It is currently 1:20 in the morning here in Sevilla, and in approx. 6 hours, I will be on a bus traveling to Lisbon, Portugal!
I must say, I haven't been this excited for a trip since we went to Morocco! I have heard from previous students of this program that Lisbon is an incredible city, and one of the best if not the best trips of the whole semester. We will be in Lisbon for 4 days, and the weather looks to be very nice, with highs in the upper 60's! I am not sure what all we will be seeing in Lisbon as a group, but I know that we get a lot of free time to explore the city ourselves, and I am very much looking forward to doing these things in Lisbon:
1) Lisbon Oceanarium, considered one of the best Aquariums in the world
2) The Gulbenkian, a museum with a huge collection of Egyptian Sculptures and Renaissance Art
3) Barrio Alto, the neighborhood where all the nightlife occurs, including live Fado music
4) The beaches near Lisbon, which are easily accessible by bus and taxi
Anyways, I will update with photos when I get back from Lisbon, probably on Monday.
The Public Reading/Two-Stepping Night was absolutely fantastic. We had a huge turnout (probably 40 or more), the readers were great, and the free wine and two-step party afterward was so much fun. We will be having another reading next month, and I will get to read at that one (I simply MC'ed this one).
After the two-stepping, David, Colby, Ashlee and I went to our German friend Manu's apartment for his going away party. Our Dutch friend Merel, our German friend Felix, and Manu will all be heading off to different European destinations to continue their studies. I will miss those guys, as they were really awesome people. They are most certainly the coolest Europeans I have met here in Sevilla so far. My best wishes go out to them and their travels.
Well, I must get to bed, so until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Cadiz and more...
Wow. This post is going to be a little bit gross, because that is exactly how it was in Cadiz.
Carnaval was incredibly fun and definitely an experience, but it was nothing short of one of the most disgusting nights I have ever been a part of. So from this part of the story on, if you don't want to read about the crazy disgustingness that is Carnaval, please go down about 3/4 of the post.
Haha, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's do this... The night started around 8:30 pm in Sevilla. At the Plaza de Cuba is where our bus took off for Cadiz from. There were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting to get on the bus dressed as everything from cows to hippies to political figures to smurfs to cell phones to who knows what. We took off around 9, and two hours later, we landed on the beach town of Cadiz.
Carnaval in Cadiz is basically a mix of Halloween and Mardi Gras on steroids. It is said that there were roughly 300,000 people in the streets of Cadiz the night we went, Saturday night, and right when we walked off the bus, we knew it would be a crazy night. There were people everywhere you looked, all in costume, and all drinking. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, sodas, random combinations of all of the above. The streets were crazy.
I hung out with about 7 or 8 tech people all night, and we just walked around the city meeting other party goers decked out in crazy costumes. What they failed to mention to us until we were ON the bus was that there are no open bathrooms during Carnaval. So men, women, and children (though naturally there were very few children) would have to just pop a squat on the street or in the bushes. EVERYONE. So basically, the whole night while we were walking, our shoes were going through alcohol and urine soaked streets. After a few hours of walking around, dirtying our shoes, and just taking in the craziness, we made our way to the actual beach, where we were able to get away from the people and the drinking some. The view was incredible, a lighthouse lit the horizon of the ocean, and the shore was full of anchored fishing boats. I couldn't get a picture, though, because it was so dark! By this time, it was about 2:00am or maybe later.
We just walked through more streets and plazas until we made our way back to where the buses would take us back to Sevilla. This was around 5:00am and we were all incredibly exhausted. People around us were throwing up, trying to sleep on the grass, or just simply passed out on the streets from the night of craziness.
It was definitely an experience. I'm not so sure if I would do it again, though. Haha.
This week is final exam week for our first mini-mester. But no worries, I think I will do really well, because my Spanish is coming along very nicely!
Wed. night is our Public Reading/Two-Stepping night at the TTU Center, and we leave for Lisbon, Portugal with Texas Tech on Thursday for four days! From what others have told me, the Lisbon trip is one of the best overall. I am so excited!
