Andalucia

We got back from Andalucía last night, and let me tell you, the whole trip was awesome! We were super tired once we got home, but we had such a blast. I can’t say which city was my favorite because each one is different and has something unique to offer. But I definitely liked all of them!!!

Thursday February 7, 2008
I cannot believe I haven’t written in my journal for five days! I haven’t done this the whole trip, and suddenly I have transformed into a slacker. Well, time to catch up!!
Sunday we went to church, and then afterwards, Madre made paella for us. Yes, it was amazing. She put chicken, calamari, mussels, artichokes, peppers, and all kinds of other stuff that I didn’t know what it was. She put so much food on my plate, and I have no idea how I ate it all. I had more than even Jave or Nacho (Ana’s husband). Then after that, I felt so sick to my stomach because I was so full, and I decided to go running. Running helped quite a bit, but then we were supposed to go to the Shumway’s for dinner, so we left for that. And they were having paella too. I didn’t eat anything though since I was so full from our lunch. Then we just hung out with everyone that night, and I checked email and stuff.
On Monday, basically I went to school, religion, the bank, Carrefour, and the post office to buy stamps. That night I got really sick to my stomach, and I had developed a little bit of a cold. But I packed for the trip, and went to bed, that was about it though.
Tuesday, we left in the morning for Andalucía, and we got to Merida around 1pm. Merida is a city that has a lot of Roman architecture and artifacts. We went into a Roman museum, a park that had a Roman amphitheater and theater. I took lots of pictures, like 100 I think. We also walked around the city a lot, and we found this little market that was going on for the carnival, and I got a little clay plate with my name “Raquel” on it. We also stopped by a wall with Muslim origins and took lots of pictures. One of the other fun things we did was we stopped in this little restaurant to use the bathroom and get drinks and they had pink toilet paper! It was sweet! Kaitlyn kept some to put in her journal. The bartender was really funny, and when we were leaving, instead of saying Buenos días, he was like “bye, bye, this is how you say it right”. It was really cute. When we finally got back to the bus, we still had another couple hours before getting to Sevilla, and we were all pretty tired. Once we got into Sevilla, I guess Dr. Shumway and the bus driver didn’t know exactly where to go for the Hotel America that we were staying in, so we sat on the side of the road trying to figure it out for about a half hour. Once we got into our hotel rooms (I was rooming with Natausha and Laura), we decided to try and find somewhere to get some food or bread and fruit. So we wandered around the hotel area and we found a sandwich shop that sold them for pretty cheap, so some of the girls got food there. But I bought a lot of food at Carrefour for the trip, so I just went back to the hotel to eat an orange and a napolitana.
Finally yesterday (Wednesday), we went to the Cathedral and the Alcazár and we walked around the city and did some souvenir shopping as well. The Cathedral was pretty cool, and we also climbed the Giralda tower which overlooks the whole city (beautiful view). When we were standing outside the Cathedral, a gypsie came up and wanted to give us some herbs, and then she proceeded to read my fortune, even though I told her “no gracias”. The most important things she told me was that I was very strong, loving, smart, and that I would marry soon. Ya shows how much she knows huh. However, I liked the Alcazár better which is also a place that the Royals sometimes go for weekend getaways or whatever. The gardens go on forever, and it was absolutely amazing. The whole thing is full or orange trees, and even some lemon trees, and there are lots of ducks, doves, and other birds too. It was so peaceful, I could have sat there all day reading a book and been completely content. Kaitlyn told us some cool stories about the people that used to live there. Like there was this poet who lived there who would use the skulls of his enemies as flower pots, which is really bizarre. And then Pedro the Cruel wanted to marry this girl who was already married, so Pedro had her husband killed, but because she didn’t want to marry Pedro, she poured boiling wax over her face to make him not want here anymore. Kind of sad, but romantic too. Afterwards, we mosied on back to the hotel to eat and relax for a little while, and then we took off to look around the city. The group I was with stopped in a lot of stores, and I got scarves for my sisters, a tie with matching cuffs for Laren (plus it’s really cool because it could match with a blue, brown, tan, black, or even green suit), and a flamenco apron for my mom. Then we went down to the Plaza de España which was beautiful as well, and then we went back to the hotel to eat before Flamenco dancing. We went to this little tapas bar that Laura found in her guide book, and everyone bought something and then shared it with everyone else. Kaitlyn, Natausha, and I split the cost to get octopus, fried cod (which we got because it was the waiter’s favorite), lobster crepes, and grilled mushrooms. I actually really liked the octopus and lobster crepes, but the mushrooms didn’t really have that good of a taste. Then we headed back to the hotel to leave for Flamenco dancing, which was included in our budget. So we got to the Flamenco place, and Lisa and I sat in the front row, which turned out to be the best seats in the house. There’s really no way to describe it AND do it justice. It was totally what Flamenco dancing seemed like it should be though. They used the Spanish fans, canes, flowers, and castanets as props during their dances. All of the dancers were really good, and they made it look so elegant and authentic. To drink, I had a “zumo de melocotón” which was awesome, all their juices are way better here than they are in the States. Anyway, it lasted for an hour and a half, and the whole time was totally worth the money. Flamenco dancing is actually a lot like tap dancing, so that was kind of special for me. When we got back to the hotel, me and Brooke went and met up with all the people that were going to Portugal for Santa Semana. Last week when we looked at the prices, it was going to be 25€ on the plane there, and 45€ on the way back. But the prices jumped, and I ended up paying 40€ there, and 66€ on the way back. We are flying out of Madrid into Lisbon, and taking the same route back from March 13-March 15, which is actually the weekend before Santa Semana. But the prices were way more expensive for the next week, and this way we can go two places if we want to for March. I’m not sure what I’m doing yet, but I would like to go somewhere for sure. It took forever to order tickets, and I didn’t get to bed until about 2:30am.
Finally this morning (Thursday), we go up and ate a ton for breakfast, and then me, Tausha, and Laura went and walked down the river for a while and saw some of the Jewish quarters which was really nice. And now, we are on the bus on the way to Córdoba which should be fun. The weather has been so nice here in Sevilla. I didn’t wear coat or sweater almost the whole time I was there, and today was sunny, and actually good weather for shorts, which of course I do not have.
Anyway, I think that’s about it for now. As far as the scenery goes, it’s all really green, and the fields/hills go on for miles. The cities are typical with the white-washed buildings and orange trees all over the place. And of course, there are lots of balconies with the vine plants hanging off the sides, which look like the ones you see in the movies. Everything looks like a scene in a movie, and I still absolutely cannot believe that I’m in Spain!!!

