Sweet Sweet Seville-Part 1

Its been awhile but I'm back! Unfortunately there is a bug going around Granada and me with my weak weak immune system was one of the first to get it! But its alright because I subsequently gave it to about 6 other people...revenge! Just kidding..but they did get the bug as well! So I have been exhausted and stuffy/runny and dealing with life with a icky tummy for the past week but all is better now! I am so lucky that my host mother here is a nurse and has been keeping me drugged up and alive!

So now I will get y'all up-to-date with the second half of my trip to Cordoba/Seville with a post about the beautiful FUN city of Seville!!!! This city is such a beautiful destination for a weekend away and I want to go back someday FOR SURE! It was a little rough-around-the-edges (meaning people do get pick-pocketed frequently) but I thought it was awesome! We got there Friday night and spent some time in our hotel unpacking and relaxing from the 2 hour bus ride there. I was in a hotel room with my roommate Lizzy and another AWESOME girl named Rachel! This girl is adorable. Like pure adorable-ness through and through...I love this girl. Lizzy and I had so much fun rooming with her for the two nights we were in Seville! We had about two hours to wander around until we had to go to dinner downstairs, so Rachel, Lizzy, and a few friends and I went shopping!

That night after dinner, a bunch of us went to a free flamenco show! Two of our amazing advisers, Dani and Jorge, took us to this show! It was so much fun! That was the first time I had seen a flamenco show here in Spain and I loved it! After the show, a bunch of us went out on the town to a few different places and then I went home and slept like a BABY! I was exhausted after a long day of walking around Cordoba and Seville.

Some of our group at the flamenco show with some delish sangria!!!!!

The next morning we woke up and ate a big breakfast at the hotel. After that we all met up downstairs and took off for our tour of Seville and its historical places. We started off seeing the oldest still-in-use palace in Europe, Reales Alcazares. This was such a pretty palace that was built with the same Moorish architecture and style as the Alhambra. It was so ornate and decorative and absolutely gorgeous. The Spanish royal family still use this palace whenever they come to Seville which is why its the oldest palace still in use. There is a labyrinth in the garden area which was really fun! What was crazy is it used to be three times the size that it is now AND they used to put live animals in there for knights and whatnot to fight against! I mainly just ran around and pretended I was Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament (book number four for those of you non-Harry Potter fanatics like myself).

 

Me in the awesome labyrinth!

After the labyrinth we got to see the palace! It was so beautiful! After it was built by the Arabs, it was conquered by Ferdinand III where it was then turned into a palace for the monarchs. Many monarchs added onto the palace during their reigns which brought it to its final glory that is seen today! Check out some of the pictures from the palace!

One of the many fountains on the property

One view of the front of the palace

The main patio..see the beautiful Arab architecture

The entrance to the part of the palace we got to see

It was so beautiful to walking around the palace and leaning the history behind the palace! After the tour of Alcazares, we got a small break for coffee and snacks! Three of us found a cute little cafe that was delicious!

Cappuccinos are a necessity in my life!

Good friends and good coffee!

After our little coffee break we went to the Catedral de Sevilla which is in the center of Seville. I will tell you all about that and the Plaza de España in my next post...I feel like I've made this one super long already! So stay tuned for Seville Part 2! Till then...god bless!
Mackenzy

Cordoba

Its been awhile since I've posted in my blog and I'm so very sorry! I have been so busy lately with school and whatnot that I have totally disregarded my blog! So I will get you up to date on the first half of my last big trip which was this past weekend I visited Sevilla and Cordoba with CEA and I had an absolute BLAST. We left on Friday morning bright and early to Cordoba, Spain which is about an hour away from Granada. We rode on a bus there and arrived at around 10:30 A.M. and got to see the Jewish quarter of Cordoba for an hour or so. Then we got to go into the pride and joy of Cordoba...The Mezquita. The Mezquita is a giant Islamic mosque in the center of Cordoba that was started being built in 784. It was passed down from generation to generation and was added on to numerous times. Then in 1236, Ferdinand and the mosque was decided to be turned into a cathedral. Many kings saw the cathedral through its construction but the amazing thing about this cathedral is the fact that they built this cathedral right smack dab in the middle of the mosque. It is amazing to be walking through the Arab features and architecture of the mosque and then all of the sudden you are in a giant cathedral. This was like the ultimate Catholic power trip towards the Islamic religion, building the biggest contrasting feature possible in the middle of the complete opposite feature. I have so many beautiful pictures from this half of the outing. Take a look!

The stained glass windows were beautiful!!!

The Arab arches represent palm trees which the Arabs connected to paradise!

The mosque goes on FOREVER!

