Newest addition

To catch up, this past week I have been just really trying to absorb the Spanish culture. On Saturday night I went to see flamenco dancing in the Sacromonte region of Granada. We saw traditional flamenco music and dancing. The background was a live view of the Alhambra lit up at night. It was absolutely breathtaking and amazing to me that these people get to look out their windows at years of history every day. I have a video of it, but am trying to post it. For some reason it won't let me.

Recently I had a situation with my host mother. I woke up at 7:30 to take a shower before my 9 am. She knocked on the door before I got in and said stuff so fast that I didn't understand. My natural response was si, si. That just means yes. I tend to do that when I have no idea what is going on. I kept the water running and she came back saying, " corta la agua! corta la agua!" I knew that meat to turn the water off. Then she pointed to the sink faucette for me to use instead. I had no idea what was going on, but knew I wasn't gonna get a shower that day. Later I went to school to talk to others to find out that every day the people here need to turn their water heaters on and at 730 there aparently wasn't warm water in my apartment. It seemed like such a harsh way for me to learn this. I had to go a day with out showering. This story is my latest culture shock.

To look forward a little bit, this weekend I am going to Sevilla which is the capital of Andalusia where I live. Andalusia is one of 17 states of Spain. I hope to see alot, especially the grave of Christopher Columbus that is there. The weekend after that I will be in Morocco. I could so get used to this for the rest of my life, a new city or country to visit every weekend. More to say later!!

Making progress

So it has been a while since we last spoke. One huge moment in history occurred while I was here. That was the inauguration of Barack Obama. We had classes during the inauguration, but after we went to an Irish Pub here in Spain. This pub is rightfully owned but two irishmen from Dublin. They actually wore red, white, and blue tie dyed bandanas on their heads that said team america across the forehead. The Pub had a huge celebration for the new President where we saw tons of American students celebrating. A majority of them were from Chicago too. Not all Europeans approve of Obama, but I have never seen or heard celebrating like this for any other President. The next morning, my senora put on the tv and let me watch CNN in english. I was so thankful not to have to use my brain too hard for this one. It was about 3 o'clock in the morning Chicago time and larry king live was on. He was covering part of the inauguration ball. I felt good that I got to watch the action upfront and personal even if it was already past.

So two nights ago was the first hardcore night in the discoteca. What a lot of people do here is go to these around two in the morning. They don't leave until 6 or 7 and thats when after hours start. Bed time after a discoteca is not until 8 am. Americans have nothing on them. I had a great time last night, but needed to sleep pretty much the rest of the day. We went to a discoteca that is built out of the caves of the Sacromonte region in Granada. We danced and looked out at the Alhambra all night from the discoteca too. I just need to experience everything.

One more note to add about the food. Food is my hobby so I need to pass this on. When in Spain one must have a churro. These definitely are not your traditional churros from a carnival. This fried dough is handmade and dipped in chocolate. This is five star chocolate and needs to seriously be enjoyed. This picture is of mine from last week. These are usually served at tappas time around 5 pm at a chocoleteria.

This last picture is of jamón serano. Most families have a pig’s leg like this in their house. It looks totally gross, but when I get a bocadilla from my senora, this is where the meat comes from. It really doesn’t taste gross, it is actually quite fresh. As I stated in an earlier post, you can find these in a lot of stores or restaurants hanging too. If you go to a special deli or something these will definitely be there for sale. Its different, but its their culture. I’ll eat anything anyways.

First day!!

So today was my first day at CEGRI. It was a rainy day, and cold in this 500 year old building where I go to school. I have Literatura and Derecho which is law on mondays and wednesdays and cultura de Espana and art on tuesdays and thursdays. I feel very luck to do this. It still seems unreal to be walking next buildings that are older than the United States. I'm glad to be finally getting in a routine and learning from the natives.

I can check off one thing that I wanted because I got boots today. My boots cost me 30 Euro which is insanely cheep. Right now there are Rebajas going on until the 3rd of March. These are sales to clear out inventory for the Spring. Literrally everything is on sale. They are perfect because I need to keep myself warm with the constant changing temperature. I found them on my 25 minute walk to class. Only on mondays will I stay at CEGRI for the whole day. Every other day I have class in the morning and night, in which I come back for siesta with the family. This is why they are so thin. For dinner we had a type of chicken soup with ham in it too. We also had a type of salami. I swear their food was made for my appetite.

I'm gonna include this picture that is the background of my computer. Over the weekend we had a tour that took us to the Albacin which is opposite of the Alhambra. In the Albacin, people live in caves made in to houses where we were to take this picture. They now have electricity and running water, but 100 years ago they didn't. This picture is of the Alhambra at night. It was quite a breathtaking view.

