Cupeteria 69

Friday night.

Rachel and I were met outside of our apartment complex by Michael, Ruth Ann, and Elizabeth. We then walked to the Cupeteria 69, sort of getting lost because we had no idea where it was. It was raining all day yesterday so we were worried about it raining and ruining our hair/outfits, but luckily it wasn't raining when we left. Rachael and I decided to bear another night in heels, and we set up the self timer to get a picture before we went out. 

When we got to the cupeteria, Rachel went to order our shots, 2 of number 97, in Spanish that would be "Dos de noventa y siete" but the bartender heard her say "dose y novente y siete" which is 12 and 97. There were 120 shots, ranging from hard to medium to soft. The first 40 were hard, which contained 2 types of alcohol, next 40 were mediums and the last 40 were softs. So Rachael accidentally ordered a hard shot when she wanted a soft one. Whooops! My shot was vodka, strawberry and lime. Rachael's shot was vodka, tequila and lime. 

Elizabeth and I were coincidentally opposite twins, so we had to take a picture of us together!

Rachael and Michael and I obviously had to get a picture together too!

After about an hour, Adam, Juan, Sam, Evan, Maggie, and Tess showed up. We stayed at the Cupeteria 69 until about 1 am. We then met Amy, Chelsea, Jillian, Pablo and his friends (he is from Granada) and Courtney, who went to school where Jillian went in Granada. We then split off into groups and I went to another bar with my, Chelsea, Jillian, Pablo and his friends and Courtney, Rachael and Adam. There, Courtney bought all the girls Calimochos which are wine, coke and raspberry mixed together. They weren't too bad actually! Rachael and Maggie left to go home and before the rest of the group left to go to the club (Mae West) we took a picture together!

Chelsea, Amy, me, Pablo and his friends, Adam, Courtney and Jillian

On the to the club I decided I was too tired so I went home and the rest of the clan went to the club. We heard they didn't get home until 6:30 am, so it is probably a good thing I didn't go with!

Saturday.

We slept until 11 am, and woke up and ate breakfast. Mila's 6 year old granddaughter, Rebecca, is here today hanging out. After breakfast Rachael and I went shopping and I got a pea coat and a pair of boots for Karyn. When we got home we had lunch and then we took a siesta. Ever since then we have been lazy bums and just researching things to do in Italy when we go in less than 2 weeks! Woohoo! Cannot wait for that :)

I am going to Skype my dad soon to catch up with him and figure out spring break details. Tonight we are planning on going to Camborio (the club we went to last weekend) or Granada 10. 

Fried Octopus

Thursday night we went to a tapas bar with our group and as always, it was a blast. We all ordered tinto de veranos which are half wine and half lemonade drinks. They're spectacularly delicious! 

As I mentioned before, when you order drinks you get free appetizers, and we definitely had some interesting ones. We were served what looked like charcoal black meatballs and purple shreddings (cabbage?) on the side. When we cut it in half and bit into it, it was actually something similar to rice and sausage. They were served because it was the Dia de San Anton yesterday (January 17) and he is the saint of animals, protects them. The dish is in honor of hime (or something like that). The appetizer was called salchichas de sangre con arroz (blood sausage with rice). We were also served a dish that had noodles and shrimp in it, but nothing to write home about there. Finally for our first round of drinks, they served us taco like things. They were tortillas filled with meat and sauce on top, once again nothing too schnazy, but it was nice to have something similar to comfort food.

Our second round of drinks, we got different tapas. One group of 4 got pita and humus with a green olive. My group of 4 got some more meatball like things, but this time they were smaller and were similar to beans. We also had a few homemade chips and lettuce with a sauce on them. Then last group of 4 had fried octopus. They weren't big fans of it so Rachael and I and Jillian (a girl from the winter program from LA -- eats seafood like this more often than we do) dug into to. It was quite interesting and tough. It was hard to get over the fact that there are suction cups still on the tentacles...

After tapas we went to Futbol Cafe and ordered a huge dish of ice cream. Rachael and I split the Copa Futbol which is Caramel syrup topped with two scoops of turron ice cream, Amaretto liquor, whipped cream and walnuts! :) Once again, delicious!

