Hola Todos!

LIFE IN GRANADA:
There are some days when I get really homesick for no particular reason, but in general life in Granada has been very fun. I have made some very good friends. I have been hanging out with my roommate Rissy and her friends quite a bit. They often invite me out with them and we usually have a pretty good time. I also still hang out with my friend Oli. We usually watch sports together (soccer and rugby mostly). School is going very well. I like all of my teachers, and most of the time classes are very interesting and I learn a lot. I find that my Spanish is most fluent right after school, because I’ve just been listening and speaking it for 4-6 hours. It is kind of strange that I feel totally confident with my Spanish at those times, but there are other times when I just feel totally lost. All in all though, I feel like my Spanish skills have improved hugely, and they get better and better each week. It’s a nice feeling. I think I might get put in place very soon though, because we have midterms in most of my classes this next week and up until this point we haven’t really had any graded assignments or anything. So, it looks like I’ll be hitting the books this weekend. I still haven’t adapted to the Spanish daily routine – and I don’t think I ever will. I can’t get used to the meal times, siesta time, bar and club times, etc. Most dance clubs don’t open until 3 in the morning! Needless to say, I haven’t been to many dance clubs since I’ve been here. I was very disappointed to discover that Halloween is not widely celebrated in Spain. However, some of my American friends from school had their own Halloween party so I threw together a last minute costume and went with some friends to their house. I guess it was better than nothing. (more…)

Hola Todos, I have been in Spain for just over a month now, and the weather here in Granada has been about the same since I arrived. Most days are filled with beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine. Within the last week or so the temperature has begun to fall. When I first arrived, coming off summer, the temperatures during the day were around low to mid 30′s Celsius, which is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Now the temperatures have been in the low 20′s C (70 F) during the day and about 5 C at night (low 40s F). Generally the days are still sunny though, even with lower temperatures. It has rained a few days since I’ve been here (in fact it’s raining right now). It seems like for every week or two of beautiful sun, we get one day of torrential downpours and thunder and lightning. Yesterday a friend and I went to visit some pueblos in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. When we started the day, the weather was sunny and a comfortable temperature (probably in the 60′s F). However, as the day went on, a thick fog rolled into the hills and the temperature dropped substantially. It rained for about five minutes, and then the sun began to peak through the clouds a bit. Overall the weather here in Granada has been quite enjoyable and comfortable.

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Hola Todos, It has officially been one month and two days since my arrival in Spain. As expected, I am starting to get into the swing of things over here. I’m meeting lots of people, exploring more of the area, and learning more about the language and culture all the time.

School started last Tuesday, Oct. 9, and it has been interesting thus far. On Oct. 1st we took a placement test for the school and based on that we were split into to groups: Hispanic Studies, which is the more advanced program, and Culture and Language, which is the intermediate program. Since it’s been about a year and a half since my last Spanish course in college, I did bad on the exam and got placed in the intermediate program. Which is probably a good thing, because I would’ve been in way over my head in the advanced program, and I’m staying for two semesters so in the spring I can do the advanced program. I’m taking five classes: Grammar, Oral and Writing, Economy of Spain and Latin America, Business Spanish, and History of Spain. Each class is two hours long and two days a week. No one has classes on Friday, which is nice so we have longer weekends for possible trips! The classes are all taught in Spanish the whole time, and most teachers don’t let us speak in English. It makes it very difficult, but we will learn a lot I’m sure. The classes are very small (12-20 people), and most of the students at the school are American. I think the most difficult thing for me about school is my schedule. I have class at 8:30 everyday(Mon-Thurs), and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have class straight through with no breaks from 8:30 to 2:30. It’s like I’m in high school again, except it’s more real work. Generally we do get little mini breaks every hour or two hours for about 5-10 minutes. Anyways, school is school no matter where you are in the world. It sucks, but I suppose I’d rather be sitting, learning in a classroom than working 6-8hours a day in a real job!

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Hola Todos,

Boy, what a difference a week makes! Last Friday I checked out of my hotel and moved into my new apartment. I technically wasn’t supposedto move in until this weekend, but the landlady was very nice and she knew I was staying in a hotel, so she allowed me to move in a whole week early (for free!). It was kind of awkward at first because all of a sudden I was sitting in the living room with four people I did not know at all. But at the same time it was excellent to finally meet some people around my same age. Fortunately the awkwardness didn’t last long and we all hit it off pretty well. So that night I met the four people living in the apartment: Carlos from Mexico, Lilly from Berlin, Sonia from London, and Shteema from Tel Aviv, Israel (1 guy and 3 girls).

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It has officially been a week since my arrival in Granada. I think this has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life. I knew going into it that it was going to be very difficult, but I don’t think anything could actually have prepared me for an experience like this. Not very many people here speak English, so I have to try to use my Spanish whenever I need to talk to someone. Which has been difficult, but I am improving. It’s so frustrating to know what you want to say, but not being able to say it or understand what others are saying. I suppose it can only get better from here. This week I have had to battle: the jet leg, the time zone adjustment (9 hours ahead of Seattle), the stress of not having a permanent place to live, the stress of not knowing where anything is, the adjustment to Spanish meal times, getting used to the siesta time, and basically dealing with the overall culture shock and the use of a whole new language. On top of all that, I think the most difficult thing for me to deal with right now is not having my friends and family around. I am basically completely alone right now. I don’t know anybody yet, and it is difficult for me to meet people because school has not started and my Spanish is not up to par. Thank goodness that I have internet access in my hotel room. I also bought a cell phone on my first day here, but calls to the U.S. are very expensive.

My one reassurance right now is that things can only get better from here. (more…)