Grenada and Cadiz and everything else in between

Que tal?!

It's been a while! Lo siento but i just haven't had the time to sit down and write ALL the good things I have been meaning to lately. SO here it goes!

FIRST and FOREMOST... I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN!! My sister Alexis is pregnant!! I AM SO HAPPY AND EXCITED!! I WOKE UP TO THAT WONDERFUL NEWS YESTERDAY!! I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT AND SMILING! The baby is due in November so at least I will be in the states for the big day!! CONGRATULATIONS ALEXIS AND DERRIK!

So last weekend when Daryl and I went to Granada, of course we started the trip off on the wrong foot. We left on Thursday right after class. Our bus was scheduled to leave Salamanca at 3:00 pm... We got there at about 2:50 and was about to get on the bus and check in. Not to mention we saw our names on the itinerary sheet the doorman was holding. The driver said we had to go get new tickets and directed us the wrong way. After realizing that we were in the right and he was in the wrong we came back and our bus that we were initially suppose to be on left us. WE WERE SO FURIOUS!! SO MAD!! So we had no other choice but to buy the next available bus to Madrid which was at 5:00pm. With that being said we were going to be late for our scheduled bus to Granada from Madrid, so we had to change that bus as well. So now at this point we were scheduled to get into Granada at 4:30 AM. When we went to book all new tickets the teller tried to tell me that we had to pay the full price for new tickets. There was no way I was going to. I told the guy off in Spanish that his bus driver was in the wrong. After me releasing out some steam he let us change our tickets for only 1 Euro. :)

The bus ride from Madrid to Granada was soooo long. When we got there at 4:30am we got a taxi to get to our hostal. He dropped us off in the little town of Granada. Of course we ring the night service to assist us and no one answers. At this point we were so exhausted and not to mention we had 9:00 am reservations to the Alhambra. We just wanted to get some sleep. After a couple minutes we get let in and go straight to bed. Upon entering our room we were welcomed to DOWN COMFORTERS on the bunkbeds!! We were in heaven. I haven't sleep with a down comforter since the states. We also shared the room with 5 other strangers who were backpacking Spain. It wasn't weird at all, we just didn't leave any of our passports or wallets in the room while we were out.

We got about 3 hours of sleep and woke up and started our journey in Granada. First stop was the Alhambra. The great Alhambra complex is an ancient palace and fortress built for the Moorish monarchs of Granada. Its greatest claim to fame is not just in its beautiful representation of Middle Eastern architecture, but also in its unique location atop a 35-acre plateau overlooking the beautiful city of Granada in Southern Spain. It was so beautiful.

After a whole afternoon of touring the Alhambra we met up with Daryl's friend who is studying in Granada and she showed us more of the city Granada. I must say there is a lot more hills in that town compared to Salamanca and Madrid. That night we went out for tapas. The tapas in Granada are FREE after 8pm as long as you buy a drink. That definitely saved us a handful of euros! They should make tapas free in every city of España. The next morning we had to wake up early to catch our bus to Cadiz so we called it a night and went to bed.

We woke up bright and early the next morning with a cup of coffee and headed to the bus. When it comes to Carnaval you HAVE to dress up. It doesn't really matter what you dress up as JUST as long as your wearing something besides normal apparel. The group of girls we went with put our costumes together and decided that we were going to go as "a boy band/magicians/waitresses/street performers/backstreet boys".. i have no idea what we were, nor what half the population of the people in Cadiz were either but it was quite the experience. There were people dressed as human dog poop, disney characters, astronauts, babies in diapers, NAKED, and God knows what else.. It was crazy I must say.. It was one HUGE festival in the street all day and all night.. The amount of garbage there was was unbelievable. I have never saw anything like it. There was garbage in the streets that were up to my waste, it was just horrible. After a while we got sick and kind of fed up with the people's behavior in the streets so we decided to head back to the bus at 3:30 am to catch it at 4. We knocked out on the bus back to Granada, it was a 5 hour bus ride. When we got back we caught out next bus to Madrid and knocked out on that one as well and than finally caught another bus from Madrid back to Salamanca. We finally got back home at about 11 pm. It was quite possibly the longest day of my life. BUT the trip was all worth it. I loved Granada and Cadiz and also got to meet other people which is always a plus. :)

When we got home Victoria had prepared SALAD for us. It's my favorite! I was anticipating it actually. lol..

I had my first exam of the semester that Monday. It was in Arte de España. It was fairly easy so I can't complain. That has been my first exam so far so you guessed right classes haven't been too difficult lately to say the least. This past weekend J Quiles came to España for his spring break. I must say it was wonderful to see a familiar face in person. I met him in Madrid on Sunday afternoon. I was soooo nervous because he wasn't at our specified meeting point we discussed prior to his departure. I started to panic because I had no means of communication with him WHATSOEVER! I was looking for him in Terminal 1 for about 2 hours and than decided to make sure that his flight got in safe. Ended up being that his flight got into Terminal 4 which is separate from T1, T2, and T3. SO I hopped on a bus to go see if he was there and with my luck didn't find him. At this point I am freaking out. When I head back to T1 to look for him again I see him walking while I am coming down the escalator. THANK GOD!! I was sooo scared something happened or would never find him at all.

It ended up being that he thought he was at T1 the whole time.. he spent 5 hours there waiting until he realized he wasn't at our meeting point. LOL I felt bad but who cares we FINALLY found each other. SO from there we went to our hotel and stayed a night in Madrid. We toured the city and went out for tapas that night. The next day we went shopping and toured the city some more. We went to El Parque de Retiro, which is a gorgeous park and had beautiful scenery. Later in the afternoon we caught a bus back to Salamanca to make it for my programs famous tapas every Monday night. J loved it! He had a great time and so did I. He only stayed a night in Salamanca, but a night was enough to show him as much as possible. The next day he left around 5 but me and daryl had time to still show him more of the city before he left. I was so happy he decided to come out here and glad he had a great time.

What else has been going on in Salamanca?!

The other day Daryl, Steph, and myself were sitting outside having a cup of coffee and were just talking about the United States and how privileged we are to have such a great country. We went along and talked about the differences about the life in Europe verses the life in the states. OH MY LANTA how different these two countries are. I honestly must say The USA is beyond spoiled and we do not appreciate half of the things we are entitled to. Living here in Spain has definitely made me appreciate EVERYTHING I have in the US. To appreciate something is to be grateful and thankful for that something.. coming to Europe has given me the opportunity to open my eyes to the other side of the world and to FULLY value my life in the US that consists of most importantly my family, friends, a roof over my head, an education, food, clothes, good health, and a mother who has given me life! <3

AHHH que mas??

I am going to Portugal for Spring break so I am really looking forward to traveling more and cannot wait. I DO miss chicago and a lot of people! YOU all know who you are. I am soooo happy about my sister being pregnant and glad to be in the states when my little nugget is born! I hope all is well in the states everyone and life is good! I will post tomorrow to catch up on some more activity that has to be included in my blogs. I LOVE YOU!

"El secreto de mi felicidad está en no esforzarse por el placer, sino en encontrar el placer en el esfuerzo."

"Not in making an effort to find pleasure, but in finding pleasure in the effort, that's the secret to my happiness."

Besos y abrazos...

Stay healthy and live life every day like it's your last with peace and love in your heart <3

Mandalou.