This entry has taken quite some time to get down cause I have been insanely busy out here in Indy. The crazy thing is that this entry is about my last week in Granada and everything wrapping up, ironically am coming up on my last week in Indianapolis and I just finished my final presentations this past week so I'll be double reminiscing in this entry but lets focus on Granada and that incredible final week I had.
Now when you do something like this you know it will end eventually but for some reason your brain refuses to believe it. I think it's human nature to want to hang onto things and get comfortable in a new place or routine so even when you know that there is a clear end to something you somehow try to resist it, to pull back from it but one way or another it's coming. I think when you can find a way to embrace that, you find ways to make the best of things that are wrapping up. So now we come up to my last week in Granada...
They say all good things must come to an end but all I could find myself saying was WHY?! Part of me was absolutely ready to come home, I couldn't wait to see my family and friends but beyond that i just wanted to stay in Spain and more importantly the city that became home Granada.
There were a lot of activities planned for the week and I had a lot of things I wanted to do and see in my remaining time so I knew it was gonna be yet another amazing week of great experiences and virtually no sleep.
One of my favorite things IES did consistently throughout the semester was the IES Open Mic Nights where they would reserve a stage or area in a local restaurant or bar and then students could come out and perform. It was really open ended so you had the choice to do whatever you wanted, spoken word poetry, rapping, singing, playing guitar and I knew it would be fun but I had NO idea how talented the people in my program were until these open mic nights.
Carson (on the mic) and Ray (holding down percussion came out every one of our open mic nights and threw down some awesome, hilarious, creative rapping. Sometimes Carson would go off the top of his head and make rhymes using Spanish words we had just learned that day or would just go off a beat and make somethin happen but at this last session he did his first performance of his own original songs. Not only was I lovin it but everyone else was. He is trying to get started as a rapper and has just started performing down in North Carolina so I'm hopin the best for him cause hes got some serious talent. And as always Ray was dropping beats for everyone who came out to perform.
These guys always got laughs, cheers, and a big ovation at the end.
Now two of my fellow gingers joined up for a performance at this final open mic night and Metta (on the left) and Caitlin stepped up to do some songs. Now I had heard Metta play guitar before and I knew he was really good but I had never heard Caitlin sing and then when she sang that first note, we were ALL blown away. The girl has some PIPES. And she and Metta went into a three song progression transferring mid song from one to the other that was incredible. I felt like a 12 year old girl at an Backstreet Boys concert, honestly I was blown away.
Through some coaxing and cheering we got the two of them to do some more songs later and they were equally impressive. Metta casually said, "All I had to do was play the same 3 chords over and over" but it still takes talent to do what they did and everyone was loving it.
Just a shot of everybody enjoying our last open mic night.
Caitlin belting, Metta shredding, and Ray tearing it up.
Then after holding down the beats for awhile Ray came out with some impromptu spoken word poetry off the top of his head that was so deep and profound. Again I just said to myself, "Wow." If it weren't for events like this I would never have known how much talent there was in my 120 person study abroad program but I loved finding out like this. It's great when people put it all on the line, let go, show who they truly are, and express themself using all different kinds of mediums. That's the beauty of life is seeing how different people express themselves, getting to see people in my study abroad just get up there and go for it encouraged me to do the same in facets of my life and I can't wait for my next opportunity to get up on a stage and let loose.
Ray, shaping hearts, minds, and souls with his words.
Then Jeff, one of our IES staff got up there and did a duet which was awesome to hear.
Then our good friend Shannon who had just come from a workout I believe walked in and everyone was trying to get her to sing and after some cheering and encouraging we got her up there. And yet again this girl took the mic and rocked it, I love hearing really gifted singers and we had so many in my program.
So after open mic night we all went out to a tapas bar and just talked about everything, study abroad, our traveling, our experiences, our misconceptions that we had and how things had changed, just everything. It was amazing then I went off to have yet another new experience.
