Granada, ¡encantada!

¡Saludos!

I’ve been in Granada, España for a week and a half now, but it definitely feels like I’ve been here for way longer! This is my second semester studying away in college. As you probably see on this blog, the last time I blogged was right after my semester in Oaxaca, Mexico, two years ago. I absolutely loved Oaxaca, but I’m trying not to compare Spain to Mexico too much, or any other Spanish speaking countries that I have visited because it is a very different place, and a very different study-away program. However, part of my inspiration to visit Spain came from my travels to Central and South America. I saw so much Spanish influence in Latin America (largely because of Spanish colonization) in the language, the architecture, the culture. Although a lot of Latin American history that includes Spain is full of tragedy and injustices, so much of what Latin America is today was influenced/imposed by Spain, including beautiful aspects of Latin American culture as well. I wanted to see first hand the plazas, churches and cathedrals, and other art and architecture in Spain, that I saw so much of in Latin America. I wanted to see how the way of life, language, culture and way of life is different. In addition, in my last couple of years at PLU I have taken quite a few Spanish classes and have learned a lot about Spanish history and contemporary society, which has really called me to study here. Entonces, ¡aqui estoy!

So, I’m going to TRY and write less than I did in Mexico…because blogging became sort of a chore after a while, but I can’t promise anything because I am the queen of being long winded and I have far too many words for my own good.

First of all, leaving home was WAY harder than the last time I studied away. Ever since I came back from Mexico I knew that I wanted to visit Spain, but I second guessed myself the whole time between returning from Mexico and applying for Spain. This is my last fall semester of college, and by studying away I am giving up the opportunity for more great leadership and job positions at PLU, as well as living with some of my best friends. I had an incredible summer with amazing friends and family that I love so much, and I was a mess upon leaving. In addition, my flight was kind of a fiasco. I thought that I was leaving early Saturday morning, but I ended up getting switched to Friday evening, with a 10 hour layover in North Carolina, in addition to the 5 hour bus ride that I had to take from Madrid to Granada. I was also worried about Hurricane Irene in North Carolina. But, nevertheless, I made it safely, and none of my flights were canceled, and I wasn’t affected by the Hurricane at all. I even met some lovely students on my flight and two girls from my program in the Madrid airport, who I bussed with to Granada! God is good.

The bus ride was long, and I was feeling pretty disoriented, tired and dirty, but excited. The first things that I noticed in Spain were the streets seeming clean and well paved, like most in the U.S., but still seeing quite a bit of grafiti on the cement walls of the freeway as we drove by. The drive from Madrid to Granada was surprisingly dry and reminded me of eastern Washington a bit…which made me have second thoughts from the start…haha. But as we got closer to Granada, the land became more hilly and green, which is my type of scene

So, I’m finally here and life is great! I have a wonderful family (who I just recently realized hosted two friends of mine in the last couple of years too!). I have a host mom and dad, two host brothers, a host sister, and host grandpa. (And two host cousins who are around quite a bit). The kids are 12, 16 and 18, and the cousins are 5 and 7. I love them all, especially Fernando the 12 year old, and the kid cousins. They are so much fun, but so loud and loco! My host mom is so sweet and fun, and makes me feel so comfortable. We live in a very small house/apartment, on the fifth floor of a complex. It is very close quarters…I live in a very small room with my roommate Elvia (who is a sweetheart, I really like her), but we are making it work. My favorite thing about my family is sitting down to eat meals with them because that’s when we spend the most time together and get to talk.

Speaking of food, we’ve had some interesting food and some really great food! I think the weirdest thing I’ve eaten has been cooked cauliflower with mayonaise on top with tuna…The yummiest thing I’ve eaten here…oh I can’t choose! Tortilla española is great, which is almost a kiesh without crust, with just potatoes, eggs and onion. My host mom’s lentil soup is great, and she made this amazing fish the other day with a seafood salad. A typical Andalucía food that she made last week was Gaspacho, which is like cold tomatoe soup with quite a bit of salt and vinegar. I think it’s pretty good! Bread (like yummy french bread) goes with every meal, and we eat a lot of fried foods (so I might be developing a little tummy…). I’m not a picky eater and have enjoyed pretty much everything we’ve eaten, but I’m really missing vegetables in my life! Luckily we do have fruit everyday too. The quirkiest thing about eating in Spain is the time that we eat! I make my own breakfast in the morning before class (around 8) and then we don’t eat lunch till 3pm, which is the biggest meal. Then we have dinner at 10pm (not kidding!), so I get pretty hungry and end up eating a piece of fruit in between, and am still starving upon mealtime. My body is definitly getting accustomed to the schedule, (and the siestas too!)

