Culture Shock

I thought I would write a few things that are very different from the US here.

1. They are very smart about their electricity here. When they leave a room, they turn off the light - always. It hotel rooms, you have to plug your room key into a little slot in the wall in order to turn on the lights. Thus, when you leave the room, you automatically turn all the lights off. Great idea, huh? Also, in many apartment buildings, you have to flip a switch, which is on a timer, to turn on the lights in the hallways. This way, the lights aren't on 24 hours a day when nobody needs them to be. Logical and cost efficient.

2. They are also very conservative with water, and hot water at that. Showers are only around 15 minutes (maximum), and my senora turns on the hot water only when we are going to take a shower. And showers are not as hot in mi casa, a little warmer than luke warm, but not much. I'm a little worried for winter. P.S. I haven't seen a bathtub since I've been here.

3. Dryers are also not the norm here. The washing machine is usually very small and in the kitchen, and clothes hang dry out on the line. While this is more energy efficient, it also takes forever to dry clothes.

4. People walk everywhere here. If it is at all humanly possible to walk to your destination, thats what you do. Almost everything you need is within walking distance. I walk a half hour to school everyday, and I walk between 1-3 hours a day. It's much healthier and environmentally friendly!

5. The town shuts down on Sunday. Some restaurants and bars are open, but thats about it. Markets are closed, shops are closed. Everything is closed, which is kind of a pain.

6. Ice cream and desserts are much better here. Pastry and ice cream shops are everywhere here. There is an ice cream shop called Los Italianos which is like heaven on earth; it is closing for the season here soon. Que lastima! But almost any dessert here is absolutely fabulous.

7. Doner Kebab/Kebab Kings are everywhere, cheap, and open 24 hours. They are the fast food of Granada. The shawarma is to die for after a late night at the discotecas. Shawarma is kind of like a hot pita filled with chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, etc. Delicious.

8. There is a lot more graffiti here. Some of it is beautiful, some of it is not.

9. Walking in the house without shoes is frowned upon here. Senoras say that you will get sick if you walk without shoes on because the floors are tile and cold. I am very glad I have my slippers.

10. People are blatantly honest here. They pretty much speak their mind, without worrying about offending others or being politically correct. I think its better that way. A lot less beating around the bush.

La Corrida de Toros

I do not have any pictures of the actual killing with the sword, but they have a long sword that they are suppose to shove into the top of his back, right behind his head. If it is a good kill, they receive either one ear, two ears, or two ears and a tail of the bull they killed. Sorry these pictures are backwards. You should actually start reading the bottom picture first.

The last part is saved for the matador. This matador's form was beautiful and I could have watched this all day. He would get so close to the bull that it would brush him as it ran by.

The second part, the picadores come out. They have little spears (for lack of a better word) that they jump up and stab into the bulls back. 3 times. These spears hook into the bull and don't come out. After they stab him, they run for the fence.

This is the first part of the corrida. Two men on horses (blindfolded) come out and stab the bull with long spears. If you ask me, this is the coward job. The horse is the one that takes the heat.



Well, I am glad that I went to a Corrida de Toros because it is historically a part of their culture, but I will say that I have no desire to ever go again. Before we went, we talked about it with our Spanish friends. None of them had ever been to a bull fight. Antonio said that many of the younger generation don't go because they don't agree with it. I had a hard time understanding why they wouldn't at least go and see something that was so culturally Spanish, but now I understand. I will say that I appreciated the cape work and the form of the matador. This part was almost beautiful, and I would have been just as happy (more, in fact) if this was all there was.

The matadores were not the best, and they often didn't get the kill the first time, which is terrible to watch. If they can't kill the bull, a man comes up with a small dagger and jams it into his head. It is awful. After the first kill, Melissa and I decided we were rooting for the bull. The next bull did manage to gore the matador in the leg, and I must say I didn't feel that bad for the man. I am not trying to completely criticize this part of their culture, but it has by far been my least favorite thing that I've seen here.

More Virgen de San Angustias

Melissa, Katie, and I standing on the platform of a light pole, so we could see the procession over people's heads.

La Virgen de San Angustias in the procession. There are men under this float carrying it. Keep in mind this procession lasts for a good few hours.

My happy place.

He was my favorite street preformer of the day.

A carousel for the children. Note how the man is pedaling a bike in order to make it go around and around.