Honestly in life, as amazing as places can be it is truly the people that make the experience. Part of the bittersweetness of a study abroad is you know that all your new friends that you are meeting in Europe may be people you don't see again for a long time but then comes the beauty in it, that now you have friends all over the world! I have to say the people I met, not just the Americans from my study abroad, but all the people I met in Spain and all the places I traveled really made the whole experience beyond incredible. I don't think there is a word strong enough in English or Spanish to describe how much this whole experience changed me and what it did to make me a better person.
Now I was fortunate enough to get to know a good number of really amazing Spanish friends, which some people unfortunately didn't get to do as much and one of the most incredible people I met was a lovely little lady named Eva.
I met her at a club one night and fortunately we kept in touch and ended up hanging out a great deal. Not only did she help me SO much with Spanish but she really is an amazing person so we had a blast together.
Which brings me to my next new experience in Spain, going to Monologos at Mae West. Eva had told me it was well worth going and that it'd be a great time so I said why not. After saying goodbye to my buddies I headed to Mae West to meet up with Eva for the Monologos.
Normally Mae West is the most popular night club in Granada, but on Mondays for the first half of the night it turns into a comedy club! Basically they have comedy groups go up and perform for a few hours then later in the night it goes back to a normal club. So Eva and I got there and after a short time the comedy show began.
As you can imagine listening to a comedian in another language can be difficult but to my amazement I was getting almost all of it! Then whenever I found there was something I wasn't catching Eva would fill in the blanks so about 5 seconds after everyone else laughed I would start laughing right along with them.. or well after them.
Here is a picture of us from Mae West on another night. My buddys kept saying how jealous they were that I was with a Spanish girl as hot as her.They'd keep saying, "Whats her name again? Eva. And she's Spanish? You lucky bastard."
So Monologos went on and honestly it was hilarious, often times I would laugh at the physical humor because it was great but it was so much more satisfying when I was able to ACTUALLY get the joke. So after Monologos ended we spent a few more hours at the club carryin on and having a great time then called it a night.
Here is a shot of us from that night at Monologos..
These were the comedians who performed and they were hilarious.
Something I thought that was not only hilarious but also so appropriate for Spanish culture was the joke delivery. They would set up their jokes, deliver them, and then play a popular song. So after every song there was a 10-20 second dance break which I absolutely loved. People always told me that Spanish people really know how to live life and I kept seeing it time and time again during my time there. They combine two great things comedy and dancing which makes the whole experience even more awesome.
After Monologos I headed home and Monday had come to an end. Now it was time to get some rest and start makin the best of every day I had left.
Waking up in Granada was something that I don't think I'll ever forget. I remember my room, the feel, the heavy blinds that I'd lift and see what the weather was looking like that day. And each day there was this amazing electricity in the air, the possibility for just about anything to happen. I loved it and I am trying to find ways to bring that excitement back into everyday of my life back here in the US.
Now if you've been keeping up with my blog you remember my list of firsts that I wrote awhile back. First shwarma, first true Spanish conversation, etc. Well when you start reaching the end of a trip you begin to have you have what I like to call your "first last". It is that experience that makes you realize all in a moment that things are ending. You start looking around saying, this is the last time I will see this or do that and it all becomes very real very fast. You can try to resist it and pretend like its not real or you can embrace it and do your best to make the best of every last second you have, I chose the latter.
I realized this would be my last week and my last chance to see a lot of things that had become a part of everyday life so I tried to take pictures of everything that I could. This is a shot of one of my last times getting to see the Sierra Nevadas, those amazing, beautiful mountains that accompanied me to class everyday. Even on my tough days I'd stop and look at those mountains and it would lift a little bit of the weight off my shoulders, just knowing about the beauty of the world out there and how big it is, how much there is to see, it makes you realize the little things really aren't worth getting worked up about. Take each day, find the beauty in it wherever it is, no matter how small, and make that the focus of your day. Don't preoccupy about one little thing that may or may not ever happen, focus on this big beautiful mountains, that stranger who smiled at you, or that cute little puppy who you got to pet. There's so much joy out there to be had, you just gotta look for it!
Here we see a shot (and not a great shot I'll add) of Granada 10, one of our favorite night clubs. We made sure to get there during our last week at least once to enjoy one of our favorite clubs one more time.
And of course Eva had to come out so we could live it up, dance, drink, and all have a blast together. She got to meet a bunch of my friends and we all had an amazing time together.
