Cordoba with Ella!!

Yay!! So this past weekend Allison & I went to Cordoba to meet up with Ella and her two friends Lauren and Claudia!!

Our hostel was kinda cool since we were on the top floor and had a roof top balcony thing where Lauren and I tanned. I really liked her & Claudia and it was really REALLY nice to see Ella!! It was so great to see somebody I know already!! We didn’t see too much just La Mezquita mosque/cathedral and the synagogue and Saturday night we stayed up drinking wine/fanta naranjo combination which was pretty good and just talked. All around good/chill weekend!

In more local news, we are slowly making friends! Last week by the beach Allison and I made friends with a group of 4, Salvatore, Naroe, Alicia and another guy who are all 18-19. We also started going to volleyball on the beach where Alicia and Naroe also play... it's like a rec team, so yeah it's been cool. We also meet a group of 4 but so far only really have gotten to know 2 of them a bit, Yasin & Rafi. They are originally from Morocco and like 23/24 years old. On Wednesday was San Juan so there is a big beach party like all night long.. Allison and I checked it out for a bit but there was so many people and we didn't know anybody but then all of a sudden we hear "Justina?" and somehow Yasin had spotted us!

Alec made friends with two guys who live in the apartment below us with the landlord, Javi & Javi so they come over like daily to like watch TV/smoke hookah. Yesterday Allison and I finally actually talked to them a bit so yeah, they seem cool. They're both 20 and one of them turns 21 the day after me! Haha, so yeah, maybe we will go to Estepona this weekend?

Work has been going good... so far besides the normal stuff I've done a echocardiogram I think, where you get a printout of what their heart is doing and I did a Test de Aliento today where they like breathe into test tubes.

I will add some pictures of Cordoba later!

Barcelona, pt. 2

Last night we got back from Barcelona pretty late… our flight was delayed so we missed the last bus to take us back home (5 euro) so instead had to take a cab (would’ve been about 90 euro) but we split it with an Indian couple so it was “only” 35… still kinda lame though!!

On Saturday, we met up with Allison’s friend Naomi and Naomi’s friend MK and basically spent the whole day walking on Ramblas which is a main street that sells a lot of things from flowers, to birds, and has La Boqueria which is a food market with lots of meat, fresh juice, fruit, etc.


Please note the entire pigs.



In the evening we got sangria and paella for dinner.
Then Sunday, Allison and I went to the Parque Guell for some more Gaudi fun and finished up with Naomi and MK at the Museu Picasso… finally we made it home a little after 1 a.m. after our traveling troubles!

Barcelona!!!

Today was our first day in Barcelona!! We got in last night and after some confusion we finally found our hostel… I will show you how the entrance looks like and you tell me if you see ANY sign of a hostel.

The address of the place was 369 Diagonal and that was also the name of the hostel... so yeah, we decided to push the button even though it didn’t say anything about a hostel and then the guy was like “Oh, good, you found it!!”



Anyway, the hostel itself is pretty funny/cute… our room is really really small, it’s like a little dorm room. I’d say the whole place is kinda like the common room/dormitories in Harry Potter, at least the feel of it. It’s also very orange so I imagine it must be a cousin of the Gryffindor house.

This morning we went to Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Mila (La Pedrera), which is a few blocks away.
The structure and everything was awesome, but the coolest part was the attic and the roof… The attic was made of like special parabolic arches designed to keep it cool… compared to the rest of the house, it felt like the attic had AC, when usually it’s the opposite!! I wonder why we don’t just use this design in all attics, everywhere.
The roof was awesome so I took some panoramic pictures on my camera, which turned out pretty nice!! Some of those things are chimneys and some are ventilation things.




After touring Casa Mila we went to check out Gaudi’s other famous building, Casa Batllo… it’s very pretty from the outside but the entrance was a little pricey so we didn’t go in… the whole street has a row of cool mansion apartment things designed by different people.

We got lunch (fanta, bread, paella con maríscos, a pork kebab with fries, and café for 8.95 € - the menú del dia is always the way to go!!), then ventured to the metro, which is really easy, and went down to the beaches that were made for the ’92 Olympics. The beaches had nice sand and everything but felt a little too man-made for me.

Somewhere further down the coast are the nude beaches but this one was top-less/regular. And no, I did not go top-less! Then after lots of wandering around and kinda not knowing where we were, we took the metro back to the hostel & got dinner at this little locals bar where I got the best sandwich ever. Now I’m showered and clean and very tired.

New friend Pepe?

We met Allison’s new friend Pepe today!! He just moved here from Barcelona… he lived there for 5 years but is originally from Pakistan. He’s 28 and came to San Pedro to open up a business, perhaps a locutoria or a bar or whatever he decides. He met Alec, Allison, and I at a café near our apartment where we were watching the North Korea-Brazil game & Alec was just kinda being off by himself as usual...

So yeah, Allison and I talked to Pepe for awhile… at first, we weren’t sure whether or not to be sketched out but after talking a bit I think he seems alright... he’s not into fútbol but more into cricket and has a car so he says if we wanted to visit any nearby places he could drive which would be convenient as opposed to public transportation but we’ll see about that… still gotta be cautious!

His brother is, conveniently, a taxi driver in Barcelona so he basically said he could hook that up and then called his brother, Jaime (I think), and introduced us and now we have Jaime’s number so that might actually really come in handy BECAUSE in case you didn’t know, Allison and I are going to Barcelona this weekend!!

We leave Thursday night which means I’ll be missing work on Friday but they said it was okay… especially because I explained how my internship wasn’t supposed to start until NEXT week so I told them I already had plans and then they started my internship early but I already had the flight and everything. We bought our tickets and reserved our hostel yesterday and I’ve been using the internet/guidebook/word-of-mouth to figure out all the places we’ll go!

Also, Spain plays Suiza tomorrow so it might get a little crazy!

I hope I don’t bore anybody with my lame writing (and lack of photos).

Here:

Clínica del Río

Here is a picture of Allison and Alec the first weekend so that you know who they are:



Anyway, first day of work today!!! I’m working at la Clínica del Río which is a private medical clinic right down the street, I get to wear a white lab coat :o)

I got there at 9 a.m. The clinic itself is really nice, they have, like, everything… clinical analysis, cardiology, speech therapy, pediatrics, optometry, addiction treatment, ozonotherapy, and everything in between. I pretty much follow a woman named Pepi (I don’t know her real name), she’s an nurse’s assistant. I just did a bunch of watching today with clinical analysis/blood drawing for various reasons, and learning how to label the different test tubes. The nurse, Reme, also showed me how to draw blood but I don’t think that I will be doing that anytime soon... then I did a bunch of restocking and started to sterilize some stuff but then I had to go because this week I still have Spanish class at noon!

Allison and I took a walk to go for lunch and on the way back stopped at the bookstore and I bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo since it's supposed to be good. It was basically an English bookstore & the lady working there was this older lady from somewhere in the UK. She was cool. She was telling us how the movie of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn’t as good as the book (as usual), so then we talked about Harry Potter and the differences between the books and the movies, which was cute since she was older. :o)

Yesterday I actually went on a run (I know, right?!) so now my legs are kinda sore. I ran for like ten minutes (though it was running not jogging!!)… Alec runs for like 1-3 hours.

& last night Allison made her first Spanish friend in the plaza!! Though he’s like… 30 and from Barcelona, but since he doesn’t know anybody here he just started talking to her because he’s looking for friends… so I think later tonight the three of us might go get like ice-cream or something with him… I guess it’ll be good so that we talk more!

USA! & La Oreja de Van Gogh

Yesterday Allison and I went back down to central Marbella to watch the USA v. England game… basically all the tourists around here are from England, so all the bars along the boardwalk were PACKED with English fans. We found a place that wasn’t packed yet so we got a table to watch the game… an Irish American guy walked by decked out in USA gear, with a fun hat, and when he saw that we were USA he knew he’d come to the right place so him and his family came and got a table right in front of the tv and then asked us if we would like to join them so we did!!! He ordered wine for everybody and they were really nice. His name is Glenn and he was here with his little boy, his sister from Georgia, his friend George from the Eastern Shore, and his daughters boyfriend from Ireland.



After the game (TIE!), Allison and I went looking for this free concert that was happening because of the feria. The band playing was La Oreja de Van Gogh… I actually know them, and have their CD, and they’re really good, and it was free!! After going way too far, we eventually found it at almost midnight (it started at 11) but there was plenty of concert left and an encore so it was fine, and then we took a taxi home.



Work actually starts TOMORROW instead of next week, so I’m nervous about that… I have to be there at 9, I think I’ll be helping a nurse with drawing blood, and then I have class at noon like usual.

La Avenida del Mar

Today was a pretty good day!! Alison and I went and did some exploring on the bus… we took it to more central Marbella to go to some nicer beaches… the one near us has lots of rocks but down there it has better sand and is more touristy… mainly from England! We laid on the beach for a couple of hours and then decided to do some more walking.

