After the first couple of weeks, we began taking overnight trips and experiencing different parts of Spain, as well as other countries! Our first major trip was to Granada, Spain. It is very well known for its Alhambra and Generalife, which is a palace that was used as a place of rest for Muslim royalty. As a rule of thumb, if I ever include say anything about a palace, building, or people that starts with “Al-”, that is an indication of the Muslim era. This area had beautiful overlooks of the town, gardens, fountains, and flowers. With every place that we visit, it’s mind-blowing to think that people built them and didn’t have the advanced material and equipment that we have today. We were in Granada for the 4^th of July, so that was a different sort of feeling as well. Since Spain doesn’t recognize the 4^th as a holiday, it was just another day for them! Some of my friends dressed in red, white and blue; and when tourists from America would see us, they’d yell “Happy 4^th!” and other things that had to do with the USA. It was cool to feel that little piece of home all the way over here! I’ll be honest; it was sad that we didn’t see any fireworks or have the typical 4^th of July picnic. That’s always fun! We also visited Granada’s Cathedral, where some very important kings and queens are buried. Even the extra time we had was fun, aside from the tours and sights. The hotel was really nice, it had a pool and AC, which were both amazing!! It gave us a little break from the continuous heat of Seville.

This whole week was one of excitement. Not only did we have some great overnight trips, I turned 21!! Although I wish I could’ve been with family for my birthday, it was a cool experience! A lot of my friends here had their birthdays that week as well, so we celebrated and spent time together! The night before my birthday, my friends and I indulged in our 5-euro pizza once again. My friends were sweet and paid for my meal! Afterwards, we went for ice cream at one of our favorite places – Rayas. Once we were done with our ice cream, I went home so I could FaceTime with my family and Mitchell. That was really important to me, because it made things a little more normal for me. Even if I was only with them over the phone! I had a really fun time doing that, because Mitchell made me a brownie birthday cake and I blew out the candles virtually after he and his family sang to me! I also got a sneak peek of one of my birthday presents that I’ll get once I’m home! The next day, my host family treated me to a birthday surprise too! They got me an assortment of desserts, put candles in them, and sang “Feliz Cumpleanos!” It was especially exciting because several of their 14 children were there to celebrate with me. Needless to say, it was loud and chaotic!! I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, it gave me a sense of what it’s like at parties with my family! But I think my host family wins the prize for craziest get-togethers though. Not only do they like to talk, they try to out-talk each other! They don’t possess volume control, so there were times when I couldn’t hear myself think (not lying)! However, those times are when I can really test my level of understanding Spanish. When four people are trying to talk to me at once and I understand even two of them, I feel like a master!!

After a day of birthday festivities, I went to one of my favorite activities so far – a graffiti tour! Not only did I get to see the professional graffiti that people have done and the history behind the art, but I got to do my own graffiti! It was a cool feeling to know that I left my mark on Seville, even it it’ll be covered up at some point. It still means something to me! The professional artwork was unbelievable. In my opinion, that would be one of the most difficult forms of art, considering it’s very hard to control spray paint and a lot of them were very detailed. These are a couple of my favorites. The one of the baby just gave the area a sense of serenity, and I just found that piece very beautiful. The other one with the women has a lot of symbolism when it comes to Seville. It’s hard to see completely in the picture, but there are capsules with different things in them. In each capsule is Las Setas, el Torre del Oro, la Giralda, and the Triana bridge that is over the Guadalquivir River in Seville. There are all major landmarks of the city, and I have enjoyed visiting each of these places! Like I said, we saw this type of graffiti that was done by people who have made graffiti their life and profession, but we also showed off our own skills. As far as creativity skills are concerned, I have next to none. But, it was fun and I like to tell people I did it! I drew a couple things. The one I liked said PS I<3 U, because obviously I had to represent one of my favorite American places!! It was hard to do any type of picture, because I could not contain the spray paint in one specific area without making it look awful! That’s why I give the graffiti artists a lot of credit!

Like I already said, this week was packed full of fun! The last part of the week’s experience was more than just another activity, it was another country!! We went to Lisbon, Portugal; the capital! Only one half of the CIEE program students came to Lisbon. The others went to Amsterdam. Our trip was great, we got there quickly and easily, the program leaders were wonderful, and the experiences were very worthwhile. When I say we got there quickly and easily, it was almost too quick and too easy! The hostel wasn’t ready for us! It wasn’t an issue, though, because we were able to get the weekend orientation over with and had even more free time to explore! The first afternoon was relaxing; my friends and I just walked around, came back to the hostel to see where we were sleeping, and relaxed for a while. That night, we went to a planned dinner and Fado performance, which is Portugal’s famous music. Spain has Flamenco, Portugal has Fado! Let me tell you, it was amazing – Europe has a way of producing music like that! It says something about the music when you can’t understand the words, but can still completely understand the passion and power behind it. It’s kind of difficult to explain! I’ve definitely loved hearing the different types of music, since music has always been a big part of my life. The next day, we went to a very pretty monastery and saw a lot of other sights around there, as well as tried Portugal’s famous Pastel de Nata (pastry) – so good!! One of the prettiest places I’ve been to so far was after the monastery, the Torre de Belem! It was incredible! It is completely surrounded by water, and you have to walk on a bridge to go inside. Once we got inside, the views were great! It overlooked the water and a Golden Gate Bridge look alike. We spent a lot of time just relaxing and walking around the bottom of the tower, and also climbed to the top. That was interesting, because the stairs were really narrow! So narrow that there were traffic lights to tell people when they could go up or down, because the stairs only fit the width of one person. That night we had dinner on our own, and went to a great restaurant. Since Lisbon is essentially surround by the Atlantic Ocean, we quickly learned that they have delicious seafood!! I ate a fabulous salmon dinner! We ended our nice day with a walk to watch the sun set, which was calm and the weather was perfect. Couldn’t ask for anything better! It made for a perfect end to the weekend, since the next day we really only had time to see a little bit more of the city, pack up, and leave. It was the first of two great Portugal trips!! Can’t wait to tell you all about the second!