Salobreña

April 8, 2008

First I must apologize for going so long without posting anything. Things are so busy here and I have finally been able to spend some time just relaxing. This past weekend I finally got to go to the beach. There are a lot of beaches nearby and people have been going for the past 2 months – basically as soon as the sun came out from behind the clouds. The Spanish are blown away by how fast we pull out our flip flops and bathing suits… if they only knew about those of us who live in flip flops year-round… They have actually been wearing shorts and skirts (super short) since I got here in January but never without tights to go with them – as long as they have tights on anything goes here, and the crazier the pattern and color the better as far as I can tell.
The beach we went to was in Celebreña, a tiny little beach town about an hour south of Granada. I forgot my towel of course – who brings a towel to the beach? – but I bought a cute little roll-up mat at one of the stores for surprisingly really cheap (not like most beach towns where all the prices are jacked up because they know you need it and can’t get it anywhere else). We also bought our bocadillos for the beach (the Spanish have bocadillos everywhere they go… doesn’t matter where you are – the beach, on an airplane, in the park, walking down the street – if it’s anywhere near lunch time you can bet somebody’s mom packed them a sandwich or 2.)
The town was really pretty – all the houses were up on a hill, and they were all white with the same kind of tiled roof that is typical of little towns in Europe. And there were palm trees lining the roads. :) The weirdest thing was the sand… and when I say sand I actually mean little pebbles because there was no sand to be found anywhere. But that turned out to be kind of nice because rocks on the beach = no sand stuck to all of your stuff! :) The water was way to cold to swim with the exception of little kids in which case the cold water was more of an excitement than a deterrent.
On the way home we were a little crispy and drained from being under the hot sun all day but very happy to finally see the coast. We got ice cream from a local heladería, and it was so good. I got a half-scoop of mint-chocolate chip which had reeeeally thin sheets of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate and the other half caramel which had tiny little chunks of caramel. It was delicious and refreshing.
Let’s see… what else has been going on in Granada that would be interesting. *I am just now getting over a bad cold… Today I was able to leave the roll of toilet paper at home – finally done with blowing my nose for a while. :) *There is an English service tonight at the church so I’m really excited about that. It will be nice to hear a sermon that I can understand. *I have a project for my health class due in 2 weeks. We are writing a paper and presenting (aaaaah!) on abortion issues and how it relates to social work issues. So basically my job is to look at all the sources in English since there are a lot more than in Spanish and tell my group that information. The teacher said I don’t have to present if I don’t think I can, but I might do a little… my class seems pretty nice and if I practice before hand I might not be too nervous. :\ *And last but not least, the fam is coming on FRIDAY!!!! I am so excited to see them. I haven’t been homesick really but it will be so wonderful to see them and get some good hugs. I am so blessed to have a family that I want to spend time with, and I can’t wait to show them where I’ve been living and everything that I’ve been experiencing being here. *I am also working on plans for the last month after school is over. I can’t decide if I want to stay in Spain or meet up with other friends travling. We shall see.
That’s all for now. Hope it was a good update! If you’re reading this send me some updates of your own. I like hearing from people from home! :)