Sierra Nevadas, Aug. 29, 2010

Today, we went on an excursion through the Spanish Sierra Nevadas.



That's them in the background (this is the view from the bus, which had seat belts, which was odd).

We got off the bus in the extreme outskirts of town. There was a river (it's a man-made canal but it's a natural river) with some GIANT ducks in it.



I'm telling you, GIANT.





Here are a few cool pictures from the town. The first one is Professor Madrid telling us all about the town and fruits and things around there. The second one is a guy actually using a pack mule to transport goods through the narrow streets. I had heard that that was the only way of getting heavy items through certain parts of town, but this is the first time I have seen one in use. The third is of a dog that didn't care for the mule much. I thought he was going to jump out of the window for a second, but he just watched the mule walk by...



This is a part of one of the trails we walked up. The open trails were very much like this, narrow and steep and dusty. From the top we got a beautiful view of the canyon.



Here I am in front of a mountain... overlooking the canyon...



That's me with a couple of friends, looking over the non-mountain-y side of the lookout. It was pretty, too.

After about 10 minutes of looking out, we began our hike through the canyon.



Only 4 people were allowed to cross this bridge at a time. It was very rocky and difficult to cross. I'm not afraid of heights, but I was a little nervous crossing this.



Most of the hike through the canyon was like this, on a narrow cement pathway next to the river. It was pretty and we all felt like ants. There were some Spanish guys rock climbing to the right, they were awesome.



Among the fruits growing around here were many, many blackberry bushes. This guy went across the river for them while we waited for the rock climbers to finish and the people to cross the bridge.



As we continued, there were points on the walk where the mountain jetted out farther than the path. They had these giant staple-like handholds we could grab to help ourselves across. In the distance, you can see some of us using them.



We also had to crawl under this thing. It was pretty cool.



Miranda was in front of me during the hike. She was a good sport and let me take cute pictures of her =).



Rocks made the path unusable at this point. We had to jump down into the river and hike around the problem. Luckily, the staple handholds were available here as well.



In a word: Majestic.






Just some CA kids enjoying a lunch break near the river.



Some of the guys thought it would be a good idea to try to climb this during lunch.



Most made it down just fine.



The one riding piggy back is Buck. I heard he fell like 30-40 feet and messed up both of his ankles pretty badly. He is going into surgery tomorrow and won't be able to walk (not even on crutches) for about 2 months. However, I don't really know him or his closer friends, so the information I have is second-hand. After seeing the size of his left ankle, though, I wouldn't be surprised.



It was beautiful though.

And lastly...



Someone was hiking with this little guy and I simply HAD to take a picture!! So precious!!!

Overall, it was an amazing day with a lot of new adventures. It stayed nice and cool in the dark canyon, and it was nice to escape the city heat, and, while I love the city life here, it was nice to get some outdoorsy time and see some of the different sites of Granada, the natural sites even older than any of the history I see in the city.

"Spanish time"

In Spain, everyone is always really, really late. Always.

One of the "monitores" once kept his group waiting for about an hour before they went out to tapas or something. Other times, they've/we've had to wait at least 15 minutes. Even classes tend to start about 5 minutes later than scheduled. They are definitely never "early" here.

Yesterday, Aimee and I went to look at an apartment. We were supposed to meet up "just after 5" which turned into "just after 8" and when we met up with him around 8:30, we had to wait about a half hour to get the keys from his friend. Naturally, we missed dinner which ended at 9:30, but we went out last night for food so it was okay, but I remember being REALLY frustrated with the guys there because dinner here on weekdays is already paid for, so I don't like paying for food when I have some available to me here.

But you know, it probably was one of the better things that could have happened to me, especially this early in the program, mostly because of how the landlords handled us. They weren't all business. They wanted to talk about all sorts of things, like the differences between Spanish and Catalán (which at the time was extremely irritating because I knew I was missing dinner to hear about the things they wanted to talk about). In the US, business is business and play is play. Rarely do the two meet and mix. But here, everything is relaxed, no one is on a schedule, and whenever you can mix the two, they do.

I don't know.. I just feel like there are some up-tight people in LA that could learn a thing or two from the Spanish. Take a siesta every once in a while. Don't be irritated at running late. Sometimes your schedule will get messed up and you know what? Sometimes, that ends up being for the better.

