Ronda

Last weekend I went on a trip to Ronda, a small town in the Malaga Province. Only one hundred students went this time instead of the usual three hundred. Unfortunately, it rained again which made it difficult to tour. I met a Slovakian boy on the bus and later we met up with girls from Chile and France. We had a ticket to see five sites in Ronda but only made it to two. It seems the museums also close from 2-5.


Puente Nuevo

Michael, Charlotte, myself, Alejandra


A museum in Ronda


Arab Baths


Sheep passing by


Puente Viejo


Ronda, a mountainous town, much different from Granada


a view of Ronda, it's getting ready to storm

Confessions of a Study Abroad Student

As I approach the one month mark here in Spain, I want to take a moment to reflect on things. I'm trying to keep this blog as candid as possible in order to give you an accurate depiction of how things are going for me. While it might not be the most exciting blog post, I think I will enjoy rereading it in the upcoming months to remember what it was like in the beginning. I'll start by saying things are definitely better than they were at first. I'm now familiar with Granada and know how to get to all the important places (e.g. the grocery store, the department store, main streets and landmarks). I now know people in the dorm and feel like they genuinely care about me and want to help. I've also straightened out most of the problems I encountered when I arrived. Having said all that, it seems like I should be feeling pretty good about things. For the most part I do feel good about things and I have confidence that I can make it. However, there are still difficult days where it seems like I'm running a marathon and the finish line is not in sight. Days like this I do still wonder why I chose to come to a foreign place for a whole year and take classes in a foreign language. Other days I'm the exact opposite, I'm excited to be here and feel so confident that I can do it. I'm guessing it's pretty normal to feel this way at first. I've searched the internet and read many articles on study abroad where students gave similar accounts. I do think it will be worth it in the end and this motivates me to get up and tackle another day.

Bar Hopping and a Trip to Cordoba

The international students group had two outings last week, a Tapas tour and a day trip to Cordoba. I was curious to see Cordoba since I had done a project on the city in high school. I decided to go on the Tapas tour at the last minute because I really wanted to get out of my dorm room. It turned out not to be a "tour" but bar hopping without much of a guide. At the first bar we ordered tinto de verano, similar to Sangria and very popular among Spaniards. We received mini hamburgers and french fries for our food. In Granada, if you order a drink you receive free food. A Spanish girl described it as the restaurant giving you a present. (After eating at too many pricey restaurants, I see that it is a good deal. You pay about 2 Euros for a drink and food. In most restaurants 10 Euros is the common price for one dish! ) When we finished eating we looked around to see other students with bored looks as well. At the other end of the table the "guides" sat smoking, drinking, and eating. About 30 minutes later we left the bar and headed to another one on the same street. Streets are filled with tapas bars which makes it quite easy to hop from one to another. I ended up leaving the second bar early because I had to get up the next morning and register for classes. The tapas trip didn't turn out to be too educational but at least I was able to get out for a while.

Saturday I went with the international students to Cordoba which was a bit of a disappointment due to the rainy weather. It seems the trip was slightly unorganized. The man in charge kept asking us what time it was. A British girl said you think a man in charge of 250 students would have a watch! We did see the main attractions in Cordoba, La Mezquita and Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos.

La Mezquita

Another view

Inside La Mezquita with the "candy cane" arches

Outside of Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos

A view of Cordoba

I voted!

When weighing the pros and cons of studying abroad this year, I have to admit that missing voting in my first presidential election was on my cons list.  I knew I could vote absentee ballot, but there's something about being home on election night.  Also, it was a little hard this year with a candidate who really appeals to me.  Nevertheless, I chose to study abroad because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and presidential elections are every four years.  I did vote last week, thanks to Daddy, who worked hard to get me an absentee ballot.  I'm not sure he would have been so helpful if I were a McCain supporter!  Anyway, voting in a foreign country had it's own excitement.  The two boys who witnessed my ballot were "so happy to be signing something so important."  They also asked me many questions about the election process in the U.S.  Try explaining the electoral college in Spanish!  While it was sort of fun voting here, it won't be the same as watching the election returns with Daddy, glued to the TV.   But, you can bet that I'll be glued to my laptop eagerly awaiting the big news.  And hopefully there will be reason to celebrate!

A Day at the Beach

This Saturday I spent the day at Cabo de Gata, a natural park and beach in the Almeria Province.  The trip was organized by the International Students Association.  It was nice to get away from the city and be able to relax for a day.  About 200 international students went, so it was a great opportunity to meet new people.  I sat on the bus with a girl from Germany who was very nice.  She too had a rough start in Spain, and had come on the trip to get out and meet some people.  I ran into the British girls I met at the orientation and we all hung out together.  I'm glad I went but I was exhausted after the day long trip.  

Here are some pictures from the trip:

San Jose, a town near the beach

Another view of San Jose 

Cabo de Gata 

mountains + ocean! 

Another view showing all the beach goers! 