The group of kids I hung with for the night in Cadiz! (A cowboy, the devil, the Spice Girls, the Lone Ranger, and God's gift to women)
Denae, Me, and Matt (Fairy, God's gift to women, and a crazy Lobo)
I will try and write again Wed., so until then...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Carnaval was incredibly fun and definitely an experience, but it was nothing short of one of the most disgusting nights I have ever been a part of. So from this part of the story on, if you don't want to read about the crazy disgustingness that is Carnaval, please go down about 3/4 of the post.
Haha, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's do this... The night started around 8:30 pm in Sevilla. At the Plaza de Cuba is where our bus took off for Cadiz from. There were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting to get on the bus dressed as everything from cows to hippies to political figures to smurfs to cell phones to who knows what. We took off around 9, and two hours later, we landed on the beach town of Cadiz.
Carnaval in Cadiz is basically a mix of Halloween and Mardi Gras on steroids. It is said that there were roughly 300,000 people in the streets of Cadiz the night we went, Saturday night, and right when we walked off the bus, we knew it would be a crazy night. There were people everywhere you looked, all in costume, and all drinking. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, sodas, random combinations of all of the above. The streets were crazy.
I hung out with about 7 or 8 tech people all night, and we just walked around the city meeting other party goers decked out in crazy costumes. What they failed to mention to us until we were ON the bus was that there are no open bathrooms during Carnaval. So men, women, and children (though naturally there were very few children) would have to just pop a squat on the street or in the bushes. EVERYONE. So basically, the whole night while we were walking, our shoes were going through alcohol and urine soaked streets. After a few hours of walking around, dirtying our shoes, and just taking in the craziness, we made our way to the actual beach, where we were able to get away from the people and the drinking some. The view was incredible, a lighthouse lit the horizon of the ocean, and the shore was full of anchored fishing boats. I couldn't get a picture, though, because it was so dark! By this time, it was about 2:00am or maybe later.
We just walked through more streets and plazas until we made our way back to where the buses would take us back to Sevilla. This was around 5:00am and we were all incredibly exhausted. People around us were throwing up, trying to sleep on the grass, or just simply passed out on the streets from the night of craziness.
It was definitely an experience. I'm not so sure if I would do it again, though. Haha.
This week is final exam week for our first mini-mester. But no worries, I think I will do really well, because my Spanish is coming along very nicely!
Wed. night is our Public Reading/Two-Stepping night at the TTU Center, and we leave for Lisbon, Portugal with Texas Tech on Thursday for four days! From what others have told me, the Lisbon trip is one of the best overall. I am so excited!
The group of kids I hung with for the night in Cadiz! (A cowboy, the devil, the Spice Girls, the Lone Ranger, and God's gift to women)
Denae, Me, and Matt (Fairy, God's gift to women, and a crazy Lobo)
I will try and write again Wed., so until then...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Friday, February 20, 2009
Punk kids
I know, I broke the rule. Don't write twice in one day. It cheapens the previous writings and makes them not as special. That's okay, because I felt I had to say this:
Punk kids are the EXACT SAME everywhere you go in the world. Except maybe in Africa or China, I wouldn't know much about that. But, I just got off the bus and sitting in the back were these punk kids. I'm talkin about 15 years old, think they are awesome, causing trouble, punk kids. I don't know if I expected Spain to not have any punk kids or if I thought they would act different than those in the States. They don't. Here is how to spot a group of punk kids anywhere in the world...
1) Punk kids are usually between the ages of 13 and 18. Once you hit 18 years old, you should know better.
2) Punk kids are almost always seen in groups of 4 or more. 3 is too little, because one kid will always get tag-teamed. And no one wants to get tag-teamed, so they try to stick to 4 or more.
3) They have completely pointless piercings. Ears, eyelids, lips, noses, chins, elbows, feet.
4) Punk kids always make an unnecessary amount of noise. The noises are usually some type of loud making fun of someone or thing followed by uncontrollable laughter that annoys everyone
5) Every chance they get, punk kids act rudely toward senior citizens.
6) Lastly, their fashion is a terrible mix of 90's gangster rap and Blink-182 wannabees.
Okay, rant over.
Punk kids are the same everywhere.
