Saturday, February 4, 2012

Los Churros con Chocolate

Phew!  Finally starting to get the hang of dedicating time to both this travel blog and my personal journal.

After orientation and class on Monday, I finally went shopping!  I tried to pace myself though, and only bought a few things.  It's difficult though because all of the stores are having major post-Christmas sales right now, (rebajas), which will end in February.  Thus, I would still like to find a few more heavy sweaters for the cold nights.  I really liked the tapas bar that Christie and I went to that night.  It had a great selection of tapas, a bohemian-like atmosphere, sweet music, and awesome employees.

Tuesday I met with Javier to finalize my classes, which start next Monday.  It turned out that I am on the wait list for the Flamenco dance class, but Javier told me that he would do everything that he could to get me in.  Crossing my fingers!  My other classes include a mandatory Spanish grammar course, Islamic Art and Architecture, a watercolor workshop, and an economics course called Spain and the European Union.  I'm taking all of these courses through IES rather than at the University of Granada because I think that taking five classes in Spanish is going to be enough of a challenge!  Plus, I'd rather spend my time on things outside of class.  As José told me, just "enjoy living".  During siesta, Delia, Laura, Ki Ke, Aja and I had an adult, but entertaining, conversation about marijuana.  Once Laura and Ki Ke left, Delia explained to Aja and I how she is divorced to Roberto (Laura and Eva's father) and is now dating José.  I didn't want to pry into her personal life, but she was very open and comfortable talking about it.  Sitting there, listening to this beautiful Spanish woman talk about love was one of those moments in life that you hope you never forget.  I still can't believe she is 50 years old--she doesn't look a day over 40!  I'm starting to learn that she enjoys the simple things in life like painting, going to the movies, and taking walks, rather than things like going to bars or skiing.  She also doesn't like to watch the television to prevent herself from getting sucked in.  After holding a meeting about how to get involved with volunteering, IES led a tour of el Bosque de la Alhambra.  It was great to see a new part of the city, and the "honeymoon" feeling quickly returned when I saw the view of el Albaicín.  I can't wait to go inside of la Alhambra.  After a while, Paige and I fell behind and lost the group so we went to Café Futból for "los churros con chocolate".  There are no words to describe how delicious this treat was.  Then we went to the IES soccer game where we met up with most of the group again.  I think we both felt that feeling of an afternoon well-spent.



















Wednesday was an important day for two reasons: the first day of February and the one week marker of my life in Granada.  Only one week?  It seems like I have been here for a month!  In class today, we learned about the schooling system in Spain in comparison to the U.S.  I decided that the education system is one of the few things that I favor in the U.S. because American students have the ability to be more independent as well as study many things that interest them.  Siesta was entertaining again because José joined us and the four of us went around in a circle saying all of the bad words ("palabrotas") that we knew in Spanish.  Naturally, I lost.  I asked Delia and José why they want to learn English and they told me for the purpose to travel to places like England, Canada, and the U.S.  José went on and on about how he wants to see New York City, the Statue of Liberty, walk in Central Park, and rent row boats.  It was so cute!  Still, I find it strange that Spaniards want to travel to the U.S. when they live in such a beautiful place already.  I'm completely sold on Spanish culture.  Antonio insists that Spanish culture isn't better, just different.  Maybe it's a "grass is greener on the other side" kind of thing.  After taking my oral placement exam, I ran into my friend Liz who was talking to a middle-aged Spanish man.  It turned out that she had to leave so I was left to talk with him alone.  I was initially excited to converse with him, and I told myself that it wasn't a creepy occurrence in their culture, but he was a bit too old and a bit too forward for my liking.  So after a short walk, I kindly said goodbye and we parted ways.  Then I went to the huge department store Corte Inglés (6 or 7 floors) for a few groceries--going out every night for tapas is getting pricey and a little old.  My friends agreed that they were craving "real food" for dinner, which is why we went to Kabaab King where I had my first "shawarma" (an Arab plate).

Thursday was our last day of orientation class.  Even though it was starting to get boring from being with the same 15 people everyday for 5 hours, it was sad to say goodbye to Antonio.  I hope he wants to hang out with us this semester!  After siesta, I had some down time before Aja and I met up with a University of Granada student that lives near us (set up through IES).  His name is Álvaro and he's super chill.  We met him and a few other IES students at a tapas bar and Álvaro told us about some different things to do in our free time while we're here.  We invited him to go out with us after, but the University students are taking their final exams now.  So I met up with a few friends afterwards to celebrate our friend David's birthday, and I am pleased to say that my first encounter with Indian food was successful.  Then we went to a shot (chupito) bar before heading to the discoteca El Camborio, which is near el Albaicín.  Supposedly the weekends are more fun, but it was still a good time.  The club had a cave-like atmosphere with multiple floors and different types of music in each room.  In general, there were definitely a lot of Americans and foreigners.  We left around 4, which believe it or not is early for Spaniards--most discotecas don't close until 6 or 7.

Even though we got to sleep in on Friday, I was still falling asleep at the two IES presentations held at the Hotel Corona.  I think the first was about language and classes, and the second was about culture shock.  I was torn because part of me really did want to listen, but it's so hard to pay attention when you're that tired.  Afterwards, we had a cocktail reception (apparently alcohol at 1 in the afternoon is completely normal), where we mingled with all of the IES students and staff.  I'm still working on meeting everyone, but i think 85 people is a solid-sized group. For comida, Delia and her aunt made paella. I was very excited to try it until I saw the shrimp (with eyes), muscles, and calamari.  I really did want to try it because I'm sure it was delicious and healthy, and I knew Delia worked hard to make it, but I just couldn't find it in me.  I think that I freaked myself out because I felt like they were looking at me or moving.  So I just stuck to the rice and chicken parts of the paella.  It's difficult because I don't eat seafood and Aja is Muslim and can't eat pork, but Delia insists that this makes it easier for her because she can just make simple things.  Still, I'm hoping that I wake up one day and miraculously like seafood.  After comida, I slept for a few hours before heading out to meet friends for tapas.  It was a little touch and go for a while seeing as I got lost on the way to Plaza Einstein, but I made it there eventually and, as a result, have become very good at asking people for directions in Spanish.  After tapas, the four of us checked out a reggae concert.  Very cool experience.