On Saturday morning, I hung out in my favorite park, Carmen de los Mártires, taking my time to think while soaking in the sun. During comida, Delia cheered me up with chocolate, because I was feeling a bit down. However, my spirits picked up when I left to go horseback riding! I met up with Jacqueline and Melissa, and we caught the bus to Dilar, a pueblo about 45 minutes outside of Granada by bus. We arrived around 6pm and followed one of the workers from Los Alayos to the stable. The barn was great, and had beautiful horses and adorable barn dogs and cats. We met our guide, Fernando, and our horses. Since I had the most riding experience out of my friends, Fernando gave me the horse that liked to eat everything. But "Califa" turned out to be quite fun. Two little Spanish girls joined our group, one of them also named Elena. In addition, two barn dogs tagged along for the journey. After the six of us mounted, Fernando led us on a two-hour trail ride around a natural park. The terrain was a bit tricky; steep inclines and descents, rocky areas, and ditches. We mostly walked, but there were also spots where we trotted and cantered a bit. Apart from the English tack, I felt like a real cowboy! We rode through olive and almond trees (which Califa tried to steal mouth-fulls from), and had spectacular views of the mountains, Granada, and the surrounding pueblos. The weather was great and the time of day was perfect--we were riding horseback through southern Spain at sunset. Riding is such a big part of my life at home, so it was an incredible experience to ride in Granada. There were no words. Back at the barn, we said goodbye to Fernando and the horses, and caught the bus back to Granada. Along the way, we watched the gorgeous sunset, which radiated vibrant colors. At the bus stop, my friends and I said goodbye after spending a wonderful afternoon together. On my walk home, every bar that I passed was literally overflowing with people, all eyes glued to the TV; Barcelona and Real Madrid were playing each other. Back at home, I made myself dinner, showered, and went to bed, hoping not to be sore in the morning!
On Sunday, IES took a day trip to Priego de Córdoba to do an olive oil tasting! The bus left from the Neptuno mall at 8:30am. We stopped at a cafe along the way for breakfast and coffee. I was glad that Trini and Tamara came along. Around 10:30am, we walked through the countryside, guided by Fermín from the olive oil company, Aceites Vizcántar. Along the way, he gave us information about the
thousand-year old olive trees. Javier pointed out an almond tree, and I took a sample--still a bit green. Afterwards, we went to Aceites Vizcántar for the olive oil tasting. We tried three different types: the first was a delicious-smelling extra virgin olive oil that smelled like sweet tomatoes, the second was an awful smelling oil, and the third was a neutral, virgin olive oil. After smelling them, we took a sip of each. Fermín explained the reasoning behind the taste and smell of each oil, which I found very interesting. Then we sampled delicious jam, pate, and olives with a bit of wine. At that point, there was no resisting bringing home a souvenir or two from the little shop. Surprisingly, the products were very reasonable priced and made great gifts. There was everything from olive oil to jars of olives to beauty products. Aja and I got a tiny bottle of oil to bring home for Delia. A bit later, we left to go to the historic center of the city of Priego de Córdoba. There we had a picnic with our lunches from home. Afterwards, the group went for a guided walk through the old city. However, Paige wasn't feeling well, so I hung back with her. We left at 5pm and arrived back in Granada around 6:30pm. It was a cool visit, but everyone was dragging a bit by the end, probably since we are used to sleeping all day on Sundays. Aja and I got wonderful frozen yogurt before we returned home. There I skyped with my family to wish my sister Anna an early happy birthday, and wrote an essay for Watercolor. Then I blogged for a bit before happily crawling into bed.
I was pleased to find out on that we were watching a movie during Spanish class on Monday morning. Well, happy until the movie started; it was the most bizarre movie that I'd ever seen. La Comunidad was, in my opinion, a poorly-made parody of horror/mystery movies. Still, it was better than taking notes! After class, I sketched for a bit in Plaza Bib-Rambla, soaking in the warm sun. It was interesting to watch the everyday views around the city change as the trees bloomed with leaves and flowers. I also noticed the increase of tourists around the city; they must come with the good weather. A bit later, I went to my flamenco theory class, before returning home for comida. I had a good talk with Delia and worked on homework. Then I went to my first pilates class at la Casa de Porras. Initially, I found it somewhat easy and similar to yoga. That is, until I realized that the way of breathing is completely different. In the end, I found it very difficult to learn pilates, especially since I didn't know the majority of the vocabulary that the instructor was using. Still, she assured me that it would get easier after the first class, so I decided to take the challenge and stick with it. A bit later, I went to Flamenco before returning home to watch Grey's Anatomy for the rest of the night!
