Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Salobreña, monte sin leña, mar sin pescao, niños maleducaos, curas pocos y locos
Yesterday was el Dia de Andalucia (festival of Andalusia), which means that we didn't have class! Yay! It was sort of annoying, because we had class Monday (and hence couldn't just take a long weekend to travel), but I still made the best of it. I headed to Salobreña, a beach town about an hour outside of Granada, with some of the girls from IES.
My host mom had told me that Salobreña was the best beach to go to, and when she said that, my host sister said: Salobreña, monte sin leña, mar sin pescao, niños maleducaos, curas pocos y locos. Translation: mountain without trees, sea without fish, rude children, few and crazy priests. It sounds better when it rhymes. Anyways, it wasn't as crazy as all that, and I saw people fishing, so I guess there are fish.
It wasn't super warm or sunny. The sky was sort of hazy, but that actually turned out to be for the best, because I could feel my face burning about 5 minutes after the sun came out. I put on sunscreen after that, so the only difference is that my seasonal freckles are slightly visible.
Once again, I'm too lazy to upload all the photos to blogger, so here's the link to my facebook album.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Food
Today marks the end of my fourth week in Spain! I can't believe that I've already been here for nearly a month; it's seriously flown by. One of the things I've wanted to do on here (since day one) is a post about food. In London, food was pretty much the same, because I bought what I wanted and prepared it in the way I was accustomed too.Here, not so much. I have food in the house for dinner, but lunch and breakfast are done the Spanish way. To make things easier, I'm gonna break it down by meal.
Breakfast: Breakfast here generally consists of toast with jam (or nutella), chocolate milk or coffee, and fruit. Then, due to the glaring lack of protein in this meal, people generally have a coffee break around 11, and usually eat a pastry, too. I don't want to gain 100 pounds, so I bring a granola bar and some juice milk to IES with me.
Juice milk, by the way, is something that I was told about by a former study abroad student, and have fallen in love with. It's just a mix of fruit juice (the best is peach) and skim milk, in a juice box, but it's delicious. Like a smoothie, but less cold and thick.
Lunch: Lunch is the main meal here, and is eaten between 2 and 4. We eat at 2:30. It usually has more than one course, starting with soup or fruit salad, or both, then followed by the main meal and usually dessert. We've had about 10 different kinds of soup, from vegetable purees to chicken and rice to something I can only equate to motzah ball soup. The main course can be anything: pasta and chicken, something like a ratatouille with fried eggs (did I mention eggs aren't a breakfast food here?), croquetas, salad, clams, lasagna, twice baked potatoes, fish, you get the point. The strangest thing I've had for lunch was probably a type of fish that, although it was served in slices, still had scales and bones. Also, my paella had tentacles one day. Not even joking. Dessert can be anything: fruit, cookies, cake, custard, apple tart, whatever. My host mom really likes cooking, so we typically have something homemade. Today is was something like custard, but with a layer of cake on the outside, strawberries on the bottom, and a strawberry puree (that tasted like a whole fruit popsicle!) on top. It was so delicious that she and I both ate two pieces. We always have bread with lunch, and usually don't have drinks at the table, with the exception of my host dad, who drinks tinto de verano (a mix of red wine and lemon fanta).
Dinner: Dinner varies, and I'm going to split it into two categories: home and tapas.
Home: I'm technically supposed to provide my own dinner, but my host mom pretty much always makes something and then says that there's extra (even though I know she makes it for me) and asks if I want it. This can be tortilla (Spanish version of an omelet), crepes, or pizza. Dinner in Spain is a very light meal, basically enough to ensure that you won't be trying to sleep on an empty stomach. When I make my own dinner, it's usually a bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit, pistachios, and juice.
