Rolling hills of Ronda

In front of the Puente Nuevo, the New Bridge

Entrance to the Arabic Baths

One of many chapels in Ronda

Oldest bullring in Spain

Us "watching" a bullfight!

      Finally done with the early start intensive program! We had our final exam today which entailed everything we've learned in this past month (grammar, vocabulary, oral, etc...). Yesterday, our group had to present information on tapas in Granada as part of our final exam. Both the exam and the presentation went well! Now we have a break until Monday when we start our actual semester courses- 5 classes (2 mandatory courses + 3 spanish/english electives). Since we have a 3 day break- three other girls and I are heading to Paris tonight and coming back Sunday evening! So excited to explore France!

   This past weekend our study abroad group traveled to Ronda, a smaller city in Spain south of Granada. Ronda is known for its scenery: gorges, bridges, rolling hills and historic architecture. It's one of the largest white hill towns. The pictures I took don't do justice to the beauty and awe of the landscape. The rolling hills made me miss the Midwest which I hadn't realized until I left the city and went to the open landscape. While in Ronda, our group took a walking tour around the outskirts of the city and then through the middle. The main attractions were its gorge-spanning bridges, the oldest bullring in Spain, Arabic baths and scenic lookouts. The "postcard" bridge, Puente Nuevo, (the one you will find if you look up Ronda, Spain) is called the New Bridge, not because it has recently been built but rather because it's "newer" than the others- it's age is that of the United States.

     A few of us decided to tour the inside of the bullring. Though I would probably never go to an actual bullfight since it's too inhumane for me, it was interesting and exciting to see where they keep and release the bulls. We were able to go onto the actual bull fighting arena and sit in the stands as if we were watching an actual bull fight.

    The next day, we stayed within Granada and explored the Sacromonte neighourhood and the Abbey. It's located further up in the mountains in the Albayzín district and is home to Granada's Roma community. The Sacromonte neighbourhood is known for its cave museums which represent Granada's Roma tradition of cave-dwelling. From this neighbourhood, there were spectacular views of La Alhambra which was perfect for the time of day we were there since we had the chance to see the sunset over La Alhambra making for beautiful pictures!
    Last night, my friend Holly and I booked our flight to Germany for the end of February! We'll be spending four nights in Berlin. But first things first... tonight, technically, early tomorrow morning, we're taking a bus from Granada to Madrid to catch our flight to Paris! So incredibly excited to visit France! Can't wait to see what this adventure has in store for us, hopefully no problems at the airport or with the transportation there... The first of many adventures/trips this semester!

Chow!

Sunset over the city of Granada... view from the Albayzín

Tapas bars we ate at

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La Alhambra at night! Such a beautiful site with the golden light on the brick

    Explored the albayzín last night with friends and classmates. For our final project, three other classmates and I have to explore a specific area of Granada, take pictures, eat at their tapas bars and present what we find. So we chose the Albayzín which is Spain's best old Moorish quarter. It looks over the city of Granada making it the perfect place to watch the sunset. Took so many pictures of the sun setting over the city with the Sierra Nevadas and La Alhambra in the background. Being up there during sunset was breathtaking! People are advised to not go alone up in this district at night since young "riffians" are known to be hanging out in the dark lanes giving this quarter an edgy feel after dark. However, we left before it became super dark and like most cases the danger level of this area is exaggerated a bit.
   After watching the sunset we grabbed our first tapas at the tapas bar in the picture above. Surprisingly we were the only ones in the bar, too early apparently for the spaniards. They served us a chicken type sauce/stew over fries- it was really tasty! Though tapas are delicious and good since they're free (but only in Granada, everywhere else in Spain you have to pay for tapas) but they don't fill you up. So you go to multiple tapas bars and it ends up being the same price as a regular meal- but the variety and social life is what you pay for.
   Finishing with tapas, Holly and I walked around to find a bar with locals so we could watch the FC Barcelona vs. Malaga fútbol game. We ended up going to two different bars to get different experiences. We discovered people in Granada cheer more for Real Madrid than for Barcelona so the bars were less crazy. It's still our wish to watch the game with spaniard and be screaming at the tv with people hitting each other on the back, beer going everywhere... the stereotypical cheering you think of... next game. Tomorrow our entire study abroad group is traveling to Ronda. I've heard it's absolutely beautiful so I'm excited to explore, discover and take pictures!

