Friday, December 21, 2012

Últimos Días en Granada

I cannot believe that I have been in Spain for 4 months now. It seems like only yesterday that I arrived here and was unpacking all of my suitcases, and now, as I write this (well actually I am taking a little break) I am repacking all of my stuff + a lot of more stuff into my suitcases. Yet as they say, it also seems like forever ago that I arrived in Spain and began my gap year.

This week was pretty much the most packed week of the entire semester. I had several finals, papers (Yes, I do applaud myself for now having written three 6 page papers in Spanish in the past two weeks. You are welcome to take a moment to applaud yourself ;) ), and also a presentation. But of course, since this was also the last week here for the majority of my friends, we were also all busy doing last minute touristy things, going to tapas, having goodbye/navidad parties, etc.

Yesterday (Thursday) was Liz's last day here in Granada. It's too bad that that was also the last day of finals, because that means we were all busy right up until the end. I would say that almost all of the CLM left for home today, but a there is also a group leaving tomorrow, then I am leaving Sunday, and anyone who hasn't left by then is staying the whole year. I got up this morning at 6:40ish to help take her stuff to the bus stop since it's an unbearably long walk if you have 4 pieces of luggage and only two hands. I will be taking that same bus Sunday, and after one of the most uncomfortable and terribly awkward lunches of my life, Rafael agreed to help me carry my luggage to the bus stop (though not because he has to/it's his obligation, but because he's a nice person...........). But that's a whole other story that I can tell all you readers personally haha.

Anyway, it was really sad to say goodbye to Liz because we have become really good friends over the past 4 months and I'm so glad that she was the one to move in here with me. I know that we will see each other again and keep in touch, but it's weird to not know or even have an idea of when that might be. Morgan and I had our last Smooy tonight because she leaves at 3 am on a bus to Madrid and then back home for Christmas break tomorrow morning. That goodbye was also weird. Last night a group of us went out for tapas and then back to one girls apartment just so that we could make the last night last a little longer. We were all talking about how we are all terrible with goodbyes, and the question came up, is anyone really "good" with goodbyes? No. That could go in the "stuff no one says" youtube video.

I have now pretty much finished packing my suitcases! Crazy. Tomorrow I'm going to the post office as soon as it opens to mail a package, then I have my last flute lesson, then I will get a few last minute gift items, and hopefully later make one last visit to part of the Alhambra. Though I am essentially done with the shopping having bought my friends, family, and myself pretty much an entire extra suitcase full of regalos. I figured since I won't be getting many christmas presents this year, I was allowed to buy myself some. In one store the salesperson asked if what I was buying was a gift and if I would like it wrapped. Naturally I said yes. Now I will have a few things to open on christmas day ;)

Luna will absolutely miss me when I'm gone, since our level of friendship has really risen in the last few weeks. Tortuga, on the other hand, probably won't notice that I am gone, because he is still in turtle hibernation. As promised:


The next time I post will probably be from Germany! As I might have said before, it's weird to be leaving Spain, but I'm not really sad to be getting out of this apartment and since most of my friends have gone/are leaving, it does feel a little bit more right. I'm also extremely excited to go to Germany and to see Anna and her family and later be joined by Abby! This year has already and I'm sure will continue to be a year of fond memories for a lifetime. Life as I have come to know it in this past semester has pretty much come to a close, which is a very surreal thing. It's hard for me to believe that I have about 30 hours before I get on a bus and make my way to the Airport. Time is such a strange thing.
Speaking of time, the world hasn't ended yet and here it's already technically the 22nd, so I think it's safe to assume that we can all rest assured tonight. Buenas noches!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Last week of classes?

This past weekend Liz went to Morocco. This past weekend I went and saw the new Twilight movie in Spanish. That's right, we can play the "my weekend was better than your weekend" game. Just kidding. I actually had a really awesome long weekend (there was a Spanish holiday last Thursday, so no work or school! and I never have classes Fridays).

Anyway, I kicked off by finally going to the Frederica Garcia Lorca park for the free wednesday tour of his house. I wouldn't go to Granada specifically to see his family's summer house, but it was still cool! The christmas lights throughout Granada also all turned on Wednesday evening, so the walk home from the park was beautiful. The Christmas markets also opened, so I browsed and bought some dulces de la navidad.
Plaza bib-rambla

Where I live!


But what I'm sure you really want to hear about is the new Twilight movie. It was pretty good, especially because my friend Morgan and I had mostly forgotten what happens in the book so the surprise at the end was actually a surprise. It was also kind of a nice test of how good our Spanish is because there weren't subtitles or anything. The movie was also without a doubt more enjoyable in Spanish. Even though I don't usually like watching dubbed movies (in any language) because it's kind of weird, the whole art of dubbing is pretty cool. I mean, they really have work hard to get a translation that also matches with the lips. So I applaud the producers on that. The twilight movie actors and actresses also kind of have a deserved reputation of not being very good. Let me tell you, Spanish Bella has quite a bit more emotion in her voice. There were also a lot of funny to us parts because Spanish is just kind of a funny language sometimes.

Then on Sunday I went to the Sierra Nevada with Morgan and some of our other Erasmus friends (the European study abroad program) and their friends. It was so much fun. We took the morning bus up and spent the first half hour just walking around the ski village (the tourist office was closed, sup spain sundays) but there were lots of skiers and we eventually found someone who could tell us where the hiking paths were and what else we could do besides ski. For those of you who don't have facebook, here's a little anecdote from the bus ride:

On the bus to the Sierra Nevada, making the obligatory i'm-sitting-next-to-you small talk:
Me: "Sí, voy a hacer senderismo."
German guy on the bus: "....uhh no entiendo."
Me: "hacer senderismo.... como caminar por las montañas"
German: "oh sí sí estoy aqui hasta miércoles."

Translation:
Me: "Yeah I'm going hiking"
German: "uhhh... i don't understand"Me: "going hiking... like walking along the mountains"German: "oh yes yes, I'm here until wednesday"


What?

We first went on this giant slide thing, kind of reminiscent of the Alpine slides in the west of the US, but elevated on a track several feet above ground. This was pretty cool because the first part is automatic, so the little cart thing takes you up the mountain (one part straight up) and then you get to the top and can control the speed going down. I held back a little this summer on the Colorado alpine slide, but this time I had a seatbelt so therefore no inhibitions. We then found a nice long trail and went on a hike. Unfortunately what looked like it should be snow was actually ice. So that was fun. Especially for the girl who wore boots with a heel. Fortunately, none of us took any great falls, and we found this giant rock on the edge with a great view and took a break and I got a group photo with the handy dandy self timer.

We kind of look like some reality tv show commercial "a lot of blondes + one brunette meet wild"
Now that's a view, folks.

