Coming to an end...

Right before coming to Europe in December, I had a plethora of ideas about my soon-to-be life abroad (most, I would soon find out, would be wrong). Sophomore year of high school I "studied abroad" in Cantabria for a month and much as I thought I could connect with my friends who had studied abroad during college, I had no idea.

One thing about Spain that I love more than any country is the culture. This country is so diverse it surprises me how it holds together. In Cantabria (the autonomia labeled in purple to the north of the map) the weather is very similar to that of what I'd imagine being Seattle (but colder during the winter). Everything is very green and the landscape is accompanied by large trees and hills it's also generally cloudy with a drizzle here and there that keeps everything green and, occasionally, people inside. The people speak a Spanish that is very similar to that which I learned in school as the western part of the region was controlled under the kingdom that became the most powerful and thus implemented their way of speech (i.e. modern Spanish is a result from their way of talk).
This semester I was very close to going to Argentina (due to cost and my obsession with their way of speech) however I ended up narrowing it down to Barcelona and Granada, neither of which located in Argentina. I decided Granada because I wanted to continue with my Arabic studies, the standard of life is vastly cheaper than Barcelona and the program offered a trip to Morocco. After being here for almost six months, I am positive that I made the best choice I could have. Granada, and Andalucía more vaguely, is what people think of when they think of "Spain". Andalucía is the most populated autonomia of Spain and the second largest. Much like the Southern United States, Southern Spain is an agricultural powerhouse (but also share some other things in common such as the highest birth-rates in the country, having a forma de habla [way of speaking] that is viewed as "uneducated" and having one of the lower GDP's in the nation). I've very much enjoyed my time here as people in Andalucía are much warmer than those anywhere else in Spain. I've also unfortunately picked up a little unwanted souvenir from my studies here as well: the accent. As much as I tried to resist, it was just impossible. A phrase such as: "Yo estaba estudiando allí pero tenía que ir a escuela al imprimir algo" has now (unfortunately) become "Yo ettaba ettudiando alla pero tenía que ir a eccuela a imprimi argo". Weird.

Regardless, I'm currently sitting in my room after just finishing a final with clothes sprawled throughout my room. I should be packing, yes. I should be working on my other paper, yes. However much that is the case, I cannot stop thinking about this experience. So instead, I'm listening to the most tacky (but SO awesome) club anthems that they play in the clubs here via Youtube. It's so strange having a retrospective on this entire 5 and a half months as it has changed me so much - I'm almost scared to go home for that reason alone. Since January 5th (which seems so long ago while at the same time feeling like just yesterday), I've never been so depressed in my life while at the same time I've never been happier. There are days when everything goes right: waking up to a happy Ana, going to school and following everything the teacher says, ordering a coffee and pastry and while waiting having a conversation with the waiter using subjunctive shortly followed by a pretérito plusquamperfecto. Then there are days in which I couldn't think of the word for something like coffee or something like that, I then get home and find Ana in a grumpy mood and while walking down the street I can't help but think that the 3 year old next to me speaks and will speak better Spanish than I could ever dream of. Another think I've realized about moods is how much weather actually dictates my mood. Fortunately for me, Granada just happens to be close to the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun).
...Pues...
There really is going to be so much I am going to miss. I never thought I'd say this, but I really will miss Ana. She's been lovely the past month. Perhaps it's the whole "distance makes the heart grow fonder" as I've been traveling like crazy and have only seen Ana maybe 60% of the past month. There isn't much wrong with our relationship I've come to decide. As one of my friends put it, "Could you really imagine after living by yourself in college for 3 years going to live with your grandmother... who just happens to be a SPANISH grandmother?!" I can tell I will really miss her, even though some of her "ideas" about certain things are abstract, talking with her and at times debating and defending what I believe in has really helped me improve with my Spanish speaking abilities.
I'm also going to miss the Spanish lifestyle a lot... however, at the same time I'm so READY to be back in the United States with our work ethic. A friend of mine here posted a Facebook status that I was thoroughly amused by the morning after we were at the club that overlooked the Alhambra until sunrise... As ridiculous as his status was, it described a lot:

i have mixed feelings about returning to a place where discos close before 8 am... and by mixed feelings i mean sometimes i like staying out until 730 in the morning but then other times i don't like staying out until 730 in the morning and right now those feelings are mixing together and so i have mixed feelings about returning to a place where discos close before 8 am...

Now in that quote you can replace the word "discos" with a lot of things. Along with the love/hate disco relationship, I have a love/hate relationship with: siesta (where everything is closed in this city from 2-4:30 or 5), domingos/Sundays where everything is close (perhaps from going out 'till 7:30 in the morning the night before), etc. I am, however, going to miss just how laisse faire Spain is. In the United States, I would never, EVER do the things I do here. Sitting on a park step drinking a 40 of Granada's provincial beer or other such activies. A friend of mine the other day even jokingly asked me something along the lines of: "Is it sad that when I see police I am more scared of sitting on the grass in the park than smoking a porro in front of them?" I'm also going to miss the "character" of Granada. The fact that this has been my life, walking through the old moorish streets on my way to school while on my way back home I see the towering mountains of the Sierra Nevada that still have snow on them despite the temperature reaching at least 85 degrees for the past 2 weeks. I'm going to miss la Universidad de Granada. It has such a strong student population (88.000 students strong) that really gives Granada its' charm. The nightlife is going to be something I'll miss a lot, too. Granada's "free tapas with a drink" policy is amazing and not to mention a cheap way to get full and tipsy :P
I'm also going to miss my friends here. Finally within the last 2 months I've fallen into the group I get along best with. It's a quirky group that always gets ridiculous and always has great stories the next day (i.e. "He's in the hospital... yes he's fine... no, he just got a bottle broken over his head for making fun of two people having sex on the beach" & "We definitely got kicked out of a shawarma place because she went behind the counter and was stealing the chicken shavings"). Haha, I'm sure I'll do one final post when I'm back in the United States making everyone aware of my culture shock, as having to drive again, be out of clubs by 2 and being able to drink (but having to show my ID each time) will probably take it's toll on me.

I'm not dead... Yet.

To any of you who even read this anymore, I’m sorry for my lack of “ambition,” I guess I’m not really following through the promises of my first post, am I? Since my last post I’ve done probably more than I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve been to North Africa, three islands in the Mediterranean and have gone through a ton of school (not to mention dealt with Ana). I figure what I will do is write about my escapades in the Mediterranean first, as it is still fresh on my mind.

