The Drurys Come to Spain

Well this may be the busiest week I've had yet in Spain but also one of the best for a variety of reasons. So many things to catch up on because the longer you wait to blog these things the more they pile up so I may have to condense some things to get it all down but to give you an idea. I have to blog my familys week long visit, my trip to the Sierra Nevadas to snowboard, and my trip to Lagos, Portugal which was literally the best weekend of my life. And I have to get all this done within 3 days because 4 days from today I leave for Paris, France. So let's see how much I can get done.

My family left this to come to Spain. 80 degrees, sunny, and just beautiful weather all around.

So here we go, got some rest last night and I'm ready to get crackin on this bad boy. I woke up to my phone ringing at 9:30 in the morning confused and a little pissed that someone was disturbing my lovely nights sleep and when I picked up said, "Hello?" and heard the voice of a very familiar big brother I had a quick light bulb moment and remembered my family was now here in Spain with me. 

Not only were they hear but they arrived in typical American fashion. And when I say they I mean my dad. I had told my family I lived right across the street from their hotel so naturally they arrive at 9:00am (wayyyy early here in Spain) and my dad starts screaming, "BRIAN!" at the top of his lungs over and over to try and wake me, but to no avail. It took a phone call so I got myself up and went down to see my family.

Now I had come to a point in my study abroad where I really needed something familiar from home. I was missing my family, missing my house, burgers, steak, you get the picture. And it was causing me to not enjoy certain aspects of my trip as much solely due to the fact that I was having my homesick period.

They told us we would have ups and downs and one friend described it best. They said study abroads usually follow a "W" shape, you start higher than high, then drop down some point during the trip, then you jump back up higher than ever and ride that out for the trip, then when you get home you go back down again because you're missing your abroad experience, then you re-assimilate into your life. I think that's a pretty great description.

So my family could not have come at a more perfect time than they did so when I came out of my apartment and saw them standing there I couldn't have been happier. After exchanging some big hugs (and giving Mom about 5) the trip began.

Evan and I with the mountains in the background I walk past every day on my way to class.

Mom and Dad said the mountains reminded them of Grenobel, where they studied abroad about 30 years ago!

Picture on top of the IES abroad center (my program building).

Well clearly this isnt oriented properly but I don't feel like reloading it so enjoy! 

Beginning our hike up to the Alhambra.

Also this blog is gonna be a lot of pictures and less writing cause as you know I love the pictures sometimes more than the stories.

Up at a restaurant at the Alhambra there were cats everywhere so naturally Dad had to pet one.

View from the Alhambra of the Albaizin and Sacromonte.

 

The entrance to the top of Torre de la Vela (Tower of the Sail) which I had been wanting to visit since I've gotten to Granada. And let me say the views far exceeded my expectations. We got up there just in time because we had about 10 minutes to take pictures before getting kicked off.

This part is known as the Alcazaba, it was the part of the ancient city where they housed the soldiers, horses, armor, and weapons. It was located at the very front of the Alhambra so if an attack were to come they would be right there ready to respond.

One of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

Me and Evan on top of the world.

So Evan, as he does very often, got one of his sudden bursts of energy we call the "rips" and decided he could jump from this block to the next one thats outside the frame of the picture. He did, but it was just such an Evan thing to do.

So the first day at the Alhambra went wonderfully. We saw some great things, had so many laughs, then went out for some amazing paella that night. Our nighttime meals often went along with Mom's cravings and several nights they were paella or cous cous (and a healthy portion of sangria). Cous cous reminded her of her time back in France and we had some lovely meals together.

So after this I had two days of class and my family decided to do their own trips. The first day Mom and Dad needed to rest a bit more so Evan decided to hit up Sevilla solo but also an important point here is the night before I had been showing him pictures from my friends trips to Morocco. Many of them got to play with monkeys at the Straight of Gibraltar and Evan said, "I wanna do that." So naturally within about 3 hours he had decided he was gonna go to Sevilla then take a bus down to the Straight of Gibraltar and play with some monkeys. Now this is typical Evan to see something, want it, and go for it. Now some of you may laugh because Evan just wanted to be swinging from the trees with the monkeys like Tarzan but honestly the way my brother approached this decision is the way he approaches life. When he wants something he pursues it with all the intensity, strength, and vigor he has in his body and that's why he recently just got a new job at Merrill Lynch where he has been doing amazingly. His first day he caught a $14,000 dollar error in a financial record and was dubbed the "Wonder Child" by his coworkers. 

