Orientation through 1st day with Catalina!

Tuesday January 11th - Wednesday January 12th

The time is finally here! I said goodbye to the family and boarded the dreaded 8 hour flight.  After 6 hours of attempting to find a comfortable spot to sleep, I gave up and watched the movie, Wall Street 2, except for the fact that the flight attendants gave me faulty headphones that didn’t fit in the jack so I basically watched a silent movie. Awesome. Near the end of the flight, a pleasant surprise was breakfast! The meal included a croissant sandwich with ham and cheese, a mini muffin, fruit cup, orange juice and a kit kat bar. About an hour later, we landed in Madrid! The airport was modern and beautiful; basically everything was made of glass. I had a minor mishap at security when I accidently left a full water bottle in my backpack. As it went through the x-ray machine, the TSA people literally had a cow. After 5 minutes of yelling at me in Spanish, I finally understood that they wanted me to go to the bathroom to dump out my water. Ay dios mio.  

We made our way to our terminal and waited during our four-hour layover. Eventually, we boarded our second flight that was to arrive in Granada around noon. When our flight landed, we picked up our luggage and boarded shuttle buses that took us to our hostel in Granada. The hostel was very pretty and I loved the outer architecture.  I am rooming with 4 other girls: Sarah, Rachel, Stacy, and Amanda. Our room is tightly packed with 5 twin beds, a few pieces of furniture, and a small bathroom (plus a bidet?)  We settled in, checked in with our parents, and got ready to explore the city. 

The 5 of us joined up with a few other girls and we began our walking adventure. Everything was so beautiful, I almost forgot that I was starving and only had eaten one handful of trail mix all day. While we walked the gorgeous streets of Granada, with the words “rebajas” on every corner, we found it difficult to chose a place to eat. We finally found a nice little restaurant and decided to give it a go. Upon first glance, all we see is meat dangling from the ceiling. We attempt to order but fail to hear the words “la cocina esta cerrada” from our camerero/waiter, which means, “the kitchen is closed”. We learned our first cultural lesson that people in Granada like to eat late, unlike Americans. After that embarrassing scene, we finally came across a quaint little café. I ordered una bocadilla con atun y tomate (tuna and tomato sandwich) for only 3.20 Euro.  We were quite satisfied with ourselves, including our ability to order and pay using the little Spanish vocabulary that we had. With our heads held a little higher, we headed for a bar to order a drink. We came across a bar that seemed hidden, like it was a little local secret. There, Rachel and Amanda mustered up the courage to order a drink, which was promptly served with a Spanish tapa, which consisted of chips and a piece of ham on toasted bread.  Afterwards, we toured the backstreets of Granada and stumbled upon a great shopping area, all advertising huge “rebajas!” I checked my watch and realized we had been on our little adventure for over four hours and still most of us going on very little sleep. We decided to turn in a little early this first night, but plan to go out to our first discoteca soon.

Thursday January 13th

After a fantastic nights sleep, we woke around 7:30 and got ready for the day. We were offered a small breakfast from the pasteleria next door to the hostel, which consisted of your choice of café con leche or te (I chose agua) as well as a croissant with peach jam.  After this quick meal, the entire group (77 students) walked to a colegio to learn more about the program and safety tips, and we then took a Spanish placement exam.  Miguel Fernando from CEGRI came to speak with us, and although he had important things to say, he carried on well past 2:30. By this time, we were all starved and have not gotten used to the Granada meal schedule.

**On the way to get food, we noticed two chicos with a camera as they took the picture of my friend Amanda (pelliroja tambien) and myself. Apparently, it’s strange to see two redheads standing next to each other! Definitely feel like an outsider but I guess I can’t hide my pale skin, red hair, and freckles.

 A group of 7 of us walked towards our hostel with our minds on the Chinese restaurant across the street. We sat at a table and quickly ordered our food (first successful attempt I might add) and enjoyed familiar Chinese food. The check, or cuenta, was a bit of task. The waitress, or camerera, did not understand that we wanted separate checks, but it worked out in the end, even with a bit of stress. Now time for my first siesta! Afterwards is a tour of Granada!

Well, my first siesta, that included a long nap, was fabulous, other than the fact that I woke to Stacy knocking on the door and me freaking out that I was late to the group tour. Thank god the group was still there. On the tour, we learned about some amazing aspects of the city! It is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. When the tour got back to the hostel, I realized that I didn’t have a card to get upstairs since my 4 roomates were taking their siesta nap! I was forced to use my amazing Spanish speaking skills to try and describe my situation to the receptionist. I was proud that I could explain that I needed a copy of the room key. I came back and took a second nap! We woke and chatted for nearly 2 hours until other girls came to our room at 10 p.m. and motivated us to get ready to go out.

We headed towards tapas bars. Along the way, what we thought were gypsies, were 2 club promoters. We received cards that allowed us 2 free drinks (una cerveza y un mojito) each!  Since we couldn’t find the place, we went to a different tapas bar, well, we thought was a tapas bar. We ordered two bottles of a really good red rioja wine. The camerero didn’t understand that we didn’t want to pay for food, but quickly brought out 4 dishes to share. I think I was rude when I asked if they were free, because he was shocked at my question. Our bill for 7 people ended up being 80 some euros, but it was definitely worth it!

