El final esta muy cerca...

The end is very near...

At the Sacromonte with Granada
below and the Alhambra on the left

I'm soaking up the last few days in Granada. This past week I've done some shopping, walked around a lot, took a million pictures, and tried my best to enjoy the ridiculously hot weather. I can't even imagine living in southern Spain in the summer. This past week we had one last meeting with our program director. We talked about the changes we are going to encounter when we go home. Before I left for Spain, many study abroad alumni had told me that you don't experience culture shock until you come home. To me, that never made sense but I totally understand it now. Just knowing that in 3 days I will be waking up in my real bed, looking out my window at the flat fields completely blows my mind. I was also told that the whole abroad experience will seem like a dream. When we return home, life goes back to the way it was. I'm very excited for that but since no one at home has experienced what I have, and my parents only got a micro-taste of what it was like for me...its very possible for living in Spain to feel like a dream.

A group of us with our program directors

I'm so thankful that I've kept this blog, took so many pictures, and have kept a detailed journal of every day. Its still crazy to think that a month ago I was getting back to the grind after Spring break. Two months ago I had just gone to Naples, Italy with my parents, three months ago I took my weekend trip to the lovely cliff town Ronda, and four months ago I had just arrived in this beautiful country.

My friend Katie Stip

Director Jose

So back to soaking everything up, this past weekend was phenomenal! On Thursday evening we had our "Cenar Despedida", Goodbye Super, with my entire program of 44 students and three program directors. We went to a restaurant, which I've never noticed before, very close to my house. We met at 9:00pm at a Plaza Trinidad, took some pictures, and walked to the restaurant. The food was great! Bread, salad, cheese fondu...I had ravioli and we all shared desert at the end! It was so fun having a formal dinner with everyone! By the time we left it was midnight and two of our program directors said they would go out with us. So we went to a street, also near my house, that is very famous for nightlife. We went to a very Spanish bar..music, dancing, etc. And danced the night away. I think I got home around 3:30am which isn't even that late for the typical Spaniard. But this girl had class and was up at 8am.

Cheese fondu!

For a class, I had to write my very first paper in Spanish. This thing was two pages long and took the same amount of much time as a 5 page paper in English would. But I was proud of it and it wasn't that boring to write about since I chose Bullfighting as my topic. Don't worry Taylor, it was a negative reflection on the bullfights in Spain.

Now I don't usually share stuff like this...but I will this time. I spend a lot of time with Austin here. We're a lot alike and he's always up for doing activities like hiking, salsa dancing, and churro eating every Sunday. Well after all this time I had never been asked on an actual date. No pasa nada... so I was asked on a formal date this past Friday night. So he met me at my apartment and we went to a little restaurant up near where my school is. I had gone to this restaurant before with my roommate Kylie, for tapas and sangria so I knew at least the tapas were good! Big spenders..we decided to have three course meals! Sangria, bread and delicious salad to start off with. Pasta: Carbonara and Lasagna...SO good! And finished off by cheesecake: a piece of strawberry and chocolate.

Now I can't exaggerate this at all but this was the best desert I've ever had in my entire life. We could hardly hold a conversation because we were loving this cheesecake so much! Have already decided we're going after our test Wednesday to celebrate being done with school! YUM!

Saturday was awesome! We went on our last trip together as a program. We left at 9am to go to Neerja, which is a beach town about an hour away from Granada. So beautiful! First we went to "las cuevas" the caves. I expected some lame caves like the gypsie ones but turns out this was not a cave but an underground WORLD. I'm talking huge. Giant dagger-like rocks everywhere. It was incredibly cool and I'm so glad we went there. I didn't even know that was in Neerja or even that close to Granada! Afterwards we went to the beach from 11am-6:30pm. Now, what does a day on the beach do to you... please stay continued....

The beach was beautiful. Everyone brought their brightly colored beach umbrellas to light up the beach. The water was cold but felt amazing after baking in the hot sun. I did get in and swim a little. I do have a cool little adventure I would like to share...

A girl from our program found a little shell with a crab inside. So of course I decided I needed to check this out. So we went go over to the end of the beach and were just looking in the water when we picked up a shell and sure enough there was a little crab inside. Before long I have 5 crabs chillin in my hands and a star fish on my knee! What in the world! Just then, a fat little nino (boy) about 5-6 years old comes over and asks if he can hold my crab. He picks up the biggest one with the coolest shell, of course, and marches away. He comes back a few minutes later and asks for another..well what the heck! Then a girl comes over (9-10 years old) to check out my cool find. Shes explaining me the names for the crabs and starfish in Spanish and began telling me how they live on the rocks and they crawl down into the water. The little boy returns with a red plastic bucket full of water with my two little crabs inside. So I put the rest in there and we start looking for more together. Before long another girl, the nino's sister, comes along too! 

Austin helping the little boy to
the other side where we explored

We do have swimsuits on!!

So there is a crew of us. They tell us to follow them over some rocks to the other side of the beach where there is more. So we're crawling on these sharp rocks to get a lesson on Spanish marine biology. Its so fun to be able to hold a conversation in Spanish..even if it is with someone ten years younger than me. And knowing the little Spanish nino had a higher IQ than me...well, I figured I could learn something from him as well!

Of course being on the beach, a bunch of us tossed the football around and took a nap in the sun. But when my program director, Jose, started calling me a "tigress", yes..a female tiger..I was wondering what was going on.

My dear friend Chris...Oh Chris.... thank you for spraying my back with sunscreen... and thank you for the STRIPES ON MY BACK!!!!!!! Now that's a little lesson on the power of Spanish sun.

Now I have a good story to go with this...but don't know if i wanted to put it on my blog. So if you remind me when I get home, I would love to share it. Its definitely one of the funniest stories I have.

The past few days I've continued to check things off my bucket list. For example, Sunday I went to church with some friends. It was so good to go to church and now that I've improved so much, I was able to understand quite a bit and I loved singing a song which I knew from home in Spanish! After the service, I was given a small book that gives about 10-15 bible verses for about every emotion you could feel! And its in Spanish, of course so I'll get to REALLY study the verses now! I've been taking pictures like mad, buying last minute little souvenirs I've been eying the last four months. Lastly I crossed an item off my REAL LIFE Bucket list! I went up the los jardines del Carmen, which is a gorgeous, large garden above Granada next to the Alhambra. I found the perfect tree and carved my name and dated it! Now later in life when I return to Granada, I will have to go up and find my name that I caved in the tree during my study abroad experience when I was 20-21 years old!

Like I briefly mentioned earlier, tomorrow is my last day of class which includes a test -- joy! But I'm not worried! Today I have yet to Skype my parents for the last time before I return home, pack up some stuff, and catch up writing in my journal. Thursday is my last day in Granada and I fly out at 7:00am Friday morning. I can't believe I just typed that.

I plan on posting one more blog Thursday before I leave so please don't forget to check it one more time! For all those who have followed me through the past four months. I want to thank you like crazy! I wish I was able to see who has been reading my blog but my mom does share with me when someone mentions it. I've spent a lot of time writing the stories, doing my best to explain my time abroad. I look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday. PLEASE, if you have followed me and my blog, come to my welcome home party Saturday!

2 full days left Granada, one blog left, but yet 100 things to do -- isn't that life!