I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted but the past week flew by and I have been incredibly busy. I will go through the week day by day so you can get an idea of my general routine.
Monday
I typically start my day with a muffin or pastry from a local panaderia. I then head to a cafeteria near the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM), where I go to school, to get a coffee. The Spanish typically start their day going to the exact same cafeteria to get a cup of coffee and talk with their friends. I have my intensivo class from 9:00 to 1:00, and then I typically spend about an hour with my friends at a tapas bar before returning to my house for lunch. I am enjoying my professors and I am learning quite a bit of Spanish. I normally eat lunch at my host family’s house around 2:30.
After lunch, if I don’t have class, I typically do my homework, take an afternoon siesta, or go explore Granada. Monday afternoon I took the opportunity to go explore and I stumbled upon a rose garden. In the rose garden there was a pond that had swans, ducks, large goldfish and some other large fish. I sat at the pond for about an hour just enjoying the view. At one point some little kids came up to the pond and they began to throw bread crumbs. They were chanting a song calling the “Great God of the fish.” From what I could understand it sounded like there is a myth about this pond that a very large fish and if you see it, you will be blessed with luck for the rest of the month.
I returned to my house that evening for dinner with my host mom and then I went to tapas with my friends at a local bar. It is incredible to see the number of people that are out in the city of Granada at night. During the day it is uncomfortable to leave the house due to the heat; therefore, the city comes alive at night. Between the hours of 8 and 12 the Spanish come alive, eating tapas, meeting with friends and walking the streets of Granada.
Tuesday
Same general routine: woke up, got a muffin, got coffee, had my intensivo, spent time with friends, lunch at my host house then a siesta. However, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have culture class. During the class we are learning about the history of Spain and also about the culture. After culture class I got tapas with my friends at a bar in the center of Granada. Around 9 pm I returned to my house for dinner then did some homework and was in bed by 12, which is early in Spanish standards.
Wednesday
Practically the same routine as the first two days. I only had class in the morning so in the afternoon I spent time doing homework and with friends. One of our favorite things to do in the afternoon is go to the best Italian Ice cream restaurant in Granada. The ice cream is BETTER than what I ate while I was in Italy. My favorite flavor is called Nata, it is basically a sweet, vanilla cream flavor. However, their coffee ice cream could rival Huskey’s and their dark chocolate is sinful. Nothing very exciting happened on Wednesday night.
Thursday
The day passed at usual with class and lunch at home, then culture class in the afternoon. After passing some time in the house, I went out with my friends to a karaoke bar near our school. Supposedly, the native students of Granada prefer to go our Thursday night than Friday night so we figured we might as well join them. We had quite a bit of fun singing and dancing. There is a story in Spain that if someone sings badly then it will rain the next day so depending on how well someone sang the Spanish would scream “va a llover” aka it is going to rain. It was quite an enjoyable evening.
Friday
I had my morning class and went home for lunch with my family. I also had my culture class and we discussed the importance of Toro’s in the Spanish culture. Friday evening I spent time at my house with my roommate and my host mom.
Saturday
On Saturday, I went to Ronda with my program for the day. It is a city about three miles east of Granada. It is a famous city because it has the oldest plaza de Toros in all of Spain. The city is also known because it is situated on top of huge cliffs. It was probably one of the most majestic views I have ever seen in my life. Our program pays for our food while we are traveling and for lunch we went to a very nice restaurant that was overlooking the valley. We had salad with toasted goat cheese, roasted chicken and vegetables, and napoleon ice cream.
After returning to Granada, my friends and I went out to a discoteca to go dancing. My friends and I went home around 3:30. To put that into perspective, we arrived at the club at 1:00 and we were the first ones there and then I am pretty positive the first to leave. The Spaniards don’t leave till 7 in the morning when they go get breakfast, sleep then repeat the next night.
Sunday
In Granada, everything shuts down on Sundays. Therefore, my friends and I went to the beach for the day. We returned to Nerja and laid on the beach most of the day. We also swam in the Mediterranean (no big deal) and played a Spanish version of racket ball. After exploring the town a little and taking some photos of the breathless Mediterranean, we returned to Granada for dinner and homework.
Monday
And my week has started over! I will try to be better in the future about posting more often than once of week. I am going to bed and I will post pictures tomorrow! I am having an amazing time and I am finding it hard to believe how fast the time here is going.
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