Granada etc.

It's been a while since the last post and it looks like I have a LOT of ground to cover. We went to Granada for an intensive language course (which was not actually very intense), and I did not bring my laptop so I could not update you lovely folk until now. I really enjoyed Granada mostly because I consider myself a smaller city sort of person, meaning that I find Madrid pretty overwhelming but thought that Granada was the perfect size. It also has a really rich history combined with a young atmosphere since it is a college town.

We traveled there by train for 5 hours, going through a more mountainous region, which also meant that it was MUCH cooler there than Madrid thank goodness. Also our hotel had AC so that was a double plus. We had class for 4 hours a day for 5 days at the Don Quixote institute, which specializes in teaching Spanish to foreigners. Cool things we did outside of class:

• Walked around the Albaycín, the old part of the city, up to the Mirador de San Nicolás (lookout of Saint Nicholas) which had an incredible view of the Alhambra and the city in general (side note: I thought the Alhambra would be outside of the city but it was right there, which was cool)
• Visited historical Arab baths
• Visited modernized Arab baths, basically a spa full of pools with different water temperatures. We got to spend a nice relaxing time in there and even got massages!
• Saw a play by the famous playwright Frederico García Lorca called Yerma (Barren) in an outdoor courtyard. It was really hard to understand but a good experience.
• Visited Lorca's family's house, which has much of the original furnishings
• Went to the Alhambra of course, SO incredible, this is a pic of me with Ariel, the girl I'm living with:

• Watched a flamenco show on the side of the mountain in the Albaycín, fun fact: apparently actual gypsies live up there in caves with no electricity or running water
• Went on an olive oil tour in a nearby town, which involved learning how they used to make olive oil and then doing olive oil tasting. It was really interesting to see how much the taste can vary, I thought it tasted all the same but you can really tell the difference.
• Went out to lunch with our program director's friend Juan in a small town next to the small town where he lives, then went to his house to have coffee with him and his wife. These small towns were absolutely precious and really wonderful to spend time in, the day we went around to all of them was probably the best in Spain yet.

• Traveled to the seaside city of Málaga, where we went to the beach and visited the second best Picasso museum in the country (#1 would be in Barcelona)

For literally hundreds more photos I refer you to Facebook. Now that I'm back in Madrid this week is orientation and class scheduling stuff. I should also probably unpack the rest of my stuff at some point...

Estoy Aquí

I'm in Spain right now. What.


Let's start at the beginning shall we? 
El Vuelo: The flight was business as usual, except for the fact that I was sitting next to the coolest person ever, aka a Spanish student named Bea who is my age and generally hilarious. I'm pretty sure I woke some people up by laughing to hard at her antics. So funny. Hopefully I'll be able to hang out with her in Madrid at some point? 


Desde el Aeropuerto al Apartamiento: Since I got to the airport so stinkin early, there was no line for customs, and I could easily find our program director's assistant waiting for me. It rained a little bit, which Bea had just assured me it never does in Madrid, so that was weird. Some things I noticed about Madrid while briefly being driven through it:

• It's not as European-looking as Paris, probably because
• People know how to drive (ie they use their blinkers [shocking] and I didn't feel like my life was constantly in danger), however at rush hour that may be a different story
• The buildings seem more modern
• The cars are a bit more like what you would see in America

El Apartamiento: I got to the apartment first so I get the better room with more closet space, hooray. I went to sleep immediately despite the fact that there is construction going on on our building and the building outside my window. Whoever said there wouldn't be AC is correct. The woman I live with is a straight up artist, she has a whole studio room and shows her work and stuff.

Otros Tidbits: Understanding Spaniards so far is surprisingly easy, speaking is surprisingly hard. The Pope is actually in Madrid at this very moment, so there are upwards of a million extra people here just to see him. Coffee here is great. Elevators are scary and small. Life is good. I leave you with a pic of the view when I lean precariously out my window (sparing you the construction haha).

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