Katie

Today was a very sad day in our family, as Katie, our beloved greyhound, passed away. Katie has been a wonderful part of our family for the past nine years, and I am still is shock that she is no longer with us and that I won't see her when I come home. While I am feeling extremely sad right now and haven't been able to stop crying yet, I know Katie had such a wonderful life with our family, full of unconditional love and joy.  She was such a beautiful dog who always made us smile and laugh!

I have so many wonderful memories of Katie. I loved watching her run around the backyard, rub up against the bushes, and sunbathe. I loved how she would go crazy when she got a new toy, or how she would always get excited when we brought bags full of anything into the house. I loved how she would jump up and down in excitement when Dad came home from work, and how she would watch out the window for him. I love how Lizzie and I would dance with her or put a blanket on her and call her a shepherd. I loved the Katie "voice".  I loved how she would sometimes wake Mom or Dad up from a nap with a loud bark directly in the face if she wanted something. I loved how sometimes we would try to protect her tail when she was wagging it really hard so it wouldn't break. I loved how she would taunt the dogs next door by running back and force along the fence while they would bark at her.  I loved her white face and white feet.  I loved how after she would drink water that she would drip it across the floor.  I loved how when she had muddy paws, she would stand there patiently and lift her paws up while we dipped them in water or wiped them off.  I loved it when she would watch tv with us, and sometimes she would be laying down awkwardly, so we would put a blanket underneath her neck as a cushion, and that would be just right. I loved how she always had to be in the lead on her walks, and if you were ahead, she would trot to catch up. I loved how when she wanted her belly rubbed or you stopped for just a second, she would tap you with her paw to remind you to keep going.  And lastly, I loved how she enjoyed stealing shoes when she wanted attention, and as she walked past you, she would give you the greatest look ever.  There are many other things I loved about her, but I feel like I should leave the list as is.

While she was alive, I intended to make Katie the star of her own music video, so last summer I captured some extra footage of her. Although I don't have much, I am thrilled to have what I do, since it is obviously too late now.  Some of the content, especially the photos, are very old. Some of the content  comes from some of the silly videos Lizzie and I made last summer. Also, the video ends with a song I wrote for a lullaby scholarship contest I participated in two years ago. While I had no intention of sharing it when I created it, I feel like it is fitting now, given the circumstances.

We love you so much Katie! My family and I were so lucky to have you in our lives, and we will miss you greatly. You will forever have a place in our hearts.

Intercambios!

Woot... two posts in one day! I am on a roll!

In this post, I am going to talk about intercambios! With the intercambio program, students and really anyone who wants to can sign up to learn or practice a non-native language. These individuals are then paired up with somehow who knows the language they want to learn or practice, and the two people can meet up to practice talking to each other! While this program definitely works better for semester long programs, rather than 6 week summer programs, Kelley and I signed up anyway! I was paired with a girl named Rosa and Kelley was paired with a guy named Carlos. Both of us really like our intercambios, although it is tough to coordinate schedules to meet, especially when we are here for such a short time!  Both of them speak wonderful English, and it was awesome to get to know someone who is approximately our same age (they are both a few years older than Kelley and I).

The day after I came back from Ronda, Rosa and I were able to meet for the first time! She lives in Loja, about 45 minutes away from Granada, so I met her at the bus station and we bussed back to my house. She had a final presentation of about 15-20 minutes for her English class, so I helped her practice and work on her pronunciation. Also, it was interesting for me to learn that Spanish students don't have to give many presentations, in Spanish or any other language, while I have given lots of speeches and presentations in my academic career thus far. She did a great job, and was a lot of fun to spend time with and is a really sweet person!  She also wants to be a teacher, so we clearly hit it off well! We have also planned to stay in touch even after I return home to the US so we can keep practicing! Unfortunately, the time passed so quickly that we didn't have the chance to take a picture :(

On Tuesday, I hung out with Carlos and Kelley for another intercambio opportunity! We had a lot of fun! First, we got ice cream from Kelley and my favorite place! Then, we walked along the river to explore and ended the evening with tapas. These are pictures of Carlos and Kelley and then Kelley and I at the Palacio de Congreso of Granada!

Ronda: Part 2

Hello! If you haven't yet read part 1, you can read it here

Day two in Ronda was also awesome!! Our original plan was to wake up to watch the sunrise at 7:03 am, but I unfortunately was suffering from some minor food poisoning.  Kelley and Elle hung out on the terrace for a while, and the whole time were being so sweet and accommodating to me. I was very appreciative. Around 9, the two of them headed out to first hike down to the bottom of the gorge, which they said was a wonderful, yet challenging adventure! Then, they visited the Bandit Museum, which I believe they also enjoyed! And although it was definitely not fun to be sick while traveling, I feel lucky since this was probably the best hostel to be cooped up in, because it was basically just like a gorgeous white house with the most epic view ever, outside my window!! Most of the guests had checked out too, so everything was very peaceful!

