First Week of Classes!

So it’s been a little while since I have written so I guess I’ll talk about some of the highlights. I have experienced many things these passed couple days between watching the Superbowl, eating Paella for the first time, and starting classes!

FOOD:

My host parents still give me so much food. I do not understand how they remain so thin. We eat different types of soups quite frequently, and I must say they still are not my favorite, but I am growing to not mind them as much, and it has become a lot easier for me to finish a bowl. The cheese and breads are just as delectable as when I first arrived! We eat bread and fruit with basically every meal, and I’m glad we eat a fair amount of fruit so that I feel like I’m eating somewhat healthy. Commonly at lunch we eat pork, eggs, salads with oil and salt as a dressing, and sausages. Last week, my madre Espanola made us paella, which was absolutely delicious! Her paella was made with pork, vegetables, some sort of crawfish, rice, and of course saffron. Granada is famous for its paella, and now I understand why it’s delicious, and I am hoping she makes it again soon! Another favorite dish of mine is churros con chocolate. The churros are these strips of fried dough with a flakey exterior but moist inside in which you dip into hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is basically the richest hot chocolate I have ever tasted; imagine melting a Ghirardelli chocolate bar and drinking it. I definitely have a soft spot for churros con chocolate. This past week I ate a Mexican restaurant and an Indian restaurant. I find it rather humorous that I came to Spain and ate Indian food as I have never eaten Indian food back home, so why try it in Spain. A bunch of us from IES went to this Indian restaurante to celebrate someone’s birthday. I was definitely a little nervous to try the Indian food, but this experience is all about stepping out of my comfort zone. To my surprise I actually really enjoyed it. I think I will be eating more Indian food in the future.

A cheese sandwich mi madre espanola made for me

Futbol and Futbol Amerciano

Soccer is huge in Spain, which of course makes sense considering Spain did win the last world cup. It seems as if most everyone in Granada is either a Real Madrid fan or a Barcelona fan. I equate this to being either an Eagles fan or a Giants fan. I am really enjoying watching soccer. It is such a graceful sport, and it is fun to be around the passionate fans especially in a tapas bar when all of the sudden there is an eruption of cheers or moans from the crowd. Granada does have a team as well as Malaga and many other cities in Spain. The Granada team is a relatively young program, so the people here support the team but remain loyal to Barcelona or Madrid. Indoor soccer is also a professional sport here, which I did not know, but the other day I was watching a game with Rafa. Only 5 players play at a time and Rafa says that the players are the older players meaning in their 30’s who cannot keep up with youth who play in the outdoor league. I’m hoping to get to go to a game! Moreover, I actually got to watch some of the Superbowl here. I wasn’t that intrigued by the game as I do not care for either of the teams, but I loved the idea of watching the superbowl in Spain. A bunch of us went to an Irish pub and bar that was showing the game. It was a lot of fun to see the dynamics of something so American exist in a European country. Most everyone at Hannigans was American but there were so Spaniards amongst other Europeans.

TELEVISION

The television is always on during lunch though it really is more like background noise. My host padres like to have the news on. I definitely have a difficult time comprehending what is being said on the news as they are always changing topics and I am not in the know when it comes to current events, but I do think it is helpful to watch at times. Many American shows and movies are voiced over into Spanish. For example, just the other day I watched Forest Gump in Spanish with my madre Espanola, and I watched the end of Charlotte’s Web with my padre espanola. I find movies that I have seen to be excellent tools to practice listening comprehension as I understand the story without understanding every word, which in turn helps me develop my vocabulary.

TIME FOR SCHOOL

Classes started this week. My schedule is not solidified but as of right now I am taking a Spanish grammar class, Islamic Art and Architecture, Islamic Civilization in Spain, and Mediterranean Ecosystems. On Monday, I only had one class which was my grammar class. My professor is so cute as he has a dynamic personality and is so animated when he teaches. I definitely think my language skills will grow as a result of taking his class. On Tuesdays, I have all of my classes; however, I woke up with a fever and was completely exhausted. I ended up not going to any classes and basically sleeping the entirety of the day away. It was really strange being sick away from home. I came to the realization that I have never been sick at college, so this was the first time I have been sick away from home without my mom to take care of me. I am really lucky though because Conchi is such a wonderful mother figure and took excellent care of me. She made me tea and soup and made sure I stayed hydrated; she basically did all the things that my mom would have done for me. She told me that “he is my mom in Spain and she is going to make sure I get better soon. It was so comforting knowing I had this wonderfully caring woman taking care of me. On Wednesday, I felt much better and went to class. For my Art and Architecture class, we actually explore the city on Wednesdays visiting the sites that we discuss in class, which is really a cool opportunity. Right now that class is pretty tough because Spanish-wise the vocabulary is pretty out of my realm, but I hoping as time goes on I will get more and more out of each class and gain a sense of the history that surrounds me. 

TAPAS

Almost every night I am still going out for tapas which really seems to be the cheapest way to eat dinner and be social. I really enjoyed going out to tapas with Carmen who is a student at the University of Granada who works with IES. She took 3 of us to this great tapas bar with huge portions and the food was delicious. It was kind of funny though because the bar was decorated with all sorts of NYC posters, and they were playing the Spice Girls and Michael Jackson. My favorite part though was we spoke in Spanish for the entirety of that night! 

My "Starbucks" in Spain! This is what the coffee place across the street from my school looks like!

Los Jardines de Triunfo (I walk through here everyday on my way to school. 

One of my favorite places to run