Granada=Amazing!!!
I don't know if I loved Granada because I could take as many showers as I wanted to a day( as opposed to the one I was "allowed" to take a day in Valencia) or because all of my girlfriends and I were together for the whole weekend without having to plan to meet in various areas of the city in order to go out to a bar/discoteca. Whatever it was I had a wonderful time! The people in Granada are used to American Tourists so, we weren't stared at as much as we were in Valencia.
The first night, we all met in the lobby of the hotel to go to a tapas bar. Tapas are basically little appetizers that you can purchase with a drink for less than 2 euros. It was cheap and pretty good. I believe that most people go to the bars and then go out to a discoteca for the night. We had to get up at 7am the next day since we were to visit La Alhambra, a palace inspired by Islamic architecture. The palace was beautiful with many gardens and breath taking views. Granada was the last Muslim capital in Spain so much of their influence is still there. After lunch I came back and took a looooong nap! When I woke up we had dinner and went out the club to dance. That was probably one of the best nights on my trip. The music was good and everyone had a really good time. The next day was the last day on the trip. We went to the highest point in Granada and walked down through many shops that sell many souvenirs and other little trinkets.
I honestly wish that I could give more detailed about history and architecture but I couldn't understand the tour guide. One thing I noticed was that all of the tour guides were speaking in English, if they had American tourists, but they did not have a great command of the language. I wish that they would have spoken to us in Spanish because I probably would have understood more of the history/ information. It's a shame that we expect everyone to accommodate us when we are trying to understand their culture/ history. I would imagine that speaking in the native language would allow many tourists to gain information which might be lost in translation.
My trip to Granada was a wonderful refresher weekend and it pushed me to make it through the next two weeks in Spain.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Making My Way to Granada..
Well... It has been way too long (in cyber space) since I have been able to post on here. I have got to get better at this. But in my defense, I was working diligently on my Independent Study as well as trying to make the most out of my somewhat precarious housing predicament.
As many of you all know, I am back home safely in the US and looking back on my trip there were some definite downs but and all though those times outnumbered the "good times" fun that I had, when I had fun, was enough to make me enjoy my time abroad.
One of those good times was my weekend in Granada. And oh what a task it was to get there! I had been debating on whether or not to go since the cost was 220 euro.. roughly 400 American dollars. Which is a lot for a low income student. But let me back track... I thought that the weekend trips to Madrid, Granada and Barcelona were paid for through my tuition. To my surprise, I found out they weren't shortly after I arrived in Valencia. At any rate, after much debating I decided to pay the money after learning that I could pay although the sign-up date had passed (We had to pay at the time of sign up). However, my name isn't Annie and my family name definitely isn't Warbucks. Therefore, I needed to make a trip to the ATM. Having found out, only days before, that Barclays Bank will allow Bank of America customers to withdraw money without the 5.00 fee I figured that I could find a bank near the UVa study center, take out the money and pay for the trip. So before my 11am class I make my way to the nearest Barclays, which was about a 15 min walk, and the "internet line" to withdraw money was down. Basically, the bank system was down. Feeling somewhat defeated, I said that I would try to find another bank nearby. After class, I looked up another location close to the center and I found one about the same distance away south of the center. After passing the location and asking for directions I found the bank only to find that this ATM was broken. At this point I wanted to give up and say forget it because I really had no business spending the money, anyway. However, I figured that I could go back to the bank I tried earlier, hoping that the system was back up and running. I caught a cab and proceeded to have a cab ride which seemed like a scene out of a moive. After he commented on the weather, I told him about the ATM problems i had been having that day and why I needed the money. I told him that this was the 3rd time that I would attempt to find a working ATM and if I couldn't then I would refrain from going on the trip. The driver offered to wait for me while I tested whether or not the saying "third time is a charm" is really true. And it was; at least on that day in in this situation. The system was up and running and I was able to get the money I needed. I literally ran out of the bank with a huge smile and on the way back to the center the driver, who affectionately called me "bendita" or blessed one, and I had a small conversation about his life in Valencia and mine in the US. I can't remember all the details of the conversation but I know that it felt surreal. I partly wish that that part of my life could have been taped. I don't know what it was that made me feel like this situation was somehow unreal but for whatever reason I can't help but to feel like I was supposed to meet him that day. And I'm glad I did.
As many of you all know, I am back home safely in the US and looking back on my trip there were some definite downs but and all though those times outnumbered the "good times" fun that I had, when I had fun, was enough to make me enjoy my time abroad.
One of those good times was my weekend in Granada. And oh what a task it was to get there! I had been debating on whether or not to go since the cost was 220 euro.. roughly 400 American dollars. Which is a lot for a low income student. But let me back track... I thought that the weekend trips to Madrid, Granada and Barcelona were paid for through my tuition. To my surprise, I found out they weren't shortly after I arrived in Valencia. At any rate, after much debating I decided to pay the money after learning that I could pay although the sign-up date had passed (We had to pay at the time of sign up). However, my name isn't Annie and my family name definitely isn't Warbucks. Therefore, I needed to make a trip to the ATM. Having found out, only days before, that Barclays Bank will allow Bank of America customers to withdraw money without the 5.00 fee I figured that I could find a bank near the UVa study center, take out the money and pay for the trip. So before my 11am class I make my way to the nearest Barclays, which was about a 15 min walk, and the "internet line" to withdraw money was down. Basically, the bank system was down. Feeling somewhat defeated, I said that I would try to find another bank nearby. After class, I looked up another location close to the center and I found one about the same distance away south of the center. After passing the location and asking for directions I found the bank only to find that this ATM was broken. At this point I wanted to give up and say forget it because I really had no business spending the money, anyway. However, I figured that I could go back to the bank I tried earlier, hoping that the system was back up and running. I caught a cab and proceeded to have a cab ride which seemed like a scene out of a moive. After he commented on the weather, I told him about the ATM problems i had been having that day and why I needed the money. I told him that this was the 3rd time that I would attempt to find a working ATM and if I couldn't then I would refrain from going on the trip. The driver offered to wait for me while I tested whether or not the saying "third time is a charm" is really true. And it was; at least on that day in in this situation. The system was up and running and I was able to get the money I needed. I literally ran out of the bank with a huge smile and on the way back to the center the driver, who affectionately called me "bendita" or blessed one, and I had a small conversation about his life in Valencia and mine in the US. I can't remember all the details of the conversation but I know that it felt surreal. I partly wish that that part of my life could have been taped. I don't know what it was that made me feel like this situation was somehow unreal but for whatever reason I can't help but to feel like I was supposed to meet him that day. And I'm glad I did.
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