Renaissance type Cathedral I stumbled
Upon while exploring the city after class 

    Decided to explore the city today after class and while it was raining. The majority of spaniards absolutely hate getting wet and walking in the rain so the streets were pretty empty- besides those few walking back from work and school and those trying to sell a few umbrellas. I actually enjoying exploring the alleys and plazas when it's raining so I can take pictures and not be crowded or surrounded by people. While returning from class, I came across a cathedral, governmental type building just down the road from my school. It had a historic, renaissance feel with its broken trees out front and crumbling brick top.

      From here I walked through the alleys to the main calle (street) for tapas- Calle Navas. This alley is known for its tapas bars in Spain as it has expensive and inexpensive restaurants/bars for people to choose from. Last week, Holly and I watched the fútbol game at one of these tapas bars- definitely a highlight of my week was watching a game with the locals- The people here are very emotional over their soccer teams but not just men- women, teens, children and elders- all intently watching the game- probably one the best sights I've seen in a tapas bar so far.
  
     Later today, I met with a local for coffee to practice my spanish and his english. His name's Sergio and he's a native to Granada. He wants to learn the language so he can better communicate with others when he travels or begins working abroad. Him and I were in the same intercambios last week, where a group of hispanohablantes (spanish-speakers) and americans meet to practice the opposite language. Meeting outside of the group and more than just once a week will definitely help me improve my conversation skills. Though it was definitely difficult at times to communicate what I was trying to say, it went well! He speaks slower than most spaniards making it easier to understand his sentences. Sergio helped me understand the difference between the language in Granada compared to spanish in northern Spain.
     Here in Granada, the people tend to NOT pronounce all of their vowels. They often will drop the -s in their words such as Gracias, it's pronounced without the s. The first time I heard gracias pronounced like this I thought I was just hearing it wrong but apparently this is the accent of Granada. It definitely makes it harder to understand the people because I mistake their words for others since the -s is missing.
However, by the end of these 5 months I will be able to differentiate their words even while the -s is not present! I just need to keep practicing and speaking with locals!




  
  

Foam Party at the Discoteca El Camborio... best part of the night!

Lauren, Holly and I... love these girls! 

     Even in Spain, I'm spending my Sunday afternoon studying and chilling in a coffee shop. It's the perfect way to wind down from a weekend of tapas and discotecas in Granada! Coffee shops here are different than those in the U.S though. More people come to the cafes to chill and talk rather than to study, especially couples! There are so many couples everywhere and the cafes are no exception. It's actually semi-distracting at times when I'm trying to study and a couple is sitting next to me. Fact: couples here are not afraid to show their affection for each other in public. At times it's adorable and other times it's a little excessive.
      This weekend was our last weekend spent only in Granada for a while. Next weekend we'll be exploring sights and cities around Granada and the weekend after that we'll be in Paris! On Friday, a group of us grabbed dinner at La Sureña (the bucket of cervezas place). We weren't expected it to be as busy as it was so we ended up standing the whole time but it was still fun- definitely going back there again on a Friday but this time earlier. From here we were craving sweets and walking past Wonkandy (a candy store in one of the main plazas of Granada) we couldn't resist so we all filled our own bags of candy which we ended up eating before our next stop.
      Meeting up with others from our program we walked to literally the other side of Granada where the bull fighting arena is located. Here we grabbed drinks at a local bar then we headed down the street to a place for some Karaoke. Holly and I sang to BackStreet Boy's: I Want It That Way. After our song, a few of us took a taxi to the discoteca El Camborio in the Albayzin (upper mountainish area of Granada). The best part of the night happened here... we were dancing and suddenly there's an explosion of foam on the dance floor. One of the workers starts to hand out foam canisters and my friends and i end up with two each. So we of course join in on spraying others with the foam. It felt like everyone had a canister. Everywhere you looked people were spraying others or getting sprayed... even  the bartenders would spray you when you tried to order a drink (or just get a paper towel like me). It was so much fun... by far the best part of the weekend. Of course we were soaking wet after it was well worth it!
     Saturday, we spent the day chilling and at night we went for tapas with the group again. The day was rainy and here in Spain, the people absolutely hate getting wet so the streets and shops were basically deserted. We ended the night at a different discoteca- Granada10. It looked like a theatre inside with different balconies and a stage. Definitely felt more ritzy than other places but it was free entry for ladies so that helped!
    This week is the final full week of classes and then the final for this intensive early start program. Will need to study hard this week and half of next week and then Paris. I'd say that's a pretty motivating goal- study hard with an end goal of a trip to Paris with mis amigas!

