I started my trip off with a week in New York City visiting some old friends and sightseeing, it was an amazing experience and I had a lot of fun. Then I flew to Madrid where I met another old friend, and native Madrileño (person from Madrid). We spent only one night in Madrid before heading west towards Portugal to his small home village. There we passed five days celebrating the "Celebraciones de los Cristos." This was very fun and a proper Spanish introduction. The Spaniards love to party and this weekend reflected just that: dancing into the early sunlight of morning, swaying to the music and screaming out the lyrics in unison, waking mid-day and eating late, watching the bull fights and drinking home made sangria.
Finally I arrived to Granada where I found a room in an apartment downtown shared with 5 other foreign exchange students (6 in total). A chilean, Camilo, a Mexican, Jorge, an Italian, Laura, and two girls from Belgium, Amandine and Kimberly. I have had loads of luck because we all get along great and have a nice shared space. Everyone is respectful and neat and we usually cook meals together. Every Sunday in fact, we have started a tradition where each nationality takes turn to cook a traditional meal for all of our friends (now that our friend group has grown).
Erasmus is the name of the European exchange program that basically allows European students to study in another European university for a semester or a year while still paying tuition at their home university. The Erasmus program is very welcoming and always organises social events that all exchange students can participate in. We have met a lot of exchange students this way. However I am also meeting locals and Spaniards in my classes which is nice too.
I feel like I could write so much, but to summarise, Granada is a beautiful city, full of a rich history written into the streets and statues, and the arcs and architecture that line them. The mountains in the distance paint a beautiful backdrop with the city nestled at the bottom. Granda reminds me of a bigger, more condensed Flagstaff. The population is somewhere around 250,000 with 80,000 students between the 5 campuses spread out through the city.
All of my classes are going well so far, and I like most of my professors. It is a constant challenge for my Spanish as I switch between the lisped "pure" Castilian of Spain and the Mexican and Chilean dialects at home, but my comprehension is growing every day, along with my ability to speak.
We are getting ready to spend the weekend in Portugal, we leave tonight. Granada is 9 hours ahead of Flagstaff so I'm constantly converting time zones and wondering what all my friends and family might be up to.
I don't feel so homesick and I felt practically no culture shock in comparison to El Salvador. I think this is because Spain is so similar to the US. Perhaps not the culture, because they are a little lazy here, but the fact that everyone has a smart phone, and people dress nice, and watch similar tv shows and movies. Here stores don't open until 9 or 10 am, take a lunch/nap break from 2-5 and then open again from 5-9. Don't even think about going to the store on Sunday though, because every where is closed. (Found this out the hard way...)
I have much more to write, but I'll save it for another day. Instead here are a collection of pictures, from my room and apartment to the town of Granada to my friends here.
Hasta luego
