Whirlwind!

Wow, it has been almost a month since I last posted- sorry! I leave Granada tomorrow night, and I've been trying to go everywhere and do everything to end my time in Spain with no regrets.

It has been the best four months of my life- I learned so much (outside of school- a new concept), I had insane amounts of fun, and I have a handful of new friends that I know will be lifelong. After having such an experience together, I've forged a bond with these people that is so different from any other friendship, and I know we'll always appreciate our four months together even if we don't continue to talk every day.
My host mom has also been so wonderful, and I am going to miss her so much! She teared up last week when I started talking about leaving, and I had to force myself not to cry for the walk to class after that. María José has given me a great bedroom, great food, and all of that required stuff, but so much more too. She listens patiently when I tell her a story for 15 minutes that should take 5, she tells me what I need to say if I have to go to the pharmacy or the zapatería (shoe fixing shop) when I'm unsure, and she never judges me when I go out for tapas right after dinner! I have really cherished the time I've spent getting to know her, and she made me feel instantly so comfortable in this country where I was nervous to speak to anyone when I first arrived. I know I'm going to cry when I leave her tomorrow, but I definitely plan on returning for a visit sometime when I'm making real money!

Carol, Claire, Shannon and Sarah- four of my great new friends I am so lucky to have

Update????
I'm going to attempt to update you on what I've been doing since you last heard from me, though I can't guarantee I'll be able to remember every detail!
- Portugal: I went to Lisbon, Portugal for a long weekend from April 30-May 3. It was my friend Elle's last weekend (her program ended a month before mine), so it was a little bittersweet but I really loved Lisbon.

Boat tour of Lisboa

Elle and I, and a beautiful view of Lisboa

- Cádiz: API (the program I'm studying abroad through) took us on our last excursion the weekend of my birthday (May 6-8) to Cádiz, a beach town on the Atlantic, and it was fabulous. We stayed in a four-star hotel right at the beach, and the weather was great. My friends got champagne to celebrate my birthday, and we had so much fun!

The view from our hotel room

It was a great last trip from Granada, and very relaxing.

One story from Cádiz: the first night, we walked out to the beach with a bottle of wine to hang out and talk. Three Spanish teenagers that were maybe 17 or 18 years old came up to us and starting speaking to us in attempted English since they heard us speaking English to each other (it happens a lot). I told them in Spanish that we only speak Spanish, figuring they would go away and leave us alone. But then they kept talking to us, and sat right down next to our towels. They were actually really nice, and had some of the hardest to understand accents I've heard- and I understood just about everything! When they asked me where I was from, I said "Detroit, Michigan" and they got really excited and asked if I like Eminem. I said "Of course!" so then one boy started playing Eminem on his cell phone and my friends and I all started singing (rapping, I guess) along. Then the Spaniards gave us the most in-awe looks, because we could not only understand Eminem, but talk as fast as he could! Good to know they think we can talk at a fast pace in our own language, because they sure can do the same! Anyway, it was a good experience to really realize how much I've improved at Spanish.

- Making the most of the last few weeks

I went to Oktoberfest (no, I don't why they held it in May.. language barrier?) in the Plaza del Toros with my roommate Carol last week. I hadn't been to the bullfighting ring (it's true, I decided against going to a bullfight), so it was cool to get a look at it without having to see anything gross! Here are a couple of pics:

My friends and I also spent lots of time together, and we've just exchanged American cell phone numbers! What a strange concept.

**Well, this is my last blog from Granada! I am meeting Brianna from South Lyon in Paris on Wednesday morning, and we'll travel for two weeks together (London, Brighton and Paris). I'll be back just in time for Joe's high school graduation! :) I'm going to blog at least once more after I get home about my trip with Brianna, and the "reverse culture shock" that I am preparing to experience when I get home (a.k.a. WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE WANT TO TALK ABOUT SPAIN EVERY FIVE SECONDS LIKE ME???) 

Love,

Haley

Spring Break: Zurich, Freiburg, Paris

Hey everyone!
So I just got back from spring break a couple of days before Easter, and it was the best spring break of my life! My friends Sarah, Elle and I went to Zurich, Switzerland for one night; Freiburg, Germany for three nights; and Paris, France for two nights. It was a whirlwind trip with lots of excitement, but very tiring as well!

Stop One: Zurich

View from a beautiful plaza of the river and downtown

Zurich at night!

