No Pasa GraNada

This is my 100th blog. I have successfully documented several consecutive days of my life and chronicled the first half of my totallyawesomeandunbelievable vida espanola. And, my grandparents (and some other people) have checked it out 3914 times.

I think I'll make it to 4000 because I took a trip this weekend and la gente seems to like my photoblogs with short punchy captions more than my writing. (Good thing I'm going into marketing instead of journalism!).

So here's what you missed on my life: Friday, I did absolutely nothing after zumba and eating a lot of fried food. Saturday, I got on a bus to go to Granada with my 40 best friends from JYS. I ate snacks with Livy, danced with Sarah, and dashed off the bus at the rest stop. Pretty average bus trip. 

Random people I asked to pose with me to look like my friends.

In Granada, we got to our absurdly fancy hotel, Hotel Carmen, right near the city's center. If you're ever there on business or with parents, stay there! We ate an overwhelming touristy lunch and then set out to explore. Unfortunately, the weatherman misspoke and it poured. and poured. and poured.

We luckily had an indoor tour scheduled and were on our way to the Capilla Real and Catedral. Never seen Catholic art or churches or tombs before, so I was superpsyched. Okay, maybe this was my millionth church in Europe in the last  two months but I was excited.

Sneaky photos.

Fernando and Isabel. 2getha4eva.

Priestly lockers.

We got to see King Fernando and Queen Isabel's ruins, along with their daughter Juana la Loca. The cathedral was bright white with vaulted ceilings and colorful paintings - a big change from the angry stone norm. Pictures do minimal justice but do have a look. I had to undercover take some of them out of my pocket - NO PHOTOS ALLOWED read signs everywhere. Since they are technically contraband, don't send this link to UNESCO or the Spanish government.

Cathedral.

After a solid 3.5 hours of Christian and Spanish history, accompanied by extensive walking, we had free time to explore the drenched and frozen city. My friend Andrea met up with me. She's studying there. We had a joyous reunion. It was delightful to see a camp friend, particularly after a few weeks of Jewishlessness.

We spent the evening at the hotel, basking in the warmth of indoors and the food comas from dinner. I stayed up superlate watching BBC and CNBC documentaries about Target, Laos, and Boeing. More worldly by the minute. The docs were background noise to chatting with my roommate Joan about Northwestern! We miss it, but only a little. 

Today, we explored the Alhambra which is a castle built by the last Islamic rulers of Spain and inhabited by the Catholic kings who captured and killed these forgotten men. Alhambra means red palace but everything is pretty much made of white plaster and jewel-toned mosaics. I've heard it's a 'wonder of the world' and I've had the privilege of seeing it twice. 

It looked pretty much the same. Last time I visited, I was also with about 6 boys and a gaggle of girls. I took the same pictures and 'wowed at the same patterns. Deja vu all over again. Good thing I'm writing it down now because I noted nothing as a slightly overwhelmed and oblivious 17-year-old

Except now I speak Spanish and I can give the tour in either languages and I promise it won't take the four hours we spent today. If you'd like to hire me and take me back there, I'd be more than willing - it's simply stunning. 

So, my weekend was cool, I miss my Spain/Israel 08 tour group, I love my JYS-Sweet Briar College crew, and I am grateful for having had the incredible experiences so far. 

One hundred posts, over a million words, and all of your reading (which makes me so so so happy!). 

I used to think blogs were dumb. But, Stef on Stuff, you're growing on me.