Wednesday, January 21, 2009
This morning we had our usual breakfast – pan tostada and hot chocolate and Julia had our bocadillos prepared for us. I’m glad we walked to class with our new neighbor because we didn’t meet in the CLM and he knew a shortcut and got us to our meeting place. I exchanged numbers with a bunch of the group and we followed Aurelio to this really cool district of the city. We started with the Plaza Nueva then continued to the Río Darro which flows under part of the city. It was so pretty because you could see the ruins of the bridge that connected the Alhambra with the Albaicín and the ancient edifices and how they’re infused with the architecture of today. You can also see the Khasbah, which was the military part of the Alhambra – Aurelio compared it to the pentagon. It was also used as a residence for Boabdil’s mother (the last Muslim king and his quotable mother). Then we began our trek up the Albaicín which was absolutely beautiful. The streets are so steep and narrow and all of the houses are white with ivy and flowers from the windows. We went through the Alzcaba which is part of the Albaicín which was originally settled by Romans and Goths then the Arabs surrounded it walls. In this area was Plaza Larga where vendors were selling all kinds of things. We also saw the ancient mosque where the occupants were forced to convert to Catholicism or be killed. We made a few stops before we got to the top – the most breathtaking view from el Mirador de San Nicolas. You can see the Alhambra in its entirety, the Generalife which was the summer getaway (think lots of gardens and fountains), the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance and the city of Granada sprawled out below. We took some great pictures and the sun was shining! We weaved through a little bit more and stopped by a plaza that was constructed on top of a parking ramp. While they were constructing it though they found ancient roman ruins from thousands of years ago (I’m terrible at remembering dates) and they’re now enclosed and preserved in a glass case. After our hike, most of us came back to the CLM to eat our bocadillos – mine was much better today, a baguette with manchengo cheese and olive oil- and to use the internet. There was a class in the computer lab so the line for the computers upstairs was insane. I decided to test out my new phone and US calling card and I got hold of Mom and Dad! It was great to talk to them for a while and also know that my phone works. Then I used the internet for a bit and we started our meeting. The owner of the Morocco Exchange program came to give us a presentation and answer any questions we had about it. He played a highlight/advertisement video that laid out the program really well. I love that it’s included in our program fee this semester because it was something that I really wanted to do. Then Verónica went through some more information until it was time for class. I asked if she had called about my luggage yet but no such luck L Class was good – I feel like I’m going to learn a lot in the next two weeks. I had texted Graciela, my Argentinean friend who went to Central and to Mexico with me but is now living here in Granada, and she invited me over. So after class Taylor, Mitch and I headed to Camino de Ronda to check out her piso. She lives with Lucía, one of my language assistants last year, and a girl who is in the year-long program through Central. Their place is so cute and it was awesome to spend some time with Gra! I hope that we get to hang out more this semester. She does a lot with the church that is really close to her house and invited me to come to the service with her on Sundays so hopefully that works out too! We apparently didn’t know how long it would take to get home because we definitely were late to dinner which is always at 8:30. Julia is really particular about a lot of stuff so I thought she might be mad that we didn’t tell her we would be home late but she didn’t care at all. Oh, and Taylor’s luggage wasn’t here either. She prepared us our dinner, I took a shower, and it’s almost time to call it a night.
