5-16-09

Saturday, May 16, 2009

We woke up for breakfast around 10:00 then checked out of the hostel and headed straight for the beach. I stopped to buy a postcard on the way and we ran into Steph, Janelle, Ashley, Brooke, and Laura! We all went to the same place we were the day before and had another amazing afternoon a la playa. The weather could not have been more perfect and I got some great color! This time the cabana guy remembered me from the day before and to be proactive he drug away the chair that was next to Taylor haha. We left on the 4:30 bus which was perfect. The sun had just zapped us and on the way home we all slept pretty hard.
We showered, ate dinner then met up again around 10:00 and went up to the Mirador de San Nicolas. It was so bittersweet to be sitting on the ledge, looking over the city and the Alhambra, talking with Mitch, Jeff, and Taylor. I started to get really sad when we were talking about our favorite things and what we’re going to miss about this semester but I stopped myself from crying – I think I’ll get enough of that Thursday! I absolutely can’t believe I’m going home in 5 days. (I’m now writing this on Sunday afternoon and just shed my first pre-departure tears. Not cool.)
When we were walking down through Plaza Nueva I got a call from Jenn, a girl from Indiana who I met on the plane from Chicago to London on my way here. She’s studying in Madrid and after talking throughout the whole 7 hour flight or whatever it was we got to know each other pretty well. Anyway, she was making a day trip of Granada on her way from Sevilla and she had just got into town. The boys went home since they were still exhausted but Taylor and I met up with her to show her around a bit. We met in front of the cathedral and took her on a paseo to Bib-Rambla, Isabel la Catolica, Plaza de Carmen, Calle Navas, then to Café Fútbol in Mariana Pineda. We had some chocolate y churros (since they’re way better than they are in Madrid she had to try them) and hung out talking for quite a while. We loved talking about our own experiences and asking each other questions about their semester – it’s amazing how some things are so similar but some are completely different. After that we walked her by Chikito, down the Paseo in front of Corté Inglés, and to the river where Taylor left for home. I walked her back to her hostel then headed back home myself. I was exhausted since it was probably 2:45 before I went to bed!
When we were talking with Jenn she asked if Granada was a pretty safe place. I think this came up because there were all sorts of crazies honking, yelling, and shooting off whatever they were all night long because Barcelona won and was officially the champion of La Liga. Anyway, Taylor and I both feel totally safe walking around even at night in most places (there are definitely some sketchy areas that we avoid but we’ve known what they were since January so it’s no big deal). When I was walking home by myself I started to overthink things and get a little jumpy, especially when I remembered that Stephanie got robbed at knifepoint (Mom, I hope you don’t read this until I’m home safe and sound!!). I realized that I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve walked around by myself at night since I’m almost always coming home with Mitch, Taylor, or both of them. So when I got back Taylor told me that when she was crossing in front of Garabatos some guy on a moto drove up on the sidewalk beside her, slowed down, grabbed her butt, and drove off! Joder, que coñazo..