It was cool having them arrive on Dad's birthday. So we had to celebrate by taking them out for their first "tapas". For those of you who don't know, Granada is famous for them. When you order a drink you get a free appetizer, which is called a "Tapa"!
I loved getting to show them my house, where I go to school, all the things I see on my walk there in the morning, the Alhambra, etc. Of course mom snapped 1,000 shots so you will have to hit her up to see those. Although it was vacation for them, I still had 4 hours of class in the morning, a night class, homework, and a host family to keep up with. So it was a busy week for me and by the time the weekend came, I had no trouble sleeping on our plane ride to Naples, Italy!
Italy was fun. The weather could have been a little warmer and I wouldn't have been mad. Of course the first then we had to do when we got to Sorrento was get some pizza. And MAN was it good!! (: For my 2 short days in Italy we went to Pompeii to see the volcanic ruins. Around 70BC a volcano had erupted and covered an entire city. We go to walk through the remains....I'd say the city is about the size of Dakota City.
IT WAS HUGE! But so incredible. Dad couldn't get over how big the stones were in the streets. And when we were in Spain he couldn't get over how big some door frames were on churches and the Alhambra! haha typical. We also took a bus ride along the Almalfi coast and stopped in a little cliff town between Sorrento and Almalfi. It was BEAUTIFUL. Get this--the town is built so vertical on the side of the mountain that there is only one road that goes through the town. It just weaves its way on one side from the top to the bottom and then back the other side.
We took about 1,000 stair steps down to the bottom and walked along the beach. There was a lot going out. We found out that this was the best time to visit. During the summer months people with cars can only drive every other day. Odd number days, cars with odd numbered license plates were able to drive and visa versa for even days -- its that packed!! Mom and Dad were nervous for me to travel by myself back to Granada. But when we left our hotel at 7:25am Monday morning...we didn't have a choice! It was a hard good-bye but it was well worth having them traveling across the world to come visit me. How awesome of parents am I blessed with!? So Bus to Bus to Plane to Plane to Metro to Bus... 7:25am-11:45pm I finally arrived in Granada. In one piece. It was a big day. Another week of class has gone by. Truth is, I'm getting frustrated with my classes and learning Spanish. But turns out if I fail a test I fail the entire semester. So lets just do a lot of praying..and I'll do a lot of studying and practicing. The 28th is the next test! I'm sure I'll be fine. This morning (St Patrick's Day) I went with my group up a little ways into the mountains to see "Gypsies Villages" which is so miss-leading. We go a tour of old caves where people lived a long time ago. It was neat and a beautiful walk on a beautiful day. But deep down I was a little disappointed (: haha Now I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my day in the park making charts and doing homework!
