I arrived in Israel about 48 hours ago, but I feel like it has already been a week. It is not that I have done so much but probably more that I have done so little and time is going very slow. I have 10 months here. By the end of my trip I will look back and say it flew by but for now it seems as if I have an eternity here.
I don't really feel like I am that far from home either. This is probably due to the high level of internet access (including on my phone) and the fact that I have only really spent time with Americans. There are 15 people in the same program as me in Ramla and another 15 are coming in a few weeks to do the Community Involvement Program for 5 months, also in Ramla. I think everyone in the program will get along nicely and within a few weeks we will be in a nice routine.
I am really excited to meet some Israeli people. I meet Americans everywhere I go, but now that I am a member of the community in Ramla, I want to meet my neighbors, shop at the market, and do as they do on a day to day basis. The only thing that makes this challenging is the language barrier. When I went to Spain I could get by with Spanish, but the main difference was that I could read the signs, the names of stores, and so on. In Tel Aviv, there is a lot of English, but in Ramla not so much. Almost nothing is in English and this will make the first few months a little difficult. At the Shuk (open market) today I did some shopping for vegetables. I had a 50 shekel bill ~$13. I went to the vegetable stand and said shalom, gave the items to the owner so he could weigh it, he said a number, I gave him the 50, and he gave me change of 45 sheckels (it cost just over $1 US). Then I said "toda" (Thank You) and walked away with my 3 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, and 2 limes. For all he knew I was fluent in Hebrew. It worked out very well, but there was a lot of other stuff I didn't even want to think about buying. Like the cheese. With the cheese you have to specify an amount and what kind you want. Maybe in a few weeks I will know enough to buy cheese but for now I will just stick to the simpler items.
My apartment is supposed to be average living standards for Ramla, and after seeing it and getting settled it was about what I expected. Nothing is new but everything works, it fits all of my stuff but it is not big. It is practical and I think I will be satisfied living here for 10 months. We don't have an oven and there is limited space in the kitchen but I think we will live. There could also be air conditioning in the bedrooms because I like sleeping in the cold but soon enough the night temperatures will drop and it will be more comfortable. Sleeping comfortably has been the most difficult task when it comes to my apartment so far. Last night I couldn't fall asleep because I was hot. Then I was finally sleeping and I had a nightmare. I have not had a nightmare in a long time but I woke up screaming. I learned in my Dreams and Dreaming class last year that people often have vivid and unusual dreams when they are sleeping in new places and this was definitely the case. In my dream my older brother, Adam, and his wife, Kris, were visiting me, along with my other brother, Mike. They were visiting me in New Hampshire. Adam and Kris left a note in my car that they would be back soon and I received a call from Mike that he was in Newport, Rhode Island, ready for me to pick him up. That was strange especially since they all live in Boston and Rhode Island is in the wrong direction. Anyway, I thought my keys were in the ignition but they weren't so I was going to get them from somewhere else. As I was walking away from my car a very creepy man slowly walked around the fence at the entrance of the parking lot and was staring at me with some dead, evil eyes. I could tell something was wrong and I tried to run but I took one step and fell down. In real life before I went to sleep we were talking about the other group of Israel Teaching Fellows in Ashdod and someone mentioned that it is dangerous. They said "if a man approaches you from an alley they either want to mug you, kill you, or severely injure you." As I lay on the ground this was going through my head. I could not move or do anything. I tried to yell and eventually, after several attempts, I let out a quiet strange yell. At that point I woke up and actually screamed in my sleep. This was very strange and I do not have any recollection of talking in my sleep. Hopefully once I really get settled the strange dreams will go away and I will have nice peaceful sleeps in my hot Ramla apartment in Israel
That is all for now. More to come soon when I start training next week, and maybe some stories from this weekend
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The Israel Experience
When I first named the blog I went with "The Barcelona Experience." That name was really good, at least I thought it was. The blog was originally for my semester abroad and I was taking a class called The Barcelona Experience. Originally I never thought I would keep writing after my trip abroad but now that I have, I need to rename the blog to something else. I will be in Israel for the next section of the blog so maybe I will just name it The Israel Experience. Then after that I can just keep renaming the blog.
While on the subject of Israel, I don't think I have mentioned anything about my past trips to Israel. I have spent 25 days in Israel in two trips. My first trip was in the summer of 2010. I traveled to Israel with my brother and two friends. Their brothers were both in Israel and we had a place to stay in Tel Aviv so we all decided to visit. It was an awesome trip and we traveled around the country, partied in Tel Aviv, swam in the dead sea, and watched the world cup final. Before I started my blog I kept a travel journal, and I wrote a lot about what we did. I still have that journal and it is awesome to go back and read some of the entries. I started the journal back in 2003 as a community service log book for a trip to the British Virgin Islands. About half way through that trip I started using it more as a personal journal and now this blog is my journal.
