Vista Del Arriba

Oye, which means "hey", I feel like I have a lot to write, so I'm just going to get started.  On Saturday, I woke up to sore legs, so I thought that I might take a day off and relax.  Unfortunately, I get antsy and ask my host mom what to do and she says that I should go to this park called Parque Federico García Lorca that is about 0.75 miles down the street, or 1.2 km.  So I go out for a walk down a street that I have never been down before, Calle Arabial, or Arabial Street and I see a store called El Corest Íngles, which sells everything from clothes to foods to electronics.  I also pass a small cafe that looked very cozy whose name I forgot.  It was a pleasant paseo, or stroll.  Finally, I come up to el parque and it is a giant park with lots of vegetation and fountains.

I may not be used to parks of this size, but I really loved this one.  I started walking through it and on the right was a children's playground with a zip line.  Kids and some older kids, lined up to either kick off or get pushed down the cord.  I also noticed a sign that instructed a person on how to stretch.  The sign was posted by the ayuntamiento, or city hall of Granada.  I took note of this and continued onward.  I saw a nice little area surrounded by bushes that seemed like it would be a great place to curl up and take a nap.  Well, at least when there's some grass.  Either the park isn't finished or the grass hasn't grown in yet, but there is mainly dirt on the ground.  There are many trees though, including tall, towering coniferous ones and normal, maple-like trees.  They actually even had palm trees, which seemed out of place, but it kind of worked.  All of the bushes were cut into rectangular prisms and though the fountains didn't work, they looked very modern.
As I turned one of the corners, I saw this quaint café right in the middle of the park.  It was shielded by bushes, but as I looked around them, I saw people enjoying coffee and looking out at the visitors walking around the park.  This was at 3 in the afternoon and many people were out with their children, with their parents, and even with their dogs.  After I passed the café, I saw an outdoor gymnasium that consisted of a seated bench press, rower, elliptical and more.  I was so happy because this means that I don't have to pay for a gym, which I wasn't going to do anyways but still a good find.  I tried out most of the machines and it actually uses your own body weight as resistance.  I was really impressed with Granada's push for healthier citizens.  After I played on the machines, I saw a pond, so naturally, I ventured towards it.  In the pond, there were ducks, but no two were alike.  There was only one mallard duck and there were many white ones with varying black dots like a dalmatian.  There were also some brown ones.  I was so amazed at this giant park that was closer to my apartment than any of the school buildings or even the API office that I stood in awe as I watched the children feed bread and cheetos to the ducks.

I walked out of the park at 5:00 PM and found the café that I had seen earlier.  I went inside and sat at the bar, because they charge you more depending on where you sit in or even outside of the restaurant.  I ordered un café and drank it while I tried to read the newspaper.  Thankfully, they had Wi-Fi and I was able to look up many words that I did not know and could definitely understand the stories.  In Malaga, two hour bus ride away from me, there were two bars closed for serving to minors.  To be a minor here you have to be under 18 and they never check IDs, so this seemed tan ridículo, very ridiculous, given the environment we are in.  At 6:00 PM, I walked home.  At a red light, I saw two people jumping into the crosswalk.  They performed a juggling act while oncoming traffic sat at the red light.  I enjoyed watching them as I crossed the street, but man, Spain is very interesting.  Think about how much you would enjoy entertainment when you're waiting for a green light. This lasted until the jugglers left the street and the light had changed.

Those were my adventures on Saturday.  I wish I could say I did more exciting activities on Sunday, but I just ran to the park and walked around the city to find where my classes would be held.  Today, however, was a very interesting day.  I woke up at 7:45 AM because my entire program had the language placement test at 9:00 AM.  I took the test and felt confident on some things and not so confident on others, but for the program I was currently enrolled in, I would need to place 7 or higher.  Turns out I received a 6 and I had to go to the API office to change programs.  This involved some paperwork and ultimately changing my program to the Language and Culture Studies.  This isn't as bad as it sounds because they offer the same courses in this course as the other one.  Regardless, I emailed the minor advisor, but I also gave him more information and he said that I could complete the minor this semester with those courses.  I just have to find out on Friday if I got in them or not.
Finally, we took a tour of Albaicin and Sacramente, two old barrios, or neighborhoods, of Granada.  This is where the gypsies live in caves and flamenco dance.  It is also one of the tallest points of the city where you can see everything.  The first view we got was of the Alhambra, an old Muslim castle that we are going to tour tomorrow, so I'll have more pictures and information about that.

