Taylor-Time

I had the pleasure of hosting Taylor for a week and a half right after my parents left.  A lot of my friends became very homesick after their parents left, but I think having a friend here, made the transition back to Spanish independent living easier.



I loved showing Taylor around the city. Seeing his enthusiasm reminded me of how absolutely lucky I am to be living here. Every once in a while he would say, "Wow, I'm in Spain!" It was really humbling in a way. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I need to work harder to not take it as much for granted.

The weekend that he was here, we went up to Madrid.  It was amazing, of course, since it's my favorite city in Spain.  We took a free walking tour so that Taylor could see all the important parts of the city in the one day we were there as well as hear the history and fun stories about the different places.  We also made sure to go to my favorite part of the city- El Retiro.  It became one of Taylor's favorite parts of the city as well. There's something magical about nature set apart from the hubbub of a city. El Retiro is so well designed that you can't see any skyscrapers or big buildings or indications of a huge city from within the park.

Our hostel was right around the corner from where I lived when I was studying abroad so we walked to the plaza right across from the piso and I pointed out, "look, see that window up there. That's where I used to live." And I told him the story about how every afternoon, an accordion player would come along the walking street playing music for the restaurant patrons and I would just dance to the music in my room.



Unfortunately we only had one full day in Madrid since we had to be back for the Titanic Party on Saturday night. But I'm still glad I got to go back.  I don't think I'll have time to go back there before I go home. But I'll be back eventually. Tengo ganas de regresar a Madrid y viajar desde allí a los otros sitios a que quiero viajar.

So Saturday night, we had a Titanic party since it was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the titanic.  We all dressed up in our finest cocktail dresses (which weren't very fine since we don't really have any of those in our closets here).  Unfortunately it was raining so we couldn't do all the activities that we had wanted that would have taken place on our terrace, but it was still a fun gathering with good friends.

For the rest of the time Taylor was here, we just enjoyed the relaxed Spanish lifestyle, took in some sun, and played card games. He taught me this really fun card game and I taught him the card game, Spite and Malice.  (Gigi, if you're reading this, I've passed on the game, and I think Taylor enjoyed it so much that he'll teach his friends too.  Thanks for teaching it to me!)

Taylor and I had some really good talks about what it will be like to go home. He had been traveling around Europe for 6 weeks and was going home a few days after Spain. And it got me thinking.  I'm really looking forward to coming home, but it kinda scares me too. I'm sure a lot has changed since I've been gone. I've changed too.  I've also adopted this culture as my own and I'm going to have to re-assimilate into the American lifestyle. And I don't know if I want to. I love the attitude towards life and culture here so much.  But I'll have to. I don't really have a choice, do I?  I can't wait to come home, but I'd just love to bring my favorite parts about the Spanish culture with me.  Anyway, just some thoughts. Please excuse me if I'm depressed when I get home. It's not that I don't like being around you all, I really can't wait for that.  It's just that, after all that I've been through, the cold winters, the lonely afternoons, the solo travels, I've really had an amazing experience.

And it's not over yet!! Todavía queda un mes y media!

Parent- time

My parents were here! I know I'm really behind in my posts, so I'm going to make this a picture post.

One of the first days in Sevilla, there was the union strike. A lot of things weren't open or running since they were protesting the new Spanish government's proposed budget cuts and reforms.

"Sunny" Sevilla. Sevilla has on average more than 300 days of sun a year.  But it was cloudy and/or rainy the entire time we were there.  We enjoyed the beautiful city nevertheless.

Since we were in Sevilla right before Semana Santa (Holy Week), we could go into the different churches to see up close the floats that are carried along the streets in the Semana Santa processions.  Sevilla has probably the grandest Semana Santa and people come to Sevilla from all over Spain. So seeing the beautiful floats here was especially extraordinary.

We also took a tour of the bull fighting ring of Sevilla.  Bull fighting is a tradition still holding strong in Sevilla.

We went to Plaza de España during one of the sunlight moments.  Plaza de España was built for a world conference. It has architectural elements from all over Spain and Spanish history.

After Sevilla, we went to Ronda.  The old part of the city is located on one side of this huge canyon because it had great defensive properties (and great views to go with it).  This bridge unites the now larger city and is the symbol of Ronda.

At the bottom of the canyon is this beautiful river.  During the days of the defensive city, they had a problem of running out of water when under siege. So they built a tunnel (with 365 steps) down to the canyon and slaves/servants would pass the water up to the city.

After Ronda, my parents went to Gibraltar while I went back to Torre del Mar. After Gibraltar, my parents came over to Torre del Mar for a few days.

On Wednesday, we headed into Málaga to watch some Semana Santa processions.

We also went to the Balcón de Europa in Nerja and then the caves of Nerja.  In the cave was this huge column which is, according to the Guinnes Book of World Records, the largest cave column in the world.

Of course a trip with my parents would not be complete without Geocaching. One of the caches near the caves led us to this gorgeous place.

I loved having my parents here. It was the perfect touch of home to ward off the homesickness and get me through the rest of my time here.  I hope my parents enjoyed it as much as I did. But let's be honest. They were in Spain. Of course they did. Who wouldn't?