Tapas: The tradition of tapas originated in Granada, and it is pretty much the only place where you can get them for free. There have been several cases of unhappiness when my friends and I have traveled outside of Granada, with IES, and had to actually pay for our food. How it works is you order a drink (alcoholic or otherwise) and, depending on the restaurant, you can choose your tapa or they just bring it to you. In most cases, you can pay to get an extra tapa, but why would you do that when you get them for free with a drink? Tapas I've had so far include: tortilla de patatas (potato omelet), fried rice, chicken wings, serrano ham, croquetas, manchego cheese, noodless, spring rolls, dumplings (yes, we frequent a Chinese tapas bar), bread with toppings ( I think it was meat?), and probably some other stuff in there.
In the future, I'm probably going to post more about food, since it's something I'll be experiencing all semester. Until then, here are some pictures of what I've been eating.
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| tortilla de patatas |
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| my friend Danielle, and some croquetas |
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| potatoes |
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| juice milk. this stuff is legit |
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| more potatoes? also Danielle |
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| noodles and the world's best fried rice |
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| the cake my host mom made |
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| she wanted a picture after it was cut, too. Delicious. |
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Las niñas buenas van al cielo, las malas a los Carnavales de Cádiz
Warning: this post may be a little... crazy. And probably a tad controversial. Please bear with me.
This whole thing started a few weeks ago when a few of the girls at IES said they were going to Carnaval. Pretty soon, about half our program (myself included) had tickets for the same bus, which were actually a pretty good deal. 20 euro for a round trip. Normally, you'd have to pay 35 euro to get to Cádiz and back. Anyway, we knew we had to dress up. There was some debate over whether we should just dress crazy or have actual costumes. I went with my typical 'buy one or two things and make a costume out of it' approach. I ended up purchasing one of those skirt things that belly dancers wear (with all the jingly things) and a top as well. I knew exactly what I had in my wardrobe to go with this: leggings, a black skirt, a black tank top, and (for night time, so I didn't freeze) a stay-warm shirt, cardigan and jacket.
My idea going into this was that it would be some sort of cultural festival, maybe with a parade or music. Well, I was half right. It was certainly a display of Spanish culture. We got to Cádiz around 6 pm, and decided to chill at the beach while it was still light outside. We played in the water and sand (legit, there are about 100 pictures of people jumping on the beach or in the water) then watched the sunset. We then heard some loud noises of the festive variety, so we walked in the direction they were coming from.
Was it a parade? Was it a band? No. It was a bunch of people with drums, and some guys dressed as matadors with a shopping cart bull. We followed the crowd and ended up in the plaza of the Cathedral, where we realized that, at this point, Carnaval was a giant botellon. Because of a delay in leaving Granada (there were so many people going to Cádiz that there was lots of confusion and it took twice as long to load the buses) we had missed all the parade-like festivities.
For those of you who don't know, a botellon is sort of like a giant Spanish frat party: people get really drunk and stay out till all hours of the night, and following morning. We didn't know that it was just going to be this, but we rolled with it and decided to enjoy what we could. *disclaimer: yes, we were drinking, but not nearly as much as the Spaniards (or many other attendees) and made sure that we were close enough to sobriety to be safe.* Pretty soon, I was bored. Yeah, it's fun to talk to your friends and other random Americans that always want to talk once they realize you're American too, but literally all most people were doing was drinking.
You see, in the US, college parties (which is all I can really equate this too) have drinking games, and other stuff, like music/dancing to enjoy, as well as bathrooms and couches. Carnaval, on the other hand, was one giant mass of crazy, where people just stood there, talking to their friends and getting way too drunk. I can't even tell you how many ambulances I saw go by. There was no place to sit, as people throw their empties on the ground (gross) and some people would just go to a wall a pee (even grosser). Various times throughout the night, my friends and I walked back to the beach, where we (not even kidding) decided to sing some Disney songs to pass the time. Yes, it is an automatic requirement that college students regress to kindergarten levels of maturity.
