The big 21. I am finally a responsible adult in the eyes of my government. Well I’ve been responsible enough to drive for 6 years. And to travel the world with a M-16 in an Abrams shooting people for 3 years. And I’m pretty sure they told me I was responsible enough to smoke a ciggy and visit a Gentleman’s Club for the past three. But now I can have a beer with dinner. I’ve been nervous of the responsibility that comes with this power for a long time now, but I also think I just might be able to handle it.

I wasn’t sure how my birthday was going to go in a foreign country so far away from my family and friends. Maybe it would be a lonely night in a dive bar saluting myself in the depths of a new glass. Maybe I would sit in my room calling friends from home wishing I could celebrate my new found freedom with them.

Luckily it was none of the above. I have been blessed once again by finding myself surrounded by engaging and exciting people who were all excited to share in this big day with me. I was not expecting to make such close friends so quickly after arriving but I have once again found my people and I am looking forward to a semester full of adventures with them. (More to come in a few weeks about our impending trip to the southern coast of Portugal)

I’m still not exactly sure what happened but there are now these things called classes I have to go to. Some of them even have assigned homework…

To expand on the academic part of my “study” abroad, I’ve decided to list the classes I’ll be in with a reason for taking it.

Class #1: Beginning Arabic- Yes you heard that right, I’m taking an arabic language class taught completely in Spanish at a Spanish university in a class of all native speakers. This one is going to be interesting.

Class #2: Social Media and the Arab World- I’m taking this class because it seems topical and I like learning about the Middle East. Also taught completely in Spanish.

Class #3: Spanish- I tested into the highest level of spanish, don’t ask me how, I’m still a little shaky on verb conjugations but I’m pretty good at tests so I think those two evened out. Taking this because it’s required.

Class #4: Islamic Art and Architecture- I took an art history class at Whitman and hated it. Absolutely hated it. Art history is interesting when it focuses on the history shown in the art rather than the art itself. Apparently the discipline disagrees with me and so we are at odds. This is going to finish off my fine arts credits for Whitman so I will suffer through. However, being able to walk outside and look at the buildings and art pieces in person should make this one more interesting and less powerpoint based.

Class #5: Lorca and the Andalusian Literary Tradition- I’m beyond hyped for this one. Part poetry, part creative writing, part theater, and all fun, this class has started with a bang and will only get better.

All in all my professors have been great and I’m actually excited to expand my knowledge by starting a third language and perfecting my second. I hope all is well in the states and that you all can enjoy these photos.

1st. a view of the beach we visited in a town called Nerja along the southern coast.

2nd is my friends Nicole, Nick, Adam and myself at a Flamenco performance.

3rd was taken at halftime in our weekly pickup soccer game with two friends from England, Mike and Scott.

Hola a todos,

I am finally set up in my homestay in Granada and the first day of classes is quickly approaching. There are a lot of things I want to write about, but I think I’m gonna start by describing where I live and what a typical day in Spain looks like.

My homestay is an apartment on the top floor of our building. We are only five minutes, walking, from both the Alhambra and the Albaycin (an Arab barrio that’s also the oldest neighborhood in the city).  When I wake up in the morning, I stare out of my large windows onto la Catedral de Granada. (See below, but my view is from much closer).

I am convinced that I am in the best possible location for our program. I can walk everywhere within ten or so minutes and there are always people around.

El Horario (Schedule):

8:00 a.m.- Wake up and take a shower. For the first time in my life I don’t have to squat to fit my head under the water, but as with everything in life there is a trade off. The shower reminds me of a coffin in a vampire movie. You climb inside and pull these sliding doors to close it, but with the doors closed, there literally isn’t space to bend over. I am slowly developing claustrophobia…

8:30 a.m. – El Desayuno (Breakfast) is served by my lovely host mom. It usually consists of grapes, toast with butter and marmalade, these lemon loaf things I still haven’t figured out what to call, yogurt and this strange fruit milk. Yes you read that write. Its fruit juice, I think mango, pineapple, and orange, with milk added to it. It tastes better than I thought but my stomach still gets uneasy thinking about it.

9:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.- For the rest of the morning I have been in orientation classes focused on both our language skills as well as cultural differences between the two countries, and between Latin America and Spain. Since many of us learned Spanish from Latin American teachers, there are important differences in between the two languages. For example, in Latin America you would be slapped by your abuelita if you used the word coger. It’s one of those words you’d get soap in your mouth for saying. Yet here it means to grab, or pick up and they use it all the time. The phrase “coger la vida” still makes all of us laugh when we hear people say it here.

2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Lunch time is super important here. In the U.S., dinner is our most important meal of the day. Everything kind of revolves around your dinner plans, but in Spain, lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day. It’s not until you’ve had spanish lunch that the concept of a Siesta begins to make sense. It’s more of a food coma than anything else, and I am planning on being a life long convert to the Siesta.

4:00 p.m. -7 p.m.- This is Siesta. Stay quiet. Sleep. Everything is closed. It’s what I’m skipping to write this so you’re all welcome.

8:00 p.m.-1:30 a.m. This is when you eat dinner. Usually around 10. Instead of sitting down and eating in your house or at a restaurant, almost everyone I’ve met has eaten along the streets of the city. There are free tapas with every drink you get in Granada. So if you pay five Euros, you get two cervezas or glasses of Vino and two plates of tapas. This is basically how every night goes around here. Wander the streets stopping at random tapas bars to try new things. I’ve had tapas ranging from chicken wings to potato pancakes to ham and bread to snails. Actually the only thing they have in common is that they taste amazing.

And that’s basically been the schedule in the early days here in Granada. I’m planning on writing more about cultural differences and the classes I’ll be taking in the next few weeks. I’m already starting to notice its harder to write this much in English since I’ve spent almost my entire time here in Spanish mode, so I apologize here for how poorly worded the post is. Hasta luego pajos. Voy a tomar mi siesta.