Carnaval--a masquerade festival that occurs before Lent--was completely nuts. A bunch of IES kids and I bought a round-trip bus ticket to Cádiz for 20 euro. Cádiz is one of the most popular Spanish cities to celebrate Carnaval, and is located on the southern coast of Spain (not far too from Portugal). We left Granada around 1pm on Saturday and arrived 4 hours later in Cádiz. Of course, the first thing we did was hit the beach. It was perfect weather, and the ocean and shoreline were beautiful. After nightfall, the ridiculous costumes emerged. Themed groups were very popular. Paige and I stayed near the cathedral most of the night, among massive swarms of people. It was very difficult to move through the crowds at certain points, but we still had so much fun meeting different groups of people. We tried to take a picture with every group that we met (we bought a disposable camera for this event, just in case). There wasn't much music or dancing so it seemed like more of a social gathering than anything else. Maybe there were more cultural events (i.e. a parade) that I was not aware of though. By the end of the night, the weather had gotten much colder and the city was absolutely trashed. We left around 7am and everyone passed out until we got back to Granada (around 11am). Many of the students did not have as good a time as I did, because they thought it was too crazy or too cold and long. Also, one of my friends got sick and another got pick-pocketed. Still, I think it was one of those things that is good to experience at least once in your life.
Accordingly, Sunday was recovery day. Once Aja and I walked home, I sorted out my priorities:
- Shower
- Eat
- Sleep
Monday was somewhat uneventful, but Tuesday began with a class visit to the mosque (mezquita). It was incredible. Our guide has had the most amazing life. I'll write what I remember, but I know it's only scratching the surface. She lived in California with a very stable job when she decided to take a year off to see the world. She traveled all throughout Europe and ended up dropping everything in the states to live in the Alpujarras. When her husband converted to Islam, she decided to convert as well. Born and raised Catholic, her family disowned her, and her friends in the Alpujarras violently persecuted her and her husband. I'm fascinated by the Christian-Muslim history. Inside the mosque (a rare opportunity for non-muslims), she told us about her pilgrimage to Meca and other stories from her past. Currently, she is divorced with four children. Still, she is very content with her religious life now. She's also very opinionated about the Islamic faith in other Arab countries. She invited us to join one of the weekly social meals at the mosque that occur every Friday after worship. I am very excited to go because I have so many questions for her--I feel like I could talk to her for days. She is such a strong and radical woman that, I believe, has much more to tell.
The mosque itself was quite interesting too. If I remember correctly, it was the first mosque that was built by Spaniards. It's also the only current mosque in Granada, since prior mosques have since been converted into churches. Thus, it was quite a challenge to build. Located in el Albaicín, it has a fantastic view of la Alhambra and la Sierra Nevada. The inside is very beautiful as well, and much smaller than a cathedral. It is required to remove your shoes and for women to wear a headscarf (hijab) before entering. A large red carpet that is sectioned with lines covered the main area--this is where the men pray. The women pray in the balcony above or in a golden cage behind the men. Mixed feelings about this, but still so fascinating; I cannot wait to learn more. After the mosque visit, I went to the Arab World and the West class, where my Islamic education continued. I also had Islamic Art and Architecture, where we got our first essays back. I was quite surprised to see my first A! We had one of my favorite foods at comida--couscous--before I headed off to my watercolor class, where we drew a masterpiece by our favorite artist. I drew a painting by Monet--he is not my favorite artist, but I do like his style. After class, I walked to the bus station with Paige, Clarissa, and the Matts to buy bus tickets for Semana Santa. It was quite a hike (45 minutes) but it was nice to explore a new part of the city. We also walked through a protest in the street on the way there. Apparently they were protesting about the brutal police treatment that had occurred in Valencia. Once we finally got back to IES, we bought our plane tickets--such a relief! Here's the itinerary: Paige, Clarissa, and I are taking a bus from Granada to Madrid, and then flying into Nice, France. We will spend the weekend there and hopefully take a bus trip to Monaco. Then we will fly to Barcelona for a few days where we will meet Matt, and then fly to Madrid. That weekend, we will take a bus back to Granada so that we can see the last two days of the religious processions. All that's left to do now is book hostels and research places that we want to see!
