Fin

Alright bloggers, I am so sorry I have been delinquent with my posts about Spain, but I have literally been soaking in as much culture as possible! So since my very merry unbirthday here is what has happened!

The whole next week Joseph (the free cake guy) was facebook messaging me about wanting to meet up and give me my birthday presents... wtf? This guy that I barely know who is infatuated with me waited at my school here in Granada in the library with a bouquet of flores and a cell phone that I could use here in Spain.... a cellphone? I was needless to say a little freaked out by this and not to mention his creepy facebook messages. Naturally, I sought advice from my spanish friends. First, I went to our favorite schwarma guy and asked him what to do. He is such a nice guy, he told me to follow my heart and tell him the truth, but either way we were going to get hurt. Then I asked our program director and he said this guy was weird and extremely forward even for spanish standards, so to be painfully honest with Joseph. I was. It was awful, Joseph sent me this awful message about how I am a liar and that karma will come get me! So I blocked him on facebook and that's that for the Joseph story.

I have grown on this trip immensely. First of all, in the States, I tend to be more of a guy's girl meaning I get along better with guys and I have my dudes at home (by the way I really miss all of you!) But, on this trip it is all girls. I only hang with girls 24/7 and you know what, I needed it. Usually, being around girls brings out the ultra- bitch in Nina, but I had to learn to function a different way. This group of girls is the best, quite literally, we are such a random mezcla (favorite spanish word) of personalities that we work really well together. I love these girls and I want to thank them for inadvertently teaching me how to be a girl's girl again. As I prepare the last few days of my time here in Granada, I want them to know that our time here together will never be forgotten, even if we never see each other again.

I have also realized more of my personality, I am a caregiver, provider, and overall a mother hen. My girls here call me Aunty Nina, which it's so true. I cannot help making sure every one is ok and you know what at the beginning of the trip I hated it, but now I just feel comfortable in myself. One part of my personality I need to watch out for is my ability to listen. Listening is one of my greatest skills but it gets me into trouble sometime, add my curiosity to learn about people it's a deadly combination. Of course, I can help a lot of people with this aspect of my personality, but sometimes people of the manly persuasion get the wrong impression. I am sorry to all current and future men who have been affected by this, but I do care about you just not necessarily the way you care about me. Ok that's enough about my personality, it's kind of annoying to talk about.

However, the main thing I want to blog about is the sheer amazingness of this culture! I am constantly in awe that this culture of Spain makes up who I am. My family originated from Spain, then of course moved to Mexico and this is why I am so light skinned. Becerra is originally a spanish word mean a baby cow and our family crest is originally from Spain. I am a part of a culture that has had almost every other major civilization in its territory. Roman, vikings, muslims, you name it they were here and they all influenced the culture that it is today. I feel like I am filling in missing puzzle pieces of my identity that I didn't even know were missing. I feel even more whole and fulfilled, being here allows me to explore what makes me and my family tick. The more and more I learn the more and more pride I feel for my heritage. For example, recently we went to a flamenco show and granted it was a tourist attraction I could literally feel my soul connecting to the emotions of the dance, to the history of the people in the dance. Cheesy, I know, but you can't deny a feeling like this. It's almost indescribable. If that moment in my life was filmed in a movie, there would be a flashback montage of all of my ancestors and the lives they lived. I could go on and on about Granada and tell you bloggers about my experiences, but I want you all to know the most important part about this trip for me. Unintentional self-discovery, which I would venture to say that this is the best kind of self-discovery.

That's all for today, and maybe for a while. If you would like to know more about Granada and my adventures never hesitate to ask!

