Bullfight!

The other day, Meg and I were sitting in our room when all of a sudden, this Japanese girl shows up at our door. Apparently she is living here as well, in the room next to hours. She seems very sweet, but she doesn't speak any English and her Spanish is pretty poor. I'm excited to have her here because it will help Meg and I speak more Spanish at home and we can have better conversations at meals. She is so polite and I don't think it will be hard at all to share the space with her.
It was a pretty good weekend. We went out on Friday night to the botellón. It was Beatriz's last night because she is going to Ireland to study for a year. After botellón, we went up to this awesome discoteca in the Albacín, an old Muslim neighborhood that faces the Alhambra. The discoteca was named Cambodio, and it was basically a bunch of caves that had multiple dance floors and bars. It was so beautiful, and the views were breathtaking! At about 4:30 am, Meg, Sophie and I started walking home. We ran into one of our friends from Kabab King and he opened the store just for us! It was so nice, and we sat around talking for a while. Unfortunately, other people saw the store was open, so Kamel ended up having to work a bit.
Saturday was pretty low key. Meg and I went out for a bit to sit at a cafe and study for our big test on Tuesday. Some of the girls went out around midnight to see "Inglorious Basterds" or "Malditos Bastardos", but Meg and I had already seen it and wanted to get a good night's sleep.
Today was an absolute blast. We went to the bullfight at Plaza de Toros around 6 pm. Our senora packed us sandwiches and fruit and we all brought wine. I thought I would hate the bullfights because the killing of the bulls is so inhumane, but it was actually a lot of fun. The first bull was really sad, but after that it was a lot more exciting and almost artistic. It seemed as if the matador and the toro were dancing, and they had little interludes when other matadors would come out as well. Overall, I think most of the girls liked it. It was definitely worth going to.
Afterward, we went to a Moroccan restaurant where Meg and I split the best pizza I've had here so far. On our walk home, we passed the huge parade they are having this weekend in honor of Saint Angustias (the patron saint of Granada) and the Virgin Mary. They had a huge statue of Mary that they were carrying through the streets while chanting Hail Mary in Spanish. There was also a live band and a lot of food booths (I had to struggle not to by anything, it all looked so good!). It was very cool to see.
Overall, it was a weekend of trying new things and meeting new people. The beginning of this next week might be a little boring with the test on Tuesday and all. But I leave Thursday for Toledo and then Madrid and Segovia, so hopefully I'll have a lot to tell after that!

Love Always,
Em

Spanish Dreams

I haven't written in a few days, so let me catch up. On Tuesday night we went out with all of the girls and Beatriz, Cristina, and Pilar (three Spanish girls we met here). They were so much fun! Beatriz is leaving on Sunday to study in Ireland and Cristina is learning English so she can get a job when she goes abroad as well. She would speak to us in English and we would respond in Spanish. Since most of the Spanish students aren't here yet, it's so nice to go out with some actual natives who have the patience to let us butcher the language when talking.
Wednesday was pretty uneventful, but Thursday was a blast. After lunch we had a meeting in the Arcadia office about the Morocco trip. After doing a lot of research about it, I don't think I'm very interested in going. It has a lot to do with the Peace Corps and the socio/political situation over there, which is a pretty heavy trip to fit into 4 days right before finals. Overall, I'm just loving Granada too much to want to leave it. The guy who presented the program though was so passionate. He grew up in Germany and spent most of his childhood wishing he could cross the Berlin Wall and travel the world. When it final came down, he did just that. Now he's settled in Granada and has founded the Morocco Exchange program. He seems so passionate about traveling and how different cultures can help you define yourself as well as your perspectives about others.
After the presentation, we all went for dinner at a Mexican place which was very good. We then went to the free guitar concert they have every Thursday night. We arrived a little late, so we had to sit on the floor, but it was so worth it! There were 3 guitarists and it is just such a peaceful hour, sitting there listening to Spanish music. Afterwards, we all wandered to a tapas bar and had the BEST tapas I've had here so far. After filling up on those, we went to karaoke at Hannigan's. Once again, it was very fun but VERY American. After about an hour, Meg and I decided to go home and get some rest. Our final is on Tuesday, so we're trying to study a lot this weekend and memorize everything.
Tonight we are going to the botellón and hopefully a different discoteca that is in the Albacín and has awesome views of the Alhambra. On Sunday, all of the girls bought tickets for the bullfight here in Granada, so I'm going to see that on Sunday evening. I'm a little nervous because I don't know if I'll be able to watch them kill a lot of animals, I think that bullfighting is antiquated and immoral, but I've been told it's a very important cultural experience, so I'm going to go with the girls and hope I make it through it!
Oh, and something really exciting happened. During siesta one day, Meg woke up and heard my talking in Spanish in my sleep! Even though I don't remember it, it's a really good sign when you start speaking another language in your dreams.

Love Always,
Em

Finally, Mashed Potatoes!

On Saturday, Meg and I slept pretty much all day and then met Sophie for dinner at this really great little Chinese place we found on Gran Vie. Afterwards, we hopped on the bus and went to Marecena for the Chamboa concert. I bought a bus pass so now I feel very native using it to get back and forth places. The Chamboa concert was a ton of fun, they had a lot of little booths set up with cute clothes and trinkets. The music was really good and I could actually understand some lyrics! Afterwards, we took a taxi home and got a kebab before going to bed.
We woke up early on Sunday and went to Almunecar, a beach town about an hour away from Granada. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive up into the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The beach was a little cloudy and cold to begin with, but after we walked around and looked at some shops, the sun came out and we spent a couple hours just relaxing on the beach. The water was a little too chilly to be in, so we just slept and read until it was time to go back.
Today, we had school again. This is the beginning of our last full week of the intensive language course. We'll be having our final at the beginning of next week and then we'll be off to Madrid! Today was definitely the best food day we've ever had. Last night we had mashed potatoes (YAYYY) and today we had tortellini and grilled cheese. The food situation is definitely looking up. Tomorrow we are going on a walk with Christina to see all the hang out places of the students, it should be fun!

Miss you,
Em

Spanish Guitar and American Karaoke

On Wednesday I had a pretty normal day of school and siesta. I had to go to the Arcadia office and talk to Christina about my classes for next month. I got into the literature, art, and culture classes that I wanted, but I won't find out about my grammar and composition classes until the day before they start. While I was in the office, I bought my bus ticket to Madrid for two weeks from now as well as a plane ticket to Florence, Italy for mid-November. Meg and I are going there to visit our friend, Becca. Luckily, she has an apartment, so even though the ticket was a little pricey, we won't have to worry about hostels or anything like that. Next week we are having our group meeting about Morocco, so I'm going to wait to book any more trips until after I figure out if I want to/can afford to go to Morocco. Our group has a 5 day weekend at the beginning of December that would be perfect for traveling. Right now we are debating between Dublin or Amsterdam, both of which would be really cold and probably expensive. Either way, I have a long time to decide and I'm enjoying Granada too much to want to go anywhere else.
I returned home for dinner after my meeting and then Meg and I went out to our favorite Chinese bar right in the middle of the city. We met the other girls there and had our usual wine and calamari. The waiter is starting to recognize us and know what we want to order. Afterwards, we went to Granada 10, which is a discotheque nearby. I really hate it though because it's small and is usually all American students with the exception of the standard handful of creepy Spanish guys. Wednesday is Ladies Night, though, so we got in for free. After about 30 minutes, we decided to go to another discotheque, called Mae West. This club is a lot bigger and much more authentic. I actually use my Spanish skills! We met a group of guys there and we all exchanged numbers. This guy, Javier, seemed very interested in my number, but I had school the next day so we ended up leaving semi-early (early for Spain is around 3 am). Javier called my phone 25 times between 4:30 am and 6 am and really annoyed Meg and I. I ended up having to turn my phone off in order to get some sleep. It was an interesting night, but I was very tired the next day.
On Thursday we took a long siesta and had to tell Maria Carmen that we wouldn't be here for dinner b/c of a concert we wanted to go to. We went and ate at the Burger King in the center of town because Meg and I are CRAVING American food. Afterwards, we met our group at this awesome museum on a side street and listened to a free concert of two guitar players. The first was a classical guitarist, and I liked him the best. The second was a flamenco guitarist who played with a violin as well. It was absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite things we've done here thus far.
I ran into a girl I know at Denison who is in another program here. Neither of us knew the other was studying in Granada, so we exchanged numbers and talked about weekend plans. Afterwards, Sophie Meg Emmett Richard and I went to Hannigan and Sons, which is a huge Irish pub in Granada. On Thursday nights they have karaoke, with a free drink every time you do a song. We had such a blast! Emmett went first and did "Like a Prayer" by Madonna (too funny!) and then Sophie and I did "Faith" by George Michael. I tried to get Meg on stage, but that's not really her scene. We met a lot of American students and had a really good time singing and dancing around. There were a few Spanish guys who sang and they were TERRIBLE, it was so funny to listen to.
On the way home, Soph Meg and I stopped for a kabob at Kabob King (the place to go for a late night snack). On our way home we ran into the guys from the other kabob store and talked to them. We are starting to realize just how small Granada really is. It definitely has the city vibe, but we've only been here 2 1/2 weeks and we are already running into people we know. I can't imagine what it will be like in a few months!
Today we had a relaxing day at school; the teachers really let us relax on Fridays. Now we are going to siesta and then go to the chupitería (shot bar) and la botelón. We have a couple fun things planned this weekend and I can't wait to tell you all about them.

Love Always,
Em

La Festival de la Patrona

Today after school Meg and I bought Maria Carmen flowers because it is the festival of the patron saint of Granada, Saint Angustias. After lunch I took a short siesta until 5 pm and then went out with Sophie while Meg kept sleeping. Sophie and I went to the library of the Centro de Lenguas Modernas and I got two books in Spanish that I will try to read in the next to weeks. There is also a multimedia room for you to listen to music or watch movies, so we might go and hang out there later in the week. They have movies in English and in Spanish.
After the library, Soph and I walked through the park where they were holding the festival. There were hundreds of people there in line with bouquets of flowers to hang up on the church. On the front of the church, on either side of the door, there were large green grids on which men were standing and placing flowers. The devotion and excitement was amazing, and it wasn't even an official holiday here!
We walked past the plaza and went to a nice restaurant by the river where we sat outside and met our friend named Amy. We all had a glass of wine and talked about our lives at home. We were about to leave when it started to thunderstorm, so the waiter just rolled out an umbrella for our table and we ordered another round and waited out the storm. It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had so far. I am sad that a lot of the group is going to Seville this weekend, while I've chosen to stay in Granada. I've only been here a short time, and there are so many trips I want to take, it seems like a better choice to enjoy the city while it's still calm.
I walked home just before nine and had dinner with Meg and Maria Carmen. We watched part of a football game (Madrid vs. Zurich). I am pretty sure Madrid will win. Now I am going to read some more of my book before I go to meet some of the other girls for tapas around 11:30.

Love Always,
Em

King Kabob

Last night actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I thought we were all just going out to grab a quick ice cream, but we ended up going to get tea as well (I'm still feeling a little sick) and then a few of us went to King Kabob, which is this late night Turkish diner. We met two really nice guys who work there who sat with us for a long time and talked to us in Spanish. It's always a relief to find people who will give you time to form what you want to say but who aren't harsh or critical if you mess up. Carmen and Mohammad (the two guys) said that I was the best out of the group and that my speaking is very fluid and precise. I was so excited!
Today we had school again, it was really easy and we didn't have any homework. I feel as though I am really starting to understand the grammar and I hope that it will stick with me in conversation.
For lunch we had this yellow rice soup and for dinner we had a kind of potato brick thingie (very filling). Meg and I went to the Arcadia office for a little bit and did some research on the trips we want to take to Italy and Dublin. I am trying to figure out if I can swing them financially, but since it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, I'm sure I'll find a way. We are hopefully going to buy all the tickets on Wednesday so I can stop worrying and going back and forth. I won't decide on the trip to Morocco until later, when we hear about the cost and the details of the trip.


Love Always,
Em

La Alhambra

Today we woke up around 10:00 and had to completely rush to meet up with our group. Meg and I could have walked alone, but it was pretty far away and there was some confusion, so we decided to meet up early with some of our friends and take the bus. We rushed getting ready and having breakfast and Maria Carmen was nice enough to rush and make us lunches so that we wouldn't have to hurry back and we could eat at La Alhambra.
We took the bus and, after missing the stop, the bus driver was nice enough to drive us back to the plaza where we needed to meet up with our tour. La Alhambra is impossible to describe, the intricacy of the carvings and the variety of flowers is really overwhelming. I probably took over 200 pictures and I am dreading having to go through them and weeding out the ones that didn't capture the spirit of the palace. For all who don't know (I certainly didn't before doing my research to go here) Granada was the last Muslim stronghold when all the rest of Spain had turned over to the reign of Isabelle and Ferdinand and the official religion of Christianity. La Alhambra was the palace that overlooked the city of Granada and it is absolutely massive with a lot of history. Isabelle and Ferdinand were so focused on gaining control of Granada that, after they did invade and win, they demanded to be buried in Granada. I saw their casks at La Catedral de Ave Maria the other day.
After walking all around La Alhambra and seeing many beautiful rooms and views, we moved on to Generalife (which we all mispronounced and sounded VERY American). To do it injustice and simplify it would be to call it the royal gardens. It is an absolutely huge park with fantastic scenes of foliage and exotic flowers and fountains. My favorite part was Las Escaleras de Agua (The Stairs of Water). It was this long set of stairs flanked on each side by what looked like an intricate tiny water slide. If you stop the water some way up from the bottom and then let it go, it splashes whoever is standing below.
We all ate our lunches in Generalife and had a great time. We decided to walk back and stopped in our favorite Irish pub, Catedral, to have a Coke and paella. Then Meg and I returned home and slept until dinner, which is coming soon!
Overall, it was definitely one of the best days and most certainly the best tour we have had. It is also the last one that we will take with an official tour guide in Granada. Now all the rest of the exploring is left to us! I am feeling a lot better, although I still have a head cold, but I am sure that I will be back to normal this week.

Love Always,
Em

Addendum: Grossest dinner EVER! It was gray and squished. We're going for ice cream.

Estoy Enferma

Thursday night I started to feel a little under the weather. When I woke up on Friday, it was as if I had been hit by a bus. My whole head felt three times its normal size and, while I tried to go to classes, I had trouble making it through the first half. I left at noon and missed the second class to go home and sleep from 1 pm on Friday to 2 pm today (Saturday). I woke up for dinner and Maria Carmen took my temperature which was a little over 100 degrees. She gave it to me in Celsius though, so I had to look it up online.
Thankfully, when I woke up this morning I felt much better. I ate a little more and spent most of the day reading and cleaning up a little. I am going out tonight, but it will probably be an early night because I'm still not 100% and tomorrow we are going to visit La Alhambra, which is a huge Moorish palace that marked the last stronghold before Granada became Christian when Isabella and Fernando invaded. It should be beautiful.

Miss you all!
Love Always,
Em

Overload

Yesterday was a really nice day. We had a fun time in class and then took a few hours for siesta. Before dinner, Meg and Sophie and I explored the western end of the city a little bit and found a pretty nice mall as well as the prettiest park I've seen here so far. It's name is Frederico García Lorca park, he's a famous Spanish writer. There were a million rose bushes and different shaped trees. It was much different from parks back home, but very beautiful.
We stayed in last night and just hung out. Today we had class again and we had our first exam: we had to tell a story in front of the class! I talked about how my key didn't work the first night I was at my homestay and how embarrassing it was.
After class we had lunch and then went to a meeting about safety in the Arcadia office. Afterwards we all got helado (ice cream) and talked about what kind of trips we want to take while we're here. The Arcadia program is taking us around Spain on various trips and they are also hooking us up with a Morocco program, although that isn't paid for and is supposed to be pretty expensive. But Morocco is a place I know I would never go on my own and because of that I am seriously considering it. I am also going to stay in Madrid with some friends for a few nights as well as try to travel to Italy and possibly Dublin to visit some other friends from home. Overall, the whole traveling thing is exciting but very stressful. I wish someone would just plan it for me.
I miss you all!
Love Always,
Em

La Plaza del Toro

Albacin was very pretty once you got to the top, a breathtaking view of Granada, but it was very hard to walk up to. All of the streets are cobblestone and almost vertical they are so steep. Needless to say, my legs are going to hurt for a few days.
Yesterday I had class again. It was really easy and at the end of the day the second professor pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to move up a level because she didn't want me to be bored. I said no because the first class is actually at my level in terms of grammar and because, if I move up, I might jeopardize my credit transfer at Denison. Right now everything is perfect and I think that I will be challenged enough without moving to advanced.
Meg and I had pasta for lunch and then took a quick siesta before meeting Sophie (another girl from Denison) to explore some more of the city. We took about a 30 minute walk to Plaza del Toro, a bullfighting ring on the northern outskirts of Granada. After paying 3 euro, we got a nice succint tour of the facilities, including the creepy medical rooms in the back for when people get hurt. It was interesting though, there was a bar/restaurant set up in the middle of the ring because it isn't bull fighting season yet, and they were playing Hanson's "Mmmbop", so it was hard to take some of the danger seriously with 90s music in the background. Afterwards, Sophie Meg and I went to a nice air conditioned bar and had tapas, which are basically free appetizers that come if you order a drink.
I came home for dinner and then left again in order to meet Amy, Morgan, Sophie and some people from another program. We went to the Moroccan part of the city and found a really cute and authentic hookah/tea bar. We hung out there for almost 3 hours before heading home to get some sleep.
I am getting used to being here and I am definitely getting a handle on the city. I do miss home and American food a lot, but I'll be back there soon enough wishing I were here, so I'm trying to enjoy the moment without feeling too homesick. I miss Denison too, but I'm staying in touch with a lot of friends from there, so it makes it a little easier.

Miss you all,
Love Always,
Em

Botellón

So last night turned out to be really fun. We met at La Plaza Isabelle, which is our usual meeting spot in the center of the city. It has a huge statue in the middle of the fountain of Columbus asking Isabelle to go look for the New World. One of the girls in the group, Monica, brought her sister from the homestay. Her name was Beatriz and she is 23. She was so nice and taught us a lot about the city. We went to what is called a botellón, which is a huge gathering of people in a park. It is the only place in Granada where you can drink outside and it's much cheaper than the bars, as well as more authentic. We talked spanish the whole night and met a lot of new people. Around 3 am we went to a discoteca (basically a club) that is called Mae West. They were only letting in natives from Granada, but since we had Beatriz, we were able to get in anyway. It was a huge building with a lot of different levels and rooms. Most played American music, but there were rooms you could go to if you wanted to listen to Spanish music. There were TVs all along the walls and they played a tribute to Michael Jackson (everyone here gets really excited about his music). It was a lot of fun and we didn't get home until about 5:30.
Unfortunately, that means we overslept the next day and weren't able to make it to the beach. Luckily a couple other people overslept too, so after dinner we went out for tapas. Today is Megan's birthday, she is turning 21 which isn't as big of a deal here as it is in the US. We still went out to another discoteca called Granada 10. Unlike Mae West, Granada 10 had a lot of people from America, so we didn't get to speak Spanish as much as we did the other night. We met a nice group of guys from Texas who are here on vacation and then we called it a night.
Today we had lunch, the usual bowl of soup and some ice cream (I think a treat for Meg's birthday). They usually have soup at lunch, which I am trying to get used to. I don't know how they can eat something that hot when it's 95 degrees out. I just finished my homework for tomorrow and now I am getting ready to go on a tour of Albacin, an old Arab neighborhood.

Love Always,
Em

Good Day

Hola a Todos! Today was my second day of school and we reviewed a couple of past tenses, which I needed a lot of help on. Luckily, I understood all of it and feel as though I'll remember it now. We don't have that much homework, which is also a relief.
After class Meg and I came home for lunch and we had this weird kind of fish that I wasn't in love with. But there were also peaches, so that was a plus. Today Arcadia scheduled us for a tour of La Catedral de Ave Maria and La Capilla Real, which is where the King Fernando and Queen Isabelle are buried. It was interesting, but two hours long and during the middle of the afternoon, so very hot. We also missed siesta, which obviously is a tragedy. The tour guide is a teacher at the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas) and she was pretty sarcastic. She kept saying "Entienden?" (do you understand?) and then answering "no, claro qu no" (no, of course you don't). It was a little offensive, but I think it was just her sense of humor.
After our tour Meg went to the phone store b/c her Spanish phone hasn't been working. A bunch of the girls and I went to the Arcadia office and bought bus tickets for the beach tomorrow. We're going to be there from 12 to 6, so I'm pretty excited. Also, I talked to Christine, who is head of our program and due to have twins any day now. Apparently I got into all my classes and I'm going to be receiving 18 credits at Denison instead of just 15 because this month long intensive course I am taking in September counts as a class! Which is fantastic. I am going to be taking a grammar class, a conversation/composition class, a literature class, an art class, and a culture class in October and November. They are all 300 level classes, so I don't think they will be too difficult AND they transfer back to Denison in such a way that I'm going to finish all my Gen Ed Requirements as well as my Spanish minor. Now that I have that all confirmed, I feel a lot better.
Our teacher told us to buy our book this weekend for class, but I was told there was a library in the CLM, so I just went there and checked it out for free for the month. It's so nice that I don't have to spend money buying the book, but the book they gave me is kind of falling apart, so I'll have to be careful. It already needs some more tape : (
It turned out that Meg thought I wanted to meet at home, which actually turned out to be a really good thing b/c I walked home by myself without a map and actually didn't have any trouble. I think I'm starting to get the hang of the city even if I can't name all the streets.
We had dinner, which was some kind of porkchop and potato. We also had a really great conversation with Maria Carmen and her daughter Julia. I felt very comfortable and Meg and I both talked about our families and about our classes pretty fluently. We are meeting the other people in the program at midnight tonight for our real first night out and Meg and I are both really excited. Hopefully we won't have any trouble getting into the apartment tonight. Haha, we have been practicing with the key all week, so I don't think it will be a problem. Anyway, I have to go get ready, I love everyone!