I love the contrast between the Catholicism and Islam features

The Cathedral was just as beautiful as the mosque part!

  I absolutely loved seeing this historical place in Spain. It was gorgeous through and through and I am so blessed that I could see it! I will try to finish my post for my two days in Sevilla this weekend! Until then...have a wonderful day!
Mackenzy

Internship!

Today was my second day in my internship today and well, lets just say that the kids are a rambunctious crew. I am working with first graders for one hour and then second graders for the second on Mondays. Then on Wednesday, I work with the same first graders for two hours. I help with their Science class which is done all in English. I also help out in their English class as well which is also all done in English. This school I work at is a mix of a private Catholic school and a Montessori school. There is a lot of free-for-all in the classrooms and a lot of the children just walk around the classroom frequently. While its not the education and discipline I'm used to, I know that not only is the culture here different, but the type of education these students are getting is different as well.

At this school, they have ages 3-18! It is a large school and very open and welcoming. I have had conversations with some of the older kids (18 years old) and their English is SO GOOD! They are so good at it!! They are all so intelligent and excited about America and our language. It is so inspiring...they even need to be at a certain level of English before they can graduate. I am in Level 4 Spanish right now and the equivalency of what the students need to master of English is Level 5. I have so much respect for these kids. While the younger ones are a tad wild, they have a great education ahead of them.

I am excited to continue working at this school and bonding with these young'uns. I know that the excitement about having an American student in their class is quite overwhelming for them, but hopefully they calm down a tad or they will wear me out! The teacher I have been assisting is wonderful and very patient with me and the students. She allows me to do a lot in the class, and she also speaks Spanish very well which helps me a lot.

I will keep everybody updated on how its going for me here! I will be traveling to Sevilla and Cordoba this weekend with CEA and I'm really excited about it!! In my History of Art class today, we actually learned about the art and architecture in both places so that made me very pumped about this trip! I can't wait to show you all the beautiful things there! Stay tuned!
Mackenzy

School!!

Good afternoon everybody!!! I have had an extremely lazy day so I thought that I would update my blog and let y'all know about school here in Granada! The University of Granada is so cool! It was founded in 1531 and has 28 buildings spread out over the city! I am taking four classes in two different buildings...the Kenya building and the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas) which are about a 25 minute walk from my apartment! Its a nice little walk that takes me through the beautiful streets of Granada. While its been a tad chilly the whole time I've been here, I still love the walk.

I really like all my classes as well! I am taking two classes in Spanish, Spanish grammar and Spanish oral and writing class. I also have two classes in English as well, History of Spain and History of Art in Spain. I had to take a Spanish placement test the second week I was here which placed me into Level 5 of Spanish. At first I was really excited, but at the same time I was really apprehensive about that level of Spanish. I decided to try out the first couple days in Level 5 before I decided anything. I went to my classes the first 2 days and the grammar class killed me. I literally felt as if I drowning in Spanish and couldn't understand anything that was going on in the class. I ended up switching down to Level 4 and I feel so much better about it. I understand so much more and my teacher is so sweet and patient with all of us. She has already taught us so much in one class! We have a small class so we have all gotten to know each other and I already feel like we are going to all be friends!

I also am a part of an internship program here through CEA where I get to go to an elementary school here for 2 hours twice a week and help teach English to 1st and 2nd graders! I had my first day of school today and I had a blast! I feel like its really going to help my Spanish studies with me talking to these little kids in Spanish and trying to translate it to English for them. I love working with kids too so I feel like this is perfect for me! I am excited to see where it goes!

I am having a blast with this program! CEA is such a blessing and the advisers here are awesome! They literally are always there when you need them and they will help you with anything!! I love them all! I have been so lucky to make awesome friends through this program and can't wait to be a part of this group!

I shall keep you up to date on my school as well as my internship! Until then...adios!
Mackenzy

Cartagena!!!!

So this past weekend I was lucky enough to be reunited with one of my favorite people..Leticia!!!! Leti is from Cartagena, Spain and she lived with my family in the States last year!! She is such a wonderful, rambunctious girl who bonded with our family instantly! It felt like she had been our sister forever!!!! I was so excited to go visit her and her family in Cartagena! I took a bus from Granada to Cartagena on Thursday night and walked around the town with Leti! Cartagena is a town right on the water, a port town where the Spanish Armada also keeps their submarines, war ships, and research vessels.I was lucky enough to get to go inside the base and see some of the ships and submarines with Leti and her father!

I love this girl!!!

A torpedo!!!!

One of the older submarines on the base!