Thursday February 7, 2008
Okay, so I know that I already wrote in here today, but other stuff has happened that I need to write about. I’m in Córdoba right now in our hotel room, and to be honest, I haven’t been all that impressed with it. The city is pretty right by the river, but other than that, the only exciting thing to see here is the Mezquita. The rest of the city is kind of dumpy. Which is really ironic because it used to be one of the most economically powerful cities in Spain back in the day, but after a while, it just couldn’t keep up with the changes in technology or whatever.
Example A: we were going to go see the house of Cervantes, but we couldn’t because it looks like an old rundown junkyard with rubble and crap all over the place. Pretty much a lot of the city looks like that actually. There’s quite a few shops in the one part of town, but other than that, there really isn’t anything to see here other than the Mezquita and the Alcazár, which we are seeing tomorrow.
We did have one funny experience though here in Córdoba. When we were walking around trying to find something exciting to do, we meandered over to this plaza that was supposed to be “muy bonita”, and that was a dump too. So we were wandering a little ways away from that, and some of the girls were taking funny pictures, but I could smell something that just stunk SO bad. It smelled like cat or dog poo, and I HATE that smell more than anything else. I kept complaining about how bad it smelled, and how we needed to get away from that area so I could breathe again. As we were getting up to leave, I said “I’m going to kill someone if they stepped in it”. I proceeded to demonstrate that I could not possibly be that person, when (yes, you know this is coming) I lifted up my foot, and there smeared across the bottom of my shoe…was the poo. It was no wonder why I could smell it so much better than everyone else. And despite all my efforts to get it off my shoe, because of the lack of grass in these cities, and the plentitude of cobblestones, I had quite a time of getting it off. It was then that I resolved to buy new shoes. You see, the sole is already falling off as it is, and now I have another reason to add as to why I shouldn’t wear them anymore: they’ve been smothered in poo. I tried finding a pair, and I found some that I really liked, but as fate would have it, they did not carry my size (go figure), and so, alas, I am destined to wear these shoes, through thick and thin, sole or sole-less, poo or poo-less. That is how I will remember Córdoba, not for the Mezquita, and not for the rest of the boring city, but for stepping in poo, and how funny it was.
After abandoning all efforts in search of new shoes, we returned to the hotel and I took an amazing shower, and then a bunch of us got together to watch “Maverick” with Mel Gibson, which I had never seen before. It was pretty good, but I was so sleepy and wanting to lay in my own bed that I left, and now I’m here.

