Normal weekend in Alicante.

During this week just had another full week of classes nothing really special. Then on Thursday night I went with some friends to get margaritas and we ended up just hanging out at our friends house for a while. Then we went to the barrio and got home by like 3, (that's early on spanish time). Then on Friday we got to the beach at 12:00 and were there until about 5. It was sunny and in the mid to high 70's, i got my first tan lines :) The water is still cold but it would get hot enough laying in the sun to run in and cool off a bit. Then Friday night we celebrated our friends birthday in the barrio. Yesterday we went to the beach again for a solid 4 hours. Starting to see some color that isn't red which is exciting. I know you all are grumbling because its still cold in the US. Saturday night I stayed in watched a Real Madrid game on tv with my host family and then went to bed. Today we went to the MARQ which is the Alicante Province Archeological Museum. It was really interesting and then my spanish teacher taught us how to cook a tortilla española which is almost like a quiche. It's really good it's eggs and potatoes and it's fluffy. Now i'm just chilling at my house doing homework and i think we are going to watch the Hercules game which starts in 20 minutes on tv. Hope everything is good with you guys! Here are some more photos of Alicante and the beach!

                                                         Spanish Hippie Circle

A weekend away from Alicante

           I just got back from the USAC trip to Granada, Spain. Some background for people who don't know the significance of this city :) In 711 the Muslims invaded Spain and they centered their empire in Southern Spain. The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is one of the most famous items of  the Islamic historical  legacy that makes Granada a hot spot among cultural and tourist cities in Spain. Our hotel was in the center of the city which made it very easy to get around and find where we needed to go. On Friday we had a walking tour and saw some of the main buildings and locations that would help us find our way back. We got our first glimpses of the Alhambra the huge Muslim palace that was then inherited by the Christian kings when they reconquered Granada in 1492. After the walking tour we went back to the hotel got dinner of pita and then went out for an hour before decided we should go to bed cause we were going to visit the Alhambra on Saturday. 

         Like I just said Saturday we went to the Alhambra the highlight of history in Granada. The Alhambra consists of three parts, the Gardens of Generalife, the fortress and the royal palace. The inspiration for the Gardens is supposed to be the description of Paradise found in the Koran. Lots of running water and shaded areas, with plants and flowers of all kinds growing everywhere. This was appealing to the rulers when we remember their history of living in hot deserts. You walk through the gardens and you arrive at the old summer house of the rulers of the Alhambra. In this house is one of the very iconic views of the Alhambra.

These fountains and the flowing water are the center of the patio and created a soothing sound for the inhabitants of this house. There is arguement over when the arching fountains were added, before or after 1492. Here are a few more pictures from this part of the Alhambra.

The Second part of the Alhambra that we visited was the Fortress. At one point it was home to many soldiers and army men helping to protect the Alhambra. The Moorish portion of the Alhambra includes the Alcazaba, or citadel, which is the oldest part—only its massive outer walls, towers, and ramparts are left. The watch tower or "Torre de la Vela" is where they used to keep a look out and where they still house the old bell. Today it provides us with beautiful views of Granada and of the surrounding mountains. It is still tradition that says on January 2nd every year (the date that the Catholic Monarchs took the city from the Muslims) any young women who is single and that strikes the bell will get married by the end of the year. At the base of the tower they have done an archeological excavation and uncovered what appears to be ancient barracks and they have reconstructed what they believe to be the walls of the houses.  Here are photos of this part of the Alhambra:

   The third and final part of the Alhambra is the Royal Palace. Built by king Mohammed ben Al-Hamar (Mohammed I) he was the first of the family to live in the Alcazaba. There was no talk of building the second palace until Mohammed V, he extended large parts and then also built on an entire new wing to the royal palaces located at the Alhambra. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella placed people in power in this house as well and that began the changes and the mixing of Arabic and Christian decorations. The Palaces are decorated in the baroque style with every inch of original wall covered in intricate carvings and writings from the Koran. Anything in the photos that has color is original and then the carvings in the wall are all original they are missing color because the paint has all come off over time but imagine all of the walls to be covered in extremely bright paint. 

FC Hércules!

So today  I went to the Hércules vs. Real Zaragoza game in Alicante. Hércules isn't very good but neither is Zaragoza so the game was fun. Hércules ended up winning in the last minute 2-1 so it was really exciting. I went with two other girls on the Program one named Brenda from New York and one named Kate from Michigan. We had a lot of fun and the fans once again were crazy. I liked this game more than the Madrid game because we were a lot closer to the field so at times it really felt like we were in the game. Hércules' claim to fame this season is that they are the ONLY team to beat Barcelona this whole season, even more amazing is that they won 2-0 and the game was in Barcelona. Other than that here are pictures from the game so that you guys can see what it was like:

I tried posting yesterday but I couldn't think of anything exciting...so here's another try!

