Cabo de Gata

Hola chicos,

The last couple days have been kind of a whirlwind and have resulted in my lack of blogging, but I'll try to catch you up. We didn't do much Sunday. Given that my head did not hit the pillow until at least 5 a.m., maybe later, I did not wake up very early. Only a couple hours until la comida, or lunch, I stayed cooped up in my room. After that, my roommate and I were ambitious and decided to go on an adventure and explore Granada. It was about 3:30 and during the siesta but we didn't care. We were ready to explore. Our Senora warned that it would be very hot but we went anyways. Boy was she right. 95 degrees does not feel so good when there is no shade anywhere and nothing is open since we embarked in our journey right in the smack dab of the siesta. Furthermore, it was a Sunday and the Spaniards, quite unlike Americans, actually do rest on this day. The typically don't even leave the house. After about an hour and a half we gave up and retreated back to our shaded, although not air-conditioned, apartamento. We then found out we have a pool in our apartment complex, however, the water was very cold and at about 5 in the afternoon it was completely covered in shade. After a short hang out at our pool we decided to finally take our siesta. The thing is, 6 o'clock in the evening is really a horrible time to take a nap and resulted in a very tough time falling asleep after our cena, or dinner, that evening. But we made it work and made it through our first domingo (Sunday) in Granada.

Yesterday (Monday) was quite a day. We were told we were going to "hike along the coast of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, stopping at beaches along the way...a long walk, but not extremely difficult." I suppose a Spaniards idea of a nice easy walk is different than lazy Americans who drive five minutes down the road, but I don't think I am out of line in saying that this was a bit of a false pretense. This being said, we took about a two hour bus ride to Cabo de Gata and were driven part of the way up some rolling hills/mountains and dropped off. From there we hiked, up mostly, for awhile. At one point we literally hiked straight up for at least a half mile, probably more. You should know also, that this part of the hike was not trails but a road and a very narrow, winding road at that. Imagine about 75 kids on a very steep, narrow, winding road. Kind of a funny thought. Anways, after walking up the hill/mountain for what seemed like a very long time, we began to descend to our first beach. It was beautiful! It was at least in the 90s, I'm sure, and hiking made us all very hot, so we were more than ready to jump in the beautiful, clear, warm Mediterranean Sea. It as amazing, just cool enough to cool off our very hot bodies but not too cold that it wasn't absolutely pleasant. Several beach goers did not have all of there swim suits and trunks on. You could say it was a new experience. After about an hour and a half we put our tennis shoes back on and began to hike again. This part of the hike involved climbing through sandy desert-like terrain and literally scaling the side of a mountain. We were on the side of a cliff and most certainly rock climbing at this point as our only other option was to risk slipping off the side of the cliff.

After making it down the side of the mountain, we stopped at an all nude beach. If we weren't exposed to the Spaniards before, we were then. This beach, however, was more secluded and absolutely just as wonderful as the first. we stayed for a little while longer and hiked up some more straight up mountains through some more sand. At this point we were all extremely thirsty, very hungry and tired, and most weren't extremely burnt. After passing one more beach and climbing some more winding roads to a small town with many beautiful white carmens, we stopped at a little pizzeria. Next came the never-ending dinner. First we had appetizers: salad, vegetable plate, two kinds of lasagna. Then three different kinds of pizzas: vegetable, sardine, then ham and egg. Lastly, we had what I later heard was lamb but I thought was chicken and potatoes. This all for a table of six people. You could say we were all stuffed. A two-hour bus ride and a good shower later and I was ready for bed. Fun fact: Spaniards take fast showers due to their never-ending drought, which means you rinse to get yourself wet then turn off the shower. Shampoo and lather, then you rinse and turn off the shower again. Condition and rinse, etc., etc. You get the point. It's going to need some getting used to.


Today was fairly uneventful. We had class from 9-2 then our comida and siesta, which consisted of a delicious paella (a very popular Spanish rice dish) with lamb and a much need 30-minute nap. After that we had class from 5-8 and just went to dinner directly after and came home. On the way home we grabbed some helado, or ice cream, which is absolutely delicious here. They have so many unique flavors we do not have in the states, the chocolate is even better. We are determined to have every flavor while we are here but are a bit concerned since we have recently learned that Spaniards stop selling ice cream after September. We are very sad. After ice cream we decided we would indulge our somewhat lonely Senora and paint our nails in the salón, or living room, with her. While we were in there we watched a Spanish version of a cross between Jerry Springer and The View, called Enimigos intimos.  It was crazy, hilarious, and very entertaining. I can't say I didn't like it. All I know is that poor Isabela Pantoja has recently been very wronged.

Now it is time for bed after another lovely day in this lovely city.

Buenas suertes,
Ashley