fun during finals. yes, it is possible.

i've learned from last semester's spanish finals experience and have therefore decided to make fun a priority in the midst of stressful times. so far, so good.
first mission in living up to my new mantra was realized by enjoying the 'La Día de los Cruces' (the day of the crosses). this holiday is unique to the city of granada and consists of displayed crosses all over the city decorated in red carnations with spaniards of all ages dressed in flamenco attire (aka huge dresses of ever color fruit-loop with ruffles and fluff spilling out everywhere) dancing around them and/or eating ice cream. the culture of southern spain sparkled through each aspect of the holiday: the families out on parade, school cancelled, drinking beer and eating ice cream at 4:00pm on a tuesday, literally every spaniard breaking out their flamenco moves (it must be required in grammar school), chicks walking around in heels on cobblestone like it's no big deal, and all ages enjoying any reason to party. i absolutely love stuff like this--cultural events that remind me that i am somewhere DIFFERENT and get to be an intimate spectator of something that is in their blood, apart of who they are. here are some pics of the event:

this is an example of one of the 10 or more crosses just in my tiny neighborhood.

as i said, all ages :)

one of the main squares had an open stage for any brave souls wanting to get their flamenco face on...some were more into it than others.

that following weekend, i figured that i might as well roll with the fun i was having and headed off on a weekend jaunt to Bologna, Italy :) my main travel partner and i took bus, after bus, to plane, to the next bus to make it into several bear hugs from some italian friends and kristen's california girlies in italia before midnight on friday. the best part about traveling to places where you can hang with the locals is getting to see the insiders scoop of the place (and the best food spots!). bologna is a college town and therefore geared towards the younger crowd. fun, fun, fun :) here are some pic highlights:

california girls taken over bologna! or at least the eco breakfast cafe :)

bologna is also called the red city...this picture explains why. most all the buildings are some shade of this color.

sunday park fun with water guns. those things never get old.

the dog's cafe :) love it.

now it is back to granada and the time crunch has started. the crunch time for studying and crunch time for soaking up as much as i can in these last two months living in the south of spain. there is no time to waste.