Dear Andy, my love for you is unconditional.

What a week it's been!!! We started classes Monday. I have loved settling into a routine, and my classes are all very interesting. Sadly, my one class that is in English is harder to understand than all the rest because the professor's English is pretty bad. But it's ok, because the professor reminds me or Ray on Everybody loves Raymond. All of the professors are really relaxed, and we call them all by their first names, which seemed weird at first, but is very Spanish, I suppose.

This week, I've kind of figured out what normal will look like for me. I typically wake up, do not speak to anyone, sit in silence and stare into space while I eat a small breakfast. Then I will walk to school, pass by the morrocan pants I want to buy, have Spanish class from 9-10, go grab a café con leche, sit and sip, maybe do some homework or read a newspaper, have more class from 11-2, and pass by the moroccan pants again on my walk home. When I get home, I say hola to Sole, my madre, go to my room and wait for Sole to come into my room and whisper "lunch is ready" (I haven't figured out why she always whispers it...), and go back to my room and take a small siesta or maybe do some work or skype with some people. Most afternoons I don't have class, so I'll either go walk around or find a park bench or table at a café and read or something, run errands, etc. Then around 9 or so, I will usually meet up with people for either a picnic in a plaza or tapas (a Granada tradition - free food when you order a drink!!!), always followed by the daily icecream I have become accustomed to. It's so nice to have figured out the city enough to know my favorite cafés and tapas bars, my favorite parks and park benches, the best/closest grocery store, the place where they give you the most icecream for the least dinero, where I can run into other IES students if I want to, where I won't see any Americans if I don't want to, where the cheap shoes are, etc. etc. And I've noticed that instead of automatically assuming I'm an American, people have started speaking to me in Spanish, which can only mean that I'm looking more and more like a hippie each day. Mission accomplished.

I've done lots of exciting things this week that deserve recounting, such as going to the best restaurant I've been to thus far in Europe, going to a tetería (Arab tea house) and making friends with the waiter, who also happened to be the 2 time defending world champion in judo fighting, having my ATM card stolen by the machine and having some Spanish businessmen help me retrieve it, and creating my best helado combination yet: caramel and almond... delicioso! However, all of these things were overshadowed by possibly my best adventure yet...

On a what was partially a whim, partially an adreneline craving, partially wanting to have something awesome to brag about on our blogs, some friends and I decided late Friday night to take a whirlwind trip to Madrid to see if we could get tickets to see Roddick and Nadal/U.S. and Spain play in the Davis Cup. So Saturday night we took the midnight bus to Madrid, slept a little but mostly just got yelled at the whole time by the busdriver, and arrived 5 hours later at the Estación Sur de Autobuses en Madrid. Circa 5:30 Sunday morning, we started the long trek through the not-so-safe part of Madrid, all the while running through RAD moves in my head and wondering what we were going to do for 4 hours until everything opens, or at least until 7 when our guidebooks say parks start to get "safe". We wandered around the Parque del Buen Retiro in desperate search of coffee, found out that cafés don't open until about 9, and settled for some steps and the trail mix that we brought. We did some more wandering, found the Plaza del Sol and Plaza de Independencia, which weren't very exciting at 7am, and finally found a café that was open. Re-caffeinated and rejuvinated, we went to the Prado Museum. I loved getting to see just about every piece of art I've ever studied in a Spanish class, and although it was not as well-organized as other museums I've been to in Europe, it had a higher concentration of famous painters and paintings than any other I've been to yet. This was a very good thing, because anything less spectacular would not have held my attention for very long considering the amount of sleep I was running on.