Here is a picture of G10 taken by one of their professional photographers so you can get a much better idea of what it looks like. There are a bunch of my friends in their and Eva and I are in there too, she's easier to see but I promise I'm in there somewhere.
Granada 10 was one of our favorite spots but we had plenty of other hot spots we always went to that we needed to hit up that last week and one of them of course was the Chuppiteria.
Now the Chuppiteria for those who haven't read before is the lovely shot bar that we frequented in Granada. This particular bar also had an incentive to buy more of there shots (they had over 120), for each shot (or chupito in Spanish) that you bought you would get a ticket.
With these tickets you could get a variety of different things. Once you got a certain number you could trade them in to get shirts, hats, and all kinds of other stuff.
Here is the list you had to choose from, all one euro and when we would go out we would do our best to gather as many tickets as possible so we could walk away with a shirt or hat in the future. Now when I say we would try to collect as many tickets as possible I don't mean we ripped 50 shots each, I mean we would go with girls who didn't care about their tickets and get theirs. So you may have ended a night having only taken 3 shots but with 15 tickets, that is success.
So I had one item I wanted, the t shirt, and after a semester of work and dedication....
I got it. I am sure my parents are getting teary eyed with pride reading this but look Mom and Dad.. I did it. Now you might be curious how many tickets it took but don't worry Mom, it was only 3... *cough* 55 *cough*. And that being said remember I only had a fraction of those, the great majority of those tickets came from girls saying, "These are stupid, you can have them" and being a guy, naturally winning things and challenges drive 90% of our decisions so we hoarded tickets like Golem in Lord of the Rings.
After yet another magical night at the Chupiterria we had to go to another one of our favorite discotecas, Camborio. Known as the "foreigner club" by many it attracted every type of person from all over the world, and the true Spanish people would show up around 4 am or so. At Camborio during this semester I met people from the US, Spain, Belgium, Russia, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and just about any other place in Europe you can imagine.
Here was the big screen where they played music videos while the music cranked and this is a funny music video that I had seen so I felt like snapping a shot.
Now on most nights of the week once you hit 3 or 4 in the morning this is what it looked like...
We had some great nights there. Some lasted until 7 am, some had just me and a few of my friends, and some were short and sweet but all in all Camborio was a place where I have so many great memories.
After another great night at Camborio it was time to get some rest because in our last week we had our finals. That was the one recommendation I made to the staff of IES in our evaluations was to shorten our and a half week orientation and to tack on one more week at the end after final exams concluded.
Granted, orientation was fun and extremely helpful, especially with our amazing teacher Adrianna who gave us soooo much advice and wisdom, but I think we would all benefit a great deal more having a free week at the end versus the beginning. Many of us said that it was rough basically finishing our exams one day, having a day off, then flying home. We wished we had more time to just relax and enjoy everything Granada had to offer, to say hasta luego to our new friends, and to do all the things we wanted for the last time during this study abroad.
That is one important thing I want to point out, at the end of this I made sure to say to everyone, "No adios, hasta luego" which means "No goodbyes, only see you later". And I don't just say that, I mean it. As much as possible I want to keep in touch with all my new friends and I want to see them all again. People may say, you won't go back in awhile or how could you keep in touch over all that time? Well to those people I say watch me. I know I will go back and in this day and age with all this technology there is no excuse not to stay in touch. So to all my friends abroad I look forward to the next time we get to sit down and have a beer together and may it be so soon it doesn't even feel like we were apart :)
Now yet another awesome morning wakin up in my bed in Granada and on my walk to class I ran into yet another thing I knew I wouldn't be seeing once I got back to the states...
The most obedient and laid back dogs I have ever seen. This little guy's owner was inside shopping and he was standing right at the front door patiently waiting. I stopped to watch him for a bit and he did not budge, he knew he wasn't allowed to go in, and knew his owner needed to do something, so he just was gonna wait anxiously until they came back out. No barking, no freaking out, and no leash needed to tie him down, really goes to show you how much animals can learn if we take time to spend with them.
