I'm really liking getting used to Granada and the people around here more and more. It's starting to feel like some kind of home. I was looking at my empty living room this morning before I left my apartment, and I just thought "damn... when I have to leave this place, it's going to mess me up!"
My favorite things about October are Halloween traditions like decorating, carving pumpkins, and watching Halloween movies. I'd made peace with the fact that things were going to be different this October because Spain's not as big on Halloween as is the US, but in the end my housemates, some other exchange students, some Californians and I decided not to let October pass without some Halloween spirit. We threw a potluck party with Halloween-themed treats and decorations. It ended up being so much fun thanks to everyone showing up and bringing baked goodies, snacks, and of course candy!
Festive and delicious!
Happy [week before] Halloween!
The following week, some friends (Megan, Alicia, and Jenny) and I took a trip to Ireland since we had some days off that connected to the weekend! Megan and I went to Cork, Dublin and Galway.
Cork was a really cool city. We stayed the first night in Cork with Alicia, who was visiting her friend, Tessa. Tessa's studying abroad at University College Cork (UCC), so we got to see her campus and meet a few of her friends. Cork, just like the rest of the places in Ireland that we got to see, was beautiful. Our first glance of Irish daylight was the view through Tessa's window, which was this intensely green lawn against a stone church and gray skies. That day, Tessa took us to the English Market in Cork, which was like an indoor farmer's market. It was full of bakeries, fruit stands, and little eateries. The food all looked so good! They had a lot of food that you'd more likely see in the US than Spain, so the food selection was really comforting for a change. We all decided on sausage and potatoes with sweet chili sauce for lunch, which was a good decision! My mouth still waters just thinking about that first Irish meal. Later that day, we went on to try Irish soda bread and Irish coffee, we walked around downtown Cork, and then Megan and I hopped on our bus to Dublin.
The English Market in Cork
Sausage, potatoes, onions and chili sauce - more delicious than this photo would suggest
I was tired from traveling and not getting much sleep the night before, but the scenery on the bus ride to Dublin was too good to miss! The countryside was just so strikingly green and beautiful. In every direction was green like I'd never seen. To our right were green fields, some sprinkled with cows or cute little sheep grazing. To the left were some hills and trees, all in shades of vibrant green.
Hard to get a good picture from the bus, but still cute!
I can't paint an accurate general picture of this trip without rambling on a about how much greenery we saw. Wherever there was a crack in the ground or even a wet roof, there'd be grass, moss, or a little plant. Even the trees had plants growing up their trunks. I guess everything is so green because it rains so much on the Emerald Isle! I didn't know that it rained so often in Ireland, but it all makes sense now.
Trinity College - some of the greenest grass I've ever seen
Dublin was marvelous. It was such a fun, happy place. Megan and I went on a walking tour of the city and saw Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Christchurch Cathedral, St. Stephen's Green, Temple Bar, and sites along the River Liffey. Going on a tour was great, because it gave us the chance to hear about the history of the sites we were looking instead of walking around aimlessly. Also in Dublin, we explored the busy pedestrianized street called Grafton Street, which was really fun and busy. We went in some cool pubs including Ireland's oldest, the Brazen Head, where we got to listen to some live Irish folk music. We checked out St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was impressive. We went to the Guinness Storehouse/factory and saw how Guinness beer is made. The views from the lounge at the top of the factory, where they give you your pint of Guinness, were great.
We love Dublin!
Grafton Street
Very Dublin-ey
Near Four Courts at sundown
The highlight of the trip for me was the night before Halloween. Megan and I went out to this Halloween party put on by our Hostel. It was alright; this pub where they held the party was festively decorated, people were in costume, and there was a salsa band of sorts. After a little bit, Megan and I left in search of something a little more exciting. We went to this place called the Dragon, one of Dublin's biggest gay clubs. It was SO much fun. It was dark, colorful, and loud. They didn't play a single song we recognized, which was odd, but it was nonetheless a blast. Megan and I danced for awhile, talked to a few nice Dubliners, people watched, and then headed out after an hour or two.