Mentoring and Police

The other night in my dream I was helping two lovely elderly women in a kitchen when one stops in her tracks and says, "shoot, I left my daughter's lunch in my car and I need to give it to her before school!" I offered to take it by her house and then drive her daughter to school, because I felt like it! She gives me the girl's lunch which was a bucket of KFC chicken, and on my way I decided McDonald's would be better! So I pick up McDonald's and head over to her house. When I arrive I am shocked by it's appearance! It is completely trashed from neglect and misuse! The little girl opens the door and tells me to come in and wait while she finishes up getting ready. So I follow her into her room, where she begins to tell me she loves her foster mom, but hates this place. As soon as I walk into her room I see why. There are three mattresses on their floor and clothes strewn everywhere! Worst of all, there are cockroaches stuck in a honey sticky mess all over the floor! She said that one of her foster sisters has started collecting cockroaches, there were at least fifty cockroaches between the bedroom and the bathroom! I thought I was going to barf, but the little girl was watching me waiting for my horrid reaction because that was all she was used to. So I did something she didn't expect I pulled out the food and sat on her bed and just continued to talk to her. She loved it, still didn't trust me but loved it. We had to get going to school so I asked her where it was. She told me she goes to Casady, which explained why such a nice foster mom would let her children live in such a dive. She was sending them to the best school possible for a great education. At that moment, I told her I would be her mentor from now on, and because she goes to my alma mater that I would help her in any way I can! We get in the car and head towards school. I walk the grounds with her and we just keep talking and that's when I woke up!

The next dream my roommates in Spain and I did something really bad and we are at our apartment waiting for the police to come get us. In the spur of the moment, I decide to take the blame for everything! My sentence is a lifetime in prison so my roommates follow me in the cab for my final goodbyes and wishes. The prison looked like a crazy night club with a McDonalds (woah two dreams with McDonald's, I'm a little concerned...) in the bottom and the prison up top. I ordered the McDonald's because it was my last meal before a lifetime of prison food. I couldn't really taste it because I was so nervous. Well my friends sent me off, and up I went to prison. The prison was like a lounge constantly cast in purple light with a view of the night club so you constantly desired to be with real people. It was pretty awful and my last thought before I woke up was, "I should have gotten more McDonald's"

hahaha more about Spain to come!

Car Chases and Moving!

So two nights ago I had a dream in Spanish, well I was the only one speaking spanish but it was cool nevertheless!

I had to follow a car otherwise something was going to go very wrong, but I also get that feeling that it was also a game. We are in these old timey cars that are absolutely gorgeous! My car is red kind of like Cruella De Ville's and it was fast! But not as fast as the other car! It was jet black and kind of like one of those buggy looking things! Well the black car lost us, so we ended up at a Six Flags and spent the rest of the day running around the amusement park!

NEXT DREAM!

Kevin and Kyle needed help moving, but they wanted me to do most of the unpacking. They had been talking this place up for weeks, so when I finally get there I was surprised to see that it was two RV trailers connected to each other! It was for lack of a better word a dump! But Kevin kept talking about how awesome it was and gave me a tour which took all of 30 seconds and then asked if I would go to the store with him to buy a few things for the house. I said sure sounds good! Kyle, Kev, and I went to the mall where we met Brandon and Kate. Eventually, it just seemed like we were running around doing a whole lot a giggling and not much shopping! It was still really fun!

A Very Merry Unbirthday!

This past weekend my program scheduled a trip to the nearby beach of Nerja and the infamous Alhambra. I loved it all!

When I heard we were going to spend the whole day at the beach I (as Sabah would say)  nearly passed out! I love the beach and I'm such a beach bum that I couldn't contain my excitement! However, spending all day at the beach came with a price! We had to be up and ready at what Granadans consider the crack of dawn 8:30 am and get on a bus to get to Nerja. I don't really remember the bus ride, I only know that it was so BuMpY! When we got the Nerja, I was all focus on the beach! Thank the lord there was nothing super historical about Nerja otherwise I would not have survived! From 11-1 we spent time on the beach soaking up the rays like we would never see them again! At one they graciously provided us with the delicious dish of paella, which is basically like a seafood rice stir fry! It was absolutely delicious and made me miss mexican rice! The beach was nice and the water was freezing, but I was the happiest person alive! My happy place is on the beach with a good fiction book listening to my surroundings, from happy kids squeeling, to the waves, I LOVE ALL BEACH SOUNDS! When we had to leave I was pretty depressed, but I slept most of my depression off on the bus ride.

