April showers bring...the unexpected!

Did you know… that in Australia people who work at McDonalds or Kmart are making $22 an hour? Or that in Ireland everyone’s college education is free. And they pay you 3,000euros to go abroad! What are we doing wrong in America?

Nick, Lee, Carla, David, and Jamie. David is from Australia
and the others from different parts of Ireland.

Last night I went over to my Irish friend’s apartment. There are four Irish kids and an Australian living there. That is beside the point! I love talking to those guys. Of course they have such thick accents and crazy phrases, it is hard to understand at times, but they are the friendliest, caring people I have met! For example, earlier this week I had went over because they had invited us over for cake and tea. David, the Australian kid was supposed to return home back in January. He has extended his stay four times and finally is to go home the beginning of next week. I asked David about Australia and told him that Grandpa and Grandma Pedersen had gone over some years ago and they absolutely loved it. We talked about how every once every "Fortnight" (two weeks) they eat Kanagroo or how there are sharks everywhere. That’s another cool part about being abroad, meeting people who live extraordinary lives. And get this – 21 year old David, who has been traveling Europe for the past year or so, rebuilds human hearts. When he gets back to Australia he is going to start working. Simply amazing!

I’ve kept with my vow so far, I’m staying on top of homework and studies. First week down! My class is diverse like usual. We have 6 Americans from all corners: Florida, Washington, Boston, Pella, Colorado. There is a classmate from Belgium, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and London. And the woman from Canada is in her forties I would guess and Fey from Hong Kong is in her late thirties. Since we always have a lot of diversity in our class, we thought it would be cool to see in how many different languages, collectively, we know how to say “hello”. I would say quite a few! I’ve been getting back into the gym, spending time with my host family. I went shopping with my host sister on Saturday and went with my host brother Migue up to the Albaicin to meet his friend from China who had studied abroad and stayed with their family years ago. It is a great way to practice my Spanish and I feel like my speaking abilities are improving a lot now. I’ve been skyping mom a lot lately. She is so excited for my coming home party now that I get messages daily. But I’m not complaining because I love getting messages from home. Speaking of, thank you everyone who sent me a birthday card! It makes going to school and checking my mailbox more fun! I know it sometimes takes more than two weeks to receive a letter so don’t worry if I haven’t gotten it yet! 

I want to wish a Happy Anniversary to my Grandpa Daryl and Grandma Ruby! What an accomplishment. Know that I was thinking of you both on the 11^th. Also, of course, a BIG Happy Birthday to Grandpa Cecil on the 12^th. I know we usually get to share a little Birthday celebration together so looks like you get to celebrate yours again on May 19^th with me! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a painted Spanish man on the side of a building like I did for Grandma Pearl on her birthday. But know that I had been keeping an eye out for one for some time! 

I had the coolest experience the other night. It had been over a month since I spent time up in the Albaicin so Austin and I decided to go up there to watch the sunset; it really is a magnificent sight. We made the hike up the vertical streets and found a seat along the wall in the plaza San Nicholas. So we sit there, letting our feet dangle, and talk about how crazy it is that we are in the middle of April already. The sky is always gorgeous at night but this time it was extra special. Earlier we had noticed mean looking clouds on our right, casted over Granada. It had been sprinkling on and off all day. Just then the sun shines through and we can see a thick blanket of rain, just pouring down! Of course we were nervous we were going to get dumped on but didn’t care because the sun had brightly lit up the Alhambra and created a double rainbow over it. It didn’t even look real! It was as if only the building itself was lit and the dark rolling clouds behind it only made it shine brighter. We sat there for an hour watching the storm pass over Granada and the Alhambra shine!

So many times in Europe, I find myself quoting “it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”. And I honestly believe that every time I say it. To justify, there are so many different kinds of beauty. How can I compare the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night, to the giant rolling mountains in Morocco, Africa with a little village girl sitting on my lap? Or the beaches of Barcelona to sitting on the 15 foot wall, watching the sunset in my favorite place in Granada?

But really...it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen ;)! And of course, pictures will never hold a candle next to the real experience. But maybe you can agree?

One last story! I know mom gives me a hard time that I don’t mention Austin enough. Well, a few years ago I had made a bucket list. Every now and then I will add things or take them off if they’re not that important to me anymore. Things that I’ve always wanted to do, such as speak a foreign language, donate blood, bake a pie from scratch, and even some silly things such as own a gumball machine, nail jello to a wall and see if it stays, and eat at Hooters. ANYWAYS, one of the things on my list is to salsa dance in Spain. So Austin had brought that up and told me we were going to a salsa class this week. He looked into it and there is a couple that come on Friday nights to our gym and teaches classes. So Friday night, sure enough, we both go to this class. The girls had their heels on and surprisingly, there were just as many guys there too. Of course we looked out of place in our athletic clothes and Nike shoes…typical Americans. But I would do that experience over again and again! The class was for ‘beginners’ but these people were very good. So we got our own individual lesson, learning 4 basic steps, 3 different spins for me and even one for lucky Austin. But don’t feel bad for him because I know he actually wanted to go too! And he was eating it up, which made it really fun. The instructors were awesome. Sometimes we would stop what we were doing and would watch them demonstrate a move. It was SO impressive! Then one time the woman instructor had left and the man says: “chica nueva…ven aqui!”(new girl, come here). Cool. So here I am, getting whip flashed all over the dance floor by this professional salsa dancer who was 6 inches shorter than me. No doubt my face was as red as a tomato but the rest of the class clapped, cheered, and laughed with me. The class itself was wonderful! It was like a little family. Obviously this group had been practicing together for a while because in the middle of our two hour class we had a 15 minute break they started laying out mats on the ground. One lady runs and gets out a pan of chocolate flan (dessert) and little cold meat sandwiches. The flan was fantastic but we didn’t dare try whatever meat sandwiches there were. They were so inviting and had us sit in the circle with them and demanded we were in all of their group pictures! They were disappointed we were only going to be there for one session, but let’s get real – I don’t know if we could handle much more! At the end the instructors danced for us and we got to videotape it! Needless to say, I fell in love with the woman instructor and wanted to tell her… I WANT TO BE YOU. Haha

Just starting to check some things off of my little Spain bucket list now. Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to the Saturday morning market or hiking this weekend because it has been raining!!! How strange. I think this is the 5^th time we have had rain the entire 3 months I’ve been here so far. Must be starting to get the April showers! But I think Granada (being in the southern, dry, desert part of Spain) appreciates rain just as much as everyone does at home.

I’m glad to hear that everyone is well at home. Please pray for my classmate and good friend, Alex Vitzthum as he has began his battle against cancer.

Look for another blog in about a week in a half. This week I will be preparing for my weekend trip to Amsterdam with my girlfriends and when I return I will be busy as ever! Preparing for my next test: Thursday, Friday 27, going to a Flamenco show, a wine tasting, and a bunch of meetings with my program! April is my favorite month – I hope the second half goes slower than the first.

Besos for all!
xoxo