Bittersweet Farewell

I cannot believe my journey has come to an end. It seems like just yesterday, I arrived in Granada scared and timid. I could hardly understand anyone and felt like a stranger. However, after these past four months, I have grown to love Granada and I have made so many wonderful new friends. During the past few weeks, I have been enjoying every second that I have left here in Granada. Of course, yesterday (yes two days before I leave), I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and visit the Alhambra. Procrastination at its best. It was so beautiful and the views of Granada are amazing. My favorite part was definitely the gardens. All of the flowers were in bloom and the roses were magnificent. While I am excited to travel to Istanbul and South Africa with my Grandma Ginny, I am also sad that this chapter of my life has come to a close. I have grown so much as a person. I did something outside of my comfort zone, but it has been the most amazing time of my life. I am a bit nostalgic today remembering all of the fun times I have had here. Tomorrow offers the promise of a very tearful goodbye as I leave my host mom, who is better than I could have ever hoped for, and my roommate Megan, but also a joyous reunion with my grandma. I hope to return to Granada someday, but for now I have to say goodbye. Thank you all for reading my blog over the course of this semester. I have had an amazing journey and I am glad that I could share it with all of you. I will post one more time when I return to the United States, to blog about my trip to Turkey and South Africa as well as upload some pictures. I cannot wait to see all of you in a couple of weeks!

Megan, Amparo's Granddaughter, Alejandra, and Me
(Amparo's son invited us over for a BBQ)

Megan, Alejandra, Me, and David

We had quite the assortment

Alhambra

View of Granada from the Alhambra

Ceiling

Gardens

Cabo de Gata

For our final IES trip, we went to Cabo de Gata, a beach about three hours from Granada. We boarded the buses bright and early about halfway there, our bus started making weird noises and was hardly moving. Needless to say it broke down and we had to wait an hour for the other bus to drop everyone else off and then come back and pick us up. No worries though, we had tons of fun sitting on the ground in the middle of a gas station. When we reached our destination, we began our 9 mile hike to the town where we were staying. Since I am not really a hiker, I assumed that it would be more of a walk along the beaches, but I couldn't have been more wrong. We were hiking up and down mountains, at points scaling them and of course there wasn't a path to follow. It got a little scary at points, but the views along the way were worth it. We stopped halfway through and had lunch on a beach and then continued our journey. After about 7 hours of hiking, we finally made it. I don't think I have ever been so relieved to sit down in my life. That night the whole group went out for pizza and then we headed back to our rooms. The next morning we went to the beach to lay out. We swam for a little bit and then went back to soak up so more sun. Later in the afternoon, we began a soccer game on the sand. We had quite a diverse group of players, from people who play for their colleges to people who haven't played in years. Guess which group I related to more? After a fabulous day at the beach we headed back to Granada. When I got home my whole body was sore. I guess not working out for a few months will do that to you. Overall it was a great trip and it was nice to hang out all together one last time. This is my last week of classes and then I have finals all next week. I can't believe I will be leaving Granada so soon. I have had an amazing time here and wish I could stay longer. I hope to do one final post before I leave and then when I get home I will post about my trip with Grandma Ginny!

Start of the 9 mile hike!

Yes we climbed that :)

Morocco - Tangier, Rabat, RIF mountains, Chefchaouen

My journey to Morocco began on the ferry. My anticipation was growing during the boat ride and I couldn't wait to see a new continent. We arrived in Tangier and were split into small groups of 14 people. We drove straight to a woman's center, where we were met by two students. We discussed politics, women's rights, and Moroccan culture. It was here that I had my first taste of Moroccan tea. It is very sweet, which I love! After our discussion we drove to Asilah on our way to Rabat. Here we walked around the town and then rode camels. Let's just say riding a camel is a bit scary because they get up on their hind legs first. I thought for sure I was going to end up face first in the sand. After a short ride and lots of pictures we had our first Moroccan meal, tagine. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the food while I was there, it is very flavorful. Then we headed to Rabat where we met our host families. I stayed with two of my friends and we had a host mom, who spoke English very well, a host dad, a seven year old boy (who looked and acted exactly like Manny from Modern Family), and a one year old little boy. The first night we got settled in and then played with the boys. I got a kiss from the one year old! We had soup and artichokes for dinner. "Manny" kept coming in and asking his mom a question, sighing, and then he would trudge out of the kitchen. Finally our host mom told us that he loved artichokes and he was checking to see how many were left to make sure there would be one left for him to eat. We slept in the living room on the couches, that surround the perimeter. They were quite comfortable and it is the main type of bed in Morocco. The next morning we woke up early and went to an organization that helps young female students with school. We learned about the organization and then also were able to ask the Moroccan people who worked there questions about government, life, etc. We went back home and ate lunch with our family. We had couscous which was Manny's favorite meal. He began by stretching out his hands in front of him, in order to prepare for the meal. The entire time he was saying in Arabic, I like couscous, I love couscous. Then when everyone else had finished, he pulled the plate towards him and finished every last bite. I have never seen a child eat so much and then he had an orange and banana afterwards. We took a short siesta and then met up with Moroccan students. We went in a group of 8 (4 of us and 4 of them). It was a great experience because we got to talk to them about their life and they were all very nice. Then we got all of our things and headed to the Hammam (public bath). Lets just say, what happens in the Hammam stays in the Hammam ;) Then we all received henna tattoos. After a great two days in Rabat, we woke up early and drove up to the RIF mountains. There we spoke with a rural family who lived in a small farming village. It was interesting to hear about their life and their views. One of the girls asked us if we were able to choose our husbands and of course we said yes. Then she asked why if we marry for love are there so many divorces in the U.S. I thought it was an interesting question and it definitely made me think. Then we drove to Chefchaouen where we shopped and explored the city. The next morning we drove to Algeciras (a Spanish enclave in Morocco) and took the ferry back to Spain. This was one of my favorite trips because we were able to meet Moroccan people and really learn about the culture. It was definitely a unique experience and an experience I will never forget.

Morocco from the ferry

Tangier

Town where we rode the camels

Sorry Grandma, but I beat you ;)

Rif Mountains 

Village we went to 

Chefchaouen

Gibraltar - Am I in England??

My journey to Africa began early Friday morning when I boarded the bus and headed to Gibraltar. It is a British enclave on the southern tip of Spain. We reached our hotel (which was still in Spain) and watched clips of the royal wedding. Then we met up with the entire group and walked to Gibraltar. After showing our passports, we headed into the bizarre little city of Gibraltar. We hopped on board small buses and drove throughout the city. We stopped at an outlook where you could see two continents, Europe and Africa. It is still amazing to me that they are so close. Then we continued up the rock to see the caves. We went into the largest natural cave, but our tour guide explained that there are many manmade caves as well and one of the caves even has a fully equipped hospital. The hospital was used during WWII and was protected from the frequent bombings. After the caves, we were met by monkeys. We brought chocolate with us, so they jumped up onto our backs. Then we took a hike to the top of the rock, where we could see two continents and two oceans. Since Gibraltar is British, but so close to Spain the students grow up learning both Spanish and English and use both languages in the same sentence. The British pound is the local currency, although they also accept euros. It was quite a unique city to say the least!

Rock of Gibraltar 

Mariah, me, Emma

Two Continents-Left Morocco, right Spain

Caves

Haha OOPS

I felt like Queen Elizabeth!

View from the top of the rock

Looking down 

Overlooking Gibraltar