Punk kids are the EXACT SAME everywhere you go in the world. Except maybe in Africa or China, I wouldn't know much about that. But, I just got off the bus and sitting in the back were these punk kids. I'm talkin about 15 years old, think they are awesome, causing trouble, punk kids. I don't know if I expected Spain to not have any punk kids or if I thought they would act different than those in the States. They don't. Here is how to spot a group of punk kids anywhere in the world...
1) Punk kids are usually between the ages of 13 and 18. Once you hit 18 years old, you should know better.
2) Punk kids are almost always seen in groups of 4 or more. 3 is too little, because one kid will always get tag-teamed. And no one wants to get tag-teamed, so they try to stick to 4 or more.
3) They have completely pointless piercings. Ears, eyelids, lips, noses, chins, elbows, feet.
4) Punk kids always make an unnecessary amount of noise. The noises are usually some type of loud making fun of someone or thing followed by uncontrollable laughter that annoys everyone
5) Every chance they get, punk kids act rudely toward senior citizens.
6) Lastly, their fashion is a terrible mix of 90's gangster rap and Blink-182 wannabees.
Okay, rant over.
Punk kids are the same everywhere.
Almost time for Carnival...
This week has been a pretty good week. On Monday we had a great bible study and awesome worship time, and afterwards I went to an intercambio session at the HUGE Irish Pub here in Sevilla called "Flaherty's". Basically, these intercambio sessions consist of 20 or 30 students, Spanish, German, English, American, etc., and we try to communicate with eachother in whatever language we are trying to learn (so usually Spanish for us foreigners, English for the Spaniards). These intercambios are fun because you get to meet so many awesome people.
Tuesday was alright. I was feeling pretty sick because I had this weird mouth ulcer/canker sore thing on what looked like my tonsil. That wasn't fun at all. I didn't even get to play basketball!
Wed. we had a quiz over the Imperfect Past Tense in Spanish. Our class rocked it up! Of course, imperfecto is much easier than preterito. We had our weekly get together at TGIFriday's that evening, talked a lot, and then David and I went home to study for our test the next day.
Thursday was test day, and the test was alright. Some parts of it, like conjugations, descriptions, and other things were good and easy. Then there was the food section. And that was a KILLER. I had never heard of some of those foods in my life. I digress... After the test yesterday we had travel writing class, and that was a nice pick-me-up! Our travel writing class is planning a really cool public reading series that starts this next Wednesday. It is being held in our building, and is basically a chance for us students in the wiritng class to read some of our essays we have been working on to the public (other student at TTUSevilla and Spaniards as well!). The coolest part is, after the readings, we are having a reception with free wine (thank you Texas Tech) and we will be two-stepping the night away in the dance room! Although I don't care for country music, two-stepping is fun, and I miss DJing/MCing stuff back in Lubbock, so I will get that fix soon! The night is sure to be awesome. I will post more about that later.
OH YEAH! I almost forgot. Last night was karaoke night at Flaherty's. It was LEGENDARY. My friend Alex and I sang "Play that Funky Music White Boy". It was awesome. There is something really funny about a mix of Spaniards, Americans, Germans, Dutch, and English all in the same place all singing along to great classic karaoke favorites. It was a blast!
Carnival in Cadiz is this Saturday, and I have no idea what I'm going to dress up as... Hmmm, if you wanna leave me comments with some ideas, that would be great!
I will put pictures up of Carnival on Sunday. But for right now, check out these super cool pics I haven't put up yet below. Until next time... Adios!
Ashlee and I skiing in Granada
Yeah... Meg's camera takes a lot better pictures than mine, and this one is AWESOME!
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Tuesday was alright. I was feeling pretty sick because I had this weird mouth ulcer/canker sore thing on what looked like my tonsil. That wasn't fun at all. I didn't even get to play basketball!
Wed. we had a quiz over the Imperfect Past Tense in Spanish. Our class rocked it up! Of course, imperfecto is much easier than preterito. We had our weekly get together at TGIFriday's that evening, talked a lot, and then David and I went home to study for our test the next day.
