Family Visit

My family made it to Spain!! Well, half of them anyway. My mom, dad and Anne arrived in Granada on Saturday evening. We spent the first few days in Granada. I showed them everything (almost) that i've been doing the last 9 months. Basically everything but going to school. ONLY JOKING!! Whether you believe it or not I actually went to class and finished the year well. And had a lot of fun in between. It was really neat to be able to have my parents sort of see what my life was like. They got to meet my host family and see where I went to class. They were pretty impressed with what I had been up to. It is my dad and Anne's first time in Europe and everybody's first time in Spain. It is so fun to see the looks on their faces at some of the stuff we do. It has been unbelievable because I can communicate with everyone and I know my way around southern Spain pretty well at this point. A lot of times they have no idea what is going on and I get to take charge and tell them how it's done.

Anne and I at the Alhambra

After some very sad and tearful goodbyes to my best friends in Granada, my host mom and my program director we headed down in our rented car to Nerja a beach town i went to in September. Absolutely gorgeous. We ate breakfast and spent a few hours walking around on the beach of the Mediterranean. Then we hopped back in the car and headed to Ronda, a mountain town I visited 3 months ago. A great hit. Here is the only family photo we have so far..

Ronda was great but we weren't finished. Got back in the car and drove to Sevilla. Spent all day yesterday galavanting around Sevilla. My parents have been very impressed with Southern Spain and I have fallen a little more in love with it. 

Today we are in Cordoba and tomorrow we head to the last stop on our list, Madrid. 

I can't believe I left Granada. It definitely feels like it was time to go but after leaving I realized just how much I actually loved it there and this feeling has only gotten stronger in the last 72 hours. 

But thankfully I have an equally awesome place waiting for me to come home, Asheville NC. 

4 more days with the family! Couldn't be more thankful that they were able to make the trip to see me. It definitely means a lot.

See you in 4 days America!!! Get ready.

The Next Step

I have been doing a lot of thinking about coming home and what that experience will be like. I have absolutely no idea what it will feel like but I have had all sorts of repetitive nightmares about it. Inception type nightmares. Those are the worst. The truth is I am actually super excited about coming home. It's time.

Lately the image I can't get out of my head is me stepping off the plane in Asheville, NC on June 5th and just standing in the middle of the airport, laughing out loud. Laughing at the unbelievable moments (almost all of them) of the previous 9 months. The fact that at 22 years young I have seen and done more things in 9 months than most people have the opportunity to see their whole lives.
Laughing because it happened, and is over, and that I not only survived, but thrived. Laughing that it wasn't a dream, that I really did go live in southern Spain for 9 months consuming massive amounts of tapas and speaking spanish.
I don't think I will ever fully process the craziness of these past 9 months. My list of things I have 'taken away' from this experience is endless. But above all, I am excited for the next step in life wherever that will take me. I have one semester of school left when I get back home and after that I have no idea what's next but somehow, I am perfectly ok with that..

Granada

Blue Ridge Mountains. home.

Don't worry Texas. I didn't forget about you. 

Untitled

(sunset in Granada, Spain 12/15/2011)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” 

– Miriam Beard

Christmas Town

I spent Christmas 2011 in Salzburg, Austria. And although it was quite strange to be far, far away from my family, Salzburg was a great experience. I went for 4 days alone and stayed in a hostel. Crazy, I know. I have traveled a lot by myself but never stayed anywhere alone. It was quite the experience.

I arrived in Salzburg after an overnight layover in Amsterdam in which i properly curled up in a corner with earplugs, a jacket for a blanket and my backpack for a pillow. I surprisingly slept 5 hours straight. it was awesome. Landed in Salzburg, Austria at 9am in the morning with no map, no idea how to get to my hostel and no idea how to speak any German. I promptly ran away from the very drunk Spanish musician who sat next to me on the flight and professed his love for me over and over. I even had to lie to him and tell him i had a boyfriend so he would leave me alone. The whole experience was rather comical. Anyways, got off the plane and vaguely remembered that I could take bus #2 into town but i had no idea where to get off. So, I boarded bus 2, road for about 20 minutes and hopped off. Then walked into a coffee shop, drank an expresso and gathered myself. I was alone, with no directions and it felt amazing. The ground was snow covered, temps around freezing and it was misting slightly. After the coffee I left the cafe and just started walking in the direction of the most people. I eventually rounded a corner and saw Salzburg. And I laughed out loud. It was seriously like being in a movie. The city was snow covered and beautiful. I immediately recognized the skyline b/c of the Sound of Music (parts of the movie were filmed here). I walked along the river until I came into town. First order of business was to obtain a map. After that I was golden. I immediately found the Christmas markets after accidentally walking by Mozart's birthplace of course. If you don't know anything about these Christmas markets they are literally what I imagine when I imagine Christmas. It was the most Christmasy place I have ever been. Eventually, I went to the hostel, dropped my bags and headed back out for a tour of the town. I spent the entire day alone, wandering the streets of Salzburg and then went for a snowy hike above the city. The weather was terrible but somehow made the experience feel that much more amazing.