Mediterranean Sea

New friends from L to R: Antonia (Germany), Daisy (England), myself, Lucy (Canada), Melanie (Switzerland)

Livin La Vida Loca

While things are improving for me, I still find myself having to adjust to the culture.  As most people know, Spain is considered to be a fairly relaxed country.  Before coming here I thought I could handle being a little late and taking a few naps.  In fact, I thought that sounded pretty nice. I'm coming to find out it's more than just naps and being late.  Spain really lacks the structure I'm accustomed to back in the United States.  Things are disorganized and no one really seems worried if something gets done.  The common feeling is not to worry and wait until tomorrow.  I can appreciate this attitude but I'm curious how anything gets done here.  I'm hopeful things do get done eventually, especially since I haven't been able to register for classes yet.  I don't mean to sound as though I'm bashing Spain because I am starting to like it here. It's simply frustrating that everything seems so disorganized.  Maybe this is just my experience or the university here in Granada. 

I'll share one of my particularly crazy days in Spain.

• I forced myself to get up and go to my history of Spain class at 10 AM.  This was my second day in the class. I made it on time and went into the classroom right at 10.  There were several other people in class but certainly not the 60 I had seen on the previous day. Slowly people began to leave.  I walked over to a girl who happened to be British and asked her what was going on.  She had no idea either and we waited until 10:30 before leaving.  I was confused as to how 60 students and the professor all decided not to come to class that day.   
• Next, I was supposed to go to the international relations office to talk to a woman named Beatriz.  I had talked to her multiple times before and she was always very kind and helpful. She even gave me her cell phone number in case I needed to get up with her after office hours.  I had called her the night before and told her how the cafeteria said I wasn't on the list of students who could eat dinner.  I added that I had been having problems registering for classes.  She said not to worry she would call the dorm and get my name on the list for dinner and she would help me choose some classes to take.  I felt much better and thought maybe things are finally working out. 
• I arrived at the international office and found Jose the man I've been dealing with.  I explained how Beatriz said they could help.  He took care of the dinner situation but said Beatriz knew more about the classes.  He told me to come back at 1 PM and I could talk to Beatriz.
• I went back at 1 and told the man at the front desk I needed to talk to Beatriz.  He said, "Beatriz doesn't work here anymore."  And honestly, I wasn't that surprised.  Of course she would quit on the same day she was supposed to help me.  I went to the back and told Jose that Beatriz didn't work there anymore.  He got very upset and assured me she did and wanted to speak with the person who told me that.  He spoke with some women at the front and then told me, "Well, you're right, she doesn't work here anymore."  

I'm hoping this is not the typical day in Spain.  However, I was able to laugh and I still find it quite humorous.  It seems I never know what to expect on any given day.  

October 1st is finally here!

When I arrived in Granada it seemed the answer for everything was October 1st.  When do I register for classes?  October 1st.  When do classes start?  October 1st.  When does the cafeteria open?  You guessed it, October 1st!  Well, somehow I survived my first two weeks in Spain.  I can't believe how independent I have become and already I find myself learning to appreciate Spain.  I keep reminding myself that even though I'm here for the whole year, in the grand scheme of things one year isn't that long.  This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I need to make the most of it!  Also, I remind myself that most people coming to a foreign country and taking classes in a foreign language would have difficulties at first.  I'm so glad I was able to stick it out the first two weeks.  Thanks to Mama and Daddy for encouraging me to stay even on the hardest days.  Things began to improve when people started arriving to the dorm.  Yesterday I met Claudia a girl who lives across the hall from me.  She, like most students here in the dorm, is at college for the first time.  She told me she couldn't sleep because she was so worried about starting college classes.  She was one of the first people who was sympathetic and seemed to understand I was far away from home and might be a little sad.  I am so thankful to have such a nice neighbor.  Already she has invited me to go home with her one weekend.  I might just take her up on it since she's from Malaga, a beautiful coastal city.  Tonight I was supposed to meet Claudia and some other students in a girl's room.  I was afraid to find a room full of people smoking and drinking.  When I went in the room, I saw everyone sitting around watching TV on a laptop.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Grey's Anatomy on the screen!  In the room, I met a girl from Mexico whose father is Spanish.  She explained she has dual citizenship in Mexico and Spain and decided to come to Spain for college.  Everyone kept telling me they thought my Spanish was really good.  Claudia kept saying, in Spanish of course, "I keep telling her she speaks really well."  They all say in a month my Spanish will be even better and I won't have problems understanding them.  I am so excited to think how much my Spanish will improve after the year in Spain.  I really believe this is the way to do it.  Go to a foreign place by yourself and live with the natives.  I have to use my Spanish because they don't speak English.  I find myself wanting to spend more time with Spaniards than Americans because when I'm with Americans we always resort to English.  Words can't express how happy I am that things have improved and I might turn out to love Spain after all.  I know my hard days might not be over, but at least now I have friends who want to help me.  I am confident this year will be so rewarding in ways I might not even realize now.