Sun, Sun, Sun.

Today is the first day I have walked outside to pure sunshine!! It was marvelous! I awoke to blue skies and very bright sunshine when I left to catch the bus this morning... it is warmer today than any day yet. It is most definitely a welcome change!

Today, we will visit a museum and the Iberian Village. I am not sure how far away it is, but we are taking a bus there. Tomorrow, we get to visit an olive oil factory, which should be very interesting as this part of the country is known for their olives and olive oil. I am looking forward to it!

I had no desire to wake up this morning from my warm bed... I hope to take a siesta this afternoon... but for now, I must go catch bus #7 that will take me home for lunch. Until I post again, perhaps with more exciting news,

Day 13

Yeah!! Today is day 13 of the trip, which is very hard to believe! This means that I will be home in a mere 11 days... and I have to say that as the time draws nearer, I am ready for it. I have enjoyed Spain VERY much!! But I do have to say that I miss the food at home, I miss my bed, and I miss things familiar to me. Today´s topic for my post: the smell.

It smells different here everywhere... I haven´t been some place that didn´t have a smell. Some places smell like an entire bottle of perfume; others smell like garbage; others just smell strange. Even my clothes have a different smell. Everything has a different smell... and I wonder how the people here don´t smell it... maybe they do; I don´t know... or maybe their noses are used to it. I don´t think it helps any that dogs are allowed to poop on the sidewalk and no one picks it up... I have to admit that I have been very afraid I will not be looking at just the most inopportune second and I will find myself having stepped in the happy trail of a doggy on a walk... And then I sit here and think how strange the word smell is... oh well, perhaps I should choose a different topic.

Today we had class and no excursions. Tomorrow we have class and an excursion to see Iberian somethings... I can´t for the life of me remember what. No rain today; however, the sky didn´t look so nice as it was getting dark. We´ll see what tomorrow brings.I think it is almost time for supper, so I will go for now. Until next time.......

Warning: Long post!!

So, I want to give prior warning that this post could be lengthy... I guess we´ll see if it truly is or not. I haven´t posted in a few days, so I thought I would tell about my weekend trip to Madrid. I am very excited that today is a day of rest. No getting ready for class; no getting prepared to go on a tour; nothing. And I must say that I quite enjoyed sleeping in today. Nevertheless, I surely wish I could go to church... I could always attend a Catholic Mass, but to this, I have to say politely, ¨no thanks.¨ Not today...

I had class this past week on Wednesday and Thursday as usual. Friday morning, I awoke early to get ready and walk to meet the bus in the plaza in the center of the city where we always meet the bus. It is about a ten minute walk from this house. We loaded the bus early around 8:00 am and headed out for Madrid. After a stop for coffee, etc. of which I had none, we finally arrived to Madrid a little after 1:00 pm, I think. We unloaded the bus and entered the hotel only to discover after a few minutes that we were in the wrong hotel. Luckily, the correct hotel was adjoining and the lobby was only about 30 steps down the hall. We checked in and found ourselves in a very pleasant hotel. Amanda and I shared a room. It was quite large. There was a big entryway and two very comfy beds and armchairs... plenty of space and plenty of mirrors. The bathroom was a nice size, and we even had two sinks! It was a nice place to rest.

We met some of the other girls downstairs soon after checking in to go out for a bite to eat. We got lunch at a little cafe; I had chicken. Then we decided to shop for a little while. We have found there to be a vast array of very brightly colored clothing here... and I like it! Alas, I bought nothing. Amanda and I decided to return to the hotel to shower and dress for dinner. Our group met downstairs and we all headed out walking towards where we would eat. We found ourselves finally in Plaza Mayor, which for those of you who have seen it, is the place (Amanda informed me) that the movie Vantage Point was filmed.

It was a very big place with lots of shops and restaurants all around that was housing a variety of people. We saw quite a few human statues and entertainers.

One was a mud statue... another was man dressed in all black who chained himself to a pole by the ankles, wrist, and neck and leaned forward holding a torch... I just knew he was going to choke himself to death or suffocate while making his money... there were a few gestures and also another man putting on some type of western show type thing while making bird whistling noises... I must say, it was an interesting place. Later after dinner, we returned to the plaza to see a musical performance on a giant stage that had been set up in the plaza. It was very interesting!!