Saturday February 9, 2008
Right now we are on the bus again, and we are leaving Granada to head back home. Yesterday we got into Granada and first off we checked into the hotel, and then we left to go down to the Alhambra.
Everything is situated on a hill in Granada, so we had to hike down a hill to get to the Alhambra, and then the terrain changes inside as well, so we had to climb lots of stairs and hike up and down hills a lot. But the Alhambra is absolutely massive, and it took us about two hours to get through seeing everything. It was really pretty though. Inside on the walls, the words “Only Allah is victorious” is written in Arabic over 9,000 times. Mostly all of the rooms are really elaborate, and like everywhere else there are lots of fountains and reflection pools. The famous Fountain of the Lions was under construction so we couldn’t see that, but mostly everything else was okay. There are quite a few towers, and we climbed up on top of those to look out over the city. The staircases are really narrow, so that was uncomfortable, but otherwise it was really cool. We also went into the Generalife Gardens of the Alhambra which are really pretty, but not as large as the ones at the Alcazár in Sevilla. After we got done at the Alhambra, a group of us wanted to go watch the sunset at this place called San Nicolas mirador. Emily and I stayed behind to wait for Brooke to go to the bathroom while the others went ahead, so when Brooke finally got back we ran to catch up with everyone else, and we ended up passing them. So we met back up with the rest of the group and then went the rest of the way together. Once we got up to the mirador, it was just like in a movie. There’s this wall that everyone sits on to watch the sunset, and there are people playing their guitars and singing, and the feeling is just so relaxing and makes you wish you could always have that feeling. From this point you have a perfect view of the Alhambra and the whole city, and so we sat together on the wall watching the sunset and taking pictures. All I can say was that it was absolutely beautiful, and it really made me glad to be there. Anyway, after that we headed back down to the main plaza and we got kebabs, and they were way yummier than the one I had in Toledo. I got the kebab with cheese and beef, and besides that they put lettuce, a spicy red sauce, a white cucumber-like sauce, and I don’t remember what else, but it was SOOOO good. I don’t know why we don’t eat these more in the states, but we should.
This morning Natausha’s guidebook had a walking tour that was suggested to do around the city. It turned out that it was pretty much the same route that we took last night to watch the sunset. We got kind of turned around on the way there, but we got there okay and then we got separated, so we headed back to the plaza with the kebabs. On the way to the lookout point, we had gone into this little store, and I found this shirt that was SO cute. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted it or not, so I went back after we had gone up to the lookout point, and I tried on a couple different versions of the same shirt. There was a purple one that I really liked, a green one, and then a brown and orange one. I really like the purple one at first, but then I tried on the brown and orange one, and it was like we had met in the pre-existence, so I had to get it. It was only 10€, and I figured that I’ve been really careful with my money so it was okay to spend that much on this one shirt. Plus, all the money I’ve spent on this trip has been spent really well.
So anyway, I really liked Granada, but I wish we would have had more time there because we didn’t really get to see all that much. Oh well, you can’t ever see everything can you? It’s so hard to try to decide what to spend your time on since it’s so limited. I feel like I’ve seen so much, and words are really hard to try and describe everything I’m seeing and feeling, because it’s all so amazing and if you’re not there, there’s no way I can make it real without actually seeing it.

Okay, I think that’s about it for now, I’m working on pictures and I know I’m really behind, but I will get it going soon!