It's also very weird to think that this is my last week of classes, then finals, and then I leave for Germany! One of my friends leaves this coming Wednesday, and then about 90% of the CLM, including Liz, leaves the 21st (friday) and I leave the 23rd! Tomorrow is my last day at my internship, but yesterday I had my last classes with 4 of groups I help in (and then I will have my last classes with two different groups tomorrow). I got a photo of one of my favorite group of 12 year olds yesterday, and again when I entered their class they all cheered and screamed "WE LOVE YOU" in their funny little heavy spanish accents.
This class was pretty much in complete chaos all the time, but also a fun and mostly sweet group to work with.

This morning I turned in a 6 page paper (1.5 spaced. Who assigns 1.5 space. To me, that's worse than single spaced.) about symbols Salvador Dalí used during his surrealist phase. Probably not the absolute best paper I have ever written, but hey, it's hard enough to write that much in English. I spent way too much time on it and went to bed way to late last night working on it (as you can see, my Uni High paper writing methods have stuck with me), but I got it done. This morning there were literally 40 of us trying to print at least 5 pages each on a broken printer. Note to world: for being so 'technologically advanced,' printers could use a lot of improvement. A lot of button pushing and messing with the paper trays and turning off and back on again finally got it going, so I was able to hand in a hard copy. Yippee. Another note to world: they say that in tough situations, people bond the most. Very true. All 40 of us were friends by the time we left the computer lab.

And now for a brief Luna and Tortuga update. Luna has met her match. Q-tips. I swear she is more fascinated by these little cotton swabs than she would be by a live animal. And tortuga is in fact still hibernating behind the couch. Here's some photographic evidence of Luna, and for my next post I will get a picture of Tortuga.

Finally, life in the telenovela has been renewed for another season, but I'm happy to say that two of the main characters will not be coming back. Okay, so I'm not actually happy to be leaving Spain. In fact it's weird to me and I'm not quite ready to go (but I'm very excited to be going to Germany!), so basically this weekend will be jam packed with doing everything we still want to do and also some studying (though probably more of the former than the latter). I am not, however, sad in the slightest to be leaving my 'host family.' I feel bad for Silvia because her sickness really is awful, but she's also crazy. And Rafael has more moments of niceness than we give him credit for, but he also does some weird and inconsiderate things and is definitely just in it for the money. Basically I've come to the conclusion that they may both be good and nice people deep down, but I personally don't really enjoy either of their company and therefore will not be sad to leave the set of nuestra telenovela. Doing the host family was definitely a good experience, and had I not, I would never have met Liz but I think that if I had known what it would be like when I got here, I would have opted for living in an apartment with Spanish flatmates. 

Anyway, I'm off to get tapas at an internet cafe whilst working on some final presentations and enjoying the 11 remaining days that I have here in Granada. But fear not, I will surely be returning to this giant pomegranate (for those who don't know, granada is the spanish word for pomegranate).

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Time flies by

Wow, it has been nearly a month since I last blogged. Qué horrible! I apologize to all of my loyal blog readers that I have left in the dark. I will now try to summarize/recap the past month starting with Córdoba, where I left off.

Córdoba was very fun. A beautiful city, and the famous salmorejo was as good as everyone promised (so therefore very good). We had a very successful day, and got to see the Mezquita as well as a palace of the reyes catolicos (Isabel and Ferdinand). It was especially nice because there weren't many tourists, so basically we got to have that feeling of being a little kid exploring a castle and discovering secret passageways and such (because no one was around to remind us that it is actually a present day tourist attraction). I believe we had intended to go to Córdoba on a Friday, but went on a Saturday instead, and it worked out in our favor because the weather was beautiful. Then that following Tuesday, Gloria moved out. She told us Sunday (or maybe it was Monday...) during lunch that she would be moving, and then basically packed up all of her stuff and left. It was definitely hard for her to tell us about it, and she had to work hard not to cry, so we made her chocolate chip cookies that night as a final "farewell."
Liz and I haven't seen her since then, but will probably stop by her shop before we leave to say goodbye and feliz navidad.




Then the next week, 90% of my blog readers came and visited me! It was great to see some of my family and share part of Granada with everyone (my grandparents, mom, and two younger sisters). The first full day they were here, my mom's wallet was stolen which was quite the fiasco. However, there just so happened to be an undercover cop in the alley outside of the shoe store where they were shopping, so after several hours (of canceling credit cards, trying to talk to police officers, and going back to the stores they had been to that day) I arrived from class and saved the day. Just kidding, the police contacted the hotel, and we were able to get the wallet back with nothing missing! Liz and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that the Granada police actually do something other than stand around.

We also rented a car and went to Málaga and Gibraltar while they were here. Málaga was fun because it is a big and nice Andaluz city (similar to Granada but bigger and on the costa del sol). I personally enjoyed seeing the Picasso museum, and maybe my grandparents perception of Picasso was changed a little in going there ;)

Gibraltar was also pretty cool and interesting, but a very weird place. So weird in fact, that I was inspired to do my final presentation for my oral and writing class about Gibraltar the following week. Now I feel like I understand the strangeness quite a bit more (after researching to talk for 20 minutes in spanish about it, I would hope that I have a better understanding...). For those of you who know nothing about Gibraltar, it is an English territory located on the southernmost tip of Spain. From the Rock of Gibraltar, you can see Morocco! This is also the only place in all of Europe that has monkeys in the wild.
The political situation is odd though because basically, Spain wants Gibraltar for Spain, England wants to keep Gibraltar, and the Gibraltarians (who do not consider themselves Spanish nor English) are happy staying an english territory and do not want to join Spain. There is much more to its history, so maybe at some point if I'm feeling like it I will translate my presentation for you all to read here.
Here are several pictures from our Thanksgiving week!
Feeling the Mediterranean

Tasting the Mediterranean

Enjoying the Mediterranean

Sun setting over the Mediterranean (in Málaga)

La Alhambra!

what a beautiful vista

Gibraltar monos

Group photo on the Rock of Gibraltar!

So odd.

The rock!

It was weird saying goodbye to my family again because although I don't have much time left in Spain, I won't actually be back in the states until mid February. Anyway, the following week was good but busy with makeup work from the classes that I didn't go to the previous week. And thennnnn that leads me to my trip to Barcelona!!!

