Last weekend I visited the
most beautiful place I have ever been to…Portugal. We left at 7 in the morning
on Friday and 6 hours later we arrived in Albufeira, Portugal. Me and some of
my friends signed up for the trip through a program called We Love Spain which was awesome because they
booked our hotels and planned all of our activities for us. All of our hotel
rooms were mini apartments with full kitchens and living rooms. It was so nice.
The first day there we went on a speed boat tour along the coast. The views
were absolutely breathtaking. I did not feel like real life. The speed boat
then brought us to a pirate ship in the water which we got to jump off of into
the ocean. Because it is October the water is starting to get cold, but not
cold enough to prevent me from going in!
That night instead of going
out to eat we all took a trip to the supermarket and contributed to a big
family meal. We had so much food and it was so nice hanging out all together.
We met a lot of people who was on the trip, mostly students from America,
France and the Netherlands who are studying in Sevilla, Spain. We became good
friends with Gonzalo who was one of the trip advisors for We Love Spain and a
couple from the United States who are on a month long vacation to Spain. That
night we went on a bar crawl through the town. One of the bars had bartenders
who would stand on top of the bar and do crazy awesome tricks throwing and juggling bottles. Another had a mechanical bull which I
couldn’t resist. Fortunately along with Portuguese people also speak English in
Portugal. You would think this was a nice break but being in a Spanish mindset
we often still tried to speak Spanish to people and not realize our mistake
until people looked at us confused because they don't speak Spanish.
The next day we had to wake
up early to take a bus to Cabo Sao Vicente also referred to as “the end of the
world” because before Christopher Columbus discovered America, Europeans
thought this was where the world ended. This was pretty cool especially since
the day we were there was the anniversary of when Columbus found the new world.
After we spent the rest of
the day in Lagos and then another night out on the town.
Sunday we spent the morning
at yet another beach before heading back to Granada. We didn’t get back until 1
in the morning on Monday and then I had to be up for an 8:30 class. I was
beyond exhausted but it was completely worth it because the weekend I spent in
Portugal was probably the most fun weekend I have ever had.
Wednesday and Thursday
afternoons I volunteer at El Colegio Caja Granada. Last week when I went it was
kind of just an introduction so this week was when I really got to start
working with the students. I’m there as a native English speaker to help them
learn the language, specifically with pronunciation. On Wednesdays I’m in a 5th
grade science class. The teacher asked me to read the notes on the board
(written in English) out loud to the class so they can hear how it is suppose
to sound. After I finished reading the board all the students clapped like it
was the coolest thing they have ever heard. It is funny and I can relate to
them learning English because I’m doing the same thing working on Spanish. On
Thursdays I am in a 2nd grade class. These little kids are the cutest
things I have ever seen! I would say different colors and shapes out loud and
it was so adorable listening to them try to pronounce them. Even though I’m
helping with English, volunteering I am still improving my Spanish talking to
the teachers and students.
On Friday night my friends
and I trekked up the Albaicín
to go to a discoteca called Camborio. This wasn’t an authentic Spanish club
where the locals go but is a popular place for international students. It was
awesome because the club is built into the caves of the mountain side like all
of the houses in the Albaicín. From the outside
patio of the club you get the most breathtaking view of the Alhambra lit up at
night.
Saturday night there was a festival called Noche en
Blanco. This is a festival which began in Paris in 2002 as a cultural
initiative. This was the first year that Granada participated. It was so cool
to experience. Starting at 9 at night there were musical performances, dances
and other forms of art taking place all over the city until 4 in the morning.
Restaurants, bars and stores were open all night and entrance into monuments
and museums were either free or reduced. We even discovered a man with a
typewriter set up at the end of one of the bridges who was giving away free poems.
This night made me fall in love with Granada all over again!
"Life is dodging the steps to death."
After being out for the
festival last night I had low expectations for my my first 5K. The race was a
Carrera Contra el Hambre, a race against hunger. I half expected to walk the 3.1
miles but completely surprised myself when I ran the entire thing in 33 minutes
and 20 seconds! I would have been happy finishing in 40 minutes! I did so much
better than I expected considering I probably only ran 2 times here and it was
my first race ever. Now when I get back home I can start running again and
signing up for more 5Ks to improve my time!
I’m so happy that I’m
getting to travel to so many places while I am here but it is bittersweet
because that means the less time I get to spend in Granada. I wish I could stay
here forever but skyping my family and my Westfield friends today reminded me how
much I miss home. I officially have passed the one month mark which means I
only have about 2 months left. It is crazy how quickly time is passing—I hate
it!
Abrazos y besos,
Kylie
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