Perhaps I have a few things I can learn from them, too.
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Last night, while waiting for the landlord's friend to come, he lit up a cigarette and I noticed it bothering me more than cigarette smoke usually does. My nose got stuffy later last night and it hasn't gone away yet. I don't know if that cigarette in particular is to blame, but part of me thinks it is. I don't feel sick, just stuffy, but it is annoying. Hopefully it goes away...

Yesterday, I bought a Spanish chocolate bar called "Milka Triolade". It's a layer of milk chocolate topped with a layer of white chocolate topped with chunks of "darker milk" chocolate.

Today, churros con chocolate for breakfast =D. I've heard they are different than Mexican churros though. We will see.

Lots to do...

So this week has been a lot of introductions, adjustments, new friends, new life, and new city... I've finally gotten the hang of it and mellowed out a bit when we have our orientation and I realize just how much I still need to do...

1) Find classes/prepare my rough draft class schedule. We need to pick 6 classes to try, then we can drop up to 2, meaning I will have to take at least 4 classes. I think I want to take 5 though... Since I have to miss Winter quarter as it is and my major transfers EAP credits by the class rather than by the unit.
2) Find a place to live. So far, staying at the Residencia has been a lot of fun and a great way to meet people/get fed (haha), but we are only allowed to stay here until September 17th. Aimee and I are going to look at a place later today. Hopefully, they will let us rent out the rooms rather than the whole apartment and we get some Spanish/other foreign students to room with us. Part of the reason I wanted to come here was to improve my Spanish and I think that will be much easier if I'm not living with all Americans, and Aimee feels the same way. We've become really good friends the past few days, and I'm glad we're in the same boat as far as living arrangements.
3) Apply for my Tarjeta de Residencia. This is like a "Green Card" in the US, meaning I'm not a citizen, but I am a legal resident. My visa is only good for 30 days so I need the Tarjeta. Basically, anyone staying over 180 days needs to do this so they have your file on-hand at the police station.
4) Find out if I have a mailbox. I was told we couldn't receive mail here, but I have also been told we can but without direction to the mail boxes. I need to talk to someone in the admin for the program whether or not we can...

I'm glad I already registered with the US Embassy. That way, if there's a disaster or I get lost or something, they have all my information readily available. I'm also on their email listserv so I can find out information regarding security/nature/political uprisings/etc. So far, Spain feels very, very safe, but... you never know.

I suppose I'll start looking for classes now... Maybe I'll get a little time to read or something too. Relaxing is a very important part of Spanish culture, and I'm here to experience culture, right? ;)

Some favorites

My new favorite things as introduced to me by Spain.

Place to go: Teterías (Moroccan-style tea houses).

Thing to eat: I don't know what it is called, but it's a long pastry stuffed with chocolate cream and topped with chocolate gnash and powdered sugar. It's amazing.

Time of day: Siesta. The end.

Thing to read in Spanish: Cosmo. It's hilarious. And hey, it's good practice.

Meal of the day: Breakfast. Baguette toast is amazing and it will never get old. Although all the soups have been good thus far, too.

Random things: Scruffy dogs without leashes, drinking fountains, views, late sunsets, learning more Spanish.

Some of these have already been mentioned... but they are my favorite things.

First week of class!

So, a brief outlining of what we're doing as of now: The first month in Spain is considered the "ILP" (Intensive Language Program). This includes 5 classes (Grammar, Oral Comprehension, Reading, History, and Literature). Classes are from 9a-2p Monday-Thursday (or as we say 9-14 lunes a jueves). Right before is breakfast (toast with butter and jam or paté or 2 other toppings that I have yet to be daring enough to try since it's so early in the morning... I usually stick with butter and jam... Also, pineapple, orange, and peach juices, milk (and coca cao, aka Spanish ovaltine) café (muy fuerte) con leche caliente, or cereal). Starting at 2, there is lunch. Then it's siesta, wake up around 5, have the day/night to spend however you like.

Lunch and dinner have an "ensalada" (it doesn't always refer to a salad, though. It's usually a soup or other type of appetizer), a main course, and a dessert (usually fresh fruit, but last night there was this ice cream/caramel liqueur thing... at least I think it was caramel liqueur, or the caramel was just cooked down in a weird/burntish way...). To drink, there is water and tea. You can buy other drinks at the vending machines if you like.