First of all, Barcelona is a fantastic city. I didn't get to spend an enormous amount of time in either Madrid or Barcelona, but if I had to choose, I think I might choose Barcelona. There is so much to see and do in Barcelona, and for only being there for two nights and two days, we did a lot! Everything worked out perfectly because I got to stay with Emma in her flat which was really fun and it was great to be with someone who lives there and knows their way around. I had wanted to go to the Dalí museum, but as it turns out, this museum is quite a ways away outside of Barcelona, so we didn't end up going. We did get to go to the Sagrada Familia though (Gaudí's most impressive and well known work) and we went in it and up in one of the towers. This cathedral was spectacular and well worth the pricey price. We also went to Parque Güell and saw two of Gaudís famous houses. The next day, we met up with my cousin Cara and one of Cara's friends and went to a giant flea market, the gothic area of the city, a giant fruit market (with some amazing juices), a giant plaza with an old palace that is now an art museum, and more. I also met one of Emma's friends who plays on the FCBarcelona woman's soccer team. Cool or cool? So basically, I had a really great time in Barcelona, and here are some pictures to illustrate it. :)

Also, a brief Barcelona background in the context of the rest of Spain. Barcelona is part of the Catalunya region of spain (these regions are kind of like states, I am in the region of Andalucía, but each very much has their own feel) where they speak Catalan. Pretty much everyone in Catalunya speaks both Catalan and Spanish, but the Catalunyan pride is very strong, and has a slightly snobbish reputation in the rest of spain. There is also quite a bit of tension because Catalunya wants to separate from Spain (will this actually happen? probably not, but still). The culture is also quite strong because during the Spanish dictatorship of Franco, it was illegal to speak Catalan and many traditions were forced to be repressed. So basically this is all still a very sensitive matter and only contributes to the poor state that Spain is in right now. Catalunya is one of the regions that is doing the best in this economic crisis, but that means that they pay the most taxes and get back the least, so many of the people there are also mad about that. Sorry if that explanation was not a very good one.










And now for a final home update: Since Gloria is gone, Luna has been missing her and is settling to hang out with me. She even lets me pick her up with some frequency now. Tortuga is currently hibernating behind the couch. Who knew that turtles hibernate... they do though, I promise we will not have another dead turtle while I'm here.

Next week will be pretty busy because I have a few papers and such due and it is the last week of my internship. Bittersweet. It has been really interesting working in the school here, and fun too! Tuesday was the first time I was late, but my alarm clock didn't go off... or if it did I turned it off in my sleep... Anyway, I was a half an hour late, but walked in hurriedly apologizing and I bet you can guess what the teacher said. "No pasa nada!" The class cheered as I entered, I was asked out by a twelve year old boy, later another little boy made me a paper dragon plane, one drew me a picture, and in one of the classes we just sang english Christmas songs for most of the class.
Then the following week we have finals and it is our last weekend and then basically everyone leaves the 21st and I leave the 23rd!
So weird. I know I will return at some point, but it's odd not knowing when. It's also odd knowing that I won't be returning to the same people. Regardless, I will miss Granada and I think it will always be my second home.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Nuevo Capítulo de Nuestra Telenovela

It's been too long since I last blogged, but I have had a busy couple of weeks! You may be wondering about the title of this post. Basically, with all of the drama that goes on, Liz and I feel like we are living in a telenovela (spanish soap opera). We often contemplate the possibility of the apartment being lined with hidden cameras with an audience of people who speak both spanish and english sitting there and laughing at our moments of misery, extreme awkwardness, and also jubilation.

Todays episode would begin with a thunderstorm outside (it's been raining and icky outside all week, but today and last night we had thunder and lightening for the first time!) and sheets of pouring rain accompanied by shrieks of "JESUS!" from the cleaning lady whenever there were claps of thunder. And then the episode would go into a flashback of what has been happening in the past weeks. Basically, our "host parents" (I put that in quotes because it's more like renting a room with food made for us occasionally) are getting a divorce and Silvia (the lady renting a room recovering from being sick) is like the child playing the good girl on both sides. Rafael also told us that Gloria would be moving out in December, and he would be moving in. However, she may be moving out earlier (as in sometime next week) but we heard that from Silvia (and we've realized that she has a tendency to exaggerate/stir up drama). Anyway, although Gloria hasn't been home that much, we still like her a lot and will miss her presence.

Silvia also told us the other day that she has Addison's disease (as well as Diabetes), so that explains a lot, including the massive amount of salt that she puts on everything. That doesn't explain the morphine lolly pops, so there must be something else also. Although she has a very extreme personality (that can be good or bad at times), it's really sad to see her still so sick and especially when she is drugged up because she becomes very out of it. For visual representation of her healthy and famous newscasting days, here is a video clip of what she used to do for work (also, she has interviewed Shakira, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, and several other big names): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcZTWaZ9VK4

So although we have a very atypical host family living situation, we also have the absolute best location and hey, at least we are allowed to go in the kitchen and fridge (even if there isn't much there). Speaking of which, last weekend was a decently quiet one for me but I did make myself a giant cookie-cake sized cookie which I proceeded to eat pretty much all of. Then monday made a pumpkin pie that didn't really look, taste, or have the texture of a pumpkin pie, but was still good!


Last week was also Halloween which was fun (because who doesn't like dressing up??) and then I hiked up to the graveyard (quite a hike, I should emphasize) because on All Saints Day everyone visits the graveyard and adorn the graves of their family members with flowers. It was quite a sight to see and a nice walk up there past the Alhambra too! This week was midterms week, somehow I only had a history of flamenco midterm, but had a paper for my spanish class and then also have my art history midterm next week. I'm also very much under the impression that midterms are not a big deal here in Spain, not really surprising but definitely another "no pasa nada." Of course, I'm sure this depends on the class, but still.


I would say my favorite classes are definitely still German and my Spanish class because both are more interactive and fun. I also really like being with spanish people in my German class and without that class, I probably wouldn't have any spanish friends. It's also fun/funny because I probably learn about as much Spanish as I do German in this class. My internship has also been going well but now it looks like I will be helping in english and social studies classes and not the science and math classes.

For a final update, Liz and I were going to go to Córdoba for the day today and take the 8:30 am bus (which would have required leaving our house at 7:30 to catch the bust to the bus station and then buy our tickets) but somehow, not really surprisingly, both of us slept through our alarms. Neither Liz nor I are part of the small group of morning people that exist in the world. Anyway, as luck would have it, today has rained all day (here and in Córdoba) but it's supposed to be nicer tomorrow so we will turn our alarms up full volume and go tomorrow.

The tortuga has been MIA for several days now and Liza and I are the only ones who seem to care at all, no pasa nada. And Luna is also warming up to me.... or most likely, my bed. As you may have seen on facebook: Luna's way of saying, "no I don't like you, but yes I do like your bed....and I guess your company is better than no company"

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Práctica begins!

Something I meant to mention in my last post, but forgot to, is that I flew with ryanair airlines to Paris. And basically, during the flight I had to ask myself, why would anyone pay to go to an amusement park and ride roller coasters when they could just fly ryanair?