Then, around 11, we took an absolutely seamless Metro ride to the Plaza de Toros, which is where the Copa Davis was to take place. The building was breathtaking.... there was a collective "WOOOOOOW!" when we stepped out of the Metro station and saw the arena. When we went to check out the ticket situation, we were very suprised to find out that there were covered seats still available for much cheaper than we had imagined! The catch was that it was raining pretty hard, and we were told that if the match got rained out, we wouldn't be able to get a refund. So, we decided to go get some lunch and wait it out a little to see if it was going to let up. After lunch, it had let up a little, but was still raining a good bit. We all decided that the bullring was cool enough, especially with the excitement of the Cup, that it would almost be worth the money just to go sit in there for an hour, so we decided to risk it. Inside, we waited on the rain for about an hour and a half, but then the clouds started breaking up and they started rolling back the tarps!! The match was so exciting, even though Roddick's tennis skills were not quite up to par. His tennis abilities, of course, are not the reason why we love him. Nadal is a huge celebrity here in Spain, so the crowd was absolutely wild. There was also a small contingent of about 20 American hooligans decked out in their Red, White, and Blue, who would start chanting "Ü-S-A" every once in a while, only to be drowned out by the boo's of the rest of the stadium... those were the moments when we tried to pretend we were not actually cheering for Roddick as well. Then we stayed and watched a bit of the Lopez-Guerry match before we explored more of Madrid and caught the bus back to Granada. Although we were exhausted and in foul moods when we got off the bus in Granada, we all agreed that the trip was an excellent life decision.

I have 3 days of class this week before I head to Morocco on Friday for 5 days with my program. I could not be more excited... I keep hearing that it's a life-changing trip. You can start waiting with anticipation/constantly refreshing your browser for an amazing post and some unbelievable photos sometime in the middle of next week!!!

The Last Week in a Semi-Larger-Than-Normal Nutshell.

So sorry for the delay in posting... It's been a crazy week! We'll just start with the embarassing moments. After about 7 days of being in Spain, I realized that I had been unknowingly interchanging the words barata, meaning "cheap", and borracha, meaning "drunk". Gladly, I remain utterly unaware of all the specific times I misused the words, but it made for some interesting first impressions, I am sure.

So, after the initial "honeymoon period" ended, culture shock hit me like a load of bricks. I think what made it difficult was not only that no one here knows me, but also that I can't express myself in Spanish the way I do in English, so it's just been hard to feel like myself. The bad news was that I had to check my ego a bit, because I usually think of myself as adventurous and adaptive--a cultural chameleon, if you will. The good news was that once I found out that everyone else was just as overwhelmed, I felt a lot better! And I think I'm over the hump, now!

So many things have happened since Cabo de Gato, but here are some highlights:
-I got the last sea urchin spike out of my foot! It still feels like there's some nerve issues going on, but that's also gotten better with time.
-I've done some great wandering, and found a spice and tea market very close to the IES center, but a little off the beaten path. I took pictures... it was amazing. All of the teas were apparently medicinal, because they had the ailment they cured written on the sign. It's possible that they could also get you high, because I felt pretty funny after inhaling the aromas for a good 15 minutes. I plan to return and buy some tea later.
-I got coffee with a friend of a friend who is a missionary here in Granada, which was fabulous.
-I went to see Mama Mia at an "outdoor" theater, which really ended up being an indoor theater with no roof. It was dubbed in Spanish, except for the songs, which had Spanish subtitles. We were (once again) the annoying group of loud Americans because we laughed throughout the whole movie. We decided that the Spaniards just didn't appreciate the hilarity of Pierce Brosnan singing Broadway tunes to Maryl Streep...
-I ran out of underwear
-I bought three pair of underwear and paid 25 euro. Seriously? Yes.
-and, last but most certainly not least, I heard "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Ramblin' Man" in the same day.

Friday, we left for a weekend trip with my program. We spent Friday afternoon in Ronda, a town about 2 hours from Granada, that was built on a very, very, very tall cliff with a canyon running straight through the town. There is an amazing bridge that connects the original part of the town with the "new" town. We also visited the remnants of the Arab Baths and the Plaza de Toros, the largest and oldest still-running bullfighting ring in Spain. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me in Ronda, but you should all look some photos up on Google or something, because it was beautiful. Then, that night we went to Sevilla (you may know this city as Seville, as in "The Barber of..."), and had a nice cocktail party on the river. I unknowingly tried fried, pickled shark. Tastes like chicken.