As some of you may know-or not know-I went on break during Semana Santa to that the (not so) great island of Sardinia, Italy’s pride and joy. On this trip I went with travel buddy extraordinaire and recently-voted-illegal-English-teacher-of-the-year, Matt. We chose Sardinia in part because he didn’t want to go to Romania because that was too much of a “funny” trip (as his friends were already taking a “funny” trip to Moscow during Semana Santa) and the flight was relatively cheap. So with a few clicks of some buttons we purchased our tickets via Ryanair and made plans for our first few days in Alghero. Alghero is on the northwest end of the island with some amazing natural sights, one of which being Neptune’s Grotto. Unfortunately for us, Neptune’s Grotto was closed due to those winds (or what I’ve come to find out as Europeans referring to it as a “Hurricane”) that whipped through Barcelona in late January that resulted in some fatalities (and a delayed flight which cost me 65 more Euro for a train I subsequently missed). Unfortunately, Neptune’s Grotto was one of the reasons why we chose to stay in Alghero. So with that plan down the drain we were struggling for entertainment as Alghero is not a place you want to be for constant amusement. To make matters even worse, we had to pay for our hotel, called “Mamajuana,” in full the second day we were there – in cash only. I didn’t think anything of it and continued on my way until I needed to withdraw money from the ATM. Low and behold, it didn’t work (for many of my U.S. readers, you are probably asking yourself: “Why don’t you just use your credit card? I can use it everywhere here.” Well, unfortunately [or fortunately as I haven’t decided] many European restaurants, stores, etc. only accept cash). This, in turn, turned me in to Debbie Downer and Matt into something just shy of a sugar daddy.
Also feeding my disappointment in Sardinia was our previously mentioned hotel, Mamajuana. Matt chose Mamajuana with the best of intentions. Rough Guides did nothing but rant and rave about how great it is for the price and how quaint the café for breakfast is right across the street. The only negative if I can remember correctly was that the bathrooms were small, which they were. The first morning Matt and I wake up to stroll down stairs to get this delicious breakfast from the adjacent café. On our way we run into the Sardinian hotel worker (who was absolutely worthless) and a French tourist. The two are obviously having a slight misunderstanding being as the aforementioned hotel worker only speaks Sard while the poor French tourist who speaks: French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish is trying to create some common ground. Basically Frenchy, Matt and I all had one objective in common: to find breakfast. When it finally gets through the hotel worker’s thick skull that we were hungry, she points to a vending machine and starts pressing buttons. This was breakfast. It was stocked full of all of the Kinder Buenos one could ever want with a robotic coffee maker to boot. This was the cross-street café. As much as I would like to complain about this city, there were some positives. It is a quaint seaside town that has Spanish-style architecture and some great eateries. Two of which that I enjoyed the most were Lu Furat and Angedras. Le Furat is a tiny pizzeria tucked away in the side streets that is a mom and pop (and sons) kinda place. They have a wide variety of pizzas ranging from pepperonia and melone (not pepperoni and melon as Matt thought, but rather peppers and eggplant) to a salmon cream cheese and much more typical Sardinian/Italian fares. The pizzas here were also ridiculously cheap which resulted in us designating this as our food stomping ground. The other restaurant, Angedras, was situated right on the city’s seawall and was a little step up from the mom and pop pizzeria. The menus of the day came complete with a two course meal, bread and drink (Matt got his meat and melon finally followed by the swordfish while I noshed on gnocchi and squid).


After mishap after mishap (besides a little town called Bosa which was suggested by Rough Guides... I’d recommend going there, but not following their suggestions – get lost in the colorful alleyways while enjoying some gelato)

we escaped from Alghero to try our luck elsewhere on the island. We headed to the provincial capital, Sassari to test our luck there. After all, there was no where to go but up after the past days occurrences. Sassari was larger, more industrial but not as cute as Alghero. The hotel we were to stay at that night was like a five star resort after being in Mamajuana. The Vittorio Emanuele had nice décor, a REAL breakfast and comfy beds complete with a television. Also great about this hotel was the fact it was about two blocks away from where my parents wired me money. I owe them my life. After this day we head back to Alghero, with great caution I might add, to rent a car. Long story short, after a frustrating 4 hours, we finally had a car at our disposal (a Panda none the less) and I’ve never seen Matt be so happy. Our first destination avec car was to some of the islands’ Neolithic remains just north of Alghero which turned out to be neat, but not amazing. We then continued our trip up to Porto Torres (via Sassari which Matt did not like… I’m not sure why because I think driving around medieval streets during rush hour in a manual would be fun…) which we quickly abandoned since the city itself was just a giant naval yard that doubled as a maze.
Upon leaving Porto Torres, we headed to where we made reservations for that night: the Pinna Pensione at Castlesardo. Unfortunately we got there a little too late to enjoy the view right away, but in the morning we really got to see how lucky we were. This place was absolutely great! The most adorable old, Italian woman works there and not to mention our room looked out onto the Mediterranean and also the hill that the castle sits on overlooking the city. That day we got lost in the old city and I found a new friend (this cute little puppy!). After one night and a half-day in Castlesardo we moved on to Santa Teresa on the furthest north of the island. Before arriving to downtown Santa Teresa, we got lost on a tiny peninsula with some absolutely stunning rock formations. Personally I thought it looked like Gaudi’s playground.


A little scary, but we did not choose to make reservations at a hotel until our arrival in Santa Teresa, but it worked out for the best. We stayed at a hotel overlooking the bay and when it was clear Corsica was visible. In this city we did a decent amount of walking, some driving and a lot of drooling over traditional Sardinian cuisine. Matt and I managed to find this tiny bakery next to St. Teresa’s main church with seadas (a baked or fried pastry with ricotta cheese filling covered in honey or sugar) and smaller cookies. The rest of our time in the island really left a positive touch on this entire trip. On our way back to Alghero to drop off the car and catch our plane, we chose to drive a little more along the eastern coast and then drive through inland Sardinia (both of which were stunning) while stopping at a lake tucked between the rolling hills and eroding mountains to eat our picnic that we threw together at the supermarket.

My most recent Mediterranean vacation however consisted of spending time on the tiny archipelago of Malta. We chose to go here because I made it a point to go either there or Tunisia while I was here, it just so happened that Ryanair had 10Euro flights to Malta from Barcelona-Gerona and the cheapest flight I’ve seen to Tunisia has been in the mid to upper 200’s. Malta is a tiny set of three islands (only 316 square miles when all the land area is put together) but it has BIG personality. These islands, which have been at the center of a tug of war since prehistory, are a mix of almost every culture you can think of. Once a Phoenician settlement, then Roman, then Arabic, then Italian, then British, it is now an independent country (as of 1964) that houses people and buildings are not-quite-European, sort-of-Arabic but definitely-not-British. This island is home to a lot of interesting historical mysteries and “modern marvels”. The worlds oldest free standing building is on Gozo (~5000 BC) while the same island houses the third largest church in all of Europe (which was completely visible from the entire island of Gozo and easily 20 minutes inland on Malta). Gozo is also thought to be the island where Calypso, from Homer’s Odyssey, lived. Malta’s main island, Malta is not to be outdone by its sister island, though. The island and its cities (or rather every city was just a suburb of it’s capital, Valletta) all house beautiful and colossal churches and a sea of ochre buildings. The island also houses a number of Neolithic ruins like one we went to see called the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. This ruin was a lot different than what I expected. It is completely underground and carved out of rock. I wish I could insert pictures but cameras were forbidden as to not chance a quickening of the decay of the ruins. Tickets fill up about 2 weeks in advance, which we did not know until our arrival… so Matt, being the champion of traveling and history that he his got up on his OWN at 6:30 to go sit in line for the tickets for the following day at the noon “last minute tour” that has a price of about 20 euro instead of the normal 4.50 euro for students. It was definitely worth the 20 Euro though, I’ve never seen anything like it – and it is a world heritage site. After we left Hal Saflieni, we headed to the outdoor ruins of Tarxien. Note to any reader who is considering doing these two temples in a day: Do Tarxien Temples BEFORE hal Saflieni… it was quite a let down, but neat none the less.
-Another great thing I found out first hand is just how cheap this country really is. Their food is great; a mix of so many cultures, but definitely has its own Maltese flair. Pastries of ricotta cheese or peas called pastizzi or the sweet called imqaret (a nepolitana-type pastry that was a filling of dates, cinnamon and lemon) were around 0.25Euro to about 0.50Euro depending on the location. Not to mention most of the attractions comparable to those that would burn holes in my wallet back in Spain and mainland Europe accepted my ISIC card (which is rare anywhere I’ve been so far) which sometimes knocked down the prices of tickets about 50%. Another cheap “find” in Malta are its buses. This fleet of buses is a hodgepodge of buses ranging anywhere from 1960’s buses to ones built in the past 5 years. Cost for the majority of the bus routes which traveled to every corner of the island: 0.47-0.58Euro.


