Hiking and Cadiz!

Oh where to begin…well two weekends ago a group of us decided that we would go to the Arab Baths. The Arab Baths that we went to are actually a replica of the idea of the ancient Arab baths. The Arabs used to bathe in a social atmosphere. They actually had a multiple array of different pools with varying temperatures and depths. So someone in Granada got the idea to replicate this and make it into a way to make money off of tourists. Sad you didn’t think of it huh? Well so a group of six of us decided that we would give up a Friday night and 22 euros but it was worth it. You go in and they give you a number and a towel, you change into your suit, and open the door to experience a wave of steam. There were seven different pools of water. We were given free range of which pools we wanted to stay in because we liked and which we would only go in once (a freezing cold one). Then they would call your number and you would go to the back for a nice 20 minute massage. There was also a small room off to the side with some really good tea. So we had a two hour experience of total relaxation! You are supposed to be silent during the whole experience but unfortunately there was a group of 6 or 7 young girls who just kept talking and splashing around. Luckily for me though they were getting their massages at the same time I was so I had pure silence.
This is all of us after the baths. Me, Crystal, Nik, Casey, Shannon, and Erin
Here are the girls drinking tea.
After the baths ended we wanted to continue the period of relaxation and hanging out so we went to a téteria which is a tea shop. We had crepes and more delicious Moroccan tea! I also went on a hike the next day. I think that is what made me sick because we thought it was going to be really warm so I didn’t bring a lot of clothes and then a storm came in on us. But oh well it was a really fun hike.

This is the group on the hike. We put the camera on a tree but it still works.

This past weekend I went to Cadiz, which is on the far south west coast of Spain (close to Portugal), for Carnaval. Carnaval is like Mardi Gras but it’s a two week long party rather then just one day. People book hotels almost a year in advance to be able to stay in Cadiz. So needless to say we couldn’t find anything on our own. We decided to go through a travel agency and they hooked us up!!! We got to stay in a four star hotel and the round trip bus ride all for 90 euros. So Saturday morning we got up really early to catch our bus. Unfortunately for us the four hour bus ride ended up taking nine hours because as we have learned the Spanish like to do things slow with many breaks. I mean we took a two and a half hour lunch break. Definitely not necessary. But we got to our hotel which was about half an hour outside of Cadiz and had some time to relax and get ready. My mother Luisa picked out our outfits. Shannon was a Bruja de Suerte which is a witch of luck, and I was a maid (she bought me a feather duster so I couldn’t say no). Then we hopped back on the bus to go have a night that we will never forget.

Now I’ve never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras but I imagine that it is something like this (if this doesn’t top it). It is simply a huge botellón which means a party in the street. I’m not a good judge of people but one guy I met said that there were at least a million people there. And to be honest I don’t doubt him. It was insane. We met a ton of people…none of who I can actually remember their names because there were just too many. We noticed that people almost always dress up in groups. There were very few people who were dressed on their own such as we were. So I think that we stuck out but it also doesn’t help that I have bright blond hair. Most people would start speaking broken English to us. We would have to ask them to speak in Spanish. Once I was talking with this guy and I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying to me in English. Then his friend came up to us and was like "Dude, she speaks normally, talk to her in Spanish" I just laughed at that. He was much relieved when he realized that he didn’t have to strain his brain to have a conversation with me. The costumes where very creative and you could tell that people had been planning them since last year. It was also quite refreshing because it was nothing like our Halloween where girls use it as an excuse to dress sluty. This is probably because it was about 40 degrees outside but also people were just creative and it really was about dressing up. I saw a group of guys dressed as milk and cookies. There was a group of Smurphs, a group of Waldos, what else…it’s hard to remember all that I saw, oh a group of guys that were Underwear Men. They were really funny because one of them had on a costume that said Super Hero and I asked him why his didn’t say "Underwear Man (yet in Spanish)" and he told me it was because his mommy didn’t have time to make it. I thought that was sad yet cute at the same time. Oh there was a group of guys dressed as Flamenco dancers (girls), there was a group of cell phones. Then there were a lot of groups that just put on all the costume stuff they could, such as face paint and wigs and weird clothes.

The group of us in Cadiz. Casey, me, Shannon, Aimee, Nik, and Iri.
The Flamenco boys.
A huge group of people in front of the Cathedral.
Aimee and Iri with the Smurphs.
Me with the waldos!

Me with the underwear men... you can see the one guy´s shirt that says superhero!
Milk and Cookies
All of us crowded in a Ben and Jerry´s when it started raining.
Everyone was getting a little bit sleepy.

The next day they took us back into Cadiz so we could enjoy the day life of Carnaval such as the parade and all of the little kids in their costumes. That was fun. For most of the day though we just sat on the beach. It was gorgeous!
All of us again.

Shannon and I with the Atlantic ocean in the background.
My pink toes in the water.
At night the light up the signs on the wall to old Cadiz.
This is everyone on the street waiting for the parade.
Looks like it could be Hawaii huh?
I like the reflection of the sunset in the tide.
The parade finally came!

Well this weekend I’m headed off to Barcelona. Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories of that!