Chapter 10: First Stop: Ibiza

I realize I haven’t written a blog post in a while so I figured I would crank one out while I am waiting to board my plane in the Ibiza airport.  Not much has happened since my last blog post.  I did travel to Granada and Cordoba which was extremely fascinating as they both serve important historical roles in Spain along for the Catholic Church and Islamic community.  School finished up on Wednesday and I have to say that although it was a short program, I have learned so much about Spanish grammar, culture, language, and art.  I also realized how lucky I am to have had such a great Spanish host mother.  She was so dedicated to bettering our Spanish while approaching us with patience and humor.  One of my favorite experiences in Sevilla was cooking her dinner.  My roommate and I cooked quesadillas for her, our French student, and her Swiss friend.  We were at the dinner table for about 3 or more hours talking, laughing, and sharing stories.   We had split about 3 bottles of wine among the four of us so it was a great bonding time to say the least.  Other than that, since the last blog post I have continued to explore the city and learn more about the Spanish culture and history.

Currently it is 4:50 am and I am sitting in the Ibiza airport waiting to fly to Barcelona.  Our senora really wanted my roommate and I to accompany her on a trip to Ibiza to visit her son who lives and works on the Island located off the coast of Spain.  After finally being talked into it (not that it was hard to be convinced to travel to one of the world’s most infamous party islands), we decided we would fly out to the island for a few days after exams.  Unfortunately our Senora could no longer go with us as her mother was suffering from an illness in Argentina.  Therefore her daughter had to fly to Buenos Aires to stay with her for a month to take care of her.  Doris (our senora) had to stay and take care of the three salons her and her daughter own.  We left Friday afternoon and arrived to Ibiza around 7:00pm to meet Doris’ son and our French student who traveled from Madrid as that is where she is now studying.  Unfortunately I have to leave at 5:00am on Sunday morning to meet up with my friends in Barcelona to start our European trip.  I would have liked to have stayed longer but I am glad I can now say that I have been to Ibiza.

Boats in the Ibiza Port

View from the top of the castle in Ibiza

Ibiza is a beautiful island off the coast of Spain and is situated in the Mediterranean Sea.  Ibiza is known for its great beaches, luxury living, and great night life (the world’s largest night club just opened).  Luckily we had a place to stay for free with Doris’ son, Ariel.  We sort of knew Ariel before traveling to Ibiza since he would regularly call the house to talk to us and ask us questions.  He enjoyed talking with us on the phone in order to practice our Spanish.  He is a chef in Ibiza and makes really good pizzas.  Friday night he made various types of pizzas and we all sat around talking to each other before heading out for the night.  He is really easy to talk to and very knowledgeable.  He has a great lifestyle.  He works for six months out of the year and then travels the other 6 months.  His apartment is very nice and spacious and lives really close to the port where large yachts can be found and by various beaches with blue water.  The first night he took us out to local bars and night clubs that were still a lot of fun even though they were part of the major night clubs promoted all over the town.  It was good for us since most night clubs have a 40 Euro (60 USD) entrance fee.  The nightclubs are one of the major tourist attractions here.  As soon as you step of the plane, people are trying to get you to buy tickets for the event going on at their respective clubs for the night.  Many night clubs also have their own smaller bars and night clubs and merchandise stores throughout the city.  It is definitely why a lot of people come here, and as much as I wish I would have gone to experience it, I am glad I got to see another side of the city.   

Sunset in San Antonio

On Saturday night we went across the island to San Antonio to watch the sunset.  It is a great location to watch the sunset.  There are really nice restaurants on the cost, and everyone gathers on the rocks to watch the sunset.  Before the sunset the bars, restaurants, and clubs play very calm music and as soon as the sun sets, everyone claps and begins to dance while places switch to upbeat music.  

In the end, Ibiza was a great experience but I have never slept for such a short amount of time in my life.  I definitely could not image staying a couple more days because it drained me.  Next I am off to Barcelona for a day and a half.  I’ll update you guys later.