Thursday was test day, and the test was alright. Some parts of it, like conjugations, descriptions, and other things were good and easy. Then there was the food section. And that was a KILLER. I had never heard of some of those foods in my life. I digress... After the test yesterday we had travel writing class, and that was a nice pick-me-up! Our travel writing class is planning a really cool public reading series that starts this next Wednesday. It is being held in our building, and is basically a chance for us students in the wiritng class to read some of our essays we have been working on to the public (other student at TTUSevilla and Spaniards as well!). The coolest part is, after the readings, we are having a reception with free wine (thank you Texas Tech) and we will be two-stepping the night away in the dance room! Although I don't care for country music, two-stepping is fun, and I miss DJing/MCing stuff back in Lubbock, so I will get that fix soon! The night is sure to be awesome. I will post more about that later.
OH YEAH! I almost forgot. Last night was karaoke night at Flaherty's. It was LEGENDARY. My friend Alex and I sang "Play that Funky Music White Boy". It was awesome. There is something really funny about a mix of Spaniards, Americans, Germans, Dutch, and English all in the same place all singing along to great classic karaoke favorites. It was a blast!
Carnival in Cadiz is this Saturday, and I have no idea what I'm going to dress up as... Hmmm, if you wanna leave me comments with some ideas, that would be great!
I will put pictures up of Carnival on Sunday. But for right now, check out these super cool pics I haven't put up yet below. Until next time... Adios!
Ashlee and I skiing in Granada
Yeah... Meg's camera takes a lot better pictures than mine, and this one is AWESOME!
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Monday, February 16, 2009
I love the beach!
Hola!
On Friday, we had a Tech group excursion to Huelva and La Rabida near the southern coast of Spain. La Rabida is a San Franciscan Monastery that is still active. It is famous because in that monastery is where Columbus came to discuss his ideas on the earth being round and his plans to discover a passage to India. The monastery was beautiful, with wonderful frescos and religious paintings, haunting crucifixes, and a room with the one of the first maps of the new world on it. Very cool.
After La Rabida, we went to an outdoor museum in Huelva that had a deck with three boats that were created in the images of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. We played on those for a little bit, got to experience the sea life for a good hour, and then headed off to la playa (the beach)!
Whether in Galveston, or Southern Spain, the beach is simply awesome. The water, it being February and all, was crazy cold, but it was so sunny and beautiful on the sand, we just played on the coast for a couple of hours. We played some ultimate frisbee and football (american football) and just had a blast. It is a really cool feeling when you can go skiing one weekend, and go to the beach the next (and stay in the same province).
This week I have a quiz and a test, so that's not fun, but this weekend, I will be going to Cadiz (another city on the beach) for a Carnival festival. It will be exciting!
On Sunday, I finally went to the amazing Plaza de Espana! It was built in the 1920's and hosted the Spanish-American Grand Exhibition. It is truly a marvel because it is so huge and decorative!
I will write again in a few days, but for now, see some photos below:
The courtyard at the monastery
Playing ultimate frisbee on the beach!
View of the Plaza from its right balcony
There is a rainbow in the fountain at the Plaza... what nice camera work, eh?
My little room in Spain... I got my Spain flag and Welker jersey hangin up!
-----------------------------
Some random thoughts:
1) European music, truthfully, is terrible. There is only so much techno I can stand. American music kicks the crud out of European music handily
2) My body is driving me crazy... For some reason I still haven't adjusted completely to Spain. I had a massive headache for a week, and then I had a sinus infection for a week, and now I have a terrible sore throat and need medicine... Stupid body. I'm supposed to be young!
3) Every city in Spain claims the title of "City that never sleeps", but in reality, I haven't seen that city yet... Maybe Madrid or Barcelona
4) Although great exercise, it is an extreme test of patience playing basketball in Spain, because many of the Spaniards we play with are huge babies about everything. In America, when you play basketball you expect and know that it is going to be a physically demanding game. You will get roughed up and get fouled, and that's just part of the game. But here in Spain, they call fouls on you for everything, even if you don't come close to touching them! It can be quite frustrating and down-right dumb. Oh well... their country, their rules I guess.
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
On Friday, we had a Tech group excursion to Huelva and La Rabida near the southern coast of Spain. La Rabida is a San Franciscan Monastery that is still active. It is famous because in that monastery is where Columbus came to discuss his ideas on the earth being round and his plans to discover a passage to India. The monastery was beautiful, with wonderful frescos and religious paintings, haunting crucifixes, and a room with the one of the first maps of the new world on it. Very cool.