So after yet another glorious walk up Recogidas, down Reyes Catolicos, and through Plaza Nueva I ended up at the IES Abroad Center. I walked up the 3 flights of stairs, which from beginning to end when I got to the top I was ALWAYS out of breath but it was well worth it cause once you stepped outside you came to the study center, computer area, and the terrace which on this day looked something like this...
Everybody outside enjoying the beautiful weather and my man Tyler laying out. Loved comin up here cause there were always people to talk to and hang out with, one of my favorite parts of the center.
One final after another we made our way through it, some harder than others, but all in all as I've said many times for the first time in my life school didn't come first. This experience was about so much more than book learning and it was a refreshing change of pace to have living life be more important than grades, homework, and essays.
On my walk home down Recogidas I couldn't help but stop and snap a shot of this..
Palm trees, beautiful sunset, could be Miami, better yet, its Granada!
Now although classroom learning wasn't the primary focus of this trip I did have a very unique experience not everyone got to have, I took a class up at the university. A 40 minute walk from my apartment and up what some would call a small mountain I had a class in the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras that was anthropologically based class. Now it wasn't so much about the content of the class it was more about being in an actual Spanish university classroom. As much as we wanted to believe our classes at IES were "real" Spanish classes, they were most certainly geared towards Americans. The teachers speak slower, more clearly, and do their best to make sure you are all keeping up. In a University of Granada class it is VERY different.
The teacher speaks SO fast and people speak in the class which makes it harder to hear, multiple people speak at once, and all these things you neglect come into play. It is a lot harder but it seems to me when you face the hardest challenges you grow the most and find out the most about yourself. Now although it was a bit of a hike to get up there, the view was always beautiful.
I got this sprawling view of Granada at sunset everytime I walked up there and I could not get enough of it. I took pictures just about everytime I went up there because it was beautiful in a different way each time.
Those 3 pictures were all taken the same day within about 3 minutes of each other. That might help to give you an idea of how beautiful it all was.
On our last visit for my Art and Islamic Architecture class we went to the cathedral/mosque which is one of Granada's most famous landmarks. Needless to say it was beautiful and breathtaking and yet again I found myself saying, how did these people ever build these things hundreds of years ago without any of the modern technology we have today? Somehow they found a way and thank God because now we have these beautiful works of art to enjoy.
Huge sprawling ceilings, stain glass windows, and amazing artwork. Just awesome.
A great final visit but we were all just trying to get out to the streets to enjoy every moment we could, we had some trouble focusing during this visit but my teacher Lupe was an absolutely incredible woman. I can't think of many other teachers so dedicated to ensuring her students learned the most possible and got the most out of their experience, it was a pleasure being in her class and I learned so much about Spain's history thanks to her.
I loved the little things you would see day to day that made you smile and on my walk back from class I saw this..
This stroller has a little standing area on the back with handles so if you have one small child and one larger child (like this women did) the little one can enjoy lounging in the stroller while the other one rides on the back feeling like she's pushing it. It was just a funny little thing I thought was picture worthy.
Now this entry is kind of a blend of old pictures, new pictures, closing thoughts, memories, etc. So it will jump around and I'll do my best to keep you guys with me. I think I'll have some extra entries about favorite memories, favorite songs, things like that, but for now I'm gonna include all kinds of stuff in this entry.
This is a pic from the botellon which Eva introduced me to. Basically one outdoor place where young people get together to hang out and have a good time. I had never been but yet again Eva came through in a big way and showed me where it was.
It was a blast, one of the few experiences I had where it was just me and no other Americans. I learned a bunch of new Spanish words and it's always interesting when you are the odd man out how the situations goes but spending time with Eva and her friends was a ball.
Now try to ignore the messy, sloppy background and focus on the huge smiles on our faces cause that's really what it's all about. It's not all about the place your at it's about the people your with and the experiences you make.
Now this next picture you will see is a true work of art, perfection in its truest form, some of the best things ever combining together to create a masterpiece of design and texture.
The best shwarma in Granada. Now you may laugh, oh it's just some Granada type fast food but my friends it is soooo much more than that. In my close to 5 months in Spain I probably tried roughly 25-30 shwarma places and not one came close to this one on calle Acerca del Darro. When that blue sign lit up at night, it didn't just light up the surrounding area... it lit up my heart. Dramatic yes but I can't even explain how damn good that Kebab was. First chance I get I'm headin back there and gettin one.
