And continuing

Alright so I will get this all in today. So we got off the plane and this is the lovely view we had 

Finally I got the picture in the blog. I had to copy and paste it because the upload wasn't working but whatever. SOOOO we got off the plane and that's when I realized Granada was in the middle of mountains, good job Kelly on NOT knowing that one before. We went inside and all got our luggage at this TINY airport, and then we met Miguel Angel, our program director, and Narea, the assistant/his wife. We all had to load our luggage onto big coach buses and we were off to Hostel Atenas, where we would stay for a couple days before meeting our host families. We drove around Granada and I was honestly really surprised that it was so modern looking. (But as I would find out later, it really is not at all haha). It kind of has main streets like you would find in a typical city, but then there are all of these side streets/alleys that go to big plazas and stuff so there is a LOT more in the city than you would think there is. There are TONS of shops and stuff everywhere. There are these really awesome street lights too and they look very modern. The stoplights are different than the US, somewhat strange. Anyway, we got to the hostal and got our luggage and divided up into rooms. I was in a room with Audrey and Madeline, (two girls in my sorority incase you didnt know). We put our stuff down and we all laid down for a while/tried to get working internet. The internet at the hostal was impossible to work with haha. A bit later, us three went out walking around and realized that there were all of those side streets/plazas. We met up with Karrah, Andrea, Cory (who are all in my sorority also), and Meagan, Cory's friend, and we went out for drinks and tapas. The COOL thing about Granada is that whenever you order a drink, you get a free tapa. This apparently is the only place in Spain where they do this. My host mom told me the other day that the more drinks you order, the better the tapas get. Interesante. We all tried "tinto de verano" which is basically red wine and lemonade. See below.



It's DELICIOUS. We got a couple rounds of drinks and a few tapas. Our first free tapa was basically a cut baguette bread with cream cheese and jamón serrano, which is cured ham aka extremely salty and delicious. Andrea ordered "huevos rotos con jamón y chorizo" which should be like scrambled eggs with ham and chorizo, a Spanish sausage. Instead it was fries with a fried egg and some jamon serrano and chorizo on top. Very weird and HILARIOUS. Then, we all went back to the hostal and PASSED OUT because we were so tired. I definitely could probably have slept for like 16 days because we had no windows in our room so it was pitch black.

We woke up the next morning and went to a building near our school, Cegrí, to begin our orientation. BEFORE THAT though, we all got free tickets to get breakfast next door, so we went over and got cafe con leche and they gave us this croissant thing for free. People in Spain eat a lot of bread haha. Anyway we started our orientation by having a cultural orientation and basically going over some different things in Spain and the program and stuff, and then we had an academic orientation where we picked our classes, even though we had already picked them before we went abroad. Luckily though some people had to change stuff, and I wanted to change a class, so we were able to do that. The director of Cegrí went over one sheet of paper and it took over an hour to discuss... sooo it was long and we all were still not used to the whole eating a big lunch at 2:30 pm thing so needless to say we were all REALLY hungry. It's really interesting, most of you know, but incase you dont.. Spain has a unique tradition, especially in southern Spain, of having a HUGE lunch around 2:30/3, where most stores close and people go home for this big meal with 3 or 4 courses with their family, and then take a small nap or relax, and then go back to work around 5. Dinner is at 9:30 or 10 and is a much much smaller meal. Anyway, we were starving, so a bunch of us went out to this restaurant called Hicure, recommended by our program director. Most of us got the "menú del dia" which is the typical 3 or 4 course meal offered by the restaurant that day. It consists of an appetizer, main dish, dessert, drink, and usually bread. I got a salad with chicken and some tomatoes and it had some dressing on it that I didn't know what it was but I liked it, salmon with couscous, white wine to drink, and pineapple for dessert. Delicioso. It was actually really good I enjoyed it very much. Then, several us walked around and kind of explored around. At 5:30 we had the "Granada survival tour", where Miguel Angel and Narea showed us around Granada where the different important things were, like our school, El Corte Inglés (a massive superstore), the post office, police station, church, shops, etc. After, we went back and since the internet was literally not working, some of us went over to this nearby pub called Hannigans to use their internet. We ordered drinks and got free tapas which were some like potato thing with aioli, carrots and corn. Weird but really good. I called my mom via gmail and tried to catch up on informing the world of what I was doing but it was taking forever. Then a bit later, we again went out for drinks and tapas, and then went and hung out in the lounge of our hostel with a ton of people from our program. Later that night.. around 330 am (dont kill me mom), a few of us went and got SCHWARMAS which are the most delicious pita type thing in the world. SO good. It was hilarious.

