Advertisement
Published: September 28th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Los Tres Reyes
Statue right by Plaza Real in Granada. Arriving in Spain was so exhausting! I arrived in Madrid and had already booked a hostel but needed to figure out how to get there 😊 I had directions and decided to take the metro, which was fun 😉 It was similar to the subway in NY in that it gets super crowded, but I got lucky and came when there was a bunch of construction being done and had to take a spiffy detour... Ended up on the verge of tears because I kept having to ask for help and they talked so bloody fast that they laughed a couple times when I didn't fully understand and then had fun walking around at night trying to find the hostal... BUT eventually (like an hour late) I made it! I was really exhausted and so I just plopped down on my bed and tried to relax for a little while and send a couple emails. Then I met a couple girls from our program- my roommate and her friend! It was great finally meeting my roommate! Ashleigh and I get on really well so that really helps when you are so far away from home!
The next morning Ashleigh and Jane
had to catch the train to Granada and I decided to take the bus (its cheaper and very interesting). Ended up missing the bus though 😊 Haha, quite the adventure! Had to deal with the metro again and go to a different station to catch a later bus. Its a 5hr bus ride so I pretty much just listened to music the whole time. When I arrived, I decided to take a taxi to my homestay since I had no clue where to go 😊 I was pretty nervous but my madre is really nice. She talks a whole lot, which is great practice for me 😊 The room Ashleigh and I share really isn't too small and so far its been a lot of fun. We don't really eat much for breakfast because our madre is getting up and getting ready for work when we leave for class so we usually just grab some fruit. Lunch is prepared for us the night before (and left out on the stove ALL night!!! Lord, I just don't get it!) so we eat when we get back from classes. Every week day pretty much everything closes down for the Siesta, which is
between like 2 and 5 so everyone can go home, eat lunch and take a nap. We then enjoy more classes and usually eat dinner around 9 or 10pm. Our madre doesn't usually eat dinner with us but watches us eat.. Its great 😉 haha. She says that she only eats one meal a day and isn't hungry for anything more. Sounds like my mom (except she's just busy and forgets... Tisk mom, tisk!) 😊
There isn't a lot of water in Spain so showering is always a blast 😊 The routine is to rinse yourself off really quickly (you hold the shower head, no where to hang it up), turn the water off and lather up. Then you rinse yourself off and turn the water off. Then you do the hair or what have you, but you rinse really quickly after that as well. And showering every day is not gonna happen 😊 I usually do every 2 or 3 days and its ridiculous in the winter.
Classes this last month have been Intensivo, which is 4 hours of grammar every day Mon. - Friday and 3 hrs of culture & Civilization every week. It was fun because its
Fuente
Ran into friends by the fountain! been over a year since I've had an actual grammar course 😊 Now I am super great in Spanish!
Our program takes us on AMAZING excursions all the time! So far we have gone to a little town called Ronda outside of Granada, Sacromonte, a tour of the Albaicin, La Alhambra and general neighborhood (Cathedral, fountains, etc)of Granada and Cordoba (about 2hrs away). Its all been completely amazing! The Mosque of Cordoba is the most beautiful and unique in the world and the Alhambra was almost (shoulda been!) one of the 7 wonders of the world- need I say more?!
I'm also learning to appreciate Granada a lot more every single day because I'm growing more acustomed to it. I'm getting to know the Language and the Culture a lot better and now I can really enjoy everything that Granada has to offer.
Brief note about Cordoba:
I loved it in Cordoba! Our excursion there was only for the day so I would love to go back soon, there is so much to do and see there! We went to the art museum of Julio Romero de Torres and then to Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, which has one
La Bella y La Bestia
Tapas Bar, called "Beauty and the Beast". of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen! We then went to the Mosque! This is actually the most beautiful Mosque in the world and the only one with a cathedral inside of it (the Cristians back then couldn't NOT spoil Muslim ground) 😊 It was very impressive. I really love the art. Muslim art within a mosque has absolutely no human figures because they believe that Allah is the only one who can create. They also worked very hard to have a paradise here on earth, in the magnificence of their gardens. After the tour of the Mosque, we went to an Arabe Bath! Yes! There was even a massage included! It was amazing to relax in the arabe baths and get a massage! The baths are in separate rooms for cold bath, warm bath and hot bath. There is also a sauna, which just makes me really, really, really miss going to Sweats (Native American Sweats, most amazing thing ever)! It was very relaxing.
There is also an arabe bath here in Granada that I am keen on trying at least once 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.052s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0326s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb