Easter Vacation is not actually over Easter

Nineteen days of traveling. Nine or so cities, five countries, two continents. A whirlwind of trains, planes and buses, of maps and schedules and directions. The vacation of a lifetime.

After Morocco, I got just a few hours of sleep before another long day of traveling, this time in route to Spain. I had no trouble figuring out the Orly airport, although it was busier than I have ever seen one because everyone was trying to make new travel plans after their previous ones were foiled by the volcano eruption. I made it to Seville and with the help of a Spanish girl I befriended on the airport bus, made it into the city and to the bus station (a lot harder than you would think! We were really struggling) and off to Granada. That bus ride also went without hitches and the bus I needed to take to get to Tiffany Foster (another TU student)'s apartment was there waiting for me when I exited the station. I jumped on the bus, feeling as confident as ever in my navigational abilities and the ease with which I performed all that city hopping...only to realize I didn't ever put Tiffany's number in my phone book. Greeeeat.

I spent about an hour or so trying to call another friend in Granada, trying to steal internet from somewhere, ANYWHERE (of course Granada's the one place in Europe without a McDonalds every other block), wandering around in search of wifi signs...and then I finally gave up on all of that and entered a hostel begging the man who worked there to let me use his internet. He did, thank goodness, wouldn't let me pay or anything, and we had a nice little chat about the henna on my hands (his parents were from Maroc) and some American TV show about an anthropologist. I got in contact with Tiffany finally and she met me back at the bus station. Other than that little ordeal, my time in Spain was wonderful!

It felt fantastic to be speaking Spanish again, and I realized after I left that I have never been as competent in another language in a foreign country as I was in Spain. I knew the same amount, if not more, in Chile, but their accent is next to impossible to understand. And as for France, well...maybe if I had people to practice with I would be better, but I mostly live my life there in English with a few French scenarios thrown in the mix. C'est la vie. Spain did remind me of what I am capable of, however, and inspired me not to dismiss an entire language based on my experiences with one person. Because really, that's ridiculous. I still don't want to have legitimate conversations with her, because that would surely end in a trip to the bar downstairs to work off some frustration, but I do have a French novel that I bought soon after I arrived and haven't yet started to read. I would like to reach a greater level of French, but that is proving difficult when I don't ever want to speak it! Something to add to my list of things to work on I guess.

Anyway, in Granada I stayed with Tiffany for a couple of nights, and it was nice to be able to relax a little after being constantly on the move in Morocco. We went out for tapas at night, which is the bomb in Granada! You buy a drink and you get free food. Why does this not happen anywhere else? It's legitimate food too, not just a handful of stale peanuts. I met up with Kelsey, a Costa Rica friend that I miss dearly, one of the nights and it was great to see her again, even for just a little bit! We're already planning a reunion when we're back in the States, since we won't be saving up our money for study abroad anymore. Just for real life. No big deal. I wandered around a lot in Granada, which was perfect with all its little alleyways that apparently serve as streets as well, although I'm not sure how vehicles manage to fit through. It was a really adorable town and I loved the few days I spent there. I visited the Alhambra, which I'm glad I saw right after Morocco because there were a lot of similarities, and some beautiful gardens and the cemetery. Looking back, I really saw and did a lot, although it didn't feel like I was rushing around at all. That is my kind of vacation!

Then I hopped a plane (first time on RyanAir) with Tiffany to go to Barcelona, where we stayed in my favorite hostel I've ever been in. It was quite the hike to get to it, especially the first night, hauling luggage up giant hills and stairs and taking what I'm pretty sure is the single most difficult trajectory to get to the place. Oh well, had to work off some of those patatas bravas somehow, right? In Barcelona, we hit up some of Gaudi's big stuff (Sagrada Familia, Parque Güell...) and I really, really like him. His style is so different, but I am a big fan. I don't like a whole lot of modern art, but Gaudi is sure an exception. We went to a bar on Saturday night called Chupitos, which had been recommended to us, and it was a blast...literally! They have 2 euro shots and I think about half of them are set on fire before you take them. We started off with the Harry Potter, which they set to flame and then they threw something or other on the fire to make it spark like a misbehaving wand. Loved it. We also went on a cava tour, which is the Spanish version of champagne, outside of the city with Kerry McAuliffe and Christy Sobolik, a couple of other TU students studying in Sevilla, and their roommates. It was a lot of fun! Other than that, we did what I do best in any city, and that's eat. I figured with all the hills I was climbing, a few more bites couldn't hurt...

On Monday morning I made my way to the airport yet again (the Barcelona airport is so nice!) and took a flight to Rome to meet up with my friend Amanda, who is studying with me in Paris. We took in the sights there--Colosseum, Roman Forum, gelato, Trevi Fountain (love!), Spanish Steps, gelato, pasta, pizza and more gelato... Needless to say, we ate well there too. Our hostel there was also a really good one, and I met a ton of people over free pasta and wine in the common room our last night. It was cool to be around Italian, because even though I couldn't say much at all, I could understand most of what was going on around me, and Amanda and I even had a waitress who didn't know a word of English but we got by just fine when she asked us questions. It was fun. I think if I moved to Italy I could pick up Italian pretty easily without formal instruction. I am considering buying a book in Italian and going through with a dictionary just for kicks. I should prooobably whip my French into better shape first though, huh?

After Rome came Geneva, Switzerland, which was a fantastic break in our gogogo mindset. We sat by the lake and read the day away, walked by the UN...just relaxed and took in the city. Geneva is a quiet, peaceful city, which was a big change after the bustle of Rome, but I really enjoyed it. I think Geneva would be a really nice place to live. It's really expensive though (where we were anyway), which is a thumbs down! The hostel we stayed at there was really weird, with a lot of families and businessmen. It's also the only hostel in town. Strange. Not at all the atmosphere I've come to expect in hostels, but I had a friend, so it was fine!

And then my seventh and final flight on to Nice, France. A shuttle from the hostel came and picked us up at the airport since public transportation wasn't running. Hooray for Labor Day! This was a party hostel for sure, so not great for the sleeping, but they had good, cheap food and drinks, so that was a plus! We wanted to hit the beach, but unfortunately it was cloudy and chilly, so we took a train to Juan les Pins and laid out on the sand for maybe an hour and then got back on and went to Cannes to wander a bit. Nice was relaxing too, and it was nice to be back in France where we know how things work and where the tram actually tells you what stop you're at. I definitely missed that on this trip!

And then along came another train and activation of my Eurail pass, heading back to Paris! It will be wonderful to be in a bed for more than two or three nights, and reeeally good to air out my suitcase (in hostels you can't exactly leave them open, and two weeks of traveling plus lots of sweat in southern Europe does not do good things for your clothing) but I am dreading the coming week! I have tests galore and a presentation to get ready for. It really would have been nice if they had spread it out a little bit, but at least I don't have to worry about travel plans for the coming weekend and can just concentrate on my schoolwork when I first get back. I have no grades for any of these classes yet, so it could be really interesting!

One of these days, I will write an entry that is not seven pages long. Oops.