The sum of my past month here in spain, if not defined well enough by the lack of a post in 29 days, was well put by my friend John. “April, I feel like every time I see you, you are limping.” For about 95% of the time, that has been true. I even thought about getting a massage, but I feel like I’m at the point where a massage even sounds a little painful (I might be able to make an exception for an Arabic bath). Anyways, here is a quick update as to what has been going on in my life recently. I have officially now received 3 emails asking if I was still alive, so I decided that I probably should prove my existence via blog once again.
Week 1: Granada and the Sierra Nevada
This weekend excursion was planned by our program directors, i.e., it was the first and only trip I have taken where we stayed in a hotel. And not even any hotel; there was a spa and bath area on the first floor, and breakfast and dinner every day on the top floor. Still being on college student survival mode (FREE FOOD!!?!?!) I stuffed myself at every meal, and would even bring an empty purse to breakfast to stock up on pre-packaged chocolate pastries for the rest of my life. Although the hotel was probably the biggest hit of the weekend, it was also kind of cool to see the Islamic town of Granada, the millions of hookah and tea bars, the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of course the Alhambra.
On Monday, I stayed and went snowboarding in the Sierra Nevada. I have never been snowboarding in my life, so why not start with a picturesque view of the entire Spanish countryside. Although this sounds very fairytail-esq, I assure you it was quite the opposite. First of all, I spent a good 80% of the day on the bunny hill, surrounded by 8 year olds learning how to ski. I fell at least every 10 feet, and I think I spent more time in the process of standing up than I actually spent standing up. My instructor, my friend David, was of course an expert snowboarder who could probably be doing flips off of 100 ft jumps, but instead was helping me strap on my board for the 34th time. After about 4 hours of training on a hill that I could climb up, and a lunch of paella and red wine on the mountainside, David took me to tackle my first real hill. I thought we would take baby steps, but I realized I was wrong when I saw us heading toward the blue diamond cliff with the bright orange caution tape all around it (you know, the stuff that everyone has skied into at least once in their life). Everything I had learned on the bunny slope went out the window, this was the real deal and I had no idea what I was doing. David was convinced that my problem was that I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Yes, let’s blame this on psychology. He actually reminded me a lot of Kunu from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”: “Ok, when we’re out there I want you to ignore your instincts. Don’t do anything. The less you do the more you do. Remember, don’t do anything, nothing.” Yea, ok, the whole feel the board and go where the board takes you b.s. didn’t really work for me. I’m sorry, but being strapped to a board on the side of a snowy mountain is not exactly a natural instinct. I’ve got the bruises to prove it.
Unable to walk week one.
Week 2: Barcelona
Best Barcelona decision: Coach Surfing. We stayed with 2 guys from Argentina and 2 girls from England in a flat in the center of the city with no covers, but great food. I also quickly learned that Argentinean Spanish is actually an entirely different language altogether, so I was able to perfect my blank-stare response.
Worst Barcelona decision: Not buying a metro pass. Kathryn and I, the athletes that we are, decided to conquer Barcelona by foot, even after numerous people had suggested the 10 ride pass. Little did we know that every important site in Barcelona would be located on a hill in some distant corner of the city (usually the opposite corner from where we originated). We walked 34 kilometres in just over 2 days. Ouch.
Unable to walk week two.
Week 3: Lisbon
The main attraction of this weekend was to run the biggest half marathon in the world. Success. A few minor setbacks included running 2.5 miles over a bridge jam packed with people, getting lost for 15 minutes searching for the bathroom (definitely should have learned the word for bathroom in Portuguese), and just being generally out of shape. Nevertheless, over 2 hours of pain equaled one of my favorite experiences thus far in Europe.
Unable to walk week three.
Week 4: Morocco
I will give the full update in the following post. I rode a camel for a total of 5 hours through the desert and climbed a giant sand mountain. Enough said.
Unable to walk week four.