We left and walked back to the hostel to find a large portion of the group chilling on some 40’s and some bottles of wine. We quickly joined with our own 40’s of La Alhambra (1.50 Euro) and played drinking games and got to know each other until 3:30 a.m. Afterwards, the 5 of us came back to our room, slightly tipsy (me more than others) and went to bed.

Friday, January 14^th

We had our housing orientation today and received maps of Granada. The map displayed where each of our houses were in reference to the school. I of course am in the very bottom corner of the map. Yay. Afterwards, a bunch of us walked to the market and everything in the market was super fresh! (We could tell from the smell….) I also purchased una coca cola light for .60 Euro which is close to $.90 in the U.S.

Around 4:30, the group met for a tour. We were told to wear good walking shoes, but none of us expected to walk miles up hill. We took a tour of the Albaicin and el Sacremonte, which lasted nearly three hours, but I enjoyed every minute. The views from that high up were breathtaking especially when we could see the Alhambra.  We definitely weren’t in Kansas anymore. Later that night was the group dinner, which lasted nearly 3 hours. Culturally, this is very common and long conversations are highly valued among family and friends.

Now to explain Granada: First of all, I feel extremely out of place. I know people told me I would stick out like a sore thumb, but I did not believe it until now. It may be mostly because I have red hair and look like una Americana, or it may be that I have no idea how to converse with natives. I am slowly learning the unique accent in Granada. They tend to drop letters at the end of sentences, especially the letter “s.” For example, instead of saying gracias, they say gracia. All of the words seem squished together, but I think I will get the hang of it. At the moment, I feel really comfortable speaking Spanish with the other students in the program, but I am so intimidated to speak with locals.

 Teachers have failed to tell us about the simple things like how to order food and how to ask for a check. I have found that it is going to take some time to get used to the daily schedule. I find it obscure to have a siesta in the middle of the day, usually from 2-4 where everyone in the entire town stops to enjoy time with their family. Breakfast is usually a small croissant around 9 (I’m already sick of these after 3 days) Lunch isn’t until 2 or 3 p.m. but it is the largest meal of the day and it is meant to spend with family.  Sometimes, it is necessary to have a light snack before dinner, which tends to be around 10 p.m.  Dinner is usually very light, mainly served tapas style with plenty of wine and café con leche. I must say that I tried the wine here and love it! It is way less bitter than wine at home, or at least the kind that I have tried in the past.  For those of you who think I am weird for not liking coffee, I still hold those opinions strongly. I gave it a try, but no luck. It was even the café con leche that everyone raves about, but I still thought it was utterly disgusting.  Que asco!

The layout of Granada is extremely confusing. There is no rhyme or reason to the structure of the city. Some streets can be just like city streets we find in Chicago but others are short and extremely narrow. At times, the streets are barley big enough to fit a car (Austin Powers reference anyone?) I will probably post pictures of these strange details later.  Point of interest: They put blinds on the outside of their windows and I don’t see a reason to that…

Saturday, January 15^th

Today was the day we left the “orphanage” to meet our adoptive parents, or at least that was what it felt like. Promptly at 11:15, my senora arrived to the hostal to pick me up. She brought her sister-in-law with, and apparently, they are very close.  We took the bus from the hostal to the apartment, or piso. The location is pretty dang far away from campus in my opinion, but Catalinia begged to differ. The apartment is much bigger than I expected. There are 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. Catalina has 3 full-grown children, which is why there is so much room. 

Fun fact #1: Don't walk around the house barefoot. 1) It's considered rude and 2) If you do, you will get bronchitis, which in turn becomes pneumonia, and apparently then that evolves into missing a month or more of school. Story short, invest in some zapatillas, house slippers. 

Fun fact #2: Catalina understands zero ingles. 

Soon after giving me the grand tour, she and her sister-in-law (I think her name is Mariana but don’t quote me on that) pushed me out the door and headed to the mercadillo, which is about two blocks away from the apartment.  It is an outdoor market that sells all types of clothing, shoes, music, anything you can imagine, but the best part is that it is in a very economically conscious part of town. You could buy dos chaquetas por 3 euro.  (2 jackets for about $5!) It is there every Saturday and I am definitely going back! Once we left the market, we stopped by a local cervezeria. I ordered a coca-cola light (not diet, strange) and the other two each ordered una cana de beer, or a small glass of beer. It was served with a free tapa that consisted of fried calamari, but the kind that actually looks like tentacles. It was sabroso!  Catalina picked up the tab, which was super nice and we headed back for lunch and a siesta. After waking my parents up at 6 a.m. their time to skype for a few minutes, lunch was served. My favorite so far = paella con mariscos, pan, y vino! 

After our lovely afternoon nap, she wanted to take me to el centro de Granada. I assumed that was where the action was but didn’t really know where she was taking me. She first showed me a quick way to walk from the apartment to my school and I was surprised that it was such a straight shot. Afterwards, she took me shopping! We went in several stores and did a little window-shopping, but I ended up buying a new blue lacy cardigan from Zara’s (yeah Jane!) for 10 euro. Una ganga because Granada is having their month long sales all over called Rebajas. I love rebajas.  The next and last stop was none other than my first experience with chocolate con churros. I must say, I think they were so hyped by the other students in the program that I expected them to be fantastic. I probably would not order them again.  Lo siento Granada (but I am in love with everything else!)

We came back for a quick dinner at 9:30, which consisted of gambas y almejas (shrimp and clams) along with bread and wine. We then proceeded to watch all of her children’s weddings that were on tape.  My kind of fun!