After La Rabida, we went to an outdoor museum in Huelva that had a deck with three boats that were created in the images of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. We played on those for a little bit, got to experience the sea life for a good hour, and then headed off to la playa (the beach)!
Whether in Galveston, or Southern Spain, the beach is simply awesome. The water, it being February and all, was crazy cold, but it was so sunny and beautiful on the sand, we just played on the coast for a couple of hours. We played some ultimate frisbee and football (american football) and just had a blast. It is a really cool feeling when you can go skiing one weekend, and go to the beach the next (and stay in the same province).
This week I have a quiz and a test, so that's not fun, but this weekend, I will be going to Cadiz (another city on the beach) for a Carnival festival. It will be exciting!
On Sunday, I finally went to the amazing Plaza de Espana! It was built in the 1920's and hosted the Spanish-American Grand Exhibition. It is truly a marvel because it is so huge and decorative!
I will write again in a few days, but for now, see some photos below:
The courtyard at the monastery
Playing ultimate frisbee on the beach!
View of the Plaza from its right balcony
There is a rainbow in the fountain at the Plaza... what nice camera work, eh?
My little room in Spain... I got my Spain flag and Welker jersey hangin up!
-----------------------------
Some random thoughts:
1) European music, truthfully, is terrible. There is only so much techno I can stand. American music kicks the crud out of European music handily
2) My body is driving me crazy... For some reason I still haven't adjusted completely to Spain. I had a massive headache for a week, and then I had a sinus infection for a week, and now I have a terrible sore throat and need medicine... Stupid body. I'm supposed to be young!
3) Every city in Spain claims the title of "City that never sleeps", but in reality, I haven't seen that city yet... Maybe Madrid or Barcelona
4) Although great exercise, it is an extreme test of patience playing basketball in Spain, because many of the Spaniards we play with are huge babies about everything. In America, when you play basketball you expect and know that it is going to be a physically demanding game. You will get roughed up and get fouled, and that's just part of the game. But here in Spain, they call fouls on you for everything, even if you don't come close to touching them! It can be quite frustrating and down-right dumb. Oh well... their country, their rules I guess.
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spain is pretty good at this game called futbol...
The experience of going to the England vs. Spain soccer game last night was phenomenal. The night started at TGIFridays (yes, the mall here has one!) for happy hour (5-8pm) to meet up with friends and tailgate with the Spaniards. After some Coca-Colas, and one amazing (though expensive) Dr. Pepper, it was time to head out to the stadium, right next to the mall. I put on my Spain flag like a cape, was wearing my FC Barcelona jersey, and got my 40euro ticket out to watch the game with David and our buds Kelsi and Meg.
The pregame atmosphere was crazy, with dancing, drinking, singing, and partying for the upcoming game. Thousands of red and yellow people were out in the streets and plazas near the stadium, and there was good representation of England fans as well.
We sat in the 12th row!! We were super close and had a great view of the whole field! The game kicked-off at 10pm, and the rest is nothing but pure awesomeness! It was truly an amazing game, with Spain scoring two fantastic goals (a beautiful dribble through and shoot, and a nice header to the back side) to make the final 2 - 0 Spain. Though this game was just a 2010 World Cup qualifier, many superstars played for at least a half. For Spain, Xavi, Torres, and their super goalie Casillas. For England, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, and David Beckham all played significant minutes. Of course, when Beckham entered the game, all the girls went crazy!
The entire night was awesome. I have many many photos and a video below~~
David, Kelsi, Meg, me
Right before the start of the game, with the teams lined up in front
About to score
The England fans had their own section decked out in red crosses
Colby, me, Ashlee, and Ryan at the end of the game
BELOW IS A VIDEO OF THE CROWD REACTION TO SPAIN'S FIRST GOAL
(Warning- it's loud, so turn down your volume!!)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
-Noel
The pregame atmosphere was crazy, with dancing, drinking, singing, and partying for the upcoming game. Thousands of red and yellow people were out in the streets and plazas near the stadium, and there was good representation of England fans as well.
