Heart + Soul, BRMC

The past two weeks have been pretty up and down. Last week was boring, stressful and worrisome. This week was a big week. I found out that (thankfully) my knee is only sprained. Pretty badly, but still, only sprained. I went to a bar and met some really cool Spaniards. I saw the most visited site in Spain. I made friends. I started a list of places to live when I pick up the nomadic life.

I won't bore you with details about the week before last, so on we go.

This week was pretty mellow. We had Monday off, so I pretty much did homework and watched movies. This week passed pretty mellowly, then I had a doctor's appointment on Friday. My friend Allison went with me to discover that I had only sprained my knee. Later, we went to a small cafe and agreed to meet up that evening. I returned home to eat with my host family and roommates and we subsequently met up to go to a bar with one of her friends for her birthday. I met a lot of Spaniards and had an awesome time. We drank beer, talked and had a really mellow (but long) night. I'm really going to miss the opportunity to go out and speak in Spanish to practice when I return to the states.

The next morning, I woke up early to take the bus to Granada. Once arriving there, I talked to one of the women that works at the hostel I was staying at, discussing my study plans as well as places to see in the city. She recommended that I walk up to Mirador San Nicolas to get the famous view of the Alhambra as well as explore the Arabic area of the city. This area was absolutely beautiful. All the streets in Granada were cobblestone, a little hard on my knee, but added to the charm of the town. I meandered, climbing in altitude and suddenly, I had the most amazing view of the Alhambra with the Sierra's behind. No snow yet (we've had a mild winter, apparently - that does not stop Madrilenos from freaking out when I go out in a long sleeve shirt in 60 degree weather), but still a spectacular view. In the courtyard of the church, a circle of Spaniards were singing Beatles songs. They were stuck on lyrics to "Yesterday", so I felt obliged to help them out. This is another example of how amazing Spaniards are. They welcomed me into the circle and we sang songs together for a while. The sun started to dip, creating a mess of colors in the sky. Definitely one of my better moments in Spain, singing Beatles songs and watching the sun dip behind the sky.

I returned to my hostel to read a little and get food. The two guys working the late shift struck up a conversation with me while I read, and ended up inviting me to go hiking with them the next day. Unfortunately, I had already planned to go to the Alhambra early the next morning.
I woke up early and got in to the monument. There really are no words to describe this place, so I'll put the pictures up in the next few days. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen built by human hands. The views from the top aren't too bad, either. To think someone lived there and wasn't completely overwhelmed by the intricacy is shocking to me. The detail in the walls are incredible. I've never seen anything like it.

I went to church in the city center before my bus left. The Spanish ceremony is a lot more intense than the American one. They say prayers I don't even recognize the translation of, and everyone can recite these by heart. The church was absolutely beautiful, but it was being restored, so unfortunately not all the art was available to see.

My bus arrived back in Madrid at 9:00 without any mishaps. I returned home in time for dinner and prepared for the next week of school.