We then went home and went to bed because we wanted to get a good night's sleep because we knew Friday night is going to be a long one.

In class on Friday I watched a movie, always the best, and then we got out 25 minutes early. A Friday Funday! I then came home and slept until Rachael got home at 2:20, and then we hung out and ate lunch. Mile served us eggs (FINALLY!) and a mixture of vegetables, a salad and something like Salisbury steak, minus the gravy. It was pretty good, pretty damn good. 

After lunch I Skyped Karyn and Sparky! It was nice to see my house, weird to say. We then siesta-ed and went to the mercadona to buy snacks and chocolate!

We are now getting ready for tonight, probably going to the chupeterias, a bar that only serves shots, and then to the club! Going to be fun! :)

Shots All Around

Last night we went to Hanningan's and Sons II. I think it might become a Wednesday night tradition because of the 1 Euro shots. And it is a fun place to get away from the house and socialize with others from our group. It is not acceptable or customary to have people/friends over in your house, especially when you are a guest like we are. Rachael and I left the bar pretty early because we were tired and wanted to get a decent amount of sleep for school today. It was raining when we left, so we all had umbrellas and Adam took this cute picture of us girls on our way there!

Maggie, Rachael, me, Leah

Maggie, Leah, me, Rachael

Adam, Rachael, Maggie, Leah, me, Juan

Today for class, the same as usual. Nothing too interesting happened. Just funny inappropriate Spanish jokes from our professor.

We finished booking everything for our trip to Italy! Sam, Rachael and I are going to be staying in a hotel in Venice and a Bed and Breakfast in Rome. We are living in style, that's for sure! Everything is coming together and it is every exciting knowing that we are leaving in less than two weeks.

On the plate for this evening: Tapas! Tapas with the group and then after pizza with Maggie and Leah if we are not full from the tapas. Tapas are appetizers you get when you order a drink (not coffee or tea) such as a beer or soda. They are free in Granada! The only place in Spain, possible Europe, that give them to you for free! I have to say it is pretty awesome.

Well that's the plan for this evening!

Tame Tuesday

Tuesday was a normal day. Tame day. Woke up went to class, which was hilarious! We talked about our boyfriends/girlfriends or lack there of. We also talked about things you probably shouldn't talk about with your professor... but in Spain they are more open and it is more acceptable. We got done with our first 3 hour class 40 minutes early and our 1 hour class professor didn't show up until 15 minutes after the start time, so we had a nice little break between everything where we did our homework and talked.

After class we went to the SOL office to get our student IDs and to talk about the second half of our classes, the true semester. We only have class on 2 Fridays! That's a win in my book :)

We then ate lunch and continued to be lazy and not do anything the rest of the day. Today we also confirmed that Sam will be joining Rachael and I in Italy, stopping in Venice for 2 days and Rome for 2 days! That is in exactly 2 weeks! So pumped!!

I also confirmed with my parents that we are going on a cruise to the Canary Islands for Semana Santa (Holy Week - aka Spring Break). That should be fun and warm! 

Tonight we are going to Hannigan's and Sons II bar with Leah and Maggie. It is a nice social hour and they offer good deals on drinks!

As I said before, today hasn't been too interesting!

I Feel Like We are Getting Closer to the Sky

Tuesday was a normal morning/early afternoon. For lunch we had arroz con pollo y verduras (rice and chicken and veggies). It is a favorite of the house! After lunch we had an activity with our group: a tour of the Realejo Neighborhood & Arabic Tea House. The tour was more like a walk around the hills in Granada, but the sights were breathtaking!! We also stopped in an old monastery which is now used for dorms for students at the university. Most students live in apartments but there are some old monasteries that are used for student housing.

A tree that had oranges and lemons both growing on it! Amazing!

A staircase and the ceiling. We all found it to be really cool and the architecture in the whole building was from the 1600's, I believe.

After the monastery, we went for a walk uphill to see a hotel that always wins awards for having the best courtyard. It houses scientists and researchers that are coming to the University of Granada.

