The kids

Just a little note about the kids I live with:

Most of the time while I am at our apartment, I leave my door open.  This has allowed me too not only listen to the family's conversations, but hang out with the little kids.  Eloisa (or "Elo" as we call her) is 11 and a sweetheart.  We started doing art projects together after she saw me making decorations for my room.  Now, we regularly create masterpieces and I have fun teaching her projects I have learned over the years.  A few weeks ago we tie-dyed tissues!  I now have 8 hanging as decorations on my wall.

Eloisa

Occasionally I will do her hair for her.  She has lovely, long, thick, brown hair...like a perfect Spaniard!  I think it is hard for her having two brothers, a traveling salesman for a father, and a mother who always has a thousand things to do.  I hope I can give her a relief from that and if I have to learn all the words and dance moves to the Spanish "High School Musical" and help her understand the lyrics to "Camp Rock" than I will!  She is also a great source of information and the go-to girl for Spanish questions.

Elo's lovely hair!

Our other little friend with a HUGE personality is Dario.  He is four, as tall was my waist, and resembles a perfectly cute elf in a fairy tale...really, he is adorable.  He loves to come in my room and look at/touch everything.  He also likes to try and play some silly games I have on my computer.  He is learning how to write, and so I always have Crayola markers and paper ready to encourage his learning.  He learned how to draw a heart recently, and that shows up on everything now!

Dario

Dario speaks faster than any Andalucian I have met...so sometimes, I just laugh at how little I can understand from what he says.  He is your rival, mom!  He is also VERY loud!!  One day he decided it would be fun for all of us if ever

y time he saw us he screamed our names...his voice box is pretty powerful (also rivaling my Mom's!).

 Dario and Elo

"I LIKE TO SCREAM!!!" (except in Spanish of course)

One day while I was video-chatting with dad, Dario came into my room, crawled up on my bed with my bottle of lotion, and stood behind me.  I couldn't tell what had happened, and it was dad who noticed that Dario had squeezed a generous portion of lotion into my hair...haha.  It came out of course, but whew! is that kid a handful!

Sergio is 14 and great, but I really don't see him often.  He is a brilliant fútbol (soccer) player, and spends most of his time out on the field, at school, or at home studying.  Also, I don't have any pictures of him right now.

Weekend Trip to Lisbon, Portugal

After 9 hours on the bus with 36 students and 3 advisors from my program, I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal.  We left Granada at around 11:30 pm on Thursday the 26th of March and drove through the night to arrive at the center of Lisbon at 8:00 am on the 27th.

For those of you who don't know, Lisbon is the capital of Portugal.  It is located on a river leading into a bay of the Atlantic ocean.  The city has one castle on the highest hill overlooking the entire city.  Also from the castle you can easily view the statue of Jesus with open arms.  He seems to be "hugging" the city, and is facing the direction of an identical statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The architecture of the old city is mainly from the Romantic period.  There are arches, statues, squares, fountains, columned buildings, tree-lined streets, and a large cathedral.  In 1755 there was an earthquake leveling most of Lisbon, so the city was rebuilt with these structured features of the Romantic period.  We visited the castle, cathedral, and rode on the most famous electric tram-cars of Lisbon.

Cathedral

Castel de São Jorge

Overlooking Lisbon from the Castle

We rode this yellow tram (in the background) around Lisbon.

We were given rooms in a lovely hotel in the center of town.  That afternoon, I trekked around the city with two friends, Mia and Victoria.  Both girls go to school in New Orleans, and are a riot!  .We got on the subway and rode to a random stop, got off, and found ourselves at the site of the 1998 World Expo.  We walked around for a while among modern-futuristic buildings and rows of flags from participating countries.  We also sat along the river for a while.  Que bonita!

Mia and Victoria

Can you see me??
We snuck onto a boat for this one!
By the river in Lisbon
Flags of participating World Expo 1998 countries.

One of many World Expo buildings.

Later, we had supper, realized that we could watch Grey's Anatomy and Alias in English, and headed to bed.  The next day (Saturday) we visited the Hieronymitic Monastery, the Tower of Belem, a beach-town called Cascais, and had adventures trying to get to the mysterious town of Sintra.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to Sintra because of downed trees, and instead some of us ran around on the beach in bagillion-mile-per-hour winds.  I was COVERED in sand!

Hieronymitic Monastery

Cathedral of the Monastery

Courtyard of Monastery

Inside the Monastery (amazingly intricate architecture)

Tower of Belém overlooking the river
Cascais, Portugal
A black swan!! In Sintra, Portugal

The wind on the beach!!

The next morning, we got back in the bus, and headed home to Granada.  The Portuguese/Spanish countryside is stunning, rocky, and covered in vineyards, olive trees, cliffs, plateaus, valleys, and huge, snowcapped mountains.

Overnight trip to Almería

This is a stunning coastal city that I stayed in for a night.  I took a 3 hour bus ride from Granada, and arrived in Almería at around 7:00.  After wandering around for a bit, I found my way to my hostel beside a huge fútbol stadium.  I was given a room to myself, and after leaving a few of my belongings, I walked the 3 blocks to the shore.  Some photos are of this night and the rest are from the following day.