I'll write another post about La Alhambra, but now to the funny part of my day!

Earlier this week, my roomies and I were eating at a new restaurant and one of the waiters, Joseph, admitted that he was in love with me! Well he knows nothing about me, but I guess he "loves" me! My roomies decided this was their opportunity to get a free dessert! So they play this up all of dinner and lo and behold there was chocolate cake and pie for us at the end! Let me tell you that was some good cake! But wait there's more! He also gave me a love letter....

(translation)

Thank you for your kindness and 

your very nice friends

Beautiful Nena

I imagine you as the my perfect girlfriend

my little love

You are very beautiful

I am fascinated by all that

you are my beautiful girl

My name is Joseph

I am ready to have

a date with you

my life

He also asked when my birthday was, which my roomies quickly replied, sunday! He said to come back on Sunday and there will be a whole cake for us! For all of you who might not know my real birthday, it's in August. But sshhhhhh, don't tell! Well today is sunday and they made good on his offer! We arrive at the restaurant and he's immediately excited to see me, but he seemed guarded. Come to find out he couldn't find me on facebook. Don't worry guys, he had my name to find it, he's only slightly a creeper. The food at this restaurant is absolutely amazing and we quickly got absorbed in all the food, but Joseph kept coming around asking about my facebook and looking sad! Well, we moved through our dinner like starving animals and soon came out my cake! I am pretty sure Joseph spent his own money to buy me an ice cream cake from a nearby Heladeria (ice cream shop) and the cake was FANTASTIC! Muy rico! and free! Dinner also came with another note! 

(translation)

Little Nina Becerra

Happy birthday

Your friends and Joseph 

wish you the best

Happy birthday

Kisses and HUGS

If I ever have another "unbirthday" celebration, I don't think it will top this one! I had a blast and it was a great night in Spain!

Barca Loca!

So this past weekend we had a free weekend because of the Fiesta de Corpus! Our crew, which is quickly getting referred to as the Apartment crew, decided to go to Barcelona, the NYC of Spain!  After going out wednesday, we arrived thursday pretty much spent for the rest of the day on thursday! However, Friday we woke up ready to see Barcelona! Four out of the six of us booked a sky diving trip, and no I didn't do it. Sorry to disappoint bloggers, but I am a scaredy cat when it comes to free fall! One day maybe I'll sky dive with one of you, but this weekend just wasn't my time. So me and Nadya, decided to walk around Barcelona and ask locals about discotecas and fun things to see in the city! We eventually made our way to the beach! I am such a beach bum, so when we found the beach I almost passed out with excitement! Of course Nadya and I didn't have any towel, but we were wearing our swimsuits! We spent most of the afternoon laying out, burying ourselves in the sand, asking locals on the beach about Barca, and finally avoiding all of the beach merchants! These guys would walk around selling henna tattoos, massages, sarongs, mojitos, and anything else you could think of! The water was cold, the sand was nice, and the sun was shining I was in heaven! Once our beach time was spent we took a bike cab to the end of the boardwalk and checked out some clubs down there! We found our way home which in Barca, it was really far away. I took a siesta while Nadya went exploring some more and I waited for the sky divers to get back. I passed out for like 4 hours and that's when the skydivers returned, but where was Nadya? The skydivers could not stop talking about how they jumped out of plane that day and I made dinner for them. Eventually Nadya, returns but won't come in the door all the way. She seemed surprised that everyone was there and awake. Come to find out she had a boy in the hallway that she met at a bachelor party while I was sleeping. We would not stop giving her crap!