We then ventured more uphill through the neighbors and we admired the graffiti/artwork of el nino. This is just one of the pieces that we stopped to admire. The quote says "I'm tired of not finding answers so I decided to change my questions."

We then continued our journey and we all stopped occasionally to get pictures of the amazing views. Here are just a few. (All pictures posted on Facebook in Granada, Spain album)

On our way downhill, we stopped to view another piece of graffiti by el nino, and we also got more cool views of the city, such as this one! I thought it felt like we were getting closer to the sky as we were climbing up (hence the title of the blog) and everyone thought it was funny that I said that. It seemed almost as if you could touch the sky!

We then made our way to the tea shop where we all ordered either a tea or a milkshake. Some people in our group also got a hookah to smoke while we all socialized. When we left the tea shop, we got lost because we went left instead of right. We explored a new section of Granada that we never knew existed. When we got home we ate dinner and now we are just resting because we have not gotten a full night's sleep for a while now. The picture, from left to right is me, Rachael, Leah, and Maggie at the tea shop!

Got a Case of the Mondays

Monday came around way too fast! It seemed like the weekend just slipped right through our fingers. But, here is what we accomplished on Sunday!

Rachael and I woke up at 10 am, shockingly early for only going to bed at 3 am. We then ate breakfast and went back to start planning trips! We have off of school from January 29 - February 3 so we decided to go on a bigger trip then! We planned a trip to Italy! Stopping first in Rome, then Florence and then Venice and flying home. It took us about 3 hours to do it all (without booking anything) and then we realized it would be cheaper to start in Venice and end in Rome. So for the next 2 hours we planned out that vacation! We then totaled it all up and decided we probably don't need to stop in Florence and just spend 2 days in both Venice and Rome.

On Sunday night, we were going to try for round 2 of churros, but once we got downstairs and realized it was raining, we headed back up and rescheduled for the next day.

We never left the house on Sunday.. lazy bums we are.

Monday Monday!
Woke up and left for school. Same old same old. At school I was talking with Sam and Maggie about the Italy trip and they were interested in joining us if everything worked out. That would be fun!

For lunch we had a noodle and beef with sauce dish, similar to stroganoff. It was actually pretty good. After lunch we took a siesta and then we went shopping with Maggie. I bought a new pair of boots, a few shirts and a bracelet. I wasn't planning on spending any money, but if it's cute, buy it!

We then met up with Michael and Sam for churros con chocolate at the Futbol Cafe. They were delicious! And we discussed more about Italy and a trip to Portugal and Morocco. Things were starting to come together.

When we got home, Rachael and I ate dinner, Skyped our friends and then booked our flights to Italy! It makes me excited already! We still have to book our hostels, and bus tickets to make sure we can get from point A to point B successfully. 

Booking a trip like this makes you feel so independent and grown up. And it is amazing how close we are to seeing the world and not just the world that we live and know, but the world other people live in and know! Excitement probably doesn't give my emotions enough credit. I'm ecstatic to goo :) 

Monday in a nut shell. Nothing too interesting happened!

Packers Lost...

Welp, its inevitable. Can't win em all. Packers lost :( 

After Rachael and I returned home from shopping, we ate dinner. She served us a pizza that had white cheese on it, but it tasted like it was aged. Let's just say that we were not the biggest fan of it.. We couldn't pin point what type of cheese it was exactly but it was not one that you would want on a pizza!

After dinner we met up with Michael to go get churros. We walked around trying to find Desi's and when we found it (at 12:30 am) it was closed. So we then went back to the cafe that we got tea at earlier on Friday and they were closed as well. We were confused because we were under the impression that churros are an after the bar type of treat. We are going to try again tonight, but this time go earlier!

Rachael and I live streamed the Packer game on our computers, but since it started at 2:30 am, we were very tired. I got to see the ending of the Broncos game and was SO ecstatic that lost :) Made my night! Both Rachael and I fell asleep watching the Packer game and when I woke up this morning, I had a bad feeling about how the game turned out... and lo and behold, we lost. What a shame. It was a good run though!

Today, Sunday the only thing on our schedule is relaxing!
:)