la extranjera

Hola, Tumblr! Okay, so first order of business- I just cannot ignore all of the recent UK success. Yeah! GO CATS!! To all of you UK haters out there- step off. The Cats are here to stay. I couldn’t have been happier last night. I may or may not have cried…. FINAL FOUR BABY! It was a beautiful moment. 

But enough about that. Ya’ll don’t follow me for sports updates, do you? Let’s talk about my weekend trip! This past weekend I went on a school field trip with my Hispanic Culture and Civilization class to Granada and Cordoba! I was just so excited to escape to the warm weather of southern Spain that it didn’t really matter that it was an educational trip. I’m actually pretty worn out from the wear and tear of traveling and gladly held up my wrist to be dragged from sight to sight by an adult. It was sooo nice not having to worry about catching a plane, passports, sleeping in the airport, arguing about where to go and when, dealing with cranky travel buddies, finding a hostel… It was lovely to just be led. 

Our adventure began at 8:30 Friday morning. Well, that’s when it was supposed to begin. My friend and classmate Adam went to Kapital on Thursday night, overslept, and completely missed our bus. Oops. We waited at school for an extra 20 minutes or so, but then decided to leave without him. It turned out to be a good decision because he slept in until 12 and then realized that he missed the bus and had to book a new bus ticket to Granada. What are we going to do with that child?

Anyways, after a five or six hour bus trip we arrived in Granada, the beautiful Spanish city that is located at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We checked into our NICE (our teacher insisted we get 4 stars) hotel, then freshened up and began to explore the city. Our class reunited at the Cathedral, where we had a three hour guided tour around some of the city’s best sights. We saw La Capilla Real, where lie the bodies of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (cool!), The Royal Chancery, the gorgeous Granada Cathedral, the Madraza university, and much more. 

We were given free time that evening, and I went out with Dani and our friends Brittany and Zach for some souvenir shopping and absolutely delicious dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. We also spent some of the evening exploring Granada’s main street, Gran Via, and even found ice cream for one euro! Exhausted, Dani and I finished the night by cuddling in our hotel (!) room, reading, and watching “Raising Helen” in Spanish on TV….ahhh living the dream…

I am feeling a mixture of emotions right now:

1. Relief: Our Internet wasn’t working when I got home from school today and I freaked. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but I was worried. (!’m @ dR@mA qU3eN.) A lot of my life is on the Internet (Facebook, Skype, Tumblr, Channel131, email, etc.), and without it I’m just plain lonely. Don’t mock me. You would’ve felt the same. Anyways, five hours later Lexi had the brilliant idea to unplug the router and then plug it back in, and wonder of wonders it worked! She’s so smart. It’s nice to see you again, blog.

2. Excitement: We don’t have school next Monday or Tuesday (Winter Break), so my friends and I have a great weekend trip planned. It’s a shooin’ to be one of our prettiest destinations yet…(stay posted.)

3. Nervousness/Anxiety: Even though next week is only a two day week, I have three midterms. Yikes! It’s midterm time already?! Where is this semester going?! Also, we never ended up having that Culture and Civilization quiz, which I was banking on to be an indication of how the midterm would go, soooo I’m pretty much clueless as to how the test will be… awesome. I guess I’ll just study as best as I can, and go in knowing I’ll try the hardest that I’m able. That’s the best I got. 

4. Contentment: Dinner tonight was actually really nice. Our first course was cooked cheesy squash (YUMMM!), and then our main dish was pizza. I know, I know, frozen pizza… but this time it had ham and mushrooms on it, so it was a step up! Plus we got mandarin oranges and crackers, so it was a pretty satisfying meal overall. 

5. Loneliness: Dani left for a different trip than me this weekend, and I’m pretty sure this is the farthest we’ll be away from each other since I’ve known her. Eek- separation anxiety! Our little bubblegum room just isn’t the same without her…

6. Pride: Not only have I been blogging (almost) every day, but I’ve been keeping up with a hand-written journal as well. I thought I’d lose interest/time/desire/motivation to write in it after a week or so, but I’ve actually been writing in it every few days! *Pat on the back* Writing really is very therapeutic, and I think that it’ll be something I’ll be able to cherish for years. I’m glad I’m sticking with it. 

Ain’t my journal purdy? It was a gift from my lovely friend Julia (: