Camping en España

Today and yesterday I was able to cross three items off of my "Spain Bucket List!"

     Yesterday afternoon, we packed up at Kayla's apartment. I've been camping many times before, but was still surprised to see how much stuff we needed for just one night! Everybody had a heavy load on their backs, but I was the turtle! I carried around the tent, which is wrapped up in some circular carrier--it was awkward to load the bus on our way to the mountain!

Brad, Andrew, Kayla, Sally and I [am the "turtle"]

     About a ten-minute bus-ride later, we were in a small pueblo outside of Murcia. We climbed up through the town and passed a really neat looking graveyard. From the outside, it reminded me of the above-ground tombs that I visited in Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans this January.

Some places just have this pull...I HAD to come back here.

     As out of shape as I mentioned that I was in the last post, I had a bit of difficulty climbing up the slopes. There were a lot of loose rocks, and not a very pre-trekked path. On our way up, we stopped to pick some tasty lemons on the outskirts of an orchard. They made our water taste twice as refreshing!

     Eventually, we got to a road where people can drive most of the way up the mountain to picnic or hike around. We walked up the road for quite a bit; I was glad to get back to sure-footedness. At any point on the way up the mountain, you could turn around for a beautiful view. Even halfway up, we were already so far above the city! Once we made it to the top, I felt like I should've been in a plane to get a view like this.

     There was a clearing with picnic tables and a great view of an even higher peak of the mountain. We tried to casually avoid the picnickers, as camping technically isn't allowed there.

The level Kayla is standing is where we camped. Spoiler alert: the next day we hiked all the way up to that peak!

We made it to our campsite!

     We spent quite a bit of time searching for firewood. I think the guys enjoyed awakening their inner cavemen (or monkeys?) by jumping up and ripping down huge, dead branches from trees and carrying them back to our site....although I think we enjoyed it just as much.

Kayla brings home the bacon

     Before we got the fire going, we climbed up a bit further on the mountain and watched the sunset on the city. It was just amazingly beautiful--I probably took a thousand pictures of it. We went back down and cooked hot dogs and s'mores. So, sooo yummy. I had forgotten how much I missed the perfect combination of cookie, marshmallow and chocolate...

After filling up on s'mores, we went back up to get a view of the city at night.

Andrew in a little cocoon outside (the girls got a tent!)

     The next morning we all woke up a bit groggy and sore... there's something about sleeping outside that really seems to throw off your body clock. We packed up camp and hid it behind a boulder. Little did I know: we had much more exploring to do!

Me at the very, very tippy-top. I can't believe I made it!

     We climbed up even further, to the peak of the mountain that we saw when we first came to the clearing. Andrew, Sally and I found a great spot to watch the mountain climbers. Sally and I laughed that we pigged out on chocolate as the climbers did their strenuous workouts. It made me want to climb so much! I'll have to take a class as some point.

We watched a jacked 65-ish year old man embarrass the younger climbers. Dayum.

     After a few hours of chillin' up top, we headed back down to camp to continue chilling and prepare ourselves for the long trek back down the mountain. I tried peanut butter on just about every leftover food I could find (I haven't had it in over 4 months!).

Our trek down the mountain...AKA saying goodbye to our escape from reality

     We realized we had missed the next bus, so we had just the perfect amount of time to stop into the cemetery we had passed on the way up! It was similar to the New Orleans cemeteries, except for two things. First, this cemetery was more modern, definitely constructed in the mid 20th century based on the dates that I saw. Second, each family "grave" was enclosed in its own mini-chapel. There were several family members in each site, often grandparents, children, and nietos (grandchildren). Each grave looked like a tiny church--it had a door, windows with blinds, and usually two benches opposite each other. There was an altar with candles and flowers inside each grave. We couldn't enter them because you needed a key for each one, but we could see all we needed by peeking in the windows. What a neat experience--I was so excited to check this off of my Spain Bucket List!

     We got home a little while after 5pm, so I washed my stanky clothes and took the most glorious post-hike ducha.

