Hotel Dann Barranquilla

... I just overwhelm myself. I really need to work a system out where I slowly learn a few words per day. I have also been very overwhelmed by my classes. They are straight up intensive Spanish classes at the Universidad de Malaga Curses de Espanol para Extranjeros and it really is intense. Some of my professors don't even speak English. I don't have a problem with that but I have a problem when I am trying to learn the tenses and the rules ...

... only the lions were gone for restoration, so the courtyard was empty. But the views were incredible.
That night we hiked up through the Albayzin (the moorish quarter) to catch the sunset from St. Nicholas Church. Everyone comes up, hangs their feet over the edge, has a beer (or bottle of wine in our case), and enjoys the sunset.
After all that walking, it was tapas time. Right around the corner from the viewpoint was our first stop at Bar ...

We started out today by visiting a donkey sanctuary in nerja. Shae was so excited to see the donkeys. It's a great place that rescues abused and neglected animals in the area. They have more than just donkeys (goats, sheep, turkey, pot-bellied pigs, dogs, cats, etc.) it's run by a family from the uk and solely survives on donations from visitors. It was so sad to see all the animals, but they are being well cared for and seem to enjoy their new home. Shae ...

... we're told in the months of july/august and sometimes september this place is a zoo. Tons of people, no parking. We're able to go to any restaurant and not wait for a table. It's fantastic! We found a great little playground on the beach and right next to a restaurant with tables in the sand. Shae loved it. She played in the playground and dug in the sand for 2 hours. We headed back to the house and then drove into Nerja (5 min car drive ...

... finally got to Taganga and quickly jumped in the water… it was sooo hot out. The beach was nice, packed, and filthy. We are used to trash being everywhere but this was pretty bad. We were even swimming with the trash. Again, we had though we could find a spot to camp on the beach for the night but the beach was really small and every inch was taken up with property. If you dive Taganga ...

... und bin zu ihm gefahren. Er ist 36, arbeitet für die kolumbianische Regierung und wohnt mit seiner Familie in einer Schule. Familie heisst in diesem Fall Mutter, Cousine, Tante, Sohn der Cousine und was weiss ich nicht wer. Hab bis zum Ende nicht entwirren können, wer wie mit wem verwandt ist. Na jedenfalls betreiben sie diese kleine Privatschule, in der wir in den Klassezimmern auf Luftmatrazen übernachtet haben. Wer ist wir? Insegesamt 18 Couchsurfer aus aller Herren Länder! Gustavo ...

... one of the big exports of Columbia but here everyone from the age of 5 upwards can dance like her. On other nights we did manage to get a lot of practice doing the different dances but I still have to ask the girl which dance the song actually is (there are just so many different types). My hips have been working overdrive though. Many of the girls here are beautiful, and they are proud of their reputation of 'the most beautiful girls in the world' and this is probably why there is ...

... Swimming in the mud, of an active mud volcano, it was incredible! Every once in a while, a bubble would slowly make its way up to the surface with a deep glurp and blurb. The mud was smooth, grey, and room temperature, a beautiful feeling. It is quite dense, so unless someone pushed one under, it was impossible to submerse oneself. I could hold my arms out to the side and not go deeper than my chest. I laid on my back with feet and arms in the air, turned, "swam", put ...

... meetings (so nothing too taxing right now!). I have really enjoyed this semester-I've met some fantastic people and am really looking forward to the next one!But for now I'm enjoying having more free time on my hands to get out and about. So all I've been doing up until now is marking exams and going to the occasional weekend soiree, the latest of which was two fabulous Halloween ...

... my best. He decided to get us started with the gardens since it was still early in the morning and we could enjoy the tranquility of the scene before the tourists come in full force. What a magnificent call! Some of the young kids complained because he spent the first ten minutes standing by a spring and explaining the importance of the philosophy of a tranquil place from which to govern. I deferred to their impatient nature, and people sometime must ...