Kelley and I texted each other when she was on the bridge so I could take a picture of the two of them!

This was still a view from the terrace. The building is an old palace.

A waterfall in the bottom of the gorge! Ronda is GORGES... shoutout to Uncle Bill and Aunt Barb when they bought Lizzie and I those t-shirts that said "Ithaca is GORGES!".

Our first stop after we checked out of the hostel at noon was going inside the Puente Nueva, but I didn't really take many pictures there, although it was cool to be inside the bridge!

Next, we hiked down into more of the Old Town, and we saw the Puente Vieja, or "old bridge"! It was also gorgeous, although I prefer the Puente Nueva. 

The next stop were the Arab baths, which are apparently the best preserved Arab baths in all of Iberia. I'm not sure if I have explained the significance of the Arab baths before, but they played a crucial role to the Muslims living in Andalucia generally before 1492, when the Christians took over.  In Islam, cleanliness is incredibly important, and people would come to wash themselves prior to prayer.  In the Arab baths, there are many rooms, that would serve as cold rooms or steam rooms, and other things like that.  The temperatures were all powered by an underground heating system the Arabs developed, which was super advanced for that time period! Another fun factoid, the Muslim population survived many major outbreaks of disease, like the plague, much better than the Christians, because cleanliness was not important to the Christians in Europe at the time, who would sometimes only bathe twice a year.

 We felt this picture was appropriate since we were in the Arab baths. Also, Kelley, Elle, and I are working on a project where we are dancing in front of all these historic or beautiful places we have been! Once we return home, I will be creating a youtube video by compiling all of this footage together and adding an awesome song in Spanish!

 No big deal... just an abandoned castle.

Another beautiful bridge along the way!

 This is another side view of the Puente Nueva, definitely still not as good as our hostel view :)

 I am excited when there are nice animals to take pictures of, although this cat was looking a little annoyed to say the least, haha!

 I understand that this is just a sparrow, but it got really close to us!

We ended at this church/nunnery which is famous for the nuns selling baked treats, so Elle and Kelley tried those out and thought they were delicious! Then, at 5:30pm, we got on the train and returned to Granada! It was definitely a wonderful weekend!

Reflecting

Happy Wednesday! This has definitely been a wonderful and stressful week at the same time, so I will just share a few thoughts I have had and some realizations I have made, now that I have been in Spain for five weeks.

To begin, one thing I have realized is that family is truly my rock. I can be very busy and also very excited about lots of different things, but at the end of the day, it is family that keeps me grounded and really refuels me. Also, when I say family, I am not only referring to my actual family,  but also those very close friends that feel like family to me! Even if it is something small, like a brief email or an online text, or even a comment on this blog, it literally means the world, and it makes me realize how much I miss and love you all! I always knew this to some extent, I never realized just how much, until I have been away for this long.

That being said, I really love my señora! The two of us have gotten very close, and she is such a sweetheart and a hard worker! I admire her so much and know she is so strong for everything she has been through. I'm definitely going through some different emotions, and one of the saddest things for me to think about with the program ending is that I have to say goodbye to Carmen.

One small taste of home that was really great was getting a postcard from Monticello from my friend Alex, which was such a sweet surprise! It also hit me how, as beautiful as Granada is, with as much history as there is in the beautiful architecture and palaces and fountains and plazas, to me, the most beautiful thing of all is open land, forests everywhere, and seeing green everywhere you look!  I know when I come back to the US I will be so excited to be immersed once again in the rich plant life!

Anyways, finals are coming up and our days our winding down, and before I know it, I will be traveling for ten days, and will end this crazy, nearly 8 week adventure back in Illinois! Whew! That felt very good to post! I definitely love blogging, and I think I needed that, so thanks for listening. :)
Hugs!

Ronda Part 1!

Hola! So, the summer heat is definitely setting in... 99 degrees Fahrenheit today with no AC and no fans! The heat of RA training in August is nothing compared to this!  Anyway, this past weekend I went to Ronda, Spain, which was absolutely amazing with beautiful views! It was also nice to travel somewhere that Spaniards like to travel to, rather than just the American touristy cities! Prior to coming to Granada, I had never heard of Ronda, but I am so happy I went! Also, it was just Kelley, Elle, and I, so some great practice for our five city extravaganza after our program is done!  We took the train to Ronda, which was a very smooth and beautiful ride!

