A Loooong 5 Day Weekend

I didn't have classes on Monday or Tuesday this week because of  Andalusia Day.  This is a holiday that commemorates the referendum of the year 1980, which gave full autonomy to the Andalusian community.  In many towns and cities are decorated balconies, where hangs the flag of Andalusia bars and there are competitions of Andalusian courtyards, among others.  Since there are only four days during the semester that we have Friday classes, and this week isn't one on them, I have an extra long weekend.  There was an optional trip to Morocco (Africa) through my program this weekend.  I would have loved to go if it wasn't $500.  It's so hard because I want to travel to other countries while I'm here, but the planning is always so complicated and the expenses add up fast.  


Thursday night I dropped my purple intak water bottle, which I use every single day, on the floor and it broke.  I was very sad and decided that I would need to buy a new water bottle ASAP.  The next day I went to Carrefour to look for a new one.  Carrefour is a huge "Hipermercado."  It's sort of like a WalMart Supercenter or a Super Target that has just about everything you could need, such as books, electronics, sporting equipment, makeup, household items, and more.  It's not too far from my  house, but I hadn't been there before. What amazed me the most about it was the ginormous supermarket section.  They had so many American brand food items there that my willpower was definitely tempted.  I found a water bottle that I really liked so I was happy about that!


Friday night I went out for tapas with Amy, Ashley, and Ashley's friend Amy.  We went to a bar called Bar Poes.  I really liked it and I think I want to take my mom there when she comes.  The owners, who are husband and wife, opened the bar when they came to Granada 9 years ago.  The owner was really nice and we talked with him about how he and his wife just sort of randomly ended up settling down in Granada while traveling around Europe and about how awesome Granada is.  Here is the description of Bar Poe from the website: 


"Bar Poë is a tapas bar in the heart of Granada, Spain. We provide a wide range of drinks from local to world-wide breweries. Every drink comes with a FREE tapa and not any old tapa, oh no, we provide you with a fantastic selection of tapas inspired by different cultures, countries and tastes. There is our famously hot Portuguese Piri-Piri, our traditional Brazilian bean stew (Feijoada), our new Thai Chicken dish, our Italian vegetables and much, much more. And do you know the best thing of all? You get to select what you want!"


I ordered the Ensalada de Garbonzos (Chickpea salad).  The great thing is that I didn't even order an alcoholic beverage! I just ordered pineapple juice. AND he poured it into a wine glass for me too. Fancy. 
Saturday Ashley and I did a workout at a beautiful park that is pretty close to our houses.  Amy came along too to read and enjoy the gorgeous weather that we have been having lately.  During the day, it's in the high 50's! I am very, very glad that I am not in Illinois right now with the snow and the cold.  I had a nice, long skype session with my mom while she was eating breakfast.  After talking with her, I was sort of feeling really down and homesick.  I spent the night watching TV with Eva and talking a lot too.  After talking with her I definitely felt better though.  I told her how I was feeling homesick and a little frustrated because I felt like my Spanish wasn't improving as much as I wanted it to be.  She told me that she definitely noticed an improvement in my Spanish and that it was obviously going to take time.  She also make me laugh by telling me that a great way to practice my Spanish is to ask random people on the street "donde esta...?" ("Where is...?).  That way I can talk to Granadians.  I told her that it was a great idea very though I'm not really sure how much that would help haha.  


Sunday was somewhat uneventful.  I ran, caught up on my must watch TV shows (How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, and Pretty Little Liars) and unfortunately added another one to the "must watch" list.  I started watching the show New Girl and it's so funny! I love it.  In the afternoon Ashley and I sat outside by the river and read and enjoyed the sun and warmth.  Since pretty much none of the stores are open on Sundays (not even grocery stores) we went on a mad hunt to try to find Ashley some fruit to eat.  She had to settle on some overprices pineapple juice from the mini mart to satisfy her fruit craving.  


On Monday I went for an awesome long run along the river.  Running along the river and right near the Sierra Nevada Mountains never gets old!  Eva made her delicious noodle, chicken, and chickpea soup for lunch.  In the afternoon I sat by the river and read and worked on school work.  I took an amazing siesta and then went to Corte Ingles and a few other stores with Amy.  Amy and I decided that we definitely need to practice using Spanish more when we are with out friends, because since we are all American we speak English.  We spoke Spanish the whole time we were shopping which was una buena idea.  The two month long Rebajas (deals) are on their final closeout prices and it is sooo hard not to buy things! I'm very proud that I resisted the rebajas and didn't buy anything because I really don't need anything at the moment.  


Tuesday was the final day of my superrr long weekend.  Once again it was a somewhat uneventful yet relaxing day. I FINALLY satisfied my ice cream craving by going to a soft serve frozen yogurt shop that they have here.  I got the natural flavor with rainbow sprinkles like always. Yum! Considering I usually eat ice cream every single day, multiple times a day in the U.S. the fact that I have only had it three times here is very sad. Oh well what can ya do.  I would also do just about anything to have a taco night in the Schneider household.  I want a delicious, corn shell taco with black beans, dad's homemade salsa, and guacamole sooo bad. However, Eva is an amazing cook so I really can't complain.  I don't think that I will ever get tired of all of her tasty meals, her carefully prepared salads and her delicious homemade soups.  Here is my meal today for example...

It's going to be weird only having two days of classes this week and then the weekend again since this week isn't one of the weeks that classes meet on Friday.  I wanted to go to Madrid this next weekend but now I don't know if that's going to happen.  For my Flamenco class we are supposed to go to a Flamenco show in Friday but we got an e-mail from the professor saying that it might have to be rescheduled.  My friend who is in my class and I were going to maybe leave for Madrid Friday afternoon, but now we don't know any details about the trip, or if it's even happening.


It is so hard to believe that February is almost over.  I have been in Spain for about two months, which is crazy. Time is flying by.  Since this year is a leap year, I actually get to say that it's exactly one month til my birthday tomorrow!