We sat in the 12th row!! We were super close and had a great view of the whole field! The game kicked-off at 10pm, and the rest is nothing but pure awesomeness! It was truly an amazing game, with Spain scoring two fantastic goals (a beautiful dribble through and shoot, and a nice header to the back side) to make the final 2 - 0 Spain. Though this game was just a 2010 World Cup qualifier, many superstars played for at least a half. For Spain, Xavi, Torres, and their super goalie Casillas. For England, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, and David Beckham all played significant minutes. Of course, when Beckham entered the game, all the girls went crazy!
The entire night was awesome. I have many many photos and a video below~~
David, Kelsi, Meg, me
Right before the start of the game, with the teams lined up in front
About to score
The England fans had their own section decked out in red crosses
Colby, me, Ashlee, and Ryan at the end of the game
BELOW IS A VIDEO OF THE CROWD REACTION TO SPAIN'S FIRST GOAL
(Warning- it's loud, so turn down your volume!!)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
-Noel
Monday, February 9, 2009
Absolutely gorgeous...
Granada was incredible. Beautiful. Breath-taking. Granada is definitely my favorite city so far in Spain!
We left early early Friday morning, and got to Granada around 11am. We immediately went to the Alhambra, a Moorish Fortress located in Granada next to the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was humongous, and so awesome. We toured all of the Alhambra, and the its gardens, and then went to our group hotel. Kolby, Ryan, and I got some of the best ice cream in the world, for only a euro/scoop. AWESOME. Later that afternoon, our group toured the Granada Cathedral, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel of Spain were buried.
That night, a large group of us Tech folks bought tickets to a flamenco show in the gypsy neighborhood of Granada. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be interesting. However, as soon as the two guitarists walked out on the stage, and the dancers followed, I knew this show would be legit. And it was incredible. Wonderful dancing, wonderful passion, great music, etc. etc. It was an outstanding way to end the great day.
Saturday was SKI DAY. Words can't describe how awesome Saturday was. We got up around 6:45, caught the bus in Granada to the mountains around 8, and were on the lifts by 10:30 or so. The mountains were gorgeous, the powder was fresh, and my skiing abilities quickly re-emerged. I was basically a pro! Well, maybe not. But it was so much fun that even falling down on the hard ones was a blast! That night the group of 8 of us found our hostel in Granada, walked around the city, and just enjoyed eachothers' company. Saturday was phenomenal.
Sunday, some of the group went back to ski, and some of us stayed in the city and shopped/toured/ate amazing food. Overall, it was the best weekend I have had this semester. Fun city, fun skiing, fun people... The works.
This week is going to be a breeze compared to the craziness of last week, and I am going to the Spain vs. England soccer game at the large stadium in Sevilla on Wed.! That is going to be one of the coolest experiences. I am also getting ready to book some non tech-related trips for the rest of the year! Here is what my plans look like:
-weekend trip to Valencia
-weekend trip to Salamanca
-Carnival in Cadiz
-Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan for holy week
-4 day trip to Barcelona with Nathan
-weekend trip to Malaga
-skydiving (I am super pumped about this possibility!)
-and then our grand finale trip after classes finish: Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid
I will write again in a few days, so for now, enjoy the photos below~~~
The Sierra Nevada mountains
Our ski group!
Near our hostel in Granada
The Alhambra (kudos to Kimberly for this photo, mine weren't nearly as good)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
-Noel
We left early early Friday morning, and got to Granada around 11am. We immediately went to the Alhambra, a Moorish Fortress located in Granada next to the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was humongous, and so awesome. We toured all of the Alhambra, and the its gardens, and then went to our group hotel. Kolby, Ryan, and I got some of the best ice cream in the world, for only a euro/scoop. AWESOME. Later that afternoon, our group toured the Granada Cathedral, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel of Spain were buried.
That night, a large group of us Tech folks bought tickets to a flamenco show in the gypsy neighborhood of Granada. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be interesting. However, as soon as the two guitarists walked out on the stage, and the dancers followed, I knew this show would be legit. And it was incredible. Wonderful dancing, wonderful passion, great music, etc. etc. It was an outstanding way to end the great day.