Gaydar (noun): that which fails me time and time again in Europe
On our way back to our hostel, we passed this place called the George that was playing Rihanna's S&M. I instantly thought "WOW, and where have we been we this whole time?" We thought our night was over, but we wanted to take a peek inside so we asked some people in line if there was a cover charge. A group of people told us that it was ten euros to get in. They asked us why we were hesitant, and said that we needed to come in. On the topic of clubs and music, they said "yeah, the Dragon is shit... here, you'll hear Britney, you'll hear Gaga, you'll hear Katy...." and obviously that's all I needed to hear. The George had me at S&M, but after talking to these friendly Dubliners, Megan was in too. We waited with these people and talked, but the 'queue' was too long so they gave up on the line. Our new friends said they were going back to one of their houses to just have a little party and that we could probably come if we wanted. "Julian, the Americans are coming!" was all it took, and we were in! We all cabbed it back to Julian's house and talked, learned about Dublin and heard these people's stories while we had some drinks. These guys were so friendly to take us in for no reason! It was a really interesting group of guys and girls. Julian, the guy whose house it was, was a tarot card reader. His walls were adorned with a few vampire paintings if I saw them correctly. At one point, the lights in his house flickered as we were all sitting around the table. He then shared with us that he had a ghost named Fred. I didn't hear, but Megan said that she asked him "so, is he a friendly ghost, or...?" and he responded "mmm... he pretty much just fucks with the lights" HA! Megan and I were really lucky to run into such friendly and welcoming people and have a priceless experience like that in Dublin. Thinking back on that night'll always make me smile!
A night we'll never forget! I'm yelling "get in the picture, ahhhh!" because I set the timer.
Our last stop before we headed home was Galway. Galway itself was a pretty small city, but it was definitely worth the stop. From there we were able to take a bus tour out to the Cliffs of Moher. Some fun cliff facts: the Cliffs of Moher are the third tallest cliffs in Ireland, with their highest point reaching 702 ft above the Atlantic Ocean. They've put a lot of money into making these cliffs a tourist attraction, so for that reason they're Ireland's most popular cliffs to visit. The countryside, the cows, the llamas, the sheep, the houses, and the water that we passed in the bus along the way, as well as the sublime views from the cliffs, made the trip out there totally worth it. It reminded Megan and me a lot of the cliffs at campus point in Santa Barbara, but just a gigantic green version. Going out to the cliffs was an awesome excursion, and after that I felt ready to head back home to catch up on school and stop spending so much money. The dollar-to-euro exchange rate is already no fun, and on top of that everything in all three cities we visited in Ireland costed more than things do here in Granada. Staying in hostels and not doing anything too expensive made it overall not too bad. The trip was beyond worth it! I'd love to go back to Dublin and maybe some new cities up north someday.
¿Cómo te llamas?
Megan and me on top of this little tower called "O'brien's Tower" at the cliffs
There's the little tower!
The Cliffs of Moher
In non-Irish news, things in Granada are good. I noticed about a week before my trip, in the same week that the freezing weather began to grace us with its presence, that my Spanish is getting better! I say things more easily and speak without having to pause as much to ask how to say certain words, which feels awesome. Just the other day, I talked to this Irish lady at the airport in Málaga. She'd been working for a few years as an English teacher in Madrid, and she was going back to Ireland. We were speaking Spanish before we knew where each other was from, but after she said she was from Ireland I said something to her in English. She said "oh, you've got an American accent. You must've had an American teacher." WHA! She thought I was Spanish?! I got really excited that she thought I was Spanish and said "oh my gosh!" and made a tiny little scene in all of my excitement, making it clear to bystanders that I was American. I couldn't pass for a Spanish person in front of a real Spanish person, but that still felt really cool! Of course, I still have a long way to go and I say plenty of stupid little things all the time. Por ejemplo, I was trying to ask my housemates a couple weeks ago if they'd ever carved pumpkins. One of them responded before I was done struggling through my question with "mate, I don't know what the fuck you're trying to say! It sounds like you're asking me if I've ever put my face in a pumpkin." Haha, that's one I'll probably always remember.
That's about it for now. Happy November!