 After a day of shopping and having fun with Leti and some of her friends, Leti and her father (a wonderful wonderful man whom I adore!) took me to their beach house located about 25 minutes form Cartagena in Cabo de Palos! They have a beautiful condo there, filled with such interesting things from the family travels! The beach house was filled with things that Leti had brought back from Texas like a cowboy hat, Texas magnets, some Texas dishes and dish towels, and my favorite...a Texas flag that they hung outside on a flag pole in my honor! I loved walking back to the house and seeing that flag fly!! Made me so proud!

It was really windy that weekend at the beach, which according to Leti is really rare! She said that there are never waves like I saw there, and the water is so warm in the summers! I am going to be spending two weeks with them at the beginning of the summer at the beach, so I can't wait to see and experience that! I love the beach! One of my favorite things to do at the beach is look for cool shells and sea-glass! I know, I'm kinda a nerd, but its like fossil hunting and I feel like every piece of sea-glass that has been shaved down to a smooth exterior and every shell I find has a story! So while Leti sun bathed, I went exploring! It was so beautiful even if it was windy and the water was wavy and cold!

I found some pretty sea-glass and a few shells, but my favorite thing I found on the beaches were pieces of tile that had been smoothed by the sea! I guess when contractors don't use the scraps of tile on the houses and whatnot, they throw them in the ocean which makes them smooth and gorgeous. I kept finding really pretty patterns and colors of this "sea-tile" as I now call it along with the sea glass! My plan is to take a bag of it home and make a stepping stone mosaic from all the pretty sea things I find in Spain! I'll let you know how that turns out!

Well, I will keep you updated on the rest of adventures as soon as I can! God bless!
Mackenzy

The Alhambra

I'm backkk!!!!!!! I have so much to catch y'all up on!! I've been busy traveling and haven't had time to sit down and write! Blogging is actually pretty time-consuming if you didn't know! So I will catch you up as best I can! I took my Spanish placement exam last Monday which placed me into Level 5 of 9 of Spanish! As happy as I am about getting into that high of a level, I am a tad worried it will be harder than I expected to take. I originally told A&M that I would be in Level 4 so hopefully I can work it the transferring of credits soon! Keep your fingers crossed for me! On Tuesday, I had a lazy day of walking around and more orientation business! I got my cell phone here so I am connected to Spain that way! I also went out with some of the girls in my program to an adorable Cantina here in Spain for drinks and fun that night! While they had margaritas and whatnot, I (being the weird girl who doesn't like the taste of alcohol) had a smoothie in a margarita glass! I wanted the full effect of going out without actually drinking haha! It was so much fun to just girl talk and get to know these lovely ladies!

The next day I got to go on a beautiful tour of the Alhambra here in Granada! It is the most visited tourist attraction in Spain and such a beautiful place to see! Take a look at what the Alhambra looks like from a distance at sunset!!

My group got to go on a tour around the Alhambra led by a Spanish man with a British accent..talk about diversity! He led us all around the site and showed us everything there was to see at the Alhambra all the while giving us a thorough history of the Alhambra!

I love this view with the contrast of the palm trees and the snowy mountains!

  

I love this city!!

One of the many views from the top of the Alhambra!

There was so much history in this place! It has witnessed royalty of different nationalities from Sultans to Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand! It was actually here at the Alhambra that Christopher Columbus received permission to sail to the New World!I love standing in the same place as so many important people...it makes me feel like I'm a part of history! Not only was the history so interesting, but it was beautiful around the outside as well! The gardens around the Alhambra (called Generalife) were stunning then, but apparently its even prettier in the spring when everything is blooming around the fountains and around the mazes! I can't wait to go back to see it all in bloom!

When we actually went into the palace areas of the Alhambra, I was blown away by the ornateness of the architecture and designs that were everywhere! What is even more amazing to me is that each of these ornate designs on the walls and ceilings, were at one point painted meticulously in reds, blues, and green like a beautiful Persian rug. I can only imagine how beautiful that must of been!

You can still see some of the red that was once on the trim!

I can just see myself on silk pillows and eating grapes with this view!

Can you imagine painting all of these ornate carvings?! Can you imagine them painted!?!?

It was so beautiful to behold now, but in its heyday it must have been even more spectacular! This is the view from across a pond into the main room that Sultan used to greet visitors and ambassadors! That room across the way is also the same room that was later used by Queen Isabel to give permission to Christopher Columbus who found our wonderful America!

The Sultan's room!

I could hardly take it all in! It was all so beautiful and extravagant! I highly recommend visiting the Alhambra if you are in Spain! If you want to know more about the history of the Alhambra check out its Wiki page here! I am totally a Wikipedia addict even if its not exactly all that accurate all the time it still serves its purpose! Also if you want to look up pictures, tour information, and all around site information, you can check out the official Alhambra site here!
Until next time, have a blessed week!

Mackenzy