Submitted by Ana Lopez Magana on the 2014 spring semester study abroad program in Granada, Spain…
We are done with classes and now it’s time to prepare for finals. I have four finals during our last week in Granada. I’m a little upset by it because I want to enjoy my last week; however, I’m looking forward to finishing strong.
During our last week of class, we didn’t do much. In two of my classes, we did learn something new, but we spent most of the time reviewing for our finals. I have to say that I had a great week. I spent most of my afternoons enjoying the weather. I just love going to the Fuente de las Batallas and sitting there eating some gelato.
I met two very interesting people this week. To start off, Professor Gordon McNeer came to our SPAN 308 class as a guest speaker. Professor McNeer teaches Spanish at the University of North Georgia. He talked to us about his experience in Granada when he was a junior in college, his literary work and he read a poem from his new book Mira lo que has hecho (Look what you have done). All of the poems included in the book are in both Spanish and English. The poems in his book are about his life where he talks about his time in Spain and his family and friends. Professor McNeer was also invited to the Festival Internacional de Poesía (International Festival of Poetry) in Granada. He talked about his new book and gave a book signing.
While I was at Prof. McNeer’s book signing, I met a second author named Javier Sierra and took a picture with him. Javier Sierra wrote a book called El maestro del Prado. This is a book that one of my classmates selected to talk about in class. Based on what I learned from my classmates’ presentation, the book talks about hidden messages in the paintings from the Prado Museum. I have not read either of the books, but they seem to be two great books that I would love to read and recommend.
On Saturday, the program took us on our last activity of the semester. We went to the beach called La Herradura in the Costa Tropical of Granada. I had such a great time. We did aquatic activities such as, kayaking, paddle board and a boat ride. IT WAS AWESOME. Surprisingly, the water was not cold at all which made things a lot easier because it was a little windy and chilly. My best part of the trip was the boat ride. I’m going to miss Spain’s beaches since they are gorgeous.
