to have him here and show him all the cool things that I get to see all the time!
Mostly school surprisingly has been a big part of this experience. I am really enjoying most of my classes. Although its tedious, I like my art class. Learned a lot about the history of civilizations in Andalusia... I think its missing the art part but all is well. Love my business spanish class. My teacher is totally up for tangents about companies in the US and Spain..
Overall, the past few weeks have been pretty good. Unfortunately, unlike my other classmates I've started to lose enthusiasm for the every day things. Being in Europe this long, I have to slap myself sometimes to remember "This is not normal for you!! The US is not this pretty!" It almost seems like I have lived here for more than 3 months... Except for the Spanish. Overall, I can definitely hold my own. I'm not sure about the fluency yet just because I am not speaking it all the time. Definitely something to work on the next few weeks!!
This past weekend some friends and I took a trip to Gibraltar. It was so much fun to technically go to a different country. Gibraltar is this piece of land that is actually owned by the British. We had to bring our passports and even go through this small customs.. Gibraltar basically is part of England. English is the first language, but everyone speaks spanish just because of the proximity. We took a tour up the big rock and saw caves, monkeys and amazing views! The Rock has a lot of history just because the town used to be a military center. They used the cave to shoot canons and have a hospital! And most importantly there are two billion monkeys on this rock. They date back to the moorish rule of Gibraltar when they had the monkeys as pets. Kinda scary having all these monkeys just running around and even jumping on one of my friends. Nice to get away and experience another place that has this melting pot history/culture..
Celebrated Halloween with my friends last night! Ended up going to this cheap china store, and buying these cool masks. Preceded to go to this Texas/Mexican bar where we watched the vikings/patriots game. Today I am going to the Arabic Baths! Very excited. Let you know how everything is there later!
Til next time !
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