The second time I came to Israel was for Birthright. Birthright is a program that sends Jewish kids aged 18-26 on a free trip to Israel. About 40 people from the US go on the trip and you travel around Israel learning about your Jewish identity, history, and traditions. I went with my brother and 3 friends from home and a bunch of other Americans. I had a great time and got to see some new things and some of the same things from the trip before. I probably wouldn't be going to Israel now if I had not done birthright. Its not like Birthright changed me or anything, but I think my email address found its way into my programs website and before I knew it I had applied and gotten accepted to teach English. It all happened pretty fast but I think it worked out well. At least for now. I guess we will have to wait and see if I chose the right path.
While on the subject of Israel, I don't think I have mentioned anything about my past trips to Israel. I have spent 25 days in Israel in two trips. My first trip was in the summer of 2010. I traveled to Israel with my brother and two friends. Their brothers were both in Israel and we had a place to stay in Tel Aviv so we all decided to visit. It was an awesome trip and we traveled around the country, partied in Tel Aviv, swam in the dead sea, and watched the world cup final. Before I started my blog I kept a travel journal, and I wrote a lot about what we did. I still have that journal and it is awesome to go back and read some of the entries. I started the journal back in 2003 as a community service log book for a trip to the British Virgin Islands. About half way through that trip I started using it more as a personal journal and now this blog is my journal.
The second time I came to Israel was for Birthright. Birthright is a program that sends Jewish kids aged 18-26 on a free trip to Israel. About 40 people from the US go on the trip and you travel around Israel learning about your Jewish identity, history, and traditions. I went with my brother and 3 friends from home and a bunch of other Americans. I had a great time and got to see some new things and some of the same things from the trip before. I probably wouldn't be going to Israel now if I had not done birthright. Its not like Birthright changed me or anything, but I think my email address found its way into my programs website and before I knew it I had applied and gotten accepted to teach English. It all happened pretty fast but I think it worked out well. At least for now. I guess we will have to wait and see if I chose the right path.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
As one door closes, one more open; Part II
I officially graduated college from the University of New
Hampshire on May 19th 2012.
My family came up and we had a great celebration. The feeling of being done with college
has not really sunk in yet but after the summer I am sure it will…especially
since I will not be returning to New Hampshire in the fall. I did however; get a job teaching
English in Israel for 10 months.
So in a way it is similar to another year at college but I get a stipend
for living while I am there. I
also found out I got this job on my final day of class. This was amazing, and has been all
summer, because I am locked into something and I do not have to worry about
applying to jobs, interviews, finding a place to live, or even too much about
preparing for my trip.
Even though college is over, I am extremely grateful for my
experience and I do not have many regrets. In almost everything that I do, I try and look for some sort
of takeaway: something that I may be able to apply later in life or even in my
daily routine. My biggest takeaway
from my college experience is being able to go outside of my comfort zone. In high school, I don’t think I really
tried too many new things. I
wouldn’t try and meet new people, try new foods, or really go out of my comfort
zone much. When I went to New
Hampshire I did not know anyone.
My only contacts were a girl from Ithaca who was 2 years older than me
that I didn’t know and my brothers and friends in Boston. I had never been in a place for an
extended period of time without any of my really close friends. It was somewhat of a challenge for me
and I was even thinking of transferring.
I moved dorms between semesters freshmen year and met a lot of people
there and also joined a fraternity where I met a lot of people. At the time I didn’t really know what I
was getting myself into but looking back on it, it was one of the better
choices I made in college.
Fraternities have a somewhat poor reputation in our society but I can
say first hand that for some it is not true. Besides the social aspect, there is a lot you can learn from
being in a fraternity. The amount
of things I took from it may be greater than anything else in my life. I also made the most of my experience
by caring about more than just the social aspect. The next best decision I made in college was to study
abroad, and as you can see from this blog, it was an amazing experience. If I can recommend 2 things to do to
make the most of your college experience it is to go abroad, and to join a
fraternity or a sorority. These
experiences are things that you will not be able to do ever again in your life
and you may look back one day and say “oh I really wish I went abroad in
college, or joined Greek life.”
Another thing I learned in college is that, whatever it is
that I am doing I will learn it quickly, and do the best job that I can. I got the opportunity to go abroad
again in January 2012 to do an Archaeology field school in Belize. I understood everything really well and
for some reason it was just easy.
