Sierra Nevada Shopping

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A Mall to Remember

Reflections from Within

As previously discussed, shopping and fashion are some of my biggest hobbies and interests both at home and abroad. I had always wondered if Europe had similar shopping malls like in the United States, and I found my answer. On our last day in Granada, my friends and I took a trip to the Sierra Nevada Shopping Center and to be quite honest, it was one of the most amazing things I've seen on the trip. It was gigantic and had every single store and restaurant that you could ever imagine, almost like a dream come true for someone like me. We spent hours both shopping and people watching and I feel like I learned a lot about the local culture just by being there.

Reflections from Others

I wouldn't quite say that my friends are the same level of shop-a-holic that I am, but I think they were also in awe. I noticed that this mall was also one of the only places I've been to in Spain where a majority of the employees did not speak English, and this was something I very much appreciated. As a whole, we interacted well with the natives and I don't think we stuck out as tourists as much as we did in the beginning of this trip. That is quite an accomplishment in my opinion.

Social Reflections

As I mentioned before, this experienced helped me observe some things about the culture that I normally would not have been able to while just visiting local shops and tourist attractions. I got the impression that the natives here are very concerned with fashion and physical appearance and like to always be dressed appropriately, which is what we were told before actually coming on the trip. What does this say about the culture? Perhaps, everyone here is more concerned with physical appearance and beauty than in other parts of the world.

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