The first day we arrived at the airport early, about 9:30 in the morning from Gerona airport and were excited to start our day. We managed to do a lot, mainly thanks to our militant schedule and underlined/checked/circled guidebooks which included seeing all of Valletta (practically), taking a bus over to Rabat and Mdina to see the older settlements that could look out over the entire island as they were on a hill. Mdina and Rabat are practically sister cities – or rather Mdina is the old fortified part while Rabat is the more “modern” extension outside of the old city walls. There, we saw St. Paul’s catacombs, ate some great traditional pastries and walked into a pretty impressive church in Mdina. When we got back we kinda lazed for a while to make up for the fact that we got up around 5:30 for our flight out of Gerona. After napping, we realized yet again how luck was working with us: the delay by a day of the Malta International Fireworks Festival. It was supposed to realizarse the 30th of April to the 1st of May, which was sad as we were arriving on the 2nd. Somehow, due to a stroke of ENORMOUS LUCK, one of the barges wasn’t working at the time thus forcing them to push it back a day. Matt and I with eager eyes watched on as the Poland team shot fireworks off to the soundtrack of starwars (so great) while Australia shot off fireworks to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.

The next few days were pretty neat, we took a day trip to the sister island of Gozo by means of a 20-25 minute boat ride. Unfortunately it was a Sunday and the buses had awkward schedules which restricted us from doing what we actually wanted to do. We did however get to visit Gozo’s largest city, Rabat. Here we managed to see the large church I mentioned previously along with a nice old fortified city and locust, too!

In all, I was extremely impressed with Malta. It was something that I would have never been able to imagine or classify if I hadn’t gone. The language was beautiful. I left wanted to learn it but then realizing that the only upside to all the frustration of learning Maltese would only open up a job at the American Embassy in Valletta… which isn’t the most bustling city. Thinking about this past weeks adventures have left me starving some Maltese desserts.

Spring's Sprung! (Kinda)

First of all, I'd like to apologize for being neglectful spice. I've been on some whirlwind adventures the past few weekends which I shall account for in this post to my trusting and loyal readers.

Second of all, I hope I didn't jinx the good weather that we've been having with my title - last time I said that we left the cold weather behind a cold front moved on through leaving Granada freezing and soaking wet for a good week.

**my internet connetion is ridiculously slow so I'll upload pictures to go along with my antics soon-ish.

Where to begin? So much has happened. So I made my return visit to Sevilla with the AIFS program which was really great. Our hotel was a bit out of the way... but we happened to be right across the street from this amazing club called "Abril". I would highly, highly recommend it. Free entrance and a huge dance floor with really really good club music. The only thing I would advise against is getting drunk before you get there (I believe drinks there were 7-8 euro). Other than that we were basically a 30 minute walk from the downtown center (as opposed to when I stayed with the CofC program being a matter of minutes). It was nice though, I got to see the Alcazar as well which I wasn't able to visit my first time around and we had an amazing tour guide.
Sevilla, however, was not the first stop on our weekend in Andalucia Occidental. We trekked down to Gibraltar first! One word: Monkeys. Granted, the monkeys weren't the only awesome thing in Gibraltar (fish and chips, wind, the amazing view, signs in ENGLISH, etc. etc.) but they were definitely worth the visit. I had my hand held by one and then I was promptly slapped in the face a few seconds later as it wanted to get on the top of the van and saw my head as the perfect stepping stool. We arrived in an awkward fashion: we were dropped off on the "linea" separating Spain from Gibraltar from which we went through customs and then walked across the runway. We were then left to run around Gibraltar for about an hour to eat/do touristy things. During this time I found some amazing(ly tacky) post cards. Some with dolphins terribly photoshopped into the water and then another one with a scientific book sketch of a monkey superimposed on a drawing of the Rock (of Gibraltar). Needless to say I bought one and then got a real post card. We then got on these old old buses (similar to those I will be riding in Malta, it seems) to do a tour of the peninsula (but seemed much more like an island after what Franco put it though). Our first stop was Europa point with the Trinity lighthouse, the mosque and the amazing view of the Rock, the Atlantic ocean, the Mediterranean, Africa and Tarifa. It was really unbelievable. After that we then rode up to St. Micheal's Cave. This was extremely impressive, I wish I had some good fotos of it that I took, but they all came out blurry. Try to google it though. It was really fantastic. This cave, unfortuantely, was then followed by what our program director in her bad English accent calls "zeh maahnkees". Upon seeing these creatures I completely forgot about the cave until I got back on the bus for Sevilla. They were really great and some girl on our program even got attacked by one!! Dinner AND a show! Unfortunately we only spent a very, very short time in Gibraltar and then headed to Sevilla [see above].
After Sevilla we went to Cordoba which I was extremely underwhelmed with. It was all way too touristy and very, very small. Much smaller than Granada. Not to mention I saw not one. Not two. But three gypsy's breast feeding their children in practically the middle of the street. The ones who weren't had stains on their shirts.... gross. I know it's natural but. I don't know. For what it is worth, the Mezquita was very very pretty and I enjoyed my time in there. In all it was an awesome weekend.

Other things that've been going on have included:
-Not doing anything in the majority of my classes. I didn't know studying abroad would be this easy! The only class that I'm having major issues with is Arabic. But I think that may warrant it's own post when midterms come up. I've really lucked out on everything else though... most of my friends are having to write 3 page papers like every week. Know how many papers I've had to write? 1. Count it!

-The weather has been absolutely amazing. The sun isn't strong yet and I've actually gotten a good base tan for Spring Break! (Note: Said tan may or may not be in the form of a farmers tan). There has hardly been a cloud in the sky and the temperature has been hovering around 28 degrees C.

-I've signed up for my classes for next semester upon my return to Charleston. I finally have to face calculus even though I've avoided it for these past 3 years. This is going to be damn hard. BUT I'm also finishing my biology major with a semester to spare. I'm taking Cell Bio lab, Parasitology, Intro. to Environmental Studies and then some tacky philosophy class that counts towards my envt. studies minor. It's only 15 hours. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.