Not to come off as cocky but I am smart and am confident that I can do
anything with the proper training and experience, and possibly better and
faster than most people.
This is also why I will succeed next year teaching English. The first month I am in Israel there
will be 85 hours worth of training and then slowly over the next 9 months I
will have a larger role in the classroom.
Then by the end my program I will have some great experience and some
great references for future jobs.
I titled this blog post “as one door closes, one more
opens.” It is a quote by Alexander
Graham Bell, but I herd it in a country song and got the idea to use it as a
title. The rest of the quote says
that we often focus on the closed door and not on the open door in front of
us. Some of my friends were
devastated that college had ended, and they have the right to be. I am a very optimistic person and I
focused more on that open door in front of me. I may have graduated college but I am still young and have
my whole life in front of me. I
also did well and graduated from a great school with a liberal arts
degree. I can pretty much go into
any career field that I choose. I
think teaching is a right place for me because I am patient, caring, smart, and
will be a good role model for our future generations. Sometimes when I tell people I want to teach they say that
they could picture me as a teacher and say that I will be good at it. They might just be trying to be nice
but everyone likes a compliment here and there. Also the program is only 1 year, so if I don’t enjoy
teaching I will not have a lot of time or money invested in the wrong career
choice.
This summer has been great. I am working a lot at a new restaurant in town trying to
save as much money as I can, but other than that I have just been relaxing,
watching tv, reading, and went to a few concerts. This summer has been very stress free, most likely because I
already have a job lined up.
I am really looking forward to starting my job in
Israel. My friends have started
leaving Ithaca and I think by the time I leave only 2 or 3 of my close friends
will still be here. So I’ll
probably be bored out of my mind and ready to take off. I will continue with this blog but it
may be a little different than the first part of it. When I was in Barcelona I was always doing something,
whether it was traveling, doing things in Barcelona, or going out with
people. This Israel experience
will be much different because I will not have as much time or money. My monthly budget will be about $750 a
month (and since my program pays for rent, utilities, and local transportation
that $750 will get me a lot in a month).
I will also be working/volunteering for a lot more hours a week than my course
load in Barcelona so I won’t have as much time. And lastly, I have already traveled all around Israel and
there is a good chance that I will not leave the country
Monday, September 12, 2011
Senior year
Hello everyone,
Sorry it has been a while since I posted. When I posted the summary of my trip abroad I said that I would continue to post but unfortunately I did not post anything over the summer. I had a great summer but I feel that nothing could really compare to what I did while I was in Europe.
Within the first few weeks of the summer two of my friends turned 21 on the same day. Since it is a big deal in the US it is a great time to celebrate. My friends parents got him a limo for the day and we went on a wine tour along Cayuga Lake. It was a ton of fun and since it was my first wine tour I really enjoyed going to the different wineries. The next event of my summer was Grassroots. Grassroots is a music festival in Trumansburg, NY, about a 35 minute drive from my house. My friends and I always tent there for the weekend and dance the nights away. This year there was a heat wave the entire weekend but they did a great job getting people enough water and solving the problem. I usually leave early in the festival to go shower at home and change but this year I got there at noon on Thursday and didn't leave until Sunday morning. I had the most fun that I have ever had and although I was ready to leave when it ended I was a little sad. However, I spent the next week at my lake house.
My families lake house is about an hour and ten minutes from my house and it is amazing. The house is nothing special but it is absolutely perfect. We get the sunset and we have a great dock, a boat, kayaks, tubes, and a wake board. If it is nice out you can not get bored. My extended family got it two years ago and my family will have it until my grand children grow old.
Other than that I really didn't do too much this summer. I went running a few times, played some tennis, worked, and hung out with my friends and family.
Right before I went back to school I went to a country concert in Canandaigua with my friends. This was a ton of fun. At one point we walked into the lower level closer to the stage until we got caught by a guard. Then two days after that I left for college and that is where I find myself now.
Senior year in College. I am not going to lie...I am scared for what lies ahead. This is where I need to buckle down and get good grades and look for a job so I am not living in my parents basement for the next few years. I have talked to some people about teaching English in a foreign country or going to grad school, but I have no idea what I will end up doing.
