Update!

Well world, I am a little bitter. I have tried the past few days to post three different times. Both of which decided it wanted to delete it all after I had spent many an effort toward it. Needless to say, I have been very frustrated toward this blog. Stupid technology sometimes. So, I hope for goodness sakes that this one better not decide to be stupid on me. 

I apologize for the haphazard array of chronological events, this post combines many days into a mush of an entry. 

Much has happened since my last post, well kinda. The culture class about modern juvenile slang was really very interesting. I hope I can use some of my new learned words, however some of them, much like the jargon of America's youth today are not appropriate for public internet use. 

I feel like I have been learning so much school wise, and Wednesday we had a great conversation about the current political/economic situation. I think it is super awesome that I am in Spain during this time. 

We are learning lots of different things at once- grammar, verb conjugation, and of course vocab galore. Sometimes it's not very organized, but the unpredictability makes you always think on your feet and combine new and old learned things. I really enjoy learning like this. I really feel like it sticks. Also, of course being somewhere where you have to speak Spanish to get around really helps you. Sometimes we learn weird random vocab. The other day I learned how to say I have the hiccups, tengo hipos. 

We had a competition one day where we got a stack of verbs and had to make sentences with the right conjugation in different forms. The Texan chick was with me, and I get very competitive so she didn't really like me after that. However, we obviously won, in quality and quantity. I walked with one of my professors one day to school. That was school. She walks 30 min to school/her job every morning. My walk is ten minutes tops and I still struggle in the morning. 

Ahora, Son las once menos diez por la noche.

I am very tired. Estoy mucha cansada. Ayer, mis amigas y yo fuimos al discoteca. Here, that is what the call the club. It's pretty cool. 

 This is a fountain close to this bar that Danyella and I really like. Really close to my house and right next to the library. I wonder if I can go in there one day and just explore. 

Dos claras con limón. 

With some tapas. This was a great night. Danyella and I got serenaded, got free drinks, and ate amazing food. This was a night that was everything a girl going to Europe for the summer could ever dream of. Amazing. Also, ever since then, we always go to this bar. It is called Aladalus. 

The day after that, one of my roommates (Anna from Kansas) and I decided to go "adventuring" and eventually wound up at the Palace Hotel that is right next to the Alhambra. The big orange building is the palace hotel and this is our uphill treck to get there. It was so beautiful. The whole area of Granada is muy bonita. 

Once we got up to the hotel, we just decided to walk in it and act like we own the place so we could go to the outside bar where this amazing view of the city was. 

After taking a breather and some drinks at the bar with the beautiful view, we decided to explore further.  There is actually a part of the Alhambra where you can enter without a ticket. It's not very big, but here is he building that is the museum of the Alhambra. It cost to see the museum, but the outside is pretty cool. 

Here is Anna and I at the Alhambra (the free section) with the beautiful city of Granada behind us. 

These are my roommates with the most amazing host mom, Beatriz.  

From left to right : me, Louise, Lauren, and Anna

Or: Alabama, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Kansas. We love getting ice cream, el helado. 

Here is a great example of most of the streets, calles. There are all cobblestone and without good shoes, you will not survive. This is what baffles me about the people here. They always look cute and all the females where heels. I do not understand how their feet survive that. Yo no comprendo por que las mujeres quiere sufrir. 

The day after that, Anna showed me this amazing view of the Alhambra. This looks like it came off of google images, but I promise you I took it myself. Isn't it amazing? I have a ticket to visit it Wednesday and I cannot wait. The church/ street that contained this amazing view was called San Nicolás. 

Selfie with Alhambra. 

Nice picture of dos Anas delante del Alhambra. 

This is inside the church, San Nicolás. After many years, it is now under restoration. It was build in the 1500s from the remains of a mosque that was there before it. During the Reconquest, the king would make people tear down the mosques and build churches in their place. I a a Christian and all, but this is horrible to me. I am all for rebuilding a church that has been withering away architecturally, but I hate what it stands on, literally. I have talked about the Reconquest before, but I just think it is so terrible. Beneath this church lies an old way of life, people's safe haven, and also their communion of religion, family, and friends. So, it makes me very sad and a little bitter towards this church. There was a sign that to see the bell tower a donation would be appreciated. We wanted to see the bell tower and of course in America donation means optional. Unfortunately, as we discovered, donation here means you must pay. So, here are some good views from the bell tower.

