¡Senderismo!

Hello again!

I’m sorry for not writing more often, but it’s quite a daunting task to sit down and attempt to explain this continuous adventure that is my life here.

I’ve decided that instead of biting off way more than I can chew, I will just focus on one thing at a time! That being said, last Saturday, I had quite the day. It all began at roughly 7 AM when Maria and I boarded the bus across the street to meet up with other students from the CLM (remember, this is the school I attend here). We were heading up to the Cahorros mountains for a day of Senderismo (hiking)!! As you, my avid readers, know, everything starts and ends later here. This is why when my groggy roommate and I got on the bus we were completely shocked to see that it was packed. We quickly realized that these people were not early birds out catching their worms, but rather the night owls returning to their nests after a lonnnnng fiesta. People were smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol this cold Saturday morning as if it were still 11 pm the night before. As fashion is extremely important here, and we were sporting some great athletic gear, we got many strange looks from these stylish young partiers. After getting off the bus at the wrong stop, asking for directions three separate times, & a short sprint, we finally met up with the other young explorers. Our brave and fearless leader, Paco, took us to a nearby bus stop and we continued our adventure. While on the little bus that took us all the way up to the base of the Cahhoros mountains (not to be confused with the “palabrota,” curse-word, “cojones”), we stopped for gas (something I’ve always been curious to see a public bus do) and rang up a grand total of 122.56 Euros (or about 177 USD)!


As we were about to start hiking, the town welcoming committee strolled by (jokejoke)....




Really though, this hike was quite incredible. I’ve included some pictures, one of which probably needs some explaining. Paco took us to what is called “Paseo de Clave,” literally meaning “cleavage walk.” This is because the basic set up of the trail, if you can even call it that, is a narrow concrete path that runs along a river about 4.5 feet below. There are boulders/tall rocks on the other side of the concrete path, and at times the rock protrudes out, making it nearly impossible to stand on the path. We had to cling to the rocks for dear life while shimmying down, and at certain parts even crawl. The name ”Paseo de Clave” comes from the parts where girls have to lean over and crawl, revealing their cleavage! (Sometimes Spaniards are funny people..)





All in all, the walk was beautiful, intense, and completely worthwhile. We walked over incredible suspension bridges, saw majestic views, and even saw a great waterfall.




Later that day, I went downtown to meet up with my “intercambio.” The CLM set me up with a Spanish woman, Elena, who is 28. She is an English teacher who is studying to take a National exam to teach in the public school system here in Granada. The point of the intercambio is that we meet at least once a week and speak in English half the time, and Spanish half the time. She is wonderful (see picture-Elena is in the middle, and her sister is on the left!) and her English is just about perfect! We’ll see if I actually end up helping her! I sure know she’ll help me though!




I spent a little time with Elena again last night and really can’t wait to get to know her better! I’ve decided that since I’m here to learn Spanish, the best idea is to meet Spanish people! This being the case, the other day, I created a “Tuenti” account. This is basically Spanish facebook! So far I have 6 friends(¡Que popular soy! Jajaja), and a few outstanding friend requests! It’s really fun to use and I can’t wait until I have more Spanish friends

I hope you enjoyed this longer post (my attempt to make up for lost time) and stay tuned for more!

¡Dos besos para cada uno de vosotros!