Student Journals: AIFS in Granada, Spain

Allison Gibson
Rider University
University of Granada, Spain

March

Allison GibsonWent to Sevilla with AIFS on the weekend of 4-5 March. Sevilla was founded in the 4th century BC by Iberians and Phoenicians and today is the capital of Andalucia!! Definitely had a crazy time with the girls in one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

An interesting fact about Sevilla... while they were in the middle of building the city's underground metro, they discovered ancient Roman ruins and had to cease production... now there are just huge trenches in the middle of the streets. Stinks that their project got all screwed up but pretty cool about the Roman stuff.

Speaking about Roman stuff... we searched for the ROMAN MONOLITHS for about an hour. When we found them they were 3 pillars squeezed between two apartment buildings with litter everywhere. Sort of disappointing. However, while visiting the monument we met Peter Pan which is always cool. By the way, Peter Pan has braces.

The Cathedral (3rd largest in the world and largest Gothic Cathedral in Europe) and Royal Alcazar were AMAZING... we climbed to the top of the Tower of Giralda and got a great view of the city. FYI: There are no stairs to get to the top of the Tower... only ramps. That's because Felipe the Second wanted to ride up on horseback!!

April

¡Hola de España otra vez! This weekend I went to Gibraltar with the AIFS group. We dubbed the day Chris and Al's Excellent Adventure - Gibraltar Style. Lots of fun. The weather was great and the views were beautiful. Gibraltar is the home of the Rock of Gibraltar (surprise surprise) where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. From the Rock (which is more like a mountain) you can see the coast of Africa and the coast of Spain. Gibraltar is a part of neither, it is actually a British province. Spain has been trying to take the land back from the British for a while now but last time they voted a few years back only 44 people out of tens of thousands wanted to convert to Spanish citizenship. Doesn't look like it's going to happen for a while. We took a minibus up the side of the mountain where we got to explore Saint Thomas' Caves, discover the Great Seige Tunnels (used during wartime) and make friends with the colony of Barbary Apes that live on the mountain. The apes were originally brought to Spain as pets from Africa in the 1300's and have been living in Gibraltar ever since. They are the only group of apes of their kind in all of Europe. After the rock we trekked to Safeway, an "American" supermarket, but we couldn't find any of the foods we had been craving: Frooty Pebbles for Ray, grape Smuckers for Chris, Monterey pepper jack cheese for me. So it was a bust but worth looking into.

Today a few of us from the group went to Fuentevaqueras to see the casa-museo de Frederico Garcia Lorca. I loved it. We saw the bed he was born in and his little tiny cradle. We got to watch the only video footage of Lorca and saw lots of interesting artifacts from his life. There were a few original drawings done by Salvador Dali for Lorca (I think they were lovers at one point), tons of great photographs and I saw the newspaper article that inspired Lorca's Boda de Sangre (Blood Wedding). I'm jonesing to read lots of Lorca now and visit the casa-museo that is in the Lorca park (super close to my piso in Granada). Tomorrow I'm off to the beach and in a few weeks I'm going to Portugal so be on the look out for more pictures. Only 8 weeks left!!!! Starting to wonder whether that makes me happy or sad...

May

My last few weeks...

We spent the weekend on the AIFS trip to the Costa del Almeria, specifically Roquetas del Mar on the Mediterranean Sea. Great beach!! No sand, just little tiny rocks that were SUPER hot!!

The hotel was amazing – our rooms were like little apartments with tiny kitchens and living rooms! I loved it and we had a great view of the mountains and the little town all around. The hotel pool was huge and there was a separate solarium with another pool and a third pool with a water slide - sooooo much fun! I spent most of the time basking in the sun and just relaxing... enjoying the final weeks across the Atlantic.

My mother and cousin are coming to visit me in 2 weeks and we are probably taking a trip to Cádiz and Morocco – AFRICA!!! I'm very excited :)!!! Getting to share this great experience with people I love will be so amazing. I'm going to miss Spain immensely. There are no worries here, no one is in a rush and Señora Isabel's cooking will always have a special place in my tummy (although nothing beats mom's).

June

The last week in Spain was spent on the Costa del Sol – cruising the autovia de mediterranea, a short stop in Nerja and a few days in marvelous Marbella.

Mar means sea, Bella means beautiful and the Mediterranean certainly was gorgeous there – crystal clear turquoise blue. I even saw schools of fish swimming around my feet! Purple mountains formed a breathtaking backdrop to the beach and the whole scene was absolutely amazing.

Now, I'm back in the good old U S of A!!! I almost didn't make it after a mix-up at the airport... travelling back might have been the most stressful THIRTY-SIX HOURS of my life but I am glad to say I made it safe and on schedule. I'll miss the no pasa nada life in Espana but I must agree that there is no place like home :). Hope to see everyone soon and I hope all of my friends from Granada keep in touch!! What an amazing experience!!