The adventure of a lifetime!

I ended my last entry saying I was getting ready to go on another hike, and believe it or not this hike was even harder and the views were even more amazing than my last one! We walked along the river in Granada until we found a path we wanted to explore, and a couple of hours later we were at the top! And what better to do at the top of a mountain is a headstand? Sonja and Becca have been doing headstands all over Spain which I think is such an awesome thing. They have pictures of them everywhere. So with some more practice I’ll be able to do it without Sonja’s help and then I can join the bandwagon.

On Wednesday Curra brought me and another student who is interested in working with children to Colegio Caja Granada which is a primary school here in Granada. Once classes begin at the university I’m going to volunteer and be a teacher’s assistant in a classroom here. I cannot wait! I hope that I will be able to visit several days a week but even if it is just a couple of hours a week I will be happy!

Later that afternoon we meet up with other API students from the early start program for a tour of the Alhambra. Although I toured the Alhambra when I visited Granada in high school, it was still incredible. The Ahlambra was a huge Muslim palace until it was overtaken by Christians in 1492. As you can tell from the pictures the architecture and gardens are absolutely beautiful. La Alhambra is the landmark of Granada.

Thursday Sabrina and I told Antonio, the cook of our residencia, that we would not be home for lunch so he packed us each a bocadillo and a manzana. We met our friends at the bus stop and took a 15 minute bus ride to Monachil. There we began hiking, in search for a waterfall which we saw online. Almost everyone in our program came. I love that we all get along and enjoy each other’s company. We found the waterfall while crossing a very scary bridge (only 3 people were allowed to cross at a time), but we were determined to find a way to get to the bottom of the waterfall. Eventually half the group headed back because they were either tired or had plans later. I am forever grateful that I stayed because we eventually made our way to the base of the waterfall! Before this trip my greatest life experience was hiking up the Masaya volcano in Nicaragua, but swimming in the Monachil waterfall has won the spot for number one experience. It was amazing. The water was freezing cold because it is melted snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was literally the coldest water I have ever been in but I did not let that prevent me from going under. The water was so clear and fresh that it was even safe for us to drink and we all filled up our water bottles—the most delicious and refreshing water I have ever had.

Friday morning Carmen took us on a tour of the Albaicin and Sacromonte neighborhoods. These are gypsy neighborhoods that are all white. We explored this area a little during our first hike but it was nice to go with someone who knew where they were going. These neighborhoods are like a maze and its very easy to get lost in. Anytime I go somewhere new or eat somewhere new I write it down so that I can bring Mom and Daniel when they come to visit. I want them to be in awe when they come like I am now! That night I also booked a trip to Portugal in October and planned a trip to Morocco in November. There are so many places I want to go but not enough time!

Saturday morning we left to go to Cabo de Gata in San José for the weekend. When we got there we hiked to the beach which was beautiful. The Atlantic Ocean is nothing compared to the Mediterranean. The water was so warm and nice—I loved it! Plus Stephani had an underwater camera which was so much fun. Unfortunately it was extremely windy to a point where we decided to leave the beach and head back into town because we kept getting absolutely covered in sand. It’s the end of the beach season so the town was kind of dead but we still had a blast. After dinner we bought some wine and drank it on the beach. That night has been my favorite night so far. None of us could believe that we were hanging out on a Mediterranean beach in Spain with such great friends.

Before leaving San José on Sunday we visited a lighthouse. The drive there was scary and I kept imagining our huge bus rolling off the tiny road and down the steep cliff into the water. At one point we had to get out and walk because the road was too narrow for the bus, but the view was worth it. Then we passed by a marsh which had flamingos! I thought it was so cool. I’ve only seen flamingos in a zoo so we had to stop to take pictures. After, we headed back to Granada. Me and Sabrina are planning to go to the beach again this weekend to make up for the poor beach weather we had in San José.

Today however is my lazy day since classes start tomorrow. I think this is the first day I’ve slept in since being here! I’m loving it in Spain so much! I’m curious to see how everything will change once school starts tomorrow. Hopefully I still feel the same. I also hope that I will still be just as busy. I love everyone in my program and how willing everyone is to try anything new. I’ve done so much hiking here and I absolutely love it! Each hike is even better than the one before and the sights even more breathtaking. So hopefully I continue doing things like that. All my classes are in the morning/early afternoon so I have all afternoon and night to go on adventures. The best part is no classes on Friday!!! I placed well on my exam…high enough that I can take all of my classes in Spanish. If I placed higher I would be required to take them all in Spanish but with my score I get to chose. I decided to take 3 of my 4 classes in Spanish and 1 in English. I’m pretty sure everyone else I know who placed in the same level as me chose to take all Spanish classes so that they will be completely emerged.  I was scared that I would become too overwhelmed so I hope that I don’t regret taking a class in English.