Finally home in the pomegranate city

I finally made it with my family on saturday. Carmen, mi mamá, came to pick me up at my hostel. I pretty much have my own bathroom here, with a great size room, and a desk for my computer. I spent the day practicing my spanish and getting to know my family. The husbands name is Jesus, but they don't pronounce the s at the end because of their Andalusian accent. The little boy is named after him. Vanessa and Sandra are the two girls. We had siesta around 2:30 and the meal was great. This is usually their biggest meal of the day. They gave me a tour of the city and we went for tappas later. The rest of the night I watched the Spanish Disney channel with little Jesus. I slept great that night. Things are different living here because they conserve so much energy. Every time I leave a room I have to turn off the lights and unplug my computer when I'm not using it. Because there is no central heat we sit at a table in the living room that has a heater under the table and a blanket over the table to keep the heat in. This is where we eat and relax to watch tv. This is how we stay warm. Carmen is a great mamá because she knows whats important for me to be aware of in these first weeks. I noticed that when I say something in Spanish she repeats it back to me to help me learn. For example if I said, "I am going to shower now." She would say, "You are going to shower now." I talked to my friends in this program that are teachers because I figured it was a teaching tool, and they told me it is, and that it is called recasting. I feel very much taken care of.

Today we went to the Alhombra, the walk to get there was rediculous because the hill is so steep to get to the entrance. It is quite apparent that I haven't worked out in a while. However when we finally got there everything was beautiful. This used to be an enclosed Catholic city, but there is so much more history. Our tour was in Spanish at took about 6-7 hours. The views were breathtaking and made me realize that I really am in another country.

Today is my first day of school at CEGRI. I'm looking forward to doing it. Carmen will be walking me there at 8:30 tomorrow. I will come back for siesta and then go back to school again. I seriously hope that this will keep any cerveza pounds off of me.

Experiencing the Culture

This was our first official full day in Granada. After a long trip with a little lay over in Madrid I was so glad to have a day to chill out. The city is beautiful with huge mountains, bocadillas, lots of olive oil, and 50 degrees change in the weather every day. After having tapas, different cervesas, and touring the city I feel like my Spanish is slowly improving. The cool thing is that most people speak a little bit of English just like my Spanish. Together we speak two languages to get our points across. I can't wait to be able to speak in different tenses mindlessly throughout conversations. There are so many things that I want to expand on that it will be easier to in seperate blocks.

THE HOSTEL
We are staying at Hostel Athena. This place is more like a hotel. I am staying with 4 other roommates. Kelley Westerberg and Lindsey Kamowski are my sorority sisters, then Amy Iversen and Martha Parzch. This hostel has clean up service, a television, a ceramic bathroom with a windowed balcony. We are definately in Europe because this hostel even has a bidet(personal cleaning toilet).

THE FOOD
For breakfast I had the most amazing toast. It was a french bagette served with peach marmalade. To them fresh bread is common, wonderbread is expensive and a luxury. What an opposite for us. Breakfast is served with a cafe con leche. This is literally a shot of coffee with a lot of warm whole milk. Absolutely amazing. More to tell about the food as I try more, even though the bocadillas or little sandwhiches are good too.

THE PEOPLE
As I learned before about the dictator Franco in Spain in the earlier 20th century it is apparent the rebellion still taking place from the repression the Spanish felt before. I have been told how they are anti-war because their country suffered so much from civil war and wars in Europe in general that now it has been passed down that nothing is more important that staying out of it. Today other people in my program were awakened during siesta to a protest outside the hostel all down the street. After it was over there were still Policia covering the streets. These protests were against Israel for the war in the Gaza Strip. All over the city now there is grafetti of signs against anarchy and that the star of david equals the swastika. I feel that is such an intense claim to compare those two to the holocost. I also feel it is interresting how this is moving the Spanish people to protest against this war in this manner.
Besides this happening, a bit after siesta time today I was strolling with some other people in the program looking to find hairdryers. We stumbled upon one place where a man owned a salon with salon products. We all had a converstion with the owner in Spanish. He asked us where we were from, and after he found out he sort of mocked America as being the biggest "pais del mundo". Insinuating our obsession with being the best country and our only thinking of ourselves. He also mentioned Barack Obama and that his wife was muy fea, meaning ugly. I have known about peoples feelings against America, but whether sarcastic or not this man still had an opinion. This trip is opening my eyes even more.

Very first Post

Today is my first post and I have not yet left for Spain. It is a Saturday night and I feel weird thinking about what I will be doing next Saturday night. I think the thing I am most excited for is a relaxed atmosphere. The most strenuous thing I will be doing is learning a language. That seems like nothing compared to the past 2 1/2 years of school at U of I. Because I traveled to Ireland last summer for 10 days I feel like I know what to expect in backpacking through Europe. I'm ready for hostels, cramped showers, and never being satisfied with my hairstyle. However, all that is worth the feeling of not caring what you will need to do tomorrow or where to go on the weekend and meeting all the interesting people.

I found out about my host family that I will be living with. I had asked to live with a married couple first, then just a senora, and then a family with kids. I got my third choice, but I think I will like it. I'm really not nervous. I will be living with a family where there is a 23 year old girl studying psychology, a 17 year old girl who wants to be a hair dresser (she can help me with my hair), and a 9 year old little boy. After living in a house with 72 other girls, I know I will be able to handle this. After all, no pasa nada en Granada (No worries in Granada)!!!