Love Always,
Em

The Start of School

So today was my first day of class and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I am in a class with about 15 other students, all of them from America except one who is from Germany. From 10-12 we have class with Susanna, who seems very nice and is easy to understand. I had no problem understanding what she was saying and after some of the other students talked, I felt as though I was in the right level. So hopefully that feeling will continue and I will be comfortable talking in class. We split into groups of four and played a board game in which we had to answer questions in Spanish. Meg and I were with these two girls who are actually based in Madrid and are only here today and tomorrow. I was a little sad that we met and liked some people in the class, but they are leaving.
We have a 20 minute break at noon and then we have another class from 12-2. This is with Pilar, who is much younger and more energetic. We played a game in which we were split into pairs and had to make assumptions about the other person, like where they were from or what their favorite band is. I got a girl from Oregon and we both did pretty well on guessing what the other person was like.
Overall, the first day of classes was very easy and just focused on breaking the ice and talking about the requirements. We have to buy one book, which Meg and I will get this weekend, and we are allowed to miss four classes. Which I think is a little ridiculous since the class is only a month long, so that means you could miss once a week. Either way, I'm not planning on being absent.
After school, we came home and had a really good lunch, probably one of my favorites. We had salad and meatballs and french fries. The custom here is to have fruit for desert so we usually have some kind of melon or yogurt as well.
Then we took a siesta and I accidentally slept for 5 hours, so when I woke up it was time for dinner! During dinner we watched The Closer with Kyra Sedgwick in spanish, which was pretty amusing. Now I am registering with the US Embassy to let them know I am in Spain and I think Meg and I are going to have a pretty early night. I miss you all!

Love,
Em

La Día a la Playa

Today was fantastic, but last night was terrible. After dinner, Meg and I went out with the whole Arcadia group. We went to this Cuban club that was giving free salsa lessons and spent about 2 hours failing miserably at dancing. It was a lot of fun, but once you realize how bad you are at keeping rhythm, you don't want to keep doing it for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, it was a Tuesday night and most of the native Spanish students aren't here yet. Therefore, nothing was really going on and we kept running into the same groups of different study abroad programs. While it was nice to see other Americans, it felt as though we were the only ones out and that the night wasn't very authentic.
Around 2 am, Meg and I decided to call it a night. We had to get up early today in order to go to the beach, so we just headed home with Zach, a guy in the program who lives a block away from us and walks us home when it's late. Zach dropped us off at our building and we went up to the apartment door and could NOT get the keys to work. It was as if they weren't for the door. They would fit in the lock alright and even turn, but it wouldn't open the door. Meg tried to call Juan Carlos, the son, but he didn't pick up his cell phone. Finally, at around 2:45, we had to ring the doorbell and wake Maria Carmen, our host mom. She was so sweet and showed us how tricky the locks are here. You have to turn it to the left as soon as you get it in, because if you move it to the right, the door double locks and you can't get in. It's just some flaw in the lock, apparently. It was really embarrassing and we both felt terribly for waking her up. Of course she said "No pasa nada", which is the people of Granada's favorite phrase for "don't worry". I'm just glad that we didn't come home later in the night.
This morning we got up around 7:30 and got ready to meet the group in La Plaza de Isabella to catch the bus to the beach. The ride was about an hour, but it was completely worth it. While the beach was rocky, it was the Mediterranean Sea and absolutely gorgeous. We rode waves for hours and laid out until about 5 pm. There was also this rocky hill that we all climbed that looked over the city and the sea. It is definitely one of the prettiest places I've ever been. Our senoras packed us all lunches, so we ate on the beach and watched the waves. The only bad thing is that European women have a tendency to go topless at the beach, so we had to get used to that.
After the beach we arrived back home and now I am waiting for dinner. We are staying in tonight and relaxing because tomorrow is our first day of class and we want to be well rested. We got our schedules today and Megan and I are in the same class from 10 am - 2 pm for the whole month of September. I am very excited and am looking forward to tomorrow.
I know I've been writing a lot on this blog, and I probably will continue to during the next week or so because every day we do something different. As I get more accustomed to being here and Arcadia stops planning something different for us every day, I probably won't keep up with it as closely. Thanks for following me so far and I hope it's not too boring! I miss you all.

