oh hello, neglected blog of mine

wow, it's been over a month since I have last written. Sorry about that, guys. posting pictures on this slow computer is proving very difficult, so until then I'm just writing. This is for the fam: happy easter! wish i could be there with you guys.
today is the last day of our semana santa break. i started out in tarifa, the furthest south you can possibly go in europe, and i saw africa! so excited to go to morocco in 2 weeks. we took a side trip to gibraltar, got to speak some english, went up the rock and saw the monkeys etc etc. i got some interesting pictures of the monkeys. they are so used to people that one of them even knew the guy who drove the van that took us up the rock. i didn't expect that at all: i knew we were going to see some monkeys, but i didn't know there would be so many of them and they would come right up to us.
tarifa is an awesome city. it's really small: you can walk across the whole city in about 25 minutes, but it's a huge kite surfing hotspot because it's so windy all the time (and i mean ALL THE TIME). it was amazing to be able to see people getting pulled up 20 feet into the air while lying on the beach. we saw a few semana santa processions there, but not like the ones we saw later in cádiz and back in córdoba.
after 3 nights in tarifa (i didn't want to leave), we spent a day in cádiz. i was excited to see the place without all the carival stuff going on, and it's a really nice place. we saw the end of a procession where they walked into a church and the marching band exploded into a beautiful song. i'm not sure if you guys know this but during the processions a group of men carries a giant thing, usually with some statue of jesus or the virgin mary on top down a few streets and then ends it in a church. we saw them practicing all around córdoba for weeks because the thing ways a few tons. definitely impressive! oh and i also did something in cádiz that i've always wanted to do: i tried sea urchin! i ate it raw right out of the shell with a spoon (the old man told me to eat it "como yogúr" like yogurt). it tasted like the smell of the sea, if that makes any sense.
after our day in cádiz, we took a bus to sevilla and then an overnight bus to lisbon. this was my second time in portugal and i loved it even more! it's a beautiful city. a lot like san francisco, actually. it even has golden gate and bay bridge look-alikes. oh and the portugese are my favorite people in the world. so nice! and there was a flea market right by our hostel that was just like the flea markets at home, if not better. i went to one last week in sevilla and it was alright, but this one had all the good stuff: old cameras and records, antiques, local artists selling their work etc. i bought a painting straight from the lady who painted it, which always feels great. once again, i didn't want to leave, but my friend said when we left tarifa that you should leave a place before you get bored with it, so then you'll have a reason to come back. and i'm definitely going back to all of those places someday.

More Granada

Oh and the picture of the foodstuffs from last post is of Churros, Spanish-style. Basically just fried tubes of dough dipped in melted chocolate. The hostel we stayed in was awesome. It had a huge courtyard with hammocks. Unfotunately I fell out of one of them and hurt my back. It still hurts. But other than that it was amazing. The picture of the space diorama is from the hostel. There was this weird cave under the stairs with pillows to sit on and that little space thing in the corner. The others are various pictures from the gypsy caves, the alhambra, and the street around where we stayed and walked every day. absolutely gorgeous! I called home today and left a message. Dad, I know it's your birthday tomorrow and I really want to call and talk to you, I'm not sure if you're working on your birthday. But I'll try. Today was my first day volunteering at the Córdoba zoo, helping/playing with autistic children. The zoo here is really small but they have all the best animals. I was inches away from a jaguar today and it looked so soft! it was behind glass though so don't worry. My friend and I are thinking about Mallorca or Portugal for spring break, and I'm going with a group to Barcelona next week! very excited about that as I've wanted to go to Barcelona for a long time. I've written enough for now. I'm actually really homesick. love you tons!

Granada: Mostly Dogs and Cats

I wish I had more than one weekend in Granada. It's my favortie city so far. Lots of dogs and cats there, even more than in Córdoba. Most of these pictures are from the Gypsy Caves neighborhood, but the one of the man petting the cat is from inside the Alhambra.

Medinat Al-Zahra (i hope i spelled that right)

Some ruins outside Córdoba. A palace that once belonged to a caliph. apparently back in its' heyday it was even bigger than the alhambra! oh wow!

Cadiz

Hey guys sorry about the lack of updates. Any internet I'm able to get is very very slow and unreliable. The pictures take forever to upload, we're talking like 20 minutes here. I'm sitting in the middle of the mall becuase I'm boycotting the internet cafe. it's overpriced and the lady is mean. These are some pictures of carnaval in Cádiz. basically it was the apocalypse. in a good way. I dressed up as a cave woman and spend over an hour backcombing my hair. I easily had the best hair out of all the thousands of people that were there. people kept stopping me and asking if it was a wig. but i ended up with dreads. it took over half a bottle of conditioner and a lot of patience to comb them out but it was worth it. ahhhh the pictures are uploading right now and its taking forever ahhhhh i hope they make it before the battery runs out on my laptop. im serious, it takes that long. ok YES ITS DONE!

pictures from last post

adventures!!!

This weekend I am leaving Córdoba for the first time since coming here. Carnaval in Cádiz! I'm going as a cave (wo)man. will most definitely have some interesting pictures. but anyways...
Today at 6:30 I am meeting my intercambio, Marta, for the first time. so excited! I'm meeting her in Plaza Tendillas, in the very center of the city. Speaking of Plaza Tendillas, two friends and I went there last week and there were a few people making giant bubbles. This is what those pictures are from. It was a very adventurous day. after that we walked around the old part of town and explored. (The picture of of the red building with the mats over the windows.) apparently when it gets hot in summer they soak the mats in water so it evaporates and cools the house. awesome! We ended up going into the AC Hotel, Córdoba's big five-star, to use the bathroom, which for some reason was on the 6th floor. But it had such a beautiful view that we stayed as long as we could before getting kicked out. (The picture of the two girls laying on the couch thing in front of the big window.) A man came and asked us what room we were in and if we were staying there. I guess they have cameras. We pretended not to understand him and said we were waiting for our grandma, but he made us leave anyway. It's probably the nicest hotel I have ever been in. The remaining picture is a fun one my friend took of us doing "USA" in the Mezquita.
Today we went to Medinat Al-Zhara (some ruins). It was beautiful! I am seriously in love with Muslim architecture. I will put up pictures when I upload them. Very excited for Cádiz this weekend and Granada next weekend. still not sure what i am doing for spring break. It sounds like most people are going to Italy. Ok I have to go now. Love love.