Tuesday morning was booked with class. After my last one, I stopped by Javier's office to get a few suggestions on where to go during my trip to Portugal the weekend ahead. I was so excited to hear that Lisbon is one of his favorite cities. When I went home, I was very pleased to see that Delia had made spaghetti for lunch; I ate two plates. I was sad to see that Laura was unhappy and having problems sleeping. I gave her my sleep mask and told her to keep it for as long as she needed. After comida, I went to Watercolor, where we worked outside along el Río Darro (the nice weather had continued). I was sketching a house, when I spotted a tiny gecko crawling up the wall towards me. I quickly jumped off the wall, and was hesitant to return to it. Needless to say, my groove had been thrown off, and I didn't get much more work done. After class, I joined Paige at Café Manila to work on homework. I finished my Cola-Cao and flamenco critique before walking home. There I laid low for the rest of the night to catch up with my blog.
I happily slept in on Wednesday before going to Lorca Park to get some exercise. I took advantage of the heat, and wore a tank top. While this may have been normal in the States, the weird looks that I received told me that it wasn't normal in Europe. A bit later, I came home to shower and finish up some homework. After comida, I went to my Islamic Art visit at an ancient house and a convent. It was a very relaxed visit in comparison to our previous ones to the Alhambra. Yet, it was still very cool, and the nuns from the convent gave us wonderful homemade pastries! After the visit, I went to a leather-making workshop at IES. It was
awesome. Munira, my dear old friend from the mosque, showed us the basics. First we wet the leather, and then used a variety of tools to make patterns and prints. I made two coasters and a cellphone/iPod case. After Munira sews the two parts of the case together, she will return them to us. I'm also excited to check out her new leather store in Plaza Nueva. Later on, I went to Flamenco and returned home with just enough time to pack for Portugal!
On Sunday, IES took a day trip to Priego de Córdoba to do an olive oil tasting! The bus left from the Neptuno mall at 8:30am. We stopped at a cafe along the way for breakfast and coffee. I was glad that Trini and Tamara came along. Around 10:30am, we walked through the countryside, guided by Fermín from the olive oil company, Aceites Vizcántar. Along the way, he gave us information about the thousand-year old olive trees. Javier pointed out an almond tree, and I took a sample--still a bit green. Afterwards, we went to Aceites Vizcántar for the olive oil tasting. We tried three different types: the first was a delicious-smelling extra virgin olive oil that smelled like sweet tomatoes, the second was an awful smelling oil, and the third was a neutral, virgin olive oil. After smelling them, we took a sip of each. Fermín explained the reasoning behind the taste and smell of each oil, which I found very interesting. Then we sampled delicious jam, pate, and olives with a bit of wine. At that point, there was no resisting bringing home a souvenir or two from the little shop. Surprisingly, the products were very reasonable priced and made great gifts. There was everything from olive oil to jars of olives to beauty products. Aja and I got a tiny bottle of oil to bring home for Delia. A bit later, we left to go to the historic center of the city of Priego de Córdoba. There we had a picnic with our lunches from home. Afterwards, the group went for a guided walk through the old city. However, Paige wasn't feeling well, so I hung back with her. We left at 5pm and arrived back in Granada around 6:30pm. It was a cool visit, but everyone was dragging a bit by the end, probably since we are used to sleeping all day on Sundays. Aja and I got wonderful frozen yogurt before we returned home. There I skyped with my family to wish my sister Anna an early happy birthday, and wrote an essay for Watercolor. Then I blogged for a bit before happily crawling into bed.
I happily slept in on Wednesday before going to Lorca Park to get some exercise. I took advantage of the heat, and wore a tank top. While this may have been normal in the States, the weird looks that I received told me that it wasn't normal in Europe. A bit later, I came home to shower and finish up some homework. After comida, I went to my Islamic Art visit at an ancient house and a convent. It was a very relaxed visit in comparison to our previous ones to the Alhambra. Yet, it was still very cool, and the nuns from the convent gave us wonderful homemade pastries! After the visit, I went to a leather-making workshop at IES. It was awesome. Munira, my dear old friend from the mosque, showed us the basics. First we wet the leather, and then used a variety of tools to make patterns and prints. I made two coasters and a cellphone/iPod case. After Munira sews the two parts of the case together, she will return them to us. I'm also excited to check out her new leather store in Plaza Nueva. Later on, I went to Flamenco and returned home with just enough time to pack for Portugal!
