Granada

So this weekend I took a trip to Granada, Spain through my program. It was beautiful - the city is basically a valley between two mountains. Our hotel was right on top of a mountain. I am going to stop complaining about the walking I do here in Seville, because in Granada all I did was walk up and down a mountain. Glad I chose to study in Seville. The most significant thing we did was tour the Alhambra. For those of you who remember history (I've managed to erase every history class I've ever taken from my memory, but once I was reminded the details of this I vaguely remembered), you've probably studied it. It's HUGE. It was beautiful, on top of a mountain with gorgeous views, however, the tour through it took FOUR HOURS, which was completely unnecessary. We did, however, eat at a delicious restaurant. We actually chose an Italian restaurant (despite the fact that Granada is known for its tapas...oops), and it was some of the best food I've had here yet.

the Alhambra
cutest child ever...I don't know if I mentioned yet that Spanish kids are the most adorable kids I've ever seen. Some of you might know I have a weakness for children, I have to resist not stealing one of these cuties.





I'll briefly mention Seville a bit more - I've been in a two week intense grammar class (today starts the 2nd week), for three hours M-F. It's extremely boring. I'm ready for real classes to start so I can have a routine, they start next week. I've started running, which is necessary to make up for all the pastry and fried food I eat (that's basically the entire Spanish cuisine), and found two great routes. One is right along the river, and one is through a great park. I can't complain. I'm very excited that I booked my first trip, I'll be going to Paris in two weeks!

Hasta Luego,
Rachel

finally a few pictures

Ok, so I don't have too much to update since the last post, but I realize that post was pretty general so I'll give some more details and some pictures of the city so you can all envy me for being here.

My host mom is a very good cook, which is good because sometimes I can be picky. The food is kind of similar to America, it's mostly the same ingredients but in different combiniations, if that makes sense. For example, the other day for lunch we had pasta, but we had it with ham, hard broiled eggs, cheese, and sauce mixed in. It was actually good. I also tried calimari. I really did not want to but my host mom makes me try everything so I gave it a shot and it was actually delicious. It was fried...so that's probably why I liked it. Not going to lie, I am beginning to crave American food. Might have to make a stop at one of the Americanized restaurants here soon (they have Dominoes, Burger King, McDonalds, a pizza place called "A Slice of New York City" and more. I must say, my favorite part, and none of you will be surprised to hear this, is that there are "Heladerias" (ice cream parlors, but really gelato) EVERYWHERE. Literally every block. It's AMAZING. The gelato is also amazing, excellent quality. Shockingly I've resisted and only gotten it one time, but once it starts getting hot there's no way I'll be able to hold back.

Besides food, the way meals work is very different. Breakfast is pretty similar - I usually just have toast and coffee when I wake up. Lunch is around 3, and it's the biggest meal of the day. The whole family eats together, and everyone comes home from work to eat. Dinner is not until about 10:00. Everything is so late! Last night at dinner, my parents asked me if I got back late the night before. My response was "a bit late, yes." They asked what time, and I said 3. They then laughed and said, "i thought you said you got back late! That's so early, late is considered 6 or 7 in the morning!" I didn't really even know how to respond.

Another fun difference- today I walked into the kitchen and the first thing I saw was a giant cow's leg. My host mom was cutting the meat straight off of it to eat. That was something I was definitely not used to seeing. Good thing I'm not a vegetarian.

The amount of walking I have to do is INSANE. I'm hoping this means the amount of weight I lost will also be insane. I am basically as far from everything as you can get. Once I know my way better, I might start looking into the bike system so I can get to class faster. There's a bus system too, I may look into that for nighttime purposes (taking taxis so I don't have to walk by myself is getting very expensive), but the city is mostly walkable, which I do like, but when it's a half hour to class every day and with the schedule here I have to do that multiple times, other transportation might be necessary.

Yesterday we went to a place called Alcazar. It's a really old castle, it was absolutely gorgeous (pictures below).