Saturday was SKI DAY. Words can't describe how awesome Saturday was. We got up around 6:45, caught the bus in Granada to the mountains around 8, and were on the lifts by 10:30 or so. The mountains were gorgeous, the powder was fresh, and my skiing abilities quickly re-emerged. I was basically a pro! Well, maybe not. But it was so much fun that even falling down on the hard ones was a blast! That night the group of 8 of us found our hostel in Granada, walked around the city, and just enjoyed eachothers' company. Saturday was phenomenal.
Sunday, some of the group went back to ski, and some of us stayed in the city and shopped/toured/ate amazing food. Overall, it was the best weekend I have had this semester. Fun city, fun skiing, fun people... The works.
This week is going to be a breeze compared to the craziness of last week, and I am going to the Spain vs. England soccer game at the large stadium in Sevilla on Wed.! That is going to be one of the coolest experiences. I am also getting ready to book some non tech-related trips for the rest of the year! Here is what my plans look like:
-weekend trip to Valencia
-weekend trip to Salamanca
-Carnival in Cadiz
-Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan for holy week
-4 day trip to Barcelona with Nathan
-weekend trip to Malaga
-skydiving (I am super pumped about this possibility!)
-and then our grand finale trip after classes finish: Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid
I will write again in a few days, so for now, enjoy the photos below~~~
The Sierra Nevada mountains
Our ski group!
Near our hostel in Granada
The Alhambra (kudos to Kimberly for this photo, mine weren't nearly as good)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
-Noel
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Camels are AWESOME...
Man. I am so sorry it has been a while! I have been crazy busy this week with a Spanish test, two papers due for travel writing, and getting things set up for future trips (booking flights, etc.). Morocco last weekend was fantastic! We started out the day on Friday afternoon by taking a bus to the coast, and then a ferry to Africa, where we landed in the African-Spanish city of Ceuta. From there we took another bus to our first hotel in the Moroccan city of Tetouan. We got dinner at the hotel and just crashed for the night (I was feeling terrible on Friday). On Saturday morning, we walked through Tetouan and went to a rug/carpet market, and an herbal medicine market. That was pretty cool, because in Morocco EVERYTHING is negotiable, price wise. The sellers will start with a price about 800X the product's actual value and then from there if you are a wise bargainer you can get the rug/herb/jewelry box/whatever for what it's actually worth and usually much less. The only thing I bought in Morocco was a sweet soccer jersey, and I got that for less than 10 euro, so I was pretty happy about my bargaining abilities, haha.
After Tetouan, we went on a bus to the city of Tangers, where we went to the beach at the point where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet! I have a photo below. Also in Tangers, we got to ride camels!!! It wasn't for too long, but it was still a really cool experience, and was a ton of fun. That night in Tangers some of us went out to a belly dance variety show. It wasn't too expensive at all and it was a blast. There were acrobats, a live band, fire handlers, belly dancers, and lots of crowd participation! Tangers is much more of a European city than the typical Moroccan cities like Tetouan, where the housing, streets, and basically everything are very tiny, a bit dirty and third-world (Morocco is still a third world country, I think).
After we crashed in our hotel in Tangers, we went on Sunday morning to the city of Chechaouen. I bet that city would have been interesting as well, but it rained all day so all we did was go to the market and eat lunch there. Then we took the buses and ferry back to the other side of the strait to Spain. Overall, the weekend was great. The experience of going to a third world country is eye opening, to say the least, and is a wonderful opportunity to discover a completely different culture from that even of Spain. Arabic is the main language, the water is not safe to drink, people sell mostly crafts and home made goods, and women don't eat in the same restaurants as men. Late late Saturday night, my friend Colby and I went out to eat some pizza in Tangers with two of our friends, Marcia and Amanda. As the four of us walked into the pizza parlor, all the men turned and stared at us... like they had never seen women in their parlor before (they probable have never seen women the likes of Marcia and Amanda, two very American looking girls). We just went on with our business and had some pretty decent pizza!
Overall, the trip was an absolutely wonderful experience.
We had our first Spanish test on Wednesday, and I think I rocked it! I am really picking up in the language here, thanks to going out at night, hearing it 24/7, and not being afraid to try and fail to communicate with everyone from my house mom to the old man at the bus stop.
