Last Days in Spain

Gordita!

I cannot believe my semester in Spain has come to an end. It seems that just yesterday I was signing papers to sign up for the program and having no idea what the semester would bring. It's a very bittersweet feeling to know that it's over. I can't wait to go home and see everyone, but at the same time my life here has been amazing and it will be sad to leave such an beautiful city, and amazing host family. In the time I've spent here, I've done more than I normally would in a year.

My younger host sister, Leticia, and the other puppy!

View from their balcony in Jubrique

These last few weeks have been pretty fun. The past two weekends I went to the "pueblo" with my host family. They have a house on the side of the Sierras, and another around the other side of the mountain in a town called Jubrique. Both of them are beautiful. From the mountains you can see not only the Mediterranean, but the coast of Africa as well as Gibraltar since it's only about 10km away. They definitely were relaxing weekends. No computer, TV, or city noises! Plus it's a lot cooler there than in Granada. It's been very hot lately and it's almost unbearable to sit in the sun. My host sister and I spent one day playing with her aunt's puppies. I pulled out about 50 ticks from them... I couldn't help it! Her aunt's dogs at that house are for hunting, so they aren't trained very well and are kept outside with dog houses and access to water and food, however they have so many ticks. The puppies are adorable and if they had said I could, I would have taken the brown chubby one home with me (Leticia and I called her Gordita (fatty) since she isn't named yet). I was happy to go there again this past weekend so I could stay occupied and not think about the three days that I had left in Spain.

My host parents sitting next to me, Celestina and Fernando, and my professor Marco

Before our classes ended we had a group dinner with the host parents at a pizza place, called Pizza Metro. True to their name, the pizzas are one meter long. It was nice to see everyone all together since it rarely happens outside of class.

My only final exam I had went very well. It would've been hard to do poorly since our professor told us exactly what was on the exam. Besides class, I spent the last days walking around getting last minute gifts and souvenirs, drinking sangria, and hanging out with friends before they all left. Several times we went to one of my favorite spots in the city that overlooks the city and the La Alhambra. It's quite the hike to get up there since it's on the side of a mountain, but it's worth every step. If you go during sun set the sun sets off to the right of the city, and right after the Alhambra is lit up. You can see practically all of the city, the Alhambra right in front of you, and the mountains right behind it. Tour groups pass through here at night but people also come and drink wine, play flamenco, and admire the pretty view.

This is only a fraction of the team!

I also had my last practice with the Granada Club team. I'm so happy I had the opportunity to train with them here. I met a lot of really nice people and had some exposure to different training methods. Before I started with them I was running by myself most of the time and ended up having issues with my calves. It hurt so much to run for 3 miles, that I needed to take time off. Had I not met the team, I don't know if I would have continued to run while I was here had it not been for the team! Plus I got to practice Spanish more! The group of kids on the team is an awesome group, not to mention very fast!
It's honestly overwhelming to think back on all the things I've done and am going to miss about Granada and Spain. I could not have asked for a better semester, and am so thankful that it happened. Tomorrow is back to real life! I can't wait to see my family and friends, especially Riley (the dog)!!