Snowboarding

On Friday, I went snowboarding in the Sierra Nevada mountains with a Spanish friend. It was by far one of my favorite days here in Spain. It was only a 30 minute drive away. The weather was perfect. There was barely anyone on the hills. The view was breathtaking. It was about as peaceful as it gets. It was my first time snowboarding in the mountains (20 minutes from top to bottom makes the day much more fun). I didn't get hurt. Successful day in my book. Here are some pictures, but I have to say that these pictures don't do justice.

 The entire place to myself it seemed like.

 Most of the snow was artificial snow, but it surprisingly wasn't too bad of conditions.

 It was the first time I had ever seen an enclosed lift. To get to the very top of the hill, you had to take three different lifts. However, the very top wasn't open yet, so we only took two to our starting spot.

 I cannot wait to go back next time, there should be more natural snow and nearly all the trails open, yahooooo!

Monachil

 Monachil is a small village outside of Granada with some great hiking trails, accessible by just a 40 minute bus ride. Two friends and I went hiking in Monachil on Saturday morning. Though it was quite chilly, the sun made the hike much more pleasant.

I've always wanted to walk across a bridge like this, like in the movies. Yes, it's pretty scary to be in a bridge that moves with your every step.

A jail-ish looking ruins in the middle of the mountains?

 

Next adventure... Snowboarding in the Sierra Nevada mountains!

Mi familia española

I can officially say that I am now living in Granada after spending two weekends here. My Spanish has perfected and I've done many fun activities with my Spanish friends and family.

I have a friend here named Marta, who I met through a program called Intercambio. The program matches up a local student and a foreign student so they each can practice speaking in a different language. For example, when Marta and I meet, we begin by speaking about an hour in English and finish in Spanish. I think this is a much better way to learn a language than in a classroom. 

Last Saturday, Marta invited me over to her house to eat with her family, which ended up being a super fun day. We started by going to a little market type thing (I'm not sure how to describe it) where they were selling all types of clothing items for verrry cheap. She helped teach me clothing vocabulary, which was very helpful for the quiz I had last week. Afterwards, we went to her house where I met her family, ate lunch with them and soaked in the last bit of warm sun for the year. Her family is so welcoming and hospitable, definitely got a little bit of a family-fix. We ended our day by seeing a movie, of course it was in Spanish, but surprisingly I understood the majority of what they said. Needless to say, I can sum up my day by saying I practiced my Spanish and didn't even get exhausted from speaking so much (which has happened multiple times here).

Friday, I spent the day with my host family, Elisa (host mom), Ela (sister), Antonio and David (nephews). We went to Ela's house for lunch, then went to Antonio's soccer game. Holy guacamole, those six year olds can play... better than me I think. It was a day to remember, Antonio won his first game, and David fell off a retaining wall right onto his arm. We thought at first it was broken, so I babysat Antonio while they took David to the hospital. Fortunately, it wasn't broken, just bruised and stiff. 

Sorry for more text than pictures, didn't take too many this week. Until next time!

Madrid, Spain

 My flight back from Paris landed in Madrid, so I figured I might as well stay there for a night so I could see Madrid. It is a beautiful city, much larger and more modern than Granada, but quite dirty due to the city worker strike. All the city workers, specifically those that clean up the city, happened to be on strike the week I was there, super convenient. As a result, all the streets and plazas were full of trash, quite disgusting, but when ignoring the trash, the city is beautiful!

 This plaza, called Plaza Mayor, is the center point of 6 different streets.

 Madrid is full of street entertainment.

The Royal Palace.

Madrid's Cathedral.

 It wouldn't be a traditional European city without a cathedral.

Plaza de España

 The statues are of Don Quijote and Sancho Pancho, two famous characters in Spanish literature.

 Debod Temple

 My second day in Madrid, I went to a huge park, called Retiro Park. It was amazingly beautiful and relaxing, filled with flowers, grass, trees, fountains, statues, lakes, etc.

 Not to mention the glass palace located in the center.

Thanks for reading!