I have started to attend a sweet intercambio (exchange) meeting at a Sevilla pub on Monday nights, where Spaniards studying English partner up with English speakers studying Spanish and we meet eachother, get some food and drinks, and just try to have a good conversation and help eachother out. I am really excited for this, because not only will it help me with my Spanish, but it will provide me with the opportunity to make some cool friends (Spaniards and other Americans in different programs).
This upcoming weekend, we are traveling as a group to Granada! David, some of our friends, and I will be skiing in the Sierra Nevadas on Saturday and Sunday! I bought some ski pants on Wed. and I have some gloves and a good jacket. It is going to be really awesome to ski in a foreign country! I will put pictures up for Granada when I get back, and I promise I won't take so long to update. Next week should be MUCH easier than this one. Photos of Morocco are below.
My camel (on the right) was awesome
Ryan, Colby, David, me, Humberto at the place where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean
Our hotel name in Tetouan (at least we all understand the 4 stars!)
The Rock of Gibralter
I jammed some with a Moroccan band that was performing during one of our lunches
I made some foreign friends- Merel (from Germany), me, Mia (from Finland), and Manu (from Germany)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
After Tetouan, we went on a bus to the city of Tangers, where we went to the beach at the point where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet! I have a photo below. Also in Tangers, we got to ride camels!!! It wasn't for too long, but it was still a really cool experience, and was a ton of fun. That night in Tangers some of us went out to a belly dance variety show. It wasn't too expensive at all and it was a blast. There were acrobats, a live band, fire handlers, belly dancers, and lots of crowd participation! Tangers is much more of a European city than the typical Moroccan cities like Tetouan, where the housing, streets, and basically everything are very tiny, a bit dirty and third-world (Morocco is still a third world country, I think).
After we crashed in our hotel in Tangers, we went on Sunday morning to the city of Chechaouen. I bet that city would have been interesting as well, but it rained all day so all we did was go to the market and eat lunch there. Then we took the buses and ferry back to the other side of the strait to Spain. Overall, the weekend was great. The experience of going to a third world country is eye opening, to say the least, and is a wonderful opportunity to discover a completely different culture from that even of Spain. Arabic is the main language, the water is not safe to drink, people sell mostly crafts and home made goods, and women don't eat in the same restaurants as men. Late late Saturday night, my friend Colby and I went out to eat some pizza in Tangers with two of our friends, Marcia and Amanda. As the four of us walked into the pizza parlor, all the men turned and stared at us... like they had never seen women in their parlor before (they probable have never seen women the likes of Marcia and Amanda, two very American looking girls). We just went on with our business and had some pretty decent pizza!
Overall, the trip was an absolutely wonderful experience.
We had our first Spanish test on Wednesday, and I think I rocked it! I am really picking up in the language here, thanks to going out at night, hearing it 24/7, and not being afraid to try and fail to communicate with everyone from my house mom to the old man at the bus stop.
I have started to attend a sweet intercambio (exchange) meeting at a Sevilla pub on Monday nights, where Spaniards studying English partner up with English speakers studying Spanish and we meet eachother, get some food and drinks, and just try to have a good conversation and help eachother out. I am really excited for this, because not only will it help me with my Spanish, but it will provide me with the opportunity to make some cool friends (Spaniards and other Americans in different programs).
This upcoming weekend, we are traveling as a group to Granada! David, some of our friends, and I will be skiing in the Sierra Nevadas on Saturday and Sunday! I bought some ski pants on Wed. and I have some gloves and a good jacket. It is going to be really awesome to ski in a foreign country! I will put pictures up for Granada when I get back, and I promise I won't take so long to update. Next week should be MUCH easier than this one. Photos of Morocco are below.
My camel (on the right) was awesome
Ryan, Colby, David, me, Humberto at the place where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean
Our hotel name in Tetouan (at least we all understand the 4 stars!)
The Rock of Gibralter
I jammed some with a Moroccan band that was performing during one of our lunches
I made some foreign friends- Merel (from Germany), me, Mia (from Finland), and Manu (from Germany)
Until next time...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
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