I tried gazpacho since that’s famous here. It’s basically cold tomato soup that tastes like a combo of tomato and olives, I don’t like it very much but it’s okay with bread. I also got calamari… but it was grilled or something, not fried so it was kinda weird too but I figured while I’m here I should take some chances with seafood!



We continued and went to La Avenida del Mar! (above)
It’s a wide street with lots of status, most by Salvador Dalí, so that was nice.
At the end of it is a little park with lots of trees and benches and a fountain.

We kept walking (now we were in el Casco Antiguo de Marbella) and found La Plaza de los Naranjos, a well-known plaza with lots of restaurants and cafés, essentially featuring the color orange. The side streets were pretty cool though, mainly cobblestone streets, something like that, and narrow. We’ll probably go back again for the beach and to see La Plaza del Castillo which has las murallas del Castillo árabe.


Then we took a different bus back which dropped us off a LOT closer to our apartment! We went to a café across the street for café/helado and to watch la Mundial (World Cup!). A tie between México y Sud África!

Today was a pretty good day!! Alison and I went did some exploring on the bus… we took it to more central Marbella to go to some nicer beaches… the one near us has lots rocks but down there it has better sand and is more touristy… mainly from England! We laid on the beach for a couple of hours and then decided to do some more walking.

So we walked on the boardwalk and ate at this place… I tried gazpacho since that’s famous here. It’s basically cold tomato soup that tastes like a combo of tomato and olives, I don’t like it very much but it’s okay with bread. For my main meal I got calamari… but it was grilled or something, not fried so it was kinda weird too but I figured while I’m here I will be taking chances with seafood.

Then we continued and went to the Avenida del Mar! It’s just a wide street with lots of statues, most by Salvador Dalí, so that was nice.

At the end of it is a little park with lots of trees and benches and a fountain. Then we continued (now we were in el Casco Antiguo de Marbella) and found La Plaza de los Naranjos which is just a well-known plaza with lots of restaurants and cafes, essentially featuring the color orange (and orange trees). The side streets were pretty cool though, mainly cobblestone streets, something like that, and narrow. We’ll probably go back again for the beach and to see La Plaza del Castillo which has las murallas del Castillo arabe.

Then we took a different bus back which dropped us off a LOT closer to our apartment! We went to a café across the street for coffee/icecream and to watch la Mundial (World Cup!). A tie between México y Sud África!

First Day of Classes

First day of classes today!! It was just us 3 for 3 hours on the first floor of the building. Our teacher Isa (Isabel) is really nice… so this is what we’ll be doing for 2 weeks until our internship starts. We also went to Puerto Banus, which is where lots of rich people go… Alec saw some Spanish soccer player in some hot car.

Antonio Banderas apparently has a house nearby and so do some Real Madrid/Spanish soccer players like Guti. Alec saw Guti at the airport and Isa told us a story about when she was behind him in line at the super market.

We have lots of free time right now and I’m not really sure what to do with it… Alec goes on runs, but there’s not much to do except chill. My ankle is still swollen from when I pulled/strained tendons a few weeks ago so I can’t really do any running… who knows if I would anyway. I want to find a rugby team but I don’t know if I’ll be in luck!!

San Pedro de Alcántara

I arrived in Spain on Saturday (june 5th) around 10 am (Spain time)... my aparment is really nice and I think I got the best room since I was the first one here. I have a full size bed, the most closet space, and a balcony! We also have a kitchen, living room with a balcony, dining room, laundry room, and 2 bathrooms... The only thing is that I don’t have internet :o( but there is an internet café across the street! We’re on the 3rd floor, the landlord is on the 2nd floor, and the Spanish school is on the 1st floor, where we will be taking intensive Spanish courses for our first 2 weeks!

My room:


After settling in I took a nap for a couple of hours til I woke up around 6:30 pm to my first roommate Alec coming in. He’s from California… I’ll add a picture when we become friends. Another girl is coming tomorrow. At around 10:30 we went and got dinner. We shared 2 appetizers: garlic shrimp and shrimp omelette, both were delicious! Then we wandered around looking for icecream and finally found it when we had given up and decided to come back to the apartment. Alec will be interning at some sort of hotel place, I’ll be at a medical clinic.

Today, Alec bought some bananas that weren’t ripe yet and when he tried to eat it it was like… a cucumber. Even though it’s definitely a banana, I guess that’s just what they taste like when they are super not ripe? Then we took a long walk down to the beach, walked by the water for a bit, got some food, then walked back and went to the locutoria for some internet time… then came back and our new roommate Allison was here!!

Classes start tomorrow and in 2 weeks our internships!!