Big time lesson learned.

Well, life can't always be picture perfect. Definitely learned that the hard way yesterday. I won't beat around the bush -- I got my camera, wallet, and iPod all stolen. :( Ughh. It was my fault though, was sitting on a bench eating lunch and my backpack was behind me, and I was turned away from it. I guess somehow some ladron must have snuck in to the front pocket of my bag, saw the wallet, got pumped, and then hit the jackpot when they saw the camera too! Oh wait, and then they must have really been flying high when they found the iPod inside the wallet. Gah. So you can imagine I've had a pretty rough past 24 hours. I've done all I can do though, filed a police report, cancelled the card, got a new one shipped, etc. I'll figure out about the camera and the iPod, I'm just bummed because tomorrow we're going to Barcelona and despite how totally excited I am/was to go, it's a little hard now to be going 1, with no money and 2, camera-less. So for Barcelona I'm going to have to be on my A game in photographic memory and trying to articulate everything to you, and I'll have to steal from Ky and Adrienne also. But, whatevs. Can't win every day. Life can't always be perfect studying abroad. I'm sure now I'll be one of those people at the abroad meetings that tells their story -- the one that you pity but then think it'll never happen to you. GAH, my life.

Anyway, I still need to tell you about our Granada trip! It was really great! So we left early Saturday morning, around 9, and got there around 12:30. We had a little bit of free time just to check into our rooms and get all set. So we checked in, it was Daysy, Ky, and I in our room. (Don't know if I said this earlier or not but Adrienne didn't go because she's not in our program anymore because she's graduating..and so she didn't go on the trip because it was just our program!) So after checking in Daysy and I walked around a little bit and then headed back to the hotel, where we all had lunch. THIS HOTEL LUNCH WAS SICK! Straight up BUFFET, all you can EAT! It was awesome. Salad bar, cooked veggies, cooked meat, chicken, paella, desserts! Anything. It was great. So after we all pigged out, we headed out for the town! We started at Mirador de San Nicolas, which is like an amazing view in Granada of the Alhambra, and then walked through the town with a tour guide!

It was a really cute town and I really liked walking through it and getting the occasional talk and some occasional history, only problem was that it RAINED! Luckily, most people had umbrellas so I could easily get under one! Ky wasn't so lucky. She got pretty drenched, but it was funny afterwards! So we walked through the town..one cool part was when we walked to a convent, and bought muffins from a nun! It was cool haha..we never actually saw her, but she used a lazy susan to give them to us. Interesting!

Anyway, we ended up at Capilla Real at the end, which is like a very old and famous church. It was gorgeous and definitely interesting, but sometimes I get easily bored! Can't help it. But I really liked it and it was cool to see. But after that we walked through a "hippie" street, it was filled with "tettorias" (aka teahouses) and little shops. So we split into groups and went and got tea! It was AMAZING and so cute in there. Our group got the house special, which was pretty amazing..very similar to chai and just delicious! Felt so great too because it had been raining so much that day, so tea was just the perfect thing to warm up! :)

Anyway, after that we headed back to the hotel for a bit, which was really close to the tea place. After that, CIEE gave us money to go out for tapas! We were pumped. We ended up going to this Moroccan tapa place, which was SO delicious oh my gosh! I got couscous, spinach, and cauliflower. BEST COUSCOUS I've ever had in my life! It had garbanzo beans, sweet onions, and carrots in it..OH MY GOD SO GOOD! And so we were there for a while, probably until around midnight! And after that, we didn't really feel like going out because we'd had a long day, so we just hit up some ice cream, which of course is never a bad choice, and then headed back to the hotel! Ky and I had fun though, because we just ended up laying in our beds talking, watching youtube videos, and laughing for a while! We were happy because we always talk about how we can't have sleepovers here, so it was fun just to have a relaxing night!

So the next morning we got up, had breakfast in the hotel, and then headed out for another day of sightseeing! We went first to the Generalife, which was like a garden area with some old ruins and an amazing view of the Alhambra, and then we went into the Alhambra itself. Absolutely huge and gorgeous. I took so many pictures! Can't really explain it in words. Again, I promise, once I get the pictures, I'll do a solo picture blog just of Granada! But the tour took probably a good 3 1/2 hours, and so it was pretty exhausting, but still cool to see everything! So by the time it was over, we had to walk back to our hotel, and then we were all starving for lunch, which of COURSE was just as great as Saturday's! So we got lunch, and then boarded the bus to come home! It seems so short, but it was definitely worth it and we got a lot into just two days! Got home Sunday night, and was totally exhausted of course!

Life's been pretty solid since then, apart from what happened yesterday of course. Just doing the normal -- classes and all! Had a midterm in one of my CIEE classes -- the communications one today, think it went ALRIGHT...wouldn't say I coned it but I don't think too bad! I'm getting pretty busy with school work so that's a bit stressful, but what can ya do. It was a pretty fast week and I can't believe we're going to Barcelona TOMORROW! Also can't believe I'm going camera-less, and money-less, but it's fine.

Well, I'm sure my next post will be a bit better once Barcelona brings me out of the depths of despair! Haha, but thanks for reading and sticking with me! And TO EVERYONE - WATCH YOUR STUFF ALLLLL THE TIMEEEEEE!!! GAHHH! I'm never letting go of my backpack again in my life.

Anyway, adios everyone! AND HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY TOMORROWWW!!!!!

Escribiré cuando regreso de Barcelona! :)