However bitter I was towards this church, it did have some great views from the bell tower of the city. Still, it always baffles me every time I learn more about the Reconquest and how deep it affected this city. I am so glad that the Alhambra still stands and represents the people that used to so heavily occupy Granada. 

Speaking of the culture of Granada, we ran into this on our way back front the great view in the Albaycin. The Albaycin is the moorish distric of town, complete with bazars, hooka bars, etc. some might deem it the sketchy part of town, but I love it. It feels like I am in a complete different place than traditional Spain. 

Also, note the "one way" street. In most of Granada, it doesn't really signify roads as being one way. Therefore, sometimes it's really just a game of chicken, pedestrians included. Dangerous? Nahhhh. It's no wonder everyone walks everywhere, or rides tiny little motorcycles. 

This is Anna and I and our excitement about finding a small station with wifi gratis. Aka free wifi. Any other time, we just have to wait and use our phones at home because none of us have international plans. However, it has made us less connected, which is good. Also, we have to be able to use real maps and not just our phones which tell us every step to take normally. I say "we" have to use maps, I have no sense of direction so I normally just follow. 

On Saturday, Danyella and I went to the beach in a small city called Salobreña. It was so weird that whole day, by weird I mean awesome. The beach itself was okay, the sand was actually like made of rocks, so it was super uncomrtable to walk on. The water was a bit cold, but it was still a nice day on the beach. I got pretty sunburnt, but I'm hoping it will just turn into tan soon. Also, it was very beautiful. 

You can't tell from the picture, but this beach was very different from the beaches back home. Apparently, it is completely normal to go shirtless. Now, I was obviously taken aback by this fashion statement, but it brings about some questions of sexuality. Here, like no one, as in guys, was staring at the ladies. Having their shirt off was just as normal as a guy having their shirt off. It wasn't a sexual thing at all. Which makes sens. Why America/society sexualizes women for their food producers to nourish offspring is beyond me. But, you know it is what it is. My feminist friends would, however, be very proud of that statement I just made. 

Also, on the way to and fro the beach I also noticed a lot of differences. Atop the mountains and in the country are huge and plenty of windmills. I know energy is very expensive here and that is probably why, but it's also nice that they have various producers of energy. We should probably start to see more windmills because let's be honest, we are about to run out of oil real soon. 

All of these observations have made me so much more aware not only of my surroundings, but why things are the way they are. 

The beach town was weird. Nothing was open, and if it was it was not all day. Things were open at wierd times. Also, it had palm trees. In Spain. And everything was very bright like a typical beach town. So, it was very different from Granada.

I've noticed some weird things about the city. One, I hardly ever see an ambulance. Two, no one really knows where the hospital is. Also, the "emergency" hospital is tiny and the entrance to if you have an emergency is tiny and hard to get into. I thought that was wierd. The rehabilitation and something else portion was bigger, but it was closed when I saw it. I also see on other places for health related issues. I see dentist offices, but that's about it. So, I have many questions for what people do for all their differet doctoral needs. I would love to go inside the hospital, but I think it would probably make me sad and very thankful for Huntsville Hospital. Also, side note, the unemployment rate in Spain is 26%, or so I've heard. So, US, stop complaining. Also, there is no sales tax here. All of the things I want to further explore, but I think they are very interesting. 

Next venture:

We ( all my roommates) got great ice cream and went to visit this:

This is inside the cathedral of Granada. It is super pretty. Mass was about to start so we did not have long to spend in there, but Anna and I want to go to Mass one day just to experience it. 

I have never seen a religious building as grand as this one. 

This is the top. It's grandeur and detail are amazing. I cannot wait to see more. This weekend I am going to Seville and hope to see more wonderful,beautiful buildings. 

I love hangin out with my new friends. Danyella and I had such a good time at the beach. 

Saturday night I went out with my roommates and people from their school. That was also a fun night. Details from discoteca trip won't be shared, but it was a great international learning experience. I encountered many cultures, acquired new language skills, and practiced my Spanish plenty. 

Every day it feels like I learn something new about Spain and it's culture. Also, learning in school is sometimes hard because even if I have already learned something before that I remember from high school, it is different here. They use different words for some things. They sound very different when they speak, as in pronunciation is very different and difficult to understand. And, some just general structure and crap is different. 

But, I almost feel like I learn just as much in the classroom as outside the classroom. 

This was probably not all that was contained in those missed days/blogs that got deleted, but I hope it hits the highlites to which I wanted to hit. 

Things are super fun, and I love learning.