-I'm going to Morocco and Western Sahara this weekend! I'm so so so so so excited I can't even begin to tell you. I leave at 4:30 in the morning on Thursday and then get back Monday during the evening. I'll make sure to take a lot of photos. If you want to preview where I'm off to: Tangier, Meknes, Fez and Laayoune. I'm also excited to try and practice my Arabic, which will be extremely difficult because of the drastic differences of dialect. Meh. After that I'll have midterm week and then I'll be off to Sardinia with my (practically) tour guide, Matt! All in all I'm very excited with what is to come, not to mention we're below a month now for the countdown for my 21st. Sure it may not be important here, but yall back in the states feel free to make an excuse to drink heavily.

That's about all I have patience for. I got back from the clubs last night at 7. Err.. I guess that would make it in the morning. Regardless. I then woke up at 10. But at least I got some tostada out of it. I am such a tostada feind.

Stay tuned for fotos. I cannot spell. I'll need English lessons upon my return.

Because I'm entitled to.

Thing 1 and Thing 2.
...I'm not talking about these guys.

Thing 1. I know I complain about my senyora enough and I do really love her company. But enough is enough! Today I got home from class around 1:30 to Apartment 3e smelling like delicious paella. Needless to say, I was pumped. I greet my senyora and say how great it smells and then walk to my room to put my stuff down while replying to her, "Ran (the closest she can get to my name), Quieres comer?!" I quickly put all my things away and hung my jacket to dry and go to sit down. Soon after sitting down I realize that she had made a ridiculously large amount of paella and salad. I knew this was bad news for me as Ana, being Ana, doesn't eat. So I get a serving of paella for myself which I finish and grab about three more spoon fulls, which barely puts a dent in the paella from hell. After she realizes that I've moved on from the paella to the ensalada she takes a look at the paella bowl and gasps. I knew I was in for it. This then releases the drama-filled flood gates that is Ana Manzano. She goes on how she never makes paella for just two people because it seems like such a waste, but she loves me so much and likes that I enjoy it. Continuing on about how it's so extremely time consuming and that it costs so much money for her to make. I'm furious right now and am trying to rebut to the best of my ability but am inevitably losing the battle. I've told her on numerous occasions that I do not need to eat what "other boys" in the house have eaten. I've told her that I, unfortunately, last semester lived off a sole box of bran flakes for 5 days. I've told her that she doesn't need to spend money on food of the "highest quality" for me. Unfortunately, my senyora is turning out more and more to being the equivalent of a Sith Lord. She refuses to listen to me, while still wasting so much money on food (apparently) and making a ridiculous amount. I feel like I'm twisting all my sentences now in a bad-English induced rant. I'll move on to Thing 2 now and leave this alone.

Thing 2. I'm planning an awfully ballsy escape while in Morocco. I'll leave it at that just so that my plans remain confidential and that the AIFS program and the Algerian secret service have no solid evidence of my super-secret plans (whoops, I let it slip!!).

Impulsive Rhythm Nation

I would always like to think of myself as someone of a rather exciting nature. Oftentimes, however, that is just not the case. I’m rather not as spontaneous as I would enjoy being and I do like sticking to a plan (even if said plan is just time marked out for “wandering around” time). Incognizant, I seem to have been working on this lack of excitement that I’ve always desired to have. I have, with in the last three weeks made a few “last minute” decisions that I would otherwise never find myself doing. One: Cadiz. The other: Sevilla.

Now as I last left off, I was toying with the idea of going to Cadiz for Carnaval. This trip was composed of a 20 Euro round-trip-over-night-bonanza that was bound to be anything but uneventful. I later realized I would never, ever be more correct in my life. Between not wanting to be a stick in the mud, almost choosing Cadiz to study in and the wise words once spoken to me by a former professor wise beyond her years which went a little something like, “Go to Cadiz... it'll be more blogging material than you'll know what to do with. That is a big PRO,” I chose to march my way over to the travel agent and demand my ticket to Carnaval. To my dismay, they were sold out. I then convinced the man, who, smoked at least 6 cigarettes during our conversation and picked up the phone at least two times, to take my name and number and let me know if any “plazas” opened up. Fortunately enough for me, one did! So, easy as that I was off on my way to Carnaval in Cadiz. Dressed as an Indian (Native American), no less!
I also recall from my last post of predicting a number of terrible things. Going back reading it now, there was no fallout between friends, no one missed the bus, and no one (to my knowledge) got in a fit about there not being enough to do (because there was entirely TOO much to do). Some people did however: got mugged/pick pocketed and had to go to the hospital (not me, phew!). Lists of injuries included falling/walking on broken glass and a 40oz. Cruzcampo bottle to the face. Noice. Unscathed, I am able to have a rather positive outlook on carnival despite a few hours that are still not entirely clear to me. I managed to lose my costume (?) and get myself a couple of sweet bruises the size of Texas on my hip and shoulder. In all, everyone had a great time and thankfully everyone made it back.

As for my latest stint into trying to make myself content with my level of excitement had come hand-in-hand with a visit of the College of Charleston study abroad group and a few teachers I thoroughly enjoy (no, I don't mind stroking y'all's ego since you both happen to be avid, or so I hope, readers). The group was in the middle of their Tour de Andalucia when it landed them in Granada. So of course I am not going to pass up the opportunity to hang out with some awesome people and show them some of the things to do around town. Their last night in Granada, I was invited to Sevilla with the group. Now, this was after three glasses of wine and a few beers, so I of course said, "Sure, why not?!" I soon left the group so that they could get their beauty rest and I could make it to the club "Mae West" for a few moments for my friends birthday. The next, quite groggy morning I realized what I had agreed to and was shocked. Not only had I not followed my programs rules by letting them know the exact whereabouts at every given second of the moment I step foot out of downtown Granada, but I had also agreed to a not-so-small weekend vacation. Regardless, I had the time of my life. Everyone in the group from CofC is so unique and brings their own "flair" to the group. Not to mention both of the professors keep everyone ridiculously grounded. So awesome and definitely mad props you two.

As for everything else that is coming up in the near future, I'm having Sevilla: Round II this coming weekend. I've been designated "Tour Guide" as I am one at school and am now, apparently, an aficionado of Sevilla (who knew?!). We're also going to Cordoba during one of the days, Gibraltar and then finally Tarifa. I'm very, very excited. And things should be rather calm. Hopefully. Then I get a weekend off and then I'll be off to Morocco! I'm extremely excited about this trip and really thrilled to put my Arabic to use. Then following that I'll be off to Sardinia for a fun-filled European Vacay with my host family (practically) in Barcelona.
I'm also looking for one more trip to take, I'm trying desperately to make it to Prague to visit my friends Emily and Jenna, but it's looking more and more impossible. Damn being in Granada (just kidding I love you)!

