cordoba

hola todos,

now i just arrived in cordoba. two days ago i went to a beach in cadiz, the oldest city in spain. unforunately, it was pretty much a sandstorm all day, so needless to say we didnt get much sun as we tried to shield our bodies from every burst of wind with every article of clothing we brought with us. even so, the little town nearby was beautiful. 

sevilla on the other hand, aside from the castle and the cathedral, was a big disappointment. food is bad. and most of the restaurants claimed they were cerrado (closed) or lleno (full) when they werent, just to avoid serving us. and they answered our requests in english very condescendingly as opposed to spanish, which is how we asked them. very frustrating that we're trying but still being rejected. oh well. one night was very fun though. we played beer pong at a bar called bar long island, clearly made for americans, and we played against some spanish guys and we were talking smack in spanish back and forth, and then samantha and i won! it was a highlight, and the guys were hilarious. they said one important thing that really made an impact on me. when we kept telling them they were going to perder (lose), they said, it's ok. it's just for fun in spain. para divertir y beber (to have fun and drink). and we said, pero en america, siempre queriamos ganar (in america we would always like to win). And then he said, that may be true, but you're in spain now. it's so true. america is such a competitive culture, and sometimes you really have to take a step back and see things for the experience and the fun and not as a race or a competition. #1 lesson learned. #2 lesson learned: lebara mobile and cellularabroad.com are awful companies.

in other news, today we went to a mosque in cordoba. it was pouring rain, and we were not prepared for it. and our tour guide was very boring and rude. oh well. the rain has let up, and we are in a new city, in a nicer hotel, with a faster internet connection and hopefully a more significant form of sustenance somewhere in the city. and fyi daddy, we are trying every place under the sun to get good food, from little hole-in-the-wall places to bigger restaurants. and its still gross. :-)

today we have dinner at 8, and then a tour of la alhambra. i will write more later! must ducharme (shower) after being poured on earlier.

hasta luego!

alka at la alhambra

first days in sevilla

hola todos,

i'm here in spain! in sevilla to be exact! today i saw la alcazar, a beautiful castle, as well as the cathedral of santa maria - the third largest in the world! in the cathedral, there is a painting of saint anthony that was stolen from the cathedral hundreds of years ago, and thats where the little poem comes from - st anthony st anthony please look around, something is lost and cannot be found. but finally it was returned and restored, but you can still see the cut marks. apparently they had children steal it by climbing like monkeys up the iron gates in order to get into the locked area where the painting hung. pretty amazing. tomorrow we are going to the playa (beach) in Cadiz, the oldest city in Spain. And tomorrow night, we are going to a flamenco show! 

as for the food, it is pretty atrocious so far. very salty. very pork-ridden. and very, well, nothing to write home about. hopefully the seafood in cadiz will be more tasty.

so i spent 30 minutes on the phone with a spanish representative for the cell phone i'm using, and i actually did pretty well! she laughed at me occasionally, but she was very nice and patient and actually understood what i was saying to her in spanish, so it was good. good practice! i definitely feel like i'm getting more comfortable, even after 2 days. yayyy!!

ok i'm gonna go. escribire mas luego (i will write more later).

love you all,

Alkazar

Preparing for take-off

Tomorrow is my last final exam at Northeastern! And then it's senior week, graduation on May 2, and then I leave on May 4 for Spain! Very nervous, but excited, too. The first week will be spent travelling in the southern province of Andalucia, and then we will be moving to our more permanent dwelling on the campus of la Universidad de Castilla de la Mancha in Toledo, home to many of the works of El Greco, and only 45 minutos away from Madrid. Que suerte!

Pues, I'm gonna go and do some more studying. I just thought I should check in!

Hasta pronto,
Alejandra

greetings from london

hey all,
we left greece today. can't believe it. pulled an all-nighter ending with some pictures of a select group of us in togas on top of the alkropolis... priceless pictures.. even locals were posing with us. we were definitely a sight to be seen. unfortunately my luck proved itself once again and my camera broke a couple weeks ago so maria has been my savior. love her.
we caught a cab at 530am, so obviously there was no time to sleep. today we had a long layover in heathrow so we went into the city and took in the sights, including west minster abbey, the london bridge and the parliament building. unreal going from country to country.
this trip has been incredible and i am pretty much in disbelief that it is no more. more reflections to come. i only have a couple minutes left and no more pounds. all this foreign currency is driving me nuts.
one more thing to add of things i learned in greece- mercedes is the brand of choice for vehicles of all kinds. besides the typical benz sedan, mercedes tour buses and trash trucks run rampant in athens. so bizarre. ahh can't believe i'll be back in the states in less than 10 hours. see you all soon. <3 alka in london

