Day Seven in Granada

Day Seven in Granada

-Woke up at about 9:30 so that I could shower before 10

-We went up and ate toast for breakfast

-I walked to the Arcadia center  to get my school schedule from Christina

-I have a class at 8:30 four days a week so I cannot stay out very late during the week L

-After Julia and I went to the post office to mail some post cards and a couple packages

-We then got lost as we tried to go to the supermarket to buy shampoo, but we eventually found our way

-We also dropped by a store so we could but folders, pencils, and journals

-We made it home and had a lunch of homemade vegetable puree soup and fish, both were delicious

-After we met up with the group and hiked for hours through the gardens by the Alhambra. They just go on and on and on and are so beautiful! It was also a really good opportunity to get to know the other side of the group a little better

-We got back to the house around 8 o clock and watched an episode of Sex and the City before dinner

-Ate a dinner of fruits and veggies

-Used computer

-Went to bed early because of my first day of class tomorrow

Day Six in Granada

Day Six in Granada

- Woke up around 10:30

- Ate breakfast

-Lounged around for a while

-We ate the lunch that our señora left for us, which was huge so we are stuffed

- We would go shopping or something but most places are closed because it is Sunday and a holiday

-We plan to go to the festival later though!

-We started to hear the sound of drums outside so we decided to head out so we didn’t miss the festivities

-The streets were super super crowed but we thought that it was really nice that they set out chairs all along to street for people to watch the parade.

-We waited for the rest of the group to join us before we headed down to the Catedral, which is where the procession where they carry the casket of the Saint down the street begins.

-It was so crowded; it was like a festival of umbrellas because it was raining so much

-We waited in front of the cathedral and saw a statue that looked like it was taking a selfie and thought that was very funny

-They ended up postponing the procession of the casket for an hour and a half later because of the rain, so we gave up and went to go get ice cream at a place that Triana recommended we try before they close for the season. I got Trufe flavored and it was AMAZINGGGGG!!!

-Julia wanted a pastry so we went to a place called LOOPS that looked exactly like a dunkin donuts

-We walked around for a while longer before we all went back to our respective locations for dinner

-We ate a tasty dinner of some kind of tuna salad thing and then our señora invited us on a walk with her and a friend!

-We walked with them to the Albaicín and another part of the city. We talked a lot and she would stop and tell us interesting facts about different things. Her friend is from England and is very nice and speaks very good Spanish

-After our walk, which turned out to be much longer than expected, we went to an Irish sports bar called Paddies at about 11:45pm.

-We went there to meet our friends along with the other Arcadia students from pre-session that we haven’t had the chance to spend much time with. We all just talked with soccer going on in the background

- We had a great time hanging out with them and think they are super nice! Tomorrow we plan to go on a walk with them through the gardens before the Alhambra J

-We headed back home at around 1 o clock

Day Five in Granada

Day Five in Granada

- We woke up sooooo late at about 1:30pm!!!

-I showered and for some reason the water was scalding hot

- As soon as we woke up our señora started making lunch for us, which was super tasty. We ate these little fish that looked like anchovies but she had them cooked and seasoned super tasty! We also had a veggie salad thing that was super good, along with fruit.

- After lunch I updated my blog, and began writing postcards!

- Julia and I walked down to a café and had café con leche and an unknown sweet treat

- we shopped a little bit and bought a couple trinkets

-We talked to a couple very nice shop owners

-even just looking at the shop windows is fun

- at about 8:30 we headed to the Japanese restaurant where we met up with the rest of the group

-I tried seaweed salad and it was sooo soo good!!!

-after dinner we walked down the street toward the Albaicin (gypsy district) to get some ice cream

-On the way I bought a University of Granada sweatshirt because I was cold and I really really liked it and it was only 16€

- We stopped in a couple shops and looked around and enjoyed the beautiful view of the Alhambra

- We walked back and decided to stop in a bar

-We sat around and ate this delicious potato tapas thing and talked about lots of interesting stuff like how I like to talk to old men, about Japanese culture, and about batman movies!

-We decided to call it a pretty early night and went back to our apartments at around 12:00am

-Tomorrow we plan to go to a Festival for some Saint, which should be fun!

Day Four in Granada

Day Four in Granada

-Julia and I woke up and got ready. The shower drain was clogged so our señora came downstairs and pulled a ton of hair out of the drain from the last girl that was there before us. It was super gross

-After we got ready we headed to the plaza Bibrrambla where we met with the rest of the group and Tiana for churros with chocolate, which was super tasty

-I also had a veggie sandwich but it wasn’t very good

-After eating we walked through a few different plazas and Triana told us a little about each

-We then went back to the Arcadia center for a little orientation about various extracurricular activities we can become involved in. I am hoping to volunteer at a hospital and I also signed up for an intercambio, which is someone I can practice my Spanish with

- Julia and I walked back to the apartment to have lunch with our señora and afterward we walked back to the street markets to buy a few things. We each ended up buying really cute shoes because we found a shop with really great deals! I got mine for just 13€! I also bought a fan, which is very common here because it is sooo hot when the sun is out

-I bought Rachel’s belated birthday gifts ;)
-We hung around the apartment for a while and caught up on a few of our American TV shows while we did henna

- Our señora went out for dinner, but she still made us something to eat before we go out.