Eventually (around 5), we gave up trying to entertain ourselves, and sat on the stairs of the plaza for the buses until 6 am, when we were scheduled to be picked up. That went mostly fine, with the exception of some latecomers who had been lost. We got back to Granada by midmorning, and I was so happy to be back. Yes it was an experience, and I'm glad I went rather than asking myself what it would have been like, but I don't think I'd go back again. I value my sanity a little too much for that.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Ronda y Sevilla
At IES Granada, as there were with the ICLC, there are several fully subsidized trips to surrounding places in Andalucia. Our first was to the Alpujarra, and this weekend's was to Ronda and Sevilla, two cities within three hours of Granada.
In Ronda, we started at the historical Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring), but didn't go in. Instead, we went to an overlook of the surrounding valley. The view was incredible. I'll post a link to the facebook album at the end of the post. Ronda was built near a very steep, impossible to scale, cliff in order to protect the city. Because of the height, you can see for miles. We were there on a nice, clear day, so it was particularly spectacular.
We then saw the Puente Viejo (old bridge), the support pillars of which apparently used to serve as a prison. If you ticked off your guards, they threw you out a window. Which is only, you know, slightly terrifying. Crossing the bridge, we made it to the old Arab Baths, which were not what I was expecting. Having been to the Roman Baths in England, I was thinking they'd be fairly open, with pools and airy spaces. I forgot to take into account the fact that the Roman Baths are heated naturally by hotspring, while the Arab Baths of Ronda were heated by fire. Therefore, they put a lot more effort into making sure as little heat as possible escaped from the heated rooms. Though there were skylights in the ceiling, for light and sanitation purposes, it was still dim and cave-like. I suppose the twilight would make it more relaxing.
After that, we went to La Casa del Rey Moro (House of the Moorish King), where we saw some pretty gardens and went down into Las Minas. Las minas literally translates as 'the mines'; these tunnels consisted of 194 steps down, through the interior of the cliff, that led to a river below. It was definitely work the burning muscles and absolute terror at walking down slippery wet steps in near darkness, because I don't think I've ever seen water that blue. Maybe in a movie, but never in real life. I personally don't have a ton of pictures (and no group shots) because my friends, took a ton, and told me I could use theirs. Once they're online, I'll post them.
After lunch (eaten picnic style at the lookout) we hopped back on the bus and went to Sevilla. Our first afternoon there consisted of a ton of free time, so my friends Danielle and Dave and I explored a little then got dinner. That night there was a flamenco performance, and it was amazing. I had been to one before, when I was in Barcelona in 2008 (was it really so long ago?), but to be honest I don't remember much of it. This one, however, was amazing. The guitarist, the singer, and the dancers. Everything. The guitar is so intricately played, and the singing is raw and emotional. My favorite part by far was the dancing. Not only was it technically amazing, but the passion in the woman's face really made it spectacular. I mean, you can usually tell the emotional color of a song or dance, but this just burst through. I'm not sure if I was more impressed by the speed at which she was able to move her feet without breaking the rhythm, or by how passionate she was about the dance.
Saturday was just as exciting as Friday. Our first stop was Los Reales Alcazares de Sevilla, or the Royal Palace. When the Spanish royal family is in town, that's where they stay. Because I did a project on Spanish castles this fall, I already knew a few things about the Alcazar, like who originally built it, the architectural style, and the history of some of the areas and their names. One patio in particular, El Patio de Las Doncellas, stands out in my mind. Its name refers to the legend that the Moorish kings demanded 100 virgins each year as a tribute from the Christian kings of the Iberian Peninsula. It, like the palace, is gorgeous. We walked around almost the entire palace, and even saw some peacocks after getting accidentally separated from our group, because our leader didn't give us time to take pictures.
We also saw the Cathedral, which was built after the destruction of the Mosque that was there originally. The only remaining part of the Mosque is La Giralda (the tower). We climbed to the top (thankfully there were ramps, not stairs), and could see the entire city. Within the cathedral itself, we saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus, although one other church claims to have his body.
