Pelicans are Spaniards

I'm back in Granada after what seems to be a seemingly long hiatus. I've been up to far too much while at the same time far too little. I've been quite the traveler the past two weeks - and quite proud of myself for really getting a grip on traveling and finding loop holes in most European traveling establishments (which, for the most part, are extremely greedy and frivolous). First off, I've finally finished my intensive Spanish class that lasted a good part of January. I did quite well in the class (not to "toot" my own horn, but I got a 9,7 out of 10). I will genuinely miss my two professors, however I will miss Carmen much more than Montserrat.
After our intensive classes ended on the 28th of January, we were then free until the 10th of February (I've just realized how awkward thar 'r' is between the b and u). Regardless, our program had a group trip planned to Madrid from the 30th of January to the 2nd of February. This trip definitely had it's ups and downs. We got into the Prado, Reina Sofia and the Royal Palace for free, had my first Mexican food experience in more than a month (and it was sooooooo good), had our boat hijacked (boatnapped?) by a group of Germans while in one of the parks and partook in a number of hotel parties. I also managed to see La Duda (Doubt) while in Madrid. It was so great. Our program had also planned day trips during our stay in Madrid to El Escorial, Segovia and Toledo. Unfortunately, as I have said over and over again, Spain is having a strange winter which obviously spells disaster for us. These day trips were no different. On our way to El Escorial and Segovia it started to snow ridiculously hard. This then lead to a closing of all highways in and out of the mountains - unfortunately leaving us, well, stuck on the highway for 7 hours. Although this was a little (fine, a lot) miserable, I did manage to 1) build a snowman on the side of the highway 2) learn every card game imaginable. Toledo the next day was absolutely fantastic. I'll see if I can manage some pictures on here...

The Germans who commandeered the boat

The Glass Palace
The day following my return to Granada met with a lot of surprises and angry airline employees. I left for the Granada-Jaen airport at 5:25 in the morning for my flight at 8:15. I then had a layover of a lifetime in Barcelona for about seven hours. Fortunately, Barcelona has a entire shopping mall in their airport which was both great for distractions and bad for my wallet. Another bummer was the fact that my plane was delayed (ultimately leading to me missing my train in Frankfurt and dropping another 58 Euro). None the less, I finally was able to make it to Goettingen that night where I'd spend the next few days with my friend Bianca. We also had a trip up to Hamburg the last night I was there. That was definitely a treat. A lot of hookers with fanny packs, what could be better?

One side of the Reeperbahn
The same day I was in Hamburg I then took a train back to Goettingen, then another train to Frankfurt and then finally my flight to Barcelona where I would force friends to play host and show me around "their" city. The first night consisted of going out to the cheap restaurant which didn't have such terrible food, but rather terrible service. The waiter, who Americans abroad affectionately call Frankenstein, took the two others orders and decided that I didn't need to eat. Fortunately my friends got his attention again so that I could order. After asking for an empanada and partially murmuring the word "Lasagna" the waiter walked away again. Long story short, I did finally eat that night. The next day I made my host show me around to Parc Güell and the Sagrada Familia. I then also got caught-up in some flash mob sorta thing. Regardless, it was good being with someone who was familiar with the area, because upon my return I learned that another group of friends who went to Barcelona had a series of unfortunate events (from being mugged to getting separated at clubs). And for what it's worth, I brought a lot of experiences back with my and a ridiculous amount of memories.
I also "started" my semester today. I'm in theory taking 5 classes: Variedades de Espanol, Cultura Islamica en Espana, Practica Oral y Escrito, Cultura y Civilizacion de Espana and Arabe. Now, I have my Arabic placement exam tomorrow, but from the looks of it I might not be taking the class as the past semester the class was at 8:30 - 10:30 at night. Sick. I only have one class on Mondays and Wednesdays (Civilizacion y Cultura), and ironically enough my first class of this semester was canceled due to my professor being in a meeting. So I was able to leave as soon as I had arrived and head to the Farmacia to get some drogas to help combat this little fever and sore throat I've managed to pick up. Speaking of being sick, my senora has finally cut down on the food because I haven't had an appetite - COULD this finally be a way to do some damage control on the ridiculous amount of food I get?! One could only hope. I'm telling you though, I do sorta miss being a starving college student.