On a positive note I love all of my classes so far. I am taking three Anthropology classes (my major) and one elective. The elective is International Wine and Beverage. This is one of the most failed classes at UNH because people think it will be a joke but in reality you need to work hard and you actually learn a lot. The teacher also seems very knowledgeable and engaging. My three Anthropology classes are Language and Culture, Dreams and Dreaming, and Method and Theory in Archaeology. The first two have a specific topic and even though I will not peruse them professionally, they help develop skills in research, reading comprehension, and analysis of professional writing. The last class (Method and Theory) is a requirement in the major. I have started reading in the classes and everything I have read so far has been so interesting that it is hard to put down the books. This is great because I am realizing more and more that I really do enjoy my major and I am really glad that I chose it. So now it is time for me to focus on my future, and if I do the right things I know that one day I will make a name for myself and maybe even make some kind of an impact on this world
Sorry it has been a while since I posted. When I posted the summary of my trip abroad I said that I would continue to post but unfortunately I did not post anything over the summer. I had a great summer but I feel that nothing could really compare to what I did while I was in Europe.
Within the first few weeks of the summer two of my friends turned 21 on the same day. Since it is a big deal in the US it is a great time to celebrate. My friends parents got him a limo for the day and we went on a wine tour along Cayuga Lake. It was a ton of fun and since it was my first wine tour I really enjoyed going to the different wineries. The next event of my summer was Grassroots. Grassroots is a music festival in Trumansburg, NY, about a 35 minute drive from my house. My friends and I always tent there for the weekend and dance the nights away. This year there was a heat wave the entire weekend but they did a great job getting people enough water and solving the problem. I usually leave early in the festival to go shower at home and change but this year I got there at noon on Thursday and didn't leave until Sunday morning. I had the most fun that I have ever had and although I was ready to leave when it ended I was a little sad. However, I spent the next week at my lake house.
My families lake house is about an hour and ten minutes from my house and it is amazing. The house is nothing special but it is absolutely perfect. We get the sunset and we have a great dock, a boat, kayaks, tubes, and a wake board. If it is nice out you can not get bored. My extended family got it two years ago and my family will have it until my grand children grow old.
Other than that I really didn't do too much this summer. I went running a few times, played some tennis, worked, and hung out with my friends and family.
Right before I went back to school I went to a country concert in Canandaigua with my friends. This was a ton of fun. At one point we walked into the lower level closer to the stage until we got caught by a guard. Then two days after that I left for college and that is where I find myself now.
Senior year in College. I am not going to lie...I am scared for what lies ahead. This is where I need to buckle down and get good grades and look for a job so I am not living in my parents basement for the next few years. I have talked to some people about teaching English in a foreign country or going to grad school, but I have no idea what I will end up doing.
On a positive note I love all of my classes so far. I am taking three Anthropology classes (my major) and one elective. The elective is International Wine and Beverage. This is one of the most failed classes at UNH because people think it will be a joke but in reality you need to work hard and you actually learn a lot. The teacher also seems very knowledgeable and engaging. My three Anthropology classes are Language and Culture, Dreams and Dreaming, and Method and Theory in Archaeology. The first two have a specific topic and even though I will not peruse them professionally, they help develop skills in research, reading comprehension, and analysis of professional writing. The last class (Method and Theory) is a requirement in the major. I have started reading in the classes and everything I have read so far has been so interesting that it is hard to put down the books. This is great because I am realizing more and more that I really do enjoy my major and I am really glad that I chose it. So now it is time for me to focus on my future, and if I do the right things I know that one day I will make a name for myself and maybe even make some kind of an impact on this world
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
As One Door Closes, Another One Opens
So after 5 months, 40 blog posts, 11 countries, and many new friends I am back home in Ithaca, New York. I have been here for almost two weeks and have been pretty busy with seeing all of my friends and working a little. But life now seems pretty normal. I did not have any problems with culture shock which was great and easy. So now I have some time to reflect on my travels, think about what I learned, and about how I may have changed.
So first a summary of my travels. I went to 11 countries, and 23 cities. Of those 11 countries I went to 10 of the capital cities. Can you guess which one I didn't go to... It was Madrid, which is shocking since I lived in Spain. Also in the places I went there were 10 different first languages spoken, I thought that was kind of cool.
There are a bunch of things that I will miss about Europe that aren't so easy to do or see back in the US. The first is the amazing wine and olive oil everywhere. It is more expensive and less accessible here. Next is my host family. They were so great and treated me as if I was one of their own. I got to practice so much Spanish with them and they taught me about their traditions, culture, way of life, and more. It was really cool to get a whole new perspective on the world from them. I don't think I will really notice a change until farther down the road but I feel that since I spent a lot of time with them they have influenced me is some ways. The Spanish might have been the most rewarding part of my whole trip. I can now communicate with people in another language, and actually last night I talked to someone in Spanish for a while. One of my goals for the summer, or the rest of my life, is to keep that Spanish that I learned and keep using it. One day I will be fluent. I will also miss meeting people from all over the world. Almost every day I met someone from another country who speaks a different language. With English and Spanish I could pretty much talk to everyone but I really enjoyed meeting these people. In the US everyone new I meet is from America, usually from the region and at my school everyone is from the same area. I will also miss public transportation. Everywhere I went it was so easy to get around the cities. My brother has our car in Boston until early July so I have had to rely on other people and my parents for rides. I have tried to take the bus but it just doesn't run that often. I do live in a small town of 30,000 people but yesterday I wanted to go from the main bus stop downtown up the hill to a place where a few buses come through. My friend looked up the schedule and the next one was a half an hour. I just started walking and he picked me up on the way, but the public transportation is just difficult here. I will also miss a lot of other things like the actual cities and the old buildings and winding streets.
