After a week of packing/re-packing and living out of a suitcase, I was excited to finally have a permanent place to call home! The 5 hour bus ride from Toledo was much too long for me…I was getting antsy! Nervousness didn’t really hit me until right when they started calling names of people to come out in meet their host moms. Becki and I heard the name of ours, Antonia Gallego, and knew that moment was about to come! It was somewhat surreal as she greeted us with a kiss on each cheek, chatting a hundred miles a minute about how guapa we were, how far we had to walk to get to the house, and asking us about our trip. At that moment, this whole experience became real. Until that moment we were enjoying a vacation, staying in hotels, hanging out with friends…and in an instant it was more than that. Not a vacation anymore, but life for the next 3 months.
The next day we had a tour of el Albaicin, the Muslim neighborhood on the hill and at the top? Spectacular views overlooking the city and La Alhambra I couldn’t believe that this was my new home!
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| El Albaicín |
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| La Alhambra |
After the tour, our program surprised us with a flamenco show! We filed our way into a narrow cave-like room and sat down…a few minutes later we come to find out that we are sitting right in front of them—literally so close we could feel them sweat! It was an exciting show…two female dancers and one male dancer in each group, accompanied by a guitar player and un cantante. It was such a real taste of the exotic Spanish style and culture. Each dancer poured their heart and soul into the rhythm and agility required for this intense and passionate dance.
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| Nikki, Becki and I channeling our inner flamenco |
With a week left to go before classes started, Nikki, Becki and I took to exploring and familiarizing ourselves with the city. Another tour with our program brought us through new parts of the city center, past the Granada cathedral, and through the winding streets past a fabulous Moorish and African-inspired market, which we made a mental note to check out later. We saw some really cool people doing a Segway tour/photo shoot and also made a mental note of a Churreria (churros con chocolate…delicious!). Near the end of our tour we passed some incredible graffiti by a now world-renowned graffiti artist. I couldn’t get enough of it!
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| Reminds me of S.F. |
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| We love churros con chocolate! |
Friday we woke up early for a hike through Los Cahorros mountains just outside of the city. It was great to finally get out and enjoy some nature, even though we were fully attacked by a swarm of bees during lunch! I ended up accidentally throwing my bocadillo in the air and onto the ground when I went to take a bite and there was a bee sitting right there.
During the week we also got the opportunity to get to know our host family better. Our host mom Antonia, or Toni, loves to chat about EVERYTHING, as well as fatten us up with all the food she makes for us…it’s incredible how much we eat! (whether we like it or not) But she’s so sweet and always encouraging us to go out and experience things while we’re here. Our host dad, Bartolomé (Barto) is a lot quieter but always gives us a pat on the cheek or a squeeze on the shoulder and asks us how we’re doing. My understanding of Spanish is getting SO much better in such a short time and I think my ability to converse is as well, which is an exciting thing because it’s one of my main reasons for being here—to experience the culture and improve my own knowledge and mastery of the language. I’m loving it so far and can’t wait to see and experience more!
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