That night I met a girl from China and we discussed Chinese politics. It was, special. I went to bed at 9pm i was so exhausted. The next morning I woke up early for my 9am SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!!!!! I could hardly eat breakfast b/c i was so excited. I love the movie and never thought in a million years I would visit Salzburg. The great thing was I booked the tour with Bob's tours. They take small vans of people on tours instead of giant tour buses. There was an Australian girl named Tish on my tour. She was my age. There was also a very snobby American couple on the trip. The weather was absolutely terrible but even that couldn't surpress my excitement.

I ate dinner in the hostel that night with Tish and we met more Australians. And that evening I took my first official verbal beating from a drunk Australian political science major about how terrible America is and how we need to get our act together. It was quite exhausting but i was quite impressed with myself.

The next day was Christmas Eve. And that was when I met Harry from England at breakfast. We ended up spending the next 2 days together. Super fun. Toured the fortress of Salzburg, went for coffee, rambled around the Christmas markets. Perfect. Also met 2 Australian boys who had just finished high school and were traveling around before college. I ended up eating Christmas lunch at an Indian restaurant with them. They wore light up santa hats all day. It ended up being a wonderful Christmas. Salzburg is a wonderful city that I hope to visit again very soon.

first view

Christmas market

Mozart birthplace

Sound of Music tour!!!!!!

SOM tour

yes, the gazebo

Red Bull Headquarters. i know, random

apple strudel in vanilla sauce.

churched used to film the wedding in SOM

interior

the fountain the kids danced around and sang "Do-Re-Mi"

The abbey where all the exterior shots from SOM were filmed

Harry and I atop the Fortress

we have many nutcrackers at my house in Texas. so I felt right at home

It was such a fantastic trip. One of my favorite parts was that Christmas Eve they have a tradition where they fire cannons off the Fortress walls for about 30 minutes. They are super loud and fun to watch. Also, all afternoon/evening of Christmas Eve and all Christmas Day the church bells are ringing all across the city. It was so very magical. I went to midnight mass in the oldest church in Salzburg. So perfect. I even got to skype with my family on Christmas Day. And then, Christmas night, I took a train to Paris. I know, totally awesome.

I Made It!!

This is a long post, so hang in there..

Day 2 in Granada, Spain. Hmmm. How to put all that I want to into one post. I simply can not. But I will do my best. I shall start at the very beginning because that is a very good place to start.

I left Asheville August 15. I visited family in Memphis for 4 days and then went to Texas to see my parents and youngest sister. Then on August 26 I flew to Atlanta where the lovely and gracious Leslie Sloan picked me up from the airport. She drove my luggage down from Asheville for me so I wouldn’t have to pay for it every time I got on a plane. What a great friend. We stayed with my friend Megan, who is equally awesome. Seriously, I need to find a way to stop having just less than 24 hour trips to Atlanta.

That night we properly celebrated America by eating BBQ and buying lots of candy for me to take with me. Of course, I was kind of (ok really) a nervous wreck thinking about traveling to Granada. I think I slept about 3ish hours that night. Got up and unpacked/repacked my bags for what was probably the 10^th time. Nervous twitch. Insuring that everything was accounted for except my beloved Chacos which I left in Texas on accident Leslie and I hugged Megan goodbye and drove to the airport. Leslie dropped me off and I cried a lot (not afraid to admit it). Made it to my terminal. My first leg of the trip was to Miami where I had a 10 hour layover. Yes, 10 hours. And might I add the Miami food court has THE worst food choices inside security. But I finally found some food after walking up and down the airport terminals for an hour. Settled down and began making my pre-departure phone calls. It was during those 10 hours when I think it finally hit me what I was about to do. And to be quite honest I had a moment when I considered missing my flight and returning to Asheville. But what’s the fun in that? No adventure there. So I took some deep breathes and boarded my direct flight to Madrid. Oh, did I mention the fact that every single TV in the airport was tuned to Hurricane Irene coverage. I thought I was going to go insane.

