San José/Cabo de Gata

 Last weekend, fuimos a San José y Cabo de Gata con API! (we went to San José/Cabo de Gata with API!) We went for two days, one night and stayed in a hostal that was very nice: clean, had a pool with a turf grass area with lounge chairs, AND my room had a little balcony with table/chairs that looked out onto the pool.

 View from my room window

 Our balcony

 Poolside view!

The first day, about 30 minutes after we arrived, a group of us went with Curra to the supermarket to get snacks if we wanted and also bottled water (the water in San José is not potable) Afterwards, we went on a hike to a beach called Genoveses where there is nothing. No bathrooms, no shops, no restaurants, nada. The beach was gorgeous and the water was perfect. To enter the water was a painful experience due to the fact that there was an abundance of different sized rocks all along the border into the water. Though once you got past the foot or two of them, the sand was soft. We swam and walked along the beach. Even though I put on sunscreen, I still got a little burnt but alas, the life of a pale person. Some of us returned to the hostel, showered, and headed off into the town for dinner. We ended up going to a restaurant that didn’t turn out as we had quite expected. The food was cheap and not bad but we’re pretty certain we got ripped off when we ordered margharitas that ended up being 6 euro and were the size of my palm. Again, living and learning!

 

The un-realness of San José. This was on our walk to the Playa Genoveses

 At the Playa Genoveses! It was literally, UN. REAL.

En domingo (On Sunday), we ate breakfast at the hostel and then headed off to the San José beach which was significantly closer to us than the beach from the previous day. We had until 7:30 that night until we needed to be back at the hostel to take the bus back to Granada, so we staked out on the beach all day. We swam in the water (again, crystal clear and the perfect temperature), played Frisbee, played Frisbee in the water, laid out in the sun, etc. We grabbed some pizza for lunch and then went back to the beach. We went back to the hostel around 6 o’clock to swim in the pool a little and use the outdoor showers/change into dry clothes before heading back onto the bus.

After we got back from San José, I started getting a sore throat which turned into me going to the doctor on Thursday because it started to hurt so much. My glands got swollen and it started hurting my ears too.  It was a successful doctor’s appointment and I went all by myself too! I got some antibiotics and something for the inflammation too. Now, I am feeling all better and just waiting to finish up my meds over the next couple days.

In other news, I now have some European adventures booked! 5 of my friends and I are doing a 5 day tour of Italy in October, landing in Pisa to stay there for a night (just enough time to get the classic ‘Look! I’m holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa!’ picture) then shipping off to Florence for 2 nights, and finally ending in Bologna for one more night. I also just booked a 3 day visit to my friend Michelle’s place in Germany in December! My friend, Rachel (who is also an academic year student), and I will be flying into Eindhoven and we’ll be staying at Michelle and her boyfriend, Jimmy’s, new apartment. We’re planning on going to Amsterdam as well as Cologne. With API, we still have trips to Seville and Paris planned and this weekend, I’m heading off to Lagos, Portugal! I’m looking into maybe visiting London during one of our breaks in December, which I could only imagine would be gorgeous around Christmas time.

My plans for exploring the world are in full swing! (While still studying, of course, and absolutely loving my host/now new home city of Granada :)  )