     After just a couple hours of cleaning up at home, I was out yet again in Murcia. We met up in Plaza Cardenal Belluga, in front of the Cathedral, to watch the Tres Culturas finale concert.

     I had no idea what to expect really; I just didn't imagine that it would be so fun and upbeat. There were Senegalese dancers, singers, and musicians, Murcian dancers, poetry-reading, and a lot of clapping. It was such a fun experience to watch the people in front of me sort of bobbing along to the music; it seemed like no one could stop themselves from moving!

The dancers looked like they were all having an absolute blast up there, and some of the African drummers were smiling so big that you could see their teeth from far away in the audience.

Video: Murcians dancing on sand to Senegalese drummers!

It was really neat to see the Cathedral all lit up like that...as if it wasn't already beautiful!

After about two hours of the spectacle, my glutes and legs reminded me that I was far too pooped to keep standing. What an exhausting and exhilarating couple of days!

The Trek.

    Southern Spain, the area where Murcia is located, is a very dry region. I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog, but water is so scarce here that you often see artificial turf grass on medians, in parks, almost anywhere. I've actually gotten excited to see grass before! When I came home to Middletown for one night, before leaving for Hawaii, I was completely captivated by the greenness! There's a golf course behind my house, so rolling green hills, trees and reeds swaying in the wind, colorful flowers, etc. I loved it!! The point of this is that I have been dying to get back to nature.

     So, when we finally got to Hawaii, I begged Remy to take us on a hike. I got my wish, but was a little surprised at the outcome. This is a bit embarrassing, but I realized that I am more out of shape than my two twenty-something brothers (okay, that's not surprising), but also my fifty-something parents!! My mom was skipping way up ahead of me, while my Dad and Uncle lagged back to make sure I didn't fall down the mountain in exhaustion.

As you can see, there were tons of roots and other obstacles to potentially stumble over! (Pic by Josh)

     To be fair, the 'hike' up the mountain, became a climb at points...but still. I walk a ton, I just never run (because I hate running). I hope to do some more fun exercising with my best friends Devin and Erica this summer; biking the C&O canal, taking some yoga classes, and definitely more hiking, especially along the Appalachian Trail.

Josh took this picture of me!

     Back to the hike: although it was a bit strenuous, it was amazingly beautiful and well worth the sweat. The whole hike totaled about two hours, but we made it up to an incredible view of the beaches. My Dad has all the pictures on his computer :( but luckily I took some pictures on my cell phone (they're awkward sizes, but don't judge). When I get the good-quality pictures later, I will update this post!

This view is only halfway up! I was too pooped at the top to take a picture.

     This was our last day with Josh, so we headed to Ala Moana mall in Honolulu. I didn't take any pictures since I have been there before but it's, like everywhere else in Hawaii, ridiculously pretty. It's open air, meaning it's not enclosed, there's a koi pond with mini-waterfall,and tons of great shops organized by whether or not you can afford them. We didn't buy anything because Josh wanted to head to the next place to look for a gift for his wife Emily. He picked her out a super-cute dress, then we sped him off to the airport. We were sad that he had to leave so soon, but I only had about two more days anyway.

I probably should've prefaced these posts by explaining that I had no idea I was going to Hawaii until just a few days before I left! I missed the last week and a half of classes (questionable decision), flew thousands of miles and plenty of hours, and am so so so incredibly lucky and grateful for the experience. My parents are amazing for giving me this opportunity and convincing me to do all of this missing school and traveling alone. Remy is also amazing for going to school in Hawaii and giving us the opportunity to go out there and visit him. His next step is attending graduate/doctorate school at Georgia Tech--yay, a new place to visit!

If you're interested, I'll try to quickly explain my travel experiences. 