OH! Before I forget. My first Junta de Andalucia bus ride was today. It definitely merits some sort of discussion. First and foremost, I wish I was lying about this entire experience. So CofC and friends leave the Hotel Catalunya Giralda at about 12:20ish in the afternoon which allows me to get lost in Sevilla and discover a few nooks that I otherwise would not have found since my bus left at 2:30. I go to the bus station and buy my ticket with the 20 Euro I have left to my name until I returned back to Granada. So this left me with .20 Euro for food (and we all know how much I LOVE food) so that kinda stunk. So I end up sketching in my sketch book and reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (which I am not too impressed with) to keep me busy and keep my mind off the fact that I have no money in the rare, but likely case something were to happen which required money. When I get on the bus, the seats aren't numbered even though there are assigned seats on our tickets. Everyone on the bus realized this and let it affect them to a minor extent. Two people, however, were extremely distraught by this "shake up". This old man and his wife are some of the last to get on the bus (not to mention the lady right next to me smelled like she had not showered in years) and they cannot come to terms with the fact that the bus has no numbers even though they were assigned numbers. The old man then stops to a 20-something year old man right behind me and demands that he move because these seats must be his. The boy gets into an argument which then sends the older man (I'm guessing 70's). Up to the bus driver to protest. The bus driver then tells the older man that there, in fact, are no numbers on this bus and that he just has to do the best finding a seat close to his wife if they want to sit together. Long story short, he makes a person move so that the old couple may sit together. Strange occurrence number two: a seemingly homeless man had somehow made it on the bus and had thrown a jacket over his head in an attempt, I'm assuming, to appear asleep and that the conductor wouldn't mind him. The girl right next to the man with the jacket over his head goes up to the front complaining about how the man next to her smells and is wearing no shoes. The bus driver then gets up again and removes the man from the bus. Fortunately, the 2 hour bus rude went by so smoothly UNTIL we get to Granada. Our bus driver (who must have been a last minute replacement) drives by the exit for Granada. He pulls off the carretera and then heads back to the exit that he just missed.... and ends up missing it again. I wish I was joking. Finally, after the entire bus yelling directions we made it to the Estacion de Autobuses in Granada in one piece (and unfortunately it's about an hour and a half walk away from my house here). Regardless I ran across some absolutely gorgeous parks and buildings that I did not know existed before my forced march back to Calle Rey Abu Said.

What do you get when you...

...cross a Southerner who hasn't much seen snow over half an inch in his life with a bad Madrid snow storm??

SNOW BUNNY


Everyone was on the bus still for the most part being grumpy about the snow ruining our days activities and ranting how "Ugh, I see too much snow all the time."
Well you know what. Grant - 1, Northerners - 0. Time flew by real fast, too (all 7 hours of being stuck on the interstate) :).

Nom nom nom.

Unfortunately my first class, Islamic Culture, was cancelled today which ruined any hope of me actually wanting to go to my Varieties of Spanish class. See, the thing is, I need the "high" of the Islamic Culture class to carry me through the Varieties class, especially on a day like today when it's cloudy and dreary after it's been so beautiful for a week.
This cancellation (and lack of desire to sit through a class that I had huge hopes for) has unfortunately opened up time for me to read, draw, think and mope. It has also given me time to partake in my senoras power trip (helllllz yes!). There are 3 others staying with us this week, 2 British boys and a French girl. I'm lead to believe they're all 16 or 17. Fortunately, as resident resident at this household, I'm treated with just a slight amount more of respect and given a little more "special treatment" than the others who just come for a week or two. So I get all the gossip and even some power trips that are handed down to me from the head matriarch of the family, Ana Manzano Arellano. 'Cause after all, I am her nino.
To highlight, when I came to the house, there were some advisory notifications posted here and there throughout the house. All in Spanish for obvious reasons. Some of which included, but I'll paraphrase, "Showers need to be quick as there is little hot water for all. Keep the bathroom clean. No showers after 22 hours," "Closet doors need to stay closed when not in use (This one makes me feel like I'm in the house portrayed in the others)," and last but not least, "Leave nothing in your rooms plugged in when not in the house." However, with this new batch of younger students (let me assure you dinners consist of us sitting there looking at each other and feeling ridiculously awkward [Please see Will Ferrals SNL skit where he mentions the Dodge Stratus]. One of the British boys, Oliver, will respond and actually make conversation but the other Brit has no knowledge of Spanish and the French girl has responded in French 80% of the time), I have been given the responsibility to rewrite each sign and then translate it to English and French (I'd love to see my signs end up on some French website of bad translations). I also get to hear about a lot of the gossip. Some of the hot topics between Ana and myself include: one of the British children coming home last night wasted. Ha. So that's been a big deal for her and must therefore be a big deal for me. Also, the French girl being extremely needy and, "even more wasteful than most of the American's I've had here." To which I had to bite my tongue and then use it as an excuse to throw in some awkwardly worded patriotic remark.
So with all my signs written and without further ado, I get to focus on my real draw to Blogger: my grumpy "weather induced" rant/retrospective. First and foremost: Friends. Now, for most of you who're reading this, you had the pleasure of not knowing me as a child. Many of you had the pleasure of meeting me in College (which henceforth will be known as the "Wonder Years"). Many of my social skills, or lack there of, stem from often the most traumatizing years of a child's life: middle school. Without going too far into it, I was awkward. Which isn't too hard to imagine being that I'm a science major (I blame this for the social awkwardness) and had almost chosen to design school if it weren't for my father saying no (I blame this for the slightly autistic self - think the gay brother from wedding crashers). And being how middle school is, fat & awkward = no friends. Thus, leading to my awkward issues today with making friends, I thought I escaped it but it's striking back here in Granada (I thought I had escaped but is obviously still hanging on somewhere). In part my distance away from everyone in my program in Granada, I still feel partially "meh" to everyone here. I know during your study abroad months, people say that you'll make friends faster than you could ever dream, which I don't doubt (the second day in London my best friend here asked me to share her Starbucks, inseparable ever since, awwwe) but at the same time I keep examining the relationships I have here with people. I, by no means, am a "solitary" person. I would much rather be with someone even when not having to communicate (i.e. watching a movie or something). Something about another, familiar body is relatively relaxing. But more often than not, I am choosing to go off by myself, take a run by the sad excuse of a river here in Granada or stroll around looking at the absolutely stunning examples of graffiti here. It's strange, the vast majority of people here are not people who I'd hang out with in Charleston or in Atlanta.. or maybe I'm just keep telling myself that? But as for my effort to become more "involved" I'm planning on doing much more with the group. This weekend a large number of people are going to Cadiz which sounds like a lot of fun, but a lot of trouble. This is why: 1) It's an overnight shitshow 2) There is NO lodging 3) No one has experienced Carnival before.
We basically get on a bus Saturday morning and then get on a bus back Sunday afternoon. This could be bad for a number of reasons. And from what I've seen with the group we have I'm convinced someone/people is/are definitely going to be mugged and/or lost. I'm also positive at least one of the following will occur: a major fight between two bff's, someone will get WAY to drunk and either miss the bus or cause aforementioned fallout, people will get angry because they expect Carnival to have activities at every waking moment and find out that an all-nighter isn't always a good idea. Especially in a city no one is familiar with.
Regardless, the bus ticket there is 20 Euro... and it's basically due by today, so I'm going to do some major pro's and con's. Money is becoming such an issue. Ugh.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:
-I've been sent a package by my parents that arrived while I was away in the whirlwind adventure to Madrid, Germany and Barcelona. I got two issues of Discover, one National Geographic, Swedish fish and tootsie rolls.. I don't even like tootsie rolls?
-Four day school weeks are so ridiculously amazing. What is College of Charleston doing wrong?
-It was 19 C today!! To bad I had the chills (soon to be explained in "The Bad" or "The Ugly" - I haven't decided.
-None of my classes were canceled today - and my Cultura Islamica en Espana and Practica Oral y Escrito looks extremely promising (he's already planned days for us to "dar un paseo" around Granada, Get Churros (Interestingly enough [supersidenote] churros in Catalan is Xurros), and then get tapas... during class time. Ballin'.
-We have to leave for Semana Santa, Places actually doable include: Romania (the cheapest option, but so weird and sooo post communist), Sardinia (and maybe Corsica!), Venice or Rome andddd finally Lisbon. Any suggestions?

