Yes, this is what it appears to be: Me, flying over one of the many ponds/pools in the Alhambra. This was part of the Carnavales trip as well. The first stop was Granada.  Our group of notables had the pleasure to be able to spend the day inside the small fortified city. This was quite the exparience. We were all over the place, at one point we were at the top of one of the towers sitting in a small group (not all of us) reflecting on the beauty of the landscape and the experience as a whole. At another point i was following these girls that were following me at first. One of the them was extremly gorgeous, you could see the arab influence a bit in her facial features. We decided that the city was one of the most beautiful places we had seen. We roamed around for hours, were attacked by raging mad squirrels of unknown origin ( ask anyone that went, it is a funny story), as well as ate an orange of the one of the trees in the place. this trip was really one to remember.  

I love this photo. It was taken by Ashley Hargrave (all praises due in capturing such a perfect moment with her camera.) Once we were in Sevilla for the first night we had quite the itch to see the sun, but especially the grand ocean. The beach was so close, and as they sometimes say: One must cease the day, so that we did. We hopped on a bus to Cadiz, which only took one hour, and in less time than we could imagine we were shirts off and taking in the rays of one of the largest beaches i have seen. It really was wide. Suddenly, the idea that we had followed through with seemed like the greatest idea that man, in his long history, had ever come up with. Even though the water was ( i'm pretty sure) below zero degrees, all three of us braved the fierce and icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  All of us were in at one point. At first we were skipping rocks, as you can see in the photo, but gradually, with the time passing and the sun getting hotter by te second, we jumped in.  Matt, more than anyone else, was in the icy waters. This man braved the waters for nearly an hour. what an impressive day. 

What a vacation. I can't decide if i really liked it or if i really thought it was alot of walking. This photo was a part of the tripthat was at the end. This photo was taken in Cordoba, in the midst of what seemed like miles and miles (or in this case kilometers and kilometers) of walking. Not only was it walking , it was fast pace walking, almost slow running, with all of our back packs and souvenirs in hand. This was by far the worst part of the trip. We had nowhere to put our bags and had to visit La Mesquita, in my case, sweating up a storm. This building, apart from the grand monument of La Mesquita, was the most impressive to me. The facade was glass and rusted metal. It reminded me of egg cartons. Lauren, Caleb, and myself passed this on the way to find Laurens lost jacket, which i was sure we would never find. Afte retracing our steps for what seemed like 50 miles, we came upon what looked like a nice size mound of human feces. i asked Lauren, " your jacket wouldn't be brown by any chance?" after her reply and my pointing out of the strange site, she was happy again.

Yet another group photo. At this point, the Journey of La Ruta de los Castillos was at the halfway point. This photo was taken in the city of Cuellar. This was a great little city. it was very compact, it seemed like, and the streets were very narrow. The way the city looked reminded me in some parts of a ghost town. There were abandoned apartments and houses that were old and dilapidated that were closed off.

The group got to a bar and ordered some drinks. The bar man was very interested in us and was practicing his english after a bit of introductions.  I had spoken to him before and he asked me where i was from. I said: " Why, I'm from Colombia my good sir". he then walked over to his stereo system and put in a new CD.  It was Vallenato, a music from the coast of Colombia. I knew the song and the CD very well and we had a good time singing along. I find it interesting that everywhere one goes, one can relate to the people in one form or another, this is the beauty of being human, we all share something in common.

Yes, i have been to the mountain top!  

 What a view this was from the place where the castle in Pedraza was. I notices most of these castles make it a point to be surrounded by very low points of land. Obviously for protection from invading forces in the past. Looking down on the castle moats was an amazing sight. I'm usually never afraid of height but dang! I got that feeling in the gut, the one that lingers inside while you're looking down from a high tree or in this case atop an old castle. 

The highest point on the trip in the Ruta de los Castillos was definetly the one shown here. This was the area directly behind the castle and it was one of the scariest. Me and a few others in the group managed to get on a rock/cliff that was protruding out of the back of the castle and sat down. I was frightened when Isaac  ( which i didn't know at the time) was under us, had thrown a light bulb up. Imagine all of a sudden a bulb floating in front of your face. i thought i had gone insane!

Either way, tons of fun. it's been a while since I've seen the kind of scenery I saw yesterday. The excursion was very well planned and even more nicely executed.

AHA! this was the great night of Karaoke. The good group of students had started the journey into the night as well ended it, here, in this bar. The bar is the one that has catered to our needs for Chupitos and singing off key into microphones (as mastered by yours truly) so it has become a regular stop. The owner is an Arab born in England that has been very hospitable when the group of the KIIS American students comes by. Let me say that from the time that the group of students walk into the bar (if it is the entire group), up until the moment that we leave, we dominate the bar. The dancing begins and ends with this merry group. we had the opportunity to sing the graceful songs of this Karaoke machine. First it was Mateo and I, which was less than impressive, and the girls followed our one time act with either R-E-S-P-E-C-T or some other song for strong independent women. Needless to say that they were more successful in their endeavors than Mateo and I.  This photo is a perfect representation of the act. As anyone can tell, we are not very focused on the screen and we have not the slightest regard for showmanship. We are artist without a prescribed style or at least a new style, the style is known as Indifferent Alternative, yeah, thats a new one.