These are more pictures of the weekend celebration of La Virgen de San Angustias. There was a chocolate festival, which may have been the best thing that has happened to me. There was every type of chocolate imaginable: chocolate fountains, chocolate bars, fruit covered in chocolate, chocolate covered nuts, chocolate liquor, just keep imagining - it was there. The plaza was also filled with street performers and some rides for kids. In another plaza, there was little open air market with lots of different fruits, desserts, candies, and food of the fall season. It was pretty neat to walk around and try different things.

During the evening, there was the procession of La Virgen de San Angustias. Many people and marching bands walked in the procession. And also, of course, people carrying La Virgen. The Virgen float (for lack of a better word) had to be very heavy, and it stopped every few minutes, perhaps for a break. There were so many people in the streets watching that it was crazy. But it was very neat to see. As the Virgen went by, walking with it were people holding candles and lots of incense. It was definately different than anything I've ever seen in the US.

La Patrona de la Virgen de San Angustias

La Virgen de San Angustias is one of the patron saints of Granada, and the celebration was two weeks ago. In the evening and thoughout the night, people bring flowers to the cathedral where they are hung on big things, kind of like scaffolding up against the wall of the church. There were millions of flowers, and the line of people waiting to bring flowers to the church was insanely long, even in the rain. There is music and marching bands, and many, many people. It was a neat thing to see. Sadly, I was soaked because it had been raining very hard, and I was without a paraguas. Bummer, but very beautiful.

Hiking in the Sierra Nevadas

Katie, Jill, and I walking on the a ledge next to the river.

One of the many views while on our hike

Shawn, Katie, and I by one of the Indiana Jones bridges.

My first swinging bridge.

Our second weekend in Granada a bunch of us went hiking the Sierra Nevadas with TiTi (short for Christian), one of our directors from ISA. Its hard to believe that you can find such natural beauty 20 minutes from the city. For a lot of the hike, we walked along a little river - it was very relaxing. I could have spent a lot of time just sitting by the water and been absolutely content. We also walked across many long, swinging bridges like in Indiana Jones. Pretty awesome. There were waterfalls, cliffs, flowers, wild figs trees and berries, goats. I loved it. It was a nice, relaxing day and a good workout.

First View of Granada

The view of Granada and some of the Alhambra from the view of Cristobal Colombus in the old arabic part of Granada.

Home Sweet Home

After Toledo, we went directly to Granada, and I was able to meet Carmen, my host senora, for the first time. The apartment is small, but it's very homey. Well, in reality, almost everything is smaller here (cars, streets, rooms, etc.) I have my own room, which is pictured above. At first I was having a hard time understanding Carmen, but after being here for awhile, my ear is getting accustomed to her speaking. I understand her now more often than not, which is a relief. For quite awhile (and still sometimes recently), I had decided that learning this language was quite impossible for me.


Anyways, there is no air conditioning in the house, or many places for a matter of fact. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be actually, considering how hot it was in the beginning (upper 90's). Still, my window is open at all times (not many screens here either), and for awhile, I slept without blankets.


The food here is great, but senoras do not take no for an answer when it comes to eating. Carmen feeds me so much food that it's a job to eat sometimes. It is not often that I am hungry here. Here is another thing that is different from the States: people don't snack here near as much as in the States.


I really enjoy my classes here, but I am almost done with my first set of courses. I feel like I have learned a lot already, but I also am always forgetting the new vocab that I've learned. I am done with class at 1 and have the rest of the day to myself, which is great.


Night life is also much more intense here than in the US. Clubs don't open here until 2 or 3 in the morning. It is not uncommon to stay out until 6 or 7 on the weekends. Yes, in the morning. And the clubs and bars are usually packed, as in its hard to walk around because there are so many people. But I am really enjoying myself here.

Holy Toledo

This is an old bridge used way back when to transport goods.

A view of Toledo. Pretty beautiful, huh?

Toledo

After el Valle de los Caidos, we were off to Toledo. The city is set on hills, so you are constantly walking up and down, up and down. Toledo is even more beautiful than Madrid. It feels much more relaxed and peaceful here in Toledo, not as busy and bustling as Madrid. Many, many old buildings, a lot of history here. The first night in Toledo, some friends and I went to a little tapas bar called Enebro. It's pretty nice here in Spain. This is how it works: you order a drink (sangria or tinto de verano for me) and then you get a free tapa, which is a little appetizer. Order another drink, get another tapa. It's a cheap way to eat supper. Another difference: here, there are many more outside cafes, restaurants, and bars. I like it better.

