Hotel Comercio Guadix

... Scott's larger bag. My homestay is in the opposite direction of the bus station so it ended up taking longer than expected. Luckily we built some cushion time into our schedule and thus we made it onto our bus safely but with only minutes to spare. The bus ride itself was faily uneventful, there is not much to see as far as landscape goes between Madrid and Granada so Scott and I passed the 5 hour trip talking and staring out at the vast, empty plains of Spain. We ...

19 Nov
After a 6 hour drive, (we´ve now covered around 1,600miles since leaving Bmth ) we enter Granada just b4 dark. Granada is the gateway to the Sierra Nevada, and our intention is to stay 2nights, mainly so we can spend one day in the Alhambra. We pitch our tent just b4 dark, the campsite conveniently located 5km outside Granada. We immediately notice a sharp (can see our breath!) drop in temperature, so after a camp meal and a couple of ...

... so many people on the roads and I don't know if I will ever get back to Granada again anytime soon so I felt like I needed to take the opportunity to see more the city. I walked down one of the roads that had the cool street lights, encountered more Americans, and went to an area with a little different vibe. More modern apartment buildings and spread out a little bit. When I got to the hotel I watched some of the cable TV. That was an experience.

... how it is. Many teachers don´t like their schedules but they don´t ask to change it because if all the teachers wanted a certain schedule to fit their needs it would be chaos, yada yada yada. Then they brought up the fact that I had gone to complain about them to the Delegation of Education in the first few days and that my actions had consequences and that Maria Dolores had been calling them every week to see how I was doing... news to me!

The ...

... this took nothing away from our time here as it was a lovely spot to relax and be cosy, looking out toward the ocean and the constantly changing valley, even staring out the window at the tiny narrow windy streets and listening to the locals going about their business was a real pleasure. It was great to find bookshelves full of English books to relax with as well Very soon it was time to move on and a short drive of about 3 hours down the coast to Sotogrande.

After the Basque region, we hopped on a South-bound bus with the goal of seeing the province of Andalusia, home to flamenco and Moorish ruins. Granada was our first stop. It was the last stronghold for the Islamic Moors before they were driven out by the Catholics. To try and disprove their waning power, they built the amazing Alhambra complex. With parched hills covered in perfectly straight lines of olive trees and Spain's highest mountains in the ...

... OBSESSED with going to the Chinese alimentaciones, small, cheap snack/treat shops to go and get my Chupa Chups and Gummies!!! -Not trying to jinx myself here or anything, but I am very proud that I have not once lost my keys or left them in my room and been locked out!!! KNOCK ON WOOD!!! Many of you know I have problems with this, cough cough, my car keys!! -If I havent met a Spaniard that isnt stingy about money, I dont think I will ...

... to keep warm. Today it is the second most highly visited place in Spain after the Prado museum. It is an amazing building with countless details, such as the carefully painted tiles, the geometric designs characteristic of Moorish influence, and the ceiling architecture. The doorways are arched and there are fountains and other luxurious features. In the afternoon, one of my friends here Cindy, and I went to a park and enjoyed the sun, ate ...

... bit fast, but clear. I am already able to catch the just of what she is saying. In Spain they use a "th" sound instead of other letters which is taking some getting used to. Maria has two other exchange students here. A 20 year old girl named Hecho from China and a 15 year old boy name Ciao from Brazil. Mi casa is actually bigger than I had planned. There is a small kitchen, nice size ...

... are barely wide enough for the minibus and there were people walking in the street. Let's just say you had to hold on the whole way. Coming down was even better. Day two in Granada was strictly sightseeing and shopping. There is an amazing statue/fountain of Columbus asking permission for his voyage.Legend says that the Queen asked the people of this town to avoid taxes by building two ships. The people decided to build three: Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria