La Gente Esta Muy Loca

Everyday I seem to find something else that makes me love granada even more! and I'm finally over the jet lag :)


I've been walking and running through Granada a lot this past week. One thing I've noticed is that there are outdoor gyms everywhere! It's something I've never seen at home. They aren't electric, but there are 'ellipticals' 'bench press' and other machines where you lift your own body weight.

One of the parks that I really like is called Parque Federico García Lorca. It has a ton of paths that I can run on, an outdoor gym, and a little cafe at both ends where you can get a drink and sit at a table to enjoy the weather.

Last night was the latest I've stayed out since I've been here. I went to this Discoteca (club) that's in the sacramonte neighborhood. It's kind of a far walk but totally worth it. We went to a tapas bar before hand and headed up to the disco around 2 am. The club is actually in a cave in the mountain!

There were 2 floors, but most people were on the top floor. When we needed air we could go outside and sit on a couch on the patio and we had a great view of the Alhambra that was lit up! After about 4 hours of dancing we decided to head home and I got back around 7 am. We didn't wait for the sun to rise but once it gets warmer that's something we're going to do!

 

I really liked that they played mostly american music but added some spanish music too! Who doesn't love a place that plays 'vamos a la playa' at 5 am? :)

Observations and La Alhambra

So before I talk about the alhambra I want to talk about a few observations I've made throughout the past week and a few things that are different in Spain.

1) Spaniards think Americans say thank you way too much. they think its annoying. So, if you ever come to Spain, don't say thank you for every little thing, like we do in america. They only say thank you when they really appreciate something and it's a bigger deal.

2) Along, with the lack of saying thank you, there is also a lack of smiling. It's not that they aren't happy, it's just that they think it's superficial to smile AS much as Americans do. they can be perfectly content and have a sour look on their faces. (kind of confusing to me). In america, when we make eye contact with strangers, we often smile because we want to be polite, or because we feel uncomfortable. This is not how it is in Granada. They only smile when something is actually making them HAPPY!

3) Body language.... so different. Everyone have a personal space 'bubble' around them. However, in spain that bubble only goes about a foot away form their bodies. When people talk to each other, they get up close and personal. They also gesture and talk with their hands more than the average american. Not quite as much as the Italians, but it's close. (Their facial expressions are different too). And of course, their greetings are different. always dos besos (2 kisses). Not a problem when I'm getting introduced to a cute guy, but a little awkward at times.  The other night my friend Andres invited me and my friend out with his friends, and she kept shaking their hands when she was introduced to them and they thought it was funny (but seemed a little awkward)

4) The decorations of the houses, the school, and other places all seem to be stuck in the 90s. Not nearly as modern as the US. People don't dress like they're in the 90s, but everything else seems like it's a little behind.

(oh and the paper here is not the same as the US. I thought that was kind of a universal thing, but I was wrong. Its taller and skinnier. Just enough so that they don't fit in my folders that I brought for class. Oh well!)

Okay so now the alhambra, it was soo big! We were all split into groups of about 15 and had a tour guide (in spanish, of course). I learned a lot of about this town of palaces and the generalife gardens, but it was so cold on sunday that it was hard to pay attention at times. oops! unfortunately because of the clouds and rain the pictures aren't as nice as they could have been, but here are a few of the 150 that I took!

The pictures don't do it justice! 

I'm here!!

WOW, I don't even know where to begin! It has certainly been an adventure so far! A lot has happened the past few days!

Wednesday~ I landed in Madrid as the sun was rising! it was beautiful! unfortunately I didnt sleep at all on the plane :/ but the flight didn't seem as long as I thought it would (8 hours) when we arrived in Granada the airline 'lost' about 3/4 of the luggage because it didn't fit on the small plane we took to Granada from Madrid. but luckily both of my bags made it on time! the hostel we stayed in "hostal atenas" was decent considering it's a hostel, but it was nothing special. the first night there we just walked around and i went to my first Tapas bar. they i went to bed REALLY early because i was up all night

Thurdsay~ we had our placement test for our Spanish classes and our academic orientation for school (Cegri). in the evening we had a cultural orientation and someone talk to us about culture shock. I think some people are having a harder time adjusting that I am. One thing she reminded us of is to make distinctions between fact and judgements/opinions. (for example, if we service is slow. we can't assume that it's bad service because that's just how it is in granada, and we can't assume things are the same here as they are in the US). Although it's super different here, it's pretty much what I expected it to be. At night we had a big welcome dinner all together! our entire program went to restaurante sevilla. It was the first time we were all together for a social event. it was nice getting to know more people! everyone's soo nice. After we tried another Tapas bar.

Friday~ we had our housing orientation. they gave all of us a huge map of the city. they marked red dots for every location that someone is living. it's nice to know who lives near by so we can share cabs at night! Afterwards we went on our 'survival tour' we mostly walked around the center of the city. (similar to the 'loop' of chicago.) we saw the cathedral and all the plazas!  after lunch and siesta, we went on a 4 hour 'toursity tour' we walking up big hills and winding streets. we went to two neighborhoods of granada called albayzin and sacramonte. we saw the sunset over the mountains and the alhambra at San Nicolas 'look-out point" it was SOO beautiful. in these neighborhoods is where the arab/muslim people live and where the gitanos (gypsies) live. sacramonte is at the top of the hills and all the houses are built into the hills as caves. its so cool! at night me and few people went to el desea (the wish) for dinner. it was the first time we had a waitress the could speak english. it was also the best service we had (but of course it was the most pricey as well)

Saturday~ I woke up with a cold :/ but i finally moved out of the hostel and into my host family's apartment. it's really cute and it has internet (which is not as common as it is in the US) so I was happy about that! Chari (who is 42) and her mom Rosario live together. They made paella for dinner. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did. It was rice, and pepper, and chicken, and who knows what else... haha. I've been trying to unpack everything. i brought a lot of stuff, and everything in Spain is smaller! (the rooms, the portions of food, the showers, kitchen appliances, etc) soo its difficult to find a place for my stuff! but i'll figure it out! I'm meeting my friend Andres at 5 for coffee. he's from granada and he will be able to show me around some more :) tomorrow i'm going to visit the Alhambra! I can't wait. I just hope it doesn't rain!!! (still better than the 5 inches of snow in chicago though!)

It feels so good to actually use English! no one really speaks English here, which is probably a blessing in disguise! everyone is so nice, but also very straightforward and honest. If you make a mistake, they don't care if they laugh at you, and often they correct us right away!

At every bar in Granada, they give you a free small plate of food with whatever drink you order. Food and Drink ALWAYS go together in Granada. you don't usually have one without the other. when you get your tapa, you never get to chose. so it's always a mystery of what they will bring. I've already tried so many foods i never would have tried in the US.

Overall, this has felt a lot like first semester of freshman year! going off to a new place and meeting new people! everyone's eager to make friends and we all find ourselves going out in BIG groups and kind of wandering aimlessly at times. :) such amateurs....

Adios 'Merica

TODAY IS THE DAY! I'm going to get lunch with my mom, then it's off to O'hare! woo hoo!!

Adventure

Wow, I leave in ONE week! I'm getting a little nervous but I'm SO SO excited. It's going to be such an adventure and it's been fun thinking about all the places I want to travel to. I'm thinking Prague and/or London for my first spring break, Italy (Milan, cinque terre, and Rome) for my second spring break. And Santorini, Greece at the end of the semester before I come home. I've been brushing up on my Spanish grammar and vocab, so I'm hoping that will make the transition a bit easier and help me out when I'm traveling through Spain.