Life in the fast lane

It has reached the midpoint of my semester which means with traveling and midterms this week I have never felt more busy and exhausted. Sabrina always makes fun of me saying that I have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) because I want to do everything while I’m here. I want to leave with no regrets…I can rest when I’m home—I have to make the most of my time abroad!

Two weekends ago my program took all of us on a trip to Sevilla. We left Friday afternoon and on the way made a pit stop to check out this crazy cool place called El Torcal de Antequera. El Torcal is a small mountain range but due to natural erosion the rock formations are insane. We thought they resembled layers of pancakes but that might just be a side effect of our withdrawals from American breakfasts.

The next morning we took a bike tour of Sevilla. I can’t remember the last time I have ridden a bike so it was interesting but bikes were definitely a fun and efficient way to tour the city. During the bike tour we stopped at Plaza de España. It was so beautiful and along the buildings were mosaics for all of the provinces of Spain so obviously I had to take a picture of Granada’s.

After we had a tour of the Catedral de Sevilla. This is the largest cathedral in Spain and the third largest in the world after St. Peter’s in Vatican City and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Here is also where the body of Christopher Columbus is. The bell tower of the cathedral is called Giralda. We climbed to the top and were able to see the entire city of Sevilla. While we were here also it was the anniversary of a certain saint and we were able to witness the procession into the Cathedral. Men carry a huge statue of the saint throughout the streets to celebrate. These men though can't see where they are going though so they move very slowly not to drop the saint and listen for directions of when and where to move from special men in black suits. 

Giralda

The procession

On Sunday before heading home we had one final tour of los Reales Alcázares de Sevilla. This is the oldest royal residence of Spain. I was nervous coming to Sevilla because I was scared I would love it too much and wish I had studied there instead. Fortunately however Sevilla made me appreciate Granada more. Sevilla was a huge city and I wish I could have stayed longer and explored it more but I was very happy to come back to Granada. I love that I can walk everywhere in Granada and that it feels like home.

In Granada there have been many protests, or huelgas, by students because of tuition increases. Talking to people here many people have different opinions about it. The protests haven’t effected me in the Centro de Lenguas Modernas but other students in my residencia who attend the Universidad de Granada have told me they don’t like when the students protest and strike because then they can’t go to their classes. One of the nights in Sevilla we ran into a demonstration of students parading and protesting the increase in tuition. The huelga here quickly escalated because the police showed up and set up a blockade and we weren’t allowed to pass through. It was very intimidating. I don’t know enough information to have a stance on the subject but I do admire the protesting students’ passion because sometimes I feel majority of students in the US are too dormant to do anything to make a difference when there’s something they don’t agree with.  

Monday night I went to an olive oil class at the CLM. Olive oil is such a huge part of Spain. We got to try so many different types—all delicious. 60% of Spain’s olive oil is made in Andalucia, and 20% of the world’s olive oil. 

Tuesday I got in the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins, at the CLM too. Halloween is an American holiday which year after year is slowly becoming adopted by Spain. People have mixed feelings about it mostly because of the negative connotations towards death and its proximity to All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day which are holidays celebrated here to commemorate the dead.

Last week I also took Salsa dancing classes. I have missed dance so much and was so happy to finally find some classes. The first two were free but I think that my friend Stephanie and I are going to pay to continue taking the classes. Salsa is nothing like any other type of dance I have done, especially because you are dancing with a partner. I really like it though and there are some bars here that have salsa dancing that I’m looking forward to going to now!

And finally, this past weekend I spent in Barcelona! We left on Thursday night at midnight. Thankfully I slept majority of the 11 hour bus ride. This was also my first experience staying in a hostel. We had a small room with four bunk beds for 8 girls. Rooming with my three friends and I were a group of 4 girls form Granada as well. Three of them were from England and one was from Scotland. They are in Spain teaching English for a year. They were super cool and had the most awesome accents! Once we settled in we first visited Parque Güell which was designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Friday night I attended a fútbol game at Estadio Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe! And our seats were amazing and so close to the field! It was a huge game too because it was a derby between the two Barcelona teams: FC Barcelona and Espanyol. I decided I am a Bacelona fan, mainly because that’s the team Messi is on. And obviously Barça won the game!

The next day we got a tour of the city and visited La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia was also created by Gaudí and was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. Gaudí was such a visionary. The basilica is so modern and unique there is nothing that can compare to it. I’m so happy I was actually able to see it in person. It began construction in 1882 and is still not completed. It’s expected to be finished in 2030 which I’ll use as an excuse to come back to visit Barcelona.

That night some of went back the park to watch the sunset over Barcelona.

On Sunday we visited the Cathedral of Barcelona before heading home. The doors were open and we were able to enter for free during the Sunday mass.

Barcelona was an amazing city. An interesting thing about Barcelona though is that it is in Cataluña and has two official languages: Castellano (Spain’s español) and Catalan. It was really odd for me to see all the signs written both in Spanish and Catalan (which I think is more similar to French). I could see getting confused and frustrated if I was trying to study Spanish in Barcelona. However it was a lot easier to understand people speaking Spanish there because they did not have the thick Anadlusian accent that the people in Granada have. While I had so much fun in Barcelona, nothing is like being back in Granada.

Like I mentioned before I am super busy. On top of everything else I’m busy being a trip planner because on Thursday mom and Daniel are going to be here! I can’t wait to see them and have them experience Spain! Three more days!!!

Abrazos y besos,

Kylie