Love Always,
Em

Croquetas Again?

Today I woke up at 8 am and immediately broke the watch I had bought specifically for this trip. I am now on a search to find a new one. The day did not start out well, and I had to go to the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas) and take my proficiency test in order to determine what classes I can take while I am here. Needless to say, i was a little nervous. The test only took about an hour and a half and consisted of three parts: a writing sample, multiple choice, and an oral exam. The first part was simple, as was the first half of the multiple choice, but then it just started to look like gibberish to me. A lot of the phrases and words were never taught to me so the second half of the multiple choice was very difficult. Talking to everyone else after the exam, though, I found out that everyone had felt the same way and that those questions were for those who were at a "superior" spanish level (definitely not me!). The oral exam was very simple and just consisted of me talking to a woman and explaining that Chicago no longer is the home to all the members of the mafia. I don't think I got through to her. After the exam she told me I was in the Intermediate B level, which is higher than I thought I would be. I will be taking an intermediate class four hours a day five days a week for the whole month of September. After that I will have a break in which I will travel in Spain with Arcadia and then perhaps to Germany and Italy with a few friends. I will then start the normal classes (art, literature, culture) at a higher level, most likely Expert A.
After the test, we all headed back to the hotel and brought our luggage downstairs to wait for our senoras. Meg and I had packed our luggage the night before and brought it down because the senor of the house had come to pick them up so we wouldn't have to drag them across the city. We didn't get to meet him when he came last night because we were out to dinner, but he and his son, Juan Carlos, were the ones who picked us up at the hotel today. This made Meg and I the only ones to have guys waiting for us, the rest of the hotel was filled with older Spanish women.
We are staying in an apartment across the city. It is beautiful and Meg and I get to share a bedroom and our own bathroom. They also have WiFi (they pronounce it wee-fee here) in the apartment, which is unheard of. We are very lucky! This way I can work on my blog and skype my friends and family from my own room instead of using an internet cafe.
After we arrived at the homestay, we ate lunch with the senora, her son who is 24 and her daughter, Laura, who is 22 and studies business at the University. As far as I can tell, neither one of them works and the son doesn't go to school. The lunch was good, it is the main meal of the day so there was an insane amount of food, including croquetas, which I've now had three times in two days. She kept trying to make us eat, which is a normal Spanish custom, so I had to say I was full three times before she would let me leave. In Spain, it is customary to watch the news while you eat lunch. The news here is so much different than in the States. There is a lot more detail and much less censoring. You can see everything on the news and it seems as though humor is a big part of the news as well.
After lunch, Meg and I took another siesta. Our apartment is no air conditioned, so it got terribly hot in the afternoon. When we woke up, Juan Carlos and one of his friends walked us to the University where we had another orientation and talked about academics and classes. It was during this orientation that I realized I had forgotten an important piece of paper at home which detailed the classes I wanted to take and the credit I would get at Denison. Luckily I was able to skype my mom later and ask her to look for it, so hopefully it won't be a problem much longer.
I brought my blackberry with me to Spain and it did get really great service here. But AT&T charges a lot for international calls, so everyone from my program went to the phone store nearby and bought a Spanish phone/SIM card. Since I already had a phone which my dad had unlocked for me, I just had to by a SIM card which gives me a spanish number and lets me call anyone with the same network in Spain for free. This made me a lot less stressed because now I can get in contact with my new friends from Arcadia.
Meg and I returned home around 8:30 and I talked to a few friends online before we had dinner. Meg and I were the only ones to eat, although the Senora did sit with us and talked to us in Spanish. We had a really great conversation and I felt that Meg and I both did a good job of communicating in Spanish, our first REAL communication since we've been here. For dinner we had yogurt and tomatoes and chorizo (sausage) as well as some kind of grilled cheese sandwhich, which was AMAZING.
Now we're getting ready to go out with some people from the program. Tomorrow we are spending all day at the beach that is about 45 minutes away, so we're really excited to just relax. Finally I am unpacked and moved in, so I feel much less stressed than I did yesterday. On Thursday we start our classes, so wish me good luck. I hope they aren't too hard, but I feel like my spanish has already improved in the three days I have been here. I miss everyone!

Love Always,
Em

P.S. A special thank you to Paul for reminding me that I was remiss with writing my blog. You're a real friend.

