Food tasting: La Oliva
Our program has some sort of Spanish culture activity, or excursion ALMOST EVERY WEEK for us. I really am impressed with our program SOL Education Abroad; We have young and helpful directors, activities all the time and we lucked out with a really diverse group of students! Last Thursday we had a Spanish food tasting inside an extremely old building that has been gently restored from a few centuries ago.
Francisco, is the bilingual owner of the fancy restaurant called La Oliva. He was so sweet and informational. Francisco and his assistant made us tapas that are very "Grandina" (for ya'll non-Spanish people, its like being a "Wisconsinite" or a "Minnesotan" but for Granada). We had a few types of dried and cured ham, two different types of salads and two different types of wine local to Granda.
Francisco is the short one,and his assistant has the glasses on (I also stole this picture from Trip Advisor..don't give me credit for being this creepy)
Bike Tour/ Las Apujarras
This past Friday we went for a little bike tour. We hopped on some sweet mountain bikes and road along a path that has a name that translates to the "cholesterol path". It was named this because people who had heart problems were told to get active. So they did, but walking this path and calling it the "Ruta de Colesterol". These people are clever.
It was also raining and cold. It was fun at the time, but my butt is paying the piper now. My roommate Molly and I have been complaining to each other about your mutually hurting butts from the bike ride. People go biking for fun right? Umm....
This is Eileen. She is hilarious and also from Winona State University BUT born and raised from Wisconsin like me :)
Saturday we hiked part of the Sierra Nevadas called Las Apujarras. It's really fun to say with the rolling 'r'. ("Las Ahh-poo-harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-as") This was a pretty neat-tur-y hike with a perfect little chocolate factory at the end where I honestly ate too much and felt sick. Typical.
Ronda, Espana Some famous people, whom you may have heard of: Ernest Hemingway, Orson Welles and Jerianne Blau. We've all been to Ronda, Spain.
But for real, these writers came here for inspiration. I just can't imagine why:
These are my people: Tyler, Ben (me) and Ana!
During the Spanish Civil war (1936-1939, not that long ago!) prisoners and other bad people would be thrown from the cliffs here.
Staring down off a cliff!!
The patio of our hostel. HOW LUCKY!!!!!!!
One of my favorite views, where I am NOT on a cliff.
My pals: Ana and Ben (missing Tyler, he gets lost easily)
So meet Tyler. Wow..
But I have a fear of edges.
Rock climbing and Zipling doesn't bother me at all because I am tied in. I know exactly how many pounds a carabiner can hold and how many pounds of pressure a Zipline pulley can withstand. But if I am freestanding next to a cliff, or an edge, my heart starts beating faster than ever. I've also had a few anxiety attacks where I can't control my breathing and it takes a lot of mentality to focus on the fact that I need air to live (yikes this is personal, sorry). I've never had a REAL ISSUE, it's always handled. So in conclusion: Im a big chicken.
So we're standing near edges and cliffs this entire weekend. It was a challenge, but by the end of the trip I was doing just fine! There was only one instance where the four of us were walking across this little two foot wide trail with death on my right side, literally. Have you ever felt that 'scared to your very core' moment and you thought you ACTUALLY felt warm pee down your leg? That's pretty much how I felt next to these cliffs. But nonetheless: Fear conquered.
Ronda, Spain is also thought to be the place where bull fighting was invented. Cool, but I don't agree with the sport, so next subject.
Winter is coming:
Winter in Spain is really amusing to someone from 'de Nort'. 40 degrees is so chilling to the Spaniards. I volunteer at a bilingual school and I asked them if today was cold to them (honestly 49 degrees that day). They very seriously said "YES, THE MOST COLD" with chattering teeth. How dramatic....I checked the weather for Winona, Minnesota (my college town) and it was 19 degrees. I laughed first, but now Im nervous. When I go back home, it's going to be more of a temperature shock than a culture shock!!!
It snows only once or twice a year here in Spain, and the snow doesn't stick. I love explaining to Spanish folks about my white Christmases, snowmen, SLEDDING and even what a snow-day is! If you can tell, I'm missing Wisconsin winters a little bit.
Current list of food/drink you should NOT take for granted, because I miss it a lllllllllllllot:
Culver's Butter Burger
Clausen's pickles
Peanut Butter and Jellies
Gatorade
Mac & Cheese
Cereal for breakfast
Blended coffees
Coffees to go
Coffee that ISN'T espresso
Wisconsin beer (the beer made in Spain sucks)
Cheez-its
Chocolate pudding
BEEF
These signs need to be ALL OVER Spain. I'm sick of dodging doo-doo.
Now listen to this:
11/25 - 12/2 : classes and Thanksgiving dinner with our program!
12/3 - 12/9 : SCOTLAND & IRELAND
12/10 - 12/15 : final week of regular classes
12/16 : I'll be feeling 22.......and the wrath of a final exam
12/17 - 12/19 : Last days in Spain :/
12/20 - 12/23 : visitin TOM IN LONDON
12/23 : Home for Christmas!!!!!
So, naturally I'm going to show you the goofy family I am missing
All of us (minus the burrito that wasn't born yet, Aubrey!)
the infamous Randy and Mary
Jenna and Grandpa at the light parade this weekend!!
Jenna & Aubrey with their pops and his first buck of the season!
peace out. I need to actually get out of bed and get running. It's 11:45am. The Spanish life isn't too demanding these days ;)
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