There are also a few things that I will not miss at all. One of these is the people that sell you things on the street. I am so glad to get away from those people because they are extremely annoying and all the money probably goes to some Mafia organization. Also the Euro. I will not miss the Euro for a few reasons. The first is that it is expensive to take money out of the ATM because of fees, and things are really expensive. Secondly, the Euro doesn't actually fit in my wallet so I need to fold them up, and lastly I always had so many coins.
I can see some very apparent ways that I have changed. I have a greater appreciation for language and people from somewhere else. Before I was never too interested in these aspects but now I am drawn to a person if they speak a different language or are from another country. I also think I am more outgoing and more likely to take chances. I used to be kind of shy and I still am in certain ways but now it is better. The biggest way I have changed though is now I will pretty much try anything whether it is trying food, a sport, dancing, reading, music... and that feeling is amazing. I guess after I tried Haggis I can basically eat anything haha.
Now for the future. There are a few things I want to do this summer. One is to keep speaking Spanish as I said earlier. Another is to start playing the Piano again. I have already started and my dad found some sheet music that is pretty easy. I know most of the right hand now for a song called Somewhere Out There, from the movie An American Tail. I will also plan some trips for the summer. One is going to New York City and the Boston for July 4th. Another is a kayak trip from Ithaca to my lake house that should take a few days. And another is a camping trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire where I go to school.
I have loved keeping this blog and my Barcelona Experience has come to an end. Life is like a book though and this chapter ended. I need to accept that and move on, but my book still has a lot of empty pages and I think if I read it over the rest of the story is not predictable at all. I still have a long life to live and I am so great full that I got the chance to travel and that I have such a detailed record of it. I still have a while but I am really excited to re-read this blog in about 10 years. Who knows where I will be by then.
I will keep posting here too. It might not be very often or similar to the rest but I love to write and I want to keep doing it. So I hope you enjoyed reading, I know I enjoyed writing.
Hasta.....
So first a summary of my travels. I went to 11 countries, and 23 cities. Of those 11 countries I went to 10 of the capital cities. Can you guess which one I didn't go to... It was Madrid, which is shocking since I lived in Spain. Also in the places I went there were 10 different first languages spoken, I thought that was kind of cool.
There are a bunch of things that I will miss about Europe that aren't so easy to do or see back in the US. The first is the amazing wine and olive oil everywhere. It is more expensive and less accessible here. Next is my host family. They were so great and treated me as if I was one of their own. I got to practice so much Spanish with them and they taught me about their traditions, culture, way of life, and more. It was really cool to get a whole new perspective on the world from them. I don't think I will really notice a change until farther down the road but I feel that since I spent a lot of time with them they have influenced me is some ways. The Spanish might have been the most rewarding part of my whole trip. I can now communicate with people in another language, and actually last night I talked to someone in Spanish for a while. One of my goals for the summer, or the rest of my life, is to keep that Spanish that I learned and keep using it. One day I will be fluent. I will also miss meeting people from all over the world. Almost every day I met someone from another country who speaks a different language. With English and Spanish I could pretty much talk to everyone but I really enjoyed meeting these people. In the US everyone new I meet is from America, usually from the region and at my school everyone is from the same area. I will also miss public transportation. Everywhere I went it was so easy to get around the cities. My brother has our car in Boston until early July so I have had to rely on other people and my parents for rides. I have tried to take the bus but it just doesn't run that often. I do live in a small town of 30,000 people but yesterday I wanted to go from the main bus stop downtown up the hill to a place where a few buses come through. My friend looked up the schedule and the next one was a half an hour. I just started walking and he picked me up on the way, but the public transportation is just difficult here. I will also miss a lot of other things like the actual cities and the old buildings and winding streets.