Let me tell you, it is EXHAUSTING using a different language every single day. Sometimes I just have to sit in my room because my brain needs a break from Spanish. My ability to understand is getting much much better, but my speaking still needs work. A man in a bar last night told me it was very obvious that I'm American because of my horrible, or probably lack of, accent. I can usually speak well enough to get my point across though, which is all that matters.

Here are some pictures of the city, these pictures don't even do it justice. You can't imagine the beauty of it until you experience it yourself. It's unlike any other city.

me in the courtyard of Alcazar
one of the rooms of Alcazar..the king's child was born there (ew.) Imagine there were probably about 50 rooms similar to this one in this palace.
DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CHURROS
this is the view I have when I walk to school every day...that neighborhood is Triana, where I live. It's across the bridge from "El centro," where school is. It's beautiful.
Plaza de Toros...where the infamous bullfighting occurs
sorry this is upside down, but this is a random street, you can kind of capture the peaceful feeling of the city from this
plaza de españa...gorgeous. from what I understood it's where the government meets, kind of similar to our Capitol.
another view of the plaza

the first week...

so this is going to be a short entry...its currently 3:32 AM (just got back from being out...thats normal here) and a few of you have been asking me to update so I thought i'd do quick post.

Flights went well. British airways is an EXCELLENT airline (Yeah i sound like an advertisement, but i had 2 layovers which sucked but british airways was great, especially because the entire crew had british accents...my favorite).

Orientation is still happening, we were in a hotel the first few days (BEAUTIFUL hotel). I became friends with my roommate and we became friends with other people, so that all worked out. Today I moved into the homestay. I was freaking out, had a minor panic attack because i lost my suitcase at the hotel...asked some girl on my program to watch it while I went to do something, came back, it was gone, and she had no idea where it went...rude. I had to talk to a million people...fully in spanish...before I FINALLY found it. I was almost in tears, but I guess my Spanish was good enough to figure it out. Anyway, my family is good, I'm in a neighborhood with a lot of other students, so thats good. I live with a couple and their 32 year old son (thats normal here). There's also another American here who is studying abroad for the year (been here since fall) so I think that will be a big help to me. I've had to use a LOT of Spanish, and it's been hard, but this fmaily is patient and wants to help me, which is also good. They've hosted plenty of times before, I think. It's nice - my room is not too cold (I heard many houses don't have heat), I have perfect wifi, and me and the other American have a bathroom, and kind of a wing of the apartment, to ourselves. Below are pictures of my bedroom.

Also, Seville is the most beautiful place I've ever been. Walking trhough this city is unreal, I feel like I'm in a movie. I'll post pictures of the city soon, don't worry, but trust me, it's gorgeous.

I'll write more later, gotta go to bed. Buenas noches!

The Night Before...

If you're reading this, you probably already know that I'm going to be spending this upcoming semester in Seville, Spain. While I'm extremely excited, as this is something I have been looking forward to since high school, I'm also really anxious. I know I'm going to have an incredible experience, as every single person who has studied abroad has told me, but I'm taking a step into the unknown and have no idea what to expect. The biggest risk I'm taking is doing a homestay- something completely out of my comfort zone. I've been told it's the best way to immerse myself in the Spanish culture and really get the full Spanish experience, so I figure I'll give it a shot!

Anyway, I have no idea how to blog so bear with me. I'll try my best to keep up with this, but no promises. I figured I should keep a journal of some sort, so I can one day look back and remember everything. I recently found my journal from my Israel trip I took when I was 16, and got very excited to relive my trip through my entries. Unfortunately, each entry only mentioned which boys on my trip I thought were cute, how hot the Israeli men were, and what food I ate that day. Nevertheless, it did not help me remember anything, so I'll try to do a better job this time. I figure this is also an easy way for everyone who's interested to hear what I"ve been up to, it's much easier than sending out individual emails.

I should probably go finish packing, my next post will hopefully be in a few days or so...when I'm all settled in Seville! Adios!