Author Archives: mhafner

Part II of my trip to Morocco and Portugal Marrakech, Morocco The difference between the central plaza of the medina during the day and during the night is like the difference between, well, day and night.  With each of the … Continue reading →

Part I of my trip to Morocco and Portugal I must say, it was a very sandy trip.  If you were to empty my backpack after my return, you would find sand from the Sahara, the Algarve (Portugal), and the … Continue reading →

I walked in with my two friends, and we knew immediately that we were out of place.  “Perfect”, I thought.  “I’ve been wanting to find a local’s bar for a while, and this is exactly what I had in mind”. … Continue reading →

Dear Cádiz, Thank you for your time.  I appreciated your brief spurts of sun, and your striking coastline. However, I must tell you that you treated me with little respect and in fact I would go so far as to … Continue reading →

As a traveler, you indulge me Spain. You indulge my love for history, and you indulge my (new) love for pastries.  You even tease my apathy towards art, with your Gothic Cathedrals, your Grand Mosque, your Picassos and your Gaudis.  Oh, … Continue reading →

My walk to school has its own routine, I’ve noticed.  What I mean is that every morning my twenty-two minute walk is spiced with nearly the same exact people and events. This is how it goes: I walk down the … Continue reading →

Yesterday I went hiking in the Cahorros Mountains, very near the Sierra Nevadas. I went with a group from El Centro de Lenguas Modernas, which is the language school that I’m attending. There was a group of about ten students … Continue reading →

The top picture is of the buildings who live in my favorite plaza, Plaza Nueva! I love it because clearly it has beautiful colors, but it also hosts a pretty fountain (as most plazas do), but the best part is … Continue reading →

When I first arrived here in Spain, I understood about half of what my host mom said.  Often I would sit and smile, laugh when she laughed, say thank you when she served us food, and ask her questions about … Continue reading →

And so it has begun.  After a somewhat rough start (losing my luggage, missing my bus from Madrid to Granada, etc.) I’m feeling settled and comfortable here. In the United States, I am what I like to call a ¨relaxed … Continue reading →