One of a few outdoorsey adventures that Emily and I went on when it started to get hot was this hike to the top of Granada. We packed up some sandwiches and hiked to this wall that used to enclose and defend Granada.
We were on top of the world! Eating our ham sandwiches up here, we took in views of the Albayzín, the Alhambra, and the city below. Somewhere to the very right and halfway up this picture, you can see our apartment.
Another Emily and Luc day of fun! We took a bus out to Monachil where we crossed flimsy bridges, hiked up in the mountains, and swam.
Monachil
Of course the good eats continued through the end of the year! This is Alina's salmorejo, which is a cold, gazpacho-type tomato soup made with bread, tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic, garnished with hard-boiled egg and ham. Salmorejo is refreshing and full of flavor.
Before anyone knew it, June rolled around and it was time for the early Cena de despedida (farewell dinner) for our California program. All of us who stayed for the full year had a nice dinner at Restaurante Las Tomasas in the Albayzín, whose patio views of the Alhambra set the scene for a perfect dinner among friends. This in my mind was quite long before it made sense to start being sad about leaving, but it was a nice excuse for everyone to get together. I thoroughlly enjoyed being in the company of these ~50 (including those that went home in March) California kids this year and feel lucky to have shared parts of this experience with such a fantastic group.
Here's Emily and me at the feria in Granada. The fair was full of casetas, which are little enclosed dance floors, bars or restaurants that play flamenco or other type of music while people danced and enjoyed the fair. Aside from these casetas and the Spanish women walking around in traditional flamenco dresses, I found the fair shockingly similar to the type of fair you'd see in California. The rides, the funhouses, and the carnival games were all things you'd find at the OC Fair.
Later in June, Sara and I went to see David Bisbal in concert at the Palacio de Congresos in Granada! I first heard David's music in high school when my Spanish teacher came around and stamped everyone's homework, so seeing him in the flesh was pretty cool. Any time there was a quiet moment in the show, people would scream "GUAPOOOO!"
Ave María, Al Andalus, and Mi Princesa are my favorite of the songs he performed. Surprisingly, he didn't perform Bulería.
Alright, so the end of the year did involve some work. Here's Cécile and me studying for our June and July finals. We tied ourselves together in an effort to force ourselves to stay at the table and focus, but it just turned into a ridiculous distraction.
Between my very widespread finals, I wanted to squeeze in a few adventures and take in the Spanish sun while I still could. Here are Lauren and Jamie walking in Cabo de Gata, which is a beach east of Granada in the province of Almería. We slept out in the open on the beach that night, which seemed like an idea simple enough to work. Soon after we fell asleep under the sky of a million visible stars, I felt the pressure of little feet on me. I awoke abruptly and saw this cheeky little fox scurry away into the dark! The next day, we saw an octopus hanging out in the shallow shore water, colorful little fish, and a naked man on the beach. It was more of an exotic little getaway than we'd expected!
The night before my last final exam, Spain won the Euro Cup! Emily, Cécile and I did a little lap around Granada to check out the celebration in the streets that night. People everywhere were chanting, honking, and proudly waving their Spanish flags.
After I finshed my last exam, Emily, Cécile and I sat down for one last home-cooked chicken meal at home. When we were eating, they gave me this gift bag with this hat they knew I wanted, an Aztec print scarf, and all of the refrigerator magnets we collected from our travels this year. The hat and the scarf were one final effort to make me "European."
Do I look European or do the cargo shorts give me away?
This was our last dinner out in Granada. We went for Italian food at La Mafia. I got pizza with jamón serrano (cured ham). Delicious Spanish-Italian fusion. The next morning Cécile headed home to Switzerland. It was only a little bit sad, because within a matter of days we would leave to go visit her.
This was my last night out in Granada. The night before we left for Switzerland, Emily and I wandered up into the Albayzín for tapas and wine. We ended up splitting a bottle of wine at the Mirador San Nicolás, then went to this nice little outdoor bar nearby where we had some more wine, traded watches, and took pictures. Being out til 5 the morning of our 9:00 bus to Madrid was irresponsible and ridiculously fun. That morning I packed three of the same pair of beige shorts and no jacket for my trip up to Switzerland and rainy Sweden. Could've thought that one through a little better.
I'll yell it from the mountaintops: My Mom and Dad have supported me, quite literally, to the ends of the earth. This year afforded me with friends, happy memories, and learning experiences I would not have been faced with on a hundred vacations or through ten years at UCSB. Everyone has a different plan and a different path, but for me nothing could have been better. It all started with and goes back to my parents. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
I checked myself in this mirror every time I left my building in Granada. Every time I walked up to class at Cartuja, every time I left my building with a cheap bottle of wine and that Marry-the-Night spirit, and every time I took my overstuffed Ryanair-sized backpack out to discover new part of the world. I made sure to take one last look in this mirror before the next big adventure of my story: my trip back to California.