The Bad:
-Paying 40 Euro for a doctors appointment to hear what I had already diagnosed myself (i.e. a viral infection).
-Actually giving in to going to the doctor to buy what I could have on my own. And now having my senora dance around me and my bruised ego saying "Te dije! Ahora sabes que es mejor a escuchar a tus mayores!!" My pride is wilting at an alarming rate.
-Not being able to combat my senoras anti-American slurs and I told you so's to the best of my ability is really getting to me. By April I'm making it a goal to practice my debate skillsz.

The Ugly:
-If it looks like EmergenC, smells like EmergenC and vaguely tastes like a Spanish knock-off of EmergenC would.. it probably acts the exact same way AS emergency. Especially if they advise that you take 4 packets a day. A day. If you catch my drift.

Pelicans are Spaniards

I'm back in Granada after what seems to be a seemingly long hiatus. I've been up to far too much while at the same time far too little. I've been quite the traveler the past two weeks - and quite proud of myself for really getting a grip on traveling and finding loop holes in most European traveling establishments (which, for the most part, are extremely greedy and frivolous). First off, I've finally finished my intensive Spanish class that lasted a good part of January. I did quite well in the class (not to "toot" my own horn, but I got a 9,7 out of 10). I will genuinely miss my two professors, however I will miss Carmen much more than Montserrat.
After our intensive classes ended on the 28th of January, we were then free until the 10th of February (I've just realized how awkward thar 'r' is between the b and u). Regardless, our program had a group trip planned to Madrid from the 30th of January to the 2nd of February. This trip definitely had it's ups and downs. We got into the Prado, Reina Sofia and the Royal Palace for free, had my first Mexican food experience in more than a month (and it was sooooooo good), had our boat hijacked (boatnapped?) by a group of Germans while in one of the parks and partook in a number of hotel parties. I also managed to see La Duda (Doubt) while in Madrid. It was so great. Our program had also planned day trips during our stay in Madrid to El Escorial, Segovia and Toledo. Unfortunately, as I have said over and over again, Spain is having a strange winter which obviously spells disaster for us. These day trips were no different. On our way to El Escorial and Segovia it started to snow ridiculously hard. This then lead to a closing of all highways in and out of the mountains - unfortunately leaving us, well, stuck on the highway for 7 hours. Although this was a little (fine, a lot) miserable, I did manage to 1) build a snowman on the side of the highway 2) learn every card game imaginable. Toledo the next day was absolutely fantastic. I'll see if I can manage some pictures on here...

The Germans who commandeered the boat

The Glass Palace
The day following my return to Granada met with a lot of surprises and angry airline employees. I left for the Granada-Jaen airport at 5:25 in the morning for my flight at 8:15. I then had a layover of a lifetime in Barcelona for about seven hours. Fortunately, Barcelona has a entire shopping mall in their airport which was both great for distractions and bad for my wallet. Another bummer was the fact that my plane was delayed (ultimately leading to me missing my train in Frankfurt and dropping another 58 Euro). None the less, I finally was able to make it to Goettingen that night where I'd spend the next few days with my friend Bianca. We also had a trip up to Hamburg the last night I was there. That was definitely a treat. A lot of hookers with fanny packs, what could be better?

One side of the Reeperbahn
The same day I was in Hamburg I then took a train back to Goettingen, then another train to Frankfurt and then finally my flight to Barcelona where I would force friends to play host and show me around "their" city. The first night consisted of going out to the cheap restaurant which didn't have such terrible food, but rather terrible service. The waiter, who Americans abroad affectionately call Frankenstein, took the two others orders and decided that I didn't need to eat. Fortunately my friends got his attention again so that I could order. After asking for an empanada and partially murmuring the word "Lasagna" the waiter walked away again. Long story short, I did finally eat that night. The next day I made my host show me around to Parc Güell and the Sagrada Familia. I then also got caught-up in some flash mob sorta thing. Regardless, it was good being with someone who was familiar with the area, because upon my return I learned that another group of friends who went to Barcelona had a series of unfortunate events (from being mugged to getting separated at clubs). And for what it's worth, I brought a lot of experiences back with my and a ridiculous amount of memories.
I also "started" my semester today. I'm in theory taking 5 classes: Variedades de Espanol, Cultura Islamica en Espana, Practica Oral y Escrito, Cultura y Civilizacion de Espana and Arabe. Now, I have my Arabic placement exam tomorrow, but from the looks of it I might not be taking the class as the past semester the class was at 8:30 - 10:30 at night. Sick. I only have one class on Mondays and Wednesdays (Civilizacion y Cultura), and ironically enough my first class of this semester was canceled due to my professor being in a meeting. So I was able to leave as soon as I had arrived and head to the Farmacia to get some drogas to help combat this little fever and sore throat I've managed to pick up. Speaking of being sick, my senora has finally cut down on the food because I haven't had an appetite - COULD this finally be a way to do some damage control on the ridiculous amount of food I get?! One could only hope. I'm telling you though, I do sorta miss being a starving college student.

Late Night Internet Stealing

It's so great to have internet while in bed (granted it takes 8 minutes to load a page and I'm constantly being dropped)!! But there's a few things I've been thinking about lately. Some thoughts serious, the others... well, not so much.

First and foremost: Movies.
Walking my 30 minute walk to school everyday the city of Granada's entertainment people have just installed a gigantic red carpet down the main walking stretch of Granada. Flanking the carpet about every 15 ft. is a movie poster of every Audrey Hepburn movie every made. Turns out for the next week and a half (and this happens every year) the city of Granada celebrates "Constelación Audrey" - a movie festival of all of her movies. Now, I know that Audrey is considered an amazing actress.. but how can Spaniards (or anyone that doesn't speak English for that matter) enjoy her or appreciate her fully if she's being dubbed over? I imagine the respect I have for actors/actresses is partially due to their demeanor of talking, but I've never much thought about it. I also imagine this respect being somewhat ruined if said actor has some random Spanish voice actor dubbing their voice (and yes, trust me, Spanish dubbing is by far one of the world's worst right after the Chinese dubbing of the chorus in "Girlfriend" by Avril Levine) So basically, what I am getting at is: How can people really, completely "appreciate" (in the raw sense) an actor if they're only getting the visuals? - Also, another side note, does the same person who dubs, say, Brad Pitt, always get to be his voice-over guy? Anyway, I think I'm going to try and see a few of her movies during this festival before I leave for my trips on Friday.

