Weekend Girl's Getaway to Ronda and Córdoba

While I can't speak for everyone (especially people who take English classes in their host country), one of the perks to study abroad education is that classes and professors encourage utilizing the study abroad experience. You are here to learn the language and the culture firsthand inside and, more importantly, outside the classroom. Taking grammar, history, literature in Spanish is a lot of work, but it's a very long way from organic chemistry, if you can understand my perspective. While in Fort Collins I would've been in the library or TA hours studying after class and on the weekends, we are instead encouraged to go out and explore. This means lots of time to meet new people, travel, and practice my Spanish first hand. This semester I have decided to redouble my efforts and cram in as much within Spain travel as possible before I have to go home. I want to know my host country, the place I've come to call home, inside and out. After hearing about the nearby picturesque town of Ronda and the beautiful, historical Cordoba, my friends and I decided to take a part of our luxurious 5 day weekend to travel outside Granada and get a better feel for sunny southern Spain, Andalusia. 

The fabulous terrace of our youth hostel (and of course Karina's ever-present neck pillow 

in the foreground).

Looking out over the valley from the cliffs of Ronda.

Main bridge in Ronda (sorry, no bungee jumping here).

Mosaics and other elegant details around town.

In historic Córdoba.

Looking towards the famous Puente Romano on our way to the art museum. 

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as La Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral), 

a cathedral quite unlike any you've ever seen.

The former Great Mosque of Córdoba; first a Visigothic Christian church, converted into a mosque by the Moors before being reverted into a Roman Catholic church after the Spanish Reconquista.

In the process of making your decision to travel abroad, I recommend you consider the location of your host city/country and its accessibility. I ultimately chose Spain over Argentina because I knew it would be easier as a novice traveller to country hop in Europe, and because the public transportation and tourism possibilities within Spain are seemingly endless. So when you do go abroad, take every advantage of traveling. I try to find a balance, between loving my time at home living and studying in Granada, traveling in Spain, and traveling around Europe. Other travel goals this semester; Bilbao, Cadiz, Salamanca and Valencia within Spain; Morocco and Portugal outside of Spain. Next weekend I will be headed to Rome with my entire program, so at least I'll have that knocked out of the water! 

Estar de vuelta en Granada....

After five weeks of living like a nomad out of a backpack the size of a Ninja Turtle shell, I was more than a little Spain-sick by the time I was homeward bound. And by home I do mean Granada. Maybe I was at long last tired of standing on tiptoe in potentially MRSA infected hostel showers, or of having to roll even my dirty clothes into neat little cylinders to re-pack every morning and evening. Or maybe I just wanted to sleep in the same bed for more than two nights in a row. Whatever it was, I was relieved to go home to Spain. Strange to think that I missed Spain specifically - not the United States, not Colorado, but Spain. I got back here two weeks before school started, which despite my worrying turned out to be plenty of time to find a great apartment, settle in, prepare for classes and even get a little stir crazy (after so many weeks of limitless liberty, it was bound to happen).

Coming back for round two has made me all the more thankful for this amazing experience. While the shock of living abroad has subsided, the wonder and novelty of it all remains, and I am more appreciative than ever to be here. Saying goodbye to so many semester-long friends and acquaintances in December made me realize just how lucky I am to be here for the full eight months. If you are considering your own study abroad experience, take all factors into account and don't sell yourself short! Studying abroad for a full academic year has been the best decision of my undergraduate career, and even for those of you who are afraid they will get homesick, I recommend seriously considering stretching your limits and if possible, finding a way to stay for two semesters.

First weekend after the start of school, we got a hankering to climb up into the Sacromonte, the historically Gypsy neighborhood in north-east Granada. Now that I have only 4 months left, I feel the urgent need to explore every nook and cranny in Granada! These photos are from an exploratory hike around the Sacromonte:

So many churches and crucifixes, but for me they never get old. 

Looking towards the Sierra Nevada from the Sacromonte, an old, traditonally gitano quarter of Granada.

Ever-fresh flowers outside the Sacromonte Abbey.

Street artist and a fascinated spectator.