La Alhambra

Yesterday we went to La Alhambra. Wow, it was so incredible! 

Here is a link to my photos:
Photos of La Alhambra

Yesterday was one of the hardest days. I took a 3 hour nap, woke up dazed at 8pm, felt really homesick and decided to just go to bed early. It was pretty odd because I don't feel homesick that often. Interestingly enough my roommate is feeling the same, so we are about to go for walk, get some fresh air.

Fresh air always works, but what else you may ask? I will tell you, youtube.com. It could brighten the gloomiest of days. 

I have heard a lot of talk about this new show called Portlandia. Since Portland is so close to my heart I decided to check it out. I advise you to do the same. It is so funny.
So I have attached a video (recovered from non-other than youtube.com) which captures the essence of Portland. 
Dream of the 90s

Now, however, I am off to discover more of the essence of la vida española. 

Ciao. 

Vistos y sonidos...

 

Yesterday we visited Albayzin. This plaza in the video is where many people come to watch the sunset. It moves a little fast but the fortress is La Alhambra and below and to the right is Granada. The man is playing in a traditional flamenco manner where he uses not only the strings of the guitar but also beats on it with his hand to create a percussion beat. 

 Enjoy!

El arte en las paredes..

"Jazz says it all"

So there is a lot of art in the streets. Some of it is graffiti art and some of it is found in murals...here are some photos of some of my favorite murals that I have seen. There are many more of these beautiful pieces. It's fun to look at them while I am walking through the streets. I cannot wait to paint something of my own!! (To note, though it sounds appealing to paint on a wall for everyone to see, I will most likely by painting on a portable, totally legal canvas).

Now, for the second part of this week's entry: English in a non-English speaking country.

Me: "ENJOY THIS MOUSTACHE PARTY" Amanda: "OLD COLLEGE"

SO profound...

I have no words, I just laugh. 

 

 

 

So this is what Spain-English is teaching me: (Photo 1) moustaches (British spelling) are so important that they have their own parties; there is a confusion between "old college," which is something I have never heard of, and "old school," which is not only a famous Will Farrell movie but also a popular phrase to convey a retro style; (Photo 2) Spain is full of philosophers who are questioning the basic teachings of empiricism and their own sensory perceptions; (Photo 3) though Michael is gone, there is a small part of him living on in spirit in Granada.

Let me tell you how relieved I am that my education is paying off here in Spain. It is just teaching me so much. :)

On a more serious note, I am falling more in love with Granada. Tomorrow we have an excursion to a famous Granadan neighborhood, Albayzin. Two friends and I have also booked flights to the Canary Islands for our short break in February! Can hardly wait to get my tan on...but knowing my skin I will just be burning.

Hope you are all well!
Hasta luego.

Fotos de la vida

La Alhambra

Plaza cerca de la escuela

Una iglesia

Here are some photos around Granada.

Novios make your Spanish better...

The first week has finished and I feel like I have learned so much already. I have now made a goal that the majority of my English will be in this blog, but when I am not writing for this blog, I am speaking/writing/attempting to think in Spanish. At least that’s the goal. It’s difficult sometimes to talk in Spanish when our group is together, because we know we share a common language.

The second day in Granada, we met an Irish man named Patrick. He owns an Irish pub in Granada named Patty’s pub (go figure) and treated our group of 12 to free drinks. If it all were a business ploy to encourage us to return, it worked. So we are going to go back to celebrate a birthday or two. A girl in our group can Irish dance and has been asked to perform on St. Patrick’s Day. So we'll go back for more time with our new friend Patty.

I had a substitute teacher this week who has been teaching for 25 years and after only two classes with him, I know why he has been teaching for so long, because he is SUCH a good teacher. He also created a really comfortable atmosphere in the classroom so our entire class was talking…I loved it! He also was pretty funny. The best piece of advice that he told us was that to get better at our Spanish, we should get boyfriends/girlfriends in Spain. On top of that, my host mom has told me repeatedly that I should look for a rich, Spanish boyfriend with a rich father so that both she and I would be set for life. So, the search is on to find a Spanish boyfriend to, first, enrich my Spanish abilities and, second, to be taken care of for life. Great plan, right? (I bet my parents are reading this and shaking their heads “no”).

¡Ay! No preocupes, mi señora nos gusta. (Oh! Don’t worry, my host mom likes us (Amanda and I)). She returned from Madrid with……drum roll…….”pearl” necklaces from H&M. Awesome, right? (This will be something my parents will agree is awesome).

Today, I met with my intercambio partner for the first time. His name is Antonio and much to my host mother's disappointment he is married. He is very nice and even paid for my tea. Hopefully my meetings with him will help me improve my Spanish and his English...nos vemos (We'll see).

 So the first week definitely had its ups and downs but we are getting comfortable. The Andalucian accent is becoming easier to understand. I just keep thinking how crazy it is that I am in Spain…somebody pinch me….

You know they don't have peanut butter in Spain?

It's true! None. Zip. Zilch. I went from beginning every day with that stuff and now I am eating pan dulce and zumo (juice)...but I actually love the food.
What I was really doing was making a segway to give my address. Yep, you've caught me. Next time, I'll work on being more sublte if I want to pursuade you of anything...

If you have any desire to send a kind word or even some peanut butter, you can send it to:

ME!
Las Flores, 10-10 º E
Granada, Spain
18004

It's been super super  busy, but I will have time this weekend to post some photos and tell more stories. I am racking up some good ones already.

Pues, hasta el próximo vez.

Los EEUU, Espana y todos entre los dos

¡Bienvenidos!
Welcome to my blog!
I hopefully will stay up on the events of my life in Granada and even include photos! For now, please be patient and enjoy!
As you probably know, I am living in Granada, Spain for a whole five months. I just arrived today after three flights, one lost mochila (backpack) and a very smooth taxi ride. Luckily the lost backpack was not my own (however I did leave my waterbottle on the plane), but it still puts stress on everyone when possessions are missing. Already today I have spoken more Spanish than I spoke over all of break and maybe even the semester.
Driving to our apartments in a taxi, my friend asked (in Spanish) how we entered the stairs to reach our host family’s homes. He just laughed. I guess he truly didn’t understand the three sheltered girls in the taxi had never experienced apartments that required the visitor to buzz in. To us though, it evolved into a legitimate stressor. After a long day of traveling, it seems that anything can trigger the feeling of stress. Thank goodness for movies. I owe Hollywood major props for not making me look like an idiot (or homeless) on the streets of Granada. On top of that, the directions are written as 10-10° which means number 10 on the 10^th floor. Good thing my friend explained this as well. I luckily did not get lost! However, I did attempt to carry my luggage up ten flights until my roommate called from the elevator at about floor three to help me. Besides the few moments of sheer panic, the whole travel part went smoothly.
I had a great first impression of my host mom. Her name is Maria. The first thing she said to me (all of this is Spanish, of course) was that she will be my mom in Spain and my roommate Amanda, who happens to be a good friend of mine, will be my sister---like a little family. That was comforting. She then proceeded to feed us and feed us and feed us. We ate salad, soup, french fries and an egg. Lunch is the most important and biggest meal of the day in Spain, so it was a joy to make it just in time to eat a big meal after a LONG day of plane rides and no substantial food.
Overall, I am safely here in Granada still feeling nervous but more ready for what the semester holds.

¡Hasta el próximo vez! (Until next time!)