THE BEACH! And other fun adventures with Kayla

This week my friend, Kayla, turned 21, and we had to bring the party to Europe to celebrate such an event!  She was only here for a week, so we tried to get as much in as possible.  However, both of us felt under the weather, so this made it hard to get up and go.  We did go shopping, go to the beach and futbol (aka soccer) game.

I think we both enjoyed the beach most.  It was approximately 18 degrees Celsius, which is equivalent to about 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunny!  Although we didn’t do any super touristy things, it was so beautiful just walking around.  When we reached the open air market, we devised a plan:  Buy grapes and eat them on the beach.  There was only one problem, the grapes were dirty.  What was our solution?  Wash them off in the big sink called the Mediterranean Sea, of course!  After a while of becoming accustomed to the freezing water, I decided it was time to get brave and actually get all the way in.  Although I was practically frozen, just being in the water was so awesome!!  After a while we took out Kayla’s nook and did a suduko.  Suddenly in the distance, Kayla saw a couple of men riding horses.  Before we went, my mom told me to find a “Fabio,” and Kayla said, “Hey, that might be your Fabio!”  But then, Fabio (not so) gracefully fell off his horse.  Well, I can’t have that, so unfortunately, he had to be de-Fabioed.

Soon afterwards we started to get really hungry.  We decided to eat at a place on the beach… which in my opinion was a great idea!  Kayla had tortilla de patatas, which is very traditional dish here, which is essentially like a potato omelet.  I had mussels in a garlic sauce.  These mussels were HUGE!  I’ve never seen something like that!  They were great.  We also got some free stuff while there: the very pen I signed the bill with, a business card, and a shot of this apple stuff, which the waiter assured us it was “sin alcol.”  Overall, it was a great day, but it was late and we were exhausted.

The next day we went to a Granada futbol game.  Although we were both pretty worn out, the game was really fun!  And the cherry on top was that Granada won!  I tried to get a video of the victory cheer, but whether it worked or not I’m not sure.

 

Anyways, I’m glad Kayla and I could continue our tradition, celebrating the last 14 birthdays together, and I’m not sure how we will top this next year!

Tomorrow I leave for Paris!  It’s crazy to think that before I left I had only been to Mexico and Canada, and now I’m traveling all over… and that we have been here for almost 6 weeks!  I can’t imagine how the next 3 months will be!

Un beso,

Tesla

The Beginning of the End…

First things first… an update from last week.  Malaga was great!  We went to the beach, walked through ruins, got “conducted” to sing by an old drunk man at approximately 1 pm, and even went to the beach in February! 

Now… On to this week.  On Monday we started classes.  Yep, that’s right I didn’t start classes until February!  Of course, every professor had us go around and say our name, where we are from… etc.  And, of course (I think it’s mandatory) everyone’s schedules were changed at least once.  Now that I have a “horario fijo” (fixed schedule?) and have somewhat settled in to my classes, I can already tell which classes I will like and which ones I won’t.  I dropped one class and picked up another, Art History of Spain.  This class is going to be EXTREMELY boring!  And it’s at 8:30 am… ugh!  But, the one saving grace is that today I met two girls from the University of Portland, Melanie and Corey.  They are hilarious!  If nothing else, hopefully I can make some new friends in this class.

Another class I really like is my Writing and Speaking class.  Wow, that sounds lame… sounds cooler in Spanish- Produccion Oral y Escrito.  Ah, much better.  This class is taught by a teacher I had for my orientation classes so I knew going in to the class I would like the teacher.  At first I was a little intimidated by this class because it seemed like everyone knew everyone else, and I knew no one.  However, the students seem very welcoming and it doesn’t seem like there will be too much work.

One of the classes I think I will find the most interesting in my Spanish Lit. class.  The professor already told us we were going to have to “Study, babies, study,” (yes, in English) but he’s sarcastic enough I think I can handle the work.  Later on in the semester we’re going to read Bernarda Alba, one of my favorite Spanish works that I’ve already read so I’m excited for this class!

Welp, that’s it from my boring life here in Spain… tomorrow I’m going to the escuela again to see the babies and I’m very excited for that!

Pues, venga…

    Tesla

…In Africa

This weekend we went to Morocco, Africa.  This experience was amazing, and definitely a once in a lifetime experience.  We were divided in to three groups, and my group had a saying: everything we did, we would say “…In Africa,” afterwards.  Somehow, just saying this made everything instantly cooler.  Here are some of the things we did… in Africa: 

Since Africa is only separated from Spain by 9 miles, we began our journey by taking a small boat ride from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco.  After we arrived, we went to DARNA (which means our house in Arabic), a women’s center in Tangier.  This center was intended to help women learn trades to bring themselves out of poverty.  Of course, my camera died before this visit, so we are left to our imagination.  Most of what I saw in this center consisted of looms for weaving and lots of different pieces of art, which I assume the women who go there have made, along with books and other resources.  After exploring a bit, we went downstairs to a large room, similar to a conference room, where we had tea and a discussion about Moroccan life.  After our discussion we had lunch: couscous with vegetables, beans, caramelized onions and raisins.  Although this was extremely good, practically no one in our group could finish the portion they gave us.

After that we began our trek to Rabat, where we would be staying with host families.  However, along the way we stopped for a surprise—Camel riding on the beach in Asilah.  Riding a camel has been one of my goals for a longggg time, and finally I was able to ride a camel… in Africa!  I think I may even have to switch my favorite animal to a camel; they are so majestic and calm, with huge brown eyes—so gorgeous!

After a short stint with the camels, we continued on towards Rabat.  When we arrived in Rabat we met our host families.  I stayed with one other girl, Shannon, from our program.  It was quite difficult to figure out who actually lived in the house.  People were coming and going all night, but I believe our family consisted of a grandma, two aunts and our host student.  Our host student, Sarah, was 22 and worked as an architect.  She was the only one in the house who spoke more English than “hello” and “how are you?” And in fact, our Arabic/ French must have been so good, because the grandma seemed to think we spoke fluently in either of these languages.  The aunt, Maria, knew how to speak more Spanish, so we were able to communicate with her that way.  During the host stay I noticed a lot of differences between our culture and theirs.  One of the major differences was the difference in meal times.  The meals in Morocco are served similar to “family style” in the States, however, there is no individual plates.  Everyone eats from the same bowl, and usually (unless it is necessary to use utensils) they eat with their hands.  My favorite dish with my host family was noodles with raisins and sugar.

Another stand out moment from the trip was the hike we took the last morning up a mountain.  I knew from the start this would be very difficult for me with my heart issues, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.  About half way through I wasn’t doing so well and a couple of friends and I lagged behind the group to rest.  After a little while of stopping and starting, I told my friends to go on without me.  I continued up the path slowly and became more and more frustrated with myself for not being able to keep up.  However, after a while I finally made it to the top.  So, although at the start this would have definitely been a low point, I am glad that I was finally able to make it.

So now we are back in Spain, a land where we can communicate and understand the customs.  Tomorrow two of my friends and I are heading out to Malaga for some shopping, eating and (hopefully) a little beach time...

Hasta luego!

Tesla