 Upon our arrival at our hostel, Babia Backpackers, we were amazed by the view. This was literally the view from our hostel!!! If you don't believe us, here we are on the terrace.  There were lots of chairs and tables and a hammock which we certainly enjoyed later that night when it cooled off. I suppose I should explain that the amazing bridge behind us is called the Puente Nueva, and connects the old and new part of Ronda over the gorge.

 Part of the beautiful white pueblo!

The gorge was really tall! This is the view most people get to see of the bridge. I think our view is a little better!

 I also love all of the open countryside! There was a beautiful walkway along the edge of the gorge that looked out onto the open land and mountains. And of course there was a stone safety fence, so we were very safe!

 Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles spent a lot of time in Ronda, and used it as a foundation for some of their works.

Our next stop was a visit to the bull ring in Ronda, which I believe is one of the oldest in Spain! It was huge!!

 Kelley and Elle being awesome!

This is one of my favorite pics of Kelley's sunglasses being super reflective!

 Titanic pose!

 Thought this was an epic birdhouse.

 Not a real cow...

 The translation of this: Spain = very hot!!

 I loved all of the horses I saw in the landscape.

 Part of Ronda's old town!

 We also decided to watch the sunset, although it was hard to get the right angle. I do love how the sun's golden rays almost seem to caress the mountains.  To me, it looks like something out of a movie!

 We had a peaceful evening on the terrace! There were lights that illuminated the bridge at night... so gorgeous! It definitely cooled down a bit, so Elle and I were cuddled up in blankets! Day one in Ronda was fantastic!

As always, thank you for reading!

Parque de las Ciencias

Before I begin... I am very much aware that I am behind on posts! However, I am getting very close to being caught up! Yay! Anyway, this is from last Sunday...

Hola!  Following the 12 hour hiking adventure in the Alpujarra Mountains, many students in the program were sure to get lots of sleep on Sunday.  However, my friends Kelley, Elle, Bethany, and I had other plans! We met up at 9:30 am to stop by a bakery to grab breakfast and headed to the Parque de las Ciencias, which was open on Sundays from 10 until 3.  And, there were so many amazing exhibits to see, we literally stayed until 2:59! Check out some of the epicness that is the science park in Granada:

I thought this was cool, since it shows that Illinois is still dark while it is light out in Spain!

 This station was awesome, since you could push the button for a city anywhere in the world and hear some basic words spoken in that language!!

 It really was a science "park", since there were lots of different buildings and exhibits to visit! This was in the center of the park.

 This was a fun little train you could power with your arms. Once again, a group of 19 and 20 year olds are proving our maturity!

 Next, we went up to the tower to get a great panoramic view of Granada! This photo shows the apartment buildings where I live, and where a lot of other people in my study abroad program live.

 This photo shows some nearby open land that is so green and beautiful!! One thing I miss about Illinois is all of the grass, there is definitely not as much in Granada.

These are some more historic sites, with the Alhambra Palace (top) and the Catedral (below)!

Me on top of the tower!

 Now we are in the butterfly garden! Lots of pretty butterflies, although it was super humid!

 Lunchtime! I think the coloring on these butterflies are crazy, with the eye and leaf camouflage!

 Loved this pic!

I loved how there were so many nature exhibits! 

 No big deal, just an awesome owl! However, I was kind of sad because they had a couple big birds, such as a hawk and vulture, tied to these pedestals.  When the hawk tried to fly at one point, it literally broke my heart since it couldn't go anywhere, so I had to leave.

EPIC CHAIR!

In the safety exhibit, Kelley tried on this suit and, for the first time thus far in our friendship, she consented to me giving her a hug!! We had Elle take a photo of this momentous day! As those of you who know me are aware, I really, REALLY love hugs, so that is why I was so excited! 

 At this point, Elle and Kelley went into the human body exhibit, but I get grossed out easily, so I explored in the Underwater Art exhibit and the Arabs in Andalucia exhibit, which was especially cool!!

Also, there were a couple great quotes in the Arabic exhibit:

"Todas las tierras, en su diversidad, son una, y los hombres todos son vecinos y hermanos." al-Zubaydi

This means that all of the diverse lands or regions of the world are one, and that all people are neighbors and brothers. So beautiful!

"Para comprender una civilación, hay que amarla." Titus Burckhardt

This means that to understand a civilization, you have to love it! 

I love all of these old maps!

 Once we reunited, we went to see the dinosaur exhibit, which was awesome! They also have a T-Rex there, and a few other dinosaurs!

No big deal, just a giant leg of a brontosaurus. 

I probably should have taken this picture at the beginning, but this is just some of the cool architecture of the museum!

Well, that concludes my post about the science park! We are slowly getting caught up!  I have lots to post about Ronda, Spain, which is coming tomorrow!!