Also, a topic of interest has been my homeless night. Now, I'm not going to spend my time retyping it, as I gave one of you lucky readers a preview. This fantastic reader was my (ex)roommate (that sounds so harsh??) Chelsea. So basically I'm going to copy and paste what I had written to her. NOTE: the grammar will be more terrible than it usually is as I was enjoying Turkish tea and a crepe while at an Arabic Teahouse.

Long story kinda short- my senora kinda rents out her house to people who're staying in Granada for like 1-3 weeks to just kinda stay somewhere while they study (apparently europeans only "study abroad" for that long). But anyway we had a guy named Pascual from France stay for a week and on Friday night he locked me out (we have three locks on the door and I have 2 keys for the door and the last one you're supposed to lock as the last person coming into the house.) Well, I go out to the discotecas and get back home around 4:30. Pascual has locked the unlockable lock. So i try ringing the doorbell but no one responds. So I basically just end up freaking, walking around the city in the rain, getting a shawarma (their equiv of like.. pita pit [maybe you had one in Istanbul or Czechishy?) and then giving up and sleeping underneath the stairwell of my apartments stairs.

Lovely.

Regardless, Granada is going really well. It's so much of what I expected while at the same time being so completely different from what I expected... if that makes any sense at all? I'm making friends outside of my AIFS program while also forming my own little niche in the AIFS program.

My senora is crazy and dramatic and I love (most) every second of it. We've moved fast - I was told that calling your senora "madre" takes time and a lot of patience, but that was all I wanted. I had some obsession with the challenge of getting my sra. to warm up to me enough that I could jump in for the kill (or in this case, to be able to murmur the word "madre" to her face). This, however, EXACTLY two and a half weeks later has been accomplished. She's been calling me her "nino" for the past week or so (you best believe I've been killing her with kindness) and today I called her madre whilst eating lunch (lunch, or food even, will be talked about in the next bulletin) in response to a "Ay mi nino ..." comment she made. Needless to say she shot up out of her chair and gave me a big ol' Spanish hug. And then kissed my forehead. SUCCESS!! (Or shall I say, EXITO!!)

Now, my friends here all know the food deal. I do not doubt that the Mediterranean diet is one of the best in the world for you, but I'm assuming when people say that they are talking about moderation. Ana, my senora (o madre, quizas), is obsessed with feeding me more than I've ever eaten in my life. I have told her on a number of occasions that the food she makes me is great, but is enough (especially because she, along with everyone elses senora, only eats lunch??) to feed a small nation - I believe the nation of Haiti would be a good comparison. I've started to be "rude" and not let her be satisfied (and me extremely dissatisfied) by not eating everything that she gives me just for my health's sake. I've been running more than I ever have in my life and I'm pretty sure I've gained cerca 10 pounds. Lately I've been pulling the "Ay me duele el estomago" card. I've at times even had to wrap up food in a napkin and then throw it out later (others at homestays are doing the same thing.. we had something similar to an AA meeting [what I'd imagine one to be like] for being over-fed yesterday). Not to mention (IF YOU'RE FAINT OF HEART AND HAVE A WEAK STOMACH DO NOT READ UNTIL NEXT PARAGRAPH) digestion here is the pits. Everyone's been so grumpy because no one has been able to, how do I say nicely, pass their food (see: shit) on a remotely normal basis. Some have chosen laxatives while others have just chosen fasting here and there while drinking ridiculous amounts of cafe con leche (I've chosen the last). If anyone wants to send me activa or something like that - please, feel free.

SPEAKING of sending things. If anyone would like me to write them, send postcards - whatever - just send me your address (facebook it to me or send the address via email to grantecutler@gmail.com)!! I'd love to and I think it would be something constructive for me to do rather than just sit around for hours on end waiting for a page to load. Also, if anyone would like to send me anything my address (not where I live but the programs office is:

Grant Cutler
Plaza del Campillo 2
Edificio Macia 3*E
Granada, Spain 18009

I think that's good enough for now. But I hope things are going well where ever you may be reading this!

Spain is getting stranger and stranger...

Good news: I'm alive.
A LOT has happened as of late. And as y'all should know - I hate structure so I'll be typing in bullets and maybe (hopefully!) adding in some pictures to this post.

First and foremost, I'll recap what has happened this weekend, as it merits discussion.
As you may know by now, people here do not go out to tapas until maybe 11:30, bars until 12:30-ish and then discotecas until 2:30-3. So Friday afternoon I decide that since this is my last weekend in Granada until early Feb. (AIFS has a trip planned to Madrid next weekend and then I'll be traveling to Germany to see Bianca and then Barcelona to hang out with Matt and the Sagrada Familia) that I am going to go all out this weekend. Well - Friday night rolls around and I get locked out of my house - long, long story.. but I was for the first time homeless! And let me tell you.. I did not enjoy it one bit. It was cold, wet, etc. True Life: I also slept in a stairwell.

Anyway, on Saturday after one hour of sleep we went on a hike through the Sierra Nevada's foothills. Even though my back was sore from sleeping on the cold marble, I was a champion - it was a 5 hour hike and the views were AMAZING. absolutely stunning. Here's just one of the pictures - I'll have larger ones on facebook soon though.


Then last night, in short, I managed to get us into one of the clubs for free, get three drinks for free, and then get kicked out of the club... for free? In my defense, I had NO idea where the men's bathroom was so I just ended up using the woman's. Bad idea. But at least the bouncer was nice about kicking me out and at least now I know where the men's bathroom is.

Regardless of my weekend adventures, I'm almost done with my intensive class. Our test is on Wednesday and then we're having a Movie/Churro day on Thursday! Yay!
I've been really enjoying my witch/porn-star teacher as of late. She's really laissez-faire about everything. I convinced her, after briefly talking about how the Centro de Lenguas Modernas building was haunted, to let us watch the movie: El Orfenato the following day. She's really great and 10 times better than Montse (Sorry Montse!) will ever be.

Internet is still hard to come by, I wish I could be more thorough with this blog... but I've typed so much to my mother that my hand's about to fall off. But I guess this will leave you wanting to know more of that's going on in my life? Does anyone even read this, anyway?

Perhaps my next post will be in the Black Forest in Germany eating some schnitzel and wearing some liederhosen or maybe in Barcelona in the middle of an Anti-Israel/Catalan separatist march?? One can only hope.

¡Viva Graná!

So things are starting to settle in very, very well.
A couple things have changed: I´ve grown much more confident in my abilities to speak Spanish, I´ve learned that I´m not that far away from everything like i first though (however, I still am the furthest wah wah wah). At best, I´m a 20 minute walk from the Centro de Lenguas Modernas which is where I have my intensive classes daily from 10-2. My professors (two of them) are complete night and day. The first, Montse Osea, is reminiscent of a nervous Chihuahua. She´s very "proper" and is often correcting people in the middle of their sentences, which then results in people sitting their in silence the entire time. The second, Carmen Triviño, is unreal. I sit through the 2 hours with her pinching myself making sure that what is happening is really happening. There´s a group of us (the 4 Americans, the Dane and the Norwegian that take our 20 minute break together) who have compared her personality - her being as being that of 50% witch, 50% porn star.

