Today was obviously a shopping day!!! Alexa and I got up early because we were on a mission to get everything on our lists for people. I made three large purchases...A present for my mom :), for cody :), and for Mrs. Dabber and Skylar :)! I also found these pair of cool way footwear tennis shoes, but they didnt have my size. I was on mission to find them. We must have gone into about 40 shoe stores, and yet nothing! I was so mad, but I fought a purse the day before so all was well. We went back to the hostal at 1:30 to set up for a suprise lunch for Brandon's birthday. Good cake! Then we split into on assignment groups and took pictures. Since it was our last day Granada, we went to a fancy restuarant! It was a five course meal, but seemed like so much more food than that. It was very pretty too because it overlooked Alhambra (the Castle).
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hike from Hell
Today we drove up two hours to on a hike in the mountains. Shortly after getting there half of the group got split up from the other group. My group, without a map, accidentally chose the harder of the two trails...It was downhill almost all the way with wet rocky terrain. The uphill was worse though, and my asthma started to kick in not to mention my allergies were out of whack too!! Then after the horrible hike we ate lunch, and I bought a new purse! After that, we rode back to the Hostal and had siesta. When we got back Ms. B and Ms. K had a salad and pasta dinner ready for us; it was sooo sooo good!!! We had some more siesta time, then we walked up to san nicholas and took picture of alhambra at night. We stayed about fourt-five minutes..
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Horse Stables
Today we woke up and drove to an equestrian club. We saw a lot of beautiful horses! The show horses were massive..almost ten feet tall. We hung out there for awhile. We even got to see a pony do jump, then the pony bucked a girl off. It was funny, but I am sure it hurt a lot for the girl. After that we went to lunch and had siesta. That night half the group went to go watch the soccer game, and the other half went and ate dinner and went back to the hostal.
Arab Baths and Massages
Today we broke up into our "on assignment" groups and had three hours to take pictures. Kate felt sick today, so there was only the three of us. We ventured off and took some really great pictures of street people and everything. After that we had a group lunch at Nuevo Restaurante. After that we had a short little siesta. Then we went to the cathedral down the street; it was absolutely massive. We also went to burial chapel of Isabell and Ferdinand; it was very pretty and elaboratly decorated. After that, we went to dinner in smaller groups...I had ice-cream for dinner :). Then we went back to the hostal for about an hour. Our suprise for that night was going to Arab baths and getting massages. That was so much fun!! There were three baths: one hot, one warm, and one cold. There was also a steam room that did wonders for my skin. Overall I had a really good time!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Bull Fighting
Today after breakfast we were split into four groups of four to do "on assignment" work. Kate, Brandon, and Shelby are in my group. Each group had to pick a cultural aspect of Spain to photograph. Our group picked streetlife, which includes beggers, outside markets, and street entertainment. After we wrote up our proposal, each group had an hour before lunch to go walk around Granada and shoot pictures. We didnt take many pictures but we scoped out places to go back tomorrow. After we had lunch and a short siesta. At five o'clock we rode a mini bus out to a ranch that raised bulls. We saw a couple of different matadors "fight" the bulls. This was a real bull fight because real bull fights take place on sunday. The owner of the farm picked four female horses about two or three years old, which are prime time to breed them. They use the same techniques they use on the males to see if the females have aggressive traits they would pass on to their kin. They use females for this process, so that the males do not learn from their experience. They want the males to be fresh when they first go to into the ring. I had a lot of fun. Then very late we went back to the hostal and ordered pizza and went to bed.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Flamenco
Today we woke up late at ten o'clock and shared are pictures from Alhambra from the night before. After that we had about an hour to get ready to watch Flamenco dancers at one thirty. We rode the bus to the Flamenco dance studio. Watching the dancers was very intense and very beautiful. I have seen Flamenco dancing before in Barcelona a few years ago, but I dont remember it being so intense. It was amazing how they moved their body gracefully, but at the same time were so rigid and precise. I took some amazing artsy photos...some way blurrier than others, but I still very much enjoyed the little show/practice they performed for us. After that, we rode the bus back to the hostel and watched an Annie Leibovitz documentary called Life Through a Lens. It was very moving. I learned even more about Annie Leibovitz!! We had some lounge time then we sent pictures to the dancers we took pictures of today. Then later I think we are going out to dinner then coming back to the hostel and having an early lazy night.
Class and Alhambra
Today we woke up and ate breakfast at nine o'clock, then we walked to a hotel nearby to use the conference room to have class. Everyone picked a couple of pictures of the same shot to compare which shot was the best. Tino critiqued everyones pictures, then he showed somemore of his work. He showed the same story he shot in Haiti in black and white and in color. The two stories both effectively conveyed the message Tino was trying to send. After that we went and all ate lunch. We had seista, then we went and walked to Paddy's Bar to watch the first half of the USA vs. Spain soccer game. The pub was packed full of Americans cheering on our winning team! After the pub, we walked to Alhambra, the castle. We got lost trying to find the entrance, but the grounds of the castle were so peaceful and beautiful as well. The castle was amazing with mostly Muslim influence, and all the arabic writing repeated the same phrase on the walls "there is no god but Allah." After the castle we walked back to the Hostel and crashed.
