After arriving we sampled a few hotels, one was a no-go with a good price for 3 beds in a room, but the "beds" were more like foam on boards. Next we went to this building that looked like a castle. Awesome place, but pricy. So we settled on this cute hotel with a great location and nice rooms.
Having basically no idea where anything was, Granada seemed pretty big. So the next day after some struggling with the GPS (apparently GPSs don't work when your walking 1-2 mph, who knew?) we finally located on our crappy little map the plaza with el Centro de Lenguas Modernas. We got to the plaza without much trouble but couldn't find the building so a kind ancient lady tried to help us. Her directions were good, but hard to understand so after following them to our best ability I stopped a normal looking college student to ask for directions. She could tell I was foreign and answered in english with that beautiful American accent.
So there I am waiting with a number in line for the next available receptionist, waiting to find out my destiny for the next 4 months. I am called up and she speaks no english, so my spanish skills were put to a test. From there it all went quite smoothly and I think she was impressed. I was a little impressed with myself too. My dad was both impressed and surprised (where is the faith in my abilities??)
Next we walked off to follow the better map she gave us and to meet the host family they picked out for me.
Their apartment is 5 minutes away from the college in basically the exact middle of the city but the adress was kind of confusing so I asked a police officer which building and he pointed us to where we were in front of. We think the apartment is on the 7th floor so go to there. This is the top floor and there are only 2 unmarked doors there. At this point we are all thinking this is way too good to be true and we are probably lost. I call her number and explain that we are lost, and it's weird because as I'm talking to her I hear like an echo of our conversation through the door we are in front of. We both have the same realization and the door opens. TADA. The place is AWESOME and way too good, yet somehow true (Hopefully this isn't a Hoda situation).
My host mom Gloria says I can have the room with the "farm." The "farm" is actually a patch of mostly dead tomatoes on a balcony outside of the room that overlooks the Alhambra AND the Sierra Nevada. Gloria is really nice and speaks a little english. Her husband doesn't, but is also nie. Me being vegetarian also won't be a problem because although she loves meat, she is diabetic so more vegetarian food will be better for her (not sure how that works but hey). There also might be a japanese girl going to the University and staying with them which would be a definite plus becuase then I can embarrass myself in 2 languages! They also have an adorable cat named Luna. I don't normally use such acronyms, but OMFG/WTF how did I get so lucky???
Later that day (yesterday? wow it seems so long ago...) we drove to/along the Mediterranean coast then went for a swim on the beach. The sea was salty and freezing but crystal clear and gorgeous and really fun to swim in. There were "swarms" of jellyfish around there, as a British lady warned me and her son said he had been stung 8 times that week! I managed to evade any contact, though not everyone in my party was so lucky.
Today we went to the Alhambra, which is gorgeous, and finished the day with gelato outside our hotel (with free wifi woohoo!). Tomorrow I will move in with Gloria and my Dad and Brad (our family friend) will leave.
Tata for now!