The other awesome view that we saw was of the Sierra Nevada Mountains that border the city.  It's amazing to see the white peaks while you are just walking through the streets of Granada.  It's even more spectacular to see the view from one of the highest points of Albaicin.  Spain truly is a magnificent place.  This view below is probably my favorite panoramic view that I have done so far and it doesn't even capture the beauty of it.

Fruta del Telar

Yesterday was my first day in Granada, which is actually Spanish for pomegranate.  Though I have yet to see the fruit here, the symbol is all over the place.  The blockers on the sidewalks so cars won't hit pedestrians are in the shape of a pomegranate.  In almost every symbol that I have seen of Granada, there has been some rendition of the fruit.  I actually don't think I've ever had it before, but maybe I'll try some if it is offered.  Anyways, we woke up yesterday and got a general tour of the city from our Assistant Directors Lydia and Ingrid.  We walked to the two buildings that we will be having classes in as well as where the API Program Office is located. API is the program that I'm using to study abroad and most people here call it ah-pee.

After walking a lot yesterday, Nicho, my roommate, and I returned home for some lunch.  We had this fantastic paella and potatoes, called patatas, and salad.  She also enjoys fruit so I had clementines, which was very nostalgic of home even though at home they remind me of Spain where they are grown.

We had to eat a quick lunch because we needed to return to the school building and fill out paperwork.  Being 35 minutes away, we left 45 minutes early and still got their late.  We tried to find a shorter path, but there was construction and we ended up getting lost.  A second after we pulled out our map, a stranger offered to help.  She took us towards the center and then had to leave us, but we asked her questions on walk there.  She turned out to be from Mexico, but was studying at the University of Granada for international relations.  She knows Spanish and English and has spent a year in Germany, so she actually knows German as well.  She hopes to be part of the United Nations if not the European Union.
After her guidance to the school, we stayed for the meeting and then left to go shopping.  The converter that I bought in the US didn't fit well in to the wall, so I bought a new one of those.  Otherwise, I walked around with other people as they shopped to get my bearings in the city.  I didn't end up taking many pictures because I felt so overwhelmed.  We have to navigate through a larger portion of the city than we had in Madrid.
We got back around 7 and Carmen prepared dinner for us around 830 and then she went out with her novio, or boyfriend, Pepe.  They went out for un paseo, or stroll, around the city and came back around 1030 which was about the time that I was ready to go out.  I met up with some people and we went to an Irish cerveceria, or bar, called Black.  We had a beer there and then went on the lookout for another place that we had heard about.  On the way there, we got extremely lost and ended at the school building! Discouraged, we went in the first bar we saw called Realoje.  This was the first place in Spain that I had been to that played Spanish pop music instead of American music.  I really liked the atmosphere, but everyone was just standing on their own, so we left after half an hour.  Then we were trying to find our way back to their apartment and we accidentally came across the other building for our school.  It was a good surprise though, because we knew how to get back from there.
Once we got back to their place, we took a quick bathroom break and went down the street right next to theirs.  There were so many young people, so this seemed like the place to go.  We went into the first bar and it was crowded, but we saw some familiar faces from our program so we chatted with them for a few.  After an hour though, we decided to call it a night.

I walked so much yesterday that I woke up and my legs felt like they didn't want to be attached to me anymore, but it was my first successful night of bar hopping.  I've been 21 for how long?  The first night in Granada was a huge success :) Here's to many more nights like this one.