He finally found a job where he is getting treated the way he deserves, getting paid a great salary, and most importantly he's happy. God bless him I love him and I love my parents for instilling these types of values and morales into us our whole lives. Because of my parents I know no matter how bleak a situation seems and no matter how bad things get we can always find a way to turn things around. God helps us through and is always there for us and he has given me the best family in the world, I couldn't be more proud of who I get to call my family. 

So as Evan went all "Apes in the mist" on us, my parents explored Granada a bit while I was in class then my mom and I went out for some drinks and had a nice relaxing night. She got to meet a bunch of my friends and my new best friends that I've met in my time here. Then the next day we ventured to Sevilla.

Dad was able to get up, use sign language to order coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and rent a car. We had communicated with Evan via Facebook that we would meet up with him in Nerja, a beautiful beach town on the Costa del Sol. I gave him my number and the plan was to have him borrow a phone and give us a call when he arrived so we could meet up. So off we went.

We went and had lunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant and I had the best burger I had, had up to this point and the second half of Dad's so I was a happy camper. Beef in Spain is like finding the Holy Grail so when you find it you cherish every bite. Then right as we were finishing lunch and paying the bill we get a call from my big, tall older brother and we go to meet him. 

Drury's reunited and ready to take on Nerja. Honestly we all said it felt wrong not having him there with us and when he got back everything felt right with the world. We had a perfect day and I had yet to see Nerja so it was a new experience for all of us. 

Believe me it didn't disappoint.

This is where we ran into the psycho homeless British lady who was convinced we were from New York and asked Dad if he was going to tell people back home about the war and when Dad said no she said, "I don't think you know anything about west New York." Excellent retort psycho lady. So Dad said, "Well.. you live your life and I'll live mine." Which caused her to go off into a rant and she repeated what Dad had said a couple times and we decided this would be a good time to get away from the nut job. 

This kite surfer was incredible. I wasn't able to snag a shot of him in the air but he would take off every once and again and fly about 20 feet in the air. So cool but you better know what you're doing in this sport.

I just love this picture, the Drury boys doin what we do. 

Amazing cliffside beaches.

Moments after Evan had put his leg on my shoulder and when I asked him why he paused for a moment and I followed up with, "You don't really have any idea why you did it do you?" And he laughed and said, "Nope." With a big ole grin on his face. I love the big guy.

The water may look inviting but it was ICE cold.

So we drove back from Nerja through the Alpujarras which are the mountains right near Granada. I love the location of Granada in that beach and mountains in one day is not only feasible but easy. Don't worry there are more pictures to come later of the mountains.

So my family was dying to meet my host mother Mavi and I couldn't wait for them to meet her. My parents wanted her to come to dinner with us so I asked her and she told me she was nervous. Mavi, doesn't speak a word of English but I assured her I would translate everything and it would be great. So my family came over to meet her and we were able to convince her to come out. My brother took a couple of Spanish classes back in the day but beyond that they speak ZERO Spanish so it was all on me. 

Mavi recommended an Italian restaurant nearby and off we went. In typical Mavi fashion she was laughing and joking with my family and after a brief moment of translating my family was laughing right along with her. She even linked arms with my mom at one point and walked for awhile. This is very typical in Spanish culture and needless to say my family loved how warm, affectionate, and happy she is. 

We got to the restaurant and we seated and this place was NICE. I was amped because I hadn't had real good Italian food in forever so this was big (I'll be in Italy in 3 weeks so I can't wait to have the food from the source).

So began a 2 hour dinner of laughter, smiles, and one of the most amazing experiences I have had yet in Spain. Now for those of you who know me or even those of you who have just met me for like a minute or two you know that I love to talk. But as much as I love to talk I LOVE to eat so when I'm hungry I like to focus on that but in a situation where I have to translate everything that's said I can't eat as quickly. I finished my food last of everyone but couldn't be happier. This was the best Spanish I had spoken yet to that point and it really was a beautiful experience. 

Mavi would look my mom in the eyes and say something and I would translate it right after and in this way, they were talking. This wasn't someone speaking through a translator, this was Mavi speaking to my mom and my mom just needed to wait an extra second to understand what was said. It was just yet another beautiful example of that fact that people are people no matter where you go and communication can come in so many forms. I'm a firm believer that you can tell just about everything you need to about a person from their eyes and they could see in Mavi's eyes what a genuinely good person she is. 

