Today it rained and rained all day long in Granada. It was beautiful.
I went to psicofisiología clínica only to find out the professor was sick and thus we wouldn't have class today nor tomorrow. So I walked in the rain to the Office of Foreigners and finally got my official student visa card!! WHOOOOO!! :D It's finally official that I'm legally here as a student!! haha
After that quick visit, I returned home to write two blog posts, then went to history class, chatted a bit with Lauren after class and returned to my piso for dinner. Chris made a vegetable soup for dinner, so I ate with him and Emanuela. After dinner and the dishes, Emanuela, Dani and I talked in the kitchen. I got a bit of homework done before going to bed kinda late (as usual... I think Spain is making me an insomniac. Just wait til you hear about Halloween weekend!).
Since I walked to the Office of Foreigners, I walked home on a different route, and couldn't help but notice how beautiful Plaza de Toros is in the rain. (The plaza where bull fights are held.) I love how the rain makes all the colors in the world 100 times brighter... and there's just something so romantic about the smell of wet pavement, puddles, and the soft pitter patter of rain fall. :) (...hopeless romantic much? ;P )
(Tuesday, October 25, 2011)
After my classes today I finally met up with Mehdi. Mehdi is a 25 year old boy from Morocco who has studied in Granada for 4 or 5 years, so he knows Granada well... and spanish. Anyway, I accidentally became friends with Mehdi on facebook without ever having met him in person (I know, I know- its not how I usually like to make friends either!!). A bunch of people in my program (UC EAP) became friends with him first and met up with him- they all said he was a nice guy, but I put off meeting him for about a month and during that time we would chat online every now and then. He knows a lot of Erasmus students because he used to organize Erasmus parties and from the conversation we had he seemed like a pretty chill dude. So we planned to meet up this tuesday evening and I brought Emanuela with me so I wasn't alone. (I'm not dumb.) We met up at Plaza de Isabel la Católica and then walked into the Albaycin where we went to the first Tetería that existed in Granada, where Mehdi works. (A Tetería is a tea shop.) Mehdi made us tea and we didn't have to pay! Pretty cool.
Mehdi was surprised at how much Spanish I spoke, but I told him that I'm hear to learn Spanish, so why wouldn't I speak it, practice it and learn for the mistakes I know I'm making?! He just told me that he was surprised because most of the other americans he's met speak a lot of english. He was also surprised at how much spanish Emanuela speaks for having never spoken nor studied the language before. She has only been in Spain for a little over a month and speaks pretty darn well. (cuz she talks a lot, so of course she's gonna learn fast. haha Plus she has an advantage with Italian as her first language- son muy parecidos!) Whenever people tell her this, she just looks over to me and says, "I learned it all from her! I speak 'Allie Spanish'!" haha Sometimes Chiara and Emanuela call me a 'live dictionary'. :)
Next, Mehdi asked if we had been to Plaza San Nicolas, a viewpoint on the hill opposite La Alhambra where you can see most all of Granada and La Alhambra (obviously). Turns out I had been there before but didn't remember the name- it was fun to go again. We also saw the little Mezquita (Mosque) that is next to the plaza (that I didn't know existed before visiting it). Then we walked back down the big hill and walked a bit into the Realejo neighborhood. The whole time Mehdi was telling us little histories of Granada and also advising us on how to stay safe in the city... especially when going out at night. Things I learned about the history: 'Albaycin' is an arabic word that translates to 'the miserable ones'. The reason this neighborhood is called 'the miserable ones' is because it was the arabic neighborhood and they were miserable while living there because they had 2 choices: either leave Granada during the expulsion, or stay but be forced to convert to Christianity. Also, Realejo was the jewish neighborhood in town. The whole idea the Catholic Kings (Isabel and Fernando) had was to divide and conquer Granada.
Around 8:30 or so we said goodbye to Mehdi and then Emanuela and I bought Kebab to eat for dinner! (yum!) On our way home we passed an 'heladería' (ice cream shop) and decided to buy a small ice cream (even though it was freeezing outside!). :)
When we got back to the piso, we chatted with Dani a bit, drank tea, listened to music and then I did a bit of studying before going to bed.
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| La Tetería |
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| Ivy and a pretty door in the Albaycin |
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| La Alhambra from la Mezquita |
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| Las montañas and part of La Alhambra |
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| La Alhambra and a rose... of course! :) |
(Wednesday, October 26, 2011)
Today I went to my psych class hoping the professor was well again, only to arrive and find a note on the door saying class was cancelled... again. In the evening, I didn't go to my history class because I signed up to go to a class that teaches you how to teach english to foreigners... well kinda. We basically just talked about how to teach english to people who have a minimal understanding of the language. It was interesting...but not what I was expecting exactly. However, I'll get a certificate saying I completed a course on how to teach english to foreigners, which will look good on my resume!
(Thursday, October 27, 2011)
I only had German today and after class I needed to ask my professor a few questions. I walked up to her awkwardly speaking a mix of German and Spanish to get my point across and next thing I know she just switched to english and explained the answer. Crazy Germans! I wish I could just rattle off languages and change between them in a snap! It was helpful that she explained things in english though- I tend to not be able to speak any of the 3 languages floating in my mind very well after this class. haha But its a fun class because I feel like I have met more people- which is normal in a language class when you have to speak to other people and practice.
Medhi and I made plans to meet up again today after my class... I brought Emanuela with me again. The original plan was to go shopping for authentic gifts for our grandmothers, but we ended up not following the plan (again, as per usual in Spain. Plans go out the window, and if you get half of what you planned to get done, done, its a good day! lol). Also it was raining, so Emanuela and I were singing and dancing in the rain pretty much the whole time! :) Emanuela is amazing- I call her my Italian sister. We have bonded so quickly and have so much fun together- because we are both crazy! (in a good way!) Today Mehdi showed us the other view point of all of Granada that is also in the Albaycin. (Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me today... rats!) Walking up the hill and all the old cobble stone stairs was a bit dangerous in the rain, but I managed to make it up and down the hill without falling. (of course, once we were back in town, I slipped in a puddle and kinda fell.... haha such a klutz. That's what I get for skipping and being hyper-happy in the rain! ;) ) It was nice to go out and explore (even in the rain) and to speak Spanish with someone who will correct us when we say something wrong. After all, that's the only way to learn.
That night, Chris, Chiara, Dani, Francesca, and I orered pizza and watched Los Extraños (or in english, The Strangers), a horror film. (Emanuela doesn't like scary movies, so she didn't watch it with us). It was such a stupid horror movie, but I still screamed at the jumpy parts... which everyone else found hilarious!
Friday... ya know, I think I'm gonna wait and add friday to my Halloween weekend post! ;) Sorry to make ya'll wait a bit longer. ;)
More soon!
xoxo
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