day # 2 many of intense heat

ahhh for the 4th-ish straight day it is in the hundreds and i am dying. the whole group is a sweaty mess addicted to water. most of our noonday and afternoon activities have been cancelled because it's just too hot to function. the temps have hit record highs in the 110's... unreal!
to continue from the last post, after the pel., we headed back to athens for sat and sun. on sunday, the heat took its toll, and we tried to beat it at the beach. there were sooo many people in the water which had heated up at the very least 10 degrees since the week before. a group of 4 of us went and it was just such a great, relaxing day. we went tubing as well. 15e for 10 mins but worth every penny. after that, we went to a great restaurant later in thissio, which is a little area near the parthenon. the restaurant was called kuzina. absolutely fantastic. steamed mussels in a white wine saw with tomatoes and feta for an app. and then lime and mint risotto with grilled tuna for my entree. i split that with maria as well as a wonderful twist on fish and chips. the award-winning chef came out to talk with us, and ended up chatting for a few hours over complimentary after-dinner drinks. a nice liquor made from mastic, a sort of sap that comes from trees only found on the island of chios, was a perfect end to the evening. we also were sent up to the roof deck to see an amazing view of the parthenon and other ancient ruins nearby that glowed under the moonlit sky. probably the happiest i have been in who knows how long. i love it here. then the chef gave us his card and recommended a restaurant called the seven seas in thessoloniki so we are going to try that out some night this week. supposedly it is very small and selective, but we have an in!
ok so a few things i have seen/learned in greece that i must share:
1. the seas here do not have tides. the water is just deep all the time.
2. fish is very hard to come by and therefore very expensive, as there is so much european competition for these seas.
3. every bathroom (labelled WC) has a sign in it that says not to put the toilet paper in the toilet. apparently they have very small pipes.
4. the woman symbol on the bathroom door has monstrous hips. i deduce that europeans accept and embrace curves.
5. people here don't sleep. they rely on obscene amounts of caffeine and somehow americans can adapt to this lifestyle.
6. everything here is insanely expensive. i.e. a starbucks venti is over 5e which is over $7.
7. greece doesn't offer light beer, but coke light is amazing.
8. ouzo is yuck, raki is death and mastica is yum.
9. it is possible to get sick of gyros.
10. bikini bottoms sold here don't cover much.
11. you have to pay to sit on a chair at the beach.
12. olive trees are everywhere.
13. real greek salads don't do lettuce.
much more to come... i'm off to get a frappe and sit at a cafe without dying of heat exhaustion. we're probably gonna grab something by the waterfront and then maybe search for the seven seas restaurant. oh by the way, we pulled an american move and went to tgi fridays last night for a change. bad decision. haha. according to a lecture we had today at anatolia college, thessoloniki is famous for their cultural cuisine. bring it on.
alka

the home stretch

ok everyone so i am in thessoloniki... in my last week here at greece and i feel like i am way overdue for an update.

CRETE:
Absolutely amazing. Every day we went to a different ancient Minoan ruin, led by our crazy archeologist guide, Andreas. We saw the site of the oldest known theater, as well as the setting for various mythological happenings, for instance the story which gave the continent of Europe its name. Although each ruin had something unique to offer, such as examples of early refrigeration methods and original frescos depicting bull-leaping contests, they got a little old by the end of the week. Andreas was particularly banal, as he would not stop talking, even when he began to foam at the mouth from dehydration. He also prefaced every archeological hypothesis with "We do not really know what happened here because we do not possess a time machine." This time machine phrase was used very often and without even a smile as I think he was always dead serious. I've come to learn that jokes are always lost in translation. Even so, Crete made up for his oddities with its mysticism. We went to an amazing beach in Matala. The water was so warm, and mountains surrounded the sea on three sides. On one side was a wall of caves carved out of the mountain side. The caves were first used as tombs and then as homes and then finally as dwellings for squatting hippies in most recent times. Great pics to come...
Another favorite aspect of the island was the Hotel Ideon in Rethymnon where we spent several moonlit nights. From my room, I had an amazing view of the ocean and adjacent bustling tavernas. The town itself was quaint, and the restaurant owners unbelievably welcoming (and generous with their homemade alcohol - raki). Maria was a star with her Greek dancing, bending so low to take a shot of the ground. The locals loved it to say the least.
While we were there, we also had the opportunity to visit a great little Venetian village and ate dinner in a cafe situated right along the Mediteranean - rough life. Hiking the Somaria Gorge was another high point. The swim afterwards was out of this world.

PELOPONNESE:
We switched guides! Nina took over for foam-ridden Andreas. She was definitely an improvement, though her favorite phrase was, "Isn't it?" For example... "These mountains are very tall, isn't it?" Again, her attempt at connecting to her audience... lost in translation slash poor grammar. Anyway, we visited several monasteries, moving forward in Greek history. The most impressive was indeed the monasteries on top of high mountains in Mystras. It was a wonder how the monks could travel to such impossible areas. One of the peaks even had a rail car that transports ill/old monks still today, though you couldn't pay me enough euros to set foot in one.
We also went to some key landmarks, like Delphi and Olympia. There are pics. Not much to say but more impressive views and accompanying history. We have definitely grown to be spoiled if you couldn't tell. Every day we ask ourselves how we are getting credit for living in paradise.
Nafplion was probably my favorite place in the Pel. but we spent nearly 5 hours per day on the bus which made us all want to die. I'll continue more later but I have people waiting for me. My new nickname is Alkropolis. I think it's funny. I'm overtired. Though I have definitely adapted to the Greek lifestyle.. going to bed around 4 and waking up at 7 and drinking a strong greek iced coffee called frappe to keep me going through the day. I'm a trooper. Love this country but I'm definitely going to be ready to come home when the week is through.
Until tomorrowish.
Alka

i miss crete

hiiiii
i'm writing you from back in athens after an amazing several days on the island of crete... hiking the samaria gorge... visiting a variety of ancient ruins... beachin it... and shots of raki!!! by the way, raki = death. luggage update: i got a new suitcase delivered to the hotel. when it came off the overloaded conveyer belt in the cretan airport... of course it got stuck and the wheel completely ripped off. YAY! so i got another one that was even worse so my professor bought me a new one. what a doll. there is so much more to write but i have absolutely no time. hopefully when i get to the pelopponese i will be able to write more. keep the comments coming. i miss you all. byeeee