My 21st birthday, plus the last three weeks

Hello Friends!
Sorry it's been so long! Life kind of just got away from me. Prepare yourself, this is gonna be a long post. You might want to grab some coffee and snuggle up with your cat/dog/significant other/anything snuggly. (No, that's not a word, but I don't care).

I finished my intentivo class (four days a week, four hours a day) and got a 9/10 in the class. I'm not exactly sure what that translates to in US grading, but I'm assuming it's good! After that we had our first free three day weekend so me and three other girls went to Gibraltar. Or so we thought. We ended up booking out hotel in "El campo de Gibraltar" which is not actually Gibralter (not sure why they would call it that). It ended up working out, the hotel receptionist was very friendly and helpful. She suggested we go to Tarifa, a small beach town (VERY small) known for windsurfing, and man do I understand why. Wind everywhere! My face hurt so bad when we got back to the hotel.

Windy, beach selfie!

We were so tired from all of the traveling and the wind that we stayed at the hotel that night, eating ice cream, drinking wine, and having girl talk. The next morning we went to Gibraltar (the original planned destination!) and I think I fell in love. We walked through border control (most relaxed border control ever) (for those of you who don't know, Gibraltar it located in Spain but is owned by England so they have their own currency and we have to show our passports). When we got through border control there was a tour company right there who do tours up the mountain. We went to a cave that was hollowed out to be used as an emergency hospital during the world wars but they ended up never needing it so now it's been converted to a concert hall. 

The lights change color, this is just the main part for the concerts, but there was more.

The next stop was the monkeys where I got to hold a real life, wild monkey! It was a dream come true. He was heavy but he didn't try to take any of my stuff, none of those threw poop, and who else can say they've held a monkey? This was also a really cool spot because on one side was Spain and on the other was Africa so I felt like I was in three places at once. Here's the awesome monkey comin at ya! 

I'm going to call him Frank, because he looks like a Frank to me.

The final stop on the tour was the highest we could legally go by car, It was miles on miles of caves that the military used. Like the mountainside was hollowed out and cannons were lined up and they slept in there and everything. It was cool, but after a while it all looked the same. Then we got a taxi and went to the train station. Mom, you'll be proud. I'm now known as the annoying girl who asks everybody if they have their passports every five seconds. I'm realizing I am just like you when I travel. 

The next week we started our official classes. On Mondays/Wednesdays I start class at 1030 with a grammar class (kinda boring but I'm learning a lot, this is basically a shorter version of my intensivo), then I have a break so I go home and do my homework for my grammar class and watch a couple episodes of Friends and have lunch. Then I go back at 1530 (aka 330, I'm learning military time, or as Alex likes to call it, time!). I have a POE class which stands for Production: Oral and Written (or in Spanish escrito). This class is probably my favorite. We sit in a circle and go over new vocab/terms but somehow we always ends up talking about funny mistakes people often make usually in regards to drugs or sex. (Example: "Me pones un cafe" means get me a coffee if you were addressing a waiter, but if you just say "Me pones" it means I want to have sex with you, so if you travel to a Spanish speaking country, don't say that!). The Spanish are so open and it's not weird at all here that we're talking about that kind of stuff in class. Then after that class I have my culture class that I've had this whole time. This class is okay, can get boring sometimes, and I'm currently avoiding studying for the test we have in it tomorrow! Then on Tuesdays/Thursdays I have an art history class that has actually been super helpful and nice to have (For example, we studied a church in class on Thursday and then coincidentally on Friday I went with my program to that church). It was awesome to see the place I had been studying in real life! Then after that class I go to my literature class which I absolutely love because I love literature! (If that sounds sarcastic, it's not meant to be). Then I go home and eat lunch and usually do some homework. We always have three day weekends from now on, sometimes they're free for us to travel but other times we have excursions planned with our program. 

One weekend we had free and I just stayed home, did some shopping, relaxed. This weekend we had excursions with our program. On Friday we went to Cordoba and saw a one of a kind church. Originally a Muslim church but then when the Reyes Catolicos came into power, they made all of the Muslims convert or leave, and they converted all of the churches to Catholic churches. This cathedral is the only cathedral that has part Muslim characteristics and part Christian characteristics. And it was HUGE.

This doesn't do it justice, but there were rooms on rooms of these arcs. 

Then after the cathedral we went to a spa! It was incredible. After a too short massage we lounged around in small pools, alternating from the average temperature to the hot to the cold to the sauna. (At least that's the order the spa suggests we go in) I made it up to my knees in the cold one but that's all I could bring myself to do. 

The next day we went to the Alhambra in Granada which is a very popular tourist destination. It was freezing and rainy but beautiful and cool to learn so much about the place I've been living in for the last month and a half. There's too many pictures to choose from to illustrated the Alhambra, so I'll post them to Facebook. 

This week I have the test tomorrow for my culture class and then on Friday I leave for Morocco with four other girls from my program (and a guide of course!). I'm so excited and with how much this trip will be costing me it better be cool! 

I finally turned 21 which was cool but kind of a non-event here because I've been drinking this whole time (the legal drinking age here is 18). I really missed my friends and Hayden and my parents on my birthday. Though it will be awesome to be able to say that I turned 21 in Spain! My host parents here were sweet and tried to make my day special. They both hugged me and wished me a happy birthday when I woke up and then my host mom made my favorite food (fettuccine Alfredo with breaded chicken) with sangria and a chocolate cake for dessert. I also went out for drinks and tapas with some girlfriends and ended the night skyping my romantic boyfriend. I'm finally settling in and getting a routine down. 

I'm becoming a wine drinker! Well, only one kind of wine. It's Spanish, called Yllera and I'm obsessed with it and I will have to find something similar to it in the U.S. because it's incredible.

I'll try to blog more, time just kind of got away from me! Now I suppose I should do some (more) studying for my test tomorrow!

Hasta luego!