brussles and amsterdam

I am horrible at writing on my blog buttt I went to brussles and amsterdam the weekend of Feb 26. Here are some pics!


Our hostel the first night in amsterdam was on a boat! All of the canals and buildings are really pretty.


I amsterdam.


Coffee shops were everywhere. Part of Oceans 12 was filmed here.


Huge ion model in brussels. We missed going to the top by 10 minutes! it was sad but still really cool to see. It looked awesome with the setting sun.


A tasty belgium waffle. Brussels also had great french fries (friknots).


We went to a brewery and saw how special belguim beer is made. Then we got some free samples.

marueccos

February 26-31

A group of about 70 people from ISA Granada and Sevilla went to Morocco last week. We first took a bus to Fes. The first thing I noticed was how out of place I felt. I felt like such a stranger, not being able to read or understand anything. There were hardly any women out and I felt like I was dressed scantily in a white vneck. We stayed in the newer part of town and while it was definitly more run down than the average spain city I didn't really feel like I was in a third world country. The next day we had tour guides take us around the medina. The medina is the old part of town that hasn't changed at all since it began. The people have at least 8 children to be able to help out with their trade and 80% of the people aren't educated. We saw hand-made rugs, silk shops, a medicine man with all natural remedies, a leather factory, etc. It was really amazing seeing all of the things they make and bardering with them. The next day we drove the the Saharan desert where we took 4x4s to our campsite. We slept in huge tents on mats. Outside of our camp, berbers (nomadic tribe) sat waiting for us to come out. They loved talking to us and would eventually try to "teach" us their work. None of them had ever left the desert and were never taught any languages yet they all new at least a little bit of 6 languages just because of tourists. There was a full moon, making the dunes seem like they glowed. We could walk around at night with no problem. The campsite made us all of our meals which were delicious. We woke up early to watch the sunrise. I expected brilliant colors covering the sky so at first I was a little bit dissapointed. In the end, it was beautiful. You could look straight at the sun, which almost looked like the moon and the colors were beautiful. We rode camels to the largest dune nearby and climbed to the top to look at the views. We could see into Algeria which was about 50 km away. Running down the dune made the climb all the worthwhile. Then, we rode the camels into the nearby pueblo. This was the saddest part. We all bought cocacola and water while the children stood around looking so thirsty. Somebody gave one of the kids the rest of their cocacola and about 10 kids fought over it. The biggest kid one, took a sip, and handed it to the next biggest kid. It was kind of like a hierarchy of children. We went to a rug place where I played with the two cutest little courtyards in the back. After, we ate at a house in the pueblo. I was under the impression that the whole pueblo worked together for everything. The same people that worked at the campsite also helped us at the rug place and served us our food. Likewise, all of the women worked to make the rugs, the whole pueblo worked to make the things that the berbers sold in the desert, and they probably all gave their camels for tourists to ride in the desert. After lunch the girls stuck around to get henna tatoos and played with more precious little kids. There was a baby that had flies on its face every other second which was really sad. After that there was a giant sandstorm so we stayed in the main tent all afternoon. At night we explored the dunes for our last night in the desert.

Ronda y Malaga

This weekend I traveled with ISA to Ronda and Malaga. Ronda is almost 3 hours away by bus. It is a small pueblo high in the mountains. Unfortunately, the day was really cloudy and we couldn´t see all of the amazing views. The views we did see were beautiful but my senora said that on a clear day you can see all the way to the Mediterraneo. The pueblo is on the top of the mountain and is surrounded by cliffs. At any point you can look down hundreds of feet to the river. Ronda also has the oldest plaza de torros (where bull fights occur), many old buildings-houses-cathedrals, and old arabian baths. Now, of corse, the baths are only ruins but it is easy to imagine the rooms with hot water flowing in, luxorious perfumes, and people talking and relaxing. After Ronda, we made our way to Malaga. It was a rainy day and we had wifi in the hotel so we spent a couple hours hanging around the hotel. I finally got to skype my family for the first time! Life without wifi sure is tough...We spent our night in Malaga exploring (aka getting lost) and watching performances for Carnival. Sunday morning we had a tour of Malaga which included the cathedral, la alcabaz (muslim palace), the plaza where picasso was born, and the museo de picasso. After lunch we hung out on the beach. It is a big and pretty beach (but oh so cold!). I will definitely have to return to Malaga when it is warmer.

My First Week in Granada

The first week has been filled with exploring. If I dont know what to do-I walk around and find something interesting. El Parque Patricio Garcia Lorquez is close to my house and is a big park great for running or relaxing. I am sure it is going to be beautiful this spring. There are countless plazas, countless stores that I could spend my life savings in (with lots of sales in February), countless bars for tapas (my favorite!), and countless people. My house is pretty much 30 minutes from everywhere. While Granada sometimes seems big it is so easy to walk everywhere which I love. El Albaicin is a part of Granada that has a lot of Moroccan influence. It isnt safe to walk around at night but during the day it is full of cool stores, teterias (tea bars with hooka), interesting people, beautiful carmenes (big old white houses with pretty gardens), and an awesome view spot of the sierra nevadas, el alhambra, and granada. My family is great. I live with Teresa and Francisco and their son Alberto. They love to talk and are constantly trying to talk over eachother-which I think is just the Spanish way. The food is amazing and they always want me to eat more so, naturally, I do. Good thing I am walking so much or else I would already have gained 20 pounds! This weekend was my first here and it was filled with lots of fun. I explored the bars/tapas/discotecas, went on a hike (which turned into getting really lost outside of the city and finding our way back-what an adventure), and a festival de San Cecillo. This morning ISA took us to see El Alhambra. Despite being rainy and freezing, it really is as beautiful as people say it is. I can't wait to go back when its warm, sunny, and all the flowers are blooming. In other news, classes finally start tomorrow. I feel like I have just been on one giant vacation so far!

madrid y toledo

I finally got to madrid! Here is the low down: go to el prado (see el greco, goya, and velasquez) and el palacio real (which is the old palace for the kings-pretty much its these amazingly overdecorated beautiful rooms with an awesome view). everyone in my program is really nice and one of our program coorindators is really funny/spunky. after the palacio real we have free time to wander around and take a baby nap (which was much needed). i went to dinner at a place called cannas y tapas and got some tortilla espanola y sangria. after hanging out in the hotel and getting to know some fellow isa-ers we go explore the madrid night. there are a lot of discotecas and such and el noche madrileno is crazy. people dont sleep. unfortunately, we decided to skip that due to the jet lag/early morning. today we came to toledo which is this really pretty old city. our tour guide was hilarious and made everything really interesting and interactive. we saw a catedral, a painting by el greco, and a couple of other things. the views were all amazing and the city itself was definitly the coolest part about the trip. tomorrow we head to granada to meet our familias!

i should be in madrid but...

my plane broke down in dallas making me miss my flight so now i am in a beautiful holiday inn room in miami. attemp to get to europe number 2 is at 6pm...keep your fingers crossed!

i leave in 3 days!

skype me: kristen.clauss

send me mail (if you send me mail, ill send you mail!):
c/ Camino de Ronda 154, 6 deg F
18003 Granada Spain