Day 32-Granada

 Today we left for Granada, which everyone just kept telling me I was going to love because it was so beautiful!!!!  Well, everything we have pretty much seen has been great, so I didn't really know what to expect, but we took off for our almost 3 hour bus ride around 8:30.  I couldn't sleep for some reason, but got to write some letters and get some things done.  Then we arrived and went to our hotel.  Once again, it was beautiful and we even had a pool!  We split into our rooms, and I stayed with Laura and Megan, who I don't know well, but got to know better and they're great!  After taking a quick siesta, we headed down for a buffet at our hotel, and it was amazing!  They had so much for us to choose from: paella, real squid (which I tried!), meat, fries, salad, ice cream, fruit, pudding, bread, guacamole, and so much more!  After lunch, where I got to talk with Alice and some of the sweet new girls, Alice and I headed to the pool.  That was quite the experience because Alice did not know how to swim.  She was absolutely petrified, and even in the areas where she would be able to stand, she held on to me the whole time.  After about 20 minutes, I finally got her to let me hold her as she kicked around.  Bless her heart; she at least tried, and we got her to blow some bubbles!  It felt so nice though!!!  Then we had to get out to get ready for the tour!  It was such a wonderful tour because we went to the Alhambra!  It was a big mosque in the past and had the saying,  "There is only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet" in Arabic all over the walls.  We got to see their praying rooms, royal

rooms, and so much more.  The details were amazing, and we saw some beautiful gardens once again.  This place had some of the most incredible views, as you can see in these pictures, that overlooked the city.  We went with Ángel again and he was great!  This tour was much more casual because we were able to just kind of walk around, take pictures, and take it all in.  We were

combined with the CIEE internship students, so we got to meet and talk with them too.  It was SOO hot though, which was ridiculous, but I still think
Granada is by far one of my favorite places in Spain!  Even the rest of the town was great because it was definitely a city, but yet it was very quaint and had little stores and restaurants all over.  Plus, it just seemed more peaceful, with rivers, and just a good atmosphere.  After the long (almost 3 hour) tour, we headed back to the hotel and swam for a little and then got ready for the evening.
      I decided I wanted to try to spend some time with some other students, so I want with my two roommates and some others to go get some tapas.  Apparently in Granada, if you buy a drink you get a free tapa to share at the table, so it was a very different idea than what we are used to, but it was really cool and so delicious!  We got watermelon mojitos and then they brought us big platters of food to share: first jamon and cheese bagel sandwiches, fries, and pasta salad.  The second one was basically scalloped potatoes and little tuna sandwiches.  We had to split our tables too because we had so many people, so I got to sit with Olivia, Megan, Kevin, and Yaniv.  Both the boys are new, so it was great to have the

opportunity to get to know them better.  Yaniv was born and lived 10 years in Israel, so he's got some cool experiences.  We just were talking, then started playing Never Have I Ever, and that led to what it usually does: people being shocked at things I haven't/don't do.  It was so crazy cool though how the Lord was working because basically after a few questions it just turned into a full hour of talking about my faith.  None of them are believers, and some seemed pretty opposed, but all VERY interested.  We talked about pretty much everything from abortion to homosexuality to how people hear about Christ on deserted islands to who goes to Heaven/Hell to why I do
or don't do certain things, and why most of them don't even interest me.  I tried to explain that God has given me life and my sole purpose is to glorify Him, and only those who have personal relationships with Christ, accept Him as Savior, believe He died and rose again to forgive us will go to Heaven.  It was an intense conversation, and I hope that I explained it in the most Christlike way and they did not feel judged, but ultimately I walked away praising God because I could not believe the opportunity that he just placed right into my lap.  No matter what they think of me, I felt that I did what the Lord commands, and He walked me through each step giving me verses.  He has just given me such a confidence that I want people to think I am crazy for Him!!!  I love how God works in us to give us His boldness.
      Afterwards, Ben, Olivia and I decided to go get the "best" ice cream in Granada, and got tarta de chocolate, which was basically a piece of chocolate ice cream cake in a cone--so good!  Then the three of us tried to walk to a discoteca that our friends from Sevilla had reccommended and said was free if you said their company name.  Well after walking a while and going to what we thought was slightly the boondocks, we found the club.  Right as we were about to get in, I see and hear my friend Connor yelling, "Megan!!!" over the balcony.  Apparently the club was charging 8 euros to get in, so they want next door and the lady who lived in the house asked them if they just wanted to hang out on her roof.  So they want up and were hanging out.  By the end, we had like 15-20 CIEE students up there, and it was really cool because we could see the whole Alhambra, and could hear the music from the club right above us.  We hung out there for a little while, and then Olivia and I took a taxi back home and called it a night.  I LOVE Granada!!!!