The next morning we got up and had a housing orientation basically where we went over rules and stuff! Then we walked around for a while again, and found this gorgeous fountain/the river area and I realized that was by where I wOULD be living. Then we got bocadillos and fruta from the market and went back to the hostel and ate. Then, I walked around with Karrah, Cory, and Meagan trying to find a place with working internet but NO WHERE was open because it was SIESTA time. So I went back and took a nap before our "touristy tour" of Granada! We then went on the tour and went to see El Albaycín which is this older neighorhood area of Granada that basically has crazy winding cobblestone roads that go up into the mountain, and you have the most unbelievable views of La Alhambra and the Cathedral de Granada. They were BEAUTIFUL! The streets were brutal on my feet though but it was gorgeous. A lot of the shops/houses are built directly into the mountain/hill, so its really really cool. There are some flamenco bars up there which a few of us are planning to go to. It kind of reminded me of Greece, even though I haven't been there yet! After the touristy tour we got back and hung out for a while before going out to our "welcome dinner" for our entire program. We all went to this restaurant by the cathedral and had dinner, and then went to Hannigans, the irish pub from before. We weren't out for long because we were going to meet our HOST FAMILIES the next day and we wanted to be ready for them.

This post is literally incredibly long so sorry to whoever is reading this. We went back to the hostal and got our stuff together and went to bed. Saturday was the day we were going to MEET OUR FAMILIES! I was really nervous but super excited! I had talked to my hostmom a few times over facebook message and she seemed AWESOME and I was really excited to meet her. We were broken up over a few different times to go downstairs and meet our families. I got down there early but when she came, I knew who she was! She's ACTUALLY hilarious and I love her and my host dad. She came with her daughter who is 30 years old, and her sister who is a few years younger than her, who were also both having students this semester. I found out later that I am her first student staying with her and her husband. We walked all through the streets back to her apartment and she showed me my room. She is an artist and painted all of these paintings and decorated the room just for me! It was so nice. She showed me all of these drawings she has done and stuff and she is actually an AMAZING artist. I want her to teach me! Then her husband came home around 1:30 or so and we all ate lunch together. I was trying to teach them English which was hilarious, but they want to know! The host father listens to the same music as me and I was helping to teach him about Dispatch, one of my favorite bands. I put all of my stuff away in my room and then was hanging out with my host mom, Adriana, in the family room, watching TV and talking and stuff. We went and got me a phone and then came back to the apartment and I unpacked more stuff and had a "life chat" if you will with Adriana in the kitchen about everything and being able to accept being so far from a place you know and friends you know and stuff. She and her husband are actually from Argentina and moved to Granada about 8 years ago with her kids (who are older) and her mother. She has said that Argentina is somewhat unsafe and NOTHING like Granada because it is so safe and relaxed here. Her husband, Sebastian aka bocha, owns a candy shop somewhere in Granada, that I have to go find. I met her one son, Davíd, but her other son, Emiliano, broke his pelvis in a motorcycle accident the other week so he is on bedrest and I haven't been able to meet him yet. Hopefully soon. I feel bad, definitely a bad accident. Her and her husband have been going over to his apartment to help him with some things and his girlfriend is around to help obviously. Anyway, my host mom made empanadas for dinner and I basically just hung out and talked with her and stuff for a long time. She told me all of the good discotecas to go to and such. Anyway, I will continue more later because I'm super tired. ADIOS MIS AMIGOS!