Zurich was absolutely beautiful. It was a smaller city, so a lot less stressful to visit! We actually conquered Zurich pretty well in the 24 hours we had there. Sarah, Elle and I tried to do Swiss things while we walked around Zurich, but we discovered that all we really knew that was Swiss was related to food (not a surprise to people who know me!): we ate fondue (I didn't know it was Swiss until right before we left!), Swiss chocolate (not Lindt, but waaaaay better) and bratwursts (they came wrapped in a paper, with a huge crusty roll on the side, not in a bun).

Four-cheese fondue with wine, brandy, mushrooms and ham; bread to dip in it

Swiss chocolate! I may have paid 28 Swiss Franks for it ($32) but it was sooo worth it. Plus the tin is my Zurich souvenir!

It was really great to start our spring break with some relaxation instead of beginning in a place where we needed to run from sight to sight. We strolled down the river, sat in the park for awhile, and also hung out on the rooftop terrace of our hostel.

Stop Two: Freiburg

Sarah and I trying a German beer

The really cute German buildings with the Black Forest (as in Hansel and Gretel) in the background

Saturday evening, we caught a train to Freiburg, Germany where we stayed with Elle's sorority sister Erika. Freiburg was a great experience because we got to really live in Germany for those three days as opposed to being tourists. Erika was nice enough to let us stay in her apartment with us, and she took us to the city center, to the beautiful cathedral (very different from the cathedrals in Spain and Italy, but really beautiful), to the Black Forest (made famous by Hansel and Gretel, but no I didn't follow any breadcrumbs!), and of course to some nightclubs to experience some German nightlife!

Beautiful (and enormous) nativity scene in the cathedral

Elle, Sarah and I in the Black Forest

I finally got a couple words of German down ("Ein brezel" means "one pretzel," I used that a lot!), when it was time to get on our train to Paris!

Stop Three: Paris
We only had about 48 hours in Paris, but it worked out really well. I'm going back for six nights with my friend Brianna from South Lyon after my study abroad program is over, so it was great to get a taste of the city and have a general idea of Paris before Brianna and I go. Sarah, Elle and I were lucky enough to be able to stay with Elle's other sorority sister, Kate, in Paris. It was sooo helpful to have Kate to show us around and speak French to people for us, since Paris is insane and it would have been stressful without her.

First night in Paris! Dinner: baguettes and cheese in front of the Eiffel Tower

Getting some Nutella and banana crepes for breakfast

We got to see the Eiffel Tower and go all the way up- the view from the top is amazing! It was a really long line, and vendors came up to us every five seconds with all kinds of mini Eiffel towers- every color, every size, some light up, etc. It was sooo busy and crazy, and I was kind of glad that I chose not to study in a city as big as Paris. It is great to visit but I don't think I could handle an entire semester of it!!
I was glad we got to go to the Louvre Museum, because it is absolutely enormous and I will not even be able to see everything when I also go back with Brianna. My favorite part of the Mona Lisa was not the painting, it was the LOCURA (craziness) surrounding the painting! See below the entire wall that is devoted to just the Mona Lisa, which is obviously not big enough to take up an entire wall. Below that is a close-up of the painting; I had to! Then below that is my favorite shot: Mona Lisa's paparazzi. No one was actually enjoying the painting, rather they were trying to snap pictures of it and push everyone else out of the way of their camera!

Well, it just so happens that we got a long weekend off of school the weekend right after spring break, so I'm off to Lisbon, Portugal tomorrow! I hope everyone has a great weekend, and Happy Spanish Mother's Day to my mom and aunts! (It's one week earlier here, so it's this Sunday. I kind of enjoy this idea, so I don't have to share my birthday with my mom!! Just kidding!!)

--Haley--

Flamenco Video I took! (Sorry you have to turn your head sideways to watch)

Summer, summer, summertime

Sorry you haven't heard from me in awhile! My boyfriend Robert was here from Mar. 29-Apr. 3, and then the weather got so beautiful I couldn't keep myself inside long enough to write an entry!

Nerja, a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean

Here are some updates of what has been going on:

Robert's visit~~
Robert was able to come visit me from late Tuesday morning until Sunday morning, so it was awesome! I was so happy to see a familiar face and show him all around the place I've been living for two months. I made sure to take him to the tapas bars and discotecas that I like so that now I can say, "I'm going to Granada 10" and he will know what I'm talking about! :) We did the tourist things such as the Alhambra, the Cathedral (which I hadn't been to yet and it was great) and walking through the Albaicín, a historic neighborhood.