Anyway, as mentioned in the title, my práctica (internship) began this week. I thought that I would be helping to teach english classes, but no. I got there and was informed that I will actually be helping teach social studies, math, and natural sciences, but in english since it's a partially bilingual school. It should be interesting, but also not exactly what I was expecting. All of the schools here follow a block schedule, so I will be helping with different classes Tuesdays and Thursdays. So basically both days that I was there this week were like "first days." In two of the classes I just basically sat there because they didn't have anything for me to do yet, but in the other two I helped give the lesson. It was a little awkward when I corrected the science teacher about whether or not whales are mammals. I'm hoping he just didn't realize what "whale" translates to. Other than that, my experience last week was good but it looks my Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be busy from when I get up in the morning to when I end class at 8pm and with only an hour break for lunch (hmm sounds like my Uni days).

Something else of note that happened this week: Liz comes running into my room saying "ven ven ven" (come come come) so I went and her and Silvia were returning to the apartment when they noticed that the cleaning lady had left the door to the roof unlocked (not part of our apartment) so we got to go up on the official top of the building from which we had an awesome view of the mountains, the alhambra, and the fancy cathedral in Granada (which our apartment doesn't face). Here is a picture of the cathedral from what felt like the top of Granada:


Not much else really happened this week...but I did decide that I am going to be a cheetah for halloween. Liz is going to be a peacock, and our friend Morgan is going to be Cleopatra. Ironically enough, Cleopatra had a pet cheetah (and who knows, maybe she had a pet peacock too). The word for peacock is also kind of funny because it literally translates to "real turkey" (pavo real). So while I am normally of the opinion that animal print clothing is slightly trashy, I bought a cheetah print scarf and dress that looked better than I expected, so I will probably wear it again. I still want to find cheetah print leggings, which shouldn't be hard, but we shall see how much they cost. So, you may be wondering, is Halloween a big deal here in Spain? The answer is yes and no. Some areas celebrate it and some don't. However, the following day, All Saint's Day, is huge and celebrated everywhere here usually by going and bringing flowers to the graves of loved ones. But anyway, back to Halloween, I'm getting the vibe that because Granada has so many study abroad students from the U.S., Halloween has been made a bigger deal.

This weekend has not been and probably will not be superbly eventful because most of my friends are gone on excursions with their programs or otherwise, but I plan to go for a frigid run (and by frigid I mean upper 50s Fahrenheit) and explore a part of Granada I haven't really been to yet (which there are still plenty of). The disadvantage to the rain we got this week is that it also got colder, and heating and insulation are not a thing here. Two VERY eventful things did happen this morning/today though.
Firstly, I had a dream mostly in Spanish last night. Granted, it was on the oh so interesting topic of how disgusting porta potties are (why was my subconscious thinking about that...), but still, definitely a good sign.

Secondly, I was petting Luna this morning and heard her purring (quite similar to her growling) and she let me pick her up! I don't think she realized what was happening... because when she did the claws came out and she latched herself to the couch, but it was a beautiful short moment. As for tortuga, he has spent the last few days hiding from the cold in his shell. If only he knew that moving is what makes you warm.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Paris!

It has been a long time since I last posted, so I apologize to anyone who has been eagerly checking for new posts ;). Several notable thing have happened in the last two weeks, so I will break this into two posts.
Last weekend, I went to Paris! I had been to Paris before when we did the Bosch/Lilly family tour a couple summers ago, but we were only in Paris for a few days so did not do/see everything. Of course, I was only in Paris for a weekend this time, but I had my own personal French tour guide. I've decided that I like the city of Paris a lot, and will probably return at some point, but before then, I will have to learn some French. Since I was with Francois, there was obviously no problem, but I still noted a few snobbish looks while we were speaking English.

I got there thursday evening, and walked around Paris at night (really an enchanting city in the dark). My Spain accustomed self was surprised to see people going to sleep before 12, but as Francois reminded me several times, the French actually work, unlike the Spaniards (hehe). Then Friday morning he went to class and I went to the Eiffel Tower because I wanted to go up to the top. I would have to say, it was very much worth it. And because I got there early and before it opened, I was in the first group up. Even though it was cloudy, and not peak tourist season, there were still quite a few tourists there. Next to the Eiffel Tower, there was a huge exhibit of the "United Buddy Bears" honoring the anniversary of some sort of friendship between Berlin and Paris. The bears were all pretty big (between 6 and 7 feet tall) and painted in cool ways each representing a different color. I posted pictures on Facebook, but here is one for you to visualize the bears better:


Anyway, I also wanted to see Moulin Rouge because I love the movie and it is a pretty famous place. So I went there/walked by and took pictures which was pretty cool. Then Saturday, we got up really early to go to Versailles and see the Louis the Sun Kings palace. That was pretty fun because the palace is gorgeous, huge, and very impressive. Also cool because I had been to Ludwig's "copy" of Versailles, so it was interesting to see some of the differences and also striking similarities. We did a lot of other stuff to, but these were the key things.

Getting to Versailles was also an adventure. I used one of the standard Paris metro tickets to enter the train, and Francois used his student metro pass (because the train ticket is a little more expensive). But then once we were on the train, they checked our tickets so we both played innocent and pretended to be American tourists. This was particularly funny because they were speaking French to each other about what to do with us, and apparently noted but did nothing about the fact that an "American tourist" would not be likely to have a student metro pass... Never a boring moment. Before going to the palace, we looked up how much everything cost, and EU citizens get in free, which of course I am not, but I did have my jank University of Granada student ID card (which doesn't actually say that I'm from the U.S.), so Francois did all the talking and I pretended to be a European student and got in for free. Wooo! We didn't end up really going in the gardens because there was special event going on so everyone had to pay a lot, and it started raining so wouldn't have been worth it, but we did get to see them from inside and, wow, our friend Louis lived pretty well!
My flight back home left Saturday night and got to Malaga late that night, so I then had to wait in the airport for a while to take the morning bus home, which was a while, but I made a friend who was on the same flight there and back as me, so she stayed with me until the last train into the city of Malaga and we got burger king. I asked them if they could make me a burger without the burger and fries. The guy was like "Okay, okay, I will make you a very good sandwich." And it was indeed a very good sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, onions, and some sauce. The best part was, he didn't charge me for it! So my meal was like 3 euros and my friends was 9... (yes fast food is much more expensive here). To add to my luck, a flight was delayed, so they were given a 30 euro credit to some of the restaurants in the airport, but most of them were closed so someone gave me his which was really great because then in the wee morning I "treated myself" to 30 euros of Starbucks, including a travel cup that says Spain! It was also kind of fun travelling by myself and I've decided that I kind of like waiting in airports (when they are clean).

