The Alhambra etc.

On friday my group had our trip the alhambra. it was incredible. it had some of the most amazing and intricate architecture i have ever seen in addition to the most fantastic views of granada. i am so glad that i finally got to go see it. Friday was also my last day of classes for my intensive month of spanish. Tomorrow i take my final (and only) exam 2 days earlier than the rest of my class because i am also off to Amsterdam tomorrow! Its very surreal to me right now. it doesn't seem possible that i have been here for a month. It feels like so much less and so much more time than that all at the same time. I have a fair amount of studying to do but instead i am posting something here.

In other news, my roommate is sick. i think she might have the flu which is such a bummer. i am trying to drink lots of orange juice, washing my hands a ton, getting lots of sleep and not be in the room too much. Wish me luck in not coming down with the same thing that she has.

I think my spanish may finally be improving. While my roommate was still asleep this morning i had breakfast with just my senora. We actually has a decent conversation. nothing too complicated or specific but we definitely kept it going for awhile. She also told me yesterday at lunch that my spanish has improved so i guess this proves it! I look forward to the day when i can have many more conversations with her. I would love to know more about all the people in my homestay family.

Yesterday I went to the public library in Granada. My host older sister pointed out where it was on the map and i set off. I found it very easily even though its in an area that i havent ever spent any time in. The library was interesting. Very different from the ones we have the United States. For one you walk past a security booth when you walk in. The library was all white and metal and not cozy at all. There were also very specific spots for studying vs being on a laptop vs just reading. I sat in the wrong spot and the security guard came and asked me to move. Im glad that i could understand what he was saying! I liked being back in a library though. Up at western i go to the library most days after class and being in one here finally made me feel like i was actually a student in spain. I see myself spending more time there as the semester goes on. It was very quiet and a decent study atmosphere. After the library i had lunch and then went to the park to study with one of my friends from my program. Unfortunately i ended up doing more sleeping than studying but i did finish all of my flash cards. now i just have to remember what is on all of them. Later in the evening after getting tapas i made friends with some girls from wales, scotland and england who are all studying in granada for the year. they were very nice and i hope to run into them again.

The days here have started to get into a rhythm and its very strange to me that it is about to be shook up. Its going to be an odd transition from only having 4 hours of spanish class a day to having other classes plus spanish class. The classes i will be taking are spanish, history of spain and islam in the western world. I still dont know the times of my classes but i am 95% sure that i wont have classes on fridays.This is going to make traveling so much easier. The weekend after i get back from amsterdam i am taking a trip to Lagos Portugal.


Well i guess i should get studying, here are some pictures from the alhambra

Granada Meets Sarah and Jules

This last week, Julia and Sarah were with me in Granada. They stayed at a hotel that was only a block and a half from me which was so great and I loved being able to hang out with them everyday. It definitely brought some of seattle/bham to me for a little bit. We checked out so amazing restaurants and tapas places and did some crazy clubbing too. I am still in shock about how normal and easy it is here to stay out until the early hours of the morning. We also went to a beach called Salobrena this last summer which was the perfect end to their trip here. I didnt bring my camera but Jules did so hopefully the pictures from that will surface soon!

Currently I am a bit under the weather which has been no fun at all. But i have some antibiotics and other medications and i am hoping to see an improvement asap. My homestay mom has been very sweet and has been making me soup for lunch everyday. I need to get better soon so that I can start preparing for my final on monday! everyone else has until next wednesday but since i am heading to amsterdam on monday i am taking mine in the morning before i leave.

Right now in my homestay there are two Norwegian girls staying for the week. They are both in high school and here with their language class. They are both very nice and its fun having more people around. Thats all for now!

Weekend Adventures

On Friday night, some of the kids from my program and I decided to go check out a spanish music festival that has been going on in Granada. We started out the evening at a tapas bar and proceeded to begin our walk over to the festival. What we didn't know was that this festival was really. far. away. We started walking in the direction that we were told it was in but because of how far away it was, it wasn't on any of our maps of Granada. Things were more complicated by the fact that there is a ton of construction happening here right now so it can be hard to figure out which streets are what and how to get to the one you want especially at night. We got a little discouraged at one point and considered going back but then we saw a group of spanish guys who said that they were also trying to get to the music festival. So we decided to walk with them, and its a good thing we did because i don't think we would have found it on our own.

Eventually we started seeing all of these super bright lights and heard upbeat american pop music blaring. As we walked closer I realized that in addition to there being a music festival going on there was also a carnival happening right next door. The differences in the lifestyle here in comparison to the US is crazy. It was probably about 12:30 by the time we walked by the carnival and there were kids running around like it was 4:00 in the afternoon. Everyone here just stays out way later than anyone I know back home. After going past the carnival, we started hearing spanish rock music and followed it over to the entrance. It was free to get it and there were so many people there. It was so clearly not a touristy event of any kind and that was a nice change. All the people there were super into the music and the place was packed. We stayed for awhile but then decided to cab home due to the fact that it was kind of late (at least by our standards) and the music was really intense and hard to get super into when you cant understand what they are saying and don't know the songs.

Last night I went and started the evening with some different ISA kids. We got tapas again and then walked over to this park that we heard was a very popular hang out for spanish people in Granada. After being there for awhile we decided to go check out this club called Mae West that we had heard was the club to go to in Granada. We knew it had a fancier dress code than most places but we all looked pretty good so we thought it would be fine. We walked over and were all getting pretty excited about this club and when we finally got to the door, we were asked to leave. None of us were dressed casually. The only real fashion difference was that none of us girls were wearing heels. However the other difference was that one of the girls who had been the one to talk to the guy at the door was asian. Now I'm not sure exactly what happened but all of the other people in my group were convinced it was a racial thing. I didn't know this going in, but I guess this club also has some racist tendencies and doesn't let any people of asian descent in. I was completely shocked. I really hope that that was not what was going on and it was heels that made the difference as to whether or not you got in not the color of your skin.

