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

Cathedral where we attended noon mass, the church as a Gothic foundation but was built in the Renaissance style. 

Spainards who brought us to our second discoteca!

My roommate and I at the bar Mohitoo

      Wow! I can't believe how much I love this city already! Every night: tapas, exploring the city, meeting locals, making new friends, attempting to hold conversations with Spaniards and of course ending the night at the discoteca! Since our classes don't start until Tuesday we have a free weekend. We started orientation on Thursday at the University of Granada where we reviewed what was expected of us in this first month. This first month is an Intensive month of learning the language. We will have four hours of classes a day in which we will learn grammar, writing and speaking skills.

      Besides the orientation, during the day we have been exploring the city through tours led by the leaders at the university. It's so amazing walking through the streets and seeing the architecture, people and shops. It's still so surreal that I'm here... in Spain! Is this real life?! Being in Spain, I've jumped at any chance to embrace the culture already... and what better way than enjoying the night life here in Granada. Each night so far has been filled with spontaneous events that have made the night memorable! Since it's basically old school here with no one having the best cell phone service, contact between students has been difficult. So for the second night, my roommate and I just decided to grab tapas on our own since we had no way of contacting others. We went to the street known for its tapas- calle navas, except we arrived too late as all of the tapas bars were beginning to close. Disappointed we instead grabbed drinks at a corner bar called Mohitoo. The picture above is of my roommate and I... little did we know what the night had in store for us.
       While grabbing drinks, two guys came in and began to speak english to us, they ended up being from Wisconsin and Chicago- the exact same cities as my roommate and I... what a small world! Since they knew the city more we went with them to the street of bars known more for a younger crowd. While walking on that street we all of a sudden see other students from our program! A whole group of study abroad students were there grabbing drinks so we joined them. From here, we were talked into going to a discoteca... Mae West (the name of the discoteca). My roommate and I were definitely not planning on going out that long since we were still pretty tired with the jetlag but somehow we were talked into joining. When we got to the club, we were able to just walk in without paying... except when we were inside we thought the place was disserted since there was no one there. The Spainards we were with said "no,no, no... allí (there)"... we follow them through two doors into a two-story club with strobe lights, a d.j. and people everywhere dancing. It was amazing and so unexpected! What was also surprisingly was the amount of american pop music they play... it's almost all American club music with a mix of spanish music, some tango, salsa. The expression "time flies when you're having fun" can not be more true than when you're at a discoteca. We ended up not leaving until 6:15 AM! Locals just kept talking to us and we just kept on dancing. It was the most fun I've had in a long time! But of course not arriving home and going to sleep 'til 6:30 plus having to wake up for Orientation II by 9:45a the next morning takes a toll on your body. But we did it and were ready the next night for round II.
      After Orientation and tours around the city, we headed back to the house for lunch and then of course siestas- though our siesta (nap) lasted for three hours. Waking up, we were, though not fully rested, ready to repeat the night life! We suited up and met up with other students for tapas at La Bella y la bestia (apparently one of the best tapas bar in Granada). From here, we wanted to just grab drinks so while walking around we just decided to head back to Mohitoo since they have amazing mohitos there. They make it with brown sugar so the drink is brown not green but so delicious! Plus, for some reason, with these mohitos the bartender kept giving us free shots... not sure why but we took them! When we were about the leave, a bunch of spanish men began to talk to us... they knew of a club where we could get in for free! So of course, we didn't want to miss out on an opportunity so we ended up going to the discoteca, which was amazing once again! As I said before, the concept of time when you're having fun and dancing doesn't exist so we ended up arriving back to su casa at 7:30 AM! We definitely slept then until later in the day, which was much needed with the nights out plus jetlag.
      Since it was Los Tres Reyes Magos, thousands of people crowded the streets in the night to watch the parade and celebrate. It was so packed we couldn't even move 3 feet without getting stuck. We watched the parade from a small corner on the side of street and ended up walking back to the plaza for some shopping and churros con chocolate. Churros con chocolate is a popular food item here which is consumed between lunch and dinner. The chocolate is like hot chocolate but it's thicker and you use it to dip the churros in. So tasty! From here, we headed back to su casa to get ready. From here we ended up meeting with other girls from the school for tapas and drinks. We of course, headed back to Mohitoo for the third night in a row. Their mohitoos (and bartenders) are just so good! When there we ended up running into the three wise men/kings. They were hilarious, buying the girls, especially my roommate, drinks. I've found, the people in Spain are so friendly and of course, just plain beautiful! I mean Spanish men, you hear how good looking they are but oh my goodness, muy guapo!
      Today, we just explored the city a little more before lunch. We walked all over: el paseo de los tristes, Plaza Isabel La Católica, the Cathedral, Royal Chapel Square Plaza de Bib-Rambla, Alcaicería and more! It was amazing seeing all of these sites. The architecture here is astounding, each building has something creative and majestic to it. I couldn't stop taking pictures! We came upon the Cathedral just in time for mass so we decided to give it a try and we attended mass. Inside the cathedral was beautiful, the gold designs on the wall were so detailed. It was definitely an experience! Now, we're planning on studying a bit for our placement exam on tuesday... It's going to feel like school again but I'm not too worried since I'll be studying in a café in Spain... what?! So unbelievable to me still! Hasta más tarde!

