I cannot believe I have been living in Spain for a month. The time has just flown by, and I know that it is going to start going by even more quickly because of all the trips we have planned for the next upcoming weeks and weekends. I am finally starting to feel comfortable here in Granada. The first couple of weeks were a bit more difficult than I’ve been sharing in these posts. The culture shock that they warned us about in orientation sort of hit me, and I was unprepared for it.
For example, at school back home I am very involved in activities such as sexual assault prevention courses, my sorority alumnae relations position, sorority social events, keeping track of my internship, my job at the cookie jar and my job at home,a more strenuous schedule of classes, and then Ryan and I would try to find a little time to hang out. My schedule is pretty booked with things to do. Here, I am taking 12 credit hours (the minimum you can take to be considered a student!) and that was about it until this last week. People here take life so slow and easy, and just veg by the couch all day and eat and take 3 hour siesta naps in the middle of the workday and close their stores whenever they feel like it- seriously what do these people do here?!? I have a new respect for people in the US who work 12 hour workdays with barely a 30 minute lunch break, which reminds me I may have to go back and work at Express this summer, ugh. So at first, I felt restless yet lethargic in Granada- I wanted to get something done everyday during our 3 hour siesta, or go shopping or go to a café- but everything is closed. Or I wanted to hang out with my friends at night and watch a movie instead of going to bars, but unfortunately we cannot have guests over at any host families house. I am starting to get adjusted to vegging out, reading a book, watching reruns of Friends in Spanish, and getting to know Mari Lou. Sometimes, I am greatful that my internet connection is horrible at my house because I get the opportunity to get to know Mari Lou and practice my Spanish more, instead of sitting on facebook and skyping all night.
Last week, I started getting involved in a program where I teach English to Spaniards once a week for the whole semester. My friend and I walked into the class armed with lists of basic vocabulary, including colors and body parts, to practice with our students. As we started the class introductions, we realized that everyone already spoke English, much better than we know Spanish, and they wanted to practice intense grammar and pronounciation. They started asking us what meaning is behind the irregular English verbs “bring brang brung” and “sing sang sung”. I think my jaw dropped open- like when the hell do people use the word “sung”? --“I sung last night? We sang last night?” Huh? I don’t know. Is that a real word? Looks like I’m going to need to brush up on my own English grammar as well.
But I am glad I am getting involved (even if it might be a requirement for my conversation class, I still would have done it anyway). Also, last night I attended a Spanish Amnesty International meeting with 2 of my friends. It sounded like something really cool to get involved in, although unfortunately many of the activities are on weekends so we will be traveling a lot then. But I am going to a woman’s rights event on Friday afternoon in one of the plazas in Granada. It is an event to support women, and we are supposed to wear black clothing and a purple scarf, which is a color that represents a womens cause here (just like how pink is a color for breast cancer awareness back home).
Mari Lou has been great, and is still teaching me how to cook a little. Yesterday she showed me how to make a salad I like called “La Ensalada Rusia” (Russia). It’s sort of like a potatoe salad with tuna and crab and egg and lot’s of mayonnaise- when I asked her why it’s called a Russian Salad she said she had no clue. Also, she has been singing a lot around the house and teaching me some songs, because she is in a group for seniors that performs some type of song for the Carnival celebration. The other day, she started to get all serious and asking if I liked living with her and when I said yes, she just grabbed my hands and said “Verdad?” (which means like “Really, truthfully?”) and of course I said yes. I just thought it was so precious that she really does care, and she’s not one of the host families who are only in it for the money or barely pay attention to their student.
Next week I am leaving for Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I don’t know why we scheduled this trip now, it is going to be like negative 100 degrees or something. But a lot of people are going, and for us this is the best time because it is our longest break. I will be layering up all my socks, shirts, and coats for this trip, but I cannot wait! We have friends staying in both Vienna and Budapest as well so they can show us around the city. Hopefully I come back with some good stories!
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