There are also a few things that I will not miss at all. One of these is the people that sell you things on the street. I am so glad to get away from those people because they are extremely annoying and all the money probably goes to some Mafia organization. Also the Euro. I will not miss the Euro for a few reasons. The first is that it is expensive to take money out of the ATM because of fees, and things are really expensive. Secondly, the Euro doesn't actually fit in my wallet so I need to fold them up, and lastly I always had so many coins.
I can see some very apparent ways that I have changed. I have a greater appreciation for language and people from somewhere else. Before I was never too interested in these aspects but now I am drawn to a person if they speak a different language or are from another country. I also think I am more outgoing and more likely to take chances. I used to be kind of shy and I still am in certain ways but now it is better. The biggest way I have changed though is now I will pretty much try anything whether it is trying food, a sport, dancing, reading, music... and that feeling is amazing. I guess after I tried Haggis I can basically eat anything haha.
Now for the future. There are a few things I want to do this summer. One is to keep speaking Spanish as I said earlier. Another is to start playing the Piano again. I have already started and my dad found some sheet music that is pretty easy. I know most of the right hand now for a song called Somewhere Out There, from the movie An American Tail. I will also plan some trips for the summer. One is going to New York City and the Boston for July 4th. Another is a kayak trip from Ithaca to my lake house that should take a few days. And another is a camping trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire where I go to school.
I have loved keeping this blog and my Barcelona Experience has come to an end. Life is like a book though and this chapter ended. I need to accept that and move on, but my book still has a lot of empty pages and I think if I read it over the rest of the story is not predictable at all. I still have a long life to live and I am so great full that I got the chance to travel and that I have such a detailed record of it. I still have a while but I am really excited to re-read this blog in about 10 years. Who knows where I will be by then.
I will keep posting here too. It might not be very often or similar to the rest but I love to write and I want to keep doing it. So I hope you enjoyed reading, I know I enjoyed writing.
Hasta.....
Monday, June 13, 2011
Granada
My final destination was Granada, Spain. When I first decided I was going to Barcelona I knew I needed to see the very famous Alhambra palace. I find it interesting that it was the last touristy thing that I did in Europe. But it was amazing.
I got to Granada mid day on Sunday and checked into my hostel. Online it said it was a hippies paradise which was an atmosphere I knew I would enjoy, especially because I partied a little in Sevilla. My hostel was not the easiest to find but I eventually got there with the help of some locals. On the bus I moved over one seat and asked the young woman standing if she wanted to sit down. I said "quieres sentirse?" She knew english and said "you mean sentarse...you just asked me if I wanted to feel myself." I felt like a complete idiot, especially since I have said that many times to older people on the metro and the bus. She ended up knowing exactly where my hostel was and helped me get there, which was very nice. When I checked in I was hungry so I walked towards the nearest plaza to get some food. When I got to the top of the stairs I could see the entire Alhambra right across the steep cliff. It was an amazing site
I really wanted to come back to see this view at night too. I got a quick bit to eat and decided to take a little walk up the hills to a place called Sacramonte. This is where all of the gypsies live in cliffs and tiny shacks. It was a very nice walk up there but I didn't explore the caves too much because I didn't have any water and it was a bit creepy. The streets up on the hill reminded me a lot of the windy sidewalks in San Torini. The old cobblestone roads that slither up the hillside and the simple architecture. Granada is a very beautiful city but I think it is too touristy to live there.
I returned to the hostel and wrote my name down for eating dinner there, and then went down the hill to grab a drink. In Granada when you order a drink at a tapas bar you get food with it. I just ordered a beer, watched Nadal win the French Open, and ate some french fries with a ham and cheese sandwich. I was very content. Then I returned to my hostel to eat dinner. There were 5 of us, two australians, a spanish girl that worked there and made dinner, and an older woman from the US. I was most interested in the Australians. The next day they planned to go to this place called Bonoficio in the Sierra Nevadas, which is the mountain range you can see in the distance. Next time I come to Europe this place will be on my list because it is extremely off the beaten path. This is a small community of people and the concept is similar to a Kibutz in Israel. When you arrive you are not allowed to bring alcohol or drugs and you need to bring water. Then you chip in for food and help them make crafts or teach people a trade if you have one. They said that the whole idea is to be accepting of anyone and to learn and share ideas. It sounded really cool and if I had some more time I might have gone to see it for myself. After dinner I just relaxed and then went to sleep.
I got woken up around 8 in the morning by a song. "Good Morning, good morning, (REST OF SONG) (ADD LINK). I thought it was hilarious and it was a great way to start the day. Others didn't like it too much but I could see if you were there for more than a few days it would get annoying. As one Englishman put it "It's fuckin' awesome, wake the fuck up and eat some free toast and coffee." I got a nice chuckle from that line, and the way he said it with the British accent.
