Halloween Weekend in Granada

          Happy Halloween everybody! This past weekend, we had 5 days off from school because of the coincidence of not having class last Friday, having All Saints Day on Tuesday and having this wonderful thing called Puente. Puente is if you don’t have school on either Tuesday or Thursday, they make a Puente (a bridge) to include not having school on Monday and Friday, respectively. Yup, I know, Spain is awesome. I decided to stay in Granada for this period of time and enjoy/explore the wonderful city I’m living in.

Before Halloween weekend started though, there was a Barca v. Granada game in Granada! This game was said to be the biggest game in Granada in 35 years. It was very cool to be in the atmosphere of the city getting ready for the game. Rachel, Blake, Chelsea, Tyler, Justin, Jiela, Kristen, and I decided to go to the stadium. Although we had to watch the game through a window of a bar, it was so cool to be watching what was happening on the TV but be able to hear the crowd’s reaction behind us. I was repping my Barca jersey (though, not necessarily flaunting it considering I preferred to not receive a black eye or anything of the sorts) but I was still bummed that Granada didn’t win. They put up a great game and only lost 1-0.

Granada C.F. stadium!

Where we ended up watching the game from

Friday night, Marcela, Kat, Lorelyn, Colleen, Parker, Molly, and I decided to go see a movie! We saw Con Derecho a Rosa (Friends with Benefits) at the movie theatre not too far from my house. It was weird hearing different voices than that of the actors but I kind of got used to it. I was also pleasantly surprised about the amount of the movie I understood. It’s been cool lately noticing myself have an easier time with understanding people speaking fast Spanish. Though, it is a very odd feeling!

On Saturday, we went climbing up towards La Alhambra to go to the cemetery on the top of the hill. We continued up past La Alhambra only to find a beautiful lookout of the city on our way to the cemetery. The view was unreal. I keep discovering places throughout the city where I have to pinch myself to believe that I’m actually living there.

We found the cemetery after this lookout and it was not what I was expecting at all. It was giant with all types of tombs from full, mini house looking tombs, to walls filled with squares with names, dates, and RIP/DEP (Descansa en paz) It was a very extravagant cemetery unlike anything I had ever seen or expected to see. 

The view from the lookout we found! Here is a view of the famous Catedral in Granada with beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains in the background.

One of the many walls like this in the cemetery

Another part of the cemetery with the Sierra Nevada's in the background

Another day, a few of us that had stayed in Granada went on a hike. We returned to Monachil: Los Cahorros to do more of the trail. We hiked to the waterfall and had a picnic atop of it. Then we kept going past the waterfall to go a little higher onto another part of the mountain. We finally made our way back down a different way and back to the pueblo of Monachil. 

Matt, Parker, Colleen, Lorelyn, me, and Marcela at Los Cahorros

At Los Cahorros

Halloween night was definitely different here. Not as many people dressed up but if they were dressed up, they were dressed up to be scary as opposed to in the States, where you can really be anything your little heart desires. A lot of us from our group went to a bar called Hannigan & Sons II. There was a bunch of Halloween stuff going on there including giving out free masks and hats. After that, we went to a discoteca, El Camborio, which is in the Albaicin with a great view of the Alhambra. For my costume, I dressed up as a black cat! It was much different than the Halloween at home, but an awesome time nonetheless. 

Matt and me at Hannigans on Halloween night