Anyway, my weekend was really awesome and I was so glad that I was able to go. Also, I almost forgot, the Apartment that Francois lives in is really nice and big (especially for Paris) AND the person who owns the apartment and lives there part time has a cat. I spent most of the weekend wishing I could trade Luna for Bill. This cat was fluffy and adorable and so much nicer than Luna. He enjoyed being picked up and playing and didn't even mind being chucked across the room (not that either of us would ever do that...). So basically, Luna is lucky I even like her at all.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Feliz cumpleaños, to me!


A few updates on my last post to help you sleep soundly. Tortuga is alive and well! We weren't sure how he got lost in the house, but then Silvia (the new woman living here) witnessed him making the foot long jump into the house another time. So now we have come to the conclusion that he might be suicidal. No wonder this species of turtle is endangered. And also illegal to have as a pet.... No pasa nada ;) Also, thanks to Abby's comment on one of my previous blogs, we figured out that Dona Flor (the tortuga) is indeed a male!

We also didn't end up going to the mountains last weekend, due to reasons I will explain in a moment, so Liz and I ended up making the trek up to and exploring the gratis (free) part of the Alhambra! We also discovered that some security guards will enforce the no-backpacks-allowed-in-the-free-museum rule whilst others will not. The guards that do not allow backpacks also like to speak condescendingly in English to foreigners. So two lessons learned there; 1. we need to carefully pick which entrance to go in, 2. we need to work on not looking foreign.

Anyway, I was all set and ready to go to the mountains last Saturday. Gloria was 2 hours later than she had originally predicted, but this is Spain, so that wasn't unusual. Then Silvia comes into my room, and very nonchalantly says something along the lines of "I just got off the phone with Gloria, and we probably won't be going today because Gloria and her friend just drove off a cliff." at this I'm like "WHAT???" freaking out wondering if they're okay, and she's like "oh no no, they're both fine, just waiting for a tow truck to get the car." Now maybe here in the mountains, driving off of a cliff isn't a big deal, but to me, that seems like something I would be making a big deal out of. We finally came to the conclusion that the word she used for cliff, doesn't exactly translate to "cliff," but still.

So then came my birthday, I went to class as I normally would at 8:30 in the morning, officially voted for the 2012 election (hopefully it gets there on time...) and came home to Silvia banning me from the kitchen and slapping me on the butt saying that she was in Canada when she turned 18, and she doesn't really remember 19, 20, and so on, but 18 she remembers and she wants me to remember my 18th birthday too. For lunch she made my favorite foods: Spanish tortilla (this particular one was the best you'll ever have), home-made HUMMUS (a rarity in Spain), and a salad. Then came desert of this absolutely amazing mango torte/cake/pie. It was delicious. I barely made it to German my stomach was so full. For la cena (late dinner), Liz and a few of our friends went first to tapas at this cool hip vegetarian place, and then to a Mexican restaurant where we ate food and they gave me fried ice-cream with a candle and sang feliz cumpleaños to me. All around it was a good day. I also met another girl who is taking a gap year who turned 18 the day before me!

Friday was an adventure of its own. We didn't really do much all day, but a friend came over and we were all hanging out sitting in Liz's room. You may have seen from facebook what happens next, but if not, here I will repeat myself.
Morgan: wow it kind of smells like somethings burning...
Liz: yeah all kinds of scents come in this window from other apartments.Me: yeah, someone's cooking...[a few minutes later]Me:...Wait guys, why is there so much smoke? [run to kitchen]Me: uhhhh we have a fire...Liz: FUUUUEEEEEEGGOOOOOOOOO

I turn off the stove, but the fire persists so Silvia runs in with a towel and beats out the flame. After spraying febreze everywhere in the house, no pasa nada.

And now we get to the weekend. Since we didn't get to go to the mountains last weekend, we went this weekend! Leaving yesterday and got back this evening. Gloria has a friend who owns a house in el campo (a farm house in the country) outside of Guadix. His house is one of the cave houses, so tucked into a hill. I felt like a hobbit, it was great. To get there, we had to drive through a river. No, I have not forgotten how to speak English, and do in fact mean, through (not over, not under) a river. It wasn't a raging river or anything, but still an experience. We finally got there and the place was beautiful and with a gorgeous view. To be perfectly honest, although the place was awesome, it was a little bit weird being there since it seemed like Gloria and her friend were sort of together and we didn't know anyone there. However, as soon as the puppies came out, Liz and I were set. So yesterday ended up being pretty fun.

Unfortunately, today was not the greatest because I slept on my neck wrong, and weirdly enough, the smallest silliest seeming injuries that occur whilst sleeping can also be the most debilitating. So I was in pain most of the day unable to move my neck, but I was happy to sit in front of the fire and read El Hobbit, so no pasa nada. After getting home, Liz and I felt a little weird about our home situation/lack of being in the know so decided to ask Silvia her thoughts on the matter (Gloria is staying an extra night). So we asked her if she knows anything about the marital issues/possible boyfriend in the mountains. And as it turns out, Gloria and Rafael split up about a month ago (this was the first thing Gloria told Silvia back when she came to look at the room). Knowing that all explains while Rafael is never home anymore and why it's okay for her to go hang out with her friends in the mountains so much. Thank goodness we have Silvia here!

Speaking of Silvia, you should all know that she is in fact a pretty famous Hispanoamerican news reporter! She has worked in Spain, Mexico, and Chile so knows all different varieties of Spanish and also speaks English because she lived in Canada for 3 years. Basically she has been an excellent addition to the household.

Friday, October 5, 2012

No pasa nada...

This week my new classes began! I am doing an internship in a local school most likely helping teach english (the actual school part starts after a 2 week prep), taking history of contemporary spanish art so we get to learn about Dalí, Picasso, and some other gems, taking history of flamenco (I'm not sure if it involves learning to dance flamenco, but I hope so), and then also taking the next level spanish class and german 1b (a slight up from 1a). I also don't have classes on Fridays which is awesome. The next level spanish class is level 9, which is the highest level they have, which is supposed to mean that everyone in it is fluent... but I'm definitely not fluent, so I'm not exactly sure how this will work out. On another note, my teacher of this class has been to Champaign-Urbana 5-6 times! Small world.

My classes went really well and I would have to say that German could end up being my favorite because everyone else in the class is Spanish. It's kind of weird, but also fun to learn german in spanish.  I also met two other girls taking gap years in my art history class! Well met is a strong word, it's really hard to sit for 2 hours straight without a break and then the teacher went over the 2 hours because decided we should all go around and say our names, where we go to school, and what we are studying with less than 5 minutes left (and 20-30 people). Anyway, there isn't a word for gap year here (probably because every year for spaniards is a year of not doing anything.... loli'msofunny), so we call it a year of sabbatical and two others said they are doing this also (sabbatical is slightly more ambiguous though so I'm not entirely sure if both of them are coming from high school). I will probably talk to them/find out more this Monday though since after Wednesday class everyone bolted.