Below are 3 photos (2 from the trip) that are from some of my friends, but you can look at my facebook album, too.
In Ronda, we started at the historical Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring), but didn't go in. Instead, we went to an overlook of the surrounding valley. The view was incredible. I'll post a link to the facebook album at the end of the post. Ronda was built near a very steep, impossible to scale, cliff in order to protect the city. Because of the height, you can see for miles. We were there on a nice, clear day, so it was particularly spectacular.
We then saw the Puente Viejo (old bridge), the support pillars of which apparently used to serve as a prison. If you ticked off your guards, they threw you out a window. Which is only, you know, slightly terrifying. Crossing the bridge, we made it to the old Arab Baths, which were not what I was expecting. Having been to the Roman Baths in England, I was thinking they'd be fairly open, with pools and airy spaces. I forgot to take into account the fact that the Roman Baths are heated naturally by hotspring, while the Arab Baths of Ronda were heated by fire. Therefore, they put a lot more effort into making sure as little heat as possible escaped from the heated rooms. Though there were skylights in the ceiling, for light and sanitation purposes, it was still dim and cave-like. I suppose the twilight would make it more relaxing.
After that, we went to La Casa del Rey Moro (House of the Moorish King), where we saw some pretty gardens and went down into Las Minas. Las minas literally translates as 'the mines'; these tunnels consisted of 194 steps down, through the interior of the cliff, that led to a river below. It was definitely work the burning muscles and absolute terror at walking down slippery wet steps in near darkness, because I don't think I've ever seen water that blue. Maybe in a movie, but never in real life. I personally don't have a ton of pictures (and no group shots) because my friends, took a ton, and told me I could use theirs. Once they're online, I'll post them.
After lunch (eaten picnic style at the lookout) we hopped back on the bus and went to Sevilla. Our first afternoon there consisted of a ton of free time, so my friends Danielle and Dave and I explored a little then got dinner. That night there was a flamenco performance, and it was amazing. I had been to one before, when I was in Barcelona in 2008 (was it really so long ago?), but to be honest I don't remember much of it. This one, however, was amazing. The guitarist, the singer, and the dancers. Everything. The guitar is so intricately played, and the singing is raw and emotional. My favorite part by far was the dancing. Not only was it technically amazing, but the passion in the woman's face really made it spectacular. I mean, you can usually tell the emotional color of a song or dance, but this just burst through. I'm not sure if I was more impressed by the speed at which she was able to move her feet without breaking the rhythm, or by how passionate she was about the dance.
Saturday was just as exciting as Friday. Our first stop was Los Reales Alcazares de Sevilla, or the Royal Palace. When the Spanish royal family is in town, that's where they stay. Because I did a project on Spanish castles this fall, I already knew a few things about the Alcazar, like who originally built it, the architectural style, and the history of some of the areas and their names. One patio in particular, El Patio de Las Doncellas, stands out in my mind. Its name refers to the legend that the Moorish kings demanded 100 virgins each year as a tribute from the Christian kings of the Iberian Peninsula. It, like the palace, is gorgeous. We walked around almost the entire palace, and even saw some peacocks after getting accidentally separated from our group, because our leader didn't give us time to take pictures.
We also saw the Cathedral, which was built after the destruction of the Mosque that was there originally. The only remaining part of the Mosque is La Giralda (the tower). We climbed to the top (thankfully there were ramps, not stairs), and could see the entire city. Within the cathedral itself, we saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus, although one other church claims to have his body.
Below are 3 photos (2 from the trip) that are from some of my friends, but you can look at my facebook album, too.
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| This isn't from Sevilla. It's from Wednesday, when Danielle, Alicia (pictured) and I got chocolate y churros. |
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| Dave and I practicing our mapping skills |
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| Playing in the maze at the Alcazares |
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Facebook photos
So I realise that probably about half of the people who read this aren't on facebook, while the majority of my pictures are. You should be able to access the albums (even without a facebook) by clicking here . If you are one of the people who is facebook-less and tries this link, please comment and let me know whether it does, or doesn't work. I would greatly appreciate it :)
First Week of Classes
As of 12:35 this afternoon, I am done with my first week of classes! IES Granada doesn't do Friday classes, so during the rest of the semester I will hopefully be able to travel more easily due to my free Thursday afternoons. So, here's what I'm doing (scholastically) this semester:
Spanish: Everyone, with the exception of a few people who come from bilingual households, has to take a language class. For me, it's 1 hour every day, during which we better our speaking and listening skills. Pretty standard stuff.
Lorca and the Andalusian Literary Tradition: Federico Garcia Lorca was a Spanish playwright, poet, and musician, who lived in Granada. Basically we will be reading lots and lots of poems (our profa doesn't like theatre, what?), analyzing them, and even writing some of our own. I'm a little nervous about that, since I'm not the most amazing poet in English, let alone Spanish. I'm hoping she lets us write haikus, because that's pretty much the extent of my poetic ability. We also have to keep a 'diary' for the class, although we only have to write what she tells us to (she also encourages us to write personal stuff, but I have my own diary for that). This week's assignment was to make a list of twenty beautiful things.
Spain and the European Union: I think this is pretty self explanatory: we learn about the EU, and how Spain fits into it.
Islamic Art and Architecture and Its Impact: I love art history courses. I know it sounds dumb, and I even sometimes get bored during visits, but I love learning all the stuff about a building, sculpture, or painting, then thinking about its cultural and historical context. I know, I'm weird. But whatever.
The Arab World and the West: My only class taught in English (did I mention I can only speak English when I'm in this class or hanging out with my friends on weekends?) is taught by Carlos de Cueto, who is my host mom's brother. Even though he's granadino, he has the most British accent ever. It's awesome, and so is the class. We're learning about the politics and history of the Arab world (**NOT the Islamic world, only 15% of the world's Muslims fall in the Arab category, betcha didn't know that!) and its interactions with the "West," essentially Europe and America. Not only is it super interesting, but I think it's also very relevant to the world we live in.
So those are my classes. I'm not taking any at the University, because I love all of these ones (so I can't drop any) and there's no way I'm taking 19 credits while studying abroad. I did, however, buy a UGR sweatshirt, which I'm justifying by the fact that I have a UGR student card so I can use their libraries.
This weekend is the trip to Sevilla and Ronda, which I'm super excited about. We're going to see cool buildings (including Arab baths), be able to hang out, and I'm rooming with my friend Danielle in the hotel, which will be nice because I don't have another IES student in my homestay. I'll post details and photos of the trip either Sunday or Monday.
Spanish: Everyone, with the exception of a few people who come from bilingual households, has to take a language class. For me, it's 1 hour every day, during which we better our speaking and listening skills. Pretty standard stuff.
Lorca and the Andalusian Literary Tradition: Federico Garcia Lorca was a Spanish playwright, poet, and musician, who lived in Granada. Basically we will be reading lots and lots of poems (our profa doesn't like theatre, what?), analyzing them, and even writing some of our own. I'm a little nervous about that, since I'm not the most amazing poet in English, let alone Spanish. I'm hoping she lets us write haikus, because that's pretty much the extent of my poetic ability. We also have to keep a 'diary' for the class, although we only have to write what she tells us to (she also encourages us to write personal stuff, but I have my own diary for that). This week's assignment was to make a list of twenty beautiful things.
Spain and the European Union: I think this is pretty self explanatory: we learn about the EU, and how Spain fits into it.
Islamic Art and Architecture and Its Impact: I love art history courses. I know it sounds dumb, and I even sometimes get bored during visits, but I love learning all the stuff about a building, sculpture, or painting, then thinking about its cultural and historical context. I know, I'm weird. But whatever.