Eventually we all decided to get ready and go out. We stopped at a bar to pregame, which Barcelona bars don't have tapas so we were missing Granada at that point in time. After the bar we couldn't all fit in one cab so we took two. Well....we got separated! My cab made it to the discoteca Razzmatazz and we paid the cover charge and went inside. The other cab made it to the discoteca, but couldn't get in because they didn't have their ID's. My cab didn't have our ID's, but we told the guy our birthday and he let us in no problem! So the other cab went back to our apartment because they had no idea what to do! My group waited around the entrance of the club for a while, then went around the club looking for them, then just ended up dancing. My group had a blast! We all met guys, danced until we couldn't stand anymore then caught a cab back all the while wondering what happened to them? We get back to the apartment and there is the other cab sitting on the stoop of our building angry as fuck! They had been there about three hours waiting for us, because we were the only one's with keys! WHOOPS!

The next day we went on a sight seeing bus tour because it was the cheapest way to see everything you need to see in Barcelona. We saw La Sagrada Familia, which is a famous church in Barca that has been fifty years in the making! It's absolutely a beaut! Then we went to the outside of the city to go to the Barcelona futbol club, which Sabbah is obsessed with! She was in heaven, because she loves soccer and all of her favorite players play on Barca! We got jerseys, took pics and left that place was huge! On the return route we all fell asleep on the bus! hahaha We didn't mean to, but it was such a long night we all just passed out! When we got back to our apartment, I started to make dinner again while everyone fell asleep again, but I also had to take care of a massive blister on my foot that was making me limp around! It was the size of three quarters! It was getting infected and needed a serious cleaning! After dinner once again we started to get ready to go out again! This time we were determined to not get separated and if we did make sure that someone always had a key! We started out at this bar called the Stock Market! It was an american bar, but what was cool about it was that the more popular drinks gained points on the stock market and the least popular had less points! The drink prices were based on the points the drink had on the market! The concept was awesome, I just wish it wasn't in Barcelona and in the states. We left after we were sufficiently shwasty and went to the next discoteca called Opium! The music was fantastic, the lights were stellar, and everything was amazing about this place! However, starting around 5 am you notice that there is a plethora of freshly broken glass on the floor from people dropping their drinks. Also, at some point all of the girls decided to disappear and there were a lot of guys there! They would see us group of girls dancing and literally circle around us and watch us like vultures before they chose a girl to dance with! It was creeeeeppppyyyy!!! I was dealing with all of that because I was like "hey it's Spain!" but I drew the line when one guy that was dancing near us literally lifted his arm as high as it could and shattered his finished drink on the floor! We left after that and when I got back to the apartment, I had four pieces of glass in my blister! OUCHIES!

That's all for Barca, sorry it took so long I just didn't really feel like writing this week! More to come soon!

Corpus!

So far this week has been not too eventful as far as stories go, but I still am in love with Granada!

Monday and Tuesday were days of recovery and classes. Which trust me, we needed to recover!

This week is Las Fiestas de Corpus Christi! Basically starting yesterday everyone was let out of school to enjoy and partake in the events of the Corpus. The first event was yesterday, called La Tarasca! It was an amazing and fun parade! It starts with the march of 4 giant representations of King Ferdinand and Isabella and the muslim King and Queen. Following them is a float with a dragon and a woman mannequin on top of it! This tradition goes back so far that they can't even remember when it started, which they find amazing! Following the initial giants and float there are these people with giant headed masks that come around and whap you on the head with air filled dried animal bladders! The people of Spain LOVE IT!

It was amazing just watching the people of Granada do what they do!

Then because their is the fiestas there was a bull fight. Of course we went to it, but it was pretty brutal! They kill the bull right in front of you! But that's after they stab it at least six times with decorative pinata wand looking things and the matador stabs it with his sword a few times! I tried not to look at it like the brutal slaughter of an innocent animal, but as something unreal almost like one of my dreams! I let some pics do the talking for me!

