And everything starts to speed up...

It seems like I haven't written on here in forever, even though it has only been a few days!  I have done so much in the last three days alone that I feel as though it has been weeks!

Where do I even begin?  I guess I should start with Lindsay's visit.  First of all, I should probably thank her for visiting. She took an eleven hour overnight train from Barcelona to come see me, mostly because I was so homesick when I got here last week. (Was it only last week? I feel like I have been here forever.) Now that's true friendship.  Of course, by the time she arrived, I wasn't homesick anymore, but regardless, it was so awesome to see her.  I picked her up at the train station (on time!) and we promptly fell asleep in my bed the second we got to the apartment.  Yes, we know we are exciting and adventurous.  I'm kidding. We did do things!  Despite the rain (the first rainy day of the semester, figures) we managed to walk all over Granada.  She stayed at a hostel somewhat nearby that I quickly became obsessed with.  It was a backpackers' hostel, so the hostel was full of well...backpackers. Duh, Lauren.  Being there made me want to backpack around Europe, which hopefully I will someday do.  Her hostel was in an area of the city that I hadn't been before-called the Albaicin.  It was very hippie-ish and also beautiful, with narrow cobblestone streets and the best view of the city.  After we left that area, we walked around for the rest of the day (in the rain! We are champs).  We ended up next to walls covered in graffiti (lots of graffiti in Granada).  Apparently these walls were painted by a professional artist, whose name I forget, who also has done work in South America and other places in Europe.

Simsbury meets Granada!

The weirdest thing happened the next day.  Lindsay and I were walking down the street, when we saw a large group of girls walking towards us.  At first I figured they were just other Americans, but then one of the girls goes, "Oh my god! What...are you both doing here?" Yes, another completely random Simsbury-in-Spain encounter.  It was Ally Gibeley, who I went to Hebrew school and high school with! She is studying in Seville for the semester and was visiting Granada for the weekend.  I will now start to sing "It's A Small World After All" (maybe as obnoxiously as it is sung on the Disneyworld ride).  I can't even believe we so happened to be walking down the same street, at the same time, in SPAIN nonetheless.  I now am wondering who I will see next...

Lindsay left on Saturday night, and I woke up early to go on a UConn organized trip farther south. By the south, I mean the beach, and even though it was a brisk 60 degrees, many of us braved the chilly water and went swimming.  Swimming in a loose term, though.  I actually sprinted in the water, dunked my head for good measure, and just as quickly leaped out. Brrrr!

Here we goooo! First time in the Mediterranean!

The beach we went to was in Neraj, Spain. I can't even put into words how beautiful it was, so I won't even try.  Everyone should go there. Think brilliant blue water with mountains in the distance.  The area surrounding it is what I picture to be in Greece.  Little houses perched on hills with beaches everywhere.  Paradise, or maybe a scene out of a movie.  I'm doing an awful job at describing this, so just know that it was amazing.

This weekend we are going to Seville, Cadiz, and Ronda which are still in Andalucia but farther west. Apparently some of my mother's ancestors came from Seville, which makes me a Spanish Jew! I am going to play up that card all weekend.  I'm super excited to see more of this country, and I want to see how it compares to Neraj!

Finally, I booked my plane tickets to Italy today with Hannah.  For those of you who don't know, Hannah and I are childhood friends, and she practically lived at my house throughout elementary school.  Somehow, we both ended up in Granada this semester, which is another strange occurrence since we didn't plan on going together.  We are going to Rome and Florence February 23-27, and I absolutely cannot wait to indulge in some delicious pasta and pizza (and uhh, see the sights too of course! I love food way too much).

Obviously other things have been happening, such as the usual miscommunication with my host mother (was late to lunch today after going on a run, and I tried to call her, but she didn't understand me so she hung up).  I am swearing off bread for a little-Spaniards consume SO many carbs that I am not used to, and I can't handle it!

Also, as an added side note, Spaniards parallel park their cars in the following fashion: they see a small space, generally a space smaller than their car.  Then, in order to see if they have room (instead of just scoping it out with their eyes), they start to park.  Instead of being cautious, they simply hit the cars in front and in back of them, and usually manage to squeeze into the spot.  Uh, what? Interesting technique, I suppose. I yelped out loud when I first saw it happen, but I guess it is...normal? Just another Spanish thing that is normal here, but probably not normal anywhere else in the world...

Wow, I need to go to bed. I fell asleep in literature class today (Sorry Mom, I'm sure if you were teaching that would not have happened...) and my teacher yelled at me because somehow, I ended up cross-legged in my chair. I don't know how that happens.

Hasta manana!

Lauren

P.S. I heard that Carly's dog, Cooper, is one of my blog's most ardent followers.  I also heard he was mad that he has not gotten a shout out yet.  So, hello Cooper! There are lots of stray dogs here that you could play with, so maybe you and your family should come visit! ;)