The next day we went for a walking tour around Toledo. We visited the Catedral de San Juan, which was built before our country was even discovered. Pretty unreal, huh? It was beautiful and intricate and quaint all at the same time if thats possible. It was meant to be the final resting place for the king and queen Fernando and Isabel, but when conquering Granada changed their plans a bit. We also were able to see the famous Toledo Cathedral, but we didn't get to go inside. It's famous throughout Europe for its gothic architecture. For lunch, I had my first taste of gazpacho, which is a cold soup. It sounds strange, but it is very yummy and refreshing. That night, we went back to Enebro for drinks and tapas and called it an early night. The next morning we were off to Granada.

El Escorial

I wish these pictures would show how enormous these places are. Many times I am being rushed because we are in a tour, so I don't get time for many pictures. O well.

El Escorial

El Escorial is another palace, but it's a bit more than that. It was the summer palace of the kings and the royal families. Also, it is a huge library, monastery, church, college, and more. I'll say again - this place is huge. The cathedral here was the prettiest one I've seen yet. Beautiful murals and artwork. El Escorial also has a royal tomb that houses many of the kings and queens gone by. We were able to visit the tomb, which has very ornate coffins lining the walls. It was neat to see, but wierd to think we were surrounded by skeletons. By the way, there is also a rotting room at El Escorial. You have to rot down to your bones before you are allowed to come down the royal tomb. Bet it smells lovely. I also was able to see a portrait of King Carlos II as a child. Look him up online. You can tell right away that he is a consequence of royal inbreeding.

The town surrounding El Escorial is called San Lorenzo del Escorial. It is one of my favorite places I've been yet. Its beautiful and very relaxing. We had a good time exploring the little town. Very beautiful place.

Valle de los Caidos

This is the valley that Valle de los Caidos overlooks. Pretty beautiful.

The outside. It doesn't really show how big this place is.

This cross is actually huge. You can't really see that from this picture. But it is enormous.

Well, I can't figure out how to add accents, so you will all have to do without. Our next stop after Madrid was the Valle de los Caidos (valley of the fallen). This monument was ordered to be built by Francisco Franco as a remembrance of all the supporters of Franco who died in the Spanish Civil War. The monument is absolutely huge. Pictures don't show the enormity of this place. Inside, is a cathedral and the final resting place of Primo de Rivera and Franco. The inside is beautiful. There are angels in the four corners of the cathedral, but its interesting because the angels are very dark and almost threatening. They look more like demons than angels. It was very beautiful, but it wasn't a happy place.

Madrid

This is a picture of El Palacio Real. Can you believe people used to actually live there?

This is La Plaza Mayor. I said the wrong plaza in my blog down below, and I don't really now how to edit it. Technology is not my friend.

Side note: It's frustrating because many places do not allow you to take pictures inside. Not even sin flash.

Let's see. I got into Madrid on the 27th of August, a Thursday. After arriving at the hotel, I immediately took a nap. My plane ride (where I had planned to sleep) was extremely uncomfortable, but everybody was in the same boat, we were all tired. Spain is so much different than the US - much more beautiful. Lots of fountains, and beautiful, big buildings (which turn out more often than not to be apartment buildings).
On Friday, we were able to tour the city. We went to the Prado Museum! I saw paintings by Goya, Greco, Velazquez. All painting I have learned about in my Spanish classes, so that was really exciting. We had some free time in the afternoon and walked to the Puerta del Sol and La Plaza Nueva. La Plaza Nueva has some neat shops and cafes; it was fun to walk around. Next, we toured the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). It's amazing to think that people lived such extravagant lives at one time. It was weird to think that so many kings and queens of the past stood right where I was standing. The palace was beyond huge. The kings had an entire room set aside for getting dressed. One king had 3 living rooms. Don't ask me why.
We were on our own for supper that night, so Alex, Melissa (friends from the program), and I went exploring and found a great little side street with tons of bars and restaurants. We were the only tourists in the place. It was really nice. I was surprised at how many people in Madrid speak English. Many times throughout the day, we had to say, "No, please speak to us in Spanish; we are trying to learn." The same has not been so in other cities here. Night life is pretty huge here, by the way. People come up to you downtown in the city and give you free drinks or shots if you check out there bar. Lots and lots of people in the streets, till all hours of the night.

My Trip

Well, I decided to start this blog because it's an easy way to keep everybody updated on my life overseas. We will see how well it works, and how often I upload, but I'll give it my best shot. As you all know, I am studying a semester in Granada, Spain. Here, I plan to post pictures and keep you updated on my travels and what I've been seeing. Here goes nothing.