Adíos!

First bucket of many at La Sureña!

     First full week of intensive courses is almost finished and time for the weekend! The classes are still super boring but the four hours go by faster so that's a relief. Difference between U.S teachers and Spanish teachers- when you ask them if we can watch a movie in class tomorrow... the teacher's response in Spain- "sure, what movie do you guys want to watch". The professors here are way more laid back and will just let the students go off on rants during class discussions rather than just sticking to a specific schedule. I'm definitely liking this difference between the U.S and Spain's teaching styles.
    
    Everyday of this week I've grabbed coffee at Época Coffee, the coffee shop where I had my first grande coffee since the U.S. The coffee there is perfect, much better than most places back in the States. Plus the environment and lighting at this coffee shop is perfect too! The only problem is I'm not sure if it's common for people to spend more than 2 hours in a coffee shop at once here. Back in the states, my friends and I would literally spend half of the day studying in a coffee shop (Root Note in lax- oh how I miss that place). But here, my host sister said it's not as common for people to spend a long time there. Except this place is close to the high school and university so more students study there making it more acceptable to spend more than 2, 3 hours there.
    We had our first intercambios on Tuesday night- it went much better than I expected. There were four spanish speakers (hispanohablantes) and 7 of us study abroad students. We talked with the local for 10 minutes in spanish and then the next 10 minutes we talked in english. It was really fun changing languages in the conversation, definitely difficult at times to understand the local but it went much better than I had anticipated. Two of the locals gave my friend Holly and I their numbers so we can meet with them outside of class for café or tapas and talk more in spanish/english.
    
   Last night, after 2 hours of searching, Holly and I finally bought our tickets for the FC Barcelona fútbol game in Barcelona for April 7th! It's on my bucket list to go to a FIFA soccer game and I'm going to actually be able to cross that off my list! The tickets were a little expensive but we're right in the middle of the action, on Barcelona's fans side, facing the side of the field and on the first level. We're planning to go all out- face paint, jersey, scarf, headband... we'll be those fans. The game is on Sunday night so we're going to spend the weekend in Barcelona exploring the city and monuments until the game. So excited though!
     After booking our tickets, we headed to a tapas bar that my friend, Janel, recommended- La Sureña. Apparently you buy a bucket of cervezas (beers) for your group and then a side of fries or other foods. The bucket was so cheap (£3) We finished that bucket and fries in no time and headed to another bar (Hannigans) to meet the rest of the group. There, we ordered more beers and watched the FC Barcelona vs. Valencia game. We think we've found the best beer in Granada- Mil-novecientos- Veinticinco (stands for 1925 in english).
     Tomorrow's friday so that means tapas and discotecas tomorrow night!

Finally! This is what I call a GRANDE café!
First large coffee since I left the U.S... it was
long overdue...

Protest by the garbage workers in La Plaza del Carmen

        First full week of intensive program classes and they are, though helpful and needed, extremely boring. It's four hours of classes in the same classroom, needless to say we're all super tired and hungry. They have helped though already with understanding grammar problems. After class I've been exploring the city a bit before lunch. Everyday we have to be back at su casa (home) by 2:30 for lunch with the entire family. For my family, lunch is the largest and most important meal of the day. Mis padres don't even eat dinner but she does serve it late around 9p. When we do eat with them, they constantly offer us more food, we feel rude saying no so we eat it... by the end of lunch we're so full we don't feel like doing anything. That's when I'll sit and watch spanish soap operas while working on my homework. They get pretty intense at times but are so much more interesting than american soap operas.
    The big news in Granada has been the protest/riots of the garbage workers. They're on strike, refusing to pick up any trash making the dumpsters overflow with garbage (la basura= garbage in español). People have just started to throw the trash outside the dumpster creating a horrible smell when you walk by. Garbage bags after garbage bags keep filling the streets. Walking back from school, I've come across riots of the workers protesting for better pay and benefits. They're going to have to get their way since there's only so much garbage the city can have sprawled across its streets. In a way, I could see some benefits of this strike for the environment. With the garbage continuing to pile and create disturbances for the public, people may decide to consume less creating less waste and thus not adding to the garbage pile-up and lowering the human consumption level- just a thought. Now that people are aware of how much waste they produce since it's sitting right there, literally in front of their houses, work and schools, they'll see the impact of consuming less.

