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Published: August 3rd 2010
some class
before our tour of the Albaicin we decided to grab a shawarma and some drinks...we were almost late.Week 3…
over half way there!
This week has been a little bit more relaxed, which is nice. Classes are still going well, but not quite as intense as the first two weeks. Truth is I love the mentality of the teachers here is wonderful…the exam doesn’t mean so much as the fact that you have been here learning, so the exams are not too hard. What is hard is wanting to get all this information in my head but not having the time to do so. The work that is going to be the hardest is going to be my memoria, which I have now changed three times! Alas the life of a student. It will be a rough year coming up!
The classes I have had this week are:
Varieties in Spanish: basically where we learned about the different dialects and languages here in Spain alone. Spain speaks Castillian (Spanish), Catalan (sort of a mix of Spanish and French…sort of), Gallego (sort of a mix of Portuguese and Spanish) and Euskera (spoken in the north, Basque country). With each of these there are different accents / dialects / words for the various regions. It amazes me
Plaza Nueva
every building has character.Sometimes i just want a photo that a country can have so many different languages.
I also had the class of TICs, technology in the classroom. This class was good for some, but basically I learned to use youtube to teach a class. I was a bit disappointed, but I found some neat videos of Spain!!
I had a few days of Spanish lexicon, which was interesting to think of different ways to get students to think of groups of words rather than a list of vocabulary. Also to teach vocabulary in groupings (greetings, idiomatic expressions etc.) which I was happy to say made me feel like a good teacher because I already do a lot of that!
We also had a few days of Hispanic-Muslim Art. The teacher was a trip, but talked like a sailor! I learned a lot of curse words in his class along with a lot about the art. We talked about different spots in Spain that had a huge Muslim influence, and to an extent southern Spain still has many Muslims, especially here in Granada. The
Albaicin still has mosques.
Speaking of the
Albaicin, we also took a tour there Thursday night. We were able
to walk into actual Arabic baths from the 11th century! This was very neat to be in a building that 1000 years ago was a hot spot in Granada. The original Arabic baths were divided as so:
- Pool / welcome area outdoors
- The dressing (or undressing) room
- Cold water pool
- Luke warm water pool
- Hot water pool
- Room for heating the pool
There are holes in the roof to give light, but it also gives the idea of the heavens. The Moors (Muslims here in Spain) were very conscious of the heavens and the stars. It is impressive what can be built, and what has been built!
This weekend was full! Friday night I had the chance to hang out with a few ladies that I hadn’t really had the chance to which was nice. Our group is a very easy going group, meaning it is easy to hang out and feel included no matter who you are with and there are no “groups”, SO nice.
Saturday we headed to Almuñecar, which I had been to last year. (Check last year’s post to learn about it). We at cute little diner and did some
more friends
Denia with the smile, Marisol in front, Imelda and Kristen in the back shopping before heading to the beach. The water was wonderful!!! Upon returning to Granada, we made the decision to go to another beach that none of us had been to and decided on Motril…word to the wise, before buying a ticket to a place, make sure it is worth it!
Motril was an AWFUL beach. First, we decided to walk to the beach from the bus station because it was “only 30 minutes”…an hour and a half later of walking the outskirts of town we made it to the water. It was dirty and there were factories to the left. I so very much did not want to swim because it grossed me out. The rocks were much more difficult to walk on than the rocky beach of Almuñecar.
Between beaches, Saturday night, we went up to hang out at the
Mirador San Nicolas during the night to enjoy the
Alhambra at night. We were definitely a group of teachers, because we got to a point in the evening where everyone had to sing a song they sing with their students…it was ridiculous and people were looking at us like we were crazy! It was a lot of
my girl!
Summer, she rocks my socks off. fun though. Again, with a group of people that just randomly decided to go. It has been one of my highlights of this trip!
Well, week 4 is full of classes still, literature and movies! It may be a great week for me!
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mama
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AMAZING
i LOVE this photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!