The Arab World and the West: My only class taught in English (did I mention I can only speak English when I'm in this class or hanging out with my friends on weekends?) is taught by Carlos de Cueto, who is my host mom's brother. Even though he's granadino, he has the most British accent ever. It's awesome, and so is the class. We're learning about the politics and history of the Arab world (**NOT the Islamic world, only 15% of the world's Muslims fall in the Arab category, betcha didn't know that!) and its interactions with the "West," essentially Europe and America. Not only is it super interesting, but I think it's also very relevant to the world we live in.
So those are my classes. I'm not taking any at the University, because I love all of these ones (so I can't drop any) and there's no way I'm taking 19 credits while studying abroad. I did, however, buy a UGR sweatshirt, which I'm justifying by the fact that I have a UGR student card so I can use their libraries.
This weekend is the trip to Sevilla and Ronda, which I'm super excited about. We're going to see cool buildings (including Arab baths), be able to hang out, and I'm rooming with my friend Danielle in the hotel, which will be nice because I don't have another IES student in my homestay. I'll post details and photos of the trip either Sunday or Monday.
Friday, February 3, 2012
La Vida Granadina
Although I knew that Spain worked on an entirely different schedule than the US before I got here, the reality of that fact is still sinking in. And I'm definitely still adjusting. It's not the time difference, I was over the whole jet lag thing by day 4. It would've been sooner, but I was sick. Anyways, here's a typical day in Granada:
8 am- wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:40-leave for IES
9-2- class (the class part of this will change, but for the past week we've had orientation)
11-11:30- coffee break.
2:30-3:15- midday meal with my host family. more on this later
3:15-5 (or 6)- siesta: reading, facebook or tv time, blogging, sleeping.
6-7- take a walk, get ready to go out (for tapas), have a snack
8:30-9- head out to meet friends for tapas (unless you're eating dinner alone at home, which will be around 10)
10:30-11:30- get home, shower, get ready for bed (or earlier for this stuff if you don't go out)
12 (at latest)- bedtime.
see this? yeah, it looks like a nice, empty schedule, but it's not. any skyping of people in the US has to take place after 4 or 5 pm, usually after 9 for my parents. and if you can only go to the store (to get stuff for dinner, for example) after siesta, because everything will be closed from 2-5ish.
So that's how it is. I don't dislike this, and I know that I will have more time during the day once I'm in actual classes, rather than in orientation. It's a little hard to adjust to, though. The strangest part is the time at which you socialize. I've never been a night owl; ask any of my friends and they'll tell you that I'm the one who wants to go out earlier (I even have a theory that everyone should go out earlier so they can get to bed earlier and won't complain about being out so late the next day). Here, though, it's pretty normal to be out until 2 in the morning. Or 3. Some people (although this is not the majority) stay out until 7 or so, and will have breakfast with their friends before going home. What? Sorry, but if it's early enough to order breakfast, you've been out way too long.
So anyway, here's what I've been up to, rather than giving you a long, pointless post.
Monday and Wednesday we had language exams. I'm in the second highest group, which, if I'm honest, I can't say I'm super happy about. Not because I think I'm better than everyone else, but because I was heard that my orientation group was the advanced group, and there are some people on the low end of the Spanish spectrum in that group that I do not want to end up with. I need to be challenged in order to learn (as I learned with French) and I'm hoping that will be the case. I know, however, that if my professor feels I have been put into the wrong class, that I will be put into a more appropriate level.
Tuesday we had a walk through El Bosque de le Alhambra, and an area of Granada called the Realejo. It was an awesome walk, and I got some great pictures. Yesterday (thursday) we had or neighborhood orientation, with UGR students who live in our area. Carmen, a girl who I met in Malaga, is our UGR vecina (neighbor) and the group of 10 of us, all girls, had a great time. Carmen showed us various helpful things, like cafes, supermarkets, and whatnot, as well as el Parque de Federico Garcia Lorca, which had what may be the coolest seesaw ever created. After that, we all went to a cafe to warm up, where I got a milkshake, which was made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and coconut liquors, and hence tasted like an Almond Joy, and then we went to a bar for tapas.
