Integración

¡Hola!  So, I have another week of Spanish under my belt and several new cultural experiences to share with you.  I went to my first intercambio at this restaurante se llama Totes y Amigos, called Totes y Amigos.  I went on Tuesday with a couple of friends to this place that overlooks the Rio Genil and is about 40 minutes walk from my house.  It's very small and can probably hold 30 people max.  Well, that didn't stop the Spaniards from coming in huge groups.  By the time we got there, there were probably 30 Spaniards and 3 Americans conversing at an table filled to the brim with people.  The British owner was more than happy to seat us with some Spaniards to reduce the ratio between English speakers and Spanish speakers.
I sat down next to two younger Spaniards who are studying at the University of Granada.  One, Alberto, is a Computer Science major and Silvana, the other one, is a Biology major studying stem cells.  We talked a lot about American TV Shows that they watch including How I Met Your Mother and Dexter.  When I talked, I only spoke Spanish and when they talked, they only talked English except if we needed to explain a word.  And as per the rules, we had to have at least one drink.  I ordered a cerveza, or beer, and it came with a free tapa, which I have explained before as a small appetizer to go with your drink.  They gave me a ham wrap and french fries, which hit the right spot.  I enjoyed speaking to them so much that I promised them that I was going to return on Thursday.

Graffiti from near my apartment.  I don't have a picture of the intercambio

And return I did.  On Thursday I ventured back to Totes y Amigos and this time there were more people stuffed into the small restaurant.  It was actually quite overwhelming, but the British woman came out and started matching people together.  I got matched with Silvana, again, and another, older man.  The older man is from Monchila, a small town in the Granada province.  Monchila is known for it's hiking paths and is a must see stop while living in Granada. Javier told me all about Monchila and then showed me where it is using his iPhone.  I found it quite comical that he not only texts, but has other more complicated apps that I wouldn't expect someone of his age to have.  After we talked for about an hour, we started discussing grammar in our respective language.  I actually got complemented twice: they said that when I spoke slowly, I had a really good accent, and that I look like a Spaniard. I felt happier about the second one because I was worried that I would stick out as an American and that would make it more difficult to immerse myself in the culture.  Apparently my dark hair and jawline gives me a Spanish flair even though I probably don't have any Spanish blood.  Overall, I had another good time at the intercambio and I think I am going to make a pattern of going to Totes on Tuesdays and Thursdays after my 8:00 PM class.

The second cultural activity I did was Carnaval: an event held in many cities over the world where people dress up in costumes and socialize with many other people.  There is usually a parade involved, but the people we booked the trip through had us go home early.  My costume was a bandito, which turned into a white collar bandit.  At the chino store, a type of store owned by Asians that sell cheap items from clothes to gardening tools.  I bought a white fedora and a white tie and a zorro costume (for 6 euros), which I wore with a black shirt and black pants.  The key was the zorro mask because masks are a key part of Carnaval.  Usually, they are sequenced masks that cover your eyes and have a feather coming off a side.

Once I dressed in my suit, I met up with a few friends and went to the bus stop and got on the bus for the four hour bus drive.  It's actually a law in Spain that bus drivers have to take a 45 minute break for every four hours, so we had to stop about halfway through the drive.  I tried to sleep, but it was really uncomfortable, but it was definitely worth getting to Cadiz and seeing the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean.  Cadiz is known for its beaches and we actually have an excursion there in May to relax and sun bathe.  I immediately saw the reason because it was 65 degrees and the beaches had sand without any impurities.  There were rocks that people were sitting on that looked out to the ocean and a jedi people walked on.  We actually leaped from rock to rock until the last rock and thought it synced with high tide, it also synced with sunset.  And what a sunset it was.  The orange-yellow glow from the star hid from Europe, but hovered towards you guys back home.  It was amazing to see how populated the beach was by kids our age.

 

After the beach, we went looking for food.  At first turn that we took a man greeted us and invited us into a restaurant called Mar 3 where we were given glasses of vino tinto, red wine.  The man also ordered us a Spanish tortilla that was delicious.  In Spanish, if you say os invito, which literally means "I invite you guys" but actually means, "I will pay your tab." This was great luck as we were very hungry and didn't want to pay anything.  They kept giving us drinks and bread and told us  where to go because there is actually a whole section of the city that is for younger adults.  We gave them adieu and went to some of the places they told us about.  We found churros and coffee to give us energy and then found Plaza de San Antonio where this great musical was going on.  The theme was Cadiz beating Napoleon's forces back in the day.  The main performer was actually one of the best singers of all of Spain.  She wasn't the only one singing, though.  The majority of the audience would sing along and cheer at the appropriate parts.  This picture is actually gypsy dancing flamenco at the show.  Everyone clapped in time with the music as she moved gracefully from one side of the stage to the other.

 

From the show, people went in different directions with the majority of people my age going to Plaza de Mina, a large area with islands of trees that had bars surrounding the perimeters. This is where I took pictures with Smurfs, cows, and all different types of disfraces, or costumes.  It was amazing to see all of these people just standing and chatting and singing.  Though I thought there would be more from the Cadiz Ayuntamiento, or town hall, I still enjoyed hanging out and meeting new people.  On the way back, we went by the cathedral and there were even more people packed together.  We literally had to push people in order to get by them when we had to leave for our bus at 4 AM.

This has been the most amazing trip thus far and I had such a great time.  Next weekend I have a five day weekend (no classes next Monday and Tuesday) and then I'm going to Rome on Saturday., so hopefully they live up to this huge experience that I have just had.  Don't worry, I'll keep everyone informed of all my goings on.  ¡Hasta Luego!