Now every plaza in Spain had a big ole fountain that was grandiose and majestic. I miss them like crazy. God only knows why they have them because in southern Spain they have some severe drought problems but they manage to have some of the biggest and best fountains I have ever seen. No complaints on my end cause they're awesome.
This was just another beautiful day in Granada, bright and sunny, shwarma in my belly, and the streets filled with people. It was one of the simplest things but also one of the best. A nice day in Granada is still one of my favorite things I've experienced. The people, the energy, the environment, its just the best.
In my last few weeks in Granada there were a great deal of demonstrations and protests. One in particular that had been going on for about 2 and a half weeks. Unfortunately for Granada, Andalusia (the southern region of Spain) is one of the poorest regions in the European Union. Money and jobs are sparse and it takes a lot of hard work to find work so they have a great deal of demonstrations against the government. Very seldomly are they violent, it is more to show the unity of the people and get publicity for the changes they want to see. Here are some pictures of that large protest I mentioned..
And as beautiful as the days were in Granada, the nights were even better. More people in the streets out and about looking to make the best of every night. That was one of my absolute favorite parts of the culture the desire to be outside and meeting people, just taking a walk just because. I love it and I want to find a way to keep that as a part of my life. When I get my first job coming out of college I want to get a place where I can hit the streets and don't need to drive everywhere. I love running into people on the street and just stopping at random new places to try new things. I think that means I am gravitating towards a big city for my first job but we will see where life takes me.
But as I said, Granada at night is a sight to see...
Can't get enough of it.
Now I had to include this picture solely because of how adorable this damn dog was. This is my good friend Audrey who I think is about 5' 4'' and look at how tiny that puppy looks in her arms. We were walking back from class and in Plaza Nueva we saw this little guy running around doing that, "I'm still too little to run normally but I'm adorable either way" run and we had to grab a picture with him.
Then I took my last hike up to my university class..
And yet again I had to snap some shots because the view of the mountains, the city, and the sunset was yet again tooo good to pass up.
This is the Facultad (which is kind of like campus) where I had my class. I learned a lot and met some great people. Won't ever forget my experience there.
The soccer fields that looked out over the city. Part of the UGR campus.
Part of the mountain on the way down that I climbed every day on my way back to and from class.
And here we have Puerta Elvira where I took one of my first pictures in Granada. My first night out we all struck a pose in front of this ancient piece of architecture and now on the Wednesday night of my last week this was going to be my last time walking through it.
And just because I can, here is a blast from the past from my first night out in Granada...
So on my walk back I decided to take some more pictures of things I thought I might be seeing for the last time..
The tapas bar where I had my first tapas in Granada.
The street I walked everytime I went to my university class. Also the street with my favorite tapas bars and Granada 10 right near by as well as one of our favorite bars Taantra. Calle Elvira, you treated me well.
One of the sex shops on Calle Elvira I walked by almost everyday.
Aaaand the other sex shop I walked by everyday on my way to class.
Now this had to be my favorite tapas place. A little more pricy than other places but they give big portions, good sizes drinks, and the food was great! First chance I get to go back to Granada, I guarantee I'll be stoppin here.
Calle Reyes Catolicos a Plaza Nueva. Loved walking this main street. It was always beautiful and almost always full of people.
There's the demonstration I talked about earlier, still has hundreds of people at it.
Plaza Nueva, this intersection and plaza will always have a special place in my heart. It started as the place we all met at because it was right by the Burger King and ended up being one of my favorite spots in the whole city.
Back to Recogidas, the street I walked literally everyday during my time in Granada. I'll never forget it. So many memories started or ended walking on this street, I ran into people, made friends, made friends with accordion guy on the corner, shopped, ate ice cream, went to a restaurant with my family, this street was such a big part of my whole study abroad experience. It was the last leg before I got back to my apartment and being on that street made me feel like I was at home. I will never forget it or the experiences I had there.