Action shot of Robert looking out on the view of Granada from inside the Alhambra

Robert was shocked (as I was two months before) to find out that, yes, you really can purchase a drink for 3 euro and get a whole plate of food with it! He plans to open a tapas bar in Michigan so we'll keep you updated with that :)

We also went to Nerja (pictured above) for a wonderful day on the Mediterranean, and Robert got to try fish that looks more like a fish and less like a fillet, which is how they like to serve it here in Andalucía:

Sea bass!

I was really glad to introduce Robert to my friends and my friends to him, and luckily everyone got along swimmingly! :)

Just workin' on my Spanish~~
Since my last post when I was realizing how much more I want to improve my Spanish, I decided to do something about it! I now do an intercambio with my friend Estéfano every week. We meet up at the same spot each week, then walk to a cafe or a plaza to talk. Sometimes we talk about current events or "hot topics" in the world, and other times we just talk about what we did over the weekend. The first half we talk in Spanish, and he corrects me when I make mistakes and then I write down new phrases that I could have used in my story. Then we switch to English, and I correct him when he makes mistakes and he writes down the English phrases that I tell him.
I also went to a group intercambio organized by API, my study abroad program, and now have a couple new Facebook friends that I'm going to meet up for coffee with and practice each other's languages. It's nice to have friends that are real Spaniards instead of only hanging out with Americans while in Spain- I feel so much more authentic!

A night view of the Alhambra on the walk to the flamenco show (below)

Flamenco~~
I got to attend a flamenco show in a cave in the Albaicín last Wednesday, and it was awesome! Flamenco is a typical Andalucían dance, where the women wear bright, often polka-dotted dresses, twirl their fingers as they move their hips, and lift up the bottom of their dress so you can see the tapping of their feet to the rhythm. A huge component of flamenco is the music, and there were a few men and women at one end pounding out a rhythm for the dancers to follow.

The older lady in the front was my favorite. She moved even better  than the rest, and felt the music more :)

Etc...
More stuff I have forgotten to tell you about!

I got my picture with the World Cup!! It came to Granada when there was a World Cup qualifying match for the next Cup between La Selección Española (Spain) and the Czech Republic. I didn't go to the game (toooo expensive!) but they put up a huge screen outside with a bunch of tents with games and one with the Cup so my friends and I watched it outside with literally THOUSANDS of people screaming at every play! It was incredible!

I returned to Nerja on Saturday with my friends Sarah, Claire, Shannon and Sam and it was delightful! It was finally warm enough to get in the water past my toes and I loved every second. Ahhhh

I will update again after spring break! Friday morning I leave for Zurich, Saturday night for Freiburg Germany, Tuesday morning for Paris, then I'll be back in Granada verrrry late Thursday night, just in time for the last three days of Semana Santa (holy week) processions. Talk to you then!

<3Haley

Halfway Through

Granada v. Salamanca, March 5

Wow!! This is the end of midterm week and I cannot believe that my experience living in Granada and traveling through Europe is halfway over! My first thoughts are that I need to practice my Spanish A LOT MORE. I really want to be fluent (or as close as possible) by the time I go home, and I don't feel like I've gotten as close as I would want to be after half of my program. I definitely have improved, but I know there's still a ways to go, so I've got to take part in more language exchanges, watch more Spanish TV, etc. It took the first few weeks (or more) to get used to the Andalucían dialect, so I didn't even start improving, more just altering how I listen, for the first bit which is unfortunate. However, it does have its charm, and I can see myself continuing to speak with an Andalucían "twang," and possibly getting lectured by future Spanish professors about not pronouncing things right ;)

Hiking in La Alpujarra, reppin' GV :]

SUNSHINE~ (it's about time!)
Midterm week was relatively painless though, so that was nice! :) The weather is finally back on track (I would come to Granada when it's uncharacteristically cold), so I've had lots of time to enjoy the sunshine. I even have started running outside, which is saying a lot since I am a treadmill/elliptical person!

Last weekend, I had an amazing excursion with API to La Alpujarra, and we went to a part of the mountain still in the province of Granada but about a 1.5 hour bus ride away from the city. We hiked to three different mountain villages, on ROUGH terrain! It was intense, and I was sore the next day, but so worth it. The views were phenomenal, the sunshine was warm and it was just a perfect day. Then my girlfriends and I decided to spend a lazy night renting (don't laugh) the Britney Spears movie "Crossroads" on iTunes (it's still bad) and lounging in our sweatpants, eating cookies and just relaxing.

