Continuing forth- Week 4!

 Hola amigos,

Independence is something that, when talked about is often romanticized or avoided completely. People either are or are not independent or capable of being independent, but I think that either extreme is just not true or possible for anyone. We as humans are made for community and yet simultaneously as we grow and mature must find a way to be independent at times. How can both of these be true?? I don't have an answer, just some anecdotes as I am figuring out what that looks like in my own life. 

   Day 22:

I got my midterm back today and got 100% on the written portion and 90% on the oral presentation, so if you were worried about my schooling, don't be hahah... I'm doing just fine! This was a pretty calm day other than that though. I ate Alicante meatballs in a vegetable broth, that was a different experience. It was pretty good though and later my host mom taught us how to make tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelet) I might even argue that this is one of my favorite foods to eat here. It is very simple but so good. I could probably eat the entire thing that is meant for 3 people if I wasn't going to get weird glares for doing so. I also decided to go lay out at the beach by myself this day for the first time. I went thinking that my friends had headed there after lunch only to find that they never made it and by the time I saw some people that I knew, I had already laid out my things, so I decided to take this opportunity to just spend some time in the word and taking in the sounds around me. This lasted about an hour before I was sweating up a storm and needed to go home.

   Day 23:

Went to class and then home for lunch like normal. Then I met up with a few of my friends to go to the local modern art museum in Alicante which was about a 15-20 minute walk from Los Luceros (the main plaza in Alicante). There were a lot of interesting pieces to look at and even better than that, it was free to visit and use their air conditioning for a bit. We also just walked around town on our way back and found doors on the city hall building that were decorated with the most gorgeous flowers. On my way back to my place I stopped in a store called Parfois or something like that I didn't buy anything, but I had been walking past if for days wondering what was inside, but was too scared to go in by myself. So I'll take it as a little win for the day! I pretty much just worked on homework and hung out in my room for the rest of the day and then we all went and said goodbye to one of the girls that had extended her stay from last semester.

   Day 24:

Ok, so the first major thing that happened was that I found out that the pens I specifically bought before coming because I wanted to make sure I had my favorites, were the wrong size. Now, I am a pilot g2 gal and so that's what I had bought, but apparently, I never looked at the line size and accidentally bought the .5 instead of the .7 ones. I guess this is not the end of the world, but it is definitely a different experience. Anyways... after class, some of us went on a wine-tasting excursion with the language school at a local Alicante Bodega. We got to tour the building and even go down into their cellar and try a wine from the 50s. The wine maker told us that this wine was what the kings and queens drink and that it would probably be the nicest wine we would ever have. Funny thing though, most of the students that were there really did not like it. I thought it was good just very different. We got to try a few others as well when we were there and those were good too! I had the sad realization that I cannot bring any back home with me though due to the way that I am shipping my bag home at the end of the summer, so I just bought one bottle to share with friends at some point during the rest of our time here (and get this, the majority of the wines at this winery were only about 6 euros a bottle, that is unheard of back home!) Later that night I went over to Charlotte and Skylar's and watched Knight and day, though I honestly don't think I know what happens toward the end because we got to talking lol. 

   Day 25:

Thursday was a good day. I went to class and then went with Melina and Lily to one of the farmers' market-like thing that they have here on Thursdays and Saturdays. We did not end up buying anything, but it smelled so good, all the fruits and vegetables and whatever other goodies were being sold. It was a very local experience. a little while later, I met up with the girls that would be traveling together this weekend to just make some final bookings and plans for what the weekend would look like. Skylar and I also each ordered a piece of cake here and splint them so that we could try both kinds. Later that night I went to see a movie with my host mom and one of her friends. It was called The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. In Alicante, they show the film in its original language with Spanish subtitles one night and then switch it to Spanish for the rest of the showings. This was a British film so thankfully it was in English, but it was very interesting to read the subtitles throughout the film as well. It was definitely not a film that I probably would have gone to on my own, but it was interesting and very nice of my host mom to offer to take me to. After the film, we picked up some Chinese food from a nearby restaurant and took it home. The food was good but definitely different than Chinese food back in the states. 

   Day 26:

We reached Friday again. We had class this morning and then went home and ate lunch. Then I finished packing up all my things for our trip and met up with the girls. After that, we had a long and hot walk to the bus station to catch our bus headed for Granada. The rest of the day was mostly spent on the bus chatting and listening to podcasts. Shortly after we arrived, we went to dinner at this amazing Moroccan restaurant. For those like me that apparently did not pay enough attention during European history, Granada was one of the last places to be under the Moorish rule, when the Spanish came to reconquer the area, the king peacefully surrendered the land to save the city and all its beauty rather than fighting a war that would have destroyed so much. All that to say, Granada still holds a strong Arabic culture hence the Moroccan food. We all shared a plate of mixed appetizers and a thing of hummus and bread. Then I got couscous and lamb as my main plate. It was so so good. It was moist and flavorful. It was so good that even though it was burning my mouth off, I continued to shovel it in. After dinner on our walk back we made a wrong turn and happened upon a guy playing guitar in a plaza right outside the cathedral. It was so nice to just sit on the steps and listen (though it did seem like the perfect place to slow dance that was not quite in the cards lol) We had a good time that night hanging out together and we even got to play some foosball which was super silly but fun nonetheless. We all crashed hard as soon as we got back to our Airbnb that night.

