First Full Day in Gibraltar






Hello everyone! Our first full day in Gibraltar was so awesome. We arrived yesterday at about 3pm in the afternoon. I, as well as everyone else, was immediately blown away by the huge rock and all the beautiful palm trees and weather in Gibraltar. Our flight from London was not very long but it felt like forever because we were all so eager to see this beautiful place! Now that we’re here it truly feels like a dream. We met so many people from England yesterday and they were so sweet! We went to their room to play uno and exchange different music styles as well as chat about our experiences in the UK as well as the USA. It was truly an awesome first day.

 Moving on to today.. Our first full day in Gibraltar! We woke up for breakfast which was so amazing and packed with all the athletes competing in the games. But what is more amazing is our view from the room. You can see Spain and Africa from our balcony. The water is as blue as the sky, and seeing the sunset made it all the more breathtaking! After breakfast, we headed to main street to walk through all the shopping, bakeries, ice cream, and souvenir shops they have. The clothes sold in the shops are all so colorful and unique, it’s nothing like what is sold in America. One of the people on our trip, Justin, bought a very unique pandora charm for his girlfriend back home. The Pandora sales lady said it’s only sold in Gibraltar because of the monkeys that are everywhere. It is so precious! Then, we walked to Ocean Village and saw all the huge yachts, restaurants, and fish in the marina.

 After taking a short nap from our eventful day, we headed to our training. They told us all the information we needed to know about directions, safety, counterterrorism, and pride for the upcoming games. We are very eager to begin our volunteer work for the games, which starts tomorrow with a triathlon. We then headed to the Barbecue to eat a full meal before heading to the food festival afterwords. We figured the lines would be a little long, so we wanted to make sure we were not too hungry waiting in line for the food at the Calentita Food Festival.

 Calentita was absolutely stunning! There were dancers on stage, live singers, and food tents everywhere. It really showed me what the Gibraltar culture is all about. I am so thankful we came at this time to experience this festival. Everyone at the festival was extremely nice in pointing me in the right direction and giving recommendations on where to try food. They even had a Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute! Although Gibraltar and America’s culture is very different, the hospitality, food, and music taste is about the same. It is almost surprising and exciting that all the artist, food, and adventures I love are also loved around the world.

 One note I would like to add is that there are so many flowers out here. They are so colorful and vibrant and just remind me of what a happy and fun city this is. It has been a great time so far and I am so excited for the next week! Go Cards!

 - Haley

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