Calahonda

Youth Retreat in Calahonda

Alright, we’ll see if I can catch up with some stuff here. The weekend of February 26-28, I went with a group of young people who have “Convivencia” or a form of Sunday school / bible study every week at the Granada Seminary. As you know, I’ve been going there on Sunday evenings, when I’m around, but this was my first chance to actually get to know a lot of the people.

We left Friday evening and went to Calahonda, which means “deep cove”. Calahonda is in the Granada Province and is only about an hour drive from my house here. We spent the rest of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning (we didn’t have class on Monday) having various bible studies, masses, “personal meditation time”… on the beach, and of course hanging out.

I was the only American and the only one who could speak English, so the weekend ended up being a very enjoyable one but difficult at the same time. We stayed in a house (the building next to the Church) with three floors. On the bottom floor were two main sides – one with a kitchen and dining area and the other just a big room for our meetings. The second floor was filled with bunk beds – guys had one side and the girls had the other.

Needless to say, four days without English was incredible. I got to know one of my host brothers, Pablo, much better (he’s the one that looks almost more American than me… blonde hair), and I also made new friends with most of the students. When I got home on Sunday, I couldn’t seem to talk to my host mom. I couldn’t conjugate my verbs or even think of any vocabulary. Then it hit me how much my brain had been going nuts all weekend.

Although the water wasn’t very warm, it was the first real stretch of sun we had had. What better way to spend a weekend than at the beach in the south of Spain?

Los Cahorros... Segunda Vez!

Los Cahorros… part II

Hey all! I’m still behind, but I’m slowing making progress on catching you all up on my recent activities in the great Iberian Peninsula! Two weekends ago, my friends and I made our second trip to the pueblo of Monachil… this time successfully navigating the public transportation system and not having to ask anyone how to get to the mountains!

Upon arriving to the park, I was predictably unsatisfied with the idea of staying on the trails, so Devin (a fellow ISA student who doesn’t take kindly to being outdone) and I began trailblazing up the side of a mountain. We ended up atop a precipice around 80-100 feet higher than “Pride Rock”, as we’ve coined it, upon which we ate lunch last time we were in Los Cahorros. In the pictures of Pride Rock, you can see the miniscule figures of the other members of our excursion eating lunch.

Devin and I stopped for lunch at that cliff and then decided to continue on up the mountain after a herd of cows we noticed grazing behind us (pictured below). We promptly fell in behind the cattle and tried to catch them, obviously. Again… OBVIOUSLY, the cows assuredly discussed how stupid the humans following them were and kept right out of reach, easily outmaneuvering us on the steep slope. (how embarrassing… to be outwitted and altogether outstripped by cattle)

Once we finally got to the top of the mountain/ hill/ huge hill/ to-me-it’s-a-mountain, we had a great view of the valley below us with a snow-capped mountain directly ahead and the city of Granada behind us. We stopped to read a bit, wrote a few letters, and then realized that it was 12:55 already. The last bus leaves from Monachil at 1:40, so Devin and I had to book-it... and by that I do not mean the reading incentive thing from Pizza-Hut.

We proceeded to run down the mountain… and I mean run. However, we did have to stop for one thing… horses! There were two horses grazing on our way up, but we ran right into them on our way down. We had to stop and pet them. There was an old broken bridle on one, so it was obvious that my horse whispering skills were not going to be needed, but we felt courageous and adventurous nonetheless. Afterwards, we simply ran toward the small pueblo beneath us and hoped that neither of us broke our ankles in the descent. A few jumped fences later, and after a sprint down the road to the bus stop, we actually made it five minutes early. Perfect timing, if I do say so myself, and another successful trip to the mountains.

The next step is to use my tent….

Hasta Luego!

Malaga

Ahhhhh Málaga, the first trip to the Mediterranean on this fine adventure.

Well, after Ronda, we went straight down to Málaga, arguably the second oldest city in Western Europe – right after Cadiz. Upon our arrival, the smell of the sea was too much to resist. We ended up making a B-line straight to the sea where we hung out well past dark. We knew that we had an entire day of tours the next day as well as some free time, so we, again – making decisions based on the sea, decided to hit up a supermarket for food, have a reasonably early night, and wake up early to see the sunrise on the beach.

European Travel Tip #1:
If you’re not exactly sure that you want to eat in a restaurant, get a Baggett at a supermarket. You get an entire loaf of bread for 0.60€, and it’s way better than any bread you’d be having at home.
As you can see in the picture, Bert and Ernie were even on our pack of cookies (which may or may not have played a role in why we chose those cookies), and they made the evening much better.
Well, the next morning we woke up early and watched the sun rise (see pictures below)… I’m not sure if the Mediterranean, with its palm trees and clear blue water, quite compares to Ocean City, MD, but I tried to enjoy it. Remember what your parents always told you, “it’s better to live in the present than in the future.”
We made it back to the hotel just in time for breakfast and to meet a few of our classmates who were having a tough time staying awake/ conscious. It seemed we had made the right choice. Our tour took us through the city of Málaga, which is mostly new because of the bombings during World War II that leveled the majority of the city, and to an old Arab fortress that was actually built before the Alhambra. There was even a small Roman amphitheater.
Finally, we had some free time to roam the streets on our own, so we went to the Pablo Picasso museum that was only 3€. Picasso is actually from Málaga, so his nephew founded this museum in his honor and put a lot of his sketches and lesser-known works of art in it. It was actually a really cool museum, and below the museum was an archeological site where there were Phoenician ruins from 800 BC… pretty stinkin’ old if you’d ask me.
After the museum, our little group split because I had a Baggett and didn’t feel like eating at a restaurant, and Devin (girl) just wanted a banana… So off we went in search of a banana, which ended up not being too difficult to find, but we did find a big street packed with people and performers… Carnaval! Although at night it’s much bigger, there were a lot of people dressed up in costumes, including the cutest kids you’ve ever seen, and some really appetizing food. We ended up succumbing to the miniature donuts with chocolate syrup on them… a pretty healthy option.
Well, that about wraps up Malaga. We ate are delectable donuts of deliciousness, made our way to the meeting point next to the huge cathedral, and headed home.

Interesting Side Note:
Granada is really starting to feel like home now. Whenever we return from trips or even when I just return from class, I get the “whew… finally home” feeling. It’s nice. Maybe it’s the people, or maybe it’s the tons of food and crazy, cross-eyed cat that greets me as soon as I walk through the door.