   While exploring, I stumbled upon a coffee shop called Época Coffee where when I asked for a coffee grande I was actually given a LARGE coffee! I was so excited that I wasn't getting a small shot sized coffee rather a coffee-size that could satisfy my addiction and it was delicious! I was extremely content while drinking that coffee, so good!
   Tonight is my first night of intercambios: It's when I work and speak with a spaniard to improve my spanish-speaking skills and they work and talk with me to improve their english-speaking skills. It's for one hour every week and hopefully by the end of the semester I will be able to hold a fluent conversation with my partner- that's the goal at least!
 Hasta mañana!

My roommate and I's Mug shot... happy chupitos criminales

Birthday shots for the birthday Girl... Poe Tapas Bar

Second weekend in Granada, Spain accomplished! Last night our study abroad group celebrated one of the girl's birthday. We went for tapas at a local tapas bar- Poe- their tapas are delicious! Una cerveza for my drink and chicken cooked in coconut sauce for my tapa. The tapas here never fill me up though since they're so small but cheap so I guess it evens out.
    After tapas we headed to a couple bars- one known for its 1 euro chupitos (shots). Inside they have all different types of shots posted on the walls. Over 100 types of chupitos and I ordered #100, it was called Godzilla (whiskey, kiwi and 7up)- could barely taste the whiskey! At this bar you could take "mug shots" against the wall. The picture above is my roommate and I's best mug shot... such criminals since it was impossible for us to keep a serious face. While here, a couple spaniard asked me to join their foosball team. I tried to warn them that I was not good at the game but they insisted so I did my best. My team didn't lose horribly but we definitely didn't win. It was still fun though competing against a bunch of spanish hombres who were getting pretty intense while playing the game. I felt like I was on F.R.I.E.N.D.S for a second.
    From here we grabbed chocolate croissants and pizza on a corner bakery. So delicious especially at the time in the night. After food we headed to another bar called Wall Street. Inside they have a tv with the prices of the most popular drinks being sold at the time. Prices of the drinks depend on their popularity and the prices change every 3 minutes. It was so fun to watch people try to order drinks before the prices changed.
   After Wall Street we headed to the discoteca Mae West. Where we ended the night dancing away. We were even asked to join people in a private room which looked over the dance floor. Except while dancing inside, one of the bouncers came in and kicked us out! Apparently we weren't suppose to be in there even though we were invited. Luckily the bouncer was pretty cool about it. Nonetheless it was so much fun and hilarious while it lasted!
   On a chiller side of the weekend I went to see Les Miserables at the local theatre. Though most of it was in english, it was still fun to read the spanish subtitles while they were singing. I feel like it definitely helped my spanish a bit since I saw how english phrases are rearranged and translated in spanish.
   Like any other sunday night, I have homework to finish. Already homework on the third day of classes. Luckily, it's only a paper describing our childhood so nothing like homework back in the States. Getting ready for another long week of classes but on the plus side I bought my tickets and booked my hostel for Paris! Me and a few of the other girls in the group are heading to Paris for four days at the end of January when we have our break/transition from this intensive early start program to the actual semester courses. So pumped to experience France and just traveling around Europe! The whole trip will cost under $450! Motivation for me to get through these next couple of weeks!

Hasta Luego!

 El Camborio.... Love me I'm Erasmus! Americans Welcome Party! 

 

Spaniard Hombres at El Camborio

Ry, Sarah and I at El Camborio! 