But anyways. On my flight I made friends with an 18yr old guy from Honduras who was dressed in a suit and was supposed to fly business class but they oversold so he had to sit in coach with me. He was very nice and spoke English. So we talked for about an hour. Then, the next thing I knew it was 5 hours later. That’s right, I slept 5 hours straight. Woke up just in time for breakfast and to prepare for arrival. When I got off the plane in Madrid I was so nervous. But I went through customs just fine and actually retrieved ALL of my luggage which was blessing. Here is a visual of me walking through the airport/Madrid: I had a large REI duffle back that I carried like a backpack, my rolling suitcase and my red backpack strapped to my front. But the great thing is most people are traveling and this apparently normal.

Found the Metro and hopped aboard. While on the train I overheard a lady asking which way to the bus station. The very bus station I was going to. When I changed Metro lines I was waiting on the platform for the train and she came up and asked me if it was the train to the bus station stop. And so I became friends with her. She is Ukrainian but has a house in Seville, Spain. We ended up going to the bus station together and she helped me find my bus and figure out where it left. Truly a God-send. She would leave me with her luggage while she went and asked all sorts of questions. Then she gave me a speech in Spanish about how I shouldn’t trust anyone but that I seemed nice enough and she liked me. It was crazy.

We said our goodbyes and I boarded a bus for the 5 hour ride to Granada. It was a fantastic bus ride. There was even a bus stewardess who served us many snacks and drinks. But I was so tired and ready to arrive. I seriously would be looking out the window and then a half hour later wake up.

Arrived in Granada 7:30pm local time and my program director picked me up. He drove me to my new home in the center of the city where I met my family. The house is nice and very spacious. I have a small veranda and a room to myself. I get three meals a day and laundry once a week. I walk everywhere and love it!

That night I was beyond tired so Germán filled me in on everything I needed to know for the next 12 hours. I had class the very next morning at 9am which included a placement test in Spanish. Mind you, since stepping off the plane I had 24 hours of speaking only Spanish. My brain hurt. Anyways, I woke up late, my alarm didn’t go off. My Spanish mother walked me to the school where Germán introduced me to the school director and the secretary. I started taking the test and then went to class. During my break I had to finish the test. The school in which I am attending classes is very small and private. So far I like it but the only other students are American and they all know each other. How do I know this? Because I would introduce myself and they would say “Oh you are that girl from North Carolina who came all by yourself. Wow!” It was crazy. I was the total new kid in the class. It was super hard. Germán came to get me at 12:30 when my classes were finished and we met up with another American girl and he gave us a quick walking tour of the surrounding area. My head was spinning at this point. So full of information. Oh and I forgot one minor detail, I was super stressed because I thought I had lost my wallet with all of my essential things. It was so terrifying. But I found it way later in a secret compartment in my suitcase. Good thing my tired self is on top of things.

Germán took me back to my house and my house mother made lunch for me. You see here, they eat breakfast at 9 or 10, lunch at 2:30 or 3. Then comes fiesta from 3-5. Shops completely close down for 2 hours. Then open back up from 5-9 like a completely new day. I spent most of the afternoon trouble shooting my lost wallet. Then my new friend Georgia and I did some shopping in the evening. Right now there are major sales happening that only happen twice a year. It’s awesome. Hanging out with Georgia made me feel a lot better and less overwhelmed. Later last night we even went back out together. She had made an Italian friend who had lots of random friends in the city and we all went out together. I met people from Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Denmark. It was so great.

That sums up my first day in Granada. Started out very hard and ended well. Today is my second day and so far things are a little better. I have class from 9-12:30 Mon-Thurs but the rest of the time is free. 

It’s pretty crazy. Hard to believe I am here for so long. Hope you stuck with the entire post. Sorry there were no pictures, didn’t feel comfortable taking out my camera yesterday but I promise, they will come and my posts will not be anywhere near this long.

Until next time..