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.