The next day I wanted to snap some pictures of that crazy, goofy money that did an excellent job taking all of my "real" American money and making it disappear.
35 euros which translates to roughly "everything left in your bank account" if my conversions are right.
And one night it was my buddys last night so we had to take yet another trip to the lovely Camborio.
Now like I said, clubs stay open late in Spain and if you get there at 11 which is normal time for the US it looks something like this.
The couple of Americans silly enough to come at 11 and stay till roughly 5 am.
Now one of the best parts about this club is the view..
The second most visited historic site in Spain the Alhambra is clearly visible from the patio of the club across the way. It is beautiful at night and makes for a great view during a great time.
On this particular night I ran into a few of my new Spanish friends I was fortunate enough to get to know during my time in Spain.
And like I said it really starts to fill up at 2 but at 3 Camborio starts looking something like this..
Complete with smoke machines and lazer lights it is always a good time.
After yet another great night we called it quits and headed home. This week was jam packed with great times and then we came to Thursday which was the day of my last final and of the farewell party for all of IES abroad. Things had been goin great during the week and were about to get even better.
Woke up Thursday morning with one final standing between me and freedom from classes. Fortunately this last final was a grammar final in possibly my favorite class at IES abroad with the happiest man in the world Professor Antonio who was nick named "Antonio Alegre" which means basically "Happy Antonio" because I swear I don't think I ever saw Antonio without a smile on his face during the entire semester.
Since Antonio had been so good to us and done so much for us I wanted to do something special and also something that would NEVER be acceptable in a classroom in the US. So the night before the exam I ran to the store and was looking for a bottle of champagne. When I realized how expensive champagne was I thne dropped down to the 4 euro bottle of sparkling champagne and bought 2 glasses then packed it into my backpack.
After I finished my final I got up handed it in and thanked Antonio. Then I went back to my desk and while everyone was still taking their final I said, "Antonio, I have a surprise for you" and pulled out the sparkling champagne and the cups and he was blown away he thanked me then took a look at the bottle and honestly he wouldn't be Antonio if he hadn't done this. He took one look at the bottle and said, "Oh Brian this has alcohol in it, I can't have it in the IES classrooms" and although no one would have ever known Antonio was such a strong person morally that he just would not do it. He did say we'd have a drink at the going away party so I took that and instead took the bottle up to the rooftop terrace and popped the cork with two of my best buddies from the program.
Here is a shot of me and one of my favorite teachers ever, Antonio Alegre.
Here is me with my buddies Alex and Michael enjoying the classy 4 euro bottle of sparkling champagne.
It was funny but this was the first time I popped a cork in celebration of something I had completed. I had popped plenty of bottles of champagne when working at the restaurant but it hit me that this was the first time I had ever popped a cork in celebration of something I had done.
The moment that cork popped it felt like so much more than just popping the cork on a cheap bottle of sparkling wine. Somehow that little pop on the rooftop terrace in the rain signified the real end of classes and my study abroad. Talking about those first lasts and last firsts, well this right here was a clear marker in my study abroad. It was the point where it was all wrapping up. Classes were done, the going away dinner was that night and I was leaving Granada in just a few short days. One of the deepest most symbolic moments in my trip came from this little bottle of sparkling wine..
After that we had the rest of the day to relax and then it was time for the farewell dinner in the Albayzin.
But the last week and the last few days were 2 very distinct things and because of that I've decided to make a whole 'nother entry for the farewell party. It was so special and perfect and there's a lot to include so with that being said this entry will be coming to a close.
After that cork pop, it hit me it was almost over, and it hit me I was ready to embrace every last second I had. You know it's often the littlest things at times that can make you realize some of the biggest things. I popped that cork and what had not hit me for months finally became real, that this all was coming to an end.
When I popped that cork all the things I had done and seen flew by my eyes in an instant and it was amazing and calming. In that moment I knew that I had lived my life in Spain without regrets. I had done everything the way I wanted to and had 3 days left to keep it up. I was excited to make those last 3 days some of the most special days I had, had abroad. And I just did that so to find out about the farewell party and my last days and Spain.. you'll have to wait for the next entry.
Until then I love everybody and thanks for reading!