So, I left for Sevilla not really knowing anything about the city, but it is actually quite significant. For over 100 years, it was the only city that had a port to America, so it had a monopoly on all goods going to or from the Americas. It was, in essence, the center of the world for that period of time. The Cathedral, which we visited Saturday, is the third largest in the world, and the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. I'll spare you (more of) the boring details, but take a look at the pictures... it's a pretty spectacular city. Saturday night they took us to a flamenco show, which was spectacular, and not different from what I expected. It was like a combination between tap dancing, a prayer chant, and STOMP, with a little bit of old-school guitar and very expressive eyebrows thrown into the mix. It was pretty spectacular. And after flamenco came the best part: we went to a Sevilla fútbol game and sat in the front row... right next to the hooligan section!!! I was so excited about it all week, and even though I didn't end up painting my face, it still exceeded my expectations. Overall it was a great weekend... trips with the program are great because a) we get our own personal tour guides (our director, Javier, and some professors always come), b) they've got all the connections, and c) they do things right like get us front row seats, and d) it's all already paid for.

Tomorrow we start classes at last. You can tell that everyone here is from the same type of school, because we are all about to go crazy without work to do. I myself am very ready to get into my own routine, rather than being on the same routine as 80 other Americans. In case you are interested, here are the classes I am taking (this is really so my mother does not have to write it down another time...):
-Spanish grammar (required)
-Lorca and the Andalusian Literary Tradition
-Islamic Civillization in Spain until 1492
-Islamic Art and Architecture in Spain
-The Arab World and the West (in ENGLISH!)

Shoutout to Cabin 16: my host mom just came in to my room to ask me what type of animal my kitty is. I had to explain to her that even though the tail does look like that of a platypus, it is not in fact a platypus, but rather a gato.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

¡¡Ya estoy en Granada!! I've been here since Wednesday, and I love it already!! We arrived in Málaga, a larger city about 1 1/2 hours away on Tuesday and had a little bit of cultural orientation Wednesday before we took a bus to Granada Wendesday night and moved into our homestays. The first day or two in Granada were pretty overwhelming. We are supposed to speak Spanish whenever we are in the house or with anyone from our program, which leaves very little opportunity to speak English. It's frustrating not being able to express with ease what I want to say. I can't tell you how many times I've considered going to find some tourists in the street and ask for directions just to make sure I don't forget that there was a time I could understand what people were saying to me. For the first week and a half (until next Monday) we are in intinsive language and culture orientation from 9-2 every day and usually a few hours in the afternoon or at night. I tested into a far too advanced language class (Good test-taking skills: a blessing or a curse? You decide.) which just added to the language frustration. That has gotten better because in addition to the fact that my Spanish has improved, after few hours of me responding to my teacher's questions with a blank stare, she asked me (in front of the class) why I always look at her like I don't know what's going on. I told her it's because I don't know what's going on. Ever. Now she talks to me a little slower. Friday, we spent most of our class time exploring the city, and we walked through this beautiful public park below the Alhambra that had lots of gardens and fountains and rivers and even ducks, swans, and peacocks wandering around. There were also some trails with benches and deciduous trees that I know will be really nice in the fall.

So yesterday, our program took a trip to Cabo de Gato, a national park about 2 hours from Granada. We were prepared for what they described as a "nice, relaxing walk, stopping at beaches every few hours" from the town of Retamar to San José. Only after 9 hours of hiking 16 kilometers, up and down a few very steep mountains and sand dunes, and scaling a rock face or two (all in my Chucks... not a wise decision.) did we finally make it to San José and get to relax in a nice little Italian pizzaria, where the waiters were very drunk, but the food was delicious. It was absolutely beautiful, but I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy trying not to get blown off the mountains by the 50 mph gusts of wind. However, the pictures I did take are up on Picasa... so you can take a look. Did I mention all the beaches were nude? They were. I am pretty sure that they made us do that just so we would bond...

