Goodness I feel like I always have so much to share with you all! This weekend was wonderful. On Friday I went on a free trip to Granada with my program. I absolutely loved it. My favorite part of the trip was Friday night. Some friends and I decided to trek up the hills of the city to get a view of the Alhambra (an old Moorish fortress). It was a beautiful walk through colorful stores (where I wanted to buy everything) and up cobblestone streets by houses and cafes. We finally reached a church at the top which turned out to be the hot spot for tourists. It was a gorgeous view of the Alhambra. I felt like I was back in time looking at it. It's massive and takes over the whole mountain. We hung out there until it got dark and we saw it all lit up. Such an amazing sight. The next day we visited it with a tour guide. I just can't comprehend the time and dedication the detail must have required. Geez I feel so blessed to get to see such beautiful things. Another thing I really enjoyed about Granada was the graffiti everywhere. It's not like at home in Ventura, it's beautiful, creative murals. Fun to take pictures of.

Jackie and I had a pretty strange experience Friday night. We were walking back to the hotel after drinking some sangria at a neat bar and we passed a convent so we started talking about nuns and Christianity (in English). It's been really neat talking with her about my faith because she knows nothing about Christianity and she asks me very basic questions that are fun to answer. Anyways, a man was walking on the other side of the street and all of a sudden he turned around and yelled (something not nice) at us. He went to a dumpster, picked up a rake and pointed it at us like he would throw it. So we picked up our pace, really confused and freaked out. Then he went behind a wall and starting throwing rocks at us! Well I guess they were more like pebbles but it was still terrifying. We sprinted all the way back to our hotel. I wish I knew what it was that made him so angry. We were pretty shaken up for awhile. Such a strange thing. But no worries! We are fine, just more careful about speaking English in public/walking on empty streets.

Everyone went back to Sevilla Saturday afternoon but I stayed in Granada a few hours before catching a bus to visit my friends Zach and Angie (Zach's girlfriend Christine who is also my friend was visiting at the time). SO much fun! And so strange to see Christine here in Spain! It's starting to feel more and more like my home. Ah we had a great time together. Saturday night we went out to enjoy Murcia's nightlife (not nearly as exciting as Sevilla's I must say). Funny story: at one point we were all jumping and clicking our heels, seeing who could do the most clicks. One time I tried my shoe fell off and when I turned to pick it up a Spanaird man was bent down on one knee holding my shoe. I felt like Cinderella. Then somehow it became a wedding ceremony and Zach and the man's friend said the vows. It was hilarious. And for all I know the friend could've been an ordained minister so I very well might be married to a Spanaird :)

The next day we walked around Murcia, ran into Zach and Angie's ISEP coordinator (my favorite Spanaird I've met so far) who was out taking pictures and invited us to get coffee with him. His name is Roberto and he's this incredibly stylish 30 some year old guy who speaks English really well and knows a TON about Spain. He completely threw out his plans to hang out with us all day and show us around the city. Such a friendly, funny guy. While walking around we stumbled upon a big pop concert in front of the cathedral so of course we hung out and sang and danced with the rest of Murcia. Angie and I almost got on stage with them. It was a great great time.

Unfortunately I had to leave really early the next morning to catch a flight so I didn't get to spend as much time with Christine as I would have like but we still had a blast. Now I'm back in Sevilla until next Wednesday when I'm going to Barcelona and Bilbao for spring break!! Love you all!

As I've adjusted more and more to the Spanish culture I've been able to distinguish things I think are funny/weird/great. I thought I would list some of them for you:
1. There are a lot of twins in Spain. I don't know what else to say about this but I've talked with other fellow Americans and they say the same thing. So that's that.
2. American music is played A LOT all over. When I'm shopping and I hear a song in English I feel good about myself because I think "hah! something I can understand and you can't!" Not that I'm bitter towards Spanish-speakers I just enjoy understanding something without focusing really hard.
3. Sandals are unheard of here at this time of year. Nonetheless, I wear them. Just because they're comfortable and easy. But everytime I do I get people asking me if my toes are cold (to which I respond, no, I wear sandals in the snow in Washington) and I get the surprised look of the random lady walking by me. I've been trying to figure out what makes me stand out as an American and sandals are one. Second, Spanish women wear lots of make-up. Third, people don't wear rain jackets here. But I love mine. So I wear it. The other day Jackie and I were walking in the center and two teenage girls asked if they could interview us because they had to interview Americans. Geez we really stand out.
4. No juice. Well that's not true. But we always drink water with our meals. I miss orange juice so much. I've tried to buy some in the store but both times it's been sunny-Dish. Sick. But the oranges here are delicious. So I know there must be real orange juice out there somewhere.
5. Dessert=fruit, not chocolate. This has been very different for me. Yogurts and bananas are dessert. But to me, that's like a healthy snack. Thus, Jackie and I have devoured 3 large jars of nutella that Charri graciously replenishes for us. We're working on cutting back. But man it's difficult. Tomorrow's Thursday though. That means ice creammmmm.
6. Two things that people do a lot here: watch TV and smoke. My host sister's weekends literally consist of staying out until 6am or later, sleeping until 2 and then watching TV/smoking until she goes out that night. The TV is always on. Maria loves the Simpsons. And EVERYONE smokes. I talked to one of Maria's cousins about it and he was telling me how he knows it's bad for him but it's just something he does. He started young and it's such a social thing that he hasn't stopped. I tried to convince him to stop but I don't think it worked. I also tried to convince him that the American meal-time schedule is better/more healthy than Spain's. I think I lost that one too.
I'm sure there's more but I will save those for a later post.

