Here we go.. 20 things about my halfway point:
1. Granada has the best strawberries I've ever eaten! They're soooooo sweet and delicious. Much better than in the USA!!! I'm not sure what they do to their strawberries here, but they're freaking amazing. Almost everyday I stop at a frutería on the way home from class. I can buy a kilo for 2 Euros.. and the price will only decrease from here. Encarna makes me yogúr con fresas for dinner whenever we have strawberries around.
2. Everyone smokes in Granada.. EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Except Encarna and Cármen) Nothing's like walking down the street and having 80 puffs of smoke in your face all at one time. Some days I come home smelling like smoke from being outside.. so gross! Even the bus drivers and taxistas smoke while they're driving around everywhere. It's so gross.
3. I feel like I've been losing weight. Encarna makes basically all very healthy meals. I never snack here, if I do it's because I've gone out to get helado with my friends or whatever. On top of no snacking, I walk everywhere.. great exercise!
4. I have become good friends with my classmates! We have spent the entire first 6 weeks together and have become good friends. We hang out at Hannigans, we joke in class, and go places with each other. This is a group of friends I have really enjoyed being around.
5. After having the greatest fear of public transportation, I finally conquered my fears of riding the bus!!! I've gotten so good that some of my friends even ASK me how to get places on the bus! My favorite bus (#23) takes me straight to school everyday. All the bus drivers for 23 know me and know where I get picked up and dropped off everyday. It's pretty funny! One time, I was walking down the street and bus 23 drove past me and the bus driver WAVED at me because he recognized me! ..we're pretty tight!
6. I can't believe all the cities I've visited already!!! In this order:
a. Madrid
b. Toledo
c. Granada (obviously)
d. Ronda
e. Málaga
f. Monachil
g. Barcelona
h. Cádiz
7. Spain is FOR SURE the land of boots and leggings/skinny jeans. Walking around everyone has on boots or botines (shorty boots). In Granada, there are soooo many great sales on boots, no wonder everyone has them!!! It makes me sad that I left my boots at home!!!
8. Getting used to showering for only 5 minutes. Showers are nearly miserable here. To conserve water, once I get in the shower, I have to turn the water on and rinse my body. Then I turn the water off to lather up with soap; shampoo, body wash and face wash all at the same time. Then I turn the water back on to rinse all the suds off, shut the water off and I'm done. Also to conserve water, we don't flush the toilet every time we use it.
9. Getting accustomed to the food times. Lunch is the main meal, Marisa, my ISA director, says this is so that they can work their main meals off during the day! ..Please adopt this USA.. some people NEED to work all their meals off! This is probably why there's not one overweight Spaniard anywhere to be found! My breakfasts consist of 2 mini muffins, a banana and a cup of coffee with milk. I have a mid-morning snack between classes. Then for lunch we have a main meal and a salad (usually the salad doesn't have lettuce.. not an American salad), bread and water. And dinner is usually a tortilla (omelette type thing), bread, a yogurt, and water. My favorite yogurt is Natillas.. soooo delicious!!!!
10. One of our favorite things to do is find the best shopping spots around town. You know you can always count on the Chinese stores to have great sales! We often frequent the Chinese stores for things that we "need"!! Encarna jokes that the Chinese stores never close because Chinese people are the hardest workers.. she talks about how odd they are. And seriously.. in the Chinese stores the workers will do anything to make a sale.. all you have to do is act like you don't want to buy it and they reduce the price! haha
11. It's sad to know that there are so many people unemployed here. Right now, in Granada, the unemployment rate is at 20%. 50% of all young people are unemployed and 65% of young women are unemployed. These rates are crazyyyy high!! When people find jobs here, they value them very much because they know how many people don't have work. A lot of times, the unemployed people try to make money by dressing up and being street art, or playing instruments on the street and asking for money. I passed by a man a few times today that had been playing his accordion for HOURS and hadn't gotten a single penny. I wanted so badly to give him some money, but I didn't have any on me! It's so sad.
12. School buses are charter buses. There are NO bright yellow, rickety buses that drop the kids off at school. They have luxurious, comfy charter buses that they get to ride! Not fair!
13. I have come to like some Spanish music. A lot of the music listened to here is from the United States. Basically the Top 40 is what is played in clubs. Very unique, but they still listen to Juanes and Shakira! Woo Woo!!!
14. I have become hooked on caffeine. I drink coffee every morning and usually during class. The coffee here is really strong and really delicious! My time is so messed up here because I get up early, go to class, take a siesta, hang out til 9, come home, go to bed at midnight.. I NEEEEEEED COFFEEEEEE!!!! My school even has a little vending machine that makes coffee and cappuccino just the way you like.. it's fantastic!
15. Just like at Missouri State, the Chinese students carry around an electronic translator. Isn't that cheating?! I don't understand.. again like Encarna says.. they're very odd. This was the first photo I could find on Google Images.. of course it's in Chinese. :)
16. Encarna and Julie (the housekeeper) do everything for me. I literally don't have to lift a finger while I'm living here. The only thing I have to do is keep my room organized, but Julie cleans my room for me. She cleans the whole apartment, including my bathroom. Encarna does my laundry every Wednesday and makes all my meals for me. Every morning, I make my bed and raise my blinds and every day while I'm at school Encarna remakes my bed and fixes the blinds. I'm livin the life!
17. My teachers are awesome (sometimes). Mariangeles is an amazing teacher!! She is great at explaining things and teaching us everything we need to know. My other teacher, on the other hand, could have done a much better job with level 5, but for some reason he's really stepped up for level 6. We're all proud of him!!! haha
18. I've gotten used to having to look "nice" everyday. However, I don't look nice for a Spaniard, but after wearing hoodies and sweatpants all last semester, I would say I look really nice this semester! It's makes me feel good to look nice everyday!
19. One big thing I have to get used to (still) is staying out til 6 or 7am whenever we go out to discotecas. Spaniards are crazy and can stay out all night and still function the next day. For me, if I stay out that late I'm done-zo for the next day.. call me worthless!!!
20. I can definitely tell that my Spanish is getting better. When I'm walking around the streets I can understand what people are talking about in their conversations. I don't feel completely lost when I'm talking to people, and I can understand basically everything my teachers and Encarna say to me! I feel very accomplished already (and this has been the hardest part!)!!!
I'm so glad I got the opportunity to study abroad. I have seen and done so many things that most people aren't able to experience. If anyone that's reading this has considered studying abroad I would HIGHLY recommend it!!! This has been, hands down, the best experience of my life.. and I'm only half way through. I'm excited for the adventures that these next 7 weeks are going to bring!
Un abrazo a todos.
Obviously, number 18 is my favorite. Haha.. you shower every day now?! Who can I count on now??!!
ReplyDeleteGlad things are going well. Still need a skype date soon!!