 At the first tapas bar!

 Un Calle in Granada cerca de mi casa

        Well my roommate (Hayley) and I just returned from our first night out in Granada, Spain! We decided to hit up the tapas bars and explore the city. After leaving our homestay apartment we ended up on the corner directly outside the apartment looking at a map and wondering where to go. There was a street known for its tapas bars so we decided to find it but after walking for twenty minutes and several blocks we ended up just finding a remote tapas bar and chilling at the bar for a drink and tapas. We had planned to meet with Hayley's university friends but since we had no luck finding the "calle" (street), we took the initiative to just tapas bar hop.

         In all we hit 3 different tapas bars, at each ordering a different tapas and cerveza (beer). They were interesting, tasty as well as semi-mysterious. Discovered though how much I love tapas, they're cheap, quick, fun, chill and tasty (at times). Plus, by searching around the city we're now a little more familiar with the area making it easier to navigate and find things in the future. It was surreal strolling on the streets of Spain around midnight just watching people, lovebirds and groups of young adults.
         Tomorrow's orientation and not going to lie I am a tad bit nervous. Even though Hayley and I have been talking in spanish to us even when it's just us and I've taken spanish courses since middle school, I'm still nervous for taking a course abroad like this. It definitely will be an experience, challenge and change-up! But, I'm ready!
         Hope it all goes well tomorrow! Plus, I get a siesta if needed! Gotta love spain!
    
  

         Well after 24 hours of non-stop traveling, I finally made it to my destination- Granada, Spain! It wasn’t the smoothest traveling getting here but nonetheless I arrived and am safely with my host family. It’s finally starting to feel real, this whole studying abroad adventure. Though I think it’s still hasn’t hit me that I’ll be abroad for 5 months.
       The trip started out well, though I had a moment when I thought it was all going to go horribly wrong. While waiting for my flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia to leave, the announcer calls my name and asks me to report to the front immediately. Once there, and thinking something was wrong with my ticket/baggage, the attendant tells me he has upgraded me to first class. What?! That's never happened so of course I was surprised but excited! Fortunately, by being transferred to first class I was able to make my connecting flight from Philadelphia to Madrid. Without that upgrade to first class, I'm almost positive I would have missed my connecting flight since our initial flight was delayed and landed at a different gate than expected. So, I had to sprint across terminals and made it just in time for my 6.5 flight to Madrid, Spain.
       While waiting in line to board the plane it began to hit me, I would soon be surrounded by Spanish-speaking people all the time. Everyone around me was speaking Spanish and I felt completely out of my element. Though that’s an obvious with me going to Spain and I know I know that was nothing compared to how Spain actually is but it was just the initial reaction I had and an initial freak-out moment for me.
        After close to 7 hours on the flight, I made it to Madrid which I then took a connecting flight to Granada. Since I had 4 hours to wait before my flight to Granada, I just chilled in the airport, ordered a coffee which was initially the size of a shot- so I asked for a “grande” and he still gave me a smaller cup than expected. Which brings me to my first wake-up call of how Americans oversize things. Except this wake-up call really sucks (as coffee-lovers know) since, at least in my day, there's a minimum of 5 cups of coffee.
       Arriving in Granada, I go to baggage pick-up, wait... wait... find my group... wait and sure enough my luggage doesn't arrive... it's lost! Of course this would happen to me, "tengo mal suerte" (I have bad luck). After filling out a report, I get on the bus that takes the students and I to a drop-off in the middle of Granada. Here, I am picked up by mi padre, Jesus, who is very friendly, helpful and speaks barely any english.
      It was a Holy day in Granada so driving through the city was pretty hectic, the taxi almost hit a bunch of people. The city was intriguing with the valleys and apartment buildings. I did notice the amount of people just kissing on the side of the streets and in the courtyards, just a little different from the U.S.
      Arriving at my host family, I'm introduced to the family and my roommate. It's definitely difficult at times to understand the conversations between us and the family but we're able to describe most of the time what we're trying to say or want. My roommate and I are planning on exploring the city tonight and meeting up with other students for tapas and discovering Granada. I'm excited to see what tomorrow (my first day of orientation) will bring! Not to mention, I would really love to have my bag be returned soon.

Until then, Hasta luego!