Other than that there´s been a ridiculous amount of things happening while Í´ve been here, I´m feeling rather absent-minded so I´ll approach the next few points in a "bulletin" style.

-I´ve become impressed with my ability over the past week to seek and steal internet (however not that impressed as I was defeated today and reduced to using an internet café). There´s a place that offers free wifi, but it´s a café and you´ve gotta get something (which isn´t bad.. but they don´t have any enchufas [electric plugs] for me to plug my computer into). I´m slowly but surely working on getting better internet access though as I am missing facebook and y´all.

-I live in a Franco-era complex that´s gated and such, I´m on the 2nd floor (which is actually the 3rd) with my own room. For now it is just myself and my señora. She has told me however that there are some people from France and Germany that periodically stay with her, in fact the Frenchy is going to be coming in a while for a few weeks. Speaking of my señora, I have fallen in love with her. Her name is Mª Ana Morzano Alpujilla. She´s a cute 50-something widow who has 5 kids who live in the surrounding areas of the autonomous provence of Granada. She´s a mean cook and always, ALWAYS gives me a ridiculous amount of food.

-I´ve started to become used to siesta. Yes, it actually REALLY does exist. It was REALLY inconvenient the first few days I was here (everything but the HUGE stores close at 2:30 and then open back up at like 5). The past 3 days though, I´ve come home, eaten a fantastic lunch and then taken a perfect siesta.

-I´ve become absolutely obsessed with this show called "Pasapalabra." It´s this show where celebs are invited to compete in this primetime (10pm) gameshow where it´s all these different word games. Ana and I will often sit on the couch together while we both yell at the tv with what word we think it is (not to brag, but I´m pretty damn good at the games). However, there´s a part which I still haven´t figured out. It´s an extremely easy part where they give you a word and you have to make 5 rhymes before 10 seconds. Now, the host (who is EXTREMELY attractive) will pick one of the women (the selection process is beyond me, however next time I blog I will be determined to find out) to do the rhymes. Now, if the contestant gets all of the words right, they are "superinvitado" and are given a bocadillo de chorizo (a ham sub) and then they make some awkward face with it that is then put in freeze frame with the words "TODAVÍA SUPERINVITADO" and shown the next day on the program... the celeb then gives it to a member of the audience. I love this television. I´m definitely thinking that the EE.UU. needs a show like that. I´ve also learned some great vernacular like "tener las plumas" = to be gay, "Tener la mosca detrás de la oreja" = To suspect, "Ya vaya bolla" = to be in a hurry.

Also while I´ve been here Spain is in one of their "worst" winters in the past 100 years, so I´m told... and I believe it as it has always been below 0 at night and sleeping without heat is terrible to wake up to. But the Andaluces (people from where I am in Andalucía) have a much different way of talking than those of the rest of Spain (save the people who speak Catalán and Gallego and Vasco). But the minister of something or other, Magdalena Álvarez (she´s from Andalucía) has come under great pressure from other politicians of the way she´s handling the traveling situations and the economy during this harsh winter. Some politicians have even been critical on the way she speaks. None the less, this has been the "talk of the town" in class and on the streets which I´ve found very very interesting (here I go with my lingüistas). Sorry for the lack of substance and neatness of this post, I´m trying to get as much out because I´m not sure when the next time I´ll use the internet will be and am running a little late to dinner.

So.Much.Ham.

This country's obsession with ham/any variety of aforementioned meat is appalling.



Jamon/Jamon y Queso flavored ruffles?!

The sound of settling...

Day three and I´ve learned a lot so far. A tad bit of everything to be exact (good thing I attend a liberal arts school or I wouldn´t know what to do with myself).
I´ve learned to pack really, really light - or else your travelling fate (and money, €70 to be exact) will likely rely on some disgruntled British Airways employee. Despite the rough start to my trip (lots of thing went wrong on my way here), I´m starting to get the hang of things. We arrived from London in the Málaga airport on Thursday where we then took about a 2 hour bus ride through the mountains of the coast to finally reach Granada. From there we then met out señoras and headed home. It was a blissful moment that was unfortunately cut short by the 1·C temp and hail 2 minutes into my 15 minute walk home while I wrestled with my luggage. I got ridiculously homesick that night, as I was pretty sure I lived the furthest away from everyone, didn´t have a roommate and the fact that I didn´t have internet nor a phone made it a little worse. Fortunately I was extremely exhausted from my adventures in London and the transport to Granada that I was able to pass out at 9 and sleep ´till 8 the next morning. The next morning was a little stressful, we had to get to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas which is about a 25 minute walk away from my house (however I´ve since found a faster route) to take a placement exam for our Spanish language placement. It was snowing then, too.
We were then sent home after the exam (I was told by the man who gave me the oral exam that I spoke wonderfully but my written portion of the test, "fue poco disorganizado." Meh, oh well. Later that night (about 5) we took a walking tour of the main parts of downtown Granada and the univeristy itself and then all met up at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas for an orientation meeting where they told us how much Americans are taken advantage of etc etc. After that we headed to a club called "Babel" where they gave us tickets for free drinks we ate pizza (Pizza Hut here is a million times better than the Pizza Hut at home). We met up with a couple Spaniards that my new found friend Kathleen met at her residencia and they took us to the famous "Chupiteria 69" where they have lord knows how many shots for 1€ each. After that we went around to a couple other places that they carted us around to. I got home around 3:30 in the morning (Look, ma´no hands!).

...I wish write about what I did yesterday, but I´ve been at this internet cafe for almost two hours and not sure what their rates are. Hopefully by then I can be snazzy and post photos on here.

And we're off (..almost..) !!

am·bi·tious \am-ˈbi-shəs\ adjective:

1 a: having or controlled by ambition ambitious young executive> b: having a desire to achieve a particular goal : aspiring <ambitious for power>

2: resulting from, characterized by, or showing ambition ambitious film>

In 4 days I'll be off on a whirlwind adventure and I'm feeling ambitious enough to try and keep a blog going so that my friends, acquaintances, arch-nemeses, etc. may be able to read in about what I'm getting myself into while I'm away. Hell, I might even use this to reflect after this experience is over (that is if i can actually write more than this singular post, hence why the word of the day is ambitious).

So far I've been met with very comforting comments from folks who've visited Granada... all of which have been something along the lines of "Oh, I'm so jealous" or "Hands down favorite city in Spain besides [enter city where said person stayed while studying]." It's all very terrifying though; going to a city - much less a school that I've only seen in photographs and where people don't happen to speak my naive tongue. And even when I see these pictures, it's always of the Alhambra or the Albaicin. Granted, I'm probably being a baby about this whole experience - no one ever comes back harmed or in a casket from their study abroad trips, right?

So here we go, I hope to actually transform myself in to a vagabond of sorts - I'll keep you updated along the way. Or so I plan to...