1-18-08

We set our alarms to get up before breakfast which turned out to be € 3 for a loaf of baguette with jelly and orange juice. It was pretty good and I tried to fill up in case lunch was bad. They guy working was so funny and his English cracked us up because he didn’t understand why we didn’t want coffee. After breakfast, it was time to check out and head to our meeting. We rolled all of our luggage (or lack thereof) straight downhill on a narrow cobblestone street with cars trying to pass – wow. We went into the meeting room and Verónica introduced herself and gave us a little packet of information with an orientation schedule, a map of Granada, the bus schedule, and all of our addresses. I am SO happy with my placement! More on that later… She was giving us some basic information (like how to greet our señoras who were coming in an hour) and asked us what we were worried about, but the whole time I was looking on my map to see where the heck I lived – turns out it wasn’t even on the map! Also during this time a hotel worker came in and said some luggage came and wondered if it was ours. She said she didn’t think so and asked us quick to make sure everyone had theirs, so obviously a bunch of us got our point across immediately. She went out to look and read off the names of the people who had bags here and she called my name!!! Bummer though because it was only my small bag, but it did have all of my bathroom stuff in it! Then, Verónica introduced us to our señora, Julia, and Taylor and I absolutely love her. Her name is Julia he is so sweet and bubbly and genuinely seems like she’s thrilled to have us here. She’s also really experienced with having students from Central so that’s nice too. Taylor is awesome too, I’m so glad we’re living together because e seem really similar and get along great so far! It’s comforting to have someone here with me. Anyway, she’s from Oregon but goes to College of St. Mary in Nebraska. (She lost her luggage too) Our señora’s son, Francisco, came with her to pick us up. He took the long way home to show us some of the city which was really nice. Our place is just adorable – really clean and cozy. Taylor and I share a room and it will be nice when we get all of our stuff in so it will feel a little more like home. As soon as we got some stuff put away it was time for lunch. I had nothing to worry about because it was really good. We had paella, salad, a baguette, and an orange for dessert. It was so much food and it actually held me over until breakfast the next day. Two things I wasn’t expecting were that we ate off one big plate of salad which I guess is pretty typical here, and there were bones in the chicken still and we were supposed to pick them out. During dinner we watched tv and they mentioned something about the inauguration on the news which made me a little nervous because I’m not sure how to go about discussing politics here. They were really cool about it, all the said was that it’s going to be a big event and they’ve heard there’s going to be a ton of security there – more than usual. Then, we flipped to the Simpsons – they really do watch it all over the world … After lunch we arranged our stuff a little and relaxed in our beds. Julia and Francisco also showed us where we live on a map and how to get to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM). Taylor didn’t feel great and as soon as she settled in for a nap Francisco came in and offered to show us around some more. I’m so glad we both went because it was amazing! First, he drove us by the river and up to a mountain to what I would call a scenic overlook. He called it a “sitio de enamorados” J Anyway, he pointed out some major landmarks in the city like the Alhambra which was really close, Albaicín, our house and school, the cathedral, downtown, etc., and then we saw the sunset in the mountains. Tough life, right? After that he drove us to the Alhambra and we got out to explore on foot. It was absolutely breathtaking and it’s not really something you can explain or capture on camera. He told us so much information and I can’t wait to learn more. As we were overlooking the Albaicín we heard music and he said it was flamenco because we could hear the guys (I can’t remember the name for them) clapping and “singing”. The air was so fresh and clear, I can’t imagine how nice it must be in the Spring or even Summer, listening to the water trickle and seeing the stars above. Again, amazing. After spending some time looking around and taking pictures we headed back down into the city where he drove us around and pointed out some more stuff. We walked through some shopping streets and plazas then we stopped for churros in Bib-Rambla. (Laura will be so proud, it was only my second night and I already found it! Oh, also Viajes Ecomar!) It was pretty good but I wasn’t expecting it to be so rich, I definitely couldn’t eat more than a few. Pretty much they’re just deep fried bread dipped in melted Hershey’s chocolate … yum! We did some more driving and he showed us lots more stuff like the Universidad de Granada and some cool government buildings and most importantly, good places to shop. I was so embarrassed because I suddenly got so tired and I think he even caught me nodding off – oops! I was glad when Taylor said she was too. We got back and Julia showed us how to use our keys then asked if we were ready for dinner. I didn’t end up eating anything because I was still full but it looked good; I think she’s going to save it for dinner tomorrow. She also informed us that she doesn’t have a house phone even though it’s listed on our directory so that cleared up a mix-up we had earlier J. I decided to take a shower and was thrilled to find out that I can take as long and as hot of a shower as I need … whew! I was really nervous about that. I did have a little trouble figuring how to get the water to go through the shower head instead of the faucet though, Julia laughed at me but it was all good. She also explained how laundry will work which settled some more questions. Taylor and I each have a little bucket that we keep in the tub and put our dirty clothes in. I guess whenever it gets full she will do it for us. Not really a problem as of now because neither of us have any clothes … She did let Taylor borrow an adorable lime green pajama set and I think she was pretty happy to have it instead of sleeping in jeans again! Tomorrow Julia will walk us to the CLM and give us bocadillos for lunch. I guess it’s about a 20 minute walk once we get it down so that’s good. I don’t feel so hot right now – just a runny nose and sore throat so hopefully that goes away by morning. I still have so much stuff to figure out and a lot to get used to but overall, I’m feeling pretty good right now. I definitely understand most of the conversations I’ve been having in Spanish but I hope my skills improve a ton while I’m here. I also have a ton of questions still and I’ve been writing them down. A few things I did get answered today were about Francisco. Here’s what I know: he’s 41 and lives in the north, about 60 km away from the Pyrenees. He’s a professor of health/sports/wellness/PE (that’s still a little fuzzy) and is very active. He even offered to take us skiing in the Sierra Nevadas sometime because he’s an instructor! He also coaches the Spanish junior national ping-pong team – crazy! He’s leaving tomorrow though because he’s giving a seminar in Merida and that’s why he’s here. He also loves Rhianna and “chill-out” music, speaks French and a tiny bit of English, and drives the cutest little Audi. He also explained that they are originally from Madrid (Julia emphasized that) but he had health problems when he was young so they had to move to a drier climate. I was so glad to have him here today and I wish he would be around more. He was so helpful and also kept reminding Julia to talk slower J Speaking of, Julia just came in and told Taylor and I to whisper because the walls are so thin and the people below us work at 6:00am. She’s so cute and makes an effort to repeat everything a few times so we understand J Finally, it’s bedtime!