There aren't many vegetables here. They eat a lot of carbs, meats, and fruits. An iceberg salad with cucumbers and tomatoes is probably the greenest thing we've had. I don't mind too much, but my stomach does. It's quite an adjustment compared to my eating style at home with at least one deep green with lunch and dinner. I always think about my mom when we get food and think she would be miserable with the food selection here, haha. When we have our own kitchens, I'm sure it will get better.

Classes have been pretty good to me thus far, but learning in another language is thoroughly exhausting. I definitely take serious advantage of my siestas every day, as do most people. It gets to be about 96-99 degrees outside every day during siesta time, so most people don't seem to mind sleeping it off.

Pasteles (pastries/cakes) are probably my favorite things. As are 1 Euro ice creams. It's a good thing we walk a lot.

After a whole week of adjustment abroad, I'm really starting to miss some things about home, but I am still absolutely loving life. I can feel that the excitement of the last week has taken its toll on my body and I think I need another noche de descanso. Pienso que voy a hacer mi tarea, leer un poco, y dormir mucho. Especially since I get up early to have a short chat with Mr. Christopher =) and tomorrow is another day out with our Monitor (a Granada native who's showing us around/the ropes/helping us with finding apartments and phones, stuff like that).

OH and I got a Spanish phone!!! It's probably the lamest phone I have ever owned, but I think it's my favorite thing ever. Plus, it makes life feel a little more normal to have a phone. I can't do anything international on it, but it's comforting to know I have a way to contact my friends here.

I hope everyone back home is well... Please email me your addresses so I can send you postcards after I buy some!!

I love you.

Takin' things easy... después de días de mucho entusiasmo, quiero descansarme.

I love the campus and the dorms here. I have a big room and bathroom all to myself. My room overlooks the courtyard area with a big fountain and a bunch of trees and shady benches. Miranda, Aimee, and I spent a little while this morning enjoying the shade and our respective novels. The ping pong table in the hall got some use by the boys, and the sound of the table muffled by walls (even though the doors and windows were open) and the pigeons cooing and jumping in the fountain was very peaceful indeed.

I figured since today is a day for relaxing (especially since a good number of places are closed here on Sundays), I should upload a few more pictures.
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Ahh, the Alhambra... This is a big, beautiful castle once owned by the Moorish sultans, but eventually taken over by the Spanish Catholics. It brings in more money than any other European landmark because of its splendor. I love it. I want to go in someday soon, but for now, I have simply adored this building from the outside. My hostel was quite close to it, but now that I live at the University, it is much more difficult to steal a few glances of it walking around town. I kind of miss seeing it, actually. Perhaps I will walk by for a visit when the sun goes down and it's not 90 degrees outside...

I don't know the historical significance of this church, but I saw it and thought it was beautiful. Additionally, I love how it's buried in with the crowded houses on the narrow, hilly, cobblestone streets of the Albaicín.

Graffiti is everywhere and some of it is beautiful. This particular piece is pretty special because it is a trail marker. "Mira por la grafiti de dos caras. A la izquierda, hay las escaleras a las cuevas..."


...So after we turned left at the two faces, there was indeed a massive flight of stairs going up the mountainside. As you go up, there are caves that some of the local gypsies have turned into their homes. These are entrances to two of them. There was a fence around the outside one of them, but as you can see, the doors are built right into the wall. We didn't get to go in because no one was home and we didn't want to be rude, but this was a very interesting place up on the hillside. I'll probably go back up (albeit with a bigger group) for one of their flamenco shows one of these days.

This is it. La Granada Mía. This is the view from up on the hillside where the gypsy caves are. You can see pretty much the whole of Granada from over here, near the old City Wall (constructed back in the times when inside the walls was the city, outside the walls was the suburbs/rural areas). The sky is so blue, the city is so pretty and big, and I am SO happy to be here. Even after a few days, it is beginning to feel like home. I feel so privileged to have this opportunity. Unfortunately, the clouds didn't hang around for much longer than that day, but the clouds kept the temperatures in the low-mid 80s, which was substantially better than the 97 we are feeling now.

This is me, inside one of the newer sections of the city wall. It's pretty cool. It's made with short, granite bricks, but there isn't any visible mortar. It seems to be working well enough though I suppose, but this picture is mostly awesome because I'm inside the city wall, haha.