      Last night was the "Welcome to Granada" party for Erasmus at the discoteca El Camborio. Erasmus is just another word for foreign exchange students. So it was basically a discoteca filled with Americans last night. There was a flip cup tourney, open bar, American pop music... felt a little like I was at a frat party but with Spaniards. We had to take a taxi there since it was semi in the mountains of Granada, apparently in gypsy territory, though we ended up walking back home at the end of the night. 

      My favorite part of the discoteca though had to be the view! It looked over La Alhambra which was lit up with a golden light on the walls. It looked exactly like the background picture of my blog! The view was so amazing. I kept asking myself if I was really partying in Spain looking over La Alhambra- so surreal! 

      When we left, which was apparently early for Spain (3:30a), a mass amount of Spainards were just arriving to the discoteca. It's definitely different from America's bar time of 2:30... loving the time difference in that sense. 

     To work off last night and the meals here in Spain, which include a lot of fried foods, meat, soups and bread, I ran around El Parque de García Lorca which is the most famous park in Granada and it's right next to mi casa! Makes for an easy running route and place to relax, read a book or study. Doesn't compare to the gym nearby which all of the soccer players train at but it will have to do since I want to save as much money possibly for traveling around Europe! Every euro counts! 

     Heading to the movie theatre next to watch Les Miserables in spanish. Should be interesting and entertaining to watch the whole movie in Spanish but I'm excited for it to improve my understanding of this language.

     After the movie, it's another night at the discoteca! One of the girl's in my program has her birthday tomorrow so the whole group will be celebrating with her tonight! Pregaming at the apartment's then heading out to the discoteca for the rest of the night! Apparently it's suppose to rain tonight which the Spainiards hate the rain since they hate getting wet, so there may be less locals at the discotecas tonight but we'll make the most of it! 

Hasta luego! 

     

Trash workers on strike here in Granada, trash just keeps piling up...

What you find when you explore Granada

       I'm beginning to adjust to the Granada life now that I have actual classes and a schedule. With the start of classes, the days seem shorter since I have class straight from 9-1p, same classroom, same profe, same building... needless to say it gets a little boring. For the nights I've just stayed in spending the night with mi familia. This has helped my spanish already, they even told me they're able to understand me better now than when I arrived. I'm also being able to understand them better too. At first they spoke sooo fast and I understood very little but now I understand probably 80% of what they say... I'm hoping to reach 100% by the end of these 5 months- that's my goal!
        After class, for the 2 hours I have before I have to be home for lunch with the family, I've been exploring the city, trying to find my way around. I finally, after searching forever, found the public library so I can check out movies I know, and watch them in spanish. Except trying to communicate ith the librarians proved to be a bit difficult but it all worked out in the end... thankfully! Sadly, the most difficult part was when I tried to exit the building. There was security I had to walk through in order to exit so I walked up to the door and the security guard started to yell something at me... no idea what he was trying to say so I just stopped... he finally came over and pushed the door open... apparently he was just telling me I need to push the door open to exit... so embarrassing.
      Tonight is a "welcome party" for erasmus (basically welcome to granada party for foreign exchange (American) students). I'm pretty sure they're going to have a flip cup tournament even... so American. Before then of course tapas. Been resting up so I'm ready for another night at the discoteca!

 First Day of Classes a La Universidad de Granada

La Alhambra and the Sierra Nevadas... popular postcard view. 

View overlooking the city of Granada on our way to the tea house in Albayzin... miles and miles of Granada apartments followed by the Sierra Nevadas!

Tapas Bars near the tea house. 

Placement Exam Today! ahhh, it was nerve racking, especially waiting for my turn in the oral exam. The first two sections were grammar and writing which weren't terrible. Definitely didn't have enough time for the writing portion though, seems to always be the case when taking writing/essay exams. However, all three sections went better than expected so that's a relief.
     For the oral exam, I was called in... asked questions...  released... and then was called in again for a second time. Except, no one else had to go twice. I tried to explain this to the profe but she kept saying she didn't have me down having already taken the oral exam. Even more funny was the fact that I took both oral exams with the same profe! It was so strange and stressful since I had already taken the exam making me even more confused. Luckily, I received the same score for both times- a 6 on a scale from 1-8! So happy with this score!

