It was my
first officially weekend here in Granada. I got here last Saturday but I don’t
count that as a weekend. Friday after school four of us went out for Tapas and
had a great time walking around the city and stopping in random restaurants/bars
for a little food and drinks. We stopped in 3 different places in 3 different
areas. It was roughly 2 euros at each bar for a drink and free food. So 6 euros
for 3 drinks and food that filled me up, that’s a pretty good deal. There is
this one drink that is really good. It’s called Tinto del Verano, and it has
red wine, a carbonated lemon soda or just like club soda, with a slice of lemon
and ice. It was a great time! It was a night of inside jokes and one liners. Most
wouldn’t make sense if I explain them here, but I do have one quick story to
tell. We were walking down an alleyway looking for another tapas bar when a
white van starts heading our way. Normally in alleyways they have a designated
walking area, but this one did not. This alley didn’t even seem wide enough for
a car in the first place, let alone a large van. All of our reactions were
“Uh-oh, what are we supposed to do?” we were midway through and couldn’t turn
around without this being the running of the bulls. So three of us stood in an
archway of a door and Shannon stood in another archway across from us. This
archway was probably about the length of our shoes. The van drove by and I
could have touched it without fully extending my arm. It reminded me of a movie
where people are down in a subway area and they have to go into a doorway area
so they don’t get smushed. The other girls were scared and thinking about the
possibility of what could have happened, but that was the same thing that
amused me. We’re alive and young yet. It’s crazy how we’ve only been here for a
week when it feels like we’ve been here for a month already.
For school
we were assigned to find something in the city. I am in a group that is
assigned to find the open air markets/farmers market. Luckily, it’s not too far
from where I live. So another girl from school and I went to go check it for
our presentation. From start to finish it took us 15 minutes to walk through it
at the pace of everyone else. There are racks and tables and clothes lines full
of items, mainly clothing. The also sold some fruit, candy, purses, scarves,
loads of shoes, music, etc. It was a crazy scene. It’s a great place for all
those bargain shoppers that won’t buy anything at the name stores if they can
get a knock off brand or something just as good for cheaper somewhere else.
It’s a very interesting place to see and I look forward to going back whether I
buy something or not. On our walk back from the market we saw a futsal game and
started to watch. It was in a gated area right next to a busy street. The kids
playing had to be 8 or 9 years old and they were studs for their age. Spain
breeds soccer players apparently. We also walked by the Granada CF futbol
stadium and I didn’t realize how close that is to my house. I’m definitely going
to a game when I get the chance.
Luego,
Roseanna, Tesla, Shannon and I did more exploring around the city. This seems
to be my set group of friends. Again, Roseanna is my housemate, Tesla lives
right up the street and walks with us to school and Shannon doesn’t live too
far from us comparatively to other students. We decided to explore the other
side of the river that I’m not used to. That’s the point, right? Go to an area
that you’re unfamiliar with to get lost. Weelllllll, that’s sort of how it
ended up. We started for an area that we pin pointed on the map, but got side
tracked by pretty stores and lots of people and ended up in the city center
where everything is. We’ve been here several times. Our school is in this area,
our hotel the first night was in the same area, and we took an excursion not
too far from the city center. Oh well,
it’s a fun area. They have a huge Burger King that I mentioned before. I went
in to get a drink and found out it’s pretty expensive. Which is funny, right?
We go to Burger King because it’s cheap and easy. I know, now, that if I ‘m
going to buy anything from there again it’s going to be a time that I’m really
craving it. We walked around some more and my nose made its way into a bakery
of goodies. I ended up getting a chocolate covered waffle that was delicioso! After
a long day’s walk we decided to go home for dinner and meet up again later that
night. We ended up going to Tesla’s apartment for some cards. She lives with a
student who is probably in his late 20s, early 30s from England. I love the
British accent and its slang. He’s just doing a four week program and goes back
in 2 weeks. He played cards with us and was a lot of fun.
Sunday, my
group of 4 went to La parque de ciencias right near my house. This thing was big,
even for America. In Europe, they seem to make everything smaller so it was
kind of refreshing to see something spacious. It was your typical science
museum, but everything seemed so “low-tech”. I think Spain is just behind the
times and we are completely spoiled in the US. Like tonight (Sunday) I went to
an internet café to get on the computer. It wasn’t like a café were you buy
food, no it was a place that had a couple rows of computers. I had to plug the
Ethernet cable into my computer and it cost 1 euro an hour. I’m glad that I
know that there is one around here so that I can use it, but I’m pretty bitter
about having to pay to use the internet. After the science museum we just came
home and read. There are a couple books left over from past students, I assume,
because they are all in English. Roseanna recommended that I start reading The
Kite Runner, and so I did. I’m already 100 or so pages into it. When you don’t
have the internet and your legs and feet are tired from walking around the
city, a good book is a nice substitute. The last time a read a book was in high
school when it was assigned to me. Before that on my own good will- I couldn’t
tell ya.
So you know
that song that goes like “and I will walk 500 hundred miles and I will walk 500
hundred more, just to be the man who walked a thousand miles…”? Yeah that feels
like my theme song for this week. SO MUCH WALKING! My calves are going to be in
great shape.
Anyhow, I’m
singing off on another blog. Stay classy, Des Moines.
…Anchorman?
Get it, get it? Ahh, forget it.
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