-I skyped my Mommy for a little bit but unfortunately I could not hear her because something was wrong with her computer

-Julia and I left to go meet the group so we could go to our first Spanish club!

-We left around 10:30pm and were told that people don’t start going to clubs until around 1:30am, so we went to a couple bars beforehand to take up some time

-We met another American student on our way so he joined us at the bars, he was very friendly and his name is Josh

-Our original plan was to go to Granada 10, but the bartender at our last bar told us of a different one that was closer and that he thinks is better, so he gave us directions and we went there.

-Our new friend Josh wasn’t able to get into the club because he was wearing shorts, but that was okay because he wasn’t really planning on clubbing anyways

-It cost us 12 € to get into the club, but that included two free drinks which was nice

-The club was pretty cool, it was pretty big with quite a few different rooms. They nice thing is that for the most part people actually dance and it isn’t just gross guys desperately trying to push themselves up against girls. If you said no or even just indicated no, they let you be, so that was really cool! I was able to just have a good time dancing with my friends in a cool very loud club

-We didn’t get home until around 5 in the morning so we slept in suuuuper late

-It was a fun night but definitely not one I would like to have all the time. It is very expensive and I don’t like staying out that late. I feel like it is a waste of the day to sleep in so late. I prefer staying out til 2 or 3 with a smaller group of people where you can actually talk. But that will be fun to do every so often

Day Three in Granada

Day Three in Granada

- We woke up and ate another wonderful breakfast buffet

- After we had to pack up our luggage, leave it at the hotel and head to the Arcadia office for orientation on how to live with our host families

-Afterward we headed to the hotel to wait for our host families!!

- My roommate for the semester will be Julia, she is from Nashville but goes to school in Florida. I think we will get along just greatJ

- Our host mother arrived, her name is Inmaculada . She is very very nice, but talks very very fast. This will definitely take some getting used to!

She took us to her house which was very very close to the hotel and also the various locations of the school which is awesome!! Her apartment is incredible. Everything is so European looking and simple. It is also very big. We basically have the lower half of the apartment to ourselves! Our beds are right next to each other and we each have our own closet. We share a very nice spacious bathroom. It is nice finally being able to unpack our luggage.

- When we finished unpacking we went upstairs and ate the lunch our señora made for us. They are expected to make us three meals every day, which is sooo greatJ apparently my host mom thought I ate chicken, and I felt too bad to say no, so I ate chicken for the first time in over four years today! It was pretty darn good I have to say…She does know that I do not eat red meat though so that’s good! And I will still definitely not order chicken at restaurants.

-Our señora showed us her rooftop and it is incredible. It has a spectacular view of the Alhambra, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the city. She has plants up there as well as lights and benches. It is amazing. An apartment like this in the States would cost a fortune, especially with its location.

-there is an alarm on the house so our señora showed us how to use it which was a very very confusing conversation lol

-After lunch we went to our room, finished unpacking, and took a nap

- after our nap we decided to go back up on the rooftop to take pictures and ended up locking ourselves onto the rooftop because we didn’t know that shouldn’t have closed the door haha! So we were locked up there for about an hour because our señora wasn’t home yet, but it certainly was not the ugliest place we could have been stranded ;)

-Our señora came and let us in and explained to us how we should not close the door all the way when we go out

-she opened up a giant bag of peppers and dumped them on the counter and told us she dries them to make decorations

-we freshened up and then came up for dinner around 9 o clock. We had a very delicious soup. I forget what it is called but it is made with fresh tomatoes crushed up and it is served cold. Very yummy! I also had cookie flavored yogurt!

- we sat around and talked in Spanish for a long time after dinner and then finally Julia and I went out to visit our friends for dessert then drinks! We got frozen yogurt and then went to two different bars. Both were very nice, I had my first “Alhambra” beer, which is the beer typically served in the city I think

-Dov told me I am like a bottle of antidepressants hahaha I was somehow flattered…

- afterward we all walked back to our houses and got ready for bed

-Julia got locked in the bathroom for a little hahah

Interesting things

-I will have absolutely no problem finding gifts here because there is an insane amount of shops with reasonably priced stuff

-I feel like I will spend less on this trip than I did on two weeks in Holland, France, and Switzerland! Everything is so much cheaper here than in those parts of Europe!