Is there soup in the United States?

Inside La Alhambra

It's been about a week since Matt has left. He came to Spain the last weekend in March, as did Emily. Matt was here for two weeks and Emily was in Granada with us for the first of Matt's stay and we had a blast. It was so good to see the both of them! My Moroccan friends that have a baked potato and tapas restaurant made us chicken tagine for dinner one night at the restaurant and it was really good. They were so great to Matt and Emily and everyone got along well. The Moraccans especially took a liking to Emily, I am sure a few of them were in love for a few days so it was king of funny. I think I will be asked how she is doing until I leave. One of my friends wants her to come back in May and stay here until August, and he said I can stay with him too, haha. Nice offer but he is dreaming. Matt's second week in Granada my friends let him cook Mexican food in their restaurant and it was amazing. He made braised beef and shrimp enchiladas and they were so full of spice I was in heaven. I do love the food here in Spain but there is a serious lack of spices and hot food so it was a real treat for me. I am sure I have mentioned it before but Spanish people are the biggest babies in the world when it comes to spicy food, they freak out at the smallest amount of spice so needless to say spicy food does not really exist here. Paqui was also nice enough to cook some meals for Matt so he got a little taste of what I eat and my Spanish family.

In front of the La Alhambra

Emily & I in my favorite park in Granada

With my Moroccan amigos

We spend part of our time in Granada and also took a trip to Northern Spain Matt's first weekend here. We had originally planned to go to Amsterdam which I had set up in January, flight and hostel. I got an email at the end of February stating that our flight had been canceled. I had found a great deal and when I had to look again everything was so expensive it was not worth it to go so I found a cheap flight to Bilbao and we went up north to wine country which landed up being a lot of fun. We got to Bilbao late and went to Haro the next day, then to Logroño for two days, and then back to Bilbao to spend the day there and leave the next day. All the places we saw were nice and we visited a few bodegas (where they made the wine) but Logroño with out a doubt was our favorite, which Matt likes to refer to as "The Grone". I feel like it is a hidden gem of Spain that not that many people think to visit but it was awesome. The city is beautiful, surrounded by mountains and a river, the food is great, and the wine comes as cheap as 60 - 70 cents a class, so really what could be better. All of the tapas bars have specialties that although they are not free, come at a cheap price. At night the downtown gets really crowded and everyone just pours in the streets drinking their wine and eating so the atmosphere is really great. I would recommend Logroño to anyone planning a trip so Spain so keep it in mind :)

Vino!

Haro

Logroño

This is kind of a side-note about two crazy men that Matt and I encountered in Logroño. The first crazy we were blessed with was on our way to find our hostel. This random old man starts talking to me and asking me where I am from. I told him, and he basically said that he does not like Chicago and more or less hates the United States so I thought he would not want to talk with me anymore but he still had some more things to say. He asked my why they give you paper bags at the grocery store in the US and I explained that one can choose what they want. He ignored me and continued to bitch saying that you can't carry a paper bag like a plastic bag and they he as well does not like this concept. Eventually we lost him. Out of all of the complaints I have heard about the US, this is certainly a first so props to him for being creative. The other oldie we had an encounter with was in a bar. Matt was swooshing his wine around in his glass and this old man did not like it and yelled at him. We basically laughed in his face. Then he dropped some money and thought Matt was going to take it and made a point to tell Matt that it was his money. It was entertaining. Matt had mentioned to me that he thought the old people in Spain are "crotchety" so we later shortened this term and starting referring to old crabby people as crotches. We even invented a game where you say crotch and the other person has to find the crotch. Good times.

Some amigos we made in Logroño

Matt and I went to Toledo and Madrid his last weekend in Spain. Toledo is outside of Madrid and I had been wanting to go so we headed there for a night then spent our last night in Madrid. When we got to Toledo it was raining, and after little luck with the taxis and buses we decided to walk, up and down hills in the rain. Not fun. My new camera also broke so I was not able to take pictures there which was frustrating because as you all know I take a million pictures everywhere I go. Toledo is an old medieval city surrounded by a wall and a river on three sides so it is really cool but unfortunately you won't see any pics from me. In Madrid we saw a The Savages IN ENGLISH and counted 26 hookers in a less than 10 minute walk. The Madrid hookers really amaze me because they are just out there on the busiest streets and even in front of the police station without a care. I don't understand how it works, but it does. They are really out in the open in Granada as well, but at least they stay away from the city center and instead line the street that enters into Granada, kind of like a welcome, isn't that nice?

I can't say enough how good it was to see Matt. I was so happy to have him here again and show him more of Granada and introduce him to some of my friends. The time between January when I last saw him and this past visit went by so fast so I know my last few months here are just going to fly by and I'll be home before I know it.

Another side-note. I had planned to lie to Matt and tell him that I would be coming home on August 5 when I am really going to be home earlier and in time for his birthday to surprise him. Well I told him my fake return date and he was such an asshole to me that I could not take it and had to tell the little jerk I would be home in time for his birthday. So now he knows I will be home for his birthday but he still does not know the date so it will be a partial surprise. I am still kind of irritated I had to ruin the surprise.

Today I returned from another hiking trip which was not as fun as the one I took in the fall because we hiked for a few hours in the rain today. We were lucky to have a nice day yesterday but after 10 minutes of hiking today it started to rain. At first it was not so bad but when we made it about a mile up and it got windy and we were all soaked. It was not very fun at this point and no one could see anything because there were so many clouds so we stopped early which was too bad because I really liked this trip last semester.

Family Update:

You might be wondering why I called this post "Is there soup in the United States?". It's a dedication to my Spanish host sister who asked me this question a few weeks ago. I almost fell of my chair when she asked me this considering she was referring to broth with noodles as if it might only exist in Spain. She did follow this up with the United States is famous for eating garbage which is true, but why the would point to the notion that there is not soup in the United States is beyond me. I really like Cristi but I felt like she needed a post dedicated in her honor after asking me one of the dumbest questions I have ever heard, maybe in my life. They say no question is stupid and I disagree. Bless her heart.

My other boyfriend (Pablo) did meet Matt and I think he was a bit jealous. The weekend before Matt and I went to Madrid he asked me multiple times if I would be returning back to the house alone and the night I did return the first thing he asked was if Matt was with me.

My favorite puta (Maribel) has not changed. Matt was also lucky enough to meet her and in an interesting way. Matt and I had returned home from Bilbao and I needed to go to the house to get some fresh clothes. We got to the house around 11 pm and guess who was in my room? The angel herself, Maribel. She obviously did not know that I would be coming home and decided to use my room to study. Interesting choice considering she has a desk in her room and the living room was empty. She was clearly startled and said the fakest hola I have ever heard in my life and quickly defended her position stating that she was studying. I gave the one of the dirtiest looks of my life and then contemplated for a few seconds whether I should introduce her to Matt. I decided that I would and after she scampered out of the room, hopefully feeling stupid. Normally this would not bother me but considering she treats my like shit, I had a problem with it. The other times Matt and I were in the house she ignored him, which is no surprise because she is an ignorant bitch. Now from my posts and those who I have talked to it probably seems like I exaggerate what she is like, I know Matt thought this. But after meeting her and seeing her puta ways he fully understands and sees that I am not amping this situation. I guess I am saying this because it makes me feel a bit better.

I only have two more weeks left at CEGRI (my language school) and the same amount of time left at Paqui's house which although I live with someone I do not like I will be sad to go because Paqui is a really nice lady and has treated me very well. I'll be living with some friends in May while I finish up at the University before I begin my travels after the first week of June. I think I have said enough for today, haha.