When we decided to leave, we took cabs back to our hotel. Amanda and I rode together; we had a very nice cab driver but also one who happened to have no idea where our hotel was. We told him the street name which was Serrano Jover. So, he managed to take us all the way to Serrano street because he said he thought that they were two streets that intersected... he turned off the meter after the first few minutes because he didn´t know where it was... Amanda told him it was near a Starbuck´s, and so every one we passed, he asked if this was the Starbuck´s our hotel was near... there are probably a few hundred Starbucks in Madrid... Anyways, he asked some other cab drivers at stop lights, etc. and finally found out where it was... I don´t know who this guy was, but apparently he was inept at using his GPS system... so I said whatever... as long as we get back to the hotel, I am fine with it.

Saturday, we were able to visit two of the art museums in Madrid. We went to the Reina Sofia museum and looked at modern art there where we were able to see work by Picasso. Then we went to the Museo del Prado and were able to see famous works by Spanish painters such as Goya, Velázquez, and many others. I found it to be fascinating! I did thoroughly enjoy it! We hung out for the couple of hours afterwards taking pictures and doing whatever until our bus arrived about 6:00 pm. Then, we made our journey back to Jaén. We arrived a little after 10:00 pm and made our way home. Then, I got to sleep!! :)

Today, I am reading for class, doing some homework, and watching a movie. I am looking forward to the week ahead, for it will be significantly less busy than the one past. However, before we leave Spain, we still get to go tour some fun places... such as an olive oil factory, the giant castle on the hill above here in Jaén, and I fail to remember what else at this moment... but until I post again, I thought I would leave you with a few interesting facts about this lovely place...

1. If my life was shortened by one minute for every whiff of perfume I catch here, I probably would have died about 10 years ago.
2. It is impossible to walk down the street without catching a whiff or many breaths of cigarette smoke.
3. The pastries here are delectable!!
4. Supposedly, this area of the country is HOT... well, we must have brought the cold and rain.
5. Going out at midnight is a very common occurrence.
6. People WILL run you over here... they have no patience for those who tarry in the crosswalk.
7. It is very possible to walk into the kitchen and find a bowl of living, crawling snails waiting to be cooked and consumed.
8. The distance between cars when stopping is mere centimeters.
9. The city is closed down on Sundays, so no shopping on my free day.
10. I am not sure hairspray is commonly used... my host sister asked me if I used the stuff they use for weddings to fix my hair.
11. No one smiles on the street.
12. Beware at any moment while you are using a pay phone because an angry little old lady may walk up behind you and shove you in the back.

A Free Day.

Finally... we have just finished class and I have stayed behind to use the computers for a few minutes before going home... Tomorrow is Friday and we are going to Madrid! I think it will be a fun trip. We were supposed to have a touring/sight-seeing event this afternoon, but we cancelled it.. there has been so much this week. We don´t stop until at least 11:00 pm every day... it is nice to have a rest momentarily.
Tomorrow at 8:00 am we leave for Madrid. I think it is about a 4 or 4.5ish hour drive there. We don´t have specific plans for tomorrow... we are just going to relax and do whatever we want. Saturday, we are supposed to go to the Reina Sofia museum and also the Museo del Prado. I am very excited!! We will be able to see some marvelous paintings and other things. I am also looking forward to seeing everything and having time to shop, etc. It will be very nice.
I am a little tired today... I am having a wonderful time, but I do long for home on occasion... I think there is not much more to say at the moment... so I might post again later or maybe when I return from Madrid.
¡Adios!

In Between

I agree as everyone else does that it is a pain not to have internet access frequently. It is just not possible to find computers here... You have to wait forever and only use them for ten minutes. For the ones available in our classroom, the internet does not function half of the time. I don´t understand it. Only a few people have internet access at home... I did, but it has been on the fritz. I don´t know when it will be fixed.

