Weekend Getaway :: Granada

Hello there!

How have you all been?

I just took my finals yesterday for two of my classes.

I'm not quite sure how well I did, but all I know is I am beyond relieved to be done with these classes.

Yay!

The other weekend, my program took a trip to Granada.

It's about 4 hours away from Alicante.

We packed a lot into our weekend and experienced the beautiful city.

It was refreshing to see a different area of Spain.

It made me realize that the city I live in is very much a "beach town"

Granada has that wonderful historic feel and beautiful traditional style that I was expecting when I thought of Spain.

We did a walking tour of part of the city the first night before attending a flamenco show [the same one Michelle Obama saw a couple years ago, which means I basically met her], we took a tour of La Cartuja de Granada, a monastery built in 1516, we saw where Colombus got the treaty signed by the queen to sail to "India"

We also toured a museum all about Fernando and Isabel, spent a lot of time at the Alhambra, a Muslim palace, and finished out our tour by visiting a small town of homes built in caves.

Here is a peek into what I saw in Granada :)

 View of the city

 Minda, myself, Megan and Jen before the flamenco show

 Where the treaty was signed

 La Cartuja

 All from the Alhambra

Cave homes

I hope you all enjoyed! I took so many photos, it's really ridiculous

Talk to you soon

XO Kara

Outfit Recap

Hello lovelies

I feel like so much is going on and I have so many things to tell so many different people, it's hard to keep everything straight

I just want to give you all a bit of an update, as with every blog post of mine

Again, things are getting more comfortable

I started a film class and also a lit class this week

I really like the film class, and I'm not sure about the lit class quite yet

These classes are taught by my study abroad program director, as opposed to taking them at the university, so it's a bit more lenient, and it's also with other students from my program, so I really like that

I only have a week and a half left of my classes that I don't particularly enjoy, so YAY!

My program went to Granada this past weekend and it was absolutely beautiful!

We did a ton of walking and saw a lot of the city

I'll have a post coming soon :)

Since I've been doing so much traveling, I haven't been blogging about makeup and fashion and I miss it

But to be honest, there is always so much going on, I kind of just stick with makeup looks that I'm comfortable with, and I haven't been too daring with my outfits

It's so hot here, I'm usually just trying to stay cool

It is nice though, because you never really see people in athletic clothes, and you can tell a lot of students put effort into their outfits for class

I love this, because in the states, I kind of feel like a freak if I put a real outfit together for class

Here are just some snapshots of some of my recent outfits :)

Sorry some are just shot on my iPhone

Details-- Top: Marshall's. Pants: PacSun. Flats: Old Navy. Necklace: Forever 21. Watch: Fossil. 

Details-- Top: Christopher and Banks. Pants: J.Crew. 

Details-- [Left] Dress: Forever 21. Wedges: Target.

[Right] Top: Francesca's. Pants: PacSun.

Details-- Top: Marshall's. Pants: Marshall's. Sandals: Steve Madden.

Details-- Top: Marshall's. Maxi: Marshall's. Sandals: Michael Kors.

Details-- Dress: Marshall's. Shirt: Old Navy. Flats: Old Navy.

We have learned a few things from this post

1. I love Marshall's [as if that's news]

2. I buy the same shirt in different colors

I hope you guys liked these outfits, and I'll do more posts like this if you'd like!

I'll have a Granada post coming soon:)

Talk to you soon loves

XO Kara

My New Home

Hello!

How have you all been?

Well, I'm working through my second week of classes.

I'm so happy it's almost the weekend!

Right now I have a Spanish conversation class from 11-12, and an intensive Spanish class from 12-3, Monday-Friday.

It's pretty intense, because it's basically fitting a semester's amount of work into one month.

This evening I find out what the rest of my classes will be for the rest of the semester.

Thanks goodness these two classes are done at the end of September.

I'm really hoping my other ones will be better.

Things are getting more comfortable here, little by little.

I still think about home a lot, but don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying my time.

I haven't been taking too many photos, because I haven't been doing anything too exciting.

Basically going to school, doing homework, going to the beach and eating. A lot.

I don't know if it's rude to take photos of my food, and my host family is almost always around when I eat, but if I can get some photos I'll show you guys!

My program is heading to Granada this weekend, which is supposed to be a beautiful city.

I can't wait to take lots of photos and share them with you guys!

Here are some of my first snapshots from Alicante :)

 The Explanada: an area with a ton of restaurants and ice cream shops right by the beach. Where I spend a good amount of my time.

 The beach & the Mediterranean Sea

 New friends :) [minus Megan]

 Views from the castle

 Mojitos allllll the timeeeee

Working on becoming a bronzed goddess

Hope you guys liked the photos!

Talk to you soon

XO Kara

Paris!

Hello there!

How are you all doing?

Another quick update for you

I'm starting to adjust to Spain and it's becoming more and more comfortable every day, which I am SO relieved about

I can't believe how down I felt on Sunday, but I really did feel the culture shock

Spanish mothers are very proud of their cooking and feed you HUGE portions

They also get offended if you don't eat it all

Therefore, I am eating SOOO much

Their eating schedule is a lot different than in the U.S. as well

They basically have 5 meals a day, but because I'm in school for one and one is kind of optional, I can at least make it 3

I'm afraid we will be able to see the progress of my weight gain as I post photos across these next few months haha UH OH

Anyway! Paris was a totally different vibe from London.

Equally as busy, but it seemed quieter, and not as welcoming

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it

It is so crazy when you realize you're seeing things in real life that you've only seen in photos and movies

Since neither my mom, Margaret or I speak any French, there definitely was a barrier

We didn't venture out on our own nearly as much as we did in London

Instead we tried some restaurants and took a few guided tours, one of them being at night

It really helped us see a lot in a way that was easy for us

Views from the second level of the Eiffel Tower

 The top of the Eiffel Tower

 The Louvre

Notre Dame at night

 Seven floors of heaven

If only I wasn't broke

Inside the Galleries Lafayette

I hope you enjoyed and my first photos from Spain will be coming soon!

XO Kara