Tonight we are meeting up with the students from the early start program again for a surprise event put on by API. Carmen and Curra won’t tell us what it is but that we will be required to take off our shoes? So I don’t really know what to expect. Until next time…hasta luego!

Abrazos y besos,

Kylie

La Semana Pasada

So I keep putting off writing this because I have done so many things since I’ve been here!!! I landed in Madrid on Tuesday morning and quickly found other API students waiting at the airport which was very comforting. We were greeted by Curra, our program director who brought us to our hotel. Hotel Moderno was right in Puerta del Sol which is like the Time Square of Madrid. I love my roommate Sabrina, we get a long great. In Madrid we went to two art museums: The Prado and the Thyssen Bornemisza. Me and other students walked around the city a lot visiting different plazas, markets and  restaurants. Also in Madrid we took a tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). This was a huge palace where the kings and queens of Madrid lived until Franco died and it became a museum. There are over 2,000 rooms and every single one extravagantly decorated.

On Thursday we took a bus to El Escorial and saw the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo. This place was literally everything. It was built by King Philip II and was his summer palace. It is also a library and is the most important religious library only second to the Vatican. It’s a monastery and school too.  And finally it also houses the tombs of all of the kings and queens of Spain (other than 2) and the royal families. It was incredible to see.

On Friday we traveled to Toledo which is significant because it was a place in Spain where Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully. The cool thing about Toledo is that part of the city is within a wall which encompasses “old Toledo”. There we saw a cathedral, church, and synagogue and toured different neighborhoods.

From Toledo we began our 5 hour bus ride to Granada. While in Madrid we had a lot of meetings about safety, academics, culture, and housing. Most of the students in my program chose to live in a home stay. On the bus ride everyone was freaking out about meeting their host family so me and Sabrina were so relieved that we picked a residencia (a Spanish dorm)…until we got there. When we moved in there were a few American students but most of the students who live here are Spanish. Me and Sabrina sat down for dinner at a table of Spanish kids who were talking so incredibly fast and we were so overwhelmed and couldn’t help thinking: What did we get ourselves into?! When we heard about how much everyone else loved their host families we kind of wished we had chosen a home stay. But not anymore!! Now I love my residencia. Maria Gracia owns the residencia and then Carmen, Francis, and Maria Angela work here. Antonio cooks all of our food (which tastes AMAZING!!!). And now that Sabrina and I are more comfortable we are becoming friends with the other students who live here. We have to speak Spanish constantly which is really hard but I can tell I’ve improved so much already because of it. Two nights ago the returning students had an initiation for the new students in the residencia. It was so much fun. The made us do ridiculous things like parade through Granada singing songs in our pajamas. It was embarrassing and 100% hazing but so funny and brought everyone together.

The second day in Granada we all got a walking tour of the city so we knew how to walk to the API office and our school buildings. There are so many beautiful cathedrals and an area of Moroccan influenced markets which are so cool. On Sunday me and a few other students decided to go on a hike. We had no set plan and started up Sacromonte, a gypsy neighborhood.  Once we reached the top we had a view of all of Granada. It was breath taking. I’ve been taking pictures but honestly the pictures do no justice. Spain in absolutely beautiful!

Yesterday I took my placement exam. It was pretty intense and had sections on writing, grammar, listening, reading and included an oral interview…it took me 3 hours! It was hard but I feel pretty confident. Scores are going to be posted this afternoon and will determine which program I’ll be in and what courses I can take.

Sorry that this post was so long, but I’ll try to update more often!!! Now I’m getting ready to go hiking yet again! I love Spain!!!

Abrazos y besos,
Kylie

Peace out Boston.

So here I am, waiting at Terminal E to board Iberia flight 6168. Destination: Madrid. I never thought I'd be the person to have a blog but I really hope that I stick with this, not only for my family and friends (shout out to Ari), but for myself too. I'm still in shock that check-in went seamlessly and believe it or not my luggage was actually underweight (saving me a hefty $60 charge). I have a direct flight to Madrid where I'll spend 4 days before heading south to Granada. This semester I'll be a student at the University of Granada. On top of academics and becoming familiar with my host city I hope to be able to travel throughout Europe. A trip to Paris is already planned in November! Anxious is the only word to describe how I feel right now--the perfect combination of nervous and excited. The thing I'm most nervous about is my ability to speak and understand Spanish which conveniently is one of the most important things when living in Spain. I know I am capable of communicating fine so hopefully my fear of embarrassing myself will not hold me back. I'm positive that I'm going to make a fool of myself more than once and I'll be sure to share each ridiculous interaction on here. But I know that the more I put myself out there the better experience I will have and the better I will become at communicating in Spanish. After my 7 hour flight I'm scheduled to land in Madrid at 9:20am (3:20am here) where I'll meet up with the other API students. Thankfully I do not get flying anxiety like mom and have a nice window seat. I'll try to update this as often as possible throughout my study abroad!
Peace out Boston.

Abrazos y besos,
Kylie