Very busy week of school work, but no public transportation mishaps!!
Monday:
Not much of note happened today, just a long day of classes to kick off what will be a long week of work since I have three essays due next Monday. Ricardo did bring home a bag of potato chips to have with dinner tonight so that was an exciting taste of home haha!
Tuesday:
Between classes today, we had a check-in meeting to make sure everyone was doing well with their host families and then walked over to the bus stop to renew our bus passes before the start of October. Ricardo made chicken nuggets for dinner again—I have a feeling he's looking forward to the return of Marivi's cooking!
Wednesday:
Today was picture day! Which meant after lunch we all went out into the courtyard to take a group photo with all our diferente school flags! I was somehow in the back most line, standing on top of a table? Not quite sure how I ended up there, but grateful I did not fall! For our last dinner of it being just the two of us, Ricardo made chicken filets which were delicious.
Thursday:
A fairly productive day! I finished up essay #1 for my literature class and got started on essay #2 which is for my economics class. I also packed for our weekend trip and headed off to La Fund for the night. Since the school had planned the trip (and Notre Dame covered the cost!) the logistics of the trip would certainly be a little easier. However, it also meant we were leaving at 5:30 Friday morning so all of us were invited to stay in the dorms at the residence so we could sleep a little later. They also let us eat dinner there (which normally anyone staying with a host family cannot do) so it was nice to all have dinner together and it was the hardest I've laughed in a while.
Friday:
The day started bright and early since we all had to be walking over to get on the bus we were taking to AndalucÃa (the southernmost region in Spain) at 5:30. We had a couple of hours of sleep on the bus before we stopped at a hotel for breakfast! It was still way too early, but it was nice to have a big breakfast again.
We then got back on the bus and pressed onwards to the city of Córdoba. We were given tours of La JuderÃa (the Jewish Quarter of the city from the 10th to 15th Century)
and La Mezquita (a cathedral that became a mosque and then became a cathedral again—Spain has been conquered and reconquered a few times over the course of its history.)
We had to get a photo with our favorite program director, Paco, and then we had some free time to wander before meeting at a hotel for lunch.
After lunch, we were back to the bus and on our way to the city of Granada where we would be spending the rest of the weekend. We had a limited time for dinner but found a fast sandwich shop that cost under $5! We all met back up in the lobby to head to a flamenco cave for a performance! Then back to the hotel for sleep!
Saturday:
Breakfast was 8:30 and then we were quickly off to La Alhambra (an Islamic palace where the sultan of Granada lived before the city was reconquered by the Catholics.) The palace complex and gardens are huge and absolutely gorgeous!
We waited for a bit after the tour as everyone took pictures of themselves around the palace. Some of my friends attempted to teach me how to pose for photos which went about as well as expected haha:
Lunch was at a delicuous Italian restaurant downtown before we wandered around a little bit on the way back to our hotel.
We had free time that entire afternoon and night, but since everyone had a bunch of due dates coming up, the time in between lunch and dinner was spent doing homework—I finished my second essay!
We wandered around the area more that evening and discovered there was a parade going on for one of their saints' feast days. We grabbed dinner at a little cafe nearby and ended the night with churros for dessert! Yet another great meal, full of laughter and good times.
Sunday:
We got to sleep in a little bit before breakfast in the lobby, which was much appreciated. Some of my friends wanted to go to mass so we found a church nearby and went to the fastest mass ever (it was over in 30 minutes!) We were also the only people under the age of 65 in the entire church; it took us a minute to realize the low buzzing noise surrounding us was all of the congregants' hearing aids! But it was yet another gorgeous church here in Europe!
We headed back to the hotel, lunch was served not too long afterwards, and then we were back on the bus headed back to Toledo—which meant more time to work on my last essay. About four hours later I was walking back to the apartment for dinner and was glad to see Marivi was back! I finished up my essay and now it's time for bed. Plus, since today is Sunday that means I have officially gone an entire week without any public transportation mishaps—truly a miracle! Hope y'all are having a good Sunday!
Los amo y los extraño a todos,
Bryce