¡Hola de España! I have now been in Spain for a week and it seems like the time has flown by. I'm going to break the week up into 2 or 3 posts though because, as some of you well know, I am very good at writing a lot, and since I don't want to spend a whole day writing, I'll just do a bit at a time.
In order to get here, I flew from Portland to Newark, where I luckily missed hurricane Irene, and from Newark to Barcelona, where I spent the day because I had a 10 and half hour layover. In Barcelona - after struggling a bit figuring out the baggage lockers - I took a bus to the city center I went on a walking tour that my Lonely Planet travel book had in it. It took me down one of the main streets in Barcelona, La Rambla, which was filled with all sorts of interesting sights and sounds, such as men selling these things that you put in your mouth that allowed you to make a kazoo type noise, and street performers often painted from head to toe and acting like statues until someone paid them and took a picture with them in which case they would come to life. From there I walked through a market selling all sorts of meats, fish, fruits and vegetables, spices, and candy. I grabbed some lunch in the market and then continued with the rest of the walk, which took me by sights such as the cathedral, Roman ruins, and the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately I didn't go in any places because I didn't know how long it would take and I didn't want to miss my plane, but I figured that just gives me an excuse to go back to Barcelona.
When I finished with the tour, I decided to go back to the beginning and venture back down La Rambla all the way to the water where there was a monument of Cristopher Columbus. After taking a few pictures, I went back up and stopped at an outdoor cafe/bar to get some water and celebrate my arrival to Spain with a sangria. I sat and people watched until I finished my sangria, and then decided to go catch the bus back to the airport. Barcelona had been hot and I had not slept on the plane ride from Newark to Barcelona so I was exhausted and found myself falling asleep on the bus, and then in the airport while I was waiting by the gate. At one point I opened my eyes to find that everyone who had been sitting around me was gone and in line at the gate, so I quickly hopped up, gathered my things, and boarded the plane for my final destination: Granada!
I slept pretty much the etirety of the plane ride there and only woke up for the last few minutes. We landed to a beautiful sunset at Federico Garcia Lorca airport, and from there I took the bus to my hotel. I had to walk a bit from the bus stop to the hotel, but my walk turned out to be an even longer journey than expected because I missed it and walked 10 minutes too far. By the time I got checked in and in my room, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was take a shower and go to bed. My shower was one of the best I've ever had, and when I was done with that, I went and called home, and then went back up to my room and passed out.
The next morning, I woke up half expecting it to be 5 in the morning and was surprised to see that it was 11. I got up and got ready and then went and got some breakfast at the cafe next door to my hotel. From there I decided to explore the streets of the city in which I would be spending the next four months of my life. I browsed for a watch while I wandered because I forgot to bring one and was using my camera to tell time since I was without my cell phone. I walked down many winding streets without really knowing where I was and just trying to absorb everything around me. I ended up coming across some signs that pointed toward some tourist attractions such as La Alhambra (Granada's most famous attraction and Spain's most visited site) so I decided to follow them just to check things out. I ended up in the park which surrounds La Alhambra and followed random paths to see where they would take me.
The park was gorgeous and sort of reminded me of home. The paths I took led me to a clearing and some sort of structure with a view overlooking the city and some of La Alhambra. I stood enjoying the view for a bit and then began wandering back down through the park and to the streets to get some lunch. I stopped at a restaurant and was happy to sit under some misters while eating my lunch. When I was finished, I decided to go back to a store I had seen that had watches I had liked, but I soon discovered almost everything was closed for siesta, so I went back to my hotel.
After checking my email, I saw I had a message from another girl on the same program as me who was also in Granada a day early and she had sent a mesage about possibly meeting up. I responded with some places and times, and then set out to find where I had said I would be. I stopped to watch a concert that was happening across the street from my hotel where a bunch of older people were gathered and dancing salsa. I then went to find the school we were going to be attending, el Centro de Lenguas Modenrnas (the Center for Modern Languages or CLM for short) and wander that area for a bit before going to the bar I told the other girl to meet me at. I got completely lost trying to find the CLM and was not able to navigate the streets I needed, even with the map I had. Finally, as I walked down a random road I had turned down, I came across a building with a sign that read "Centro de Lenguas Modernas" and was able to see the school I would be going to. I then went to find the bar I had said I would be at. Unfortunately, all I had was the address and I had not been able to locate the street it was on on the map so I got pretty lost again. After walking around for a long time and seemingly passing the same things over and over again, I was hungry and gave up and went to a restaurant to get dinner.
While in the restaurant, some sort of big procession walked by with a float with some religious figures on it. I had seen a crowd of people outside the cathedral when I had somehow ended up there while searching for the CLM, and then had seen people dressed up in some sort of costumes walking around the area and even entering the restaurant I was in. I tried asking the man next to me what was going on, but he just said it was a procession and I figured he didn't want to talk since all he told me was the obvious and didn't even say what the procession was for. I came across the procession again on my way back to the hotel and got an even better view of what it was. There looked to be priests or something in the front carrying candles, and then a big float like I said but I could now see that it was being carried by people who were all underneath it. A band was walking behind the float and playing songs, and then behind the band there was a crowd of people following the procession. The procession stopped for a bit and I took pictures until it started back up and then I watched it until it disappeared around the corner. I then wakled back to my hotel, again stopping across the street to watch some more of the concert and dancing that was still going on. Then I went back to my hotel and sent an email to the other girls who were in Granada a little early about meeting for breakfast in the morning before going to our host families, and I went to bed excited for the big day ahead of me; our program was officially starting and I was going to be meeting my host family.
That's all I will post for now. I will try to get this all updated as soon as possible and maybe post some pictures also. For now if you want to see pictures, check out the album I put up on Facebook. I will say that Granda is a wonderful city and I am loving it here. My host family is great, my roommate is great, and I think I am going to have a hard time leaving this place at the end. Adios for now with un abrazo y un beso.
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