Tapas, if you don't know, are plates of food brought to you when you order a drink. In Granada, they're free. Most of the time you don't get to choose, but occasionally you do. Last night was one of those occasions. Because there were so many of us, we ordered tons: popcorn chicken, sandwiches, flautas, calamari, and something else. It was spectacular.
Today was our last day of orientation, and we attended sessions on the language courses, as well as culture shock (apparently I'm in stage 3: interpretation, followed by a reception with free food and wine. I had tinto de verano, which is a mix of red wine and lemon fanta. It is delicious, and significantly lowers the amount of alcohol you're consuming. Which is good, especially when it's not even lunchtime. Tonight I'm heading out with my friend Danielle and maybe a few other girls for tapas, and possibly dancing. Un beso!
8 am- wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:40-leave for IES
9-2- class (the class part of this will change, but for the past week we've had orientation)
11-11:30- coffee break.
2:30-3:15- midday meal with my host family. more on this later
3:15-5 (or 6)- siesta: reading, facebook or tv time, blogging, sleeping.
6-7- take a walk, get ready to go out (for tapas), have a snack
8:30-9- head out to meet friends for tapas (unless you're eating dinner alone at home, which will be around 10)
10:30-11:30- get home, shower, get ready for bed (or earlier for this stuff if you don't go out)
12 (at latest)- bedtime.
see this? yeah, it looks like a nice, empty schedule, but it's not. any skyping of people in the US has to take place after 4 or 5 pm, usually after 9 for my parents. and if you can only go to the store (to get stuff for dinner, for example) after siesta, because everything will be closed from 2-5ish.
So that's how it is. I don't dislike this, and I know that I will have more time during the day once I'm in actual classes, rather than in orientation. It's a little hard to adjust to, though. The strangest part is the time at which you socialize. I've never been a night owl; ask any of my friends and they'll tell you that I'm the one who wants to go out earlier (I even have a theory that everyone should go out earlier so they can get to bed earlier and won't complain about being out so late the next day). Here, though, it's pretty normal to be out until 2 in the morning. Or 3. Some people (although this is not the majority) stay out until 7 or so, and will have breakfast with their friends before going home. What? Sorry, but if it's early enough to order breakfast, you've been out way too long.
So anyway, here's what I've been up to, rather than giving you a long, pointless post.
Monday and Wednesday we had language exams. I'm in the second highest group, which, if I'm honest, I can't say I'm super happy about. Not because I think I'm better than everyone else, but because I was heard that my orientation group was the advanced group, and there are some people on the low end of the Spanish spectrum in that group that I do not want to end up with. I need to be challenged in order to learn (as I learned with French) and I'm hoping that will be the case. I know, however, that if my professor feels I have been put into the wrong class, that I will be put into a more appropriate level.
Tuesday we had a walk through El Bosque de le Alhambra, and an area of Granada called the Realejo. It was an awesome walk, and I got some great pictures. Yesterday (thursday) we had or neighborhood orientation, with UGR students who live in our area. Carmen, a girl who I met in Malaga, is our UGR vecina (neighbor) and the group of 10 of us, all girls, had a great time. Carmen showed us various helpful things, like cafes, supermarkets, and whatnot, as well as el Parque de Federico Garcia Lorca, which had what may be the coolest seesaw ever created. After that, we all went to a cafe to warm up, where I got a milkshake, which was made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and coconut liquors, and hence tasted like an Almond Joy, and then we went to a bar for tapas.
Tapas, if you don't know, are plates of food brought to you when you order a drink. In Granada, they're free. Most of the time you don't get to choose, but occasionally you do. Last night was one of those occasions. Because there were so many of us, we ordered tons: popcorn chicken, sandwiches, flautas, calamari, and something else. It was spectacular.
