3.29.2012

It's hard to imagine that just four days ago, March 25th, marked the beginning of my final two months here in Granada. Granada is definitely turning into home for me. I've noticed over the last month or so that as I travel to other places (and enjoy doing so) I can't wait to go "home" and always feel better upon returning to Granada. The city is beautiful and has a relaxing and laid-back atmosphere. I know the next two months are going to fly by as I finish my classes and travel on the weekends. This weekend I will be traveling to Barcelona and Gibraltar. I am planning trips to Italy, Portugal, and Paris. It will be interesting to see if I can do all of it in only two months.
I had four exams last week and am glad they are finally over. I have received all but one of my grades and for the most part I did well, at least by Spanish standards. Since most of my grades are based almost entirely on exams, I hope I do just a little better on my finals.
Last weekend I went with my program to the Alpujarras which are towns located in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Unfortunately, the bus ride gave me pretty bad motion sickness, but I still did the hiking anyway. We hiked around the mountains for about 5 hours or so. The scenery was beautiful and the hike was a lot of fun despite the cloudy sky and on and off drizzling of rain.
Next week begins Holy Week. I'm excited to see the processions and the reactions of the people watching them. Most of the streets are pretty small here so it will be interesting to see how the hoards of people watching the processions will fit. I'll be sure to take tons of pictures.
Speaking of pictures, I'm going to try to take more pictures of Granada (both important sites and my favorite places) and post them on here or on Facebook so that you can see what I'm seeing.
One last thing I want to mention is the volunteering I've been doing. Volunteering has definitely showed me that I eventually want to somehow be involved in education; whether it be teaching or tutoring. I tutor a boy who is originally from the Dominican Republic. He and his two sisters come to the Residencia La Milagrosa to receive tutoring a few times a week. He is a super nice and intelligent kid, but unfortunately has a very low level in school. He seems very discouraged and most of his motivation to learn is to pass his classes, not to learn for the sake of learning. Pray that I'll be able to motivate and encourage him.
Well, that's all for now. I'll be sure to update again after this weekend. Much love from Granada!

3.13.2012

Life is definitely beginning to feel more natural here, but all in all not much has changed. I've been busy going to class and hitting up tapas bars with my friends. I've gotten to meet up with my language exchange partner, Valeria, every Thursday morning for the past several weeks. It's been great to get more practice with my Spanish. I've also had fun helping Valeria with her English. She watches a lot of documentaries about the US and tv shows in English. She brings me her questions and it usually leads to some interesting conversation. Up until now, I've been really disappointed with the amount of interaction (or lack thereof)I've been having with Spaniards, so it's been nice to slowly get more practice. I mentioned in my last post that I found a church and have been attending said church for the past several weeks. Two Saturdays ago I went to a youth event in Almeria (another city about an hour and half from Granada) with some of the young people from the church. In the morning we had a church-like service with worship and a message. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. I got to meet a lot of new people while practicing my Spanish. Many of the Spaniards there wanted to practice their English too, so it was fun to help all of them. Seeking further interaction with Spaniards, I started tutoring a 14 year-old boy every Tuesday. I will usually tutor him in English, although today he brought his math homework. God help him...who would have thought that I would have ever tutored anyone in math...I certainly wouldn't have. I actually did know how to do the problems, however, I didn't know all of the technical math terms in Spanish, so I think my explanation was a little confusing for him. He told me I explained it in a different way than his team , although I think that's a good thing because from what I could tell he was doing it wrong anyway. I'm also thankful that I've been able to talk to my host family more over the past week and that they're starting to open up. I spent last night in the kitchen with my host mom, not only discussing issues such as religion, but laughing and making jokes with her as well. This was exactly how I pictured my study abroad experience and I really hope it continues to be this way.
Oh, I suppose I should mention that over the weekend I went to Seville and Cordoba with ISA. Both cities were beautiful. My favorite sites were Plaza de Espana in Seville and the Cathedral in Cordoba, which was once a mosque. The building itself is huge and is truly magnificent. It's hard to describe such an incredible structure that has such a rich history and has undergone many transformations. The cathedral was once St. Vincent's Bascilica, which then became a mosque during the time that Cordoba became the capital of the Western Islamic world. After the Reconquista, which expelled the Muslims from Spain, the Christians made the mosque into a cathedral, putting the altar and nave in the center of building.
Well, that's about all for now! As always, thanks for reading!