June 12, 2011

June 12, 2011

Today was a very busy day! First of all, I got to bed so late and then I did not get much sleep! I woke up really early and I was freezing! Then there was all this screaming and yelling and drumming outside so that woke me up. Then Angie woke up around and started making all kinds of ruckus. At 7:40, I though it was time for me to get up so I got up and started to walk into the bathroom and realized that I didn't have to wake up for another hour! And then I could not fall back asleep! So, needless to say, I didn't get too much sleep last night. 

Anyway, we all woke up and had breakfast in the lobby of the hotel. It was just bread and jam. Then, we got all of our things together and met down in the lobby again. We locked all of our stuff up in a room and then hit the streets. 

We took a long walk through the city seeing all of the major parts of the city: plazas, a cathedral and some other things. We took a VERY long walk up to the lookout point to see the Alhambra from a distance. The view was gorgeous and we took lots of pictures. Up at the top, they had a little stand that was selling smoothies and I couldn't resist because I was burning! So I ordered a lemon slush with fresh mint! It was so good! It had lemon sorbet, lemon juice, a few fresh mint leaves, and ice. I will definitely be making it when I get home. 

We began the walk down, which was much easier. At the bottom, we stopped at a Moroccan restaurant with the whole group for lunch. A quick sidenote: The owner of the hotel spoke 7 languages! Crazy, right? Anyway, he recommended the pastelas and the mint lemonade. Ironic, I thought, considering I had just bought a mint lemon slush. I ordered it anyway because Liliana was paying and Kristin and I were splitting pastela. If I can figure out how to make the pastelas, I am going to be making them when I get home! They have chicken, couscous, cinnamon, almonds, and some other things that I'm not exactly sure of, all wrapped in filo dough and sprinkled with cinnamon. It sounds so strange, but it was delicious! 

After lunch, we went and wandered through the little allies with all of the vendors. I bought some earrings that I LOVE! 

After shopping, we met back up at the hotel, grabbed our things, and loaded the bus. We then made the 3 hour bus ride home. I have been meaning to mention that just outside of Sevilla, there are fields and fields of sunflowers!! They are so gorgeous! It's so hard to capture the beauty in pictures because the bus is moving so fast, but I tried! 

Unfortunately I didn't get to see Elder Peterson (Craig), who is serving in Granada right now, but we were probably really close to each other at some point during the day!

Today also marks the 2 week mark from when I get to see my family!! I can't wait! But I'm exhausted and I gotta get to bed! Good night!