Today was our last day of orientation, and we attended sessions on the language courses, as well as culture shock (apparently I'm in stage 3: interpretation, followed by a reception with free food and wine. I had tinto de verano, which is a mix of red wine and lemon fanta. It is delicious, and significantly lowers the amount of alcohol you're consuming. Which is good, especially when it's not even lunchtime. Tonight I'm heading out with my friend Danielle and maybe a few other girls for tapas, and possibly dancing. Un beso!
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| View of Granada from Realejo |
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| statue of Isabel la Catolica and Christopher Columbus |
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| Realejo |
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| There's a lot of graffiti in Spain, and some of it (like this) is pretty...someone sprayed over the leaves. |
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| part of the Alhambra |
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| view of el Albaycin from la Alhambra |
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
La Alpujarra
I feel like I keep apologizing about not blogging, so I won't apologize. But I have been really busy and have the weirdest schedule ever right now, so bear with me.
Anyway, last Saturday was our first IES day trip, to La Alpujarra, which is a mountainous area, which I think (wikipedia wasn't really clear, and noone from IES told me) that it's part of the Sierra Nevada. More specifically, we did a hike from the highest village, Capaleira, to a lower village, Pampaneira. Most of the ride there was gorgeous, until we got to the vertigo-inducing switchbacks and I had to close my eyes.
We were told beforehand that there would be two groups: one for an easier route, and the other for the difficult route. Due to past injuries, my own klutziness, and a desire not to make a fool of myself in front of my more athletic classmates, I decided to take the easy trail. 7.8 kilometers, including about 2 km of water and/or mud later, I realized that 'easy' is a relative term. It started out fine, though a little steep, as we made our way out of Capaleira. We stopped for water and a snack near a bridge, and then I realized that we were at the bottom of the valley between the mountains. Uh oh. We proceeded to hike up the mountain opposite the one we had walked down, which made me feel super out of shape.
Although the hike was difficult, it wasn't scary, per se. At least, not until the end. Do you see that faint line that starts about 1/3 of the way up the left hand side of the photo? Under the big patch of grass? That was our trail for the last 500 feet or so. It was a pretty steep drop to one side, and only a few feet wide, and slick with mud. I was tempted to sit and slide. Luckily, I made it all the way down without killing myself or anyone else.
Anyway, last Saturday was our first IES day trip, to La Alpujarra, which is a mountainous area, which I think (wikipedia wasn't really clear, and noone from IES told me) that it's part of the Sierra Nevada. More specifically, we did a hike from the highest village, Capaleira, to a lower village, Pampaneira. Most of the ride there was gorgeous, until we got to the vertigo-inducing switchbacks and I had to close my eyes.
We were told beforehand that there would be two groups: one for an easier route, and the other for the difficult route. Due to past injuries, my own klutziness, and a desire not to make a fool of myself in front of my more athletic classmates, I decided to take the easy trail. 7.8 kilometers, including about 2 km of water and/or mud later, I realized that 'easy' is a relative term. It started out fine, though a little steep, as we made our way out of Capaleira. We stopped for water and a snack near a bridge, and then I realized that we were at the bottom of the valley between the mountains. Uh oh. We proceeded to hike up the mountain opposite the one we had walked down, which made me feel super out of shape.
Although the hike was difficult, it wasn't scary, per se. At least, not until the end. Do you see that faint line that starts about 1/3 of the way up the left hand side of the photo? Under the big patch of grass? That was our trail for the last 500 feet or so. It was a pretty steep drop to one side, and only a few feet wide, and slick with mud. I was tempted to sit and slide. Luckily, I made it all the way down without killing myself or anyone else.
When we finally made it to Pampaneira I went straight into a cafe and got some well deserved hot chocolate. Guess we should have read the sign before doing the hike:
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