Slightly less exciting than a couple of weeks before, this week has been more about realizing that I am officially in the second half of my semester abroad, and I had better get my act together and start doing all that I want to do!

This week, I buckled down and started doing the mountains of tricky homework (tarea) for my classes. My favorite class is definitely English to Spanish Translation, which is helping me to overcome my unfortunate habit of direct translation. But the homework is intense (An example phrase to translate: “...the legends spring to life amid a profusion of gleaming tiles and ornate domed ceilings.”). It’s sort of fun though. It’s kind of mathematical to find the phrases and tenses that fit together right.

Alyssa and I also went to an outside market in another part of Granada. When we got there, it was overwhelming because all the vendors were yelling their prices and goods. We ended up buying some scarves and also tried a chirimoya, a fruit that looks sort of like an artichoke, is very sweet, and has gigantic black seeds. We ate it sitting on this bench outside the market, and were stared at by the locals, partly because no one really eats in public here and also because we were making a big juicy mess.

Here’s a picture of the spice stall at the market. I love all the colors.

In Temple news, my advisor helped me sign up for my classes next semester! I got all the classes I needed, which is awesome because now I am nearly positive I will graduate as scheduled! I'm taking Marketing, Research, and Management classes, as well as International Tourism. It's a bit daunting because the classes seem business-y but I found my Macro and Stat classes interesting last semester, and hopefully this semester will go the same way!

Posted by Nikki Gleason at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow. So it's been a crazy couple of weeks, and unfortunately I have no idea how to do my travels justice in a paragraph or two. But! To sum it up,

In Segovia, I saw the castle that the Disney World castle is based on, and also this really crazy aqueduct that was built hundreds of years ago.

(Most of the girls from my program in front of the castle.)

In Madrid, I went to a very neat park that had trees that looked like broccoli. We saw people who had costumed themselves to look like statues. We also went to the Museo Prado, an incredible collection of art. I've got to be honest-- sometimes museums are not my thing, but the Museo Prado was mind blowing.

(Bethany, Alyssa, and I in front of the Palacio Real [Royal Palace]. We pretended we were princesses.)

In Toledo, I tasted the best mazipan ever (green apple with chocolate inside). Nothing about Toledo has changed since it was built, which is why the entire city has beennamed a World Heritage Site.

In Barcelona, I saw Park Guell, a park designed by Gaudi, with tons of sculptures and interesting architecture. And nooks! And I was also stumped by Catalan, another form of Spanish that isn't terribly similar to Castellano, which is the form I have learned.

In Tangier, Morocco, I visited a women's center called Darna. Women who have been treated badly can leave their houses, and go there to learn skills like sewing and also languages, to try to support themselves when they live alone.

Somewhere in transit between Tangier and Rabat, I rode a camel!

(It was pouring! And terrifying! And incredible.)

In Rabat, I stayed with a very sweet Moroccan family, and talked to my 17 year old host sister about how she balances her devotion to her religion with the developing modernity in Morocco.

In Chefchoun, I bargained with shopkeepers for blankets made of silk. The buildings are painted blue, a custom started by the Jews who used to live there. Chefchoun is one of the more touristy cities in Morocco, but no doubt that the architecture is beautiful. And they speak Spanish there, which is pretty cool!

An incredible two weeks. And now I'm back to taking classes and sticking around Granada for a while!

Posted by Nikki Gleason at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)