The Cathedral. It's beautiful, and right in the heart of the city. I stumbled upon it walking from my hostel to my University and was baffled that among all the city, you can just run into something like this. It was really out of the blue, and I love seeing it every time I head to El Centro.

I'm not entirely sure what this building is, but I wanted to emphasize the fact that I'm just stumbling upon buildings like this. It's beautiful here... I adore the architecture.

The sign next to this building says it is in La Plaza de la Universidad. I wanted to cry when I found out that this belongs to my University (It was founded in the 1500s or something like that). However, I have since found out that this is a part of La Escuela de los Derechos, or their School of Law, so I won't be taking classes here, but it is open for students to study in and has free wifi, so I have made it a point to study there at least once someday.

In case you never paid attention in World History, Spain is a Catholic country. If you ever forgot that, you definitely would remember upon coming here. Every church I have put on here thus far has been a different one. Perhaps next Sunday I'll attend mass, just to experience it. It's an extremely important part of the culture here. There was even a huge wedding at one of the big, old churches here that we walked by on multiple occasions. What a place to get married!!

This was the bridge that crosses the river that is across the street from my hostel. A lot of stray cats live by the river. I think it's peaceful there and it's actually kind of fun to watch the cats walk around and play down there. There are quite a few kittens, and of course I think they're SO cute!

One day we decided to make the hike up to the Alhambra. On our way, the sun began to set over the Alhambra. I had to stare at it for a few seconds and decided I couldn't leave without a picture.

This is the outside of the dorms from the courtyard. It's so pretty!!


This graffiti artist is pretty popular in Spain, but I think our "monitor" was telling us that he was put in jail or something for his work. The first one translates to "Who can save us from ourselves?" The second one says "That's funky" (in English) with a picture of dancer's hands. Our "monitor" speaks very little English and asked us to try to explain "funky" to him in Spanish. One of the girls in my group asked "¿Sabes MC Hammer?" and started singing and dancing "Can't Touch This". We all got a good laugh and I think he understood it. Anyway, these two pieces are very unique (I think) and I was happy we came across them.


And that brings me to today, my day of reading on the bench in the courtyard by the dorms. I love the setting in these pictures, I am very happy to have such a lovely place to hang out, relax, and read on a hot Sunday afternoon. Most importantly, I'm wearing the bracelet Chris gave me before I embarked on this adventure. I look at it a lot and imagine he's with me. I can't wait to hold him again.

Realizations.

Walking around Granada today with my ILP orientation group, we saw a small dog running full speed ahead down one of the cobblestone roads. Of course, being a group of all girls, we stopped, "aww"ed, and continued moving along. In that moment, however, I have come to realize why dogs seem so out of place here to me, (even though they are pretty common): there isn't any grass. Really, no grass anywhere. There are plenty of fountains and trees and shrubs and old buildings to make this place as beautiful as it is, but the only grass I can think of is on the walk up to the Alhambra.

The dogs don't seem to mind it, though. They usually just pass out on the side of the road, or on stairs, or are up walking with their owners.

Speaking of walking with owners, I don't think there's any kind of leash law here. I see very few dogs on leashes, and those that are are also usually wearing muzzles. Since there is seemingly no leash law, it's probably the finicky dogs that aren't friendly to others that are leashed, hence the muzzles. I think most of the dogs may have a better temperament because of it, though. They can do their own thing, the owner can do their own thing, but at the end of they day, they will meet up again. Humans become more like friends than owners.

Also, now that it isn't overcast at all, I COMPLETELY understand the purpose of "siesta." In the middle of the day, it is HOT. Right now, it's about 90 degrees and humid. It's so hard to walk around and be active outside, let alone run a business, when there is so much heat sticking to you. At least there are plenty of nice, cool drinking fountains along the way. The water in Granada is really good. This is also why meals are spaced out to be so late. Everyone is trying to avoid the heat. Frankly, I don't blame them.

I'm also beginning to realize that I understand spoken Spanish a lot better than I thought I would/could. Maybe the people in the program are babying us for now, but I definitely feel myself increasing in confidence. I look forward to meeting/making Spanish friends (and hopefully roommates!!). I think that's going to be the best way to improve my Spanish.