So my family threw me a couple curveballs and a couple challenging phrases throughout the night but I'd like to say I killed it that night. My Spanish was flowing better than ever and very rarely did I need to stop and think of what to say. I'm very proud of how my Spanish is progressing and how far I've come since the beginning of this experience. 

Naturally my dad had to ask questions like, "Does he walk around the house with his shirt off all the time?" (Like I do at home) or "Does he speak fast for a Spanish speaking person" (Which Mavi affirmed by nodding fervently) and many others. All around it was just an amazing night for my family to be able to meet the person that has been such a huge part of my life during this experience and will continue to be till the end and after.

That is Mavi seated on my right and she is a lovely woman, the picture doesn't do her justice. I nudged her at one point and said, "Look at all the hot girls here!" And she said (in Spanish), "Well that's not important, because you have the two most beautiful woman right here (gesturing to herself and my mom)" which everyone loved. 

Mavi has also said that she is going to find me a wife while I am here so she loves hearing about all the new girls I am meeting and what is going on in my love life. So when I told her I found my future wife she yelled, "DIGAME!!" Which means "Tell me!" And I told her about this French girl I had kind of met at one of the Kebab places in Granada who didn't speak a word of English or Spanish and she shook her head and said, "No, you have to get a Granadan, dark hair, dark skin, and speaks Andalusian Spanish." Which I answered, Mavi with how good looking this girl was, we wouldn't need words. And we all laughed about that.

Every night after dinner we would walk my mom home and Evan and I (that's right Mom not me and Evan, Evan and I) would go out. My brother is one of my best friends so whenever we go out we have a blast. Last time we went out together was when he took me to AC for my birthday and that was such a good time so I wanted to show him a little bit of what my city had to offer. Needless to say he enjoyed himself thoroughly.

First night out we ran into my Italian friend on our way home from dinner and asked her if she wanted to come out with us. As a Erasmus student you're pretty much obligated to take advantage of every opportunity you get so naturally she came along. Erasmus is a program in Europe that pays for students to study abroad in another country for a year. It's awesome and I think the US needs to adopt something like it. So we went to a   hookah bar and relaxed and talked for close to 2 hours. My friend only speaks English very well but there are some words she doesn't know so I got to play translator all night yet again. We all talked plenty and it was nice not to have to translate every word for the night. Then we went back to Marisma, which I'll describe in a minute and had a few drinks. We came up with a bunch of games with the seeds and after awhile called it a night. As we were leaving we ran into some of Costanza's friends from Germany and ended up talking with them for another half hour. They were great and I ended up meeting up with them a few nights later. We all talked about How I Met You Mother (Mine and Evan's favorite show) for a long time and laughed about our favorite episodes. Turns out Germans LOVE HIMYM. And after that we closed out night 1. 

Second night we went out and ran into some American friends of mine so we hung out at one of my favorite bars Marisma which is such a college bar its ridiculous. 1.50 euro for a Jarra and they give you sunflower seeds with each drink you get and you spit the shells on the floor. Seeds everywhere, plenty of beer, and just a great environment. So turns out it was one of the girls birthdays so we took her out to the Chupiterria (a shot bar) and celebrated her 21st  in typical American fashion. 

Third night we went out to a new bar called Bar Emilio which is known for its Borrones which are basically these glass watering cans you drink out of. Very cool and fun and I met these 2 Spanish girls. So I started talking to them but since they barely spoke English Evan was kind of alienated until one of the girls said something fantastic. She quoted How I Met Your Mother. As soon as I told Evan we started saying quotes back and forth and the awesome thing was they would say the quotes in Spanish, I would laugh, translate it, then Evan would laugh. And through the language barrier we formed a lovely bond. Some favorite quotes were, "Sera LEGEN... espera... dario (It's gonna be legen.. wait for it. DARY!) And when one of the girls acted out the scubadiver scene in my favorite episode The Playbook. So they invited us to join them at the next bar so we obliged. 

Went to a new bar I'd never been to and spent the next few hours laughing and joking. At one point Evan got real tired and wanted to head back, I asked him if he was sure he could get back and he told me no worries. So I hung out for about another hour then left the bar with the girls and was hanging out at the corner talking before we said goodbye when all of a sudden from behind me I hear, "Hey guys!" There is Evan. "Dude, where have you been?" and he replied, "Well I saw a cool bar, went in, met some cool Australians and Spanish people and hung out." Evan loves to wander and explore so doesn't surprise me one bit and then we wrapped up that night with a Shwarma. 

