My time in Spain...

Hello! Here is a re-cap of my last few days in Granada. January 17 (Tuesday) Half of the Granada group took a tour around the City Center. We started the excursion at City Hall where we learned about the flags hanging outside government buildings. Normally there are 4 flags, one for the city, one for the state/region, another for the country, and a final one for the European Union. The day we went past the EU flag was absent. In front of the City Hall was a gorgeous decoration set into the sidewalk. It depicted King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  Next on our excursion we visited the Hotel of Granada, the oldest hotel in the city, even though it no longer functions as a hotel. It is 3 stories high. The first floor was used to house the animals, the second for the guests, and the third for promiscuous activities.  The hotel was used by merchants to sell their goods (mainly wheat).  Over time the hotel was used to house soldiers during wars, as an apartment complex, and is now a tourist site in Granada.  January 18 (Wednesday) For lunch today we (my roommate Amy and I) headed back to the apartment we live in. Our host mom watches her grandson Juan Antonio during the day and today when we went back he was eating with his aunt (one of Carmen's daughters). She was asking him what mine and Amy's names are and he would say mine when asked, but when asked what Amy's name is he would say, "Ni idea", which means "no idea" in Spanish. It was adorable. :) January 19 (Thursday) Today we visited the Albaycin, which is a neighborhood built on a mountain in Granada. It is home to many gorgeous views of the city and the Alhambra (a moorish castle). We started the excursion out by passing the River Darro (golden river in Spanish). When people settled in Granada they found the river glittering with gold that had come from the Sierra Nevada mountains, hence the name Darro.  Next we visited an Arab bath turned tourist spot. We entered the bathhouse and in the patio area was a pool of water. This was used for people to wash up before entering the bath house. The next room was used for people to undress. That room led to the cold water room where people would take water flowing from a pipe in the wall and cleanse their selves. They would then cross the bath house the the warm water room to do the same thing. In the middle of the cold and hot water rooms was a relaxation room. The Arab baths were a great place for people to socialize. Finally we began our trek up the mountain through the Albaycin neighborhood. The Albaycin is where most of the rich people in the city live. Many of the homes have their own private gardens. Our professor, Arriello, leading the tour described the Albaycin as having 3 levels of views. The first level was only "sexy", in other words the view was good, but not great. The second level was "sexy sexy", it was better than the first, but not quite the best. The third he described as "sexy sexy BOOM!", because this view was AMAZING! We had a panoramic view of the city, the Alhambra, and the Sierra Nevada mountains at the third level. Our trek down the mountain included a view of the Palace of Fatima, the castle for the mother of the last Arab king to occupy Spain. January 20 (Friday) Today our group had a meeting with Veronica and class with our professors like usual. Over lunch I had an Intercambio, which is a time where a Spanish student meets a small group of 5 students from our group from Central to talk in Spanish and hang out. The Spanish student leading our group is Trini. Our group went to tapas over the lunch hour. It was fun. That night Tesla (a girl who lives near me), Amy (my roommate), and Shannon (she goes to BV with me) went out for tapas, which are basically drinks and appetizers. Tapas starts after lunch time and lasts till midnight. Almost every cafe, restaurant, and bar serve tapas. Basically you buy a drink and are served the food with it for free. It is a very cheap way to eat. The 4 of us ended up hitting 3 cafes for tapas.  January 21 (Saturday) The same three girls from Friday night and I spent the afternoon roaming the city trying to learn more about it and how to navigate it. That night we went over to Tesla's apartment to play cards. January 22 (Sunday) On Sunday the four of us girls headed out again to the streets of the city. We went to the Parque de Ciencias, which is a science museum in Granada. We stayed there till lunch and Amy and I spent the rest of the afternoon/night hanging out in our apartment. January 23 (Monday) Today we had a meeting with our professor and class this afternoon, not a very eventful day... For some reason the website I am using for my blog takes a long time to upload pictures that I want to put on my blog, so I will probably refrain from posting pictures on my blog. If you would like to see pictures from my semester you can go to www.facebook.com, type in Roseanna Storbakken in the search box at the top. Once you are on my profile you can click on " pictures" underneath my picture and look at my Granada 2012 photo album. People who do not have Facebook can look at these pictures even though you don't have an account. Thanks so much for reading my blog. If you have questions you can comment on the blog. Hasta luego! Roseanna