I am quite possibly the worst blogger ever...

I am fully aware that I am quite possibly the worst blogger ever. My apologies for not updating the blog as frequently as I would like. Sometimes, reliving your day via blog is exhausting but anyways, I am going to do my best to update you all on some fun things that have happened since I last posted. WARNING: This is going to be a long post that probably only my mom will read but I peppered in some pics for those of you who just want to browse.

After a wonderful first weekend, it was time for things to really get started. Monday (9/5) we took our first placement exam and started our intensive course. I placed into a level 5 out of 10 and Amalia thinks that I can be at a level 6 or 7 by the end of the intensive course so I’ll definitely be doing a lot of studying for the upcoming placement exam. The intensive course is a lot of grammatical review so that we can be prepared to take our four regular semester courses in Spanish and to just overall improve our skills. We do written and oral exercises all of which have definitely been a huge help!

Tuesday (9/6) we had class in the morning and then in the afternoon we returned to the Albaícin and went to a Tetería. A Tetería is just like a Cafeteria except you get tea instead of cafe (coffee). It was a really cool place and they had a ton of different tea flavors to try. Definitely a place I plan on returning to when it gets a bit colder here!

Thursday (9/8) we took our first official class field trip to Capilla Real and the Catedral. The Catedral is located in the center of Granada and is just an absolutely stunning building inside and out. With Amalia as our guide, we learned about the history and stories about the Catedral and the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel are buried). As our first official class field trip this I had a lot of fun and feel like I learned a ton. Bonus for this being one of the most beautiful buildings ever!

 
Friday (9/9) instead of class we went to a museum (we go to a lot of museums). Also, Friday night was my first ever Spanish discoteca experience. Let us note that the Spanish live on a crazy schedule. According to them there are two days, one in the morning until lunch at 2:30 and then another post-siesta at like 5 pm. Thus, they deem it appropriate to be out until all hours of the madrugada (new vocab word meaning, very early morning i.e. midnight-the sun comes up). Therefore, no one in Spain really goes to discotecas until like 2 or 3 in the morning. Since we are not yet full-fledged Spainards, we went around 1 but still didn’t return home until about 4 am which for me, is clearly well past my bedtime however we had so much fun dancing and singing with a beautiful view of the Alhambra in the background – super guay.

Sunday (9/11) we hiked the Sierra Nevadas which sounds like a really cool experience and in hindsight was a really cool experience except for the fact that I was essentially miserable for 75% of the hike which was very hilly and on a path which was covered in slippery rocks. Our guide, Paco was hardcore and would just venture off the path and say “hey guys let’s just go down the side of this hill where there are prickly bushes and no path so just you know, slide down.” Alright, I’ll stop complaining but seriously, some parts of this hike were kind of absurd but no worries, I really did have fun. Especially because the shining light at the end of this hike in the Sierra Nevadas was a trip to the Baños Arabes. The Baños Arabes is an old Arabic bathhouse that has been converted into a type of spa. Essentially, you go in and change into your bathing suit and there are three pools of different temperatures: one that’s really cold, one that’s like a hot tub, and the other that is like normal bath water. So basically you venture through these different pools, drink some very good tea, and go in the sauna until your number is called. Then, you get to get an awesome massage. My description doesn’t really even do the baños any justice but it is such a cool place and I definitely plan to return and anyone who is thinking about visiting – you must go!

 Finally, at the top (well, almost).

Aerial view of Granada (I seem to have a lot of these)

So now, fast-forward to Wednesday (9/14) when we went to the most famous thing in all of Granada – the Alhambra! The Alhambra is essentially a royal city within Granada where the Arab kings lived and it has unbelievable architecture and decoration. Also, part of the Alhambra called the Generalife is this huge garden that has flowers all year round. This of course, made me think of you, Mom, so I took lots of pictures of flowers for you – they’ll be on Facebook soon. So, instead of going into detail about la Alhambra, I will let the pictures speak for themselves - sorry for the many awk solo shots.

 Just peekin' out of bushes in Generalife

 A patio in Generalife

incredible detail - this is on the walls/ceiling of basically ever single room in the Alhambra

 view of Granada from the top of Alcazaba

 All of the girls!

So, here we are – officially three weeks into my semester in Spain and I am really having a blast. There is so much to see/do and I’m having such cool new experiences every day. There is so much more to see and explore and I will do my best to update you all much more frequently! All of my love to friends & family back in the States! xoxo