This weekend, I'm going to go out with friends to the opening of a new discoteca, go to the open-air market to see what goodies I can find, and hang out in the beautiful sunshine. I found a bench by the river really close to my apartment that I can sit on, read my book, and soak up the sun. It's heavenly :)

In other news, Robert arrives Tuesday for a visit!!! I'm planning a beach trip for us to the Mediterranean, which will be wonderful :)

Un beso,
Haley

DUBLIN~

The largest enclosed park in the world- it even houses the U.S. ambassador, and practice fields for rugby and soccer

Yes, here is the second post of the day! I just returned late Sunday night from a whirlwind trip to Dublin with some friends, and it was unforgettable! I can honestly say Ireland has been my favorite place (besides Granada of course) that I have seen in Europe. The people are so friendly, the city just has a fun feeling to it, the shopping is great and cheap, and the pubs are awesome!

We arrived Friday night and took a bus tour of the city to orient ourselves. Then we went to Penney's, the most amazing store ever. Irish friends we made in Rome told us about Penney's, where I bought a dress for 6 euro and a huge purse for 9 euro. After our shopping extravaganza, it was off to our makeshift pub crawl!
We ended Friday night at one of the pubs suggested by Sarah's travel book, which was a fabulous idea- there was an awesome singer, more like a one-man band, that played some classic Irish songs (we learned to sing along with the locals!) and then lots of popular songs and classic rock that the whole pub could sing along with. I met two people who are from southeast Michigan and just moved to Dublin too, which was crazy!

The original Temple Bar, now the whole neighborhood is just called "Temple Bar"

We started Saturday with a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. We got to walk around and see the essential ingredients of Guinness (water, barley, hops and yeast) and learn about how they make it so delicious.

This is the 9,000-year lease that Arthur Guinness signed for the building, so there's lots of time left for everyone to get to Dublin before it's up!

We were told that you get a free pint of Guinness after the tour, so I was a little disappointed when we went in a room and were given a half-pint of Guinness (I wanted my euros worth!). We tasted it and got to read posters on the wall about how to properly pour a pint (it takes 119.5 seconds because you have to let it rest after pouring it 3/4 of the way, then finish it), and how you taste it in your mouth:

This was actually really true! Buy a pint and try it yourself!

But lo and behold, once we finished tasting our half-pint and returned our glasses, the ladies told us that would get our full pint once we arrived at the Gravity Bar at the end of the tour :)

It was HONESTLY delicious, and I have tried Guinness in the States before and not liked it.. it really IS better in Ireland! (P.S. I did not drink all of these! Sarah's is on the left, mine's in the middle and Carol's is on the right)

After the Guinness tour, we went to the Old Jameson Distillery for that tour (we called Saturday our Alcohol Day, for obvious reasons). We learned about the process of making Jameson, all eight steps, and then got to try our complimentary cocktail. We watched a short video of people enjoying Jameson all over the world with different types of mixers, and then got to choose which mixer we would like in our drink- Sarah, Carol and I all chose cranberry. Carol and I also got chosen to take part in a special whiskey tasting. We were given a shot of Johnnie Walker Black Label (from Scotland), Jameson, and Jack Daniel's as three of the most popular whiskeys. Then we sipped and smelled each one as they told us about what makes them all different. Carol and I agreed that Jameson was the best! Then we got a diploma!

We spent the rest of Saturday eating a totally American lunch (cheddar cheese!!!!), making our own dinner at our hostel, and exploring! Then Sarah and I went out for one last (5 euro!) pint of Guinness, as the weekend was almost over...

Saturday Sarah and I did some last sightseeing before we left for our flight home. We saw St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Park, the outside of Dublin Castle, and some of Trinity College.

St. Patrick's Cathedral and Park! The inside was pretty, but I thought the outside was even more impressive. This may be because I've now been spoiled with the Cathedrals in Toledo, the Vatican and Sevilla though!

The Dublin Castle :)

Before we left for the airport, Sarah and I had to get a traditional Irish breakfast to end the trip (below)! See the baked beans, tons and tons of sausages, tomato, fried egg, etc

I LOVE DUBLIN!!!!!! I want to return sooo bad, and to explore more of Ireland. Who's down?

Sevilla, two weeks later

Hi everyone,
I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read my blogs, even though I tend to be long-winded in my writing! :) This one will be no exception, since I've been lazy enough to not blog for three weeks!

Two weekends ago, I went to visit Sevilla (Seville in English) by train with three friends, and it was incredible! I had my first hostel experience, but I have to say it was a good one! Sarah, Claire, Shannon and I got to spend the weekend exploring the city and riverbank, looking at the third-largest cathedral (after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and St. Paul's in London), the Real Alcazar and more!

I figured out how to color-accent things on my camera thanks to Claire, so here are Shannon and I on the river, with the green grass accented! 