After getting turned down at Mae West we decided to walk over to a different club called the Granada Diez. I had heard mixed things so i wanted to check it out. Unfortunately it wasnt as fun as i was hoping for. It was kind of expensive to get in and the music wasnt that great, It was super loud with alot of strobe lights and it definitely was not as fun as my last club experience. The only bright side is that now I know that thats not a place i want to go again and will find other places to go instead. I had heard from my host older sisters that the Granada Diez was the tourist club anyway. All in all, the night was a mixed bag but everything is a learning experience here. I'm sure my evenings will improve alot as soon as i have been here a little longer and know more of where the good spots to go are.

Today will be a pretty relaxed for me. Pretty much everything shuts down on Sundays here so I will be doing a lot of walking around and journal writing and hopefully spend some time with some different people in my program. I have my second full week of classes starting tomorrow and Jules and Sarah get here bright and early Tuesday morning! I can't wait to see them. This weekend I also officially booked my plane and bus tickets to go visit my other sarah who is studying abroad in Amsterdam at the end of September. I am really excited about that as well! More posts to come soon!

The Days Keep Rolling By

This week has been full of classes. Its been kind of nice to begin to get into the swing of things here. At this point, I have officially been in Granada for one week but it feels like so much longer than that. Seattle feels so far away and this last summer feels like it happened months and months ago. My classes have been interesting. I like both of my teachers but the classes for the most part are very laid back, which is nice in some ways but at the same time, I dont feel like i am learning very much. Thats kind of rough for me. Its difficult to be in a country where you dont know the language and you dont feel like you are improving much. However I think that this is just one of those situations where I will have to take matters into my own hands. I am working on talking to my host family more and soon we will be starting intercambios (im not sure if thats the correct spelling or not) which is where all of the students in my program are matched up with spanish speaking students who are trying to learn english. Its a way for everyone to get better at the language they are trying to learn. I also am planning on trying to get some extra help with my spanish from the people at the ISA office. I am pretty sure that there are some tutoring opportunities that i would like to check out.

I finally have a cell phone here which is a wonderful change. It is so much easier to meet up with other people here when you have some communication options other than facebook. I have been spending alot of my time walking around the city. There are a couple of nice spots that I have found for journal writing and too many amazing gelato stands to count. I think right now my favorite ice cream flavor is ferrero roche. Right now I dont have any big plans for the weekend except for exploring Granada more. Two of my best friends Julia and Sarah get here on the 13th and I cant wait to see them! Not much else to report right now but im sure there will be more very soon!

Flamenco, Classes and Beach Time

Alot has been happening in the last few days. On wednesday before the flamenco show, our program directors took us on a tour of Granada. We walked through the moorish district which is very beautiful and very old and we hiked up to a popular tourist spot that has an incredible view of the alhambra. It was very cool. The flamenco show was very interesting. We were all in a circle in this long but small room and the dancers came in and danced in the middle. they were all extremely talented and i had never really seen flamenco before.

Thursday was my first day of school. The building that i go to school in is actually a different one than the one where i took my placement test, its called the Kenya building and it is a little farther away. but I have learned that i can walk fast enough to get there in 20 minutes if i really want to. I love my walk to school. Anyway, nothing too exciting happened on the first day of school, both of my professors seem very nice and we didnt get very much homework. After class, I went to get my spanish book and my sim card with some other kids in my program. That afternoon i went shopping with some of my friends and bought a really pretty over the shoulder leather bag which is already very handy to have in this city.

On Friday class was about the same. During our 20 minute break, some friends and I found this little coffee place that also serves really delicious tostadas for only 1 euro. They are amazing and it will be very tempting to get one everyday. The way it has worked here so far is that everyone goes home after class and lays low until at least 6:00 if not 9:00. its a very different lifestyle than in the US. So far its working pretty well for me except for the fact that i still dont have a working phone. It is very hard to make plans when ones only communication device is facebook. Hopefully this will change very very soon. On Friday night a big group of us decided to go out. First we met up at the residencia and then headed out to get some tapas before going to the discoteca. The tapas were delicious as always and the discoteca that we went to had an incredible view of the alhambra. I had a great time, but also lost track of time and didnt get home until 6am. However that seems to very much be the Spanish way of doing things.

Bright and early on saturday morning, some friends and I took a trip to a beach called Nerja which was a 2 hour bus ride away but so so worth it. We got there at about noon and spent the whole day swimming and laying in the sun. It was so incredibly beautiful there. The water was so blue and the sand was far whiter than any beach in seattle. It was a wonderfully relaxing day and even the bus ride was pretty. On our way home the sun was setting and it was gorgeous to watch. Once I got home my roommate and I had dinner and then she went to bed. I on the other hand didnt feel tired yet so i went out in the living room and attempted to talk which one of my homestay sisters. It wasnt the smoothest conversation ever but as i use my (very broken) spanish more and more I find i remember more words and I think i might even be getting better, even if its a very slow pace. So far the most frustrating thing is my spanish not being better. Its so difficult when its a constant struggle to communicate with people. Hopefully it wont be long before this frustration subsides a bit.

Today will be a pretty relaxed day seeing as i just woke up and its already after 11. Also on sundays in Spain all of the stores are closed. This really bummed me out to learn because i had sort of planned on doing some shopping today. But thats ok. I will probably just walk around and check out the park by my house and do some homework. Tomorrow will be the beginning of my first full week of classes.