I'm also starting to figure out/look more seriously at what I will be doing next semester and it's amazing what sending a few e-mails can do, because I suddenly feel like I have too many options that I won't know how to choose! But regardless, I'm excited to see that I have so many possibilities (including but not limited to the possibility of tracking bears in the andes, monitoring sea turtles in the caribbean, and much more). I also am thinking I will apply to be a counselor at Concordia language camp this summer which could be cool to get paid to basically go to a fun camp and speak spanish. And of course I'm very excited to be going to Germany!!

Anyway, you are probably wondering about the title of this post. No pasa nada. Translated by google as "it's okay," translated by bing as "nothing happens," translated by all of Spain as a way of life. No pasa nada. Basically, it's all good, we don't care, don't worry, no pasa nada. In case the meaning is unclear, I will give a few key examples of no pasa nada situations that have happened to me these past few weeks.

-I walked into the office to ask about my schedule and they told me I was supposed to have paid my housing bill a month ago. Had they e-mailed me about this? no. Would I have known had I not coincidentally been in there? nope. No pasa nada.
-A new lady moved in to the extra room and will be staying here indefinitely while recovering from being in the hospital. Did we know she was coming before she got here? nope. No pasa nada.
-Rafael doesn't seem to sleep here or really live here anymore, but occasionally makes appearances during the afternoons. Do Liz and I have any idea what's going on? nope. No pasa nada.
-We didn't get our schedules for the next 3 months until the day before classes started. No pasa nada.
-All of my teachers try to correct my pronunciation of Illinois. No pasa nada.
-Liz and I still don't know for sure if we are going to can tomatoes with Gloria this weekend... no pasa nada.
-My teachers encourage us to miss class if it's because we are travelling somewhere cool. No pasa nada.
-15 minutes late to class? probably getting there at the same time as the teacher. No pasa nada.
-Tortuga is currently lost somewhere in the house. No pasa nada.
-I was very disturbed to find a tiny turtle (not tortuga) exoskeleton among the dead tomato plants on my balcony... no pasa nada.
-Gloria only ever gives Luna milk and never water in her little dish. I really want to tell her that cats are lactose intolerant... maybe that's why Luna is always such a little brat. No pasa nada.



Sunday, September 30, 2012

A few key photos!

I would venture to guess that most everyone who reads my blog has seen my photos on facebook, but for those of you who might be less technologically adept, here are a few key photos from my time here!

One of many artistic heladerías



Luna and Tortuga in their natural habitats.
The view of the Alhambra from the balcony where I live!!

One big happy family! (From left: Gloria, Rafael, Liz, and if you don't know who the last person is you probably shouldn't be reading this blog ;) )

Our guided biking trip!


Festival de la Virgen Angustius!

Cuevas de Nerja (I saw this on the CLM excursion that I mentioned)

A beautiful beach in Nerja.

The sunset from my balcony the other day...absolutely stunning!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

1 Month!

I have now been in Spain for a little over a month! It's crazy to think that a month has already gone by! Though not quite as hard to believe as I sit here attempting to study for my intensive month final tomorrow and I realize how much stuff we have learned/how much I material I should be reviewing.

Next week I start the classes that I will be taking for the next three months! I am taking the next level Spanish class (assuming I pass my exam tomorrow...), a contemporary art history class, a history of flamenco class, doing an internship in a school, and also taking German! I told them that I wanted to take German 1, but they told me I should take the placement test anyway since I've already had some German. So I went to take the placement test... and me oh my. I didn't review at all because I figured that would be cheating, I get there and I'm like "wow all I remember how to say is 'I speak no german" and 'I'm thirsty'." Two very important phrases, but not going to get me very far... Then I get the test and understood some of it, but had no idea what to put in the blanks for the multiple choice because all of the answer choices were like "ein, eine, einen, der, dein, diene, die, etc." all things that I never really bothered to try to put in my long term memory back when I was actually in German 1 because I didn't think any of that was important... On the essay I basically wrote that I didn't know how to answer the question because I took german for 1 year but don't remember very much (all in probably very broken german...) Then for the grand finale was the oral part. I forgot how to say numbers when he asked how old I am. I never thought this would happen, but after that embarrassment, speaking spanish to the guy was a relief... I'm really not sure if I should take this as a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, there are only like 4 levels of the other language classes, so he put me in 1B.

I met another fellow victim of german memory loss (she's from Granada though!), and she said he put her in 1B also but it didn't work with her schedule so now she's in 2A and was told to study study study before classes start. Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to brushing up on German and then I can impress Anna and her family when I stay in Germany for 2 months. Though it should be interesting to learn German in Spanish... but then again, I have been learning Spanish in Spanish for the past month, so maybe it won't be so bad.

I'm excited to start my new classes, but also kind of sad because I've come to really like all of my level 8 class mates and I'm not sure how often I will end up seeing them now. The Iraqi woman in my class has been really interesting to talk to and hear her perspective on different issues that we discuss. One thing that she sort of reluctantly admitted is that women in Iraq have had much less freedom since the war with the U.S. She also talked about how although Iraq is now a "Democracy" it is only so in name.  For a Muslim Iraqi woman, she really has a lot of freedom. The social system there is basically set up so that if a woman dates someone and then doesn't marry the man/they break up for some reason, it is always the woman's fault and she is ostracized. Homosexuality is also illegal, and if someone is proven to be homosexual, they are killed (Whereas I learned today that in all of Spain gay marriage is allowed and in Andalucia, getting a sex change is free!). In her particular case, she met her husband while studying Spanish at the same University and they knew each other for a year before they started dating, and eventually got married.

But enough of school stuff, last Saturday I went on a CLM excursion to Almuñecar and walked around a castle, then to the Nerja Caves which were spectacular, and then to a beach in Nerja which was also amazing! I had never seen water so clear and blue and beautiful. I also recently booked my flight to Barcelona to go stay with Emma for a weekend, as well as a flight to Paris to go stay with Francois! These are probably the two "biggest" excursions I will be making, but Liz and I may end up going to Cadiz or Seville at some point too! So basically I am very excited to be travelling a little bit around Spain and Europe! Instead of YOLO, we use YOIGO here (You're [maybe] Only In Granada Once). My mom, sisters, and grandparents will also be coming over thanksgiving, so I have a lot to look forward to!

I really do like my host family a lot, but I'm glad Liz is here to be just as confused as I am. For example, this past week and a half, we have only seen our host dad maybe twice. We considered asking where he's been, but since neither of them mentioned it, we figured it's best not to ask just in case they are having marital problems or something (though the two times we have seen both of them together they have seemed very happy so really we have no idea what the situation is).

