La vida diaria (Or, How my Spanish is "getting better")

So, as of today, I've been in Granada for two weeks. I'm already starting to feel like I know the city, and have been exploring more every day, whether it is a different neighborhood or street or a new cafeteria or bar. I have yet to meet a lot of Spanish folk, but I have been trying to talk to people in Spanish, and succeeding some of the time. Yesterday during lunch, my señora, Hortensia, told Lauren and I that she could already see a lot of improvement in our speaking, which made me pretty happy.

(This is my street! On the right is a well-known theater, Teatro Alhambra, and on the left is possibly a school. I'm not sure.)

I started my IES classes on Monday, which have been going pretty well. I'm in an advanced Spanish class, an anthropology course titled The Experience of the Other, and a course called Islamic Art and Architecture of Spain and its Impact. I'm pretty excited about these classes, because they both involve using Granada as our classroom and visiting several sites in the city. I will also be taking a course at the University of Granada, which won't start for another week and a half, and I'll be interning at a hospital here and taking an internship seminar (more updates to come on the internship soon...once I find out for myself)!

This past weekend, I went to Sevilla and Ronda with IES, which was a great trip. In Sevilla, we got to see the Alcazar, which started as the old Moorish castles and gardens and was eventually taken over by the Christians (like pretty much everything else here...go figure), as well as the Cathedral and the Museum of Fine Arts. I also went with a few other students on a bike ride around the city and along the river - the highlight of my day was definitely seeing the rowers on the river...it made me miss my crew team!! We were lucky to have gorgeous weather in the mid-60's, and it was cool to explore a new city. In Ronda, we saw the old bullfighting ring and explored the old part of the city, which was amazing, since it was built on a cliff and thus a very important city, strategically, to control in the past.

(This is a picture of part of Ronda...I didn't get a great picture of the gorgeous bridge, but you can see the big drop-off there...wouldn't want to fall out of one of those windows.)

I had a lot of fun traveling, but I was definitely glad to get back to Granada. I love it here, and I am really happy I chose this city in Spain. It seems like there are a lot less touristy areas here, and less American influences (although I hear American music all the time and there is a super-nice Burger King in the main plaza...). I'll keep you all posted on my encounters with the Spanish and my misadventures in the city (most of them so far have involved our angry cat and my slippers). Os amo desde Granada!