Settling into Granada

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We seem to have adjusted to life off the bike after some initial trepidation about how things would work out here in Granada. Although we had found a great apartment for a few days until Spanish school started, its location, near the very youthful Calle Elvira, was less than inspiring. Nothing against younger folk, but this street (which we have learned has really cleaned up in the past decade) seems home to an extraordinary number of dredlocked and pierced (and seemingly unemlpoyed) 20 somethings--and a lot of colorful graffiti. Not that it felt unsafe, but it wasn´t exactly inviting to walk around there, and after weeks on the road and mostly in the country where we are more comfortable, the city life and its crowds and tourists (and dog poop in the streets) wasn´t immediately inviting.
Some of this just took adjusting to (we are very good at watching where we step), and a lot had to do with learning our way around, developing a schedule, and finding places that became familiar once there once. This sense of place is especially important to Koby, who enjoys recognizing his surroundings and how it all fits together. This sense of being settled has been even more enhanced by moving into our school apartment for 3 weeks. We are in the Albaycin, the old part of town with its narrow and twisting streets, looking right out our windows across the valley from the spectacular Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance. We are only 2 minutes walking from the school, and with a kitchen of our own, we are all enjoying eating at home as a change of pace from continual eating out and the intrigue of unfamiliar foods. We even did some gardening yesterday--a bit of nesting behavior to both neaten up our small yard and to make the place more our own (and an activity to keep Manya and Koby busy while we studied Spanish).
Our classes here are very good; even the kids like their special class just for them. I am in level 2, which seems a big step from beginner, but that too (where Elaine is) is not exactly baby Spanish. Everything is taught in Spanish, so you learn a lot quickly. While my vocabulary and grammatical understanding and listening seems to improve rapidly, my speaking seems a struggle, especially in school where I know the teachers will correct mistakes. When traveling and required to speak, I am less reserved, but in class, I manage to make plenty of mistakes to allow the teachers a chance to give a lesson to the class on more correct Spanish. I imagine (hope) there are periods of exponential growth as we proceed (this is only our 3rd day of school). For now, though, this is a good place for classes as there are both language classes here and Flamenco dance and music, so there is an interesting mix of people and the culture of music pervades the school site to add a lot of color.
As we settle in, we are finding certain activities that provide some structure to our day. The highlight for Koby (and me) is playing soccer with the local kids in front of the church. This is a learning experience in many respects (I wrote more on this on the handheld computer), not the least of which is huge growth in his soccer skills. The kids are from age 10-16 who play, all on the stone courtyard (with old ladies crossing on the way to church and other kids riding bikes through the game), so you develop some pretty special skills pretty quickly.
Shopping for food in little markets also takes some time, as well as hanging out in our favorite viewspots (in addition to our porch) to see the Alhambra, the city below, and the big, slightly snowy mountains behind. At night, we have become regular viewers of the fine show, ¨Quien Quieres Ser Millionaire?¨, which I see as good language practice, as well as wathcing Spanish league football or Champions League whenever that is on (learning that Etoo and Ronaldinho are really magical on the field). We keep thinking we want to see Flamenco music performed, but this starts about midnight! and this seems prohibitive for us Vermonters. It is hard to figure out how Spaniards keep the hours they do (dinner at 10, staying out sometimes til 5 am, work at 9)--it is unclear when they sleep.
So it has been a nice change to be settled for a piece and get a feel for one location as home. The weather continues to be unusually warm here, which I guess is a contrast to New England from what we read. We look forward to visits from my parents next week and other friends right after that, with whom we will go to Morroco as well as Barcelona before heading to Israel.

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