The cathedral was absolutely awe-inspiring! Among the many things inside that I could talk about, there was Christopher Columbus' tomb, the huge altar (pictured below) made of gold with images of Jesus Christ, the clock that has been ticking for over 200 years, and an amazing view from the Giralda Tower!

We also got to see the Real Alcazar, which is pretty much a knock-off of Granada's Alhambra ;) It was constructed by Christians, but in the Moorish style. Here's a sample:

Finally, Sarah and I finished the last day with a tour of the bullfighting ring and a look at the museum inside. We also got to see where the royalty sits when they come to the bullfights, where the best bullfighter will enter the ring from, where they keep the bulls before it starts, and the surprisingly ornate chapel that the bullfighters pray in before the event.

Overall, it was a great weekend and I got to explore one of the great cities of Spain!

Italia--

Hello everyone,

I just returned from a Friday-Monday trip to Rome with my study abroad program! It was absolutely incredible and I definitely want to return to Italy at some point in the future, since everything I did in Rome was so rushed this weekend to fit it all in. This is going to be a reaaaaallly long post, sorry, but there are a lot of pictures! :)

The Pantheon, Friday night

Viernes/Friday

We did not get to our hotel (we took a plane, and then a bus from the airport) until around 5 or 6 p.m., so there was not time to go to any tours or anything the first night. So what we did was walk around and explore! We went to the Piazza Navona, a famous plaza that is near the Roma nightlife and a ton of restaurants. Then, I had an absolutely amazing dinner at this little restaurant, and my whole dish of pasta was only 6.50 euro!

Spaghetti a la carbonara (it has eggs, bacon and cheese in it and is delightful) with Chianti wine

After dinner, we of course got gelato (the best invention in the world), and then we strolled over to the beautiful Trevi Fountain. This is the fountain that you drop a coin in to ensure you'll return to Rome.

My friend Sarah and I throwing our coins in

Trevi Fountain :)

We tried to find the Roman nightlife, but everything closes pretty early and we never found a bar or anything to go to. So I just spent the rest of the night hanging out at our hotel and at the hotel of an Irish couple we met that was also vacationing in Rome, Jessika and T.

Sábado/Saturday
Saturday was the crazy-busy day of my Rome trip. It was the only full day I had in Rome, so my friend Sarah and went to the Colosseum, the Imperial Forums/Palatine Hill, the Vatican, and even to Mass at St. Peter's Basilica all before collapsing of tiredness! :)

Me inside the Colosseum

View from outside of the Colosseum

A very small part of the Roman Forum, where there is sooo much history and old buildings!

Just one of the many absolutely breathtaking paintings in the Vatican Museums. Even the ceilings were awe-inspiring, and I'm not really even an art person. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, too, with the work of Michelangelo covering the ceiling. However, you're not allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel so you'll just have to trust me that it was awesome!

St. Peter's Basilica, in the area where they hold Mass. It was so huge (the largest in the world) that there was no way to photograph all of it. I went to Mass, and it was in Italian with a really great choir. It was an awesome experience to say the least.

After our insane day of sightseeing, I went to a couple of bars with my friends (we finally found some, although they were really overpriced) and then called it a night.

Left to right: Sarah, Shannon, Claire, Carol, me, Jessika

Domingo/ Sunday

Sunday was wonderful, I went on a day trip by bus to Pompeii with two friends. We got picked up from our hotel and then taken to Naples then Pompeii on a charter bus, and were given a two-hour tour of the Pompeii ruins (if you forgot your history, Pompeii was an ancient city where everyone died from asphyxiation after Mt. Vesuvius erupted, but it was really well preserved under the ashes).

The bodies were decomposed when found, but they poured concrete in the holes in the ashes and were able to recreate what many of the people looked like when they died. You can see that this man was trying not to inhale. There was also a pregnant lady and a dog, it was the saddest part for me.

The city was absolutely phenomenal- I knew it was an actual city, but to see and be able to go inside the houses, the bar (below), the bakery, the jail, even the brothel, was fascinating!

Can I get you a drink?

Finally, we returned to Roma and met up with some API friends for our last dinner- pizza at a famous place that we somehow showed up at when there was no line, and then of course a gelato to finish off the night. This was essentially the end of our Roma trip, since we had to leave our hotel at 7 a.m. on Monday to catch our flight back to Spain!

My pizza had a fried egg in the middle, and sausage, artichoke hearts, mushrooms.. YUM 

GELATO=love
I had two flavors together, the one on the top left (blackberry with cream) and the top middle (cream with NUTELLA). So delicious, and only 2 euro!

<3 Haley