Spring break!! Even though it was a few weeks ago, I still wanted to tell you all about it! Back in February about ten of us decided to make a trip to the Canary Islands for a couple days out of Semana Santa (Holy Week). The Canary Islands are off the coast of Western Sahara and are one of the 17 autonomous communities in Spain. So the first half of our 11-day break began on an island! We flew out on Friday and got to our Airbnb on the island of Tenerife around 10am. Our place wasn’t really near anything super touristy, but it had enough room for all of us, a pool, and a gorgeous view. We also had a kitchen and for once in three months, we got to make our own food!
The first thing we did was go grocery shopping. Some of us bought food for ourselves because of dietary needs, but we mostly bought stuff to share and make group dinner (shout out to Laura for being a bomb cook). I think that brought us together even more than we were before! Sharing food through tapas and pinchos is definitely one of my favorite things about the Spanish culture. Anyhow, fruit was the most eaten food on our trip. We bought fruit almost every one of the five days we were there!
As far as activities, a few of us went on walks (some of us more than others, *cough* Carlos) around the coast, hung out by the pool and just enjoyed each others company. We did make our way to two beaches: one black sand and one imported yellow sand. The black sand beach was gorgeous! It was smaller and seemed to be carved out of the side of the coast. The waves were crazy high so we could only dip our feet in! Tenerife has Teide, a volcano and also the highest point in Spain, which is why there are a lot of black sand beaches and why they have to import yellow/white sand. The yellow sand beach, called Teresitas, was gorgeous! This was on the other side of the island from us, so it was a little bit of a trek to get there, but definitely worth it! The only interesting thing was that all the beaches in the Canaries are basically without rules, so we saw our fair share of topless women. Other than that, the weather on our beach days was good for the most part, so we all came back either glowing or crispy.
The second half of Semana Santa, for me, was spent with my parents! They came in the day after I flew back from the Canaries. Seeing them for the first time since January was much needed! I was so excited for them to experience some of the things I have been experiencing in a new culture. We started out in Madrid. Compared to other cities in Spain, Madrid is fairly new. Plus, I haven’t spent much time there myself, so it was new for me too! With the four days I was with them, the first two were spent in Madrid, with a day trip to Toledo, and the other two were spent in Sevilla. Sevilla is my favorite city in Spain that I’ve visited so I was so excited for them the see it! Since I had been there before, I got to show them around to some of my favorite places. It was also Easter and in Spain they have processionals every day of Holy Week leading up to Easter and our hotel was right on that route (if you are in Spain during Easter, Sevilla is THE place to go). We got the opportunity to see the processional on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was super crowded which was kind of hectic, but it was definitely still cool!
While they were here, my parents got the chance to try new foods such as paella and salmorejo and practice, or learn, a little bit of Spanish. My mom has taken some Spanish classes in high school, but my dad has not taken any. It took the whole four days of constant reminders for him to finally learn how to ask for the bill (la cuenta).
I absolutely loved having them here! If you are studying abroad, encourage your parents to make the trip to visit you if possible! Parents, if your student is studying abroad, try and make the trip to visit them! I know they’ll appreciate it!
Sorry about the late posts! These last three weeks of my time here in Spain have flown by!
I hope to see some of you very soon!
Adventure Awaits,
Maddie