   Day 27:

Saturday was insane! I walked a total of just over 11 miles that day (I'm starting to think that I could do a half marathon when I get home but maybe ill just start with a 10k and go from there). We slept in a bit that morning and then went to breakfast at a cute place that was not where we had planned to go but was in the location that the place we thought we were going used to be. We got crepes and lattes! Then we went to the Alhambra. This was quite the fortress. The Alhambra was beautifully decorated in every square inch with colored tiles, detailed carvings, and plants. the views of the city down below were breathtaking. After the Alhambra, we walked to la Calle de Teterias, this is a street that is full of beautiful textiles and jewelry and small tea shops where you can stop in for some classic Arabic tea and pastries. Of course, we did just that! Then we stopped and looked around in the huge cathedral. Then we went and got ready to grab dinner at a pizza place. There is something really weird about ordering solid Italian pizza in Spain, but it was very tasty and the guy only charged me for a single slice but gave me the whole pizza so that was also amazing. Then we went to a flamenco show which can really only be described as very aggressive and passionate tapdancing though I'm sure the Spanish people might take offense to that. After the show, we went in search of drinks and tapas because apparently in Granada, it is the custom to be given a free tapa when you order a drink. On our way though we happened upon some sort of concert in which people were up and dancing or sitting in chairs enjoying watching and listening to the music. This was honestly my favorite part of the trip, just getting to dance in the plaza to fun music and not have to care at all what anyone around me was thinking. We did end up finding somewhere to stop after and got tinto de verano, which is quickly becoming a favorite drink of the group, and with it, we got what we think was some sort of chicken salad sandwich. Then we headed back to the Airbnb and as everyone took turns washing off the very long day we had, we watch some episodes of the office and then headed to bed.

   Day 28:

This is my first Sunday since being here that I didn't spend my day in PJs and working on this. So that was definitely a different experience. We work up at a decent time to pack and clean up the Airbnb and then we met up and dropped off our stuff at the other girls' Airbnb because they had a later check-out time and we did not want to have to lug our stuff around everywhere. Then we walked uphill to breakfast at this cute little café where we had coffee and juice and toast. When I say toast though, I do not mean simply a slice of bread with stuff on top, but rather a baguette sliced in half long ways and then topped with whatever you chose. It was amazing. From there we continued up until we reached Mirador St. Nicolas which is a viewpoint that was popularized by ex-president Clinton when he visited Spain in 1997. from this view, you could see a gorgeous view of the Alhambra and the city below it. Then we went back to the tea street to get some more tea and purchase goodies to take back home. A couple of us also got henna tattoos as I figured this would be the only kind of tattoo I could get in Spain that does not come with possible years of regret lol. The last thing that we did before leaving Granada was to stop for drinks and whatever tapa they served. To our surprise, this time it was a plate of small fried fish, I will call them sardines, but I am really not sure what kind of fish they were. I thought that they were pretty good but my friends were not exactly digging this idea. We then took a taxi to the bus station and after realizing we still had 40 minutes until our bus would arrive, we thought that walking to the McDonalds down the street would be a good snack before getting on a bus for 5+ hours. While it did taste good, this was probably the most stressful part of the trip in which we were not sure if we were actually going to make it on time, thankfully we made it just in the nick of time and all was well with the world. I got home around 10pm and we all noticed the humidity in a way that we had not in the past few weeks. I guess the contrast of the dry heat in Granada really did us in. I got to talk with my family before bed and wish dad a happy father's day then I went to bed!

   Day 29:

Here we are back on Monday again I had a decent day, with a pretty slow start. I did not want to get out of bed this morning and then had to ride the tram by myself because the girl that I normally ride with is still in France this week, so I almost fell asleep. My professor kind of played me though as she told us on Friday that she was going to have an appointment today so we would only have an hour of class and then could go, but then she walked in this morning and then had the nerve to tell me that she canceled her appointment. After class, I came home and did my homework and then had lunch. Then, I started working on this and later went to meet up with the girls to settle our trip debts. I came back and tried to watch something but quickly fell asleep instead and then woke up and had dinner. Now I'm finishing this up before my planned phone call with Emma! 

So yeah independence is kind of a wild concept. This week was full of moments of independence and other moments of dependence on others. The trip was the first time that we all traveled in this country without the guidance or the watchful eye of our director and yet we made it through safe and sound. Each step we take towards independence we learn something new and yet also learn how much we do need each other at the same time. It has been quite the week! 

Hope you all are doing well! I love getting to hear from a few of y'all about your summers here and there. I'm having the time of my life, but that doesn't mean that I don't miss so much about home!

Until next week!