1. 4.5 hour train ride from Murcia to Madrid (after a 30 minute walk to the bus station) 
2. 15 minute connector train from Madrid Chamartin Train Station to Barajas airport
3. 8.5 hour flight from Madrid to JFK (New York)
4. 3 hour layover in JFK
5. 1.5 hour flight to BWI 
6. 1 hour-ish drive home!! I got to sleep in my own bed!
7. 1 hour drive to back to BWI the next day
8. total of 8 hour flights from BWI to San Diego and
9. San Diego to San Jose
10. we stayed the night in San Jose, so about a 30 minute drive there and back to the airport
11. 5.5 hour flight from San Jose to Honolulu!!

Apparently a panda was sitting in front of me...? I think it's a hat, btw.

In total, about 30.5 hours just driving, flying, and training...and that's only ONE WAY! On the way back, I also went to Burbank, London, and Vegas. I met a cool person, heard some interesting stories, and met some creepers (the joys of flying solo).

     Overall, it was a crazy experience. I can't believe I did so much solo traveling (I even stayed in a hotel by myself for the first time). When I got back to Murcia, I realized I have less than six weeks left!! Where has the time gone??

Where I've Been Off To

This picture basically explains why I haven't been online for a while.

This crazy-looking guy is my brother, Remy.

One day I was in Murcia and a few days later I was thirty-six thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean, acknowledging how crazy life can be sometimes! Five intense years of work and two majors later, Remy graduated from University of Hawaii at Manoa (we were all okay with attending graduation).

The ceremony was very traditional, but in the complete opposite sense of how you might view the word. It was full of Hawaiian traditions; my favorite being the Lei Ceremony. After a pretty chill, relaxed ceremony, attendees were herded to the soccer field to adorn graduates with leis. Each attendee places a unique lei over the graduate's neck. Since Remy had so many friends and family members fly out to congratulate him (along with classmates and Kappa Sigma brothers) he had so many leis, he could barely move his head! Each lei was totally different and some were handmade: various tropical flower leis, a knitted lei, cup-of-noodles on a string, airplane bottles of liquor strung together, and various other snacks in a chain!

The three ducklings in a row

Remy and Mom at Matsumoto

After a while of collecting leis, Remy took us on a tour around his beautiful campus. There was an old tea-house sent in from Japan, a koi pond, and lots of pretty landscaping. As refuge from the heat and sun, we ended up at Yogurtland. Possibly one of my favorite eateries on the planet Earth, I filled up on lots of yummy toppings and frozen yogurt (you pay by the weight so you get as many toppings as you want).







While my visit was a surprise to Remy, Josh (our oldest brother) surprised me! It was so nice to get to hang out with the both of them, especially after being away in Spain for the past four months!

The next morning, we took a drive around the island of Oahu (the most populous and happening one, where the university is located). We drove all around North Shore, where a lot of surfing tournaments are held. Remy took us to Matsumoto, a famous shave-ice joint. I wanted to get some more typical, Hawaiian flavors, so I went with Lilikoi (almost a perfume-y, sweet taste), Lychee (sweet, fruity flavor), and Green tea!

We paused our roadtrip for about an hour's lounge at a lovely beach. My parents actually got in the water for once!

Me and ma bros

Our next hop out of the minivan was a spontaneous pit stop at a fruit stand. We tried fresh coconut, mango, papaya, pineapple, and coconut milk--yummy!

We kept on driving along the island, stopping every so often to snap a few pics!

Some locals enjoying a neat little enclosure

Mom peering through a tube

We stopped at a blow hole, but I couldn't get any pictures of the actual spout--I didn't think to take my camera out until afterwards, oh well. Although the current was pretty strong here, it sure looked like a cool spot to hang out!

Since it was Mother's Day, the whole family (aunt, uncle and grandma included) went out for a nice dinner at Charthouse. The gelato for dessert was soooo yummy and it made Mom pretty happy!

Josh with Mom and her favorite dessert.

...More to come!

Alicante y la Pijamada

I started off the morning with no concrete plans other than that Sandy and I wanted to go on a daytrip. Plans for Cieza (and some UNESCO World Heritage cave paintings) fell through. We talked about Lorca. Lorca planning got complicated, then Sandy got into contact with her long-time best friend Rosi from Orihuela (the town where the two grew up together). We hopped on a train to Orihuela to meet Rosi and her girlfriend Encarni.

