One Week

Okay, so it has been one week here in Granada, Spain. It is weird, but it feels like I have been here longer. The first test that we took last Monday was to decide what level of Spanish we were in for our two orientation weeks. Last week and this coming is completely orientation. I have not started my actual classes yet, and depending on what level I test into, determines when they will start. But that isn´t until February. For this first week of orientation we have been on a tour of downtown Granada, the Albaicin (the older part of Granada where the military section used to be and the parents of the king stayed to be well protected), Sacramonte (the church for the kings of Granada), and the Alahambra (the summer palace for the kings of Granada). Then we have a couple hours after the tours to eat, check mail, study, and get necesary tasks done. At 2:30 we start orientation classes. They are usually classes that we do as a group to get to know the city, the culture, what there is to do here, what is rude or not rude here, etc. At 4 our spanish review classes start and go until 7. After that the rest of the night we are free. I have gone out for tapas or shopped during this time. This is the perfect time to shop in Spain because they have set dates where in every store there are sales. They want to clean out all of their old stuff to make room for the new season. I go back to the apartment, which is only a 15 min. walk from the school, and eat at around 10. Then at 10:30 I meet friends somewhere to hang out. This has been what this first weeks was like.

My senora is older. Grandma age (for the US) She has four daughters and the two middle ones live with her. I would guess they are about upper 20´s lower 30´s. Her oldest daughter is married and has a son, who is studying to be a doctor. He said that after he is done with finals (which last a month here, so until the middle of February) he can be my intercambio. Where we talk in English for a half hour and Spanish the next. Then my senora has a youngest daughter, who lives farther away. She has a daughter, Candela, who is 1. They are staying at the apartment right now.

This last weekend I went to the church here, and it was amazing. I met people from all over the world. They are so nice and welcoming. They have a youth group which consists of youth ranging from 15-30. There are a lot of american students that attend there, and also south american immigrants. I didn´t get a lot out of the message, becasue it was all in spanish, but once a month they have a english sermon. Graciela, a girl that went to Central and who now lives here, is in the band at the church. She introduced us to everyone and took us to the best tapas bar in Granada. It was really good. And it never fails, in every country that I have been in they always are like what is your name. Brittney. Like Britney Spears. -- Everytime!! oh well, if that helps them pronounce my name. They can´t say it at all. And I had a lot of people ask me if I dyed my hair. haha. Blonde is not a normal hair color here.

My señora

Hey everyone. So on Sunday I met my señora and her two daughters. It is just us living in the apartment. I have a little room with a window into the pantry. She is very nice, but when she gets really excited she talks really fast and I can´t understand her. Some things that I have noticed that are very different already is that their biggest meal is lunch and is eaten at 2:30. Everyone comes home for work and they eat it together. Then supper is not eaten together, but is eaten at 9 usually in the houses but if you go out it is not until 10 at the earliest. When they eat. You sit on sofas next to a table with a thick tablecloth. Under the table is a space heater. I love it, but the rest of the house is freezing!! The TV is usually always on when they eat. When we walk to school at 9:45 the stores are starting to open for the day. Another thing that Ilove is a thing called tapas. They are everywhere. I usually go to the tapas places to use the free internet. It is cheaper to buy a drink then to buy time in an internet cafe.
We had our first classes yesterday. On Monday we took a test to see for the next two weeks what Spanish review classes we were going to be in. The classes are pretty good. Nothing special. We have been on two tours of Granada now (all in Spanish). During class yesterday, we watched Obama´s inauguration. I think that there is just as much coverage of the US in Spain as there is in the US.

I´m Here!!

Hi everyone!! I left on Friday morning and everything went pretty uneventful. I slept most of the way!! I randomly sat by someone who had studied abroad through Central 20 years ago. He said that he still keeps in touch with the friends that he made there. When we got to Frankfurt it was so easy to get through everything. Then arriving in Spain, this was the tricky part, we had to find the metro, find our way through the metro, and then find a bus that was to take us to Granada. Wow, pullyin 80 lbs behind me and carrying 20 lbs and trying to fight your way onto the metro. I got a good workout there. There was the biggest ramp in history!! I about died going up it. Then we had to find our bus. It was a 5hr bus ride, but it went by fast. We got here and found a taxi to our hotel. This guy did not want you to touch his doors. They were all automatic, and he got really mad if you opened it or shut it yourself. At the hotel they put us at the very top. We had to lug our suitcases up three flights of stairs. It was another killer. When we went to go eat, we had to figure out the tapas thing. What it is, you order a drink and then you get food with it for everyone at the table. Didn´t know that, but luckily there were some people who could translate for us, and they helped us get food. Then we went to bed, and slept for about 14 hours. haha. I was so tired. Today we got our phones!! I will probably never use it, but it is required to have. It is absolutely gorgeous here. There are the mountains on the edge of the city, and it is 50 degrees here!! Amazing!! I love it here so far. I can´t understand everyone yet, but that will come!! And sorry no pictures yet, I´m at an internet cafe.

Last Day in the United States

Yeah!! So I pretty much spent the entire day packing for my trip today. I am totally done, and I had my own personal packing critic, Paige. She sat next to me almost the entire time "helping" me pack. I think that she will actually miss me. haha. It is weird to think that I will be leaving in 9 hours. I will not be getting much sleep tonight. I had a hard time getting everything in my suitcases though. It turns out that 50 pounds is really easy to get to. So hopefully it will be fine otherwise I will do some last minute switching at the airport. I am not looking forward to the traveling. Also, I ask for everyone's prayers for the trip. I know that it is really cold, even for the planes, so I hope to get there without any troubles!! And my mom was sick on Tuesday and I DO NOT want what she had while I am traveling. That would be the worst trip EVER then.

Okay, so I leave on Thursday at 6AM from Sioux Center. I will be flying out of Minneapolis to Chicago to Denmark to Madrid. Then get on a 5 hour bus ride to Granada, Spain, where I will be staying. I haven't started packing or looking to see what I need yet. I have all day tomorrow.