Now briefly, there is not much to report on Luna and Tortuga, but Luna has basically been the same little weirdo as always, and Tortuga has been hiding from the rain we have had the past two days (a little bit contrary to how you might think a turtle would behave in the rain). The facebook page "Turtles Eating Things" also "shared" my photo of Tortuga eating some lettuce, so that was definitely a high point of my day hehe. Also, for those very few of you who don't have facebook, I will post some of the photos I have been taking so that you can see some of what I have been talking about!



Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Exercise? What's that?

I feel like a lot usually happens in between my blog posts, but a some particularly remarkable things happened in these past few days. Including, but not limited to, me voluntarily going for a run...but I'll get to that later.

I had a pretty relaxed Saturday because we didn't end up going to the ranch in the mountains (but we will most likely be going in October and if I understood correctly it's also a tomato farm... so we are going to learn how to can tomatoes for the winter, Gloria (my host mom) said this is a very traditional thing to do). But also on Saturday was the celebration of Granada's patron saint the Virgen Angustias. To celebrate they have this huge flower market open and a big mass service and then at the end of the day put up a bunch of flowers all over the church to celebrate. I went and observed a lot of the ceremony and it was pretty cool! Since there were only two of us eating lunch my host mom made cheese fondu so we had that with bread out on the balcony and I'm pretty sure we were both feeling very spanish.

Then Sunday two very unusual things happened. As aforementioned, I decided I didn't want all the ice cream to start building up so went for a run. According to this book with stuff to do/see in Andalusia, there is a giant rastro (flea market) in Granada, so I decided I would run there and back since the supposed location was a decent distance and in an area across the river that I hadn't really explored yet. I used google maps to find a really easy route and was all set and ready to go. Keep in mind that I honestly don't remember the last time I went for a run... and I kind of felt like I had forgotten how to, stemmed by the fact that I almost grabbed a snack for part way through but then remembered that is not something you do. Anyway, it was really good for like the first 10 minutes and then I hit a roundabout and realized that I had no idea which part of the circle to get off on and didn't remember the name of the plaza I was headed too or any of the surrounding street names. I searched on for a bit but then gave when I felt like I was dying and went back. Now on the way back, I chose a slightly different route, that I had previously avoided because there were more people around but this time jumped at the chance because more people translates to more chances to walk without feeling guilty. And where should I end up but right in the middle of the rastro. I think anyway...it was definitely not where it was supposed to be though and also not very exciting, so maybe there are two sunday flea markets in Granada.

Anyway, the next odd Sunday event occurred later that night. It was about 9:30 and Liz and I were kind of wondering where Gloria and Rafael were and when we would be eating, when they enter the house with two 16 and 17 year old Italian guys who are staying in the extra room here for a week. They definitely didn't tell us this was going to happen, but hey, we aren't complaining.
Monday I had another flute lesson with the same teacher as before, and she was really funny so that was enjoyable. When she walked in she asked for a glass of water so I gave her one but apologized because there were only small glasses clean, and in the whole hour she drank less than half of it. Not that this would normally be of note, but I found it funny anyway.

Then today I went on the mountain biking excursion that I signed up for and it was awesome! This was without a doubt the best possible day it could have been because it has been slightly overcast today and the coolest in temperature! There were only 4 of us going and then the guide, which actually worked out nicely. One of the girls runs marathons, so needless to say she lead the group. The guide said he was really surprised by how fast we were going, but what he meant was how fast she was going... Anyway, the first 1.5 hours was entirely going up. Not going to lie, I felt like I was going to die pretty much the entire time. I ate an embarrassingly large amount of milano type chocolate cookies yesterday (too much to even say here... that's how bad) and I was really feeling/regretting that. Halfway up the mountain I'm pretty sure I had a wake up call and realized I really need to get back into shape... We reached the top and had a beautiful view (despite it being overcast) and then partway down had an arial view of the Alhambra! After we got past the rocky/rooty mountain part of the descent, we were flying down the roads, and got back in probably a quarter of the time the climb took. At the end, our guide was like "okay, now I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, you guys get a CLM-Deportes (sports) t-shirt!" I'm still pretty stoked about the t-shirt. "And the bad news is, you are not going to have much fun sitting down tomorrow." So I decided to write this post now while I'm still in that "yeah I feel awesome" mode.

Now for a brief Luna/Donna Flor update. I think it was Saturday, but regardless, I have never seen anything like this. Luna was at the table begging as usual, so Gloria gave her some of the cheese fondu but she then decided she was too good/didn't want it. Meanwhile, the turtle comes over to see what's going on. What occurred next reminded me so much of the tortoise and the hare, except that Tortuga was booking it. I have never seen or heard of a turtle running so fast... and chasing a cat nonetheless! They spent a good five minutes running around and then chasing each other in circles. Immediately after, Donna Flor went to sleep and Luna resumed her futile begging. It was like in one of those stories where as soon as the animals realize they are being watched by humans, they go back to acting like animals and stop whatever crazy unrealistic thing they were doing before.




Friday, September 14, 2012

3 weeks!

It has now been exactly 3 weeks since I left the U.S.! I would say it definitely seems like longer than 3 weeks. Not so much because time has been moving slowly or I haven't been having a good time, but rather because I feel like I have done more than three weeks worth of stuff.

Nothing too incredibly exciting has happened since I last blogged, though I am slowly adjusting to the Spanish ways (and the Spanish are slowly adjusting to my ways ;) ). The presentation that I was so worried about actually went quite well, and after having to research and talk about important monuments in Cataluña, there are now quite a few of them that I want to go see! So I think making a Barcelona trip (and staying with Emma!) will definitely be happening. One of my teachers today also leaked a rumor that we might not have a final exam if both of our teachers think we have all reached and accomplished the level they want us to reach (so this is a good thing, but I also don't want to be the one that brings the class down....)

Another exciting thing that happened this week is that I discovered a coffee machine in CLM that is only 70 euro cents a cup, and is actually pretty good! This I suppose could be seen as both a positive and negative because I'm finding it's the little purchases that add up until eventually one little straw (or stirring spoon, one might say) could break the camels back. Speaking of spoons, Liz (my housemate) and I discovered this AMAZING gelato place. We asked a group of locals what the best place in town was, and they all had a different answer (which must mean they are all actually just really good), but one particularly convincing fellow pointed us in a wonderful direction. I had nutella mousse and strawberry. The nutella mousse was actually just like nutella (which is already awesome) in gelato form, making it even more awesome. And the strawberry, which may seem like a boring flavor that you can get in a mcdonalds milkshake, was like if a strawberry went to heaven and asked the ice cream gods to make it into ice cream. I also met a german girl wearing lederhosen for the germany austria soccer match that evening. So basically it was an all around great experience.