That's pretty much the night time shenanigans wrap up and now we continue with a huge list of pictures. My camera died about half way through my parents visit so I ended up using my Mom's camera for a bunch of pictures but these are the one's that were on my camera. Enjoy.

Fuentes del Generalife (Fountains at the Generalife)

And a quick note here. In my Art and Islamic Architecture class we learned that all the calligraphy written on the walls of the Alhambra is not just random groupings of words it is actually so much more. The walls of the Alhambra are COVERED in poetry. Thousands and thousands of beautiful poems, verses from the Coran, and some of the writing is about the room itself. Just amazing to see how the Muslims incorporated architecture and art together. You really can't grasp the scope of some of these inscriptions unless you go so grab your plane ticket and fly on out to Granada! 

All these inscriptions and designs were painstakingly carved out of plaster which is mind blowing to comprehend how long all this must have taken. In the world of Islam, the calligraphist is the most important person in the creation of the architecture because he writes the words of Allah and due to this, calligraphists were held in the highest esteem in the ancient world of Islam.

Quick funny story. When we were in Nerja (not this particular picture) Mom wanted to order a sangria. So she asked for Sangria and the waiter said in Spanish "It only comes in a liter." Mom not understanding what he said smiled a huge smile, started nodding, gave the guy a thumbs up, and said, "Si si!" When I explained that he said it only comes in a liter she snorted at herself and said, "He must think I am such a lush." This was such a beautiful moment of cultural misunderstanding that I will always remember.

Being the good son I am, I gladly helped my mom knock down those multiple liters of sangria she consumed in Spain.

One night we went out to one of my favorite tapas bars, Reventaero and I had to order a Duff beer. Famous from the Simpsons (which they LOVE over here) and to be honest, not so great, but now I can say I've drank a Duff beer.

Sweet outdoor heater at this classy restaurant we ate at one day for lunch. By the way it had the nicest bathroom I've ever seen.

Apparently Tuttifruti is where all the bars, clubs, and fun of Nerja goes down.

Evan being philosophical.

As promised more shots of the mountains in the Alpujarras. 

Plaza Bib-Rambla on Saturday. I was really glad my family got to see the city in all its glory with everyone outside, live music, singing, dancing, and just all those lovely little things about this city.

Spain's miracle cream that "Tightens, firms, and tones your body while you sleep". They also have one for guys which apparently gives you a six pack while you sleep. And all these years I've been wasting time in the gyms...

The outdoor markets by the church which we explored the last day my family was here.

The cathedral where my host mother got married.

Exotic Tea to start the morning off right.

I told my parents this is what I want for my next birthday.

As I've said in past blog entries dogs are like people here. They sit on benches like people, they often roam the city free, and I literally have even seen dogs pick up their leash in their mouth and walk themselves. Today I just saw an owner open the door to the apartment, the dog ran down the street to "his" tree, did his business, then came back to the door and waited till his owner came back. The dogs are so obedient, friendly, and so darn adorable.

We met this friendly, cute, but incredibly dirty dog when we were having lunch in Sacromonte. I promised my parents it was a short walk up the hill because that is what my friend had told me. Oh how wrong I was. Then at the end of the meal my dad said we should get the guy to call a taxi for us and I said it's no problem taxis drive through here all the time. He said you should ask the guy to call there's no way your gonna get a taxi up here, I turned around within literally one second a taxi was rolling by and I flagged him down. It was like it had been set up in a movie script and it was a fantastic moment for me. 

Apparently Victoria has shared her secret with all women now.

And you may think this is hilarious but the Spongebob style glasses are HUGE here, especially for girls my age. It's immensely popular.

Some of the Arab markets in the Alcaizeria. Great place to shop for cheap trinkets and nick nacks.

Random guy in a chicken suit. Reminded me of my experiences in Cadiz when I was in my barrel of wine.

This was just before my family left.

And this was them driving off.

All in all an amazing visit that came for me at the perfect time. God set it up so my family would be there right when I needed them most. We laughed and had all kinds of fun and shared so many experiences as a family. I was the first out of my family to visit Spain and I got to share it with them. The only thing better than having an amazing experience is being able to share it with the people you love. I love my family with all my heart and am so thankful that they got to be here with me and see where I've been living my life.

Right before they left I was talking about going to Sierra Nevada to snowboard because it would probly be my last chance to do it and like my parents always do they encouraged and supported me. "You gotta do it, don't even think about it just go!" And so the next day I did and that will be the next blog entry. I'll post it soon, hope everyone is safe and well back home living it up and making the best of each day!