    After the exam, a group of us went and grabbed some café with chocolate croissants. They're so delicious looking when you walk by the on the way to school that you just have to stop back in later and satisfy your chocolate craving. I'm pretty sure for some croissants/pastries the filling is nutella rather than just plain chocolate... even more delicious!

     From here we explored the city a bit more. Another girl and I (Holly) walked to the opposite side of Granada, the area where the high school is located. There we discovered more hidden valleys with interesting shops and cafés. We stumbled upon a large building which we thought was an old historic hospital since it had the words "Hospital Real" on its outside. However, once we walked in, it was definitely apparent it wasn't a hospital... we actually weren't and still aren't sure what it was. Creepy though since there was a single guard roaming, protecting what? not sure again... we followed signs to "la bibilioteca" except we followed the signs until they disappeared taking us to random rooms which when Holly opened were occupied by a few workers just chilling inside... so bizarre! So we left... immediately.

    After exploring, we met with the rest of the study abroad group for tea in an area of the city called Albayzin... it has an arabic setting. First we took a bus to a viewpoint which looked over the city of Granada as well as the Sierra Nevadas and La Alhambra (where we were yesterday). It was amazing view since we were then during sunset. The sun created a golden glow on the brick castles of La Alhambra- it was a beautiful sight! From here, we walked down the narrow streets from the viewpoint to the teahouse. The walk there was filled with multiple overlooks of the city and mountains.
     Finally we arrived at the tea house where we had sweet green tea and a honey and nut coated pastries. They were of course delicious when paired with the tea. The interior of the teahouse was cozy with large curtains swooping from the ceiling to meet at an arab-designed lantern. The entire inside had a orange-red tint to it.
     After tea, we hit up the "rebajas" sales which are ongoing for this week only. Twice a year in Granada, the stores have rebajas in which discounts can range from anywhere between 30- 70% off. The discounted prices are super cheap... it's so hard to go into a shop and NOT buy anything. My friends back home would go crazy and shop non-stop with these sales. Though it was difficult, I kept thinking I need money for traveling since I plan to travel to multiple countries, continents and cities while abroad. Sadly, the rebajas did get the best of me at times... but I keep thinking I bought 4 items here for less than 20 Euros while those same 4 items in the U.S. would cost over $100 combined... the U.S needs to learn how to discount like Spain.

   Tomorrow is the first day of the Early Start Intensive program classes. Every day, lunes- viernes, classes will be from 9a-1p. As nerdy as this may sound, I'm glad to be getting some structure for my day since I'm not use to having a free for all feeling every day, all day. May sound nice but having classes for a specific time period will be helpful for learning the city and making me feel more like this is my new university. Yay!

View of the city of Granada from above

 What luck to see a bride and groom in the coliseum!

Arabic Scripture to the Gods

      Our entire study abroad group took a day visit to La Alhambra, only ten minutes from the center of Granada. As our tour guide described, La Alhambra means "the red" in Arabic just as the U.S has Colorado which has the same meaning in Arabic, "the red". In 1984 it was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, some 300 tourists travel through each section every hour. The tour took four hours in order to cover the majority of the sites. 

      The history behind La Alhambra is so rich and interesting! Each building held a different purpose whether it was for the military at that time or the families living there. The architecture of the buildings were of arabic nature. The interior walls were detailed with a variety of symbolic designs and shapes. In one room, arabic scripture of poems covered the walls. Our guide explained since the architectures at the time used these poems in relation to the Gods.
       While touring the sites, we came across a wedding couple taking their photos in different buildings with the gorgeous scenery. For one shot, the photographer was trying to catch the bride's veil flowing in the wind... the photos were so romantic!
        To end the tour we climbed the tallest building which let us look over the city of Granada, other parts of La Alhambra and the Sierra Nevadas. In my opinion, this was the most beautiful part of the tour- the view was incredible! I would definitely recommend this tourist site to anyone who's planning on traveling to Granada. The pictures above don't do justice showing its beauty but they give you an idea!

We found Los Tres Reyes!

Churros con Chocolate... so delicious! Eaten between lunch and dinner in cafés. The chocolate is like hot chocolate except thicker