My Señora Gloria (that's how one refers to a host mother here) knows someone who has a ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains so she invited Liz and I to go with her and stay in the cabin this weekend, so we will probably do that which is exciting. If I understood correctly, there will be lots of wild animals also which is always a plus!

I am also adjusting very well to the food, Gloria is a very good and creative vegetarian cook and she has come up with some delicious meals for us. As I mentioned in a different post, the dinners here are really small (one night they actually just made about 5 pieces of asparagus for each of us... my theory is that because they both smoke so much they don't have much of an appetite come dinner). There was also one night when they were going out so they told Liz and I we could make ourselves frozen quiches when we were ready for dinner, so we made ourselves one each (they really aren't very big) and our host parents witnessed this and were shocked and asked if we were seriously going to each eat that much. Ever since that night, they have been feeding us slightly more normal sized dinners and we, in turn, have started occasionally having smaller appetites at dinner (probably due to snacking more during the day on our offbrand nutella splurges).

Anyway, I will give a quick "Luna/Tortuga" update and then call it a post. So today I walked over to find Tortuga and he/she (I'm pretty sure the turtle is a girl but I can't help but think of him as a boy) sleeps in the funniest position sprawled with a few limbs out of the shell and head tucked in. If I didn't know better I would think him dead. Luna is also becoming quite the greedy little beggar. Every time any sort of food is being eaten, she comes over and puts her little paws on my lap and puts on her cutest face with her largest pupils. Today she was also walking around on the stove, and I was like "Luna, what if the stove were on..." then I remembered she doesn't speak english, so repeated myself in Spanish and she gave me the typical luna slit eye look and jumped off. And who said animals don't understand humans?

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Pros, Cons, and Oddities

After two weeks in Granada, I have noticed quite a few interesting differences between Spain (in particular Granada) and the U.S. (in particular Chambana). Some of these pros, cons, and oddities are very general, whereas some are more specific to my situation. But never fear,what I'm referring to should be clear.

PROS:

- People here eat tomatoes with everything! Tomatoes spread on toast, Gazpacho (a cold tomato based soup), tomato sauce on rice (pretty good actually), tomato sauce on pasta, tomato on tortilla (note that a spanish tortilla is very different from a mexican tortilla... the spanish tortilla is eggs potato and cheese!), tomato on meat for those who eat that, you get the idea. Gloria also made this really surprisingly good dinner the other day of just sliced tomato, cucumber, onion, pepper, salt, olive oil, cheese and then microwaved for like 3 minutes. I had never eaten hot cucumbers before but this was tasty.

-In general everyone is very relaxed and laid back, which often translates to no one is on time, which works out nicely for me.

-The town layout makes it easy to walk pretty much everywhere!

-The city is beautiful.

-As mentioned before, Granada has awesome water.

-Sensodyne toothpaste is cheap!

-Some food items are also very cheap (like chocolate! I can get a fancy european bar for about a euro!)

-Wifi is pronounced "wee fee" as would be expected, but it makes me hide a chuckle every time someone says it.

-I might be able to play flute in the Granada Youth Symphony

-Another student at CLM is living here now too and she is really cool and we get along well. Liz is 20, goes to Villanova, and is from Manhattan. It's also nice because we can experience and discuss all the weird/funny things that happen here (such as not realizing that both Gloria and Rafael would be gone this weekend...).

-We also definitely seem to have the best host family situation for many reasons.
1. LOCATION
2. Gloria and Rafael are very cool, nice, welcoming and actually want us to feel like this is our home now. We usually eat lunch and dinner with them, breakfast is whatever we want, but we can also eat anything from the kitchen if we are ever hungry. This is appreciated more now after one girl told me that she isn't allowed to touch the fridge and her host family makes and serves her portions of food so sometimes it's too big, other times not enough, and they have also forgotten to feed her...!
3. A con to this is that they don't eat fruit... but lately have been buying more because they know I like it (there are actually about 50 plum things just sitting loos if the fridge right now hahaha).

-I have been been making friends! Joy Shapley is also here in Granda with a different intensive spanish program, so I had lunch with her and that was fun!

[Side pro: Sometimes you just want a piece of candy so I was happy to find left over biaggis mints from senior supper in one of my bags.]

-And as always, Luna and Tortugita/donna flor are a big pro!

CONS:

-Butter is never used here... only olive oil

-If you are laughing or smiling in public people assume you are american or drunk

-Coffee is not a thing here. It's even hard to find a cafe with coffee, and those that do have it charge a lot for a very little.

-No one wears birkenstocks unless very old or american (but even still I have spotted maybe 5 birk wearers including myself in the probably thousands of people I have seen walking around)

-It's rude to stretch in public?

-No one wears t-shirts, no one wears athletic shorts, and definitely no one wears them paired together (though ironically enough that is what I am wearing right now...)

-It's easy to think 1 euro = 1 dollar

-You can't touch or pick out your own fruit from a market/store

- I didn't learn the vosotros conjugations and everyone uses it :(

-I have to give a group presentation with 2 of the native speakers in my class tuesday and each of us has to talk for 10 minutes about an aspect of the cataluña region... so basically my 10 minutes will either have much less info or will be much longer than 10 minutes ;)

-7 hours behind me, my sister is rudely taking and wearing my clothes without asking.

PROS/CONS:

-There are very few fast food places here, though I happen to live right by what seems to be the only fast food place in Granada (a burger king that also has the best coffee deals).

-No one "goes for a run" here... (though I might try to do this tomorrow morning if I wake up on time... I even wore my XC shirt to mentally prepare myself)

-Pretty much everyone looks good all the time (this is mostly a con)

-There are ice cream places everywhere! (There are 3 different ice cream places right next to/across from where I live)

-My spanish classes are really hard

-There are so so many shoe stores around here (I bought a pair for only 9 euros!)

ODDITIES
(I didn't think these really fall under pro, con, or combo)

-They don't refrigerate milk/ it's all pasteurized... the milk isle at the grocery store is very foreign to me.

-The sleeping and eating schedule is very strange. People go to sleep very late after a very small and very late dinner, wake up at a respectably early time and eat a standard breakfast, take a long midday nap after a large lunch. Repeat.

-In Granada there are not many bugs, but for some reason a vespidae (yellow jacket wasp for those who don't know) has taken a liking to my breakfast location each morning.

-Everyone uses cash!

-The Spain accent is very strong and very noticeable here (for those who don't know, it's kind of like a lisp... example: "gracias" is pronounced "grathias")

-It is practically a crime not to have an actual leg of ham (hoof and all) just sitting out in the kitchen.

I'm sure there are many other differences that I cannot think of right now, but fortunately my list of cons is much shorter/more trivial than that of pros and I have been having a great (but also challenging) experience thus far!