Sitting down to eat with my family is a time when I get to practice my Spaniard Spanish a lot and it’s so fun, but it is also a time when I realize how much I have to learn! My family speaks SO fast, and with very Spanish accents, using vosotros all of the time.  I feeling confident about being able to follow the conversation most of the time, but sometimes they speak so fast and drop their s’s so much that I can’t follow (especially my host dad). I’m catching on to vosotros alright and have picked up a few Spanish/Adalusía words and phrases used here, but there is still a lot to learn! I keep realizing that even if I become a Spanish teacher someday, I will always have so much more to learn because Spanish is different everywhere you go! Some fun words I use everyday are: vale (ok), chulo, guay (cool), and no me digas! (now way!)

The city of Granada is SO beautiful, with so many beautiful buildings, plazas, fountains. Similar to Central and South America, I love how all of the buildings are all connected, and have pretty colored paint and beautiful adobe roofs. I love the architecture of old buildings like churches. I love the tiny roads, especially the cobblestone ones that snake around neighborhoods like a labyrinth. There are so many people in the street, late in to the night, especially in the hundreds of bars and cafes that there are, everyone tapeando (eating Tapas!). I’ve had a few tapas so far and it’s great. Buy a drink (like some yummy Sangira) and you get free food! I’m trying not to overdo it though so that I don’t spend too much money (Euros are worth more than dollars…so I have to be careful). Walking down the street, everyone is dressed quite nice, most women in nice dresses and heels or cute flats. The only places where people don’t look gorgeous (but still look good nonetheless) is the places where people work out. At first I couldn’t find good places to run and it seemed like people don’t run much, but in the last week I’ve actually found a couple of great parks and paths to run on near the river where I live and tons of people run there even after dark! It’s great!

My classes here are going well so far, but it’s a lot of class! (But really not too much work, at least yet). In September I have four hours of Spanish grammar class everyday and two hours of Spanish culture class twice a week. Starting in October, our grammar class meets less often and I have two more classes: Islamic Cultures in Spain and Political Systems of the European Union. My professors are great, and the directors of our program are wonderful! I especially like my grammar teachers, Ana and Fermín. Ana is full of energy and really nice, and Fermín has this hilarious dry humor and is always making witty plays on words. I really appreciate that the Spanish Culture class also involves several excursions. We’ve already had two excursions. The first was in the Realejo, which is the historically Jewish neighborhoods of Granada. The second was the Albaicín, which is the the nieghborhoods surrounding the Alhambra, which are historically muslim, and the oldest part of Granada. Both are beautiful and there is so much history in the way that the streets are laid out, the materials that buildings were made out of, the styles of architecture. Two of the best viewpoints that I’ve seen so far in Granada have been on these tours. One was on the Realejo tour when we walked up to a beautiful public garden that looked out on the city, and the second was in la plaza de San Nicolas.

Something that I’ve learned on these tours that still blows my mind is the way that architecture reflects two different cultures and religions. When Isabel and Fernando the catholic monarchs expelled the muslims and jews from Spain, there were lots of false converts, and those who did convert still held onto their cultures and customs of origin. In some of the churches, you can see that there are Muslim influences on the catholic cathedrals in the way they were constructed. Muslim converts who constructed catholic churches used their culture’s architecture. If you see arches that are almost full circles rather than half circles on the building, if the material is brick or ceramic, and with lots of designs and no human figures, it means that there are Muslim influences. If the building has human figures and is made of stone, it is most likely Christian influences.

I think I’ve definitly overdone my word limit for you so far, so I’m going to end this soon. But one more thing is that I went to the beach last weekend and swam in the mediterranean (which was surprisingly cold, and super salty!) and I got a nice sun burn from soaking up the sun .

I want to comment on what I have thinking about in terms of Diversity and Social Justice (I can never forget to see the world from a social justice lens after my leadership in the Diversity Center!), but I think I will save my observations and thoughts for next time, so that I have more time to see more and process my experiences. Until next time!

I hope and pray that all is well with you! I am loving Spain and seeing and learning a lot, but still missing home a lot too. Know that I’m thinking of you!

Besos y abrazos desde Granada,

Carrie

P.S. I’m technologically challenged, and I uploaded pics, but I can’t figure out how to have them show up on my blog…let me know if you can see them!

September 7, 2011. Uncategorized.