I decided to go to a church that someone recommended to me this morning, and it was possibly the best decision I've made yet. The church was small, and the service was pretty much exactly like the ones in Costa Rica, which was so fun!! I understood some of the sermon, and most of the songs, and was able to speak with the locals fairly easily. There were about 15 other American students there (they were all studying at other schools) and a lot of Granadinos around our age, and I met an American family who are missionaries here and was invited to their house (only about 5 minutes from mine) for lunch next Sunday. I wrote my name on some list, but I'm not quite sure what I signed up for... I'll let you know when I find out.

I've pretty much learned how to get around the city (it's small) and don't even worry, I already have a frequent buyer card from the coffee place on the way to school. I am having a little trouble finding alone time (my roommate and I are in the same orientation group, sowe always go everywhere together.....), so I am looking forward to starting classes and getting into a routine. If you want to see where I live, I put some pictures up of my apartment and neighborhood (called Realejo). There are also some pictures from a long walk we took with my orientation group through the Sacromonte and Albaycin neighborhoods, which are two really really awesome neighborhoods where all the hippies and gyspies live. After that walk, I really fell in love with Granada. It's such a great city... everyone should come visit me so I can show you around and introduce you to my gypsy friends.

In my humble opinion...

... tips for the future traveler!!

Greece:
-if you go to Santorini, rent a scooter or a 4-wheeler.
-Oia Youth Hostel was great, if un-airconditioned.
-watch out for sea urchins.

Rome:
-Old Bridge Gelateria (right near the Vatican) is fabulous and cheap!
-go to the Vatican a little bit before it opens for no line!

Florence:
-www.tuscany-biketours.com – do it.
-don’t stay at Locanda Starlight by yourself.

Venice:
-take the vaparetto down the canal… it’s long, but it’s fun and you get to see everything!
-go to the Guggenheim! And then take a look next door at the Wake House!!

Transportation:
-don’t get a Eurail pass unless you are going to be traveling between countries a lot. I got one for the 3 inter-city trips, and it was definitely more expensive and no easier than just buying individual tickets the day of.
-if you have a choice, take a plane. They’re much more user-friendly.
-if you are in a big city and you’re by yourself, just suck it up and take a taxi to where you’re staying. You can figure out public transportation when you don’t have your luggage.

Venezia!

Venezia

I was told that I would hate Venice… Maybe it was being on the water, maybe it was the Boston Whalers, maybe it was the window boxes overflowing with poppies, maybe it was the company, or maybe it was $33 million home right on the canal that I spent most of my time in, but I loved Venice!! Katie and I arrived by train Saturday afternoon (a fairly eventless trip!), and checked into our hostel. Katie had accidentally booked two rooms, which somehow got us a double room with a private bathroom for the price of a dorm… it was fabulous. However, the next night I was moved to a dorm since I was alone, and I had my first true hostel experience. I definitely slept with my face about 2 inches from the face of a strange woman. It was cool though. Anyway, we took the scenic route (the route for people who don’t know where they’re going) to meet McKinley at Casa Artom. For those of you who don’t know, Wake Forest owns a house in Venice called Casa Artom. It used to be the U.S. Consulate. It’s huge and beautiful and right on the Grand Canal next door to the Guggenheim. McKinley is living there this semester. I'm jealous. We went to dinner in a cute piazza near the house, got some delicious and cheap gelato, and then went back to hang out at the house. The next morning we went to St. Mark’s and the following morning (Sunday) we went to the Guggenheim (possibly my favorite museum so far? The jury is still out…), and other than that we just wandered around, ate a lot of gelato, hung around at the house with the other Wake students living there, cooked our own meals, were lulled to sleep by the waves lapping against the house and the gondola singers passing by, etc. etc. It was truly fabulous.

Sunday I took another train back to Rome (hopefully my last one for a while), and had a very interesting conversation with an older Italian man (he was a professor of pedagogy… never really figured out what that was) and an Italian woman whose husband is an American man in the military… I spent the night in a real hotel that was in an old castle. It was really nice to be shown to my room, have my bed turned down, not have to see anyone else in my room or bathroom, etc.

The next morning I got up early and flew to Málaga to meet my group! Now I’m sitting in my casa with my roommate. It’s been a little freshman orientation-esque, but so far so good. I’ll let you know when there’s more to report!