Back in Granada

Well, We´re back in Granada. I don´t even know where to start. We haven´t had interned for a few days so I havent´been able to keep up very well.

We left Granada on Tuesday the 26 and went down to Algeciras, a little town right on the southern tip of Spain. We spent the day walking around and seeing the sights. This town stinks! Literally. Its pretty though, and right by the ocean.

On Wednesday we took a ferry town to AFRICA (Morocco) where we got a tour of the city of Tanger, rode a camel, ate lunch, and got mauled by vendors trying to sell us their products. The culture here is very different. They speak Arabic and are mostly Muslim. They make a lot of products like fabric, rubs, pottery, ect. It was all pretty, but man were we ready to leave. We waited at the station for the boat for 4 hours until the boat finally showed up and didn´t actually get back to the hotel until 10pm. The wind was blowing a lot so the boat rocked back and forth. It was a good thing we took some Dramamine or we would´ve been in trouble :) I´m proud to say that I have now been to 3 continents, and I have the stamps in my passport to prove it.

On Thursday we drove over to Gibraltar, another town in Southern Spain, which is actually owen by Great Brittain. They may have been my favorite part of the trip so far. We got to see some cool caves, a castle, play with monkeys, and eat pub grub. Most everyone here speaks English and Spanish. It was a huge change from yesterday in Morocco, that´s for sure. Tonight we headed out for Malaga, a costal town. We got a nice hotel with a pool and a view of the ocean.

On Friday we just spent the day at the beach and the pool. I swam with Sage all day while the adults of the group took a nap (I´m still a kid and proud of it). I think this had been Sage´s favorite day so far.

On Saturday we left early to go back to Granada, and that´s where we are. Janette and Cindy are off to Paris on Sunday and Mom and Sage head back to Utah Monday morning. I start school Monday morning as well.

Granada!

Well, today we're in Granada, a few hours south of Madrid. Yesterday (Sunday) we woke up early and packed up our stuff then headed for the subway to find our way to church. We only got lost once and eventually found the make-shift chapel in the middle of a busy street. I translated for my mom during Sacrament Meeting while the rest of the group tried to stay awake. We met about 5 or 6 sets of missionaries and talked about the work in Spain. There's a lot of immigrants in Spain so most of the members are not from Spain but from places like Peru, Columbia, and Ecuador. I guess the work is kind of hard with the Spainish people because they have more of the European mentality and aren't as humble to accept the missionaries into their homes. The missionaries seem to have a lot of work though. After church we went to a cool park called el Parque de Renata where they had a pond with boats, statues, concerts, etc. We ate a packed lunch and enjoyed walking around, then headed back to the hostel to get our suitcases and head out. We boarded the Euro-rail train at about 3:00 and got to Granada around 9:30. I slept the whole time and have a sore neck to prove it :) We got to our new hotel and crashed for the night. I can't believe how tired I get just traveling. This morning my alarm went off at 7am and I pushed snooze. At 7:25 I realized that the alarm wasn't working (no, really) and decided the $4 travel alarm from Wal-mart wasn't such a good idea. We headed up to the Alambra for the day. Its a huge castle in Granada that's really famous. We decided to walk up from our hotel to the Alambra but we got lost and had to catch a bus to get up there. The Alambra was amazing! By the time we got done today we were all exhausted. We ate at a little cafe then went to a Catholic Cathedral. It was a good day. Tomorrow we're off to rent a car and travel to the beach!

Day 3

Day 3 or our Spain trip has been a good one. This morning we woke up at around 3am to partying in the street (which lasted until about 5am). Most everything here happens at night and partying is a huge thing. We went pack to sleep and didn't wake up intil 10am when Janette and Cindy came to jump on us. We ended up sleeping for 12 hours! It was nice. We went out and saw some sights around the city then headed to the Madrid Temple. It was beautiful! Here they have an MTC and a whole temple square, like in Salt Lake, minus the visitor's center and conference center (ok, so maybe it doesn't have most of what SL has :). My mom and I went through a session while Janette, Cindy, and Sage waited outside (Sage is only 11 so she couldn't go in). There were only 6 women in the session and one man, and most of us spoke English so the session was in English. I was really excited about doing it in Spanish so I got a head set translator and did my first Spanish session! After the temple we took the subway back to around our hostal, had dinner, and just talked. There's a lot of statues, castles, and old buildings around here, so there's lots to see. Tomorrow we're off to church, then to Granada where we'll be for a few days.

I'm in Spain!!
Well, today was our first day in Spain. What a long day its been! Well two really. We started the trip yesterday, May 21st at 11:30 am and arrived in Spain at 1:30 Utah time, 9:30 am Spain time. Basically we missed our eight hours of sleep and just kept going. We’re EXHAUSTED!! After we got here we met up with my aunt Janette and her friend Cindy, and took the metro to out hostel. Wow, what a trip. I ended up bringing two suitcases (not a good idea) and had to haul them all over Madrid, transferring trains and carrying them up long frights of stairs. By the time we made it to the hostel (with is on the 4th floor by the way) we were all worn out, hot, and sweaty. My mom and Sage (my 11 year old sister) took a nap while Janette, Cindy, and I went to explore and find some lunch. It was fun for me to hear Spanish spoken on the street and be able to talk to people (I’ve really missed Spanish these last eight weeks since I’ve been home). We ate at a little Italian restaurant where we got some chicken sandwiches in a pita (mmm, good), and window shopped. Tonight we went to dinner at a little restaurant/bar and ate some real Spanish food. It was a potato with a ranch type sauce and fried eggs with some strange type of sausage. It was pretty good actually. I'll post some pictures later. We're off to bed now.

I only have two days before Spain!! I'm getting really excited, but a little nervous. Today I went shopping and got the last few things I need before I go, then I went to FHE for the last time. It seems like I was just getting settled into life and its changing again. I won't complain though. When else will I get the chance to travel the world? I just found out that the church website has a new radio station thing where you can listen to church music 24/7. Its pretty sweet, so I thought I'd share it. Its just on lds.org.

Well, I've never been much of a blogger but after several people suggested to me that I start one, I figured I'd give it a try, so here goes. As most of you know, I just got back from the Arizona Tempe Spanish Speaking Mission, and am trying to adjust to "normal life". It hasn't been the easiest thing ever, but I'm getting by. I currently work at Pier 49 Pizza in Providence, and work with awesome people. This Thursday I'm heading off to Spain for 6 weeks to study Spanish, and run with the bulls. Its kind of a random adventure, but hey, I'm all about random adventures. My mom and my 11 year old sister Sage are coming with me for 10 days to tour, then they'll leave and I'll stay behind to study. There's 10 of us students from SUU going, and I still don't know any of them unfortunately. I guess that's what I get for going to school so far away from home, right. I just went out on my dirt bike today to get in some riding time before I leave, with was a blast. I'm going to miss it, but I went 18 months without it so I guess 6 more weeks isn't too bad. Well, that's about it for now. I'll keep you posted on Spain and all the fun adventures we take!