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