Update

Hello everyone!
Sorry for not updating in a while, but things have been kind of busy here lately, so I felt like I needed to gather my thoughts before I told them to you all so that they actually made sense (hopefully a lot of you read this! Don't forget to say hello and let me know how you're doing!)

Last weekend we went on our class trip to the Alhambra and it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. I have pictures up on Picasa, and I really encouarge everyone to check them out. This place was basically a mini-town for all of the Muslim kings WAY back in the day (we're talking hundreds and hundreds of years ago) and almost all of it is still in really good condition. The designs on the walls and floors and ceilings were just absolutely ridiculous and so intricate and involved; they were really breathtaking. I felt like I was walking around all wide-eyed with my mouth wide open the entire seven hours that we were on the tour. I felt like I learned a lot too, which I was excited about. For example, I learned that the majority of the wall is carved out of stucco, which isn't even that durable of a material, but it's lasted an unbelievably long time in the Alhambra! Everything was just so huge and majestic and unbelievable (that we were actually looking at something this old, that it was made that long ago and still exists today, and that the people back then actually made this). Even though the tour was seven hours long, I feel like I need to go back and experience more of it, because I felt rushed going through parts of it because we only had a certain amount of time (since we were a group) for the tour.

We also started classes this week, and I'm pretty excited about them (geeky, I know, but that's just the kind of person I am). I'm taking Culture of Spain (which should be a good class, but the teacher is always really intense/passionate, so it's kind of hard to read her), Grammar II (because I figured I can always use more help in grammar, and I'm right), Spanish Linguistics (which makes me feel like I'm learning a new language in a foreign language), Art History (which I'm SUPER excited about because I love the professor and every Thursday we go out into the city and find something that we're learning about because Granada's so old, it's experienced pretty much everything), and Culture of Islam (which I'm not sure I want to stay in because I'm not sure how entirely interested I am in the subject material or in the teaching habits of the professor). CEGRI is interesting in that it's a language school and only students within the program are taking classes here, so we're with all American students. But I'm really okay with that because I think I'd be even MORE intimidated if I was in classes with Spanish students.

I also started taking a salsa class, which I absolutely love. Those of you who know me really well are probably really surprised because I cannot loosen up for the life of me, but this class is just so much fun. The instructor is this little Spanish man and he's got a really good sense of humor and is a really god teacher, and the best part is that we can all understand him for the most part! I'm also taking the class with a really good group of people, which makes it all the more fun. Plus, I'm learning to loosen up a little and dance something real, so who can say no to that??

Thursday night we went and saw a flamenco show, which was best described by Rick (one of the guys on the trip) as "tap dancing on steroids." Holy cow, these people moved their feet SO fast and they were just so good! I did feel bad for one of the girls, though, because her shirt came almost entirely unbuttoned so by the end so she had to hold it closed while she finished dancing.

Friday and Saturday we went up into the Sierra Nevada mountains, to the Alpujarras, and hiked for about six hours each day. It was a ton of fun and absolutely gorgeous (these pictures are up on Picasa too!). The air was fresher and I felt completely in my element climbing the mountains and wading in streams and doing a little bit of rock climbing at our resting points. The eonly bad thing was that our guide was like booking it up and down the mountain and since it's her job, it was a lot easier for her to do it than for us to do it, so we sometimes had a hard time keeping up with her. Also, when we were going down, it was super precarious so you pretty much had to keep your eeys down the entire time to make sure you didn't fall and die so we didn't get to see too much of the scenery going down the mountain. It reminded me of something Chris Gottlieb would love to see, so hopefully you're reading this, Chris, and you look at the pictures, and are motivated to visit Spain to climb the Sierra Nevada Mountains! (Everyone else too, but specifically my mountain climber friend).

Lastly, I thought I'd post the places that I'd like to travel and see if anyone has any specific suggestions (definitely go, don't go, see this while you're there, etc):
Sevilla
Valencia
Greece
Cordoba
Italy
Rome
Venice
Florence
Switzerland
Madrid
Barcelona
Portugal
So yeah, just let me know what your thoughts on these places are, okay? Especially you, Melissa. : )