I had a reservation for the main palace of the Alhambra at 6:00 PM but could enter at 2:00 in the afternoon. The first half of the day I went and checked out some Graffiti a few blocks from the city center. The Graffiti was very artistic and nice but nothing special. Then I took the bus up to the Alhambra and started walking around. I walked to the first palace through some elaborate gardens only to realize that I had lost my ticket, which you need to enter any palace. I panicked a little but went back to the ticket office where to guy selling the audio guides asked me what was wrong. I told him of my problem and my ticket was at the front gate because I had forgotten to take it back when they scanned it. Disaster diverted. I went back and looked at the entire palace with about an hour to spare. My favorite spot was the largest tower closest to the city where you had an entire view of everything for miles. I have a video but it is not comparable to the actual site. There is also a hill above the palace with stairs and railings that act as aqueducts. The strong current had carved into the railings for over 500 years and showed the power of water and the elaborate design of the water system of the Alhambra. While waiting I decided to do some stretching and a girl from Montreal who was on a run started chatting with me. Since I had a t-shirt and gym shorts, she thought I was running too. We talked until I went into the main palace and planned to meet up later. The main palace was everything you would expect. I slowly walked around from room to room, admiring the unique architecture, writing on the walls, and intricate stalactite arches forming large doorways. In the center of most forums there was a still pool of water that reflected the view of the opposite facade but had a slight ripple. This gave an illusion that gave life to the architecture. The only disappointment was in fact a major disappointment. There is a main forum area, I think called the fountain of 12 lions. This forum is the gem of the main palace as my audio guide said and it was completely under construction. My audio guide also said that the fountain is stronger and the reflective illusion is the most powerful and beautiful. Great! I was slightly let down but there was nothing I could do about it so I just let it go.
I went back to the hostel to get my phone and change to something warmer and then I went to go meet up with my new friend. She was couch surfing and studied in Madrid. We got some tapas and talked for a while. She was very interesting and taught me something. Her spanish was excellent, and she just started that year. She did know french fluently which is much harder than spanish but she completely immersed herself in the language and talked to everyone in Spanish. In my 5 months I learned a lot of spanish and I can get bye, but she was close to fluent and I was very impressed. We also talked about how I didn't really see that much of Spain. I should have traveled through the entire country but I only stayed on the coast. Although she was only 20, she had been to Australia 2 times, Europe, South Africa, and South America. So she had dome a lot of traveling and this was my first time doing anything like this so I wanted to get see all of Europe, which I did, but maybe not enough of Spain. Anyway, after the tapas we went to the plaza where the view of the Alhambra was...and it was breathtaking. I could only hear the wind blowing over the hills, the faintest sound of water, and the occasional sound of the city and people. There were even some stars out, which I have not seen in a long time.
I woke up the next morning at 5 to catch a bus and a flight back to Barcelona where I was staying one last night with my host family and then heading home. It was great to see them again. Before I went back I ate lunch at a place called Ciutat Comtal which was my dad's favorite place and Kris's favorite place. I got one of the mini hamburgers and some other food and it was delicious. Then I went back to my home stay where they had prepared a ciesta lunch with the family so I ate another lunch. That night I just relaxed and caught up on sleep and prepared to leave in the morning. Now I am on the plane to Boston.
I got to Granada mid day on Sunday and checked into my hostel. Online it said it was a hippies paradise which was an atmosphere I knew I would enjoy, especially because I partied a little in Sevilla. My hostel was not the easiest to find but I eventually got there with the help of some locals. On the bus I moved over one seat and asked the young woman standing if she wanted to sit down. I said "quieres sentirse?" She knew english and said "you mean sentarse...you just asked me if I wanted to feel myself." I felt like a complete idiot, especially since I have said that many times to older people on the metro and the bus. She ended up knowing exactly where my hostel was and helped me get there, which was very nice. When I checked in I was hungry so I walked towards the nearest plaza to get some food. When I got to the top of the stairs I could see the entire Alhambra right across the steep cliff. It was an amazing site
I really wanted to come back to see this view at night too. I got a quick bit to eat and decided to take a little walk up the hills to a place called Sacramonte. This is where all of the gypsies live in cliffs and tiny shacks. It was a very nice walk up there but I didn't explore the caves too much because I didn't have any water and it was a bit creepy. The streets up on the hill reminded me a lot of the windy sidewalks in San Torini. The old cobblestone roads that slither up the hillside and the simple architecture. Granada is a very beautiful city but I think it is too touristy to live there.