The next morning I went across the city to the older part, and found my way to the Alcazaba de Almería (the Arabic fortress).  Probably the coolest I have seen so far.  The walls are sheer cliffs and there are gardens and fountains peppering the stone foundations.  Another part is currently an archeological dig.  I was in awe.  I climbed hundreds of stairs and countless turrets.  Slowly I rose higher and higher to the most important palace.  The view was astounding.  It seemed like I could see the entire Mediterranean along with all of Almería.

As I came down from the castle, I walked through the old part of town and to the cathedral that was built to resemble a fortress so that is would not be attacked by invading Muslims in around 411?  I can't really remember, but it was really neat.

I went back to the bus station and bought a ticket for the last train out of Almería at 8:00pm.  I wanted to see the sunset.  So, I stayed on the beach for the rest of the day.  There is a lively boardwalk filled with families and ice cream.  I walked along the shore a few times and also got soaked a few times!!  I watched the sun move across a cloudless sky and around the edge of a mountain range sloping to the west.  It was a wonderful day.  Here are some photos:

Day-trip to Malaga

 

I have taken only two trips out of Granada since I arrived.  One was with my group of 25 students, and the other I took by myself.

Malaga was the first trip.  Picasso's birthplace, an Arabic fortress, and the Mediterranean.  We rode in a charter bus through the Spanish hills down towards the coast, about and hour from Granada.  On the way, the skies were a perfect shade of blue, and the olive and grape vineyards patterned the hillsides.

Our first stop was Picasso's birthplace...basically a restored version of his childhood home.  I didn't know this, but his father was a b

rilliant painter who inspired Picasso's creativity.  It is said that Picasso's father gave up painting the day that he saw his young son perfectly finish one of his father's paintings.  I also didn't know that Picasso only began painting with the Cubist point-of-view later in his life.  Before Cubism (the crazy style!) he was a Realist who painted and drew numerous

 works of art (that nearly look like photos they are so accurate).

Next stop, the Alcazaba de Malaga.  A giant Arabic fortress...and when I say fortress, I mean turrets, battlements, enormous walls, multiple palaces, and huge gardens.  This fortress was AWESOME.  My friends and I ran around and became so preoccupied with our surroundings that we lost our tour-group....3 times.  Then, we lost them a fourth time and realized they had left the fortress without us .  I really could have stayed there and explored for hours, but we had to regroup...so I led my friends through the winding cobblestone streets of the fortress to the bottom (about a 5 minute run to let you know how huge it is).  Once reunited with the group, we visited the enormous cathedral of Malaga.

The catholics had a lot of money when they built this cathedral.  Seriously.  Shrines, mosaics, marble, gold, paintings, columns, two organs, towering ceilings...amazing.

The afternoon was free, and I spent it with two new friends, Mia and Victoria.  We went to a small Italian restaurant and split a pizza,  then walked along the main shopping district of 

Malaga, to the coast.  We didn't actually walk on the beach this day.  Here are some photos from the day:

Me kissing Picasso

Picasso's Birthplace

Outside the Alcazaba

The Cathedral

Me with view from Alcazaba

MB's Classes

It has been WAY too long since I have posted an update on my travels in Spain.  So much has happened in such a short span of time, and I have yet to stop and write down the stories.

I am in 5 classes taught totally in Spanish.  My professors are native Spaniards (native Andalucians, might I add) which gives their speech a uniquely accented rapidity.   Fortunately, these professors understand that their students are mostly American, so they try to slow things down (key word: try).  My first class is Islamic Culture in Spain.  I adore this class and current location in Granada allows me to walk through time and imagine the the history and Islamic culture of this ancient area.

Second class, Spanish Culture in Spain.  Thus far, I have learned all there is to know about bull-fighting...and have even watched a video of a full bull-fight from start to finish.  Maybe sometime while I am here I will be able to see a live bullfight...although, it takes a strong stomach!

Third class is Latin American Culture and Civilization.  My professor for this class has 5 dogs, and I am pretty sure her reason for being late to class every morning is that she once again....lost a dog.  This class isn't my favorite, but still holds my interests considering how closely the US is linked to Central and South America.

Fourth class is Grammar!  For those of you considering learning a new language, I do not recommend learning the grammatical structures of that language, IN that language.  It is a HUGE challenge for me to keep up with what we are studying, when I have no way to connect it to my first language.  Also, this professor is rather terrifying and is not a fan of personal-space.  Sometimes I will glance up and she is just inches away from my face evaluating my work (ugh!).

Fifth class is Oral Spanish.  The students arrange desks into a circle, and we practice speaking to each other for an hour and a half.  It's great and I have learned a ton about Spanish vernacular.

I have classes 1 and 2 on Monday and Wednesday, and the 3-5 courses on Tuesday and Thursday...no class on Friday!!!

My School- El Centro de Lenguas Modernas

The Courtyard with doors to classrooms