I slept in Wednesday and went for a run. As usual, I ended up in el Albaicín, but instead of San Miguel, I found myself at San Nicolas, which has an equally beautiful view of the city and la Alhambra. I had some downtime before comida, and then went to my Islamic art class, where we visited el Albaicín and learned more about its history. When I came home, Delia was sad because she was fighting with José and wasn't content with her current painting. It broke my heart, so Aja and I agreed to get her flowers this week to cheer her up. I went to flamenco class before meeting up with Paige. In her University of Granada course, she met a group of Erasmus (EU student exchange program) students from Italy. We went to their apartment and had a great time. I found it very refreshing to spend time with non-IES students. Spanish was the common language, but we taught them a little English and they taught us some Italian words. It's crazy how similar Spanish and Italian are. If I ever get a chance, I would love to learn Italian, now having such a strong base in Spanish.I left the United States exactly one month prior to Thursday. It was so hard for me to wrap my mind around this; also sad to see how fast the time is going. A representative from the IES Chicago headquarters joined us during el consejo that morning. She was curious to see how things were going and what things need to be improved. She is traveling to a few other IES programs in Europe after she leaves Granada, apparently doing this every couple years. After the meeting, I worked on a few sketches for my watercolor class before spending the rest of the morning in class. Many students (including Aja) are traveling this weekend since we don't have class on Tuesday, but I'm kind of excited to spend the long weekend in Granda. During watercolor class, we were instructed to create our own version of the artwork that we selected to replicate in the previous class. Instead of returning home for comida, a few IES students and I were invited to Café Botánico to have lunch with the IES Chicago director. Running on only three hours of sleep, I took a longer nap than usual after lunch. When I woke up, my friend, Matt, and I planned a day trip to la Sierra Nevada. We found it difficult to plan, but researched as much as possible and hoped everything would work itself out the next day. Afterwards, I went to a wine tasting class that was organized by IES. It was a lot of fun, but I went home shortly after it was done to get some rest before hitting the slopes the next morning!
Matt and I met at a bus stop at 6:30am on Friday, which took us to the Estación de Autobuses de Granada. We bought our bus tickets to la Sierra Nevada for only nine euro. The bus left at 8 and we arrived about 45 minutes later. As much as I wanted to sleep, I wouldn't let myself because the bus ride was so beautiful as we climbed higher and higher in the mountains towards the morning sun. When we arrived, Matt and I walked though the small village to purchase lift tickets and rent skis. It was a bit pricy all together, but I knew it would be worth it. Then we took the gondola to the main ski area around 930. I was completely blown away by the beauty of the area. And the higher up we went, the scenery and mountain views somehow became more and more incredible. I found it interesting that the mountains contained many boulders that were not covered in snow, and also by the lack of any trees. Matt and I guessed that we were at too high an altitude to allow them to grow. I was also initially surprised by the lift ticket because you keep it inside your pocket and the sensors catch it before you get on each ski lift. Matt and I started skiing in the main green (easy) area. It was extremely cold and windy in the morning, but it gradually warmed up throughout the day. And it helped that the sun and blue skies never left.
We eventually worked our way up the mountain to harder areas (blue=intermediate, red=difficult, black=very difficult). I felt like I decently mastered the blue level, but the red slopes were a bit tricky for me. I did my best not to snow plow my way down them. It was still tempting to try as many of them as I could because they had the best views and snow (more powder, less grooming). The ski resort seemed huge, and I loved the fact that there wasn't even enough time to hit all of the slopes and that you could get on a lift or keep skiing down to a different lift. My favorite slopes were the long trails that winded around the borders of the ski resort. One of these started off along a steep ledge that looked over the main ski area, and later led to a tunnel. A bit different than Seven Springs, right? At one point, Matt and I decided to take a "t-bar" to a higher part of the mountain. It was quite possibly one of the scariest things that I've ever done. Not only was it tricky (and embarrassing) to get on, but it pulled us up very steep parts of the mountain. I just kept trying not to think about what would happen if I somehow lost my grip and let go. The view at the top made it all worth it though.
Matt and I split up for a while after that so that he could try some more difficult slopes. I knew that I ended up on a different side of the mountain when I spotted the observatory from the back. It was so surreal. I also came across a crazy terrain park and half pipe. The only really difficult part was trying to decipher what some of the signs meant--the arrows weren't always clear. And I did need to pull my map out to plan a route to get back to the main side of the mountain and meet up with Matt. Along the way, I rode on a lift that turned a corner (a bit frightening) and met a few Spaniards on two different lifts. One of them was from Alicante and the other from Madrid. Both of them complimented my Spanish and were surprised to learn that I was from the United States (YES!). When I met up with Matt, he told me that he took a lift to the very top of the mountain, which had a spectacular 360 degree view. And he could see the Mediterranean Sea from there. I was so jealous, but told myself to gather up the courage for next time--I'm dying to go again! We only skied a little while longer because the lifts closed around 5pm. I found this odd, and I am still not sure if they opened again later on or not. No pasa nada though--Matt and I skied our way down to the village, and returned our skis. We walked around for a bit and had a few beers before catching the bus at 6:30. I was so glad that we decided to leave at 6:30 instead of 4. Initially I thought that 6:30 would be too late, but we never got tired or bored--even after taking only a few short breaks. Nevertheless, I knew my muscles would be sore tomorrow after such a long day of intense skiing. The bus ride back to Granada was equally as beautiful, seeing as it was perfect timing to watch the sunset. But of course, Matt slept through it. When we got back to Granada, we caught a city bus home around 7:30, and I showered and fell asleep. I had planned on waking up later to go out, but I was too exhausted!