This weekend was glorious. My two friends Zach and Angie (from Whitworth) came over from Murcia, Spain where they are studying for the semester and Jackie and I got to spend the day with them, showing them around Sevilla! It was so fun and quite strange at the same time, walking them around the city like it's my home, which it is I guess.

Then later that day Jackie and I left with Maria and Charri for Arcos, where they have a summer home in which Charri's husband Joselite stays most of the time. Arcos is gorgeous. It looks a bit like Greece (not that I've ever been there) because all the buildings are white and there's this one huge mountain in the middle of the citty called "barrio arriba" or the upper neighborhood. It would have been amazing if it was on the beach. Too bad.

Okay so the house is AMAZING. Seriously when we walked through the door I expected it to be about the same size as the apartment here, but it's huge. It has a giant fireplace, all kinds of antique decor, and probably 12 different rooms. It's lovely. And they have a great little backyard and a roof you can go on and see a stunning view of the barrio arriba. Anyhoo, my point here is that Arcos is a great little town.

Saturday was the best day I have spent in Spain yet. Jackie and I were aware that there was a family reunion going on so we assumed it would be a big gathering of all the family in the area. You have to understand that, although Jackie and I speak pretty good Spanish, we sometimes feel like little kids following Maria and Charri around because we can't quite catch all they say to one another. So Charri dropped Maria, Jackie and I off at this ranch house which used to be owned by Maria's grandma who recently passed away (something I figured out much later). I want to retire in this house. It's in this huge, green open space with an amazing view of mountains from the backyard. I loved it. And in the living room was a huge fireplace and on both sides were TONS of beautiful vases the grandma had collected. It was such a hoomey little place. Mom you would have loved it.

We ended up being picked up by a cousin and going to a bar to meet up with the rest of the cousins (by this time we were starting to figure out this was a cousin hang out only). We ate delicious tapas and tinto de verano. Mmmmm. And we got to meet all the cousins! There were about 10 I think. All such lovely, fun, nice people! And everyone was between the ages of 20 and 30. Jackie and I have been noticing that there are very few awkward silences in Spain. Everyone always seems to have something to talk about. It's great! It was such a fun environment to be in! So much energy and fun.

After the bar we all went back to the ranch house for a dinner the house caretaker woman had made for us. Delicious. It felt like a Spanish-style Thanksgiving. And I cracked up because she had made buckets and buckets of sangria that were all over the house. After dinner Jackie and I went out walking around the ranch with some of the cousins. It was rainy but really fun. We almost got attacked by a swarm of bees when one of the cousins opened a bee cage. Poor choice on his part although I must admit I did encourage him. We came back to the house and the real fun began. A guitar and a drum were brought out and we had music for the rest of the night. Two guys were playing all kinds of Spanish songs and everyone was singing along and dancing and Jackie and I were pretending like we knew what we were saying and danced along too.

At one point in the night Maria told everyone I played guitar (but she's never heard me before, she just saw it in the room). Immediately everyone was demanding that I play. Ah man I was so embarassed and resisted at first but eventually gave in. I played a couple songs and everyone seemed to like it. I was nervous at first but it ended up being really cool. They kept asking me to play more and more songs. Later in the night I was talking to one of the guys who played guitar and I was telling him how I don't often play in front of large groups of people and then he said something that was really encouraging. He told me the fact that I was nervous about it, I'm in a foreign country, and I played well, is really impressive. He kept telling me to record an album. So that was great. Very affirming and inspiring.

It was a great great night full of meeting new friends, singing, laughing, dancing, eating, drinking and all around socializing. I love the laidback nature of the Spanish people. They are content simply hanging out in a ranch house until 4am. It was so neat to feel like I was a part of the family. It was a very unique experience for Jackie and I. Hardly anyone else in our program has siblings in their house, let alone families who take them with them on their weekend trips. I am so so grateful for God's blessings to me throughout this trip. Mmm I'm loving it.

Oh and very sad, but right when we got to the ranch house I turned on my camera to take a picture of the view and I was told my battery was dead. So I didn't get any pics of my favorite day in Spain. Sunday though we went to a park for this festival celebrating the Dia de Andalucia, which basically consisted of groups of people dressed up in ridiculous outfits, singing original songs, playing kazoos and dancing their hearts out. Crazy crazy Spainards. That's what the picture of the men singing is from. The one with the three ladies is of some family, Charri in the middle. Such a dear. Sorry this is so long. There's just so much to tell!!