We changed our minds from Elche to Alicante...so the day was full of spontaneity and me never knowing exactly what we might do next. I've finally gotten accustomed to flying by the seat of my pants and really letting whatever happens happen. In Spain, at least as a study abroad student, you really feel as if you have been stripped of control. Whatever artificial control you thought you might have had is usually bogged down by bureaucracy, Spanish time customs (think siesta), or other weird things happening that you never would have expected. I'm finally learning to go with the flow.

Upon arrival in Alicante, we took some photos of the beach and went on a bathroom search. I used yet another toilet-seat-less bathroom that didn't even have a holder where toilet paper might go. Another great cultural difference..

We even got to go to a castle! The view of the beach was pretty neat and the weather was perfect--a tad on the cloudy side, but thankfully not too hot. It felt like we were on top of the worrrld!

Me, Rosi and Encarni

How I feel about Alicante

cactus with little cacti growing on it

Alas, sweet, sweet McDonalds...

After we filled our tummies with some health food, we stopped by Rosi's house to grab sleepover gear. It was a really neat experience to get to see another Spanish home.

Outside were a host of pet peacocks (including a white one), terrifying (but chained) dogs, some chickens, and other various animals. Their mini-farm was nestled at the foot of a mountain in a relatively rural setting. I took the video just to show what it sounded like outside-->

Inside on the couch sat Rosi's mother, aunt, and grandmother; multi-generational, friendly, and very Spanish! Catholic candles and other effects accented the living room. On the TV was some intense, very bizarre Spanish show where a doctor pulled out some unwilling guy's teeth. The room was bursting with family photos and memorabilia.

Just a huge flower arrangement on the kitchen table (Bowl of fresh apples: not pictured)

 I asked if it would be appropriate for me to take a photo of this altar. Rosi's brother had recently passed away so I wanted to make sure it wouldn't upset the family.

An altar dedicated to those family members who have passed away.
To me, it was both sad and beautiful; definitely Catholic.

Some orange trees and various potted plants

I can't resist you, flowers!

Me and my chiqui  with our flores!

We came back to my place for my first Spanish "pijamada" or sleepover! Rosi and Encarni cooked us some delicious fajitas (Cinco de Mayo?) and mixed us some fun Spanish drinks that I'd never heard of.

So dang tasty

Having trouble...

As if I didn't already think Spaniards were crazy...then this whipped out this bad boy.

With a little liquid courage, I began to ask about the Spanish government and current economic situation. I learned so many interesting things and it was great to get the view of young people who seemed to be so knowledgeable!

Here is what I gathered*:

• Spain's government is technically a  monarchy, but the rey does little more than represent the Spanish people symbolically (think: Queen of England). Sandy called it "marketing." 
• There is also a parliament and a president. The current political party is PP or Partido Popular and is rivaled by the PSOE or Partido Socialista Obrero Español. The former (current) government is conservative right. The latter is liberal left. 
• Elections took place in November of last year, but the new government began in January 2012. 
• The Republic is an idea that many Spanish would like to see replace the monarchy. It is symbolized by a flag similar to the actual one, but with a purple stripe:

She's carrying the flag of la Segunda Reublica Española
source: http://pcastell.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/la-ii-republica-espanola-mas-que-una.html

•  One reason the people are upset is because the current Presidente del Gobierno has failed to fulfill the promises he made in his campaign (among others: not to make budget cuts on the two most important things--health and education).
• They also explained the change from pesetas to euros in 2001. Apparently everyday items like bread and milk nearly tripled in price! 

It seems as if there is quite a bit of political/social unrest here in Spain right now, though all that I have seen has been totally nonviolent. I'm curious to see how the situation develops (and I'm hopeful for Spain)!  *What I gathered is not guaranteed to be right, or really even represent what the people actually think. This could be entirely misinterpreted.