Also, because it's fiestas there is a fair in town. Yes, a fair! It was our friends' Angel and Seth's last night in town so we went to the fair! This fair was INCREDIBLE! The rides were sketchier than the one's in the states, the food was too expensive, and the games ripped you off like always! What was different was that there are casetas that are sponsored by local businesses and families that basically you walk in and there is alcohol, food, and dancing! IT WAS THE BEST! Firstly, we played a shooting game where you shoot a cork at mini bottles of alcohol in hopes that you knock it off the shelf! I HIT EVERY MARK! I felt so Oklahoma proud! Then we wondered off to some casetas and danced our asses off! We finished off the fair with the sketchiest ferris wheel of my life! IT MOVED SO FREAKING FAST! I have never been in a ferris wheel where you could feel the drop from the top! Luckily, I was so schmammered that I couldn't really tell! Also, another thing different the fair opens at noon and closes at 8 am the next morning! WHAT IN THE WORLD!!! It was around 12 am - 2 am that we were at the fair, WOAH! That's another weird thing about Spain, the children here never sleep! There were 2 and 3 years old walking around at 1 am! Que pasa?


That's all for now, but we are headed to Barcelona in a few hours..... I can't wait to tell you about this trip!

Hasta Luego!

Suenos Locos en España

So I know I am supposed to talk about how awesome Granada is, and don't worry it is still one of my favorite places in the world, but I have been having some whacko dreams here!

Firstly, two nights ago I dreamed that I was living a real life Spiderman movie. I was just a spectator and didn't really have any role in the dream. My dream started with a crazy chase scene to save Miss Mary Jane Watson from certain death. Spiderman leapt over cars, dodged explosions, and eventually caught up with her captors. He almost saved her, but at the last minute the captors got the upper hand and dragged Mary Jane and Spiderman back to the villain's lair. The villain was a blonde woman who was only wanting Mary Jane because she had some vendetta against her. I don't quite remember how they escaped, but they did. Spiderman was pissed and needed to know why Mary Jane was a wanted woman. Mary Jane sat down and began the story....

Here the perspective changes to Mary Jane's memories.

Mary Jane, according to my dream world, used to be a mermaid kind of like Ariel. She realized that swimming and frolicking all day was not her cup of tea, so she made the bold choice to go the humanization school. (No shit, this is really what happened) Her memory skipped over the actual school years and went straight to her final exam. The final exam included literally incinerating the things you love and the things you most regret in one box, then you walk into the unknown human world at any point in human history. MJ had a hard time letting go of the things she regretted and the things she loved and had to go through the final exam process five times. Her item that she regretted most was a picture of the villain.  Eventually, she did it and walked straight into unknown human world into New York cerca 2000. I still don't remember why the villain was her biggest regret, but because of that she was now being hunted by the villain.

Then I woke up! 

Last night I had like six dreams in one, but I really only remember this part of it. I was living at a friends shit of a house with Jared and my friends were apparently druggies. They were always trying out the latest drug and making new concoctions every day. From what I can recall the backyard was a mess, nothing in the house was in order and for some reason it didn't bother me! However, Jared and I wanted to move on from the shithole and began our own lives. Of course, we had to try the latest concoction. The latest concoction was in the form of a pill. We took the pill, at first we were like I don't feel anything, but then next thing we know we just pass out on the spot where we are. 

In this high, we all join in together on the same dream. It was like walking through the gates of heaven almost! We all had this golden mini cupid wings on our back, so I asked if we could fly! I guess he was the manager of the high/dream and he said "Why of course, this is your dream, you can do anything you want!" So all of us in the high start trying to fly and everyone gets it, but me! I can leap really far, but just as I'm about to start flying the high/dream sucked us back into reality! 

We woke up in reality, myself and a few others leaning over the table after passing out. Others had to pick themselves up off the floor and others simply had to lean up. When we realized what had just happened, we were all a little dazed. Then I noticed one of my friends walking out of the room in a trance. She didn't look like she was coming off the high very well. We follow her to make sure she is ok, but then she starts speaking in tongues and her eyes turn black. 

Then I woke up!