First Week in Spain

First Week in Spain:
Getting to Spain was easy. Preparing was very stressful. Arriving felt rewarding.

I arrived in Madrid after flying for 8 hours. The flight wasn't all that bad. I spent most of my time watching American sitcoms, movies, and listening to music on the complimentary Delta screens. I really recommend flying Delta for international flights. When I arrived in Madrid, I wasn't quite sleepy, but tired from the flight, of course. I walked around Madrid's airport for a 4 hour layover to fly Iberia to Granada, Spain. I had to wait 30 minutes before my flight to Granada to find out which gate I was supposed to be. That was so confusing.

Once I arrived in Granada, I was immediately greeted by Jorge, who is the Student Life Advisor of CEA in Granada. He was standing there smiling with a sign that said CEA. Smart move. There was one other girl by the name of JoJo who rode with me to our housing. I was designated to the apartments and she was in the residency hall. When we arrived at the apartments and felt at home. Well, I had no choice. I was staying here for 3 months, with no option of leaving and going home.

Hours later, I met my roommate, Ariah, whom I met before I got to Granada via Facebook. She was excited, scared, and reacting the same way I was. I'm glad we met beforehand, that was the greatest Facebook stalking move that paid off tremendously.

I then ran into Ciara, another roommate who was lost. Ariah and I walked outside unknowingly meeting her to welcome her inside. That was awesome because we were worried about her getting to the apartment. I even went the extra mile and contacted everyone on her Facebook page. Another Facebook stalker move that paid off, tremendously.

For the next days our group of 5 took tours around the city, getting acquainted with the school, classes, and the neighborhood. The non-highlight of my first week was taking a Spanish placement. Rant begins... Well, our whole day was filled with walking around the city, eating a lunch, and taking a tour around our spanish classroom building. At 4pm, we were escorted to a room where we had to take a placement test that determined where we would be placed in classes. For some reason, we weren't being told that this test determined the required classes we took. So, I bummed. I was tired, jet-lagged, and full from the great pizza I'd eaten moments earlier.

The great pizza I'd eaten earlier. Yum.

 Not to give excuses, but come on. You cannot expect the best out of those conditions. Anyway, they ended up putting me in elementary spanish because of it, and I was not having that. My spanish level is way higher than that! I was never qualified for elementary spanish in college, so I definitely knew i could do better. After consulting with the student life advisor and the head of studies, she agreed that I would get permission from my professor to be moved the first week of classes. Still stressful, but I'll take it.

We visited the Alhambra, which is the Muslim castle that towers Granada. It was very beautiful. The towers give you a full view of all of Granada, including the mountains and scenery. Was like nothing I'd every seen in real life. I took a boat load of photos, bought a ring, and forgot to buy postcards. Oh well... I might go back just for that.

Me, R1, R2, Jojo, Claudia, and Juan (Tour Guide)

I also took a shopping trip with Ariah and Ciara. I love the shopping world here. Directly next to high end stores, you may find a really discounted store to get boots for 18 euros and less. I bought some rain boots, totally worth it, for 18 euros. I bought these cute pants for about 15 euros, and a fur vest from H&M. Yes, they have H&M! Brilliant move Granada, just brilliant. They also have Zara, one of the popular stores here. While we are on fashion, Jorge insisted that I leave the "tracksuits" at home. He says that Spaniards do not walk around looking like they are always going to the gym. And he's correct. They walk around dressed to impress, every and all day. This is something I will most definitely have to get used to.

18 euro rain boot (I did get the other foot for free): win

I experienced a little of Granada's club scene on Friday night at this club called, Los Camborios. We can never remember the name, but people here call it 'The Cave'. Rightfully so because it's literally a cave. I have two funny moments you must never repeat about Friday night. One was, I was alerted via Facebook that I had been selected to receive a free champagne bottle for my friends and I. Feeling like that meant I was on some sort of VIP list, I went right up to the door and told that man, I was VIP. He looked at me very strangely and said, we do not have VIP here. Mhmm... I thought maybe this guy didn't understand English. I then told him I was, 'Muy importante persona". He laughed, a couple of other people laughed, and I was annoyed. We finally got inside and I was able to redeem my promo, and enjoyed the champagne anyway. The second really funny thing was, I had one too many. I started dancing to Beyoncé's Single Ladies, in which my subconscious mind knew every dance move to the video that was playing on the projector. John and I were battling it out on the floor, doing the Beyoncé dance while everyone watched and pumped us up. So embarrassing! Oh well...

This Sunday, well today, we took a bus to Nerja Beach and Frigiliana. Nerja reminded me of a smaller version of Miami Beach, Florida. Nerja is located an hour away from Granada and the weather there is much different from Granada. It was 79 degrees today on the beach and I did not bring any summer clothes whatsoever. It hit me off guard, but I still had a great time in the water, with my people, and eating ice cream. Yum.