I returned to the hostel and wrote my name down for eating dinner there, and then went down the hill to grab a drink. In Granada when you order a drink at a tapas bar you get food with it. I just ordered a beer, watched Nadal win the French Open, and ate some french fries with a ham and cheese sandwich. I was very content. Then I returned to my hostel to eat dinner. There were 5 of us, two australians, a spanish girl that worked there and made dinner, and an older woman from the US. I was most interested in the Australians. The next day they planned to go to this place called Bonoficio in the Sierra Nevadas, which is the mountain range you can see in the distance. Next time I come to Europe this place will be on my list because it is extremely off the beaten path. This is a small community of people and the concept is similar to a Kibutz in Israel. When you arrive you are not allowed to bring alcohol or drugs and you need to bring water. Then you chip in for food and help them make crafts or teach people a trade if you have one. They said that the whole idea is to be accepting of anyone and to learn and share ideas. It sounded really cool and if I had some more time I might have gone to see it for myself. After dinner I just relaxed and then went to sleep.
I got woken up around 8 in the morning by a song. "Good Morning, good morning, (REST OF SONG) (ADD LINK). I thought it was hilarious and it was a great way to start the day. Others didn't like it too much but I could see if you were there for more than a few days it would get annoying. As one Englishman put it "It's fuckin' awesome, wake the fuck up and eat some free toast and coffee." I got a nice chuckle from that line, and the way he said it with the British accent.
I had a reservation for the main palace of the Alhambra at 6:00 PM but could enter at 2:00 in the afternoon. The first half of the day I went and checked out some Graffiti a few blocks from the city center. The Graffiti was very artistic and nice but nothing special. Then I took the bus up to the Alhambra and started walking around. I walked to the first palace through some elaborate gardens only to realize that I had lost my ticket, which you need to enter any palace. I panicked a little but went back to the ticket office where to guy selling the audio guides asked me what was wrong. I told him of my problem and my ticket was at the front gate because I had forgotten to take it back when they scanned it. Disaster diverted. I went back and looked at the entire palace with about an hour to spare. My favorite spot was the largest tower closest to the city where you had an entire view of everything for miles. I have a video but it is not comparable to the actual site. There is also a hill above the palace with stairs and railings that act as aqueducts. The strong current had carved into the railings for over 500 years and showed the power of water and the elaborate design of the water system of the Alhambra. While waiting I decided to do some stretching and a girl from Montreal who was on a run started chatting with me. Since I had a t-shirt and gym shorts, she thought I was running too. We talked until I went into the main palace and planned to meet up later. The main palace was everything you would expect. I slowly walked around from room to room, admiring the unique architecture, writing on the walls, and intricate stalactite arches forming large doorways. In the center of most forums there was a still pool of water that reflected the view of the opposite facade but had a slight ripple. This gave an illusion that gave life to the architecture. The only disappointment was in fact a major disappointment. There is a main forum area, I think called the fountain of 12 lions. This forum is the gem of the main palace as my audio guide said and it was completely under construction. My audio guide also said that the fountain is stronger and the reflective illusion is the most powerful and beautiful. Great! I was slightly let down but there was nothing I could do about it so I just let it go.
I went back to the hostel to get my phone and change to something warmer and then I went to go meet up with my new friend. She was couch surfing and studied in Madrid. We got some tapas and talked for a while. She was very interesting and taught me something. Her spanish was excellent, and she just started that year. She did know french fluently which is much harder than spanish but she completely immersed herself in the language and talked to everyone in Spanish. In my 5 months I learned a lot of spanish and I can get bye, but she was close to fluent and I was very impressed. We also talked about how I didn't really see that much of Spain. I should have traveled through the entire country but I only stayed on the coast. Although she was only 20, she had been to Australia 2 times, Europe, South Africa, and South America. So she had dome a lot of traveling and this was my first time doing anything like this so I wanted to get see all of Europe, which I did, but maybe not enough of Spain. Anyway, after the tapas we went to the plaza where the view of the Alhambra was...and it was breathtaking. I could only hear the wind blowing over the hills, the faintest sound of water, and the occasional sound of the city and people. There were even some stars out, which I have not seen in a long time.
I woke up the next morning at 5 to catch a bus and a flight back to Barcelona where I was staying one last night with my host family and then heading home. It was great to see them again. Before I went back I ate lunch at a place called Ciutat Comtal which was my dad's favorite place and Kris's favorite place. I got one of the mini hamburgers and some other food and it was delicious. Then I went back to my home stay where they had prepared a ciesta lunch with the family so I ate another lunch. That night I just relaxed and caught up on sleep and prepared to leave in the morning. Now I am on the plane to Boston.
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