It's hard to believe that almost a month ago I was packing my bags and saying my goodbyes to the good old US of A, but that's just it, in two days it will have been a month since i said goodbye to my mom and dad at O'hare. Once I left them I was worried and excited and i realize now that the worry was really nothing to worry about, I can already say in just a months time that coming abroad is one of the greatest decisions i have made in my entire life. So thank you mom and dad for helping me have this opportunity and for giving me the strength to be doing this by myself I love you guys so much! But on to what i've been doing for a week. :)
        So this week began with me at a bar with some Packers fans watching Green Bay win the Superbowl it was pretty cool and definitely worth staying up as late as we did to see them win! Then I just had a normal week of classes but this week I was giving an "intercombio" which is a native Spanish speaker who wants to improve their English. So we are conversation partners, so far we haven't been able to meet but we have been emailing, me in Spanish and him in English. His name is Diego and he is a 24 year old who works at the University. His English is much better than my Spanish is but I have a feeling my Spanish will only improve! The other news i got from the University is that a spot opened up in a class that I wanted to take for fun once a week called Dances of Spain. In this class we are going to learn the traditional dances of the Valencian region of Spain. It meets once a week at night and with my dance background I'm really excited to see what the class is like.
      Other than that we have been spending a lot of time outside because it has been in the 60's for the last week and a half got a couple hours in laying out at the beach. Its funny because all of the Spaniards look at us like we are crazy because in this weather they are all wearing gloves, hats, coats and boots. We all had on shorts and t-shirts and sandals it was just funny to see the difference. I'm going to leave you guys with some more pictures of Alicante, my new home!

Its already February

            So its already February and it's crazy. I feel like i've been in spain for months even though in fact its only been a couple of weeks. I am really starting to find my way around Alicante and I can't wait for people to start visiting so that I can show them how great this city is! It's still a bit on the chilly side here its' been in the mid to high fourtys with a few days that have broke fifty. ( i know i sound like a conceited spaniard but its cold.) My classes have been going really well i have my language course which is doing all the Spanish that I learned in high school but didn't really grasp fully. My history class is really interesting and i've already learned more about spains recent history than i had known prior. Finally my class in english which is probably the most interesting because it is with students from the University of Alicante, and since this class is a comparative course dealing with culture and communication you can really see the differences between the two different countries and the people that grew up in them.
      Over the weekend there was a really important soccer game in Alicante. It was the Hercules (Alicantes team) vs. Barca (Barcelona). Barcelona has one loss this season and it was too Hercules making this a rematch that Barcelona could not lose going into their big match up with Real Madrid in a week. I tried to get tickets but they were like 90 Euro so I decided instead to watch it in a bar with friends. Earlier on Saturday though (the day of the game) I came across the bus for FCBarcelona and decided to see if I could see any of the players because two of my favorites are on the team. Messi who is Argentinian and David Villa who a Spaniard. Those two are my favorites but also on the Barcelona team are Puyol and Iniesta (who scored the world cup winning goal for spain), so I thought it would be pretty cool to try and see the players. I waited for an hour just staring at the bus and the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger with more and more people showing up to watch the bus pull away. Finally at like 6:30 the bus began to load and i got a glimpse of Iniesta and Villa but i hadn't seen messi which was sad and then as the bus drove past staring out the window in the second to last row was Messi! He waved and made eye contact, it was crazy, even if no one follows soccer i have now in person seen a lot of the best players in the world and I still am going to go to a game in Alicante, maybe when mom and dad are here its just such a cool experience. Barcelona ended up winning 3-0 proving that they weren't going to get beat by the same team again and keeping their record with the one loss, Messi scored 2 goals it was exciting to watch after seeing the team. Here are some photos from waiting for the bus on Saturday:

    

     Then on Sunday the weather was beautiful and I went for a walk up to the castle again, it's reallly relaxing and the weather this time i think was even better than last time. Again I don't have much more to say but i'll leave you guys with some pictures from my hike and the way up to the castle!

                                       on the way up to the castle of Santa Barbara

                                      I think everyone should know what this is :)

                                      View of the Harbor and water form the top

                                      Castle with the sun shining down over the top of it

                                                  My new home! Alicante, Spain!