Jerez!!!

Maria and I finally made it to Jerez a while back to get our TIE cards taken care of. For those of you who are wondering what a TIE card is, it stands for tarjeta de extranjero and is basically a residency card. A long term visa. Because of our extended stay here, we need a TIE card!

So we made the 40 minute bus ride to Jerez de la Frontera and had a great day. We had a nice lunch and then met up with Maria's friend Jesus, who took us on a carriage ride around the city! We are such Princesses!!!!

Jerez is beautiful. We loved the tree-lined streets and all the charm and culture.

Our wonderful Spanish guide Jesus. 

TARIFA!!!!

Tarifa turned out to be an interesting trip! My friend and I got their and found a hostel and lunch, awaiting the arrival of my friends.

We went to the windy, gorgeous beach and got in the water. Strangely enough, when we were swimming, a guy holding a beer started talking to us. It was CLINT, a friend I made the weekend before in Cadiz. Ha. It is a small world after all!

After enjoying the big waves and great views of the beach, we went and explored the city some. We walked out to the Military base, where there are signs indicating Atlantic and Mediterranean!

Matt, Me, Clint, and one of our new friends

                               Me! So close to Italy!!!!!!! 

We went into the castle with some new friends and saw some great views. 

Exploring the castle!!!

TARIFA!!!!

I went to Tarifa, Spain this weekend. It is the Southernmost point of Continental Europe, and is also a beautiful, quaint old city. I will put my pictures up soon, but for now enjoy these pictures that other people have taken....thanks other people.

  Tarifa is the kitesurfing and windsurfing capitol of Spain!!!!

And yes, it was VERY WINDY.

The Nude Swimmers

In Cadiz, we did a lot of tanning on the beach and swimming in the ocean. The beach was very clean and the water clear and refreshing in the heat. Topless tanners where everywhere, soaking up the sun's rays, and most importantly, getting rid of pesky tan lines. 

I learned of a very apparent calculation; topless beaches = large amounts of old men. Yes, they stare and gawk like ten-year-old boys.

Maria, Leah, and I even spent a few hours each day naked swimming. I mean, we all got comfortable with one another fast so we ditched the suits...or in my case, threw my suit at Leah's head. 

While spotting the topless women on the beach, we all decided that by the end of our year in Spain, we would feel comfortable tanning topless and walking on the beach topless. 

...but by the end of the weekend, the three of us were topless, completely comfortable with one another and happy to be getting sun on our pale boobies. Hey, if you had these tan lines, you'd be going topless too. 

Hey, when in Spain. 

Cadiz, Cadiz!!!

My town, Sanlucar de Barrameda, is in the region of Cadiz, Spain. The actual city of Cadiz lays about 32 miles to the south, an hour bus ride.

Maria and I traveled to Cadiz friday afternoon and arrived at the house of our wonderful hosts Pedro, Leah, and Yajayra, picture below.

We had a wonderful time laying on the gorgeous beach, right outside our friends piso, and hitting up some fun bars and pubs in this ancient city.

Interesting fact about Cadiz? It is the oldest inhabited city the Iberian Penninsula, and possibly all of SW Europe.

We saw some AMAZING sunsets just by standing in their living room. LOOK!

It was also our friend Gabe's birthday! Our hosts through a fun cocktail hour for the gang before we hit up the bars. Gabe is on the far left, next to the diva girl herself. 

Here we are with the birthday boy at Loco Bar (Low Cost Bar). Cadiz has a much more "hopping" nightlife than Sanlucar, so it was fun to really go out and let loose (and club till 5:30 am!) 

And also, I GOT TO SEE HAPPY! Abbi was my bff during orientation and we had been seperated for nearly a week. MUCH TOO LONG TO GO WITHOUT SEEING HER!

LOVE CADIZ AND ALL OUR PEEPS THERE!!!

Our bank experience

After we settled into our piso and began school, we knew that one of the next important things we needed to do was open a bank account. One day, Maria and I headed to Calle Ancha to find a suitable bank to open an account. We went to a few banks and tried waiting for help. One of the banks sent us away. It is a large, popular bank in Spain. They told us we needed to put 2,000€ to open an account. We left immedietely, annoyed that they may have been lying so they wouldn't have to serve Americans. But come on, we work for the government people. WE ARE IMPORTANT. (That is actually what our program told us to think.)


Next, we walked into another bank. I thought it to be, oh how do you say, jank? Ghetto? We left that bank. Then we went to a third bank whose lobby was a chaos of people sitting and standing waiting for assistance. There was no help desk, no greeter to assist us, just four desks set up like stations. We waited for a few minutes and then Maria tried to ask a woman for help, to tell us where to wait. Instead of offering us help, the woman actually shooed us, as if we were homeless people begging for change. Terrible. I felt so annoyed and angry. Can't anyone help us? 


We tried a fourth bank, BBVA. We walked in and were pleased to find a large desk in the back of the room, where a few men stood helping customers. A man pointed to a line of desks and told us to wait for an open one. We sat down with Ana and she began to help us. She was friendly, approachable, and very pretty. She began with our process. After a few attempts at putting in my information, and about fifteen to twenty minutes of us waiting, she told us that their internet was down. Really? We were at a bank whose internet wouldn't work. WHERE ARE WE? Ana was very kind though, taking copies of our information. She told us to return the next week and sign everything, that she would complete the process and all we would have to do is sign. 


So we went back the next week. We stood in line for almost an hour. Finally Ana was available and we sat down. She immidietely asked us for our passports. What? Why did she need them again. She already took copies. Maria and I told her we would come back. 


Third time is a charm I guess. On friday before we left for Cadiz, we went to the bank and finally finished our process. We didn't just have to sign, we had to wait for about another half hour-fourty five minutes while Ana finished printing documents and having us sign multiple contracts. 


Finally, we were given our bank books. After three days of coming to the bank and about fourish hours, we finally had our accounts. FINALLY. The most annoying part? The banks in Spain, or at least our region, are only open till 2pm. So basically, if you want to do any banking, such as depositing money or cashing a check, you need to plan your entire morning around the lines and inefficiency of the banks. 


I guess this is something we need to get used to. How slow life moves here. All I know is, it would never fly back home, where people scream if they have to wait for five minutes and call managers if things like this go wrong. I mean, I can definitely get used to this laid back lifestyle, but I need to learn to not expect to get things accomplished in a timely manner. 


Oh, and I almost forgot, Ana told us to come back a week later to pick up our debit cards. Let's hope when I go to the bank on Friday that process is a lot quicker. 


OH DEAR LORD I HOPE SO. 

School daze

Right now I am sitting on the spacious terrace off my bedroom, sipping a glass of red wine and enjoying my busy, yet picturesque street. I can hear my neighbors going about their day post-siesta, children playing in the piso next to our kitchen terrace, and many loud vespas on their way past. Cars pull in and out of the many garages on our street, a stylish woman's high heels clack on the narrow sidewalk, and distant church bells can be heard, marking the beginning of a church bell frenzy that goes on throughout the day. 


I realized something yesterday...I have officially been in Spain for a month, WOW! Time has gone by so fast and I have traveled to some amazing places thus far. 


Our first weekend here Maria and I went to Cadiz and had an amazing time. 
This past weekend I went to Tarifa with a few people and some friends from Cadiz and absolutely loved the laid back kite-surfing town. 


School has been wonderful. Challenging and stressful at times, but very rewarding. Many stories to come.  


REFRESH to read the rest of my updates!!!!! I promise to catch up on blogging NOW!