Returning to consistent electricity and running (hot) water, food variety, and pavement sounds easy. In reality, as any RPCV knows, readjustment is a tough process. While leaving dusty/muddy roads and endless amounts of rice and beans can seem enticing, the blatant commercialism of all things American really explodes upon re-entry to the States. Physical luxury and comfort is nice, but being an integral part of your community is something irreplaceable.
Having survived exactly 18 days Stateside and feeling an urgent need to move, I decided that instead of dealing with these issues, I would escape… this time to Europe. While preparing to visit friends and family, travel to Andalucia (southern Spain) for the first time, meet a high school friend to run with the bulls in Pamplona, and fly out of Lisbon after a few days in Portugal, I had no idea that my trip would be so radically altered...
To start off the big adventure to forget my adventures, I few into Barcelona, where I met up with my cousins Lorena and Ramon, excellent hosts who showed me what is was like to be Spanish in such an international city. During my first days in Spain, I spoke more English than Spanish, spending time with people from Holland, Hungary, France, Australia, etc.! Exploring new territory, I opted out of the typical Gaudi tour and Sagrada Familia, heading to the Joan Miro Museum and the Poble Espanol, a touristic village created in replica of traditional and historic architecture from all around the country.
Many thanks to Lorena for transportation on the back of her scooter and to Ramon for a great place to stay!
View of Barcelona from the Palacio Montjuic.
The Palacio Montjuic at night.
View of the Sagrada Familia from the Palacio.
My cousin Ramon, who lived with me and my family in Florida for a year when I was a kid.
L
eaving Barcelona all too soon, I headed to Andalucia, having never before traveled in south Spain. I was told that la Alhambra is the place to go, so I hopped a train to Granada.
With so much Moorish history, the Alhambra has a quite a distinct Arab influence, from its market products to its palace decor... spices line the streets and arabesques, an Islamic art form applying repeating geometric patterns, decorates the walls of the Alhambra, meaning "red fortress," named for the red clay from which it was con
structed in the 14th century. Outside the fortress, most curious are the caves along the old fortress wall, formerly inhabited by the gypsies or Gitanos. Currently many are still inhabited. I accidentally walked into several yards and nearly walked into the doorway of a house, mistakenly believing I was on a path down the mountain! After a tour of the grand palace itself, a fortress that has housed both Muslim and Spanish Christian rulers, I left the land of flamenco and gitano culture for Madrid...
Pictured: spices from the local market, Spanish ceramics with Moorish influence, a cave house, Mari sitting across the valley from the fortress, and a typical house of Gra
nada, decor and fountains inside La Alhambra, Mari at one of the Alhambra courtyards, a window view of Granada, and two scenes from the train ride to Madrid: the "man of the mountain" 
and "castle on a 
hill."
