Peace, Love and Happiness

I've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to update my blog often.  I'm finally taking today to write, and I'm really excited to do it, BUT there will be a few posts loaded at one time.  So don't miss out!!! (haha)  The weekend of March 26 and 27, ISA took us to La Alpujarra and Salobreña.  Spain is one of the only places in the world that you can go to the mountains one day and the beach the next day (or even the same day!)  We started at La Alpujarra.  We loaded the bus and took a VERY curvy 2 hour trip through the mountains to a little pueblo where we unloaded the bus and dropped all our things off at the hotel where we were staying.  We then got back on the bus and were taken to the start of our hike.  The tour guide was a little impatient with us (probably because there were around 100 Americans that they were dealing with!), but we were able to stop and take pictures where ever we wanted throughout the hike!  La Alpujarra is part of the Sierra Nevada, it's not high enough to get snow, but it can get very chilly.  Luckily the day we went was absolutely gorgeous!!!

Shortly after we started, we saw a trail of caterpillars.  Some of the guys thought it would be fun to touch them, but before they were able to, the tour guide sternly warned them that this was not a good idea.  These are poisonous caterpillars and after touching them, you would immediately have to go to the hospital because the poison will set in that quickly.  

This is what 100 Americans look like walking through the Spanish mountains.

On our hike, we saw waterfalls, streams, tons of different trees and wildlife.  It was awesome.  We hiked for around 4 hours, and had lunch for an hour.  

And we saw wild mountain goats.. very cool!

A lot of the streams are red due to the minerals and clay that are drained into the water.

At one point, we ran into this fresh water tap.  To clean the water, they put gas into it, which makes it taste like soda water.  It was pretty gross, but at least we tried it!

Rachel, Alexis, Bernardo (an ISA director) and Me

Once our hike was over we had free time.  Rachel, Brittney and I shared a hotel room and it had a balcony off the back, so while Brittney took a nap, Rachel and I hung out on the balcony until it was time for dinner.  We watched the sun set behind the mountains, it was absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn't get a picture of how pretty it was.

The next day, we loaded up the bus and headed for Salobreña.  It's a little beach town very close to Nerja, it was amazing, but Nerja still wins in my book!

We were there on a very windy day, which made it a little chilly, but either way, I wanted to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!  The first time I ran into the water, it was so cold it took my breath away.  So I got out and laid in the sun for a while and tried it again.  The second time was much better.  Rachel eventually joined me and we took her waterproof camera to the end of these rocks and took pictures of the other cities along the coast.  It was very fun!

This is what we saw on the other side of the big rock.  Notice how the color of the water changes because of how deep the water is!  

Driving home we could see the Sierra Nevada the whole way!  

Where the mountains meet the sea.  

We had a great time in La Alpujarra and Salobreña.  And it added a few more adventures to my lengthy list of places I've been in Spain!  We were planning a trip to Salobreña for this weekend (April 1-3), but since we went with ISA, we decided to head back to Nerja, our favorite beach ever.

On Wednesday, Liza (a friend from class), Rachel and I decided that we were going to be spontaneous and get tattoos that signify our experiences in Spain.  Rachel and I got granadas (pomegranates) and Liza got words. 

I got mine with color, and Rachel got hers black and white.  

My foot is on the bottom, Rachel's foot is on top

Rachel and I hung out pretty much all day on Thursday.  We went to Parque Fredrico Garcia Lorca, a very big park in Granada and walked around for a while, then we hung out at her house.

Me and Rachel at the park

Unfortunately, this week we had to say our good-byes to some of the best friends I've made on this trip, Mike and James.  Mike and James are roommates, but I met them in class.  We have had some great adventures together, and it was definitely sad for everyone to see them go!  A large group of us got together and went to a Chino Restaurant.. their favorite restaurant in Granada!

James, Me, and Mike

We had a great time at the Chino restaurant.  It was definitely hard for all of us to say good-bye (or more like see ya later!), but James was excited to get back to the USA and Mike was looking forward to traveling Europe for a month!  This made me realize how difficult it'll be for me to leave in a month.  I can't believe time has gone so fast!  I'm definitely looking forward to the next month and what it will bring, but it'll be nice to get back to the simplicity and comfort of home.