I have just finished lunch. They try to feed me so much here! We had some kind of soup and then potato tortilla. Luis' father is here for lunch. He is a very nice older man. He is a little hard to understand beause he kind of slurs/slushes his words together. It is very scratchy.

I just finished writing some more postcards. I need to mail them soon, maybe today if possible. If not, I will try to mail them tomorrow.

(Later in the evening)
We went to the restored Arab baths tonight here in Jaén. They were really neat! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside them, however... The story behind them: a wealthy family at one time had owned them... they filled them with earth to make a foundation for their palace home. Thus, the restoration.

Around Jaén

This afternoon/evening we visited a local church and the old Jewish quarter (or what used to be the Jewish quarter) of the city. It was pretty. It was quite old and smelled very musty, but it is still in use. We were able to walk around in the pretty afternoon sunshine and air and take a look at things... the sunshine is much better than the rain we have had most days while here.

Oh What a city!!

Today we visited Granada, and it was beautiful!! It was a much bigger city than Jaén, I think.

We visited La Alhambra. Then we went to La Capilla Real and the Cathedral there in Granada. It was the largest Cathedral I have ever seen!! My, oh my, it was beautiful!

After we went to La Alhambra, we came down a street for lunch. It was a place where I think some of the gypsies from the neighborhood worked. There was a lady who would walk up to you, hand you a piece of Rosemary, tell you your fortune, and then try to charge you money for it. The shop keepers, one in particular, made me generally uncomfortable.

I learned that Granada is named that because of pomegranites. That is what the word means. I found it to be very interesting.

From La Alhambra we were able to see so much of the city that it was incredible. We could see the homes and the gypsy neighborhood and so many things. It was breathtaking and beautiful.
After we got back, I walked from the Plaza de Las Batallas to home. I decided to stop and use the pay phone to call Mom and Dad. I went from having a whole lot of minutes to having not many remaining on my card.

Tomorrow is class and sightseeing; the day after is the same. This weekend we go to Madrid. I am excited about that!

¡Chao for now!

Monday

¡Hola! Buenos dias.
Actually, it is afternoon here. It is just 4:00pm, and it has turned out to be a nice day. It has been sunny this afternoon and has warmed up a little from this morning and the previous days. Today was the first day of classes. It went very well. Our Spanish professor is very nice; I like her very much already. I think she is going to be a good teacher to have while we are here. We had the culture class and talked about all the provinces of Spain. I really enjoy having Profesora Centeno as a teacher. She is probably my favorite ever. Tommy then talked about Arabic influence in Spanish architecture. We are going to Granada tomorrow to see La Alhambra, which has a lot of Moorish and Arabic (Muslim) influence. I am very excited! I am looking forward to learning about it and taking pictures.
I have been having a very good time over the last few days. It is getting better every day.
Tonight we are going on a sightseeing tour to a church and maybe to see a few other things.
I find this place fascinating, and I see again how much I enjoy the Spanish language, history, geography, culture, etc.

LONG Day.

OH what a long day. I am quite tired. I got up around 7:00 am because we were leaving for Cazorla at 8:00am. I met Charli by the Caedral after 7:30 am. We drove the 2-ish hours to Cazorla.
It was cold, rainy, and foggy when we first arrived... however, it cleared up after a while.

We went through the town and toured an old museum/castle there.

After having coffee and a tour, we loaded the bus to drive for lunch. It was about an hour away. We were going into the Parque Natural (Natural Park).

It was honestly a bus ride unlike any other. It was quite terrible. We probably didn't go much more than 30 seconds for the total hour and a half bus ride without going around a curve. It was wretched. We stopped for lunch & as the second course, had some type of deer animal meat. A piece of mine still had the bristle hair in it. We left lunch and drove more to hike for a few minutes. We got to see some beautiful views and take some good pictures. We made the awful bus ride out. I fell asleep on the way out and woke up to rain on the way back to Jaén. It hailed on us... I learned the word for hail: graniza... when it is hailing: está granizando... and also for when it is foggy: Hay niebla.

I am still a little nauseous, but I am out for the night... I must rise early!!

¡Chao!

Mi Familia Española

Mari (left), Luis (left center), myself(right center), and Raquel (right)