The Second Day

The second day I was here, we had a normal Spanish breakfast of churros y chocolate at an outside cafe. I tried some Spanish coffee, which is extremely bitter. I think being here will break my recently acquired coffee addiction (Mom will be happy!). After breakfast, Cristina walked us around part of Granada and showed us some of the main streets and plazas. Granada is gorgeous because it is surrounded by La Sierra Nevada, which is a beautiful mountain range. The architecture here is beautiful as well; the streets are narrow and cobblestone, usually closed off from cars and buses. They wind around the city in a web of alleys, but they connect some beautiful plazas. So you'll take a turn and end up in La Plaza Real or La Plaza de Isabella. These plazas are large open spaces where there are many outdoor cafes and statues and flower/bread vendors. This maze and plaza combination gives the city an endearing charm and makes me feel like I have to wander a bit in order to truly know the city.
After our first tour of Granada, we went back to the hotel and had a little bit of orientation during which Cristine told us not to smile so much because that's what makes the Spanish guys think we are flirting. We were also told not to take offense at catcalls because that is just the "European way". The group talked about security and insurance and all the important things to know if you are an American staying in Spain. We then went out to lunch to this turkish deli, where we had really messy sandwhiches that were actually pretty good. I had an orange fanta with lunch and it tasted so much better than the ones in America.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we all took a siesta because it gets to be 90 degrees in the afternoon. The only way to not go crazy is to sleep through it, so we all cranked up the air conditioning in the hotels and took a nap. We then finished orientation and took another, longer, tour of the city. For the first time since we got here we were left on our own to find dinner, and 10 of us went to a beautiful outdoor restaurant where we ordered different chicken dishes and bottles of wine. Because it was our last night all living together in the hotel, four girls, including myself, decided to stay out later and went back to the hotel around 2 am.
It was a wonderful day, mostly because I got to know a lot of people from my program a lot better. They all seem really nice and down to earth and I hope that we continue to hang out even when we don't all live in the same area. However, it was the first time that I truly missed home. Arcadia gave us some calling cards, so I was able to talk to my sister and Mom (Dad was at work) during the day. It's hard to describe to them what the city is like and I can't wait until Mom comes to visit so I can show her all the fun places I have found.

Love Always,
Em

The Start of Spain

!Hola a todos! I finally arrived in Granada, Spain on Sunday around 5:30 pm. There was no trouble with the flights but it was a really long and tedious journey, so I was happy to catch up with Megan in Madrid. We had a five hour layover, which was when the jetlag really started to kick in, and then an hour plane ride from Madrid to Granada. On that plan ride we met some other study abroad students, some who are in my Arcadia program and others that are in other programs but that will be in my classes. Two girls in my program lost their luggage, but luckily I wasn't one of them. Everything went really smoothly.
We were picked up at the airport by Cristina, a 26 year old native who is the co-director of our program. The actual director, Cristine (hard to keep the names straight!) is about 8 months pregnant with twins. So Cristina will be taking over pretty soon. We arrived at Hotel Ingleterra which is in the middle of Granada. It is small, but very comfortable and air conditioned, which is the most important. Meg and I roomed with another girl named Amy who is from Connecticut (pictured above with Meg and I). We love her! She's so much fun and we had no problem sharing a hotel room for two nights.
After arriving at the hotel, we all went out for a group dinner. There are 15 of us in the Arcadia program, but only two boys. We will be taking classes with a lot of different students though, so it won't always be a small group. We went to a restaurant where you sit outside and we ordered a bunch of different dishes and then share. I love this dish called croquettas, which is cheese and chicken blended together and then fried. We also had sangria, which is wine mixed with different fruits, mostly orange. After dinner we all walked around until about midnight, which is when the jet lag really hit and we wandered back to the hotel to sleep.
What is so amazing about Granada, and Spain in general, is that the night life here doesn't start until about 11 or 12 at night. The days start off around 9 and you have a light breakfast of churros y chocolate or toast. You then have lunch around 2 pm, perhaps snacking on some tapas in between meals. Dinner isn't until 9 at the earliest, sometimes as late as 10:30 or 11. It is after dinner that you go out, and usually stay out, until at least 3 am. Basically, it's like Spain took the whole philosophy of college and turned it into a culture.
So, this was my first day. It was exhausting but it definitely eased my mind and confirmed that I made a great decision in choosing Granada. I can't wait until I feel more comfortable with the city and the language, I think I will truly love it.

Love Always,
Em