I have to meet up with my orientation group again at 6:30... I'm looking forward to having no plans tomorrow.

A few thousand words for you...

This is Minnie, my South Korean friend from White Nest. She speaks South Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, English, and a bit of Spanish. I envy her broad knowledge of languages. She was a lot of fun and had many stories worth sharing. I will miss her... In the background, you will see the Alhambra. After only 2 days, I am obsessed with this castle and I highly anticipate the day I get to enter it. My heart jumps a little every time I see it peaking over the mountainside at me, since the hill was right across the river from my hostel. In it's own way, it's found a special place in my heart.

There is a place like hostel heaven, and I found it at White Nest. I hope to stop by and visit Christian, my awesome Italian host/receptionist person who spoke 5 languages and couldn't wait to get off his shift. The English tour guide was also awesome and hilarious. In this picture looking out the window is Christianne, my Australian friend from the hostel. We met on the walking tour and me, her, Minnie, and Amelie became fairly good friends (considering the circumstances and all).

There are a few interesting things about this picture. Firstly, I like the way the sun streaks over the top of the church. Secondly, notice that the cross (on top of the church, behind the church bells-ish... it's kind of small in the picture) is on top of three balls. These balls symbolize the Earth, the Universe, and the Seven Heavens of Islam. It was actually a mosque before it was a church, but the Queen Isabella loved the stylistics of Islamic architecture too much to destroy it.

Making friends is easy, especially when everyone needs to make them. These guys were my companions for the 2 days I spent in my hostel and I will miss them. Also, notice the cobblestone steps. My feet have 5 or 6 blisters because of them. But honestly... the pain is so worth it. I hardly notice because I'm too busy gawking at the architecture around here...

This seems like a random picture to pick out from my 150, but I feel a need to discuss this little door. It is actually an Islamic courtesy to bow your head upon entrance, so when this door was installed, it was made short. Also, it's a defense strategy. To enter this door, you must bow your head in or stick a leg in, both can be easily amputated a simple swing of the sword...

I eventually decided I needed a picture of me so I could prove I was actually at these places, haha, and I really liked the way this one turned out. The background is of nothing in particular, but it is still distinctly Spanish, which is one of the things I really like about it. The entire town has a unique atmosphere about it, which I like to think of as laid-back, but exciting and busy. There is always something to do, something new to see, but people are much calmer, laid-back, friendly, and easy-going about it. I simply love it. I think I can see a bit of that in this picture. Or maybe I'm just delusional.

Once upon a time, this was a Jewish Carmen. Now, it belongs to the University. It is so green and lush, but what I like about this picture is the light on the far side of the green canopy. It's just the sunlight hitting the building, but I think it has a unique effect to it. Additionally, a good portion of my tour group is in this picture, and I'm very glad I have pictures of them since I will probably never see them again.

This was my first time entering a mosque. I really liked the courtyard, and, of course, the fact that it overlooks the Alhambra. They had a little stand in there that you could get a glass of a juice/tea mix for 1E and keep the glass. I kind of wanted to do it, but I didn't have any money on me. Perhaps I will return for the tea and free glass. Of course we didn't actually enter the mosque, but it was liberal enough to let us enter the courtyard. It's the only mosque in Granada (or was it the first?) which I think is funny because there is so much Islamic influence in the culture and architecture here.

You cannot talk about Granada without talking about cats. They are everywhere. Some are really friendly and want to rub up on you, some are looking for food and look kind of mangy, some run away from people, and most live at the river. These ones were kind of scrappy looking on the streets and ran away from us behind this fence, but the looked so cute I had to take a picture. And really, the cats are a very important part of Granada.

Everyone decorates their houses with china and pottery that has a pomegranate on it. "La granada" in Spanish is "pomegranate", so naturally, la granada is the symbol of Granada. The patron saint of Granada is even holding a pomegranate in his left hand! I love the style though, I love the pottery and china and tiles decorating people's houses. It's just lovely.


Anyway, I'm sure I've given you enough pictures to soak in for now... Frankly, I don't want to post any pictures without an explanation (that's what Facebook is for in my opinion), so this is taking a little while, but